Saturday - 28 mile ride. It was our 3rd week of Cinderella Ride Training. I'm sticking with the fast group. At times I really wish I was in the middle group, but I know that the fast group will help me get stronger. We started out at a blistering 17 mph. Um, could we warm up a little first? Next week I may spin around the parking lot to get things movings. We have a group of 18 and it is hard to get all of us through the lights in busy Fremont. We usually end up going about 15 mph. This we were introduced to climbing. Nothing too bad, in fact, I was thinking to myself, "well, these aren't too bad." Okay, part of one was really steep and I walked the last 100 feet.
My only complaint is too much stopping! Let's go, I've got stuff to do! And, other people have stuff to do. Three women headed back on their own after a stop at Starbucks 2/3 of the way through the ride. I joined another six women about 30 mins later to finish the ride. Really a 28 mile ride shouldn't take 3.5 hours.
Sunday - 5 mile run. I'm getting close to the big day. Last year I would have laughed if anyone had told me I would ever be running 5 miles. Two years ago I "couldn't" run at all. Last year I completed a 10K by running two minutes and walking one over and over and over. This year will be different, I will be running the whole 6.2 miles.
Today I ran with one of my swimming friends, A. She will be giving TeamMermaid a try this year. She was a good friend and ran slowly with me the whole 5 miles. She hasn't run much lately so I was very impressed that she was willing to come out for 5 miles. Having her with me and talking while we ran made the time go by so much faster. And, I ran a little faster, too. My knees are feeling a little better. A good friend who happens to be a chiropractor thought it might be tight adductors. Sure enough, I started stretching, icing and rolling them and things are feeling much better. Still some little twinges but I think I will make it through the next two weeks if I keep up the treatment.
This week TeamMermaid starts up again. Tuesday nights will be full of fun running for the next few months. On Thursdays I will be alternating between swimming and core torture.
Totals:
Miles - 7.75 miles
Time - 1:51:29
Avg. Pace - 14.25
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Week 6, part blech
Maybe this is the two-weeks-before-a-race blues, but I've just not been interested in training. It could be my achy knees, the weather, or my short attention span.
On Tuesday I had a good swim. My coach just went to a clinic and came back with all kinds of new torture. Apparently, dolphin kick is the key to swimming. Our new regular set is 12 x 50 torpedo kick. What is torpedo kick? One 50 on face down, one on the right side, one face up, and one on the left side, times three. Well, it's good for my core, I guess.
I finally got a run in tonight. My knees have been achy but oddly enough they don't hurt much when I ran. They started to hurt a little ways into mile 2. I listened to my body and walked for a little when the pain was more than an ache and then was able to run again for a bit.
While I was running around the track I was thinking about how frustrated I was that my knees are hurting. Then I hit my "happy pace" and started to think about how far I have come. There I was running 4 laps around the track without stopping. Less than a year ago I was walking the curves and tentatively running the straights. Now I'm pretty happy for 2 miles. Not bad for someone who couldn't run two years ago. Tonight I gave myself permission to run whatever race I have in me on 2/13.
Now it's time to go play with my friends the foam roller and rolling pin.
On Tuesday I had a good swim. My coach just went to a clinic and came back with all kinds of new torture. Apparently, dolphin kick is the key to swimming. Our new regular set is 12 x 50 torpedo kick. What is torpedo kick? One 50 on face down, one on the right side, one face up, and one on the left side, times three. Well, it's good for my core, I guess.
I finally got a run in tonight. My knees have been achy but oddly enough they don't hurt much when I ran. They started to hurt a little ways into mile 2. I listened to my body and walked for a little when the pain was more than an ache and then was able to run again for a bit.
While I was running around the track I was thinking about how frustrated I was that my knees are hurting. Then I hit my "happy pace" and started to think about how far I have come. There I was running 4 laps around the track without stopping. Less than a year ago I was walking the curves and tentatively running the straights. Now I'm pretty happy for 2 miles. Not bad for someone who couldn't run two years ago. Tonight I gave myself permission to run whatever race I have in me on 2/13.
Now it's time to go play with my friends the foam roller and rolling pin.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Week 5 - Adjusting
Rain, rain, rain, rain, and more rain. We desperately need the rain but really was five days of pouring rain necessary? When I got up for swimming and opened the door to take the dog out, I felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. I debated whether to swim or not but I figured I was already up. Just as I got to the pool there was a flash of lightening. I thought, "oh crap." And, sure enough, no swimming due to lightening. By Wednesday morning Jemma had cabin fever so we went for a walk in the morning. We didn't get very far before we were soaked through. Finally, on Thursday the storm gave us a little break for the Run Club and Team Mermaid info night at Lululemon. I got in about 2 pretty easy miles with minimal knee pain.
The parade of storms finally gave us a break on Saturday in time for the first real ride of the Cinderella Ride training. I had to work a little to keep up but its good for me right?
4.5 mile run on Sunday wasn't horrible. I turned off the pace alarm on my Garmin and switched to heart rate. I like that much better and maintained a more consistent pace.
Since my knees have been acting up I've had to adjust my plans for my 10K at the Mermaid Run San Diego. My original goal had been to work on my speed and be able to average a super speedy 13 minute mile. My new plan is stay in my preferred heart rate zone, about a 14 minute pace, and not ruin my knees.
Well, this weekly post thing isn't working out well. I may have to start doing this more often. ;-)
The parade of storms finally gave us a break on Saturday in time for the first real ride of the Cinderella Ride training. I had to work a little to keep up but its good for me right?
4.5 mile run on Sunday wasn't horrible. I turned off the pace alarm on my Garmin and switched to heart rate. I like that much better and maintained a more consistent pace.
Since my knees have been acting up I've had to adjust my plans for my 10K at the Mermaid Run San Diego. My original goal had been to work on my speed and be able to average a super speedy 13 minute mile. My new plan is stay in my preferred heart rate zone, about a 14 minute pace, and not ruin my knees.
Well, this weekly post thing isn't working out well. I may have to start doing this more often. ;-)
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Week 4 - Losing Confidence
It hasn't been a great week in running. I was so proud of myself after last week's four mile run. And, then this week happened.
Monday morning I headed out on a 3 mile run at 6am. Things were going well, my heart rate was a little low but that frequently happens early in the morning. My goal was to run 1.5 miles, walk for 1 minute, and then head for home. Things were going well until I reached 2.5 miles. My knees were complaining. Loudly. I toyed with powering through but then I remembered that I have 4 weeks until the 10K and it wasn't a good time to do any serious damage. So, I power walked that last half mile. I was disappointed.
I had a track workout on schedule for Tuesday but decided to give the knees some rest and lots of time with frozen peas. And, I decided it was time to use my gift certificate to Rose Garden Health for a little Active Release Therapy. Or, as I like to call it, torture. It's good for she always seems to find things that didn't hurt before my appointment.
I was supposed to swim on Tuesday but couldn't wake up, but I did make it to the pool on Thursday. Our coach was offering to do stroke evaluations so I took her up on her offer. I figured there must be something I need to change. I swam a 50 as naturally as I could knowing someone was watching. She said, "I have no suggestions. You have a very pretty stroke." Wow. Nothing? Cool!
Friday, it was time to try running again. My knees did okay for my 2 mile run. (Whose idea was it to this 10K anyway? Also, this is a really long post. Maybe weekly isn't often enough.)
Saturday. Usually this is my long run day, but this Saturday was the first day of Cinderella Ride Training. The Cinderella Ride is an all women 100K or 100M ride in the east bay that has been going on for about 18 years. I met Chris, Deepika, Jill, Naama, & Sara for the first day of training. There was a lot of talking, checking bikes, assigning groups, but we finally got rolling. Chris, Jill & Naama are hardcore and doing the Challenge series, so they will be riding longer and more hills. I lost Sara after the talking, but she said she had a good time. Deepika and I started out in the Intermediate group which was HUGE. When the group leaders asked for some people to give the Advanced group a try, we pulled on our big girl panties and headed over to the Advanced group. We did a short, flat 12 mile ride to see if people thought they had picked the right group. We fit right in and will be staying with this group.
Sunday, my new long run day. Today 4 miles. I'm kinda figured myself out. I don't like the 2nd quarter of my runs. Once I make the turn for home things start looking up. I really like the first and last miles the best. I got my heart rate a little high and I've discovered that I really don't like that and it makes me cranky. I got really pissed at the "speed up" beeping of my garmin, so I think I will change it to heart rate instead of pace. Speaking of the garmin, it was so not working in the last mile of the run. It seemed to think my pace was 16 minutes. Umm . . . I don't think so! My knees were hurting in the last half mile but I kept running. I was a good girl and walked for almost a half mile to cool down.
I may have to make some adjustments to my goals for the 10K but I will be doing something I never thought I would.
Weekly Totals:
Miles - 9.47
Time - 2:23:00
Avg. Pace - 15:05
Monday morning I headed out on a 3 mile run at 6am. Things were going well, my heart rate was a little low but that frequently happens early in the morning. My goal was to run 1.5 miles, walk for 1 minute, and then head for home. Things were going well until I reached 2.5 miles. My knees were complaining. Loudly. I toyed with powering through but then I remembered that I have 4 weeks until the 10K and it wasn't a good time to do any serious damage. So, I power walked that last half mile. I was disappointed.
I had a track workout on schedule for Tuesday but decided to give the knees some rest and lots of time with frozen peas. And, I decided it was time to use my gift certificate to Rose Garden Health for a little Active Release Therapy. Or, as I like to call it, torture. It's good for she always seems to find things that didn't hurt before my appointment.
I was supposed to swim on Tuesday but couldn't wake up, but I did make it to the pool on Thursday. Our coach was offering to do stroke evaluations so I took her up on her offer. I figured there must be something I need to change. I swam a 50 as naturally as I could knowing someone was watching. She said, "I have no suggestions. You have a very pretty stroke." Wow. Nothing? Cool!
Friday, it was time to try running again. My knees did okay for my 2 mile run. (Whose idea was it to this 10K anyway? Also, this is a really long post. Maybe weekly isn't often enough.)
Saturday. Usually this is my long run day, but this Saturday was the first day of Cinderella Ride Training. The Cinderella Ride is an all women 100K or 100M ride in the east bay that has been going on for about 18 years. I met Chris, Deepika, Jill, Naama, & Sara for the first day of training. There was a lot of talking, checking bikes, assigning groups, but we finally got rolling. Chris, Jill & Naama are hardcore and doing the Challenge series, so they will be riding longer and more hills. I lost Sara after the talking, but she said she had a good time. Deepika and I started out in the Intermediate group which was HUGE. When the group leaders asked for some people to give the Advanced group a try, we pulled on our big girl panties and headed over to the Advanced group. We did a short, flat 12 mile ride to see if people thought they had picked the right group. We fit right in and will be staying with this group.
Sunday, my new long run day. Today 4 miles. I'm kinda figured myself out. I don't like the 2nd quarter of my runs. Once I make the turn for home things start looking up. I really like the first and last miles the best. I got my heart rate a little high and I've discovered that I really don't like that and it makes me cranky. I got really pissed at the "speed up" beeping of my garmin, so I think I will change it to heart rate instead of pace. Speaking of the garmin, it was so not working in the last mile of the run. It seemed to think my pace was 16 minutes. Umm . . . I don't think so! My knees were hurting in the last half mile but I kept running. I was a good girl and walked for almost a half mile to cool down.
I may have to make some adjustments to my goals for the 10K but I will be doing something I never thought I would.
Weekly Totals:
Miles - 9.47
Time - 2:23:00
Avg. Pace - 15:05
Saturday, January 9, 2010
4 mile run #1
Yes, that is what I typed.
Four mile run!!
I ran four miles in 57:27. Under an hour! This is huge for me. I have never run that far before. Ever. And, it kinda felt good. I was able to stay in my preferred heartrate and and I was less aware of gavity. Things seem to jiggle a little less. I decided to use the LGCT so I wouldn't have to deal with cars and I'm familiar with the landmarks and the distances. And, I managed to remember both my ipod and the earphones this time.
Mile 1: I know this part of the trail pretty well and started out a little slow to warm up. I even managed to do something that resembles running up the steep hill.
Mile 2: Walked the first minute. That was the deal I made with myself, I could walk for one minute after each mile. Started running by the dog park and was amused at some of the not-well-behaved dogs heading for the park. Then I was annoyed by some kids on bikes annoying be by starting and stopping a few times and getting in my way. Just before I got to the curvy part, finally, it was time to turn around.
Mile 3: Walked the first minute. I kept telling myself that I was have way there and that it was down hill from there. And, it is kinda downhill since I was running along a creek and going with the flow of the water. There was an interesting sight of a woman, who I can only describe as a Real-Housewife-of-Silicon-Valley, riding a bike with her family wearing a black and shiny gold jacket, perfectly done hair, and big gold hoop earrings.
Mile 4: Only 1 mile left! I was almost done. I experimented with "chasing down" people. I saw a couple walking two dogs ahead of me and focused on passing them. I wasn't too hard since they were walking and I was running. Then I saw a guy walking a golden retriever and passed him. Woot! Ahead I noticed people looking at something in the creek. There was a big vulture, or as my dad calls them buzzard, sitting in a tree. They are big. Another few minutes and I was done! Yes!
I still need to work on keeping my head up. Chasing down people helped with that. I tried out my new "toe socks" to help with rubbing between two toes and they worked!
Weekly Totals
Miles - 11.74
Time - 2:48:43
Avg. Pace - 14:22
Four mile run!!
I ran four miles in 57:27. Under an hour! This is huge for me. I have never run that far before. Ever. And, it kinda felt good. I was able to stay in my preferred heartrate and and I was less aware of gavity. Things seem to jiggle a little less. I decided to use the LGCT so I wouldn't have to deal with cars and I'm familiar with the landmarks and the distances. And, I managed to remember both my ipod and the earphones this time.
Mile 1: I know this part of the trail pretty well and started out a little slow to warm up. I even managed to do something that resembles running up the steep hill.
Mile 2: Walked the first minute. That was the deal I made with myself, I could walk for one minute after each mile. Started running by the dog park and was amused at some of the not-well-behaved dogs heading for the park. Then I was annoyed by some kids on bikes annoying be by starting and stopping a few times and getting in my way. Just before I got to the curvy part, finally, it was time to turn around.
Mile 3: Walked the first minute. I kept telling myself that I was have way there and that it was down hill from there. And, it is kinda downhill since I was running along a creek and going with the flow of the water. There was an interesting sight of a woman, who I can only describe as a Real-Housewife-of-Silicon-Valley, riding a bike with her family wearing a black and shiny gold jacket, perfectly done hair, and big gold hoop earrings.
Mile 4: Only 1 mile left! I was almost done. I experimented with "chasing down" people. I saw a couple walking two dogs ahead of me and focused on passing them. I wasn't too hard since they were walking and I was running. Then I saw a guy walking a golden retriever and passed him. Woot! Ahead I noticed people looking at something in the creek. There was a big vulture, or as my dad calls them buzzard, sitting in a tree. They are big. Another few minutes and I was done! Yes!
I still need to work on keeping my head up. Chasing down people helped with that. I tried out my new "toe socks" to help with rubbing between two toes and they worked!
Weekly Totals
Miles - 11.74
Time - 2:48:43
Avg. Pace - 14:22
Friday, January 8, 2010
Week 3 - a little early
Week 3 was going well.
Monday - I had a nice 2.5 mile run in new shoes (yay!) with a friend on the Los Gatos Creek Trail. (I brought my ipod with me but forgot the headphones.) My goal was to run the whole way, but I had to stop to use the loo. At least there was one to use. If I remember correctly, our pace was pretty good. And, my feet and ankles felt much better with new shoes.
Tuesday - I was back in the pool, yay! Pull two 500s? No yay. But it was good to be back at "my" pool with my buddies. Later, a 40 minute tempo run was on my calendar. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do with a tempo run, but I'm running right? (I brought my headphones with me but forgot my ipod.) Another friend, Gina, joined me at the track and it made all the difference! I had done a 3 lap warm up and was ready for 20 minutes at a faster pace. She had a touch of a cold so was running a little slower than usual which was the perfect pace for me running faster.
Wednesday - Rest day . . . ahhh . . .
Thursday - sneeze, sniff, sneeze, cough. Down with a cold. For work I had to go to Alum Rock Park, possibly the oldest municipal park in California. I've never been there before because they don't allow dogs. It's bea-u-ti-ful! There is a nice trail along the creek that I think I will try for one of my longer runs.
Friday - Still sick but there is a 2 mile run on my calendar. After some personal debate and encouragement from friends I decided to do the run. I took it easy and ran most of the 2 miles. Who would have ever thought that I would run while sick?
Tomorrow I have a 4 mile run on the schedule. I'm thinking it will be a little running and a little walking. There is another 4 miles on tap for next week, so considering the cold, I think I will be okay.
Monday - I had a nice 2.5 mile run in new shoes (yay!) with a friend on the Los Gatos Creek Trail. (I brought my ipod with me but forgot the headphones.) My goal was to run the whole way, but I had to stop to use the loo. At least there was one to use. If I remember correctly, our pace was pretty good. And, my feet and ankles felt much better with new shoes.
Tuesday - I was back in the pool, yay! Pull two 500s? No yay. But it was good to be back at "my" pool with my buddies. Later, a 40 minute tempo run was on my calendar. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do with a tempo run, but I'm running right? (I brought my headphones with me but forgot my ipod.) Another friend, Gina, joined me at the track and it made all the difference! I had done a 3 lap warm up and was ready for 20 minutes at a faster pace. She had a touch of a cold so was running a little slower than usual which was the perfect pace for me running faster.
Wednesday - Rest day . . . ahhh . . .
Thursday - sneeze, sniff, sneeze, cough. Down with a cold. For work I had to go to Alum Rock Park, possibly the oldest municipal park in California. I've never been there before because they don't allow dogs. It's bea-u-ti-ful! There is a nice trail along the creek that I think I will try for one of my longer runs.
Friday - Still sick but there is a 2 mile run on my calendar. After some personal debate and encouragement from friends I decided to do the run. I took it easy and ran most of the 2 miles. Who would have ever thought that I would run while sick?
Tomorrow I have a 4 mile run on the schedule. I'm thinking it will be a little running and a little walking. There is another 4 miles on tap for next week, so considering the cold, I think I will be okay.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Week 2 - 10K Training
Monday: I had a 2.5 mile run on my calendar and met up with a few friends on the Los Gatos Creek Trail where we would be doing the Resolution Run later in the week. It's a nice location along the creek that flows out of Lexington Reservoir. Right now it is nice, green and there in a good amount of water flowing. As I write, I can remember much about the run.
Tuesday Wednesday: Tuesday was my gammie's 95th birthday and I decided that running intervals after Chinese food was a bad idea. So, I finally dragged myself out of bed and made it to the track around 9am. I was very happy with my interval times. :-) There is hope for a somewhat decent pace.
Friday: Happy 2010! I celebrated the new decade with a 3.5 mile run/1.5 mile walk with some Mermaids. Apparently, I can't read a calendar and decided to switch my 3.5 mile run with my 2 mile run. (more about that later.) It kinda overcast and threatening to rain, perfect for running. We were busy talking and were very surprised when the gun went off.
Oh, I guess we are starting!
Not too far into the run I saw a big fluffy St. Bernard and thought, "hey, that looks like Cujo." (not the one from the movie.) And, sure enough it was Molly's husband with his dog, Cujo. We said a quick, hi, and Cujo left some slobber on my pants. :-) My plan was to run 1.75 miles which I thought would be near the bottom of a hill, then power walk up and down the hills, and run back in. When my watch got to 1.75 I hadn't reached the hill so I kept running until I got to 2 miles. By this time the leaders were running back.
Did I mention that this run goes up to the top of Lexington Dam?
At about mile 4 there was a little whining, "I'm tired!" but I kept running. And, running and running. I finally made it to the end and I was glad it was over! I forgot to tape one of my toes and was sure I had a blister. Other than that it was a great morning with great friends! We celebrated with breakfast in Los Gatos.
Deepika, Jill, Diane, me, Gina, and Atsuko
Saturday: Crappiest run, ever. Everything hurt, my legs wouldn't move, my heartrate didn't get very high, it was 2 miles of torture. Time to resume the knee exercises and stretching. :-) Oh, and get new shoes. And, maybe not run after my big run of the week.
I'm really looking forward to swimming and biking tomorrow. It will be my first time on the bike since October! I hope I remember how. And, all the stuff I need.
Totals:
Miles - 12.71
Time - 3:08:45
Avg Pace - 14.51 (remember that includes walking at the RR and the Crappy Run)
Friday: Happy 2010! I celebrated the new decade with a 3.5 mile run/1.5 mile walk with some Mermaids. Apparently, I can't read a calendar and decided to switch my 3.5 mile run with my 2 mile run. (more about that later.) It kinda overcast and threatening to rain, perfect for running. We were busy talking and were very surprised when the gun went off.
Oh, I guess we are starting!
Not too far into the run I saw a big fluffy St. Bernard and thought, "hey, that looks like Cujo." (not the one from the movie.) And, sure enough it was Molly's husband with his dog, Cujo. We said a quick, hi, and Cujo left some slobber on my pants. :-) My plan was to run 1.75 miles which I thought would be near the bottom of a hill, then power walk up and down the hills, and run back in. When my watch got to 1.75 I hadn't reached the hill so I kept running until I got to 2 miles. By this time the leaders were running back.
Did I mention that this run goes up to the top of Lexington Dam?
At about mile 4 there was a little whining, "I'm tired!" but I kept running. And, running and running. I finally made it to the end and I was glad it was over! I forgot to tape one of my toes and was sure I had a blister. Other than that it was a great morning with great friends! We celebrated with breakfast in Los Gatos.
Deepika, Jill, Diane, me, Gina, and Atsuko
Saturday: Crappiest run, ever. Everything hurt, my legs wouldn't move, my heartrate didn't get very high, it was 2 miles of torture. Time to resume the knee exercises and stretching. :-) Oh, and get new shoes. And, maybe not run after my big run of the week.
I'm really looking forward to swimming and biking tomorrow. It will be my first time on the bike since October! I hope I remember how. And, all the stuff I need.
Totals:
Miles - 12.71
Time - 3:08:45
Avg Pace - 14.51 (remember that includes walking at the RR and the Crappy Run)
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