Jens Saturday =)

This past Saturday I had a 22 miler to run. (I originally was supposed to run Thursday but the rain was just too much, and there was NO way I was doing this on the dreadmill) I was volunteering at the 5k Families Supporting Adoption race and then I had a golf date with my hubster scheduled..... BUSY day.

Well, I got almost all of it finished except the golf.  It rained.  Anywhoo, in order to get all of this done I had to wake up at 3AM people.  Thats right. It was early. My little boy Peter was staying at his cousins for the night so it I had my hubster run the first 7 or so miles with me.  It was still pitch dark then and I am kinda scared to run that early by myself......

I had him take a picture of me because typically when I run early I am the only one around and so he graciously agreed and when he was finished I was like, "so did I look cute?" he was like, "for sure" but obviously he had not cleaned the sleep out of his eyes because this picture of me suks. But who cares. I had been wanting an early bird picture of me for a while so at least I finally got one. Oh and that is my beastie dog Grisz who I do love but is kind of annoying to run with......

Then after the run, (which felt pretty good I suppose. I stopped by running club and thought I'd attempt to do the workout with them in the middle of my 22 but ended up making my way home early because the thought of so many more miles mixed with lots of speed just wore me out). After the run I busted it home changed clothes and rode my bike over to the drink station I was to be in charge of for the adoption 5k. It was SOOO much fun =) The course was not easy and it was so inspiring to see all these people out supporting a good cause.

The arrow is pointing to me cheering people on =) I do realize I was supposed to help with the drink station but cheering for people was just TOO much fun.  Thanks Jarrie for holding down the drink stop while I wandered.

It was cold and then it started to sprinkle so instead of golfing we decided to go to the mall eat to lunch and wander.  I am so happy Dan (my hubster) does not mind going to the mall and just seeing whats out there =) Growing up as a family we did this lots and I don't know why but I find it comforting..... So I wandered into the Gap and found some cute shorts for only 25 bucks and was in line to purchase.  But after waiting for what seemed like an eternity I bailed.  Too bad for The Gap....

Then after browsing the mall we did the next best thing and went to one of my local running stores. Yep, below is a picture of me sporting my new arm warmers. I actually wanted to buy some for my run Saturday but ran out of time, so although I am not sure when the next time I will need them is I know I eventually will and that was reason enough.

I also purchased my new favorite refueling tool, Cherry Lime flavored Roctane.  Its is FAB, just as good if not better then the Jet Blackberry GU..... give it a try I say.

Anyways, it was a great Saturday and now onto this week.  Here is my workout for this week if anyone wants to join me.

Today: 5 Miles slow
Tuesday: 10 Miles with tempo (2x2 miles at 10k pace with 5 minute recovery followed by 2x1 mile repeats at 10k pace with 3-4 minute recovery)
Wednesday: Swim class (YAY) and hopefully some Yoga
Thursday: 18 miles with 12@ marathon pace
Friday: I dunno yet, probably practicing my swimming and some yoga.
Saturday: Match and Move Fartlek....not sure what this is, I will show up to running club and find out I suppose.


Happy Running -Jen

My 2nd 5k was.... A SUCCESS! Finally...

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to run the Larkridge Chick-Fil-A 5k and I am happy! I did good =) I typically don't tell my times on here, but who cares, I'm tellin' ya. My 5k time according to the official results was 22:26! My Garmin was a couple seconds slower but I always take the faster time and base my performance off of that ;) Not once has my watch and the official time been the same and it can go either way. Anywhoo, to keep braggin about it I ended up placing 7th overall for women and 2nd in my age group.

This is most of my friends and I at the start, and YES I did beat that cow but for a cow he did really well ....(I have grey on in-between fellow run clubbers Tara(blue coat) and Pam(Pink coat). It was cold out and very windy.

These chicks below are the speediest ones of our group. They actually took the overall women's 1, 2, and 3 spots. The one on right right is Kim. She is one of our coaches and very speedy. She won this race for the ladies and came in 20:26. The other two are Amber and Corey, they rocked it. But here is a warning my dears.... once I figure out how to unleash the beast inside of me I am going to come knocking on your heels.... ;)

Here I am with Corey and Tara C. Tara won 3rd in our age group and came in just after me.  Really as a "team" we all did great! 

Thats right, I won a medal... and it wasn't just because I finished. =) 

BUT, (there is always a but...) now I am thinking about my marathon. As Sarah pointed out on her previous blog post it is only 7 WEEKS AWAY!! I mean, who cares if you can run a 5k fast if the race you actually want to do well on flops.... I don't have a great track record for doing well on race day. But, I am moving on and wanting to be better.  I am asking all out there in blog world to please take note and send me any suggestions you might have. Here are a list of questions that I would LOVE any answers too.

1. how fast did you run your long runs?
2. What was your longest run? How many times did you run 20 or more?
3. How many speed/tempo workouts did you do in a week?
4. How many marathon pace miles did you put into your long runs.... (some people say up to 11, some say 16, some say 20)???
5. What are your race strategies..for example, do you run same pace entire time, do you start REAL slow and then speed up. If so, when do you speed up? How many miles do you run slow?

So help a girl out here.  My first marathon I ended up doing a run/walk situation because I was plagued with the most annoying IT band injury.  My second marathon I did OK. I went out strong and stayed strong until Mile 20 and then I was able to continue running but slowed down to nothing short of a turtle crawl... This time I want to try and stay strong and be strong because I FEEL STRONG DAMIT! I am hoping to show that marathon who is boss and I could really use all the help I can get.

Happy Running and wish me luck as I try to conquer this beast.  -Jen