Friday Fun

Hello from sunny California! Not that Georgia isn't sunny, but hello, then, from sunny, dry California! I'm out for the weekend for one of Doug's co-worker's weddings, but took the opportunity to get to one of my favorite places ever:

WOO! Doug and I are playing around here all day today - so excited! We had a pretty good tradition of going every Christmas, but haven't made it in a few years for one reason or another, so he threw out the idea of throwing in a Disney Day while I was out this weekend. Yes. Please.

Tomorrow morning, Doug, and I are running a 5K at Ontario Mills - fast, easy, flat. Better yet, my dad is joining us - at 53, my dad's running his first 5K ever! I am so so so excited he's doing this with us and am excited to be able to cheer him in. So proud. More on that on Monday - but send him some virtual love tomorrow!

After that, it's the wedding and all kinds of related fun, chilling with my parents on Sunday, and then a red-eye back to Atlanta and straight to work Monday morning. Sounds like a fun way to end the weekend, no?

What are your exciting weekend plans? 

National Running Day

Why do you run? Make your own at: http://www.runningday.org/images/2013_blank.png

National Running Day 2013

I feel like I've really come to identify with the word "runner" over the last year. Not that I wasn't a runner before, because surely I'd put on whatever clearanced, or discounted running shoes I had and go for a jog here and there, but over the last year, I've certainly taken the term runner to full steam.

Since last year's National Running Day, I've:

• Run 771.42 miles
• Completed 23 races, ranging from 5Ks to my first full marathon
• Ran my first full marathon!
• Cut down my half marathon time from 2:18 to 2:01

Ran in races ranging from Disney World to back-woods Maryland at 3 am, pushed myself so much harder than I ever thought I could, and achieved so much. It's been a pretty incredible last 365 days. But enough about that... on to tonight's fun with the Athens Road Runners!

Wednesdays as you know, are track mornings for those that choose to peel themselves out of bed to be at the track at 5:30 am. So it was nice seeing a whole non-regular group of faces and some of the regulars too - 11 of us this morning! New record, and it was nice to have a little new competition!

We met up with both the Road Runners and the newly formed Couch to 5K crew - about 40 folks and the few mentors they have for the program already. The bunch you see above did our own easy 3 miles, and the 5K group did their own at their pace. Rockin' three miles for me after the morning we had! Happy times. Afterwards we all contributed to an awesome potluck BBQ at Memorial Park here in town. The rain held off - it didn't rain a drop during our run or during dinner. Thank you, weather, for cooperating.

And because it's National Running Day and I like fun facts... I leave you with a slew of them. The awesome folks at Running USA did a pretty large, comprehensive survey of runners (both men and women), though women's answers/averages are below. I didn't even include everything they reported, but you can read more here. 

Typical U.S. Female Runner
Demographics
Average Age: 39.3 I'm 27.
60.7% Married Nope.
77.8% College educated Certainly am!
70.8% Earn a household income of $75,000+ In my dreams, yo.

Running History
Average number of years running: 9.6 You can say through soccer, I've been running since I was 5. But solely as a runner, on and off for 4ish years, seriously for the last almost-3.
Average number of running events participated in during the last 12 months: 7.1 Lots more than that! 23, as noted above.
49.2% have completed 1 marathon or more in their lifetime One and done! Nah, there's more in my future. Let's be honest.

Running Routine
66.8% Run/Jog 4+ hours each week In an average week, probably close to that. During this #RWRunStreak, a bit more than that!
76.1% run 12 months a year Truth.
Average number of days run per week: 3.9 On average, 4-5 days a week. Again, the run streak is a different story!
Average number of miles run per week: 20.2 Probably closer to 25 normally, but close!
64.8% describe themselves as "Frequent/Fitness Runners" I'd say so.

Health
Average Weight: 140.2 lbs Few pounds off.
Average Height: 65.01 inches / 5 feet, 5 inches Add an inch to me.
Average Body Mass Index (BMI): 23.3 Almost spot on.
39.0% are content with their weight Meh. If I ate the way I should for the way I run (frequency), I'd be at least 8-10 pounds lighter. Content is a touchy word.
41.0% are content with their fitness level Yes!

Are you average female runner? What did you do to celebrate National Running Day?

Track Tuesday 18

Given that I skipped last week (completely), I was amped up last night about getting to today's session. Let's see how that worked out for me...

First off, seeing a 70 degree wake up call at 5 am is well... not nice. Also note that humidity level. Ugggggh. Good morning to me!

It was unbelievable to see eleven of us roll out this morning for our track day - the highest number we've seen on a Wednesday morning ever, and nearly double the norm lately (there's been about five of us for the last month or so). Quite a few newbies, including my friend Bettina, so it was awesome! As one couple said, "We've been avoiding it for awhile, but what better day to finally start than National Running Day?" Perfection.

Bettina joined ARR a few weeks ago, but hasn't made it out to a run yet because she's in training for her new job  and doing other important vet-like things. She asked me earlier this week about coming out on Wednesday, and lucky for her.. I convinced her to. I'm such the encourager. 

Bettina survived her first track day!

First the first time, Al set us up for a 200 m series workout - I've heard these are tough, but man! Are they ever. There were so many of us, we split into two groups and did them in sets, 200 m sprint followed by a 200 m rest back, and continued the cycle for a total of 8 200s for (most of) us, and up to 10 for a few folks who are all kinds of crazy pants. 8 was enough for me today - those suckers are not easy.

Being that I'm still running naked, and there were too many of us to time us all, we didn't get times for all of them, but I'm certain mine all fell between 35 and 40 seconds. Fast. And they hurt. And my legs are tired today, already. But what a workout - glad to have made it out of bed today, unlike last week!


Joining us for Track Tuesday this week? Make sure you link up!

Tonight I'll have another post all about our National Running Day celebrations with the Athens Road Runners - group run and a potluck BBQ tonight at a park in town. Pretty excited! And that's more reading for you - double post Wednesday!

What are you doing for National Running Day?

#RWRunStreak: Week 1

 

So, Summer Run Streak Week 1 is down and it feels pretty darn good. It's really motivating and fun to see the Twitter feed of all those participating - and using that as extra motivation when I need it most. This week was difficult - while I'm still enjoying running naked (sans-Garmin, if you're new to these parts) and running for the sake of running, it's tough to balance that with the thought that "I have to run today or I won't be streaking anymore!" It's going to take some fine-tuning the next few weeks as I try to manage that .

I remember this being a challenge last year, but not as much as I'm already facing. Again, maybe that mental battle this year...

So here you go... the Week 1 recap:

Monday, May 27: 1.55 miles

I think I forgot what it was like to run in the summer, legitimately. That you either run before dawn or practically in the dark because otherwise you'll drown in your own sweat. You're welcome for that imagery. It was rough.

Tuesday, May 28: 1.25 miles
Intended on only going a mile or so to save my legs for Wednesday morning's track session - so I took Molly along, to force myself to keep it slow. She was probably not happy with that decision, but it seemed to work out well for me!

Wednesday, May 29: 2.25 miles
And then I didn't get out of bed for my track day - just couldn't peel myself out of bed, but that was for the better because when I finally did, my tummy was not happy. So, in hindsight, suppose that was the smarter decision. I ran after work instead, and learned the tough lesson (again) that really, I should be getting up to do these miles in the morning. 

Thursday, May 30: 3.42 miles
Got up in the morning, finally! Had a lovely (finally) more than 2 mile run along the neighborhood routes. The weather was awesome - only 66 degrees - but add in that 97% humidity and I wanted to choke. Can't I just ask for that temperature without the extra blanket of moisture in the air? Please?

 

Friday, May 31: 1.01 miles
It happened. Barely.

Saturday, June 1: 4.5 miles
Saturday morning group run with the Athens Road Runners, of course! I was contemplating the 6+-mile loop with them, but my legs felt so heavy, I didn't want to push it any more than that. This is only Week 1, after all - there's more to come! Great run though, enjoyed it, and had a solid pace overall.

Sunday, June 2: 1.6 miles
I woke up too late to run in the morning, so opted for the afternoon. I knew it was supposed to storm at some point, so I sucked it up and went to go check out the complex's renovated gym. I'd been on the treadmill for all of 3 minutes when the sky burst open and it poured - so I got a great (seriously) cool-down walk back home. Treadmills suck, in other news.

Much like last year, the first and foremost thing I'm learning this week is that I really need to take the time to stretch post-run. Not that I'm feeling tight or sore necessarily, but after pounding the pavement for 39 days straight, I know my legs will appreciate it.

In Week 2, I'm looking forward to racing a 5K on Saturday (my first 5K I'm racing since I started track workouts three months ago, so I'm excited to see what I can accomplish) and cheering on my dad through his first 5K EVER, a weekend in California, and continuing this streak... and my current first-place standing!

How did you do on Week 1? Goals for Week 2?

May Recap

may!

Can you believe this year is almost half over?

Total run mileage: 50 -- plus 2-ish more tonight after it cools down for my Streak!
Highest weekly run mileage:  15
# Runs: 18
# Rest days: 14

# Cross-training workouts: 7. A few walks, a day of yoga and a few core workouts.

# Races: 1

     - Marigold Festival 10K { Race }

Favorite run: No special run this month - seriously, none at all. However, I will say that finally breaking my sub-60-minute goal on my 10K was pretty awesome. And knowing that I can go faster than that (damn side stitch) is even more encouraging. 
  

Successful finish!

Most hardcore run: I'd say as of recently, this ladder track workout was a doozie. But awesome.

Current need: Few extra bucks so I can sign up for RnR Vegas. Please and thank you. Anyone wanna donate?

Current song: I know how many times I've told y'all that I love me some Macklemore, but every time this comes on the radio (like this morning, on my way to work - can you say perfection?), I get so excited and dance by myself... in the car... yeah, that's right. Love.

Current triumph: I'm finally getting to the point in the month of running naked where I'm almost at peace with just running. Sure, it's still hard, and sure, there are mornings where I'm bolting out the door and I'm curious just how fast I bolted out the door, but it's become almost... refreshing. I'm enjoying just going, doing whatever pace, and seeing however many minutes have passed by the time I get home. Kind of awesome.

Current goal: Chillin'. Running naked for a little while longer. Who knows until when.

My secondary goal is the Summer Running Streak. I also did it last year, and in 38 days ran 80.88 miles. This year's goal in 39 days is to run further than that. I'm also in a bit of a challenge with Tina and Erica to see who puts on the most mileage over the timeframe, so there's a little extra oomph of fun in there! 

Best weekend ever: This weekend.  Food, aquarium, Coke, wedding, and good times with some seriously fantastic people. I'd like to do that all over again.

This May has been super mellow - and I think just what I needed after a super busy spring and a little too much racing. Yes, I said it. I burned out, and at least I recognized it, but am certainly trying to allow myself to totally and completely recuperate now. It's a hard thing to swallow, but if I'm going to jump back in in the fall, I need to be ready to roll.

I'm heading to California next weekend for Disneyland (!) and a wedding, and am looking forward to another uber mellow month. Cheers for that!

What are your biggest accomplishments from this month? Goals for June?