Running With Corgs: Past Week

After a good performance at the half marathon, I of course got sick Monday. I even had to call off work. No running that day.

I woke up Tuesday full of ambition to run. I made it one mile on the treadmill before I had to stop. I felt very lightheaded and started to see black. Not a good sign. Especially since I had a 12 hour workday ahead of me (we had a parent night). Thankfully, I started to feel a little better through the day.

Wednesday I lifted in the morning and headed out to the lake afterschool. My legs felt fresh and I happily ran 8 miles at 7:50 pace around the lake. It felt easy, but I knew it was too fast for an easy day, but not really enough for a workout.

Thursday, I had ambitions of doing a workout but it really wasn't happening as I felt a little worse again, and the run Wednesday probably took a little out of me. I ran 7 miles at the park at 7:45 pace. I was dissapointed I didn't go a workout, but I tried to remind myself that I ran a pretty good half marathon and I was sick Monday.

To make up for my lack of a workout Thursday, I did hill repeats Friday after school before feasting with my husband at Red Lobster. I did 6 hill repeats that were .38miles long between 9:07 - 9:27 pace. The hill was steep and I felt really good after completing this workout.

Red Lobster is great, especially during Lent. I had amazing lobster bisque with my favorite Yellowtail chardonnay. I had the half serving of Parmesean encrusted tilapia, which was enourmous! I had a great lunch the next day:). And who doesn't love their cheesey biscuits? Yummmm. Good thing runners need carbs.

Showing off my pretty new pink purse Jordan got me!

TGIF - we need cheesy biscuits

Saturday I went out to the lake with my dad and he biked while I ran an easy 7 miles at 8:09 pace. It felt really good and it was nice to see the sun and all the people with hydration belts training for marathons. The rest of the day I ran lots of errands then we went to a surprise party that night. Woohoo.

Sunday was the big long hilly run. I was aiming to run 22 miles at North Park, but picking a route that would give me the most hills. Usually I try to avoid hills when doing a long run, but I REALLY want to be prepared for the hills at Pittsburgh. The sun was out, and it was a warm 56 degrees when I finished! I actually felt hot and went through my whole waterbottle. My new hydration pack is awesome! My old one got chewed apart by Penny, and it was too big and moved up and down when I ran. This one is designed for girls and didn't move at all during my run. A woman actually stopped and asked me where I got it because she was really small and had trouble finding one that fit. If you are looking for a good belt (and are not a boy) this is awesome - room for gel and your car keys, too!

Nathan Triangle Hydration Pak ( Blue/Fleet Grey )

Mine is Pink

The run was awesome. The sunshine made it that much easier, along with some new Lady Gaga,
Justin Bieber, and P. Diddy song on my Ipod. I took the pace out with a goal of staying around 8:05/mile (except when I climed a monster hill). The first half splits: 8:07, 8:02, 7:59, 8:06, 8:04, 8:06, 8:37 (Up the swimming pool hill) 8:17 (still up the hill!) 7:58, 7:57, 8:04, 7:48, 7:41, 8:00(Boathouse hill), 7:37, 7:29, 7:51, 8:15(Big,mile long golf course hill but pushed the pace so I wouldn't slow too much) 7:18. 7:29, 7:38(boathouse hill), 7:13.

By the end, I felt very tired and really pushed to finish at a faster pace despite the hills that were wearing away on my legs. Interestingly enough, I concentrated most on going on the downhills at a good pace and not 'braking' with my legs. I did that last year at Pittsburgh, and my quads were destroyed going down the last final miles. Hopefully this doesn't happen again.

I felt very happy to have ran this far and finish out faster than I started. I am starting to not be as afraid of the hilly course!

The rest of the day I spent hours in the kitchen preparing dinner for my family, in honor of my mom's birthday! We had olives, bread, and oil for appetizers....