WEEK 10

Started my 'tapering down' week with a 5K race with Angie. SO MUCH FUN! Last night I was so nervous, dreading it every second, and told Chris that I think I'm just not cut out for racing--and maybe should be just ok with running on my own. Just like that I've changed my mind and I'm looking for the next one! I clocked my fastest time ever this morning and came home with a 2nd place silver metal! (which I'm still wearing by the way) haha Just kidding. :)

I will be logging less miles for the next 3 weeks getting ready for the big daddy on October 18! I'm READY!

TOTAL FOR THE WEEK: 29 miles!

Sept 27 - 5K 29:33

Sept 28 - rest day

Sept 29 - 12.8 miles
My last 12 miler before the big day! I did 12 & had to get back to my car, so hey, what's another .8? Um, yeah, that .8 felt reeeeeealllly long!

Sept 30 - rest day

Oct 1 - 4 miles
Ugh. Hard, zero fun run today. :( Don't know how 4 is harder than 12 some days!

Oct 2 - rest day

Oct 3 - 9 miles

NOTES FOR WEEK 10:
Well, so much for tapering down week! I was suppose to do 22, but ended up with 29 instead.....my highest mileage of my training so far! No wonder I was tired this week. The 12.8 on Tuesday threw me a little this week--it was suppose to be done last Saturday instead, but because of race day last weekend I had to do a little changing. Anyway, I am resting next week with 18 miles and am sticking to the schedule!

WEEK 9

This is our last week of high mileage before we taper off to rest for the big day. I can't believe we are less than a month away! But we are READY! I should do 26 miles this week, but will need to play with the schedule a bit to run a race this Sunday--which should be a rest day. Run Your Buns Off in Anneberg Park this weekend with my friend Angie. I'm nervous just thinking about it.....because I'm not very good at the shorter distances. It seems the first 3 miles is the hardest for me. Could it be that I like long distances better? That is super weird saying that. Anyway, here's to another week!

Total for Week 9: 23 miles

Sept 20 - rest day

Sept 21 - 4 miles
Out in the rain & mud today....got my pretty shoes dirty!

Sept 22 - rest day

Sept 23 - 6 miles
ok run today, in a hurry so I started out too fast...which always kills me in the end. Got through it, but I was sure glad it was OVER!

Sept 24 - 8 miles
Was going to do 12 to plan for not being able to do a long run this Saturday, but I ran out of time. 12 on a workday is just too much time. This will mean I'm going to come up short this week, but I should be able to come close to my scheduled miles.

Sept 25 - rest day

Sept 26 - 5 miles
Saturday would normally be my long run day, but I had to adjust the training schedule a bit to be rested for Run your Buns off tomorrow! Run run run!

NOTES FROM THE WEEK:
This week was a mixture of everything it seems, had some really good runs, some bad ones and some that were just ok. It's really hard to schedule anything longer than a 5 mile run during the week because of the work day. So I tried to squeeze in 6 miles over my lunch hour, and in a hurry to finish, started out too fast and ended TIRED. Normally I start really slow and about mile 4 I get settled and ready to pick up the pace a little. Having a bad run like that just made it hard to stay positive this week, which is usually not a problem for me. :( I'm feeling a little grouchy because my times are not getting faster. I know a few other runners that are so much faster and it's hard to not feel bad because I can't go that fast. Better get my head straight and knock that kind of thinking OFF! I think I need to stop worrying about my time and get back to where I was originally when I started this and be happy just to FINISH! I couldn't even run 1 mile 6 months ago and compared to that, 23 miles in a week is pretty good! Send me good thoughts!

WEEK 8

After the big 12 miles on Saturday....starting this week off sleeeeeepy! My legs recovered way faster than I expected and I wasn't even sore on Sunday but I am worn out! It could be that I tried to do too many things this weekend, didn't get enough sleep and ate junk food! Have to have a little fun every now and again right?! Now it's time to get back to bagels & bananas.... :)

Total for the Week 8: 26 Miles

Sept 13 - rest day
Thank goodness I was not scheduled to run today, could NOT have!

Sept 14 - 4 miles
Tough run today, need to get good sleep!

Sept 15 - rest day

Sept 16 - 5 miles
Took my doggie today! :)

Sept 17 - 5 miles
At Anneberg Park, saw a snake tonight! EEEEK!

Sept 18 - rest day

Sept 19 - 12 miles
Early morning run, out and about town today, all over town! Saw some cows, sheep, & the sun coming up over the open fields--very peaceful! Oh & saw a few guys taking the Saturday morning walk of shame down sorority row. ha

NOTES FROM THE WEEK:
This week started off pretty bad, feeling really tired on Monday from too much weekend fun. But by Wednesday I was back on track and ready to go! I ran outside this week to get used to it since mostly I run inside at the rec. The weather has turned awesome this week, nice cool mornings and evenings. Perfect to run, run, run! This was my first long run outside--it really puts 12 miles into perspective! When you run on a track it's just around, around, around....and you don't really realize how far 12 miles is. But outside is so much different. I had to go way outside of town, back in, around campus and back to the west side to get enough miles in. Craziness!

Next week will be my last high mileage week, then I'll start cutting back for the last 3 weeks before the race. Big day is less than 1 month away! I'm READY!!!! Oh please lord do not let me get the stupid flu in the next month. I'm going to get some vitamins today!!

WEEK 7 - repeat

Me and Laura getting ready to run, run, run! She's just about the coolest girl around. Thanks friend for running my first race with me. I will never forget it & it will be so great to look back on someday when we can't do this anymore!!

This week was my highest mileage so far! I was scheduled to do this many last week, but because of our 10K race and other things going on I wasn't able to get those in. So, am repeating week 7 with 26 miles total, and a 12 mile on Saturday. Weeeeeeeeeee!

Total for Week 7 - 26 miles!

Sept 6 - rest day

Sept 7 - 10K with Laura, 1:02. Respectable :) We were shooting for 1:10, so we are happy with that!

Sept 8 - rest day

Sept 9 - 4 miles
Good run today!

Sept 10 - 4 miles
Rest day tomorrow, getting rested for 12 miles on Saturday! YIKES!

Sept 11 - rest day

Sept 12 - 12 miles!!!!! Yes!

NOTES FROM THE WEEK:
This week will start out with a rest day (ahhh!) and then back into training for my hardest week so far. I will run 26 miles this week!

Laura and I ran a 10K today (my first race!) We ran an even pace, consistent pretty much the whole way. There were a few nasty hills, but we made it through and finished with a 1:02 time. We were shooting for 1:10, so for us, that was a pretty fast 10K. I was really happy to see my hubs and kid following us around, driving to the next spot where they could suprise us as we ran by. :)

We kicked it into high gear on the home stretch to pass a few girls so that felt goooooooooood. One of the girls we passed got a metal b/c she was just a few years older than me--which put her in the next age bracket. Darn! Didn't do us much good to work so hard to pass her except to say that we did! Guess I am a bit more competitive than I thought I was! Seeing my family at the finish line yelling for us was the highlight of the race. :)

So, off we go for another week of running, running, running!