Six Miles Tonight

   I was originally going to run just 5 miles but after the first 2 miles I decided to go ahead and hit 6 miles for the first time since September 11 this year. I just hope I don't regret it, Friday I might just run 3 miles and then run 5 miles on the trails Sunday morning. My last time at 6 miles was 1:09:28 and tonight it was 1:05:01 so I did happen to cut 4 minutes off though I think I could have cut a little more than that.
   My splits were:
Mile 1 - 10:51
Mile 2 - 10:47
Mile 3 - 11:29
Mile 4 - 11:01
Mile 5 - 10:37
Mile 6 - 10:18

27 Degrees and I Did not Dress for It

   I was supposed to do the Get Dirty 5k this morning, but I had talked myself out of it. Instead I went and ran those same trails for 5.3 miles an hour before the race. The first 2 miles were miserable, I will not lie; I wore my capri tights, ankle socks, a regular thermal undershirt and a shirt over it, I did have on my gloves but they really didn't make a difference. Nothing to cover my ears which were numb, I almost talked myself into running just 1 mile, but when I got to 1 mile I talked myself into 3 miles, just survive 3 miles. I knew I would be happy with 3 miles though, so by the time I reached 2.5 miles I made up my mind to run 5 miles even if I was numb. The only thing that made it difficult was the cold, 27 degrees is the coldest I've ran in so far (that I can remember) and my whole upper body was number halfway through. I ran it in 57 minutes and 31 seconds with a pace of of 10:46. My splits were:
   Mile 1 - 11:10
   Mile 2 - 10:45
   Mile 3 - 10:40
   Mile 4 - 10:57
   Mile 5 - 11:01
   .3 miles - 9:48

  I will not be making that same mistake with my wardrobe, I don't think I could handle another one like it. I told my husband when I got back that this run was even insane for me. I haven't ran on trails (or roads) with snow yet, and I am excited to get that opportunity. The last two years I have always lost track and slacked during late fall and winter after the October Half, so I am pretty proud of myself for still doing so well and November already almost over. I just hope I am not going to regret it. I think my injury happened because of an extreme increase of mileage, June saw 27.1 miles, July 39.2 miles, August 66.2 miles, September 64.6 miles, then my injury caused me to drop down to a total of 27.2 miles or October and so far this month I have 50.3 miles with two more runs to go before November is over. It would be 3 more runs if I run Monday, Wednesday and Friday but I think I am going to rest the next two days and run Tuesday and Thursday instead. I will do some cross training tomorrow, some squats and lunges today and try some yoga tomorrow maybe. And lots of stretching.

Took it Easy This Morning

  My legs are feeling a little sore, I am pretty sure my left knee is dealing with the dreaded runner's knee among a few other things. None of it was enough to cause me to worry, but I opted to run 4 miles instead of 5 to be on the safe side and I will run 4 miles Tuesday and I would like to run 5 miles Thursday. My mom's family is having Thanksgiving on Thursday at noon, and then unfortunately we're having our Thanksgiving dinner later that evening, so Thursday is going to be crazy and stressful but hopefully I can get my run in early that morning. Saturday is the Get Dirty 5k race, depending on Thursday's run I might do a 2 or 3 mile run later that day afterwards or even on Sunday as an easy run.
   I took it much easier today, running 4.05 miles with a time of 43:49 and an average pace of 10:49. 
Mile 1 - 11:03
Mile 2 - 11:12
Mile 3 - 11:08
Mile 4 - 09:58

Yesterday's warm weather kind of kicked Molly's butt yesterday, but she is slowly recuperating.

Tonight's 5 Mile Run

   I went ahead and ran 5 miles this afternoon, after the 3rd mile my left knee was feeling kind of sore but it wasn't affecting my run so I kept going and it subsided. The run was pretty darn good, I ran an average pace of 10:20, my time was 51:43. My splits were:
   Mile 1 - 10:56
   Mile 2 - 10:38
   Mile 3 - 10:22
   Mile 4 - 10:08
   Mile 5 - 09:36

  I am still debating whether I want to train for the Indy Monumental Marathon for my birthday, I almost thought about Chicago's Marathon but I hate Illinois and the fact that Obama came from Illinois, and New York is a bit too far from us. I am pretty sure it will end up being Indy's since it is November 2, 2013 which will be the day before my 26 birthday. Eh, I've got quite a few months before I need to make my decision. Next April I signed up for the St. Louis Half Marathon (April 05, 2013) and I thought I was going to run the Southern Indiana Classic Half but that is the very next day after the on in St. Louis. Then there is the Spartan Sprint on April 26 so I will be getting 2 finisher's medal in April (Yay!).

Yesterday's Run

  I ran 4.3 miles yesterday, it wasn't as magical as last week's runs were but it wasn't bad either. My left knee had some soreness but not exactly, for some reason Runner's World blog tool won't allow me to post my blogs right now so god only knows when that is going to get fixed. Molly is feeling better so that is good, I think this cold weather is doing her much better than the warm weather did so I am really glad I didn't take her in Monday to be put to sleep. I know her time is coming soon, but she just isn't ready yet.
  I finished the 4.3 miles in 42:33 and my splits were:
Mile 1 - 10:06
Mile 2 - 10:11
Mile 3 - 10:00
Mile 4 - 9:31
.3 - 9:00
  So my Average pace was 9:53 and I feel good about it, though I am still debating about increasing Saturday's run to 5 miles... I think I might leave it at 4 or 4.5 and increase Sunday's run to 5 miles.

A run with Dorian

     Lord, pushing a 42 lb stroller with a 17 lb angel and a 10 - 15 lb carseat for 3.3 miles with hills is really hard. Yesterday was hard period but thankfully I didn't have to make a difficult decision with Molly. We really thought we were going to have to take her in and have her put to sleep, her health had suddenly declined so rapidly from Friday evening to Sunday that I decided to make the appointment at 5 p.m yesterday. Monday morning she seemed somewhat better, even Sunday night there were signs of improvement but I was determined to not change my mind until I came home Monday afternoon and looked into her eyes, she isn't ready to go. I am beginning to seriously wonder if the weather affects her, this past summer was extremely tough on her and for the past month our temps have gone up and down. Friday it reached 65 and then Saturday was 72, her health was at the worse but Sunday evening a cold front came in and it seems as the temps are dropping below 45 degrees her health and energy is increasing. Her appetite is somewhat back but still picky and she isn't collapsing anymore but walking around, and that persistent, stubborn Husky look is back in her eyes thank god. I know it is still inevitable, most likely she won't make it past this year but she isn't ready yet.
    I feel stupid now for making a thread on the BF at Runners World, hopefully it will die down quickly. 
   My pace yesterday wasn't as fast as last week, but I was pushing a really heavy stroller so I am not ashamed, my splits were:
Mile 1 - 11:27
Mile 2 - 11:34
Mile 3 - 10:33
.3 - 10:14

A Hilly Long Run

  This morning I added some hills, with a total elevation of 85 feet and loss of 90 feet (yeah I know, not much) and I focused on keeping it slow and easy. The hills definitely helped, and the warm temperature of 58 degrees and sunny so it felt like 65. Even though I had to slow myself down, I feel great about the run, especially with the amount of hills (6-8 total). My time was exactly 42:00 and pace was 10:28 min/mi, my splits were:
Mile 1 - 10:42
Mile 2 - 10:27
Mile 3 - 10:54
Mile 4 - 9:49
   I am glad I got to run today instead of tomorrow, now I will be able to run Monday, Wednesday and Friday rather than just Tuesday and Thursday. I can't let myself forget to stretch throughout today and do some squats and lunges. I told Cameron my plan of training for the Indy Monumental Marathon next November, it is going to be on November 2, 2013 the day before my 26th birthday so I figure it will be a great celebration and at a pretty well known race rather than the only marathon here in Evansville which is in April and has been canceled twice now due to humidity and heat. He's okay with it, but being non-runner he doesn't quite feel my excitement which I am not too worried about :)

Last night's run

   Last night's run wasn't bad, but not nearly as awesome as my last two runs. I started off a little too comfortable at 9:57 pace and slowed down a bit by the 2nd mile. My average pace was still under 10 minutes, I ran 4 miles for 39 minutes and 8 seconds which is still my best run for 4 miles. I think what I am going to do as I increase is increase one run a week like last weekend I increased my long run to 4 miles, then ran my Tuesday run at 3, and then increased my Thursday run to 4, this weekend I will run my long run at 4 miles.
   Next week:
Monday - 4 miles
Wednesday - 4 miles
Friday - 4 miles
Sunday - 5 miles
Tuesday - 4 miles
Thursday - 4 miles
Saturday 5 miles
Monday - 4 miles
Wednesday - 5 miles
Friday - 5 miles
   So on and so forth, one week I'll run 3 days and the next week I'll run 4 days, pretty much every other day if possible.
My splits last night were:
Mile 1 - 9:58
Mile 2 - 10:24
Mile 3 - 9:47
Mile 4 - 8:59
  So I still did good, better than just a couple weeks ago although my leg was starting to try and tighten up on me early one, nothing to worry about and I stretched afterwards. Once I get up to 10-15 miles per week I will add in one extra run, probably a recovery run the day after my long run, maxing maybe 2 miles depending on how I feel, 2 miles if my weekly is 10 and 3 miles if my weekly is 15 miles. I know I am trying to put it on paper but I got it all up in my head and will just take it day by day. I would like to have my longs runs reaching 13.1 miles every 3 weeks or so, I just want my long runs average between 8 and 13.1 miles. Not sure why, but I do know that I want to run the Indy Monumental Marathon next November on 11/02/2013 as a celebration of my 26th birthday (next year). Anyways, that is still a year away so I am just going to take things easy and not fret over anything.

Another AMAZING run!!!

  Two AWESOME runs in a row man! My sister wasn't able to make it the run, but that might have been a good thing, tonight's run was 3 miles and probably my fastest run so far: 28:15 minutes so the average pace of 9:25 but my splits were:
Mile 1 - 10:12
Mile 2 - 9:06
Mile 3 - 8:56
   I felt great the whole time, I didn't even feel the need to slow down at the beginning but near the end I was starting to feel like I was going to puke but I kept pushing along. It was sprinkling but I didn't are, I was wearing my little head band, my tights and I felt great. My goal this winter was to increase my speed to a sub 9 minute pace at least for 5k's and after tonight I can honestly see that happening. I weigh right at 141 lbs and I feel faster than I did last year, but that crappy scale last year was about 7 lbs off so when it was saying 134-135 I quite possibly could have been at 141-142 lbs. Heck I might be able to break an 8:30 pace for 5k's if I was able to push myself hard enough, but I will try not to bite off more than I can chew (yet). I am just so excited!!!!

An AMAZING 4 Mile Long Run

  I didn't get out at 6 this morning, Dorian didn't sleep too great in his new crib, the furnace kept going out and the temperature would drop to 65 degrees in the house so I  had to bring Dorian in bed with me. I didn't think I would get to run until later today, but Dorian fell asleep around 8 a.m and I put him in his bed and got ready to run. The run was amazing, I haven't felt that good during a run in a long time. I kept it under 11 minutes the whole time, I ran 4 miles in 40 minutes and 20 seconds. My splits were:
Mile 1 - 10:35
Mile 2 - 10:46
Mile 3 - 10:08
Mile 4 - 8:49
  I felt great, the last mile was my fastest ever and it is awesome! The first half of that mile was 9:04 and the last half mile was 8:40 and it wasn't easy but I felt great afterwards. The cold air made it a bit tough when inhaling while going faster, I'd have to say I prefer running fast in warmer weather. I am just so proud of this run, it was great and I hope I have more like it especially as I pick up in miles. It would be great to have an average pace of 10:04 a mile for 10 miles.

Running Everyday, I want to!

   I am getting that crave back, after the last couple of runs feeling so good I want to get out there and run every morning. I have to keep control of myself, otherwise I will end up injuring before I even recover from my last overuse injury. I also want to get out on the trails too, tomorrow I am thinking about running my normal 3 miles in the morning and 1 or 2 miles later that day on some trails. I won't go to Audubon as that is 3 miles and killer hills, I will go to Angel Mounds trails which are flat but still nice and I don't have to do 3 miles, I might even hit Wesselman's but they are normally packed with kids and they don't allow running or jogging. It's going to be raining a little tomorrow, but the weather shows that it will be around 30-40 % and the temperature will reach 50 around 1 p.m so I don't know yet. Sunday shows a high of 45-50 and no rain so I might reluctantly wait until Sunday to run. I don't want to chance getting sick, or having a miserable run on my birthday.
   I can't believe that NYC is still having the race, I mean showing people that you don't let a huge storm break you is fine, but it has broken NYC, people are living on the streets or without power and heat in a month that can easily go to below freezing temperatures. I am not signed up to run it, probably never will but I sure wouldn't run it during this. Especially after hearing about the victims having to give up hotel rooms to out of town runners, that is just cruel.

Twenty-Eight Degrees and I Ran

  I am buying a pair of ear muffs, good, light but warm pair of socks and tights dang it! I wonder if they sell florescent colored thermal long sleeved shirts, since I have been running early morning before light and enjoy it. Right now I am eye-balling some Under Armour stuff:
http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/womens-ua-extreme-coldgear-base-legging/pid1230909

http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=13233833&lmdn=Brand&cp=4406646.4413874.4413879.12181219
  I like the second one because the pink looks to be a bit florescent which would help tremendously.

http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=13242964&cp=4406646.4413874.4413879.12181219

  I am still looking for ear muffs and possibly a different pair of gloves that will be warmer. I'll probably go to Dick's Sporting Goods this weekend and take a look while hoping they have at least the last two there, otherwise I will just buy them offline. Anyways, to the run this morning, at 6:20 a.m., it was still really freaking cold, but not as awful as on the bike. It was 28 degrees, while feeling like 10 degrees colder than that. The grass was frosted over, but I love running or doing anything outside while watching the sun come up. It just isn't the same at night when the sun is going down, I don't know how to explain it but maybe because the "world" is waking up from silence and peace whereas at night everything is still "go-go-go" even as the sun goes down. It isn't until around 10:30 or midnight that everything starts to quiet down for the night.

  I ran 3.2 miles this time, with a time of 37:13 mainly because I kept the first mile or so easy and slow, I didn't want my muscles to tighten up since I didn't really warm them up or anything. And during mile 2 I kind of lost track of my pace and went to la la land ha! I am pretty confident I could have kept the 9:48 pace for at least half a mile, MAYBE close to a mile but I don't want to mess with it in these freezing temperatures and while my leg is still recovering.
Mile 1 - 11:47
Mile 2 - 12:19
Mile 3 - 11:12
.2 miles - 9:48