Wednesday, October 7, 2015

WWU - 10 Miles!

I could not believe my eyes when I saw that it was 56 degrees as we arrived at the park on Saturday morning for our long run - 56 DEGREES!!!  Plus the humidity was low, right around 50%, so it felt, dare I say, almost cool?  Whatever the case, it was a nice change from the humid swamp we've been running in over the last six months.  Loretta and I started our run about 30 minutes before most of the group, while CC stayed home with their grandbabies...and hey, if I ever have that option, you can bet I'll be hanging out with my grandbabies, too!
Post run - skirt and shoe twins!

Anyway, Loretta and I started out...and after running for a bit, I realized that I hadn't changed the interval settings on my Garmin to 1:30/1 (I run at 2:1 intervals on Thursdays).  Dang it - that meant I had to restart the distance, which meant that I knew I'd have to run more than 10 miles to have it show on my Garmin!  Now, non-runners might say that hey, you know you ran 10 miles, why do you have to show it on your Garmin, but this was my first 10 miler in about eight months, so I wanted to see that official number.   Once I got that sorted out, we went on our merry way.  We were doing well, when all of a sudden a loud noise startled both of us - it was the field sprinklers coming on at the scary statue park, and we happened to be right next to them when it happened!  Now, it probably would have startled us regardless, but being that it was still very dark and we were by ourselves just added to the fright.  Needless to say our hearts got an extra boost of cardio in that moment.

Right around mile 3 was when we began to see other runners from our group coming toward us.  It was still dark, so it was hard to figure out who each person was until we were nearly passing them, but it was good to see everyone and know that they were out there now.  We had a trek up Harvey Hill, and remembered to do our choppy running technique that seems to work well for us.  After we'd made that turn around, I glanced down at my Garmin and saw that we were at mile 4.5.  We were in the groove at that point, and it didn't even feel like we were running, because the next thing we knew, my Garmin said we were at mile 5.5 - and it felt like nothing!  Ahhh, that's when you know it's a good run.

Loretta decided to run 7 miles and walk back to the park.  I was mentally preparing myself to do the last few miles on my own, when Jeff caught up to us, so he ended up running with me.  Funny moment - we were on the ritzy street, when I said "I haven't seen any deer lately" and Jeff immediately pointed to them.  I responded with "I haven't seen a million dollars lately" hoping that he would magically make that appear, but his powers disappeared, dangit.  These aren't the deer we saw, but Cary and Andi came across a huge group of them on their run, and stopped to take some pictures:
Cary said she made a noise and all their ears perked up like radar - so cute!

I started feeling a little tired around mile 8.5, but all in all, it was a good run.  I hit the park at 9.87 miles and had to run past it to get that magical 10 mile reading on my Garmin, which felt like it took forever, but I finished strong, so I can't complain.

Breakfast at Blue Baker was fun - Loretta went home after she got back to the park and picked up CC and the babies, so we were all thoroughly entertained by them:
Kyzer (right) is 6 months old - he was having a good time watching his cousin.  Jayden (right) has gotten so big!  He's not quite 15 months old, with a head of hair that we said could be styled into an Elvis 'do for Halloween.  
 
 Jayden's face.  He was making all of us laugh so much!
Kyzer didn't let our noise interrupt his nap - I love this picture of Loretta and him.

We celebrated Loretta's birthday with a candle in a cinnamon roll and sang Happy Birthday to her.  After everyone left, Jeff, Cary and I went over to the running store, where we rewarded ourselves for running 10 miles.  I had a gift card and a 20% off coupon, so the damage was minimal, but we got some cute things:
Jeff got a pretty blue running shirt, while I got a retro cool Brazos Running Company logo t-shirt.  I loved the road on this - after all, it's where I do almost all of my runs.
 
 I spotted this cute Brooks t-shirt that has a sun on it and says "run all day" - but I happened to notice some lettering I couldn't read when I was trying it on, and thought to turn off the light in the dressing room, where I was delighted to see that it glowed in the dark, with the sun changing into a moon and stars - sold!

I also got a lightweight pullover that will be perfect for my early morning, still-dark runs - check out the reflection that shows up with the camera flash, and imagine that when a vehicle's headlights shine on me:
I know what I'll be living in this winter...

25 comments:

  1. I love your Saturday runs! And I would have done exactly the same with the Garmin. I also always have to have a round number. If it says 3.87 miles I keep running till it's 3.9. I know I'm weird :)

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  2. Great job on your run! I can't imagine running 10 miles and not being pooped out the rest of the day. How soon till your goal race? Is 10 miles the longest you have to run before the race?
    Such cute babies you hang out with and nice loot you bought.

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    1. We will run more than 10 miles before it's all said and done. My big goal race isn't for months - Houston half marathon in mid-January. However, there will be a few other races before then...

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  3. That must be something new with the Garmin because I can change the intervals on my 305 and it keeps the mileage until I store the run. Anyway, congrats on having a great run - those are the kind that give you hope and keep you going :D

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    1. Now, keep in mind that when this happens there might be a bit of panic setting going on, but mine calls it a lap whenever I try to make a change...I had two laps at .16 of a mile, and that's when I just ended that "run" and restarted. I may have something set differently on my Garmin, who knows? I need my Garmin guru to walk me through this! ;)

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    2. Hmmmm I could be wrong and I do think each interval "set" is called a lap but I still think you should be able to go in there (say during one of the walking segments) and just change the length of the segments. Total mileage should remain intact. I haven't done this in a while so let me try it out on my 305 and I'll email you what I did!

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    3. Thank you for checking into this for me, oh Garmin Guru! :)

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  4. Yay on the run - congratulations!

    56 is on the cooler side, you can say that :D I am sure it felt pretty wonderful, too.

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  5. Those clothes that change and glow in the dark are very cool. Great place to reward yourself for 10 miles!

    And you know I don't get too excited over babies, but those two little guys in the first picture just look delighted to be sharing a table with adults. So cute!

    LOVE the deer picture. I love coming upon a big group like this, and trying to count how many there are. It doesn't happen often--your early morning run is the perfect time to see them.

    And last of all, CONGRATULATIONS on such a great run! Your longest distance so far this year, and it seems like it was easy-peasy for you. Amazing! Also cool that Jeff just happened to get to you right when you were going to have to run alone.

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    1. The babies are not only super cute, but they have so much personality! We love getting to see them. :)

      The only reason Jeff caught up to us is because we started so much earlier than the rest of the group...otherwise, I think he would have been kicking back at the park when I hit mile 7, LOL!

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  6. Way to go, Shelley! And it even sounds like it was a pretty fun run. I'm sure temps have a lot to do with that.

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  7. I am still so in awe of the running you do, Shelley! And to think you still have energy left over to do more with your day?....I think my head's about to explode! =-)

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    1. I will admit there was napping done in the afternoon...

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  8. You look GREAT in that picture above! Congrats on the 10 miles! I always feel like that is such an accomplishment when I run that distance! I recently just got my first 10 mile run in for this training cycle!!!
    Seeing all those deer is Amazing! I would have flipped out!!!!

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    1. Thank you - you're too kind! I think I look bald in that pic, LOL.

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  9. How are your boys doing? Are either of them dating anyone so you can see grandbabies on the horizon??

    Great job on the run - we have deer like that in my back yard sometimes, scares the crap out of me!

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    1. The kids are too busy with their careers to date, dang it!

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  10. Congrats! Heading your way in a few weeks for business...any good running routes you would suggest??

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  11. Way to go on the 10 miles! You are an inspiration to me, a non but want to be runner :)

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  12. Way to go on the 10 miles! You are an inspiration to me, a non but want to be runner :)

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