Negative Splits! FINALLY!

Don't have too much time to post, but wanted to brag about my 6 miler last night. I think it was the first time ever that I actually had negative splits! I wasn't feeling all that great (kept getting side stitches again, what's up with that?) but I decided around mile 1 that I felt good enough to run 3 miles out and then turn around to make a quick 6 miler (I was only planning on doing 4.5 to 5).

Here are my totals and split times:

Time:	00:56:17
Distance:	6.06 mi
Elevation Gain:	563 ft
Total Calories:	677 C

Avg Pace: 09:17 min/mi

Best Pace: 07:23 min/mi

Split	Time	Dist.	Elevation Gain	Elevation Loss	Avg. Speed	Max Speed
1	0:09:38	1	77	82	9:38	7:57
2	0:09:26	1	54	47	9:26	8:42
3	0:09:34	1	205	229	9:34	8:04
4	0:09:33	1	68	62	9:33	8:54
5	0:09:03	1	43	73	9:03	8:21
6	0:08:31	1	117	65	8:31	7:23
7	0:00:29	0.06	0	0	7:50	7:35
Summary	0:56:17	6.06	563	557	9:17	7:23

Woo! That took too long to get all that up here, Garmin Connect decided to change up their format...but look at those beautiful split times?? I was sooo proud of myself when I got home! I know that isn't the speediest time ever, but for me, it was just what I needed. I have been running so much slower lately in these long runs that I missed a little bit of speed!

Anyways, yesterday was fairly slow at work. I did manage to have a different breakfast (other than oatmeal or cereal) as I knew I would be eating grains at lunch (leftovers from Monday's shrimp stir fry...even better than last time!).

Vanilla light and fit yogurt, 1/2 a banana, some strawberries, and a scoop of natural PB. It was heaven!

I also had to sip on a double dose of green tea yesterday afternoon, I was so run down, and even left work early with a headache. My run made me feel better though!


Also we made home made pizzas last night for dinner! (We can't do his and hers pizza, we have to make HIS pizza and her pizza...the bf was hungry! Plus then we have leftovers.) His turned out great! I burnt mine....boo. But it was still decent, I ate it. It had spinach, tofu, goat cheese, banana peppers, mushrooms and a few black olives...next time I will A) Not burn it, and B) Use frozen spinach and more cheese! (Sorry no pics of burnt pizza) :)

I also didn't have enough time to plan out what I wanted on it (was planning on making baked Tilapia but the boo had a hard day at school and wanted pizza) and ALSO my tomato that I specifically bought for my pizza somehow dissappeared between Publix and out apt...strange indeed.

Gotta get on to work so hopefully will have more updates later on tonight's run! I think I am going to run the bridge (6 miles). Although I need to do some sprints, so I might go to the track...can't decide.

Also...I am finally listed on the Lowcountry Bloggers Blogroll! Really looking forward to meeting some of the other local running bloggers at the iFivek in April!

Hope everyone has a fantastic hump day!

This week's tempo run + soup review

Before I get into last night's run, I wanted to "review" the soup I had for lunch yesterday. A few weeks ago I was browsing the soup aisle and noticed that this brand was on sale. It usually takes me forever to pick out soups because I am analyzing the sodium content vs. the caloric content vs. if there are any natural ingredients at all.

Health Valley soups are not only Organic, but they also have a line that is "No Salt Added." This is completely healthier than "Lower Sodium" as there are hardly any mg of salt in the former. I have looked at many "healthy" soups that may be low in calories, but are loaded with salt. I try to avoid these, so it's been very hard for me to keep soups stocked in my cabinets. Previously I have tried Health Valley's Potato Leek No Salt Added soup and it was fantastic! So I picked up some Minestrone at Whole Foods the other day and tried it for lunch yesterday.

It was very good! Although I did add some salt to it, at least I can control how much salt there actually is in the soup! (At work we have some Morton's Light Salt, which is half the sodium of table salt! Who knew?) So I enjoyed this version, and will definitely continue buying this brand. It is the ONLY brand I have found that has No Salt Added....please comment if you know of any other brands that offer this.

I also did pack a spinach salad with feta, green olives and almonds that I enjoyed with my soup. I had some of that Wishbone Spritzer dressing in Caesar that I used. That stuff is great! I usually use that at work, while at home I always go with olive oil and either apple cider vinegar or balsamic, depending on the salad. Now onto the running!

I set out last night for my tempo run, not really wanting to run, and not really feeling all that great. But I am leaving to go out of town Thursday evening so I knew I couldn't skimp on my Tuesday and Wednesday runs.

It was scheduled to be 2 mi marathon goal pace (which I have determined for this marathon is going to be between 10:00 and 10:30, if I do better than that, well hell yeah!) then 2x2 miles Tempo and then 3 more miles MGP.

I was going to make two loops around the Peninsula, one loop is about 4.5, but only made it around once with some walking at the end...Here are the sad split times:

1	00:10:54	1.00 mi	10:54 min/mi	--	--	111 C
2	00:10:12	1.00 mi	10:12 min/mi	--	--	114 C
3	00:09:10	1.00 mi	09:10 min/mi	--	--	112 C
4	00:10:18	1.00 mi	10:18 min/mi	--	--	114 C
5	00:01:11	0.12 mi	09:46 min/mi	--	--	12 C

Total Time: 00:41:46

Distance: 4.12 mi

Elevation Gain/Loss: 580 ft / 645 ft

Calories: 463 C
Avg Pace: 10:08 min/mi

Max Pace: 04:10 min/mi

The entire run felt like I was running uphill, even though it was flat. My legs were tight and my right arch has been bothering me with my new shoes...I might have to go back to the 'ole Asics. But at least I managed something, see my "sprint" during mile 3?? That was the 'Tempo" portion of last evening's run, please hold your applause.

Tonight I will be running over the bridge for a total of an 80 minute run. Then out of town tomorrow afternoon!