Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Wednesday Workout Update

We had AMAZING weather for our run on Saturday - it was just barely 70 degrees and cool!  Low humidity and a slight breeze made for one of those runs where the miles flew by...it was such a treat to experience this kind of weather in August, in Texas! 

Amy and I usually start out after everyone else; there's last-minute things to take care of before we can leave the park.  Not a big deal, as we eventually catch up to a few of our runners.  But we could tell that everyone was having a great run, as it took us over 3 miles to catch some (aside from our walker).  The miles flew by and suddenly we were finished - very rarely can I say that a 5 mile run was easy, but this one was.  And considering how beat-up I normally feel after running a few miles in our heat and humidity, I will gladly take it!  We did our usual 2:1 intervals and finished in 1:10.  Last time I ran 5 miles in under 1:10 was December 22nd (Garmin keeps my stats) - it was 34 degrees, and I ran 5 miles in 1:08.  I daresay I'm getting a little more efficient with my running - thank you, land workouts!

The only thing that was odd was that as the day progressed, my legs felt more and more tired.  I mean, like REALLY tired.  Usually I like doing a 5 miler, because it's just enough to let you know that you did something without wrecking you for the rest of the day.  Took me until the next morning to remember that Amy, Andi, Caren and I decided it would be a good thing to do some lunges and squats after the run (I told you we were all feeling really good).  While it didn't bother me at the time, obviously it was enough to send my legs over the edge.  So note to self:  you might still do lunges and squats, but you're gonna pay for it.

Our shirts came in last week and we got to hand them out to our runners - every season, we get a technical shirt as part of our registration fee.  This year Amy, Julia and I came up with our theme for the shirt, which also carried over to our runner of the week cape - here's the connection:
Front of the shirt has the Superman "R" on it; back of shirt says "I'm A Runner...What's YOUR Superpower?"  Shown with the first three of our Runners of the Week wearing the cape!

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Walking back from the hill workout - yep, still dark.

Our hill workouts have been going really well.  We've got a nice group who manages to show up at 5:30 am on Tuesdays, and while no one is really awake when we begin, we're all nice and peppy at the end.  We've been working our way up to doing a total of eight repeats (we started with four, and increased by one each week), and yesterday was the day we hit eight. I've surprised myself by being able to run all of the repeats each week - I'm a stronger runner than I feel, I guess. That said, I tried to convince Amy that when Julia finished ahead of us, we could cut our workout short by one repeat, but noooooooo, Amy wanted to finish.  Sigh.  So we did.  I'm always glad I did a workout, but I'm not always glad I'm DOING one, if that makes sense.  Somehow, I suspect many of my readers do understand those feelings!

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As usual, I'll be running with Erica tomorrow morning.  We were a bit startled last week during our run, when we heard footsteps approaching us really fast - just as I turned my head to look behind me, thinking it was Jeff (who had started on his run about 10 minutes before us), two college-aged guys blew past us.  Which was not a cool thing to do to two women on a darkish street (there were streetlights on, but we weren't under them when this happened).  I wish runners would be a little more aware and considerate of other runners as they approach from behind - we weren't wearing headphones and could hear what was going on around us, but these guys came up really fast, and made me feel a little more vulnerable than I would like to admit.  At the very least, they could have moved to the other side of the street (this is a subdivision, so the streets aren't wide) instead of coming within inches of us.  Even though we were running in a familiar, safe area, as well as not running solo, it brought home to me that unfortunately, we should never get too comfortable with our surroundings when we are out running, and was another reminder that awareness and safety needs to come first - always.

23 comments:

  1. So happy that the 2:1 intervals are working for you and make running once again fun. Great job on the 5 miler!

    And I totally understand your feelings towards working out :)

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    1. Haha, I knew you would get it on the working out feelings! :)

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  2. so true about the safety.
    Im super careful on my early morning walks and thisclose to buying a headlamp.

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  3. The proper etiquette for approaching from behind - whether or not the person has on headphones - is to say, "on your right (left)" If they didn't do that, they should have moved completely off the sidewalk into the road. Bad runners!!

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  4. I love the new look on your blog. Haven't stopped by in a while... It looks so vibrant and fresh. Sweeeeet!!!

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  5. So great to hear you've had some good runs. Squats and lunges on top of a 5 mile run? Were you all wearing your superman shirts?!

    Scary about the footsteps. I am a little afraid of the dark (dang stupid scary books that I used to read) so I probably would have screamed a little. LOL, maybe that would've made one of them stumble and they would have learned a lesson!

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    1. Haha, maybe that was it - the superman runner shirts made us feel invincible!

      I did shriek a little when they blew past us...not enough to scare them, unfortunately.

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  6. I just knew your 5 miler was going to be awesome.
    Love the shirts! You are doing great as a group leader.

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    1. Thanks, Kim - I have a GREAT team helping me. :)

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  7. I totally want one of those tees!

    I get you about the kids...I wish more runners were more courteous - it's simple, say left or passing or something so I know to move the heck out of the way. I may be a turtle, but still.

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    1. These guys were just clueless - I know Jeff makes a point to not run up behind women runners and does cross the street. Dumb kids.

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  8. Do you guys have I.D.'s with you? I have an I.D. bracelet and its nice to have to carry anything - if something happens it has all my ICE info on it.

    Hooray for cooler temps! Okay, so this may sound dumb, but can I assume that the 2:1 interval is that you run for 2 minutes, walk for a minute? Great job on the time!

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    1. We do run with Road ID bracelets, but truth be told, they're only good if you get hit by a car, or your body is found. I know that sounds terrible, but an ID will not protect a runner from a scary stranger. :(

      And yes, that's exactly what the 2:1 intervals mean. You can run as fast as you are able for those two minutes, and then do a recovery walk. The weird thing is that my pace is not that much slower overall, compared to when I just run the entire mile.

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  9. I'm always paranoid when out running. And I run by myself...so doubly worrisome!

    Live the tee shirt logo! :-)

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  10. Way to go on your workouts Shelley. I'd have been creeped out by the runners from behind too. sigh. Very inconsiderate. Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday.

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  11. Great shirts! I'd like something similar, but since I'm a walker, mine would have a big 'W' on it and that's just not gonna fly. ;)

    On the approaching from behind thing, I'd appreciate it if people would do it even in broad daylight.

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  12. We are having an unusual summer in Texas. I can't believe how few 100 degree days we are having this year. Knock on wood!

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  13. I get frustrated when I am passing people on the bike and I am practically shouting "On your left" and they have headphones on and can't hear me. Then they act annoyed when I go past them because I scared them.

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  14. Oo sounds like a creepy experience. Not cool.
    Chrissy

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  15. Love the shirts!! How long are the hills that you do repeats on?

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    1. I think they are just over 1/10th of a mile...which doesn't seem like much until you run UP them, fast. Over and over.

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