Another week in the books. This week was half in Myrtle Beach and half at home. We got home on Thursday and since then it has been a whirlwind of unpacking, settling back in, a bit of relaxing, and of course a bit of running.

Monday- Morning 4 mile run at the beach. It was really hot and humid (even at 6:30 AM) and I only managed a 10:40/mile pace. I ran around the nearby swanky Kingston Plantation. It is a complex owned by Hilton with three or four high rise hotels, a whole mess of smaller condo buildings, and a fancy fitness center.

We said goodbye to my Dad and sister, who had to head home, and then Barry and I spent the rest of the day on the beach. In the afternoon I got him to play football and Frisbee with me. I will play for as long as the other person will, so both of us were sore the next morning.

Tuesday- Cross training day. Barry and I started out the day on the beach and decided to take a break for a mid-afternoon bike ride. I didn’t want to disturb the dogs by going in the camper to get my tennis shoes, so I rode in my flip flops. We ended up riding for ~30 minutes for a total of 9 miles or so.

Wednesday- Four mile run with 2 @ MP. I tried not to stalk my Garmin as much and ended up with my two middle miles coming in at 9:53 and 10:10. A little fast, but that’s alright. I also took running selfie #2, even though it embarrassed me to do so.

Thursday- Rest day and travel home from beach day. Can we call 50+ trips to/from the camper to unpack everything cross training?

Friday- Four mile run on the treadmill in the evening. The weather was really nice all day, but I just didn’t feel like going outside so I chose to run with Sven instead. Did you catch that?? That is my treadmill’s name! Except “running on Sven” sounds weird so I will refer to a treadmill run as “running with Sven.”

Saturday- 10 mile long run on the Dora and New River Trails. I finally accepted that taking a few short walk breaks during my long run can actually help me have a better run overall, and it doesn’t count as cheating.

Sunday- I met up with my running buddy, Kim, for a three mile run in the morning on the Dora Trail. She is keeping her runs under 5 miles and for good reason- she’s pregnant (due in December)!! Kim and her husband held a “reveal party” on Saturday with family and friends and we all got to find out along with them if they are having a boy or girl. It was the cutest idea. They had the doctor put the ultrasound picture in an envelope and had the people at the grocery store make a cake that was either blue or pink inside, and fill a box with either pink or blue balloons. Then at the party they opened the box in front of everyone and found out they are going to have a girl! I wish I had remembered to take a picture of all of the pink balloons coming out of the box as Kim and her husband opened it, but I was so excited that I forgot.

Total miles: 25

This week’s schedule:
Monday: 4 miles
Tuesday: XT
Wednesday: 4 miles w/ 2 @ MP
Thursday: rest
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 3 miles

Three. That’s how many walk breaks I took during my 10 mile long run this morning. They were all one-tenth of a mile in length and they happened at 2.9 miles, 4 miles, and 7 miles.

When I got to 4 miles I chose to take another 0.1 mile walk break. I didn’t necessarily feel like I needed one, but I thought it might help me mentally. And it did. I started running again and hit the halfway point feeling strong. I took a double latte flavored Power Gel (more liquid than the Gu, so it was easier to get down) and headed back down the trail.

I don’t plan on taking scheduled walk breaks during the marathon in November, but if I have to take them every now and again to get through a long run in training I am okay with that. 

Do you take walk breaks during training runs? Anyone use the Galloway Method for racing?

Have you ever seen a bear up close (zoo’s don’t count)?

How is the weather this weekend where you are?

We are headed home from vacation today. It’s always a sad day, but it also feels good to get home. Today is a rest day, so instead enjoy another Would You Rather Running Style Survey from Cori over at Olive to Run. If you missed it, HERE is her post. This was number 4 in her survey series. I also completed survey #3. Without further ado, here is survey #4!

Definitely hill repeats. Tempo runs are so tough for me, but practically every run I do loosely involves hill repeats.

I prefer to hydrate with water while on the run, and hydrate after my run with a watered down sports drink (such as Powerade).

I’d take sneezing over itching any day! Maybe if I ran backwards while sneezing it would propel me forwards more quickly?



Compete in the Olympics as a runner or in another sport? (What sport?)At this point in my life, I’d definitely say as a runner. If you had asked me when I was a kid, my answer would have definitely been in swimming.

I’m training for a marathon, not a 5K. What do you think? Funny enough, when I played soccer my coach gave me the nickname “energizer bunny” because I never got tired or stopped running.

I have only ever done speed work on a track. Although the track intimidates the heck out of me, I think I prefer doing my speed work there. There’s just some kind of reward in finishing each lap that I don’t think I’d get on the treadmill. Plus I’m afraid I’d be intimidated by the speed of the belt and end up flying off the back of the treadmill.

I’m with Stephanie on this one- I’d like to stretch and then do core work. In truth the only core work I do is when I do a 30 day shred workout, and I only stretch when I’m sore. I know, I know…

Have no toe nails OR black toe nails?
If you don’t have toe nails you don’t have anything to paint. You can at least paint black toe nails. Or you can walk around in flip flops with your black toe nails proudly on display, so that when people ask you about them you can tell them all about your running!

 

People who wear army packs while running always look so hard core! I used to see the cadets at tech running around with all of their gear. They’re tough stuff. Since I want to be tough stuff, too, my answer is army pack.

I’ll take once a day seven days a week over twice a day three times per week, as long as I won’t get injured. I’d much rather get to run once a day every day.

Side cramps, duh. You can still run with side cramps, but it would be awfully hard to run with leg cramps.



Barry, 2011 Richmond Marathon

This is the face of a runner at mile 26 who has had leg cramps since mile 19. You don’t smile at the finish line after that.

Luckily I always smile enough for the both of us.
 

Today is our last full day at the beach. I started the day with a 4 mile run with the two middle miles at marathon pace (MP). As I mentioned last week I have decided that I should be able to finish around 4:30 and therefore my marathon pace is 10:17/mile. I was really bad about “stalking” my Garmin last week. Holly gave me some great advice about not looking at my watch so much. She had some great suggestions about changing the settings of my watch, but I can’t do that until we get home so that I can look at the user’s manual (all I really know how to do is push start and stop and look up an old workout). In the meantime, I took her first piece of advice to heart: to just “check in” with my pace but to only make slight adjustments and aim for an overall average in my head. I took that to mean I could check my watch every 0.5 miles during my two MP miles so that’s what I did. And I learned I need some more practice at pacing.

I decided to run the first half of my run around the campground and the second half on the beach. I started out with an easy mile to warm up and then attempted to settle in at MP. The first half mile went well and I clocked in at 5:09, exactly where I should be. I’m not sure what happened after that, but my first mile at MP ended up being 9:53. Oops.

Campground lake, ocean is on the other side of the sea of campers

I headed out onto the beach for the second half of my run and continued with my checking in every half mile. The only problem was my watch shows total elapsed time, instead of lap time. So half a mile in to my second MP pace mile, I had no clue what the total time should be (basic math eludes me). My pace was just above 10 minutes/mile, though, so I figured I was doing alright.

I ended up running the second MP mile in 10:10. Better than the first, but still a little faster than I intended. That’s not really a problem, but I think I run a bit faster because I’m afraid of being slower than the pace I’m supposed to hit.

I also attempted selfie #2 today. This is a big deal because I took it while running on the beach, which means there were plenty of other people around. It still embarrasses me to take a picture of the scenery in front of other people, so you can imagine how high the embarrassment level is for me to take a picture of myself. Let’s not even imagine what it would be like for me to ask a stranger to take one of Barry and me.

I look like I am about to fall asleep and I also need to work on my smiling. That is what my smile looks like when I’m uncomfortable because people around me are looking at me. But at least I got my head and the ocean in the picture. That was the goal. And the best part about finishing up a run on the beach?

Taking off your shoes and socks and standing in the ocean! It was icy cold this morning but that felt so good after a humid (but not too hot) run.

Are you good at locking in to a set pace?

Do you enjoy soaking your feet in the water (if there’s water around) after a run?

Have you ever run barefoot on the beach?

A full week of vacation running in the books. All in all it went well. I stuck to my running schedule because that’s what I wanted to do. That meant all morning runs to beat the heat (as much as you can at the beach) and to leave my days open for beach and family time.

Monday-  4 mile sunrise run on the first full day of beach vacation.

Tuesday- Cross training day. Rode 8 miles on my bike with Dad and Barry.

Later in the day I recruited Barry for some beach Frisbee. Then Barry swapped out and tagged my little sister in, who played with me for awhile longer. Dad played a few times, too, on his way to and from the ocean.

Wednesday- 4 miles with 2 at marathon pace in the morning. Also ended up going for another 8 mile bike ride with Dad and Barry shortly after my run…. so a brick workout, I guess?

Thursday- Rest day. Hank and Scout took that to heart.

I was also informed my calves are “meaty” but at least I don’t have cankles (my dad says it’s spelled with a “k” because there’s no change from the knee to the ankle, but I’m sticking with a “c.” It’s my blog!)

Friday- Tough 4 mile run in the heat and humidity. The weather said it was 79 degrees with 90% humidity, but it felt like 83.

Saturday- A surprisingly enjoyable 8 mile long run in the morning. Surprisingly enjoyable because it was already 80 degrees with 97% humidity by 7 AM. But I felt good (aside from the headache and achy heel the last 2 miles) and my overall average pace was actually faster than Friday’s 4 mile run.

Sunday- Morning 3 mile run with the last 2 miles on the beach. I was really tired when my alarm went off at 6 AM so I shut it off and slept in until 7. Then I paid for it as the sun was already high in the sky and it was hot when I headed out for my run. My heel bothered me right from the start, but it felt better running on the sand for the last 2 miles. Barry thinks I have a bruised heel from all of the barefoot and flip flop walking. I plan to ice it and wear actual shoes when we walk the dogs (instead of the flip flops I’ve been wearing).

Total miles: 23

This week’s schedule:
Monday: 4 miles
Tuesday: XT
Wednesday: 4 miles w/ 2 @ MP
Thursday: rest
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 10 miles
Sunday: 3 miles