LifePoint 5k Race Report + New PR!

Whew! Beautiful Saturday morning (high 60s and clear, supposed to be in the 80s today!) and I already knocked out my morning 5k. The LifePoint 5k Run/Walk was at James Island County Park, which I had never been to before, and it was nice.

There was only one problem....hundreds of BUGS!

Matt went with me and we both were getting eaten alive by gnats waiting on the race to start. After it was over, I think I picked like 10 of those things off my face/neck/arms...so gross!

The race was small and they didn't use any timing chips, my first race without them! So the "starting line" was just a chalk line on the grass. Here is everyone lined up waiting to go.



The race took us through the park, winding through weeping willows and marshland on the bike trail. I didn't get many pics, sorry! Here's me pre-race:


But, I did set a new PR of 25:30!!! Matt said I was the 6th or 7th female to cross the finish line! Woo hoo!

We didn't wait around afterwards, we were getting eaten up pretty badly by the gnats. But I was so excited that I beat my previous PR of 26:17. I am so happy that I am getting faster and more fit!

For the rest of the day, I think I am going to shower and get some breakfast and then get to studying for my exam! I also need to do some cleaning. I have to make sure I drink a ton of water today...17 miles on the agenda for tomorrow... :( I think I might also work on a new route so I'm not running over the bridge...i.e. something a bit more flat :)

Also, the Charleston Food and Wine Festival is in town this weekend (and Food Network's Bobby Flay) so we might possibly check that out.

Hope everyone has a fantastic Saturday! Go outside and play!

Beautiful Weather and Hooray Spring 6 Miler!

I could not be more thrilled that today is Friday. I woke up early, had time to make a nice breakfast and pack a good lunch, and even got to catch up on my reading! All before work. I am also excited because today was finally warm enough for me to wear a new dress I had been saving...PLUS, it looks like it may be warm enough this weekend for some beach time! Best time of year. :)

I started out this morning with some Apple Cinnamon Oats, only because after I started to make it I realized the only fruit in the house was one lonely apple.

Here's what I put in there:

• 1/3 cup quick cooking oats (do you guys all make steel cut oats? I am lazy and use the quick kind)
• 1/2 scoop Vanilla Soy Protein Powder
• NF milk
• Water
  
• almost 1 apple diced (munched on the rest of it)
• 1 packet of Splenda
• Some cinnamon
• 1 spoonful of Publix Natural Chunky PB
• 1 spoonful Dannon Lite and Fit Vanilla Yogurt

Yum! Next time I think I will add the PB and apple while cooking, it was kind of cold by the time I got around to eating it.

All mixed up:


I also started my day off with something other than coffee, which is kind of a shocker to me, a double dose of green tea!


Hooray for Spring 6 Miler!
RunningLaur over at When I get a little, run run run has been kind enough to arrange a virtual 6 miler on the first day of spring. Since I am new to the online running community, I haven't been able to take part in any of these so far! So I am pretty pumped about this one. Here's what she says about the race:

Here are the details, and keep in mind that I'm very relaxed on the 'rules':

• Date: Friday, March 20 - the first day of spring! Saturday, March 21 is the historic date of the equinox however, the tilt of the earth has changed, so the 21st is generally known as the traditional date. And well, Saturday is a lot easier to run on. I will also accept a race time from anytime during the first week of Spring (until Friday March 27) so that the celebration can last all week.
  
• Distance: 6 miles or 6 km. Like most real races, there are multiple distance corrals! Non-Americans, or those preferring lower mileage for any reason, may opt for the 6 km option. Let me know which one you did with your results. Note that this may be part of a longer training run if you like too. I'm easy.
  
• Purpose: To celebrate and enjoy Spring! Also, racers will compete for prizes (of a sort...), yay!
  
• Prizes: No real life prizes, sorry - I don't have cool sponsors like some bloggers, but I do have Microsoft Paint and the love of all things tacky and ugly. Winners, in various categories (not necessarily speed based), will be awarded wonderfully silly award logos that can be placed on your blog. Now who doesn't love pimping out their blog?!?!? All participants will receive a virtual bib, when printed, becomes a real bib.
  
• Registration: FREE!!! Comment with your name and planned distance. If you want to throw in a goal time too, go for it - this way you can race against yourself. My submission: RunningLaur, 6 miles, 66 minutes.

I have 'registered' for the 6 mile race, and I will probably do it sometime during the week since I will most likely be doing a long run on that weekend.

Running schedule for this weekend:
I asked for some opinions yesterday as to what I should run today (obviously I didn't get up and run this morning, so will be done after work) and joyRuN suggested I cross train, which honestly I hadn't even thought of. Since I don't have a gym membership yet, I haven't been able to get into too much cross training recently.

But I DO have a road bike that has basically been gathering dust since last February, and since it is such nice weather....I think I might take it out tonight.

I have my 5k tomorrow morning, and my long run on Sunday so I am trying to be as healthy as I can today and throughout this weekend. Especially since I ate Mexican last night.* I hope everyone has a fantastic Friday and an even better weekend! Wish me luck on my race!



* I may or may not have eaten bean dip, chips and salsa, and a spinach quesadilla with guacamole and sour cream. If I DID eat all that, my experience may have been ruined due to the four screaming snot nosed kids whose baby-talking parents were letting them run throughout the entire restaurant. Note to self: stick to restaurants downtown near the college, where it is almost guaranteed you won't run into these situations.

Track Workout & Speedy Splits!

I am happy to report, that this week is shaping up to be a good one for running. (At least for me.) I headed to the track last night in Mt. P to do some speedwork, and I warmed up with 3 miles. I really hate running anything more than a mile at a track, but it's just more convenient for me to run it there and then immediately jump into 100 m sprints.

I was looking over my Garmin Connect data for the last time I ran at the track, and it was a few weeks back on February 13th. Now, I seem to remember that week (my birthday week!) as me being pretty lazy running wise, so I am taking this with a grain of salt. BUT my 3 mile total for that day was 31 minutes even. (That's slow even for me.)

Last night, I ran it in 26:56 shaving over 4 minutes off my time!! I usually don't try to run this too quick as I know I will be doing sprints afterward, plus it's on a track, ugh. But I was feeling pretty good last night. I usually do run 3 milers pretty quickly, but my best time even in a 5k race is only 26:17!

After looking at those numbers, I am pretty excited to see how well I will run my 5k race on Saturday.

I do have a question for you guys though, I am planning on running my long run Sunday morning after the race on Saturday. I will probably aim for anything above 15 (17 would be ideal) and then next weekend, will probably back down to about 12 as Abby suggested, then back up again to 18 or 19 the next week.

I am not running today as I have a meeting I forgot about after work (ugh, messes up my plans!) So my question is, what should I run tomorrow? I will most likely do it in the morning so I will have plenty of recovery time for the race on Friday, but I also don't want to overdo it and be too tired by Sunday morning. Any suggestions would be great!

So just to review, this has been my week:
Saturday: 15 miles in way too long
Sunday: OFF
Monday: OFF
Tuesday: 6 miles in 56:17
Wednesday: 3 miles in 26:XX and 6 x 100m
Thursday: OFF, Yoga
Friday: ????
Saturday: 5k race, Yoga
Sunday: 15-17 miles

Thanks for helping! :)

March Goal #3: YOGA:
In other news, I mentioned that one of my March goals was to start doing yoga more frequently. This morning when I was reading through everyone's blogs I was happy to find that Lisa over at On the Run (she's the race director for the NC Marathon that I am training for on May 2nd) posted today about how starting yoga in this stage of training for a May marathon can really benefit you.

Here are a few snippets from her post:

Running, as (my yoga teacher) put it, makes you strong but tightens and shortens your muscles. Yoga stretches them, lengthens them.

One great warm-up: She (my yoga teacher) would bring a bag of tennis balls so we could sit first on one cheek, then the other, and roll around on the little ball. It got right to the spot where your overworked hamstring connects to the glute, or butt, muscles. My left one chronically tightens up on any run longer than six miles, and sitting on that ball gets right to the trouble and massages the knotted up stuff.

Makes sense, right? So why am I am not taking the time to do it? I have the YogaDownload.com Yoga for Runners free session, and I am definitely going to take the time to do it tonight.

I look forward to reading any suggestions about my run tomorrow! I am also glad that I have found a few local running bloggers this week as well. :)

I am now headed off to a meeting and then MEXI NIGHT with Matt!* Be jealous!

*Matt is the boyfriend, figured if I have posted his picture I might as well post his name too!

March Goals & A Saturday 5k

Ahh, another day off running, and I don't even mind it.

I had decided yesterday that I would take today off as well from training, as much for my sanity as for my body. My long run on Saturday was so depressing, plus it did leave me a little sore Sunday and today, I just needed some time off to chill. Plus I am spending tonight studying for my life, accident and health insurance exam (that my bosses are on me to schedule to take any day now...).

But, I needed a break from studying so here I am.

I have a few goals in mind for March, so I thought I would share.

1. I have decided that I need to kick start some weight loss. I have been at the same weight for over a year now, and I need to do something to lose about 5-10 pounds. So officially, my goal for March is to lose at least 6 pounds. For me, the only way to lose weight is to just cut back on my portions, and replace a few lunches with salads. I already eat pretty healthy, but sometimes I just eat too much knowing that I will just burn it off on a run.
2. Another goal for the month (as well as a way to help achieve #1) is to to join a gym and start weight training. My boyfriend and I have been planning on doing this for a while now, and we both realized that March is our month. So once our tests are over (he has three tomorrow...ugh) we will make a final decision as to which one. I hope to weight train twice a week.
   
3. Stretch a lot more, i.e. do more yoga! I do take the time to stretch after each run (we have these great bars outside our building that are perfect stretch companions) but I know I don't do it long enough, and if I add some yoga to my routine not only it will make me feel better but will also help to prevent against injury. This will be especially useful in the coming months as I round the corner to the (gasp) marathon.

Since I am starting this weight loss thing today, I went home for lunch to make a big salad filled with veggies. This is also part of my plan to eat healthy on a budget, where I don't spend $ on going out to lunch or grabbing a $6 salad from WF or somewhere.

I started off with mixed greens, black olives, feta cheese, chopped onion, and chopped celery.


Then I finished it off with one shaved carrot, some alfalfa sprouts, Tribe roasted garlic hummus, pepper and olive oil and balsamic vinegar.



It not only tasted great, but it was a good way to get rid of some things in the fridge (half of an onion, cut celery stalks, black olives, remnants of feta and hummus...) so all in all fulfilled two goals: 1) eating healthy! 2) sticking to my budget and NOT wasting any more food!

Oooo almost forgot! I am now registered for the Lifepoint Gift of Life 5k this Saturday! This will be my first race since last November! Unfortunately, I will be running it alone, but I think the bf might get up early to cheer me on. :) I went back and forth about doing it at all since I would be by myself, but since I don't have any real running friends around here yet, I figured I might as well! Plus reading everyone's race reports have made me miss having a race of my own to brag about! After the 5k on Saturday, I hope to be in good shape for my long run Sunday morning. (Anything would be better than last weeks long run!)

Now I must get back to studying (and to my green tea) but thank you ALL for your lovely comments on our new look here, and again thanks for everyone's help on my training. I hope this week in running will be fab.

Charlie Post Classic and other local races

In doing some local running research, found the Charlie Post Classic 5k/15k run next Saturday, January 31st. I had heard about this race before, but for some reason had written it off...I think I thought it was like a 50 miler or something.

Anyways, so excited because A) I will be in town, B) 15k would be a perfect distance for me next week, and C) I might be able to convince my boyfriend to run the 5k!

Putting that one down on my calendar :)

Was planning on running a 1/2 Marathon on February 7th at Folly, the Save the Light Run, but unfortunately will be out of town on business until late that evening.

Also excited about the Bridge Run this year, which will be on April 4th. Hopefully I will have some friends come stay with us from NC for that weekend. Always a good time!