Dopey Training week 2

HI! How are you guys?  I just wrapped up week 2 of Marathon/Dopey training. I also wrapped up the first three days with my students.  Lets just say I am pooped!!! By the end of day one I went to the copy room to make copies and I just laid on the floor in relief.  I don’t think I could have stood up another minute.  My voice hurt, I was tired!  I was so cranky one day the week I took out our Roku from the TV and threw it at the hubby and told him to go somewhere else and watch TV.  It was probably 6-7 and I wasn’t going to have it!

This weeks training didn’t go as well as I would like but it wasn’t terrible.  I missed one mid week longer run.  My long run was a bit slower but I am not upset about it.  I am training for a 48.6 4 day race.  I am not training to PR.  It was my first week back and I am cutting my self slack.  In the past, I probably would have missed two runs.  I am really thankful to have Abby to report back to, it really motivates me!

Here are the numbers

Dopey Training Week 2:

Monday: Rest day.  I almost got up, then I saw the weather forecast and went back to sleep.

Tuesday: 3.4 miles Pace unknown.  I set out to do 6-7 during lunch at work and my legs just wouldn’t move.  I finally realized they probably hurt so much because I was in heels for 3 hours the night before and I don’t ever wear heels.

Wednesday:Rest day because the thought of waking up early before work and then after work with throbbing feet- no thanks!  

Thursday: Speed work!- 6 miles 11:47 average 2x400 (2:21, 2:18), 2x800 (4:46, 4:46) when I PR’ed my half I was doing these closer to 4:15… 1x1200 (7:12) 1x800 4:38 - because i ran out of time  It looks like my times were a little quicker than last weeks so I will take it.  

Friday: Rest day!- how glorious

Saturday: 9 miles with my amazing team.  I am so thankful for people to run with.  12:15 pace. I think it will take myself a few weeks for my body to get back into the swing of work for the runs to be normal

Sunday: 3.1 12:20 pace- just an easy recovery run-

total (running) miles: 21.5 miles

Overall: I am happy with this week considering it was the first week the students are back.  I really want to try and get some strength training in this week.  There is always room for improvement :)

How did your week go?  What are you proud of?

How do you manage to get in a strength training activity?  I always forget!  I just come home and play with my cats and shove food down my throat.

I am currently raining money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society.  If you would like to donate, please click here.  

United NYC Half Marathon training recap and goal

Hey there!

It certainly has been some time since I updated this little thing on my training but I head to New York in just a day and figured I should turn on this rusty old computer.  When I first started training for the UnitedNYC Half I thought I was update the blog regularly with how my training is going, but honestly, I blame my computer.  My computer is old and slow and a pain to work with.  I need a new one.  I also need a new car, work clothes, a cell phone, to pay off my mortgage, pay off my students loans; so a computer is not high on the priority list.  But running the NYC Half Marathon is :)

Here is how training went. 
For not running consistently for about 8 months before I started training, I think I did a damn good job.  I did miss about 5 workouts here or there which I am not proud of but life gets in the way and that’s the truth.  Some days I had to bring my cats to the vet or I worked late, some days I went home and laid in bed. One time I was at work ready to get changed for work, I took my work pants off to put my running shorts off then put my work pants back on because I was tired and didn’t want to go.  Yup, pathetic but the truth.

Yay, I almost hit a 100 mile month...ALMOST

Most of my runs were pretty decent there were a few I was disappointed with.  I enjoyed the long runs, except for 1.  I am calling that a win!  My tempo miles were not as fast as I would have liked them to be but my body just isn’t there yet.  I did a few strength training day, again, not as many as I would have likes but certainly more than I have done in the past.  I also managed to gain 5-6 pounds because potato chips and watching TV because more important that walking and grading.  My highest weekly mileage was 30 and lowest was 13.5 (FAIL!!)  I managed to be put on steroids twice this training cycle and the first time my paces were so fast I thought I had a PR in me, little did I realize it was just the steroids.

My TNT girls

Who I ran with. 

The first half of the training plan I ran alone for my long runs, they were short enough I didn’t have to put water out and my scheduled allowed me to even get some runs done on a Thursday or a Friday.  Most Sunday recovery runs Behn joined in with me so it was nice to have some time to spend with him.  For the second part I joined Team in Training and was able to run with my girls!  It was a nice change of pace.  

Behn I headed out for 2 miles.  It was in the 50s and this is how different we dress.

What I listened to:

I don’t normally run with music or anything but if it was a long or recovery run I would sometimes pop on serial season two.  If I wanted to get out of my head I would jab out to Miley Cyrus or Taylor Swift. 

My tempo runs I didn’t listen to anything except for my heavy uncontrolled breathing (sorry Coach).  

I ran one race while training for the NYC Half.  I ran the Orlando Best Damn Race 10k and really enjoyed it.  This was a peak week for me and my legs were toast.  I managed to go 1:03:29 and was very happy with that.  I secretly wanted to PR or go a little faster but I am OK with that!  My current PR is 1:02: with some change, I forgot already!

So thats how my training went :)

I have a few goals I am going to share.  These are very loose goals because this is my first half marathon in well over a year.  I have no idea where my half fitness is, in terms of racing.  Obviously I would Love a shiny new PR but thats not what I am aiming for.  Besides having fun and running through my favorite place in the World, Times Square, I want to see where my half fitness is.

Finished BDR 10K

Ideally, Here is what I would like to see and here are by A, B, C Goals:

A Goal: 2:15

B Goal 2:18 (This would be a coarse PR, I think)

C Goal - Keeping an 11:00 pace or better and not die :)

How do you determine your goals for race day?

Anyone know of any way to make my Macbook Pro faster?

NYC Half Marathon training week 2

Slow down! Slow down! TIME

I swear, I can’t catch my breath!  It’s already the last week of the semester and the stress of students testing is ridiculous.   I want them to do amazing (Why don't some students care if they do well?)- I need AP students :)

Just wanted to show my pinterest fail 

We are already in the second week of the new year and I just completed my second week of half marathon training.  Wasn't yesterday just Thanksgiving?

This week of NYC Half Marathon training went surprisingly well.

Many days this week the weather was nice.  I was also put on steroids last week and I was told I may have kick ass workouts while I was on them, yea, I believe that to be true!  

I didn’t know how this week would go with being back to work and staying up way to long creating review games, etc. for my students.  By Wednesday, I was in bed with the lights out at 7:45.  Unfortunately I was not sleep till 9 but hey, I will take it!

To keep it short, here is how this week went

Monday: 4 miles, two at tempo.  9:42, 9:29- I am hoping this isn’t JUST because of the roids

Wednesday: 3 mile recovery

Thursday:  7 mile long run @ 11:20 pace - I am so tired I was so surprised by this.  (Shark week also came the next day, TMI- which could be why this was a faster paced run for me)

Saturday: 3 mile recovery with Behn

Sunday: 2.7  I was surprised I made it that far.  It was miserable!  This Florida humidity is truly killing me slowly!

Thats how my week went, how was your week?

This week my students test and we start getting ready for 150 new students in my classes! WooHoo!

This week I also hope to start making plans to go to NY to run this race.  Anyone else plan on being there?

Oh, and happy half birthday to me!

Why I hired a Run Coach

Hi there!  How was everyones weekend, mine was too short of course and it was depressing knowing it was time to go back to work :(

On Saturday I posted how I was accepted and and mow training for the NYC half Marathon and hired a run coach.

At first I wasn’t sure if I wanted to apply for this, if I was chosen that would mean an added expense this year of flying up, possibly getting a hotel room (I love love love staying with my family but this time I would be with a friend), the endless shopping and eating in New York.  It also meant training again for a half marathon.  

Ever since February I really haven’t enjoyed running.  It began to be a task, the weather was getting warm, and I was burnt out.  Instead I joined orange theory fitness because I liked the way it made me feel, it pushed me outside my comfort zone and I wanted to tone up for the wedding and the cruise.  I lived for going to classes, seeing if I can get my heart rate into the orange zone, how high can I get my calories?.  

I decided to give it a go and once my friend Diana and I were notified we had gotten into the race she contacted our old team in training coach for a plan, she sent that to me and we were ready to go because she is also training for New Orleans half marathon (GO DIANA!)  I know myself and I know I am not accountable. If someone isn’t checking up on me, if I don’t have specific workouts, and paces to hit; it isn’t going to get done and I slack of.  I need specifics, its just me and it's how I work.

I have been reading Abby’s blog for a long time now and followed her running journey, her ups and her downs and it resonated with me.  Abby is very relatable, at least from reading her blog.  I knew she was getting certified to be a run coach and knew she would be the perfect fit for me.  

I was also too scared to ask Coach Steve to make me a plan and coach me again, I feel like I have let him down by not following a plan he made for me when I was supposed to run a race in October.  I didn’t have to heart to run it, I wasn’t prepared, and I knew it wouldn’t make me happy.  I also need some coddling right now.  And, I didn’t want to disappoint him. I also didn’t want to feel obligated to run with a specific group for long runs or speed work.

Abby and I spoke, I sent her my info and the next day she had a plan for me!  I am super excited to start and in my opinion, I rocked the first week!  I love how quickly everything went.  

This is me "stretching" at Disney

Side note, this is why I can't play those games on your phone that need another partner, I can't wait!  

I can’t remember the last time I trained for a stand alone half marathon so running less than 20 miles a week is so weird!  I don’t plan to PR this half marathon because I am not in PR shape, but if I do, hey!!! I definitely plan to use this race to see where I am physically. I want to do Dopey in 2017 (It has been a goal since it was announced)  and after Dopey I hope I can PR having all those extra miles on my legs. - I guess I should start saving.

Here’s to 2016!!!

One Joey picture for good measure!

I will certainly keep you all updated with my training, I am the worst at remembering to take pictures so they may be sparse and hopefully I won’t be too boring!

NYC Half Marathon training week 1 + a trip to the clinic

Well, this Sunday didn’t start off the way it was supposed to.  First, it’s the day before we have to go back to work :( and I was supposed to meet my cousin for lunch over in Orlando.

On Friday my ear and jaw started hurting, I thought maybe allergies but the pain hasn’t subsided yet so I knew this morning I had to make my way to the walk in clinic knowing I had to go back to work tomorrow.  It hurts to open my mouth, to chew, drink, sleep, talk.. I love to talk and well, tomorrow we begin reviewing for finals.  I hate going to a doctor I am not familiar with, especially a walk in clinic.  When I walked in I thought I was going to leave with more than I came in with.  Oh Well!

I started my morning with my 2 mile recovery run and it was drizzling, windy, and a but chilly but I warmed up by mile 1.5 and then I was done, showered and off to the clinic.  

They prescribed me the same medicine my cat is on, we are twinzies!  While I was waiting I bought some potato chips and when the meds were still not done, I decided it was after noon and I needed a snack!

Keeping it classy!

Today completed my first week of NYC Half Marathon training and here is how it went:

Monday: 4 miles - 1 warm up, 1 cool down, 2 at tempo  (We don’t have a tempo pace yet because I have no idea where my fitness was

Tuesday: Rest - DONE, like a BOSS!

Wednesday: 3 Recovery

Thursday: Orange Theory Fitness, I almost died

Friday: I recovered and rested like a boss, again!

Saturday: Long Run 6 miles in the wind, and rain.  11:41 pace which was almost 50 seconds faster that last weeks long run (Last week was miserable)

Sunday: 2 mile recover

Overall: This week was a nice training week, especially with being off from work.  I managed 17.3 miles (Which include my miles at OTF)

How did your weekend go?

Any great plans during the week? - I just have a few doctors appointments and getting acclimated to work again.

SLS3 Review and Giveaway!

Is it already August and where did the summer go?  

I guess it is time to get those fall goals in check!  The wedding is just over 3 months away and I have a marathon in just over 2 months.  Time is flying by!

At the beginning of the month I began Half Marathon training and all summer I have been busting my butt at Orange Theory Fitness.  I am loving every second of OTF and running has taken a back seat.  With all the running on the treadmill with bursts of speed, inclines, and using different running shoes my calves, shins and ankles have been screaming at me!  Luckily the nice people over at SLS3 contacted me about reviewing their compression socks.  I have always been a fan of compression and their Butterfly Compression Socks are dainty enough for me!  Compression is said to help your body recover and body perform better, whether it actually is true or just my brain, I think it works.  

To get the proper size I sent them my shoe size and how large my calves were.  I was nervous because I am short and have massive baby cows (calves).  They fit fabulous and they are super soft.  I thought the heel would show when my sneakers were on and they did not.  There is a size chart on their website to help you out.  

The first time I wore them I wore them to sleep after a 90 minute Orange Theory class and my lower body was the only part of my body that didn’t ache.  I then wore them to class the next day.  I like wearing these socks to class because my ankles and calves often hurt and burn on that treadmill when we do inclines and they give me the proper support my flimsy shoes do not give me.  Since then not only do I wear them around the house and to class, I wear them on my “long” runs.  I say “long” because the longest I have gone since the Gasparilla challenge is 7 miles. These are perfect around my neighborhood because the county doesn’t like to cut the grass so in the wee hours of the morning having material there helps keep the pollen off my legs and I am less itchy.  I also haven’t had to ice my calves since wearing them and fingers crossed this stays true.  

Here is some additional information pulled from the SLS3 website that I found interesting:

SLS3 Butterfly compression socks boost bloodflow by about 34%. This increases oxygen delivery to the working muscles to enhance their performance. The circulation improvements also help the body eliminate metabolic waste products like lactic acid more easily. The combination of these effects allows you to work longer and harder, delaying the onset of fatigue.

The SLS3 Butterfly compression socks offer more targeted, significant support to the achilles tendons, tibias, calves and ankles, thus boosting the ability to reduce common ankle and foot injuries. 

They are recommended for running, cycling, walking, triathlon, skiing, traveling and lots of other uses.

The supportive effect and compression of SLS3 Butterfly compression socks reduce muscle vibration drastically, which leads to less soft tissue damage and less sore muscles. Your recovery time will be significantly reduced

• • 20-30 mmHG of graduated compression

• • Seamless TekWeb technology
  • Muscle Stability
  • Increased Bloodflow
  • Web knit for more support of arch
• • Cooling effect and UV protection

SLS3 is allowing me to host a giveaway for a pair of free socks or sleeves! You can enter here:

It will end on August 21st and I'll announce the winner and they'll hook you up.  

In addition to the giveaway they are offering a discount of 40% using code GENNA40. This is a seriously generous discount. 

Good luck!  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Giveaway ends August 2015 at 11:59 PM EST. Open to Residents of the US only.  Prizes cannot be shipped to PO Boxes.  Winner will be selected by Rafflecopter through SLS3 and be notified by email. Winner have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is selected. Please note that R is For Running is not responsible for sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes.  I have represented the sponsor with the expectation they will fulfill their prize and in a timely manner. I will contact the sponsor regarding your prize(s). The sponsor, in most cases, are shipping their items to you directly. I will make every effort to assist you obtaining your prize. If there is an issue with a sponsor, please notify the blog you won a prize from within 30 days for assistance, after that we may be unable to assist you.  The product provided for the review was free of charge from the company. The product offered for the giveaway is free of charge, no purchase necessary. My opinions are my own and were not influenced by any form of compensation.  Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google+ are in no way associated with this giveaway.  By providing your information in this form, you are providing your information to me and me alone.  I do not share or sell information and will use any information only for the purpose of contacting the winner.

Fun "Outtakes" from my handy photographer Fiance!

Gate River Run 15k Recap

As many of you know, I am not the best at doing race reaps, but lucky for you, I am on Spring Break which gives me a few minutes of free time.

Friday after work I went up to Jacksonville to visit one of my best college friends.  I registered for this race probably the day it opened.  I was very excited for this.  Not only would I be doing the race, it was the perfect excuse to see my friend.  We were going to make it a fun weekend with the other half of our crew coming up, but unfortunately, they were unable to make it.  

Friday after work I hit up the expo because Jamie home yet.  I picked up my packet, walked around a bit, shopped some and saw Marcia.  It is so nice to always see her.  It was also her birthday weekend and she killed it with a PR!  She was ma wasn't nning the Donna 26.2 booth where I picked up a pin for Jamie and I to wear in her moms honor.  This is actually how she noticed me along the course.  Luckily, I did not need anything from the expo so I just walked to kill some time.

After the expo, I went to Jamie's, but my stuff down and did a nice little two mile shake out run.  Once Jamie got home, we ran to Target for a few things then waited for her boyfriend to come home.  He just was awarded a promotion so we went out to carbo load and celebrate.  We went to an italian place near their house which was very good.  I am a very picky eater whose stomach cannot handle much before races so I thought our server would murder me, or spit in my food.  All I wanted was plain pasta and grilled chicken with marinara sauce on the side.  I didn't think that was too hard.  Just saying.  We went home and went to bed.  

Get in my belly!

Saturday we were up bright and early.  I knew I would not have time to do my scheduled warm up, per Mary's request, so I woke up a little earlier and got out there.  We met at J's friend, Kerry's house at 7 to head downtown.  It makes me laugh that we met at 7 because I love early races, especially if they start in the dark.  Call me crazy, but I don't like seeing my watch and the pace and if it dark, I can't see the watch.  We all carpooled on over, got stuck in traffic, went to the pottys and went to find our corrals.  This was Jamie's first race and I told her I can run with her, walk with her, or do whatever.  She told me to rock it and run my pace, which is exactly what I did.  See, I am training for this Irongirl Half Marathon so.. I sort of wanted to see what I had in me.  They were in wave 3, I was in wave 2 so we hugged goodbye and wished them luck.

Let me start off by saying, this was not an easy run.  There are two bridges.  One is worse than the other.  The Hart bridge is a terror, a bitch to say nicely, luckily it was at mile 8.. Thinking back, I sort of wish it was at the beginning so I still had energy.

I accidently went into wave one to start.  I had my phone out about to take a picture of the start line and people started walking, I figured I had time and was just being moved forward, I was wrong.  I was in the wrong wave.  I am not complaining.  This was beneficial because I wasn't stressing out.  I just went.  The first few miles flew by.  By mile 1.5 is when the first bridge, the Main Street bridge was up.  The elevation was not bad, the bad part was the grates in the bottom.  It freaked me out, and being from NY where this is normal on the street, I do not like that and always walk around them.  

 I was scared I was running to fast when at the 3 mile marker I was under 30 minutes.  At least that was a new PR for me.  I just kept running.  I sort of had a goal in mind but did not want to commit to it because I wasn't sure if I was going to run with my friend or if the bridges would get the best of me.  This is about where Marcia ran into me, she said HI, and took off!  Who would think there is a hilly course in Florida, but it seems as I always seem to find them.  I sort of figured that besides the bridges, the course would be flat, I was wrong.  Rolling hills, lots of rolling hills.  I just kept treking on.  The course was beautiful when we went by the water and the houses, WOW!  I was consistently holing about a 10  min mile pace, give or take a few seconds.  I was very excited and was hoping not to crash!  Jamie's boyfriend spotted me, gave me a shout and gave me some extra motivation.  My stomach started to cramp and I got nervous.  I knew I just had about a 5k left.  I had a Powergel with me, I wish I would have taken it at about mile 6.5 because at mile  I started to burn out.  I knew I can maintain my pace till I got to the Hart Bridge.  I did just that.  I stopped twice during mile 7, once to get an orange from a spectator, the second to get some water.  You can see my pace dropped there.  Then it was the bridge!!!  I ran that bridge..or so I thought.  You would never know I was running, it looked like walking, felt like walking but the energy was running.  I promise, I was running.  Once to the top, I sprinted down.  I know I had to get in the last kick!  I saw that before I hit the bridge my pace was about a 10, after the bridge.. a little more!  I wanted it down, I was determined to get it down.

And there the finish line was!  I made it, and a shiny new PR!  The last and only time I ran a 15k my time was about 2:04.  I was out of shape!  I wasn't running.  I just said, OK, this is better than doing the Half.  So that is what I did.  This time I was training, and I used this as a training run for Irongirl.

There were certainly some pro's and cons about this race so I will just give you a few of them:

*I loved our names on our bibs!  It is great to hear people call your name out while your running.

*I did not like that there was no Gatorade or anything of that sort on the course.  After we started, it got hot and I think that would have really helped me the last few miles.  

*The line to get the medal at the end, a cluster mess

*Free post race bags of ice and massages

*A beautiful race shirt (I will have to post that) and it fits perfectly!

*hilly course, you tell me..good or bad?

*Great Crowd support!

And I almost forgot.  My official time was 1:35:11.  Just what my Garmin read! Perfect!

Before!

After

 After the race, Ryan got us flowers!  So sweet!  And we headed for a post celebratory lunch at a bar!  It truly was a great weekend with great friends!  I am so glad I was able to do this!

Post Race celebrations!

have you ever done this run?  What were your thoughts?

Did you go into a race and crushed your expectation?

Also, did you enter the lululemon and race entry giveaway yet?