#RWRunStreak: Week 2 & Weekend Wrap Up

 

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 .

The Week 2 recap:

Monday, June 3 (8): 2.0 miles

By the time Monday evening rolled around, the last thing I wanted to go do was run - so I headed to the apartment gym, vowed that I'd only do a mile. I hopped and set the dreadmill to 9:40, just to push myself a little, and felt so decent (shocker!) that I kept on going and dropped the Mile 2 pace to a 9:31 (first 1/2), 9:13 (400 m) and 7:35 (400 m) pace. I was sweating buckets by the end. Success.

Tuesday, June 4 (9): 2.35 miles

I know part of my challenge has been getting up in the mornings - but especially on Tuesdays, I don't want to run in the evenings because of our Wednesday morning track workouts. Peeled myself out of bed and aimed to get in at least 2 miles - morning success! Beautiful morning temperature-wise and loved starting my day this way!

Wednesday, June 5 (10): 4.0 miles + 3.0 miles = 7 mile day! 
The first run of the day came along with my regular Wednesday track workout. Tough workout, but good. Surprisingly my legs weren't all that tired after work, and being that it was National Running Day, the ARR had a group run and cookout planned, even despite the thunderstorms schedule. 3 more miles on the day? Why not! 

ARR group runners.

Thursday, June 6 (11): 2.50 miles
Had to get in morning miles, as I was hopping on a plane after work to LA for the weekend - morning was cool which felt awesome, but per usual (thanks summertime), I was drenched in the humidity. A great way to start the day - hopefully I'll get more of these morning runs in again soon!

Friday, June 7 (12): 1.52 miles

I managed to convince Doug to come run with me! So we took a quick running tour of his neighborhood around the community loop. Intentionally did not get too far, as we spent the afternoon at Disneyland and were trying to save some energy and leg power for Saturday's 5K.

Saturday, June 8 (13): Ontario Mills 5K, 3.14 mi
My dad's first 5K! Doug and I went to run it as well, and in a last-minute decision, my uncle came and ran too! Fast, flat course, but after 10-11 hours on my legs at Disneyland the night before, it was a little hard. I PRed by 2 seconds, but know I could have given a lot more than that. Ah well, Disney was worth the sacrifice! :)

5K recap coming on Friday - though it's nothing to write home about, but it was a good race.

Saturday afternoon, Doug and I went to lunch with my grandparents and other uncle, to ensure I got some grandparent time in over my short visit home for the weekend. After that, it was finally relaxing for a bit and getting off to Cal State Fullerton and another wedding!

The wedding was absolutely beautiful - the aisle was through that canopied gazebo you see above there, and she had done nearly all the decorations herself. It got cool outside quite fast, but was a fun time. It was also odd only knowing Doug, and he himself only knowing about three or four other people there - a far cry from the Atlanta wedding we were just at in May!

Sunday, June 9 (14): 1.01 mi
Treadmill miles. Boo.

Looking forward to getting back in some outside runs this week - I need some morning sunshine boosts! There's been lots of rain lately, too, which has made for some new challenges. Moving on to week 3, and maintaining that first place status with Tina and Erica! Keep it up ladies!

How did you do on Week 2? Goals for Week 3?

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?