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!

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!

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.

Upgrade!

Love my new look? After too many failed attempts at changing my blog template/look and feel, I finally found an easy way to make it look good without too much hassle. I'm still having issues with my header, but oh well that will just have to stay messed up. It's something in my HTML code that got screwy after changing to and from templates.

Who knew you could upload a free background with hardly no fuss at all?! This was great news for me, as I have no clue how to edit websites or HTML code (unless I have software telling me how to do so, managed a client's website once before and that was cake...this, not so much).

Yesterday was an off day for me, so no running or working out of any kind ensued. Instead, I spent my day working on my to-do list, cleaning the apartment, and studying for my big insurance test. (Oh, and watching Amazing Race. My favorite.show.ever. I think me and the boo would be the BEST contestants on that show! Must remember to send in video entry.)

Gotta get to work this morning so this will be short and sweet. I leave you with the view from our balcony yesterday after the thunderstorm. Beautiful!


Happy Monday!