This evening I headed to the track with Barry to do another Yasso 800s workout. This is my third week doing Yasso 800s, so I am up to 6 repeats. I did a total of 5 miles, which included 6 x 800m. During the first three I just focused on running steady and hitting my 4:30 goal. During #4 I pretended I was starting over and only doing 3 and just kept saying to myself “1 of 3, 1 of 3.” And finally during the last two I just sang the chorus of “Royals” over and over again in my head. Hey, it worked.

1- 4:23          4- 4:23
2- 4:28          5- 4:21
3- 4:26          6- 4:09 (I went hard on the last one)

It was another solid track workout and I finished feeling strong and confident. I hit all of those paces on my own, too, as Barry was doing his own thing. I think I found a secret way to succeed in a track workout. It’s to eat a pre-workout small bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats as a snack about an hour beforehand. I would have never thought something containing milk would work for me, especially before a track workout. But it does! I also ate it before last week’s track workout. It also helps that it was only 71 degrees with 69% humidity this evening and the entire track was in shade by the time we got there.

Barry and I have been watching America’s Got Talent this summer and have been enjoying all of the talented acts, as well as the judges. When the season first started, he wasn’t sure who Mel B was. First I told him she was a Spice Girl, but that didn’t help any. Then I told him she was Scary Spice, who always had the crazy hair do’s. Then he knew who she was and commented that she looks a lot prettier on AGT, without all the crazy Spice Girls makeup.

Howard Stern, Heidi Klum, Mel B, and Howie Mandel

But he still didn’t fully appreciate who she is. So I was forced to rent the movie Spice World from Netflix to enlighten him, and relive a bit of my childhood in the process. We watched it last night. Don’t worry, he survived.

I, on the other hand, spent the whole movie fighting the urge to sing along with the songs. There’s a rumor the Spice Girls will be performing on the finale of America’s Got Talent in a few weeks. One can only hope, because watching that movie made me feel like a kid again!

Anyone watch America’s Got Talent?

Have you ever seen Spice World?

Sporty Spice! My backup was Baby Spice if I lost the fight to be Sporty Spice.

If you’ve been dealing with humid weather, are you finally getting a break this week?

Holy moly how is it September already!? It was hot and humid this week (summer’s last hurrah??) and I had more tough runs than good ones. Every time I have a tough run, I find myself questioning my “right” to be training for a full marathon. But logically I know that I have every right to be, and that I cannot base anything on any single run. And then there are the good runs, which reaffirm my belief in myself and my ability. Luckily I do have a few of those, and Monday was one of them.

Monday- Five miles at the track, Yasso 800s style. I started with an 800m warm up, then did 5 x 800m repeats @ 4:30 with 400m jogs in between, and 1200m cool down. This was a really great workout for me. I felt strong and felt like I ran solid. I managed to come in under my goal of 4:30 on each one, although I wasn’t aiming to do so.

1- 4:15
2- 4:25
3- 4:17
4- 4:21
5- 4:13

Basically all that picture shows you is that I prefer my Timex watch when I’m running at the track, that I wore a pink shirt, and that it took me 9:08 to run 2 1/2 laps and walk 1/2 a lap on my 1200m cool down.

Tuesday- Unplanned rest day. I woke up in the morning a little bit before my alarm with a migraine and it pretty much stole my whole day.

Wednesday- 5 miles with 3 at marathon pace. This run was t-o-u-g-h. I think it was a mix of the heat (82 degrees and humid) and the migraine I had the day before. My legs felt really heavy and I felt low on energy. Barry ran with me, which helped keep me going. But I wont lie, I made us stop halfway through just to take a breather and mentally regroup. My marathon pace miles came in at 10:21, 10:15, and 10:03. My goal pace is 10:18, so these were pretty close, but boy did they feel hard. We ran on the roads around our house, which means hills. This was the first time I’ve done a marathon pace run on hills.

But it’s probably good practice. Check out the elevation profile for the marathon:

When you look closely, you see most of the elevation change is happening between 650′ and 740′, which is very similar to the types of hills I currently run on.

Thursday- Cross training day. I did a Jillian Michael’s level 3 30 day shred workout. It’s amazing how challenging this workout was after not doing it for two weeks.

Friday- Easy 5 miles. The pace was easy, but that was all that was easy about this run. I should not have waited until mid-afternoon, when it was 82 degrees, to go for my run. My legs were feeling as tired as they did on Wednesday, so I kept the pace easy (to where my breathing was easy, at least) and pushed through.

Saturday- Ten mile long run on the Huckleberry Trail. I joined up with Kim two miles into the run, and we ran together for the middle 6 miles. I have noticed a trend of being “on” one week and “off” the next when it comes to my long runs. I was hoping to try and break this trend by running on my favorite trail. But it was so muggy outside (mid-70’s to 80 degrees with 100% humidity) that the run itself was tough. My legs were feeling tired early on, but Kim kept me going.

Sunday- 3 mile recovery run. I waited until 9:00 PM to run, so I ran with Sven (the treadmill) since you won’t catch me running outside by myself after the sun sets. My legs were feeling a bit stiff and sore from my long run the day before and it felt good to get them moving and shake them out a bit. It was one of those “just feels good to run” kind of runs. I need more of those in my life. 

Total Miles: 28

This week’s schedule:
Monday: 5 miles
Tuesday: XT
Wednesday: 5 miles w/ 3 @ MP
Thursday: rest
Friday: 5 miles
Saturday: 12 miles
Sunday: 3 miles

What do you think of that marathon elevation profile? I’ve seen people on marathonguide.com describe it as “rolling” and as “OMG the hills never stopped.”

The elevation profile for the marathon indicates a total ascent of 1,168 feet. According to my Garmin data from my 10 mile long run on the Huckleberry Trail, I had 1,770 feet in total ascent. Do you think that means I’m adequately preparing myself for the hills in Charlotte?

Treadmill question: I always run with it on 1% incline, because I read you’re supposed to do that to account for the lack of wind resistance. But I’ve also seen some people say that’s not necessary. If you use a treadmill, what do you have the incline set on?

Deb over at Deb Runs nominated me for a Sunshine Award. Thanks, Deb! You brighten my day with sunshine, too. I have seen this cute award floating around the blog world lately. It gives bloggers a chance to recognize other bloggers who are positive and creatively inspire their readers, and bring a ray of sunshine to their day (pretty much Deb’s description word for word… and she added that last part).

Here’s how it works: once you have been nominated and choose to participate, please:

1. Include the Sunshine Award logo on your blog or in a post.
2. Link to the person that nominated you.
3. Answer the ten questions about yourself.
4. Nominate ten other bloggers to receive the award, and link your nominees to the post.  Let them know that they have been nominated.

Deb asked us to use the questions Melissa provided for her, so here they are with my responses!

1.  If money were no option, what one item would you go buy tomorrow?
I would buy a farm with a house big enough to comfortably raise three kids in. Ideally, I would buy a farm and then build our house on it. And then I would go on vacation to Hawaii. Guess I didn’t exactly follow the rules of the “one item.”

2.  What chore do you enjoy doing the least and why?
I least enjoy dusting. I hate having to move things around to dust and it usually makes me sneeze. Yet I dust our living room and entrance area almost every week.

I totally wear a dress and apron while dusting, too.

3.  Most of the clothes in your closet can be found from what three stores?
JCPenny’s, Gap, and Old Navy. Like Deb, I have more Virginia Tech apparel than I know what to do with. But unlike her, most of mine resides in a drawer or two in my dresser. My closet is full of boring work clothes and fun summer dresses.

4.  If you could only use one beauty product for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
Does hair gel count as a beauty product? If so, then that’s my answer. I’d be a frizz ball without it! If hair gel is not a beauty product, then I’d choose mascara. On days where I don’t feel like putting any make-up on, I’ll still put on mascara (usually).

5.  Do you have any nicknames from friends or family?  What are they?
When I played field hockey and soccer, my teammates would sometimes call me “Megs” for short on the field. Other than that I don’t really have any nicknames. My dad does call me “rotten kid” (and has done so ever since I was little) so I guess that would also qualify as a nickname. 🙂

6.  Why did you start your blog?
I started blogging after regularly following a few running blogs for about a year. I thought it was so fun to read about their training and racing (and all the other random things you come across in running blogs) and finally decided it would be fun to be the one writing a blog. I love all of the connections I’ve made by having this blog!

With Deb at the 3.2 for 32

7.  Shoes or purses?
Hmmm well I love my running shoes, and they are definitely the most expensive shoes I own. I am a big fan of purses, though. I love Dooney & Bourke and Michael Kohrs purses, but have yet to ever fork over the money to own one.

8.  Describe your perfect day from start to finish.
I would wake up and go for a 6 mile run with Barry on the roads around our house. It would be 60 degrees and partly cloudy, with low humidity. When we got home, I’d grab a shower and then enjoy a cup of coffee while fully completing the crossword puzzle in the paper. Then Barry and I would fix eggs for breakfast and spend the rest of the morning hanging out on the back deck. After lunch we would take the dogs for a walk on the trail and then spend the afternoon relaxing and watching the Hokies win a football game. In the evening we would go out for dinner with friends at a local restaurant and then come home and watch a movie together. Then we would play a game of Gin Rummy (I would win by a small margin 🙂 and then I would read in bed for a bit before going to sleep.

9.  Who do you look to for style inspiration or advice?
I don’t really have anyone in particular that I look to for style inspiration or advice. I think in general, if I see someone else wearing something I like, then it inspires me. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? I also just go wander through my favorite stores and then I see clothes I like and am inspired to buy them. 🙂

10.  What are you too afraid to pursue right now, whether in your dreams, work, or relationships?
I am afraid to take a chance and look into an opportunity that is right in front of me. I am hesitant to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. I have a lot more thinking to do. I also know for certain that I want a family someday and that I don’t want to wait forever. But at the same time, some days I find myself thinking “Am I really ready to be responsible for another human being?” So far the answer is “not yet.”
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Now it is my turn to nominate ten other bloggers who bring sunshine to my day! Some of you have already been nominated, but I am going to add a second nomination to your list of accolades and awards. To keep things simple, I am also going to ask you to answer the same questions Deb had for me, so that you don’t have to try and answer two sets of questions. Without further ado:

Last night I found something to do with all of the eggs we have now (we get six eggs a day from our chickens). I made a chicken, rice, and veggie quiche and a ham and cheese quiche! We ate the chicken, rice, and veggie quiche for dinner last night, and it ended up being pretty good fuel for my long run.

This morning Barry and I headed up to the Huckleberry Trail in Christiansburg for our long run. I ended up doing a little over 10 miles and he put in a little over 11 miles for the day. I was planning on meeting up with my running buddy, Kim, and she had the genius idea to meet me at the parking lot 2 miles into my run. She is limiting her long runs to 5 or 6 miles, so this allowed us to run the middle 6 miles of my run together. It was 70 degrees at the start of my run, with 100% humidity, and over 80 at the end with humidity in the 90’s. That definitely made the run tough and made it hard for me to try and break my long run trend. I think it will take a few more weeks to try and see if the pattern is disrupted. I was feeling rough enough that I was kind of wanting a walk break, and I told Kim if she wanted a walk break I was totally cool with that (because I secretly wanted to walk). But she was running tough today and she kept me going. If we hadn’t met up for those middle miles, I probably would have walked.

It was humid enough that I managed to drink all 20 ounces of my water by mile 8. Luckily this also happened to be back at Kim’s starting point, and she offered me water from her car to get me through my last 2 miles. She filled up my water bottle a little over halfway and I drank all of it before I got to mile 10. I cannot wait until fall gets here and the humidity goes away. I think my long runs will be a lot more enjoyable when it doesn’t feel like I’m breathing water.

After our long run, Barry and I did a few errands in town. We swung by PetsMart to get some more dog food, and the employees asked us where Hank and Scout were. Yes, they know our dogs by name because Hank and Scout tend to make an impression on people. I had to explain that they were home sleeping and we were just running some errands since we were in town. After PetsMart we headed over to the local bike shop where I grabbed some Honey Stinger waffles to try out. I am still experimenting with new fuel and wanted to give these a try.

And since it was just up the road from the bike shop, we had to swing by Carol Lee’s for some donuts!

I spy a white iced with Hokie sprinkles!

With dog food, Honey Stinger waffles, and donuts secured we headed home. I got my usual weekend cleaning done while I watched Game Day and we ate some of the ham and cheese quiche I made last night for lunch.

Now it’s almost game time! I’m excited, but nervous. This game against Alabama is going to be a tough one.

Go Hokies!!

How is the weather where you are? Is it hot and humid, too?

Have you ever tried Honey Stinger waffles? What did you think of them?

What are your weekend plans?