Endurance Run #1

On Monday we did our first set of long interval, endurance runs. *Disclaimer: I acknowledge that these runs in no way compare to 7+ mile endurance runs. They are simply the longer runs that we will do as part of the Fit-tastic program.* The goal for this week is to do two sets of 18 minutes running and 1 minute walking.

We left from the downtown area Y, down Pullen and through Dix campus. It’s a pretty nice route and has a few steady uphill sections. I had decided to run with some of the faster women who keep a slightly slower pace than the few guys I normally run with. My goal from here on out is not necessarily time improvement, but pace improvement. I don’t want to take any walking breaks from now on. I liked the women I was with, and we were talking, so naturally I rolled my ankle over a pine cone in the first half mile. It stung a bit, but was bearable so I soldiered on.

The end result was 3.79 miles in 44:13. Definitely slower than normal, but for the long runs I need to have a pace that I can maintain without burning out.

I didn’t take any walk breaks, even though I really wanted to. One of the Y’s trainers ran with us, so I used her to push myself up that last uphill section before we finished.

I’m happy I was able to slow myself down a bit and find a more sustainable pace. Here’s to keeping it up – and no more injuries! – for the rest of the week!

NC VAN 5K

This morning was my first race of 2013. The NC VAN (Victim’s Assistance Network) 5k is the first race I ever ran back in 2012. I love this race because it’s fairly small and not super competitive, so it’s kind of an ego boost to see where you finish.

It was pretty cold this morning, around 49 before we started running. Did not help with my warm ups to have my legs be so cold! Sadly, the timing company bailed on them a few weeks back, so I had no race bib and no official time. Luckily, I still have my RunKeeper app to get an idea of what the official time would’ve been.

The first mile had a lot of uphill portions, but I was about #5 overall and the first place woman that mile. I found a guy who was running about my pace and used him to keep steady for the whole race. Mile two was ok. I was passed by one other guy, so I was between #6 and #7 overall, since my pacing guy and I passed each other every so often.

The last mile was rough. I was gassed, and there were lots of twists and turns. Two other guys came out of no where and passed me. Then, the last half mile, one girl passed me while on a brief walking break. I passed her when I resumed running, and then she passed me again. I thought I had more distance towards the end, so I could pass her one last time, but when I rounded the final corner, I saw I was only 100 m from the finish line and there wasn’t enough time to catch up.

At the end, I finished #10 overall, and #2 for women. RunKeeper clocked me at 3.21 miles in 28:09. My average pace was 8:47, so only a little higher than my goal of between 8-8:30/mi. I’m a little bummed that I wasn’t the #1 placed woman, but #2 is nothing to turn my nose up at. Plus I got a sweet tote bag full of Burt’s Bees products as a prize!

Great first race for 2013 – and here’s to my next race on the 27th!

UPDATE: there’s a few shots of me running on WRAL’s video coverage of the race! Check it out!

Brooks Running Clothes – my new obsession

I love Brooks Running gear. I mean, I really really love it. I mean, I broke my bank account buying tons of shirts on sale last week level of love it (it’s not my fault – there was a free shirt if you spent a certain total!).

The more I run and workout the more I realize it’s important to have good gear that will keep you dry and comfortable. I’ve learned the hard way that what is great for the gym or studio is not good for running. Those slim fitting tops that keep your form visible and your tummy covered in yoga will become your worst nightmare 0.3 miles into a run as you fight to keep it below your rib cage. And so began my great quest to find good workout wear without the lululemon price tag (and without the lululemon clothes not made for running – see my previous post here).

Earlier I reviewed some Ellie pieces, which I do really like. Most of their offerings are longer capris and leggings and tight tanks with built in shelf bras. In the March collection, I ordered a couple black tanks with crazy straps and back detail with no intention of ever wearing them in the gym. So far I’ve worn both of them out with the boyfriend, either with a fun skirt or jeans, because the shelf is supportive enough for an evening out. When I started kickboxing, these pieces were great because they stayed in place when I was doing all kinds of movements and didn’t slide up while doing crunches and the like. One run with them and I realized I needed something looser.

Enter Brooks. Their motto is Run Happy and, they really help get me close to that. My mom got me my first piece of Brooks gear for Christmas when I was looking for a jacket to stay warm but that wouldn’t be too bulky. I got the Utopia Thermal Hoodie and it’s more than I could ever ask for. They come in bright colors with reflective strips for visibility, very thin but fleecy on the inside, thumb holes, and plenty of pockets for gear. I was wearing it so much I got a second one!

Brooks has a huge selection of wicking tops and they’re all geared for running. I bought one of their EZ Ts and instantly fell in love. It’s cut close enough to obviously be made for a woman and loose enough to move during my run. They’re tech tees, but they almost feel like cotton.  They aren’t the most wallet friendly, but they have amazing clearance prices on their website all the time. I just ordered 3 more along with some other tops. I’ll do the full review after I unpack them because they were delivered this afternoon!

Fit-tastic Run #16

I skipped run #15 in honor of my birthday, sloth, and the joy of cake. Back on the saddle this week though, and I’ll get my 3 runs in (minimum) for sure this time!

This week we’re doing 14:1 splits, so the time and distance will be shorter than the last couple weeks but the endurance will be amped up a bit.

We ran from the YMCA through downtown Raleigh. I stuck with my male pacers – Fred and Rick – again but lost them towards the end. I did ok for the first 14 minutes, got a little stitch in my side, and maybe gave myself a 30 second walk break before I pushed through to finish the first interval with them. The second interval, eh, not my finest. Quite a few walk breaks but I tried to limit them to 20-30 seconds.

Finally tally was 3.82 miles in 40:46.

Week 5 Summary

Here’s how it went last week with the 12:1 splits. Warning: I was lazy. 

Monday: Ran 3.31 miles in 34:47

Tuesday: Rest.

Wednesday: Ran 4.10 miles in 46:07. It was hot, it was hilly, my shins hurt, I walked a lot, but I survived. 

Thursday:Rest.

Friday: it was my birthday! I went to a steak house and ate so much food.

Saturday: birthday weekend! I cleaned the house but didn’t work out per se.

Sunday: Rest.

Fit-tastic Run #14

Yesterday we had a high in the mid 80s. I think The Weather Channel had the temp at 87 when I went out to run the trails by the NC Art Museum. In other words, it was miserably hot in the sun. We were doing the 12:1 splits again, three times, and most of that time was in the sun. I stayed with my usual group of the fastest 3 guys, but I was struggling a lot during the second 12 minute interval. I had about 2.5-3 L of water during the day, but apparently it wasn’t enough. There were 3 killer hills, my right shin was on fire, and I was getting lower abdominal cramps from the heat. I walked a lot of both my second and third interval. One of the guys doubled back a couple times to stay with me during the third interval, which was awesome. Final tally  for the run was 4.1 miles in 46:07.

At least twice I thought I felt something hit my eye. I rubbed it a couple of times until the discomfort/itching stopped. When I got in my car to head out, I felt it again. I finally had a mirror, so I tried to find something in there, and oh did I. There was a small, dead gnat  stuck in my eye. And we have a new winner for the most disgusting thing to happen to me while running outside! Ah, nature.

New Workout Gear! Ellie & lululemon review

I was really excited for yesterday’s run so I could finally test out some of my new warm weather workout gear. I finally got my March Ellie clothes Friday and Monday, but I still had a couple February pieces to test out. I have never worn/bought lulu before, but I picked up two pairs of shorts last week since it’s getting pretty warm out.

Yesterday I wore the Ellie Truth or Dare Carbon tank with the lululemon Run: Pace shorts in faded zap (lime green/yellow). First reacation: hate the shorts for running. They have the built in panties, but I wore regular underwear with them this time. Despite having two layers (the panties and the shorts fabric) you could see the colors and patterns of my underwear through them. Luckily I had another undergarment option that I went for. I had tried on the shorts, and worn them around during the locked out of the car adventure, and they were super comfy. They sat at the right place, they were long enough to have coverage. But as soon as I started running, they hiked up on my waist and the shorts legs were up between my thighs to the point that they were basically covering as much as underwear. Half way through I cinched in the waist band so they stopped riding up, but the issue with the legs continued. I’m pretty bummed, seeing as I spent a small fortune on just two of their pieces.

The Ellie tank also was riding up on my waist as I was running, but I’ve noticed that happens with almost every form fitting, spandex-y tank that I wear for runs. They’re great for gym work, but if I don’t tuck them in on a run, I’ll be pulling them down every couple minutes. When I adjusted my shorts, I tucked in the tank and that solved the problem. I feel like it did a pretty good job of wicking away my sweat. As I said in the last post, it was in the 70’s yesterday, but I ran around 7:30 so the sun was going down and it had cooled a bit. As soon as I finished my run though, I could tell I was sweating a lot. The mesh pannels in the back were great for controlling that.

Overall, I like the Ellie piece, just have to remember to tuck it in on runs, and I’m really annoyed with the lululemon shorts. Maybe if I lose some weigh and my thighs slim down some I won’t have the same issue, but for now they’re relegated to lounging, walking, and anything but running.

Fit-tastic Run #13

So this week we’re doing 12:1 splits, three reps.

I was looking forward to the run since it was a beautiful day in Raleigh – in the 70s! And as I was leaving work…I locked my keys in my trunk. I waited 45 minutes for AAA to send someone out to unlock it for me, and by the time I got to Capital RunWalk, it was almost 6:30 (our runs leave at 6 and get back around 6:30/6:45). Normally I wouldn’t have bothered going, but I had to turn in my registration for a race coming up on the 27th, and one of their award winning distance runners was doing a class on stretching and foam rolling that I wanted to check out.

No one knew what route my group was taking so I did the briefest run until I met up with with the walk/run group. It ended up being 0.52 miles in 4:31 minutes. That ends up to be 8:41 min/mi. Obviously, half a mile is not an indication that I could keep up that pace, but it was nice to see!

I did the 12:1 run on my own after the foam rolling class. I ended up with 3.31 miles in 34:47. It wasn’t great, again as I was on my own. I decided not to run with music and just see if that helped. I have been running with music on my own, and not with the group. Also I noticed that I run faster with the group, but that could just be because I have other people to help with pacing. My first 12 minutes were good. My second 12 minuets…not so good. I think I ran 3-4 minutes, then walked a minute, ran 2 minutes, and walked the rest of the 12. I ran all of the last interval, or as much of the 12 minutes as it took to get home.

Week 4 Summary

Here’s the breakdown of how the last week went with the 10:1 intervals

Monday: Walked 0.75 miles around downtown, ran 3.62 miles, did a 15 minute core workout at the Y

Tuesday: rest – probably just under a mile of walking around downtown.

Wednesday: Ran 3.74 miles

Thursday: rest – probably just under a mile of walking around downtown.

Friday: rest.

Saturday: Missed the 3rd 10:1 run since I was at an amusement park. I figure I walked around for 4 hours so that somewhat makes up for it.

Sunday: rest.

Fit-tastic Run #11

On Thursday we ran at Umstead park. I was really looking forward to this run since the park is pretty close to my house, so it’d be good to learn the trails that are close by, and also I had to drive to and from New Bern earlier that day. After 5 hours in my car, it was going to be nice to stretch my legs.

I had been warned that the trail was pretty hilly, but it didn’t seem bad. We hit the first big hill during our section 10 minute running interval, and while it was steep and long, it wasn’t that bad. It didn’t hurt that I had two other people to push me. Then we hit another loooooooong hill on the last interval. I swear, that last 10 minutes felt 25 minutes long. I had to stop and walk for a minute or two during that last interval, but I finished.

The final tally was 3.74 miles in 42:20.