Another week down...

Wednesday's speed workout was nuts. Things are really gearing up, as most of the people on the team are in the final preparations for the marathon. We did "200 meter sandwiches." We had to sprint 200 m, jog 15 seconds, bound for 15 seconds, jog for 15 seconds, sprint 200 m, jog 15, bound 15, jog 15, sprint 200 m. Then do a recovery. Repeat 3-4 times.

I was tired when I left that one....

Friday I did a 5K in the morning, and Saturday I did a 7-miler at about a 10:45 mile pace. Tomorrow is another 5K day, then I'm back at speed work Wednesday.

I'm not sure I will get in a long run this weekend since I am moving (eeeeeee I'm so excited!), but I think even if I skip a week, I am still in good shape for the Hot Chocolate 15K on November 1.

No shin pain in several weeks. Some pain in my thighs, though. I think it is mostly soreness, but I should be careful not to push too hard at speed work. If I get another injury this year, I think I will scream. Like, for days. Stopping only to breathe.

Well, that was happy. Haha. Still loving the weather! Routing for no snow til after my last race. As it snowed for my first one this year, I feel it should wait for my last one to be over. (You hear that, Grandma Rich? I'm counting on you!)

My Grandma Rich was always in charge of the weather. :-)

Still going....

I'm still keeping up my regular training schedule! Last Monday I ran a before-work 5K, then on Wednesday I went to speed work. We did 200 m repeats, and I REALLY pushed myself. On the plus side, I did all 14 of my repeats in 56 seconds or less. (OK, OK, the last one was actually 56.08 seconds. But the rest were under 56!) So, that's less than an 8-minute mile pace. Granted, I could not have kept up that speed any longer than 200 m (about an eighth of a mile), but still. I'm pretty proud.

However, I was hella sore for DAYS. Actually, I'm still a little sore. But it was worth it.

Friday I did another before-work 5K, and Saturday I did a 6-miler at about an 11-minute pace. I think I could have gone faster if I hadn't still had screaming thighs from speed training.

Today I did another 5K, and I should return to speed work on Wednesday, barring any weather issues. No updated schedule yet, so I don't know what the workout will be.

Less than 2 weeks until I move! I'm excited to start using the in-building weight room on my non-running days. (Though I bet after I find out how hard it is, the excitement wanes. Haha.)

I'm still not as fast as I was last year or before my first injury, but I running pain free and enjoying myself, so I'm not too torn up about it. I have one more race this year -- a 15K. I'm not sure yet what my goal will be next season. This is the first year that I'll have a treadmill to use through the winter, and who knows how that will affect my aspirations by spring.

Loving the weather. Fall is the best time to run.

Wow, did I ever get behind on this....

So, it's been almost 3 weeks since I updated. Oops. I've been busy, but I've also been running!

I returned to speed training once a couple of weeks ago. It was sort of embarrassing how slow I was, but still good to be back. The next two weeks were rained out though. Weather for Wednesday looks clear so far, so I'll probably go back then for 200 m repeats. (Hey, I'll take anything that's not mile repeats.)

Otherwise, I'm back into my pattern of 5K Monday, speedwork Wednesday, 5K Friday, and long run Saturday. So far I've only upped my long run to 5.5 miles, but I'm increasing by about a half mile a week from now until the Hot Chocolate 15K on November 1.

I'm running pain-free these days, and I've been able to complete a couple of 5Ks in under 30 minutes. I haven't done that in almost 6 months, so I'm happy.

Just a little push...

I went for a 5K this afternoon, and pushed my pace a little for the first time in quite a while. I was able to finish a 5K at a consistent 10:20 pace. Not exactly a PR, but faster than I have run in quite some time, so I'm happy with it.

A couple of twinges in my shins, but nothing bad. Still, I'm longing for the day I run completely pain-free.

Coming off the high.

Well, it's been a week since the race now. I didn't run for four days after the race. I had several reasons for this: I was sore, I was still cautious about my injuries, and I was on vacation. I did go for a 4-mile run with my mom on Thursday, and that went reasonably well, though I wasn't pushing at all. I went for a 5K today, and actually had to walk a little ways, but I'm choosing to blame that on the heat.

In the interest of remaining injury free for the rest of the season, I am going to take it very easy for a while. This week, I'm planning to run Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, with each of those just being 5Ks except for Wednesday, when I hope to go back to speed work. I plan to just take each week as it comes and not try to start long runs again until September. I'll gradually work my way up again starting in September, with my new goal being to finish the Hot Chocolate 15K on November 1 without walking.

In the interest of savoring my half-marathon finish just a little bit longer, here are a few memorable things from the race:

1. Twice along the route, I saw a man with a sign that said, "Mortuary ahead. Look alive." It made me laugh both times.

2. Somewhere between the 10 and 11 mile markers, a woman just ahead of me yelled, "11!! Where are you 11?!" I must admit I was feeling the same way at that point.

3. 2.2 mile from the finish, there were two girls standing on the sideline chanting, "Two point two to beer! Two point two to beer!" Classic.

4. Somewhere around mile 4, a girl on the sideline yelled out to one of the runners, "Yay! You're still running!"

I'll update if I remember any more.

Success!!!

Well, I did it. I finished my half marathon this morning, and it was AWESOME. My official time was 2:30:54, only 54 seconds slower than my original, pre-injury goal. That's pretty darn amazing seeing as even earlier this week, I was considering sitting it out.

I can't say that I felt as good through this race as I did during the Soldier Field 10. I didn't have that "I could run forever" feeling that I did then. I took 2 five-minute walk breaks and a couple of other shorter walk breaks, but I ran almost the whole way. I was tired at the end, but still had a bit in me to sprint for the finish, and that felt good. Besides, there's a different kind of satisfaction in finishing something that was hard. I'm really proud of what I did today.

Only some minor pains along the way, and only very minor pains now, which is also a very good thing.

During my injury struggles, I came to accept that perhaps my body just isn't built for distance running. So, this may be the only half marathon I ever run. But even if it is, I don't care. Because today, I totally rocked the Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon.

Soldier Field results!

So, remember how I was SO excited about my Soldier Field finish, and then my chip didn't work? And remember how I sent an inquiry and then never spoke of it again? Well, that's because I never heard anything back.

But on a whim today, I went on athlinks.com to look at my race results, and the Soldier Field time was there! They put me on the finisher's list with a time of 1:50:27, which was my gun time. So, that put me at an 11:02 pace, two seconds higher than my original goal! But that's ok, because I know it took me at least 10 minutes to cross the start line. I suppose using my gun time was the best they could fairly do. I'm just so happy to have a time at all!

Haven't tried to walk much yet today, so I'm not sure how my legs are doing.

I looked at the "spectators guide" for the race tomorrow, at it says my corral will not cross the start line until almost 7am. Boooo.

But still, 24 hours from now I'll be an hour into the race.