Weekend Run and My New Business!

I'm super excited for this post! But let me get down to running business first.

Our training schedule called for a 90 minute run on Saturday (we've been training in 'time' instead of mileage). Well, I'm a slow poke runner. So I started feeling a little worried that I wasn't getting the mileage base I needed for an October 1/2. When I trained last time, by this stage in the game I was already doing a 10 miler. Um, yeah, I can't do 10 miles in 90 minutes.

So, we decided maybe we should focus a little more on mileage this weekend. 10.75 miles on the log for Saturday :) Whoop! I felt like it was a really good run - although we took a few unscheduled breaks - but not because we needed it.

Do any of you pick up pennies along your route? We do. Saturday we hit the motherload! So with our picking up pennies stop and a bathroom stop, it took us quite a long time to get that 10.75 done. But, a few months ago I couldn't have DREAMED of 10 miles, so I'm gonna take it and be proud that we did it!

NOW. On to other things!

What you may not know about me is that I have a few obsessions. One of them is running (duh, of course) and the other is making cute little things for my friends. I'm a scrapbooker. My name is Suzy and I'm addicted to glitter. There I said it.

All this running we do got me to thinking. After a few races I ended up with some pretty fun pictures of me and my running friends at the race. After training with a few girls last year I decided I wanted to do something for them as a memory of our training and our hard work.

A scrapbook maybe? Nah, I didn't have enough pictures to do that for them. So, I took one of the pictures I had, made a mini-page, put a magnet on the back and wa-la! A fun, thoughtful gift for my friends was born.Then the next race, I made them for all the girls in our big group picture. Then this summer I made some more. And some more! Hmmm, everyone seems to think these are so cute, why not make them for everyone!

So that's it! Race Day Memories is my new side business! Let me make you and your friends fun momentums from race day or group runs! Magnets & mini books! Sure, you could probably do it yourself. If you only had the time .... Let me do it for you!

Interested? See more here!
Race Day Memories on Facebook
and here:
Race Day Memories blog

Craptastic Run & Choose You Giveaway Winner!

Ugh. I'm fighting a sinus cold/headache right now. Doesn't that cold know I have training to do?!?! I had to skip my run that was planned last night, I just wasn't feeling well. Today I tried a lunch hour run .... ugh. Just not good. But, I had 3 on the schedule, so 3 I did. Going to get some rest tonight, I don't have time to be sick! I have a 10 miler on Saturday!

Ok, enough whining, on to the winner of my Choose You giveaway!

I used random.org to pick a winner, it chose #1! Erika of Chasing My Monkeys 1 Mile at a Time! Congrats Erika!
Email me at
racedaymemories@yahoo.com
with your address and I'll get this box of awesome Choose You goodies on the way. I wore the shirt today to work, it's super cute! You'll of course get one that I didn't wear though. :)

MCM Mama Virtual Race

The race that started with a barf.

Ugh. Woke up Saturday morning all ready to run the MCM Mama Virtual race! Started out as a regular Saturday. Coffee, feed the dogs, start getting ready....uh oh. Feeling kinda weird. Oh no. Tummy is not good. Whew. I'm hot and sweaty. Barf.

Now any logical person would call her friends, tell her she's sick and can't make it. But we all know sometimes a runner's logic goes right out the window. My mind instantly goes where I know many of my runner friend's minds would go .... "I wonder if I should still run? I'm probably fine - that was just a baby barf. No big deal. Probably just a fluke. Oh no, I'm going to be late!" Then I run out the door.

I had to eat something in the car - I can't run 8 miles without eating a little something first. I was really nervous about my tummy, but figured I'd just give it a try. If I felt bad, I could just pack it in.

The run was ok! Spent most of the time ranting about some work stress to my good friends who are so kind to listen, and support. My hubs probably doesn't realize how much he doesn't have to endure because my running friends have such good listening ears!

I usually have a few shot blocks around 4 miles, but I was afraid to do that in case my tummy was upset. Had one, which clearly wasn't enough. Had a tough last 2 miles. Looking back at this pic, I'm really not looking so great!But! The 'race' was done, and we celebrated with coffee after (our Saturday tradition) Happy Birthday MCM Mama! Hope you had a great experience as race director!

Weekend Wrap Up

Ah, Monday. I don't really like you. I always wish I had just *one* more day then I would be caught up with all of my laundry, run many more miles, have the whole week's menu planned and my house would be spotless. HA! But it would be nice to have just one more day off.

This weekend I had a long run with the girls on Saturday, more details on that run later today - this was MCM Mama's virtual race. This morning I ran with Little Apple Roadrunners, at 5am. *yawn* My view this morning was the full moon!

More later bloggy friends! Don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Andale! Andale! Arriba! Arriba! Yii-hah!

Speed work Thursday!

The last time we did speed work, we were way too fast according to Hal's training program. We are suppose to do our 400's at 10K race pace. Last time we did 2:05 on average. Um, hello, my 10K race pace is 9:45 - 10 min miles if I'm lucky. Yeah, that was too fast.

Today we tried to slow it down a little, but the weather was so awesome (72 degrees this morning!), that we didn't do much better today! 5:30 am, 8 x 400, average of about 2:13 per. That's a bit better, but I think I need to get it to 2:30 average to go along with 'the plan'.

I'm a little confused about speed work. Isn't the whole point to go as fast as you can? Seems like I shouldn't be telling myself to slow down if it's suppose to be about getting faster. Hmmm. Any advice out there?

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Giveaway Wednesday

Training has been going well this week, as Kansas temps have really given us a break. 70 degree days so far this week are spoiling me rotten! Tomorrow is 5:45 am speedwork ... heaven help me.

Review and super cute giveaway coming soon. Stay tuned! :) Weeeeeee!

Weekend Wrap Up

Friday we had a big nasty storm (90+mph winds!) so we were unsure what our Saturday morning run would be like - cooler because of the rain, or one big sweaty hot mess? The weather for us was actually much better than it has been the past few runs. But running through town this morning after the big storm - was just sad :( The damage was awful, full trees down, many people still without power after losing it Friday afternoon.

Here's a pic from campusOn the plus side, we had a good run today. We all forgot to take GU (well, not me, sorry GU makers, I just can't eat that stuff). P & G forgot to take their GU, I forgot my shot blocks .... so I was crashing a bit, but by the time we realized it, we were almost done. The best part was the deeeelish mocha latte afterward and having time to sit with the girls for coffee :) Kathy joined us today for coffee and if peer pressure works on her she will soon be joining us for running :)

Have a great week everyone!

Hill Repeats, I Hate You

Today my tiny little boot camp trainer (aka my friend Penny) kept us right on schedule - hill repeat Thursday. We met a little earlier today (5:45 am) to be sure we had enough time to get it all in. I pull up to see Penny there, but no Gina. Hmmm, well, Gina is always a few minutes behind us so we didn't think much of it - until she was 5 minutes late. She's never that late. Penny called her .... and she was sitting waiting for the COP to give her a ticket. ooops. Gina likes to go fast .... and not just running :)

Welp, 6 times up and down that sucker. It was hard and I hated just about every part of it. Except going down of course. One of the best things about having friends to run with is the accountability. I would NEVER do this kind of training without the girls holding me to it. Hill repeats, speed work at the track - yeah, I would never do those things.

Each time up, we put one of these one the sidewalk to remind ourselves how many times we tortured ourselves today!Oh and we saw a little snake. eeeek!

On a non-running note, I enrolled my kiddo today for school. Where did our summer go? I look forward to school starting, but I'm always just a bit sad to see the pools close. I feel the need to fit one more thing in before school starts. What's something fun we should do?!

A cool thing - I have a giveaway coming soon! Yippee!

Race Reports!

My High School friend told me she registered for Race for the Cure in Kansas City. It was her first race ever, so I really wanted to go to support her, but I also knew there was a 10K being held by our local running store, Manhattan Running Company, the same weekend.

Hmmm....could I do both? I probably shouldn't .... afterall I am suppose to be following a training plan, and I am suppose to be easing back into running .... but .... I would run a long run on Saturday anyhow. If I treat both races as training runs (in other words, don't push it) I could fit them both into the weekend schedule.

Ok, let's do it. Slow and easy, just like a regular training run. Yeah.

Saturday morningBrew 2 Shoe 10K pre-race pics with the girlies.

This was the 2nd annual, organized by Manhattan Running Company. About 300 runners (even a few dogs!). Great weather (considering Kansas has been STEAMY hot). I knew lots of people running this race, so that was super fun.

A friend from High School who is just starting to run came to run his very first 10K! He brought his friend who was running his very first race ever! They are both training for a fall 1/2 marathon. So exciting! Here we are after the race .... But here's how we got there. I started way too fast (negative splits? yeah, I don't know how to do those). Saw my friends Penny & Gina at mile 4 water stop (thanks girls for coming out!) I'm pretty sure if this had been a 5K race I would have hit a PR no problem .... which means by the killer hill at mile 4.5, I was toast! I had a friend running with me until the hill, she kept going, I walked it. At the peak of the hill the rest of the race is downhill, about 1 mile. At the top of the hill was my friend Kathy waiting to cheer me on. (NICE!) That gave me a little boost to kick it in at the end. It was tough though, I was done. Totally out of gas. I didn't wear my ipod because I had thought I would have people around to chat with. All downhill yes, but nothing to distract me from feeling like I was about to die!

Um, training run? Not anymore! Our long training runs are nice, slow, easy runs - about 11 min miles. This race, mile 1 was a 9:30 pace, mile 2 10:00, etc. ooops. Race day gets me again! End time was 1:06. No PR for me, but I said I would be happy with 1:10. So I'm happy! :) Really happy to be running races again! SO FUN.

Got home, showered and ran out the door to head to Kansas City to shop with my girlfriends, and get up bright and early Sunday to run Race for the Cure 5K with my friend Jen (her very first race!)

Jen was a cross country runner in High School, but is picking up running again 20 years later. She told me she would be happy to run the whole thing without walking, but wasn't sure if that was possible. This was a major part of my decision to run 2 races in the same weekend - I thought we'd run a few miles and walk a bit, then maybe run to the finish. Here we are before the race. Um, let's just say her being 'unsure' if she could run the whole thing .... she sandbagged me! We started out uphill .... turned the corner to go uphill again .... turned the corner to go uphill again .... OMG really?! and again .... The first 2 miles were completely uphill.

This race was really hard! Probably for several reasons:
1. 5 am wake up on Saturday, ran the 10K, jetted out to KC, shopped, drank wine, ate too much, not great sleep.
2. 5 am wake up on Sunday, after all of that in #1
3. The first 2 miles of any run is the hardest for me. Add uphill to those first 2 miles? Whew.

Ok enough whining, no excuses. I kept telling Jen that we could walk if she needed to (HA HA), but she was having none of that! That girl has race blood in her, no doubt! Cool rock bands along the course, pink everywhere (awesome), and let's not forget the real reason for the race. So inspirational to see all those people coming together for one cause.

Fast forward to the finish, I was so proud to see Jen sprinting to the finish! Her first 5K, 33 minutes with zero walking. I LOVE THAT!! I predict many future races for us :)

Race Day Freak Out

Ok it's official. Race mornings freak me out. That's today. My first race since my surgery, and I'm flipping out. Slept like poo poo....stomach is upset. Ugh. Thinking maybe if I write this before I head out the door it will help? Probably not! I'm running with some friends today, who agreed to stick with me. We're running at a super slow pace (we decided this up front. 10:30-11 minute miles. NO faster). So technically I should already know my finish time. But for some reason I'm still nervous that I will be sucking wind at mile 1!

59 is my 10K PR, but noway am I hitting that today. Emz told me to pick 3 finish times, so here they are:
Happy with: 1:10
Really happy with: 1:02
Buying everyone a beer afterward: 1:00

Anything between 1:02 - 1:10 and it will be a good day.

I'm off! Race day weekend begins! Wish me luck!

You Can't Run Faster Unless You Run Faster!

Kicked off Penny's bday today with 7 400s! My daughter made a super cute sign for the fence at the track and we had a cute little present waiting for her. We ran ahead before she got there and put it on the track about 1/2 way out. It was dark out so she totally didn't see it until we were right on it. :) We're so sneaky!

We walked one lap, then it was time to go! I have to confess....I have run several 5Ks, several 10Ks, several 1/2 marathons....and never, ever have done a single bit of speed work! Maybe that is why I've never been very fast?! hmmm, there's a thought! I was actually pretty surprised at my pace - between 2:00 & 2:06 for all 7. That felt fast for me, I'm used to an 11 minute mile. I know there is no way I could have kept that pace much longer than a 400, but my hubs is probably right - you can't run faster unless you run faster!

Happy Birthday Penny!
:)

Where am I Wednesday?

My morning started off at 5:15, coffee, bagel, ready to run. Normal day. Had 3 miles on the 1/2 marathon schedule today, but I was running alone, so I didn't really have a planned route. Just thought I'd run 15 minutes and turn around.

Yeah, that didn't happen! I ran a trail that I had never run before. I thought no problem, I've lived here, well pretty much forever, so no biggie if I didn't know where the trail was going. I had a general idea.

Well....I must have missed my turn off. Yeah, I definitely did. Got stuck on the trail and when I came to an intersecting street, I was way farther from home than I intended to be! Then I had to decide whether to turn around and go back the way I came, or turn and hope that was a shorter way to get home. It was already quite clear that I would never make it to work on time, and the 3 mile plan was gone!

Had to get home somehow....so I ended up with about 5 miles instead. Um, yeah, I got lost on my run today! But the view was pretty cool :)

Week 1 Recap

My first official week of 1/2 marathon training went a little somethin' like this:
Monday - 3
Tuesday - 3
Wednesday - 6
Thursday - hill repeats (about 5)
Friday - rest
Saturday - rest (garage sale at home, I think that was more work than a run!)
Sunday - 8

Total for the week: 25 miles

I had planned to start from bare bones beginner training plan - um, yeah, I didn't do a very good job of that this week! A week of 25 miles isn't on the beginner schedule until week 8 of training. ooops.

So I guess I'm going the intermediate or advanced plan (or something in between)

Took an 8 mile trail run this morning. Felt a little weird to be running on Sunday instead of our usual Saturday, but I had a garage sale to get rid of lots and lots of stuff cluttering our house. Ahhhh, that feels good! I struggled during the run today. Maybe it was the first week of training tiredness (is that a word?!), or maybe it was because I got 5 hours of sleep Friday & Saturday nights both? Yeah, probably that one.

I must get to bed on time if I'm going to expect to run 25 miles a week, work full time, have a half way clean house and have clean undies to wear. I wish I had about 10 extra hours in the day!

No pics on the run today, I was sucking wind today and totally forgot to pull my phone out. But here is a funny pic of Penny & Gina after our run. You can't really see it, but Gina's got her arms up :)