This week in running: week 1

I love the title of this because it reminds of “This Week in Baseball.” I have fond memories of watching that before every baseball game I attended growing up. I guess they used it as entertainment for the fools who got to the stadium two hours before the game started.
 

What up, fools?

But, I digress.

My half marathon training group started this week. We run together on Tuesday and Thursday evenings (6:30 p.m.) and on Sunday morning (7:30 a.m.) for our long run.

Tuesday

We met the coaches and each other did a short run to acquaint ourselves with the area.

It brought back bad memories from last year’s Women’s Half Marathon. This stupid pier was the least favorite part of the race: long, hot, no shade at mile 9. Yuck!
 

Pesky Pier

But, I conquered that thing (it was still hot with no shade). It could have helped that it was only a 2-mile run, not part of a 13.1-mile race. Watch out, Pier! I’m coming for you in a race!

Distance: 2 miles

Thursday

Our mission: run 22 minutes out and 22 minutes back. Our group stopped for water along the way because it was freaking hot. I think that is the hardest thing to get used to: the heat at 6:30 p.m.

I’ve run at night or on a treadmill the entire summer. There is a reason I do that: to avoid the big, scary ball of fire in the sky.

Distance: 3.5 miles

Sunday

I’m not a morning person … at all. Especially on the weekend. So, I was thrilled to meet the group for a 7:30 a.m. run.

But, it was SO much better than running in the evening. Not that it was cool by any means, but the sun was not as strong. And, I rocked out the run and had the whole day for fun stuff like Costco and car rides and walks with my dog.
 

Chloe's favorite weekend activity

The group of three I was running with made three water stops in our 50-minute run, walking up to them and walking just a bit after to make sure we swallowed our water before starting again. It wasn’t speedy by any means, but I’m happy with the results.

Distance: 4 miles

No morning runs for me ... for awhile

I went to a Cinco de Mayo/Kentucky Derby/graduation party on Saturday. Considering I didn’t drink tequila or Corona, I didn’t have one bite of Mexican food, we didn’t watch the Kentucky Derby or wear fun hats, I guess it really was just a graduation party. But, it was awesome. 

These peeps had the coolest yard ever complete with a pool, aviary and rooftop deck.

I am sporting some pretty awesome windblown bangs on the rooftop deck.

Being the awesome blogger that I am, I got so wrapped up in competitive games of ladder ball that I forgot to take one photo after the rooftop deck photo. Perhaps the black raspberry vodka had something to do with it, too. Ahem.

But, the important thing is: I dominated at ladder ball. I'm just a wee bit competitive.  

Source

Normally, I'd be worrying about what time we were leaving the party and when I needed to start chugging water since Sundays are long run days. But, since I ditched the running group for a few months, I didn't have to worry about those things. I just had to worry about winning ladder ball.

I'm not a morning person (at all), so without the group peer pressure, I'm not waking up early to run. Running at night is more my thing.

Welcome, my new long run night: Monday. Yes, Monday. I'm keeping my "long" runs between 5 and 8 miles now, so even for a turtle like me, that's an hour and a half at the most. Totally doable on a Monday night. 

Long run love ... we're back together

After some recent long-run struggles and avoidance, I'm finally back in the groove. And, back in love.

My weekday runs (50-minute run on Tuesday (intervals) and a 60-minute run (40 minutes tempo) on Thursday) were kind of rough this week. When I write "kind of rough," I mean they sucked. When I write "they sucked," I mean I struggled the entire way and wanted to walk more during those runs than almost any runs prior. Yeah, they were bad. Not really sure what's going on there. So, since they were so miserable, I was a little nervous about my long run this week: an 8-mile trek. 

But, it was glorious. This run was extremely enjoyable, which is what I've been missing on long runs. We're reunited, and it feels so good.

 

Thanks, running, for keeping me from doing something drastic

Man, the last few weeks have been aggressive. Well, mainly work is aggressive. But, I see the end, the beautiful end. I have two glorious weeks of vacation. I'm elated beyond elated. Seriously, without this break, I could have done something drastic. Like quit my job. With no backup plan. Uncool, Jina. Uncool.

This could be a bit dramatic ...

Amidst all the madness, I kept running (well, I skipped a few long runs, but always make it to my weekly speed workouts). And, I'm thankful I did. It's probably the only thing that kept me from doing something drastic earlier. Like quit my job.

This week's runs:

• Tuesday: Oh, you pesky intervals. But, I don't hate you as much as I used to. With four intervals (4 minutes hard, 3 minutes easy), I pushed it pretty hard ... I think. I brought my Garmin, but somehow turned the GPS off. Smart. So, I don't have numbers for how I did. Just my feeling, and I feel like our group did well.
• Thursday: Oh, you pesky tempo run. I think I now hate you more than intervals. I'm just not good at choosing my tempo pace. I feel like my running partner and I started off fast (maybe too fast), and slowed down toward the end. I say "I feel" because I forgot my Garmin. I didn't even have a backup watch. But, after estimating our distance and knowing we ran for 50 minutes, I don't think we did too shabby. Again, I say "I think" because I'm an idiot that forgot her Garmin.

My weekend running plans:

• Saturday: Oh, you pesky progressive run. It's not the run that I have trouble with, it's the timing. My boyfriend works out of town during the week and comes home every weekend. Weekends are our time. Saturdays are for dog parks, shopping, Mexican food, walks, movies, whatever. Running usually doesn't fit in. But, I'm trying to make it a priority to do this run. I can do it Friday or Saturday. I just have to do a progressive 30-minute run. Surely, I can fit that.
• Sunday: Oh, you pesky fun long run. This is early in the morning (7:30 a.m., ugh), but my boyfriend sleeps late so it isn't doesn't interfere with our time. And, I actually usually really enjoy this run. Scenic route along the water, early morning air and Derek Jeter's house (I'm still a little irritated I haven't seen him yet). This week, we're running 10 miles.

Oh, motivation. Where have you gone?

I've kind of lost some running motivation. I'm still doing my weekly runs (intervals and tempo), but have skipped out on long runs the past two Sundays. I'm not really sure why.

Work is a nightmare lately. That could be it. I ran one half marathon, and I know I can run another one. That could be it. This time of year brings lots of other things to do, and I put running at the bottom of the list. That could be it. But, I don't know if any one of those reasons really is it. I just don't know.

But, I'm working on getting my motivation back. It helped getting this in the mail today.

My new RoadID! Note: I just threw it on my shoe. I tend to act before reading instructions so it might not be on correctly. But, I will read the instructions eventually. I was just too excited tonight.

I won my rockin' RoadID from Happy Healthy Runner (thanks again)!

I'll be sporting this when I run from now on ... which is hopefully more often than it has been.

This baseball-loving girl is in!

I'm a sucker for baseball and mascots and good deals, so I couldn't resist the $10 race with a finish across home plate and a high-five from a mascot this weekend. Oh, I also don't like getting up early, and this is on a Saturday evening. I'm pumped.

I originally signed up for the 10K, thinking it could suffice for my long run for the week. However, once I got my training schedule, I realized this would not. I'm supposed to run 9 miles. I thought we'd knock the mileage down a bit, but I'm OK with it (after the initial shock). I think I'll be better prepared for my next half marathon. So, I switched to the 5K, which will satisfy my 30-minute progressive run on the schedule, and then I'll run 9 miles on Sunday morning with the running group.

A few things concern me about this race, though:

• I've seen three, yes three, different start times. The active.com site lists 4 p.m. The commercial above, which I would think the race organizers would make or approve, says 5 p.m. And, radio stations are advertising a 6 p.m. start time. Eek!
• The site listed on active.com to "click for more information," doesn't exist. Eek!

Things like this drive me crazy. Oh, wait. I already arrived at crazy a long time ago. But, they irritate me. The act of proofreading is an important step, people! Consider it. Especially when you're planning an event and actually want people to show up when it starts (not two hours later). Maybe I should start bartering: proofreading for race entry.