Nothing to See Here

I'm feeling kind of lazy these days. So I have nothing much to report. I won't have yoga class for another week or so. And I haven't attempted to fit in yoga this past week either. And it's a shame, because I feel I should. I really need something more than a running schedule. I need an activity schedule. I was checking out tri training programs. No, it's not in my head to do a triathlon. But the training would do me some good and keep things interesting. I really should swim and bike more. I haven't pulled out my bike all month. And I haven't swum outside of my weekly swim class this month. I will try to work on that. And maybe, just maybe I will use the bikes at the Y if I don't feel up to riding outside. And I can bring a book. That's a thought. We shall see.

So here's what my lazy behind has done since the last post:

8/19 - 4mi Track (36:35 - 9:08 pace)

8/20 - 7mi Track (1:08:19 - 9:45 pace)

8/22 - 3mi Treadmill (27:32 - 9:10 pace)

8/23 - 8mi Treadmill (1:18:43 - 9:49 pace)

Anyway, tomorrow's a rest day. Let's hope I actually make myself useful, NOT be lazy and actually cross train. Wish me luck :)

Run + Swim + Recap

I haven't run in the park in weeks, but I went today. I didn't have time to fit a run in at the Y before swim class. See, I run at one Y (there are more treadmills and an indoor track) and have swim class at the other Y (closer to home). I didn't have time to be driving from town to town, so I sucked it up and went out in 87° with a heat index of 93°. Before I stepped out I prayed, "Lord, please don't let me crash and burn." I also blurted out a, "Lord, have mercy on me" somewhere in the middle of the run. I was expecting the heat to take me under since I've been running indoors lately. Thank God, it was overcast. If the sun was out, I'm pretty sure I would have been laid out. I was also expecting the little hills and inclines to get me since I've been running on extremely flat surfaces, i.e. track, treadmill. But that didn't bother me at all. What did bother me was the extremely thick air. I tried to slow my pace for consistent splits. But consistency is not my forte, so I decided to go with negative splits instead. Pretty graphs below. So I make it to my swim lesson on time. I have no idea how far I swam. At some points, there were others in the lane, so I would only go part way and back. I did some kicking drills (frog kick forward and backward, flutter kick forward and backward), breathing exercises, front crawl, competitive breaststroke, and backstroke. Now my shoulders and back are sore. It's okay though. I was expecting to be sore way before now. I was out dancing last night. Woke up fine though. And, now let me recap where I left off... 8/9 - 3mi Track (25:47 - 8:35 pace) 8/11 - 5mi Treadmill (50:00 - 10:00 pace) I began making an effort to run slower, since my mileage is getting up there. Really helps with recovery. Swim Lesson (30min - 550yd) 8/12 - 5mi Treadmill (50:00 - 10:00 pace) Yoga Class (1hr) Right before yoga 8/13 - 6mi Treadmill (60:00 - 10:00 pace) 8/15 - Namaste Yoga (25min Fit TV) Shimmy (2 x 20min Fit TV - Belly dancing and loving it) 8/16 - 10mi Treadmill (1:40 - 10:00 pace) With keeping my speed down, I didn't even feel this run the next day. So there is something to long SLOW distance runs, huh. Oh, and I must mention that I skipped a 5miler. If I keep my runs slow, I should have no problem making it up. But if I run outside, I can't guarantee a slower run. So we shall see. Activity Route: Park Elev. Avg: 27 ft Location: Willingboro, NJ Elev. Gain: -32 ft Date: 08/18/09 Up/Downhill: [+200/-232] Time: 05:30 PM Difficulty: 3.1 / 5.0 Weather: Partly Cloudy 87 F temp; 61% humidity 93 F heat index; winds Vrbl 3 Performance Distance: 5.00 miles Time: 0:48:02 Speed: 6.2 mph Pace: 9' 36 /mi Heart Rate: 169 bpm (Avg) Calories: 554 194 bpm (Peak) Notes Cool Down = .43mi Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Heart Rate (bpm) Heart Rate Zones Zone Range (bpm) Time In Zone Distance In Zone Zone 5 180 - 200 0h 15m 31% 1.63 mi Zone 4 160 - 180 0h 25m 51% 2.57 mi Zone 3 140 - 160 0h 06m 12% 0.63 mi Zone 2 120 - 140 0h 03m 6% 0.28 mi Zone 1 100 - 120 0h 00m 0% 0.02 mi (none) out of range 0h 00m 0% 0.03 mi Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 54 +0' 18 6.1 -0.2 145 -49 ft 2 9' 49 +0' 13 6.1 -0.2 165 +16 ft 3 9' 39 +0' 03 6.2 -0.0 172 -19 ft 4 9' 23 -0' 13 6.4 +0.1 182 +17 ft end 9' 15 -0' 21 6.5 +0.2 184 +3 ft Versus average of 9' 36 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Do I Drink Too Much?

I don't know what it is, but whenever I have a long run, I can't stop going to the bathroom. My first major hydration issue was back when I ran Broad Street. I was gonna pee on myself before the race. Finally had a potty break before race start. But then, I had to go again at the start. Same thing happened last weekend for my 9miler. I peed numerous times before I left the house. Then when I finally get out to run, I've got to go. Lo and behold, the same thing happened today. Back and forth to the bathroom, then I get to the track and have to go again. Now I'm wondering if I'm so concerned about long runs that I over hydrate. Or is it that long runs make me nervous, and peeing is a nervous reaction? Can it be both? Really, long runs get to me. Somewhere in the back of my head, I'm thinking it's going to be a disaster. It takes so much psyching myself up just to get out the door on a normal day. I'm so much worse when it comes to long runs. Yes, I prepare for them. I eat a great dinner. I don't drink (alcohol) the night before. I hydrate throughout the day. Go back and forth to the bathroom. I pick out a comfortable outfit. Then I take my sweet time getting out the door. But before I step out for good, I go again. And you know what? I have to go again at the beginning of my run. What the heck? Anyone else have this issue? So on to today's run (pretty graphs and splits below)...It was a nice night. The humidity was low. There was a nice breeze. But too bad I just didn't feel like being out there. The good thing is, I did my long run today instead of tomorrow, when it's supposed to be a hot one. And trying to pull 7 miles out of my behind on a hot day when I already don't wanna be out is a recipe for disaster. I can, however, pull out 3 miles on a sucky day. So that's the plan for tomorrow. Now, let me recap what the heck I've been doing when I'm not blogging here... 8/1 - Yoga (30min dvd) 5mi Treadmill (45:20 - 9:03 pace) 8/2 - 9mi Track (1:27:32 - 9:43) I know, I know. Who the hell runs 9 miles on the track? I went out late, so that was my option. Luckily, I wasn't bored enough to shoot myself. 8/4 - 5mi Track (47:13 - 9:26 pace) 8/5 - Yoga Class (1hr) 3.4mi Indoor Track (29:45 - 8:45 pace) Not sure how accurate this was. I was using my Tech 4o watch that was calibrated like 3 times. I think I have to calibrate again though. 8/6 - 5mi Track (44:48 - 8:57 pace) I do feel like I've been slacking though. It all started when my cousin from Alaska called me at some ridiculous time and had me up til the wee hours of the morning. My sleep schedule ain't been right since. And I canceled Tuesday's swim class because I was just tired. I did make sure I got in that day's run though. I'll try to do better this week. It's supposed to be 98° on Monday. Maybe that will make want to swim on a non-swim lesson day. We shall see. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy your weekend. Peace. Activity Route: Track Elev. Avg: 36 ft Location: Willingboro, NJ Elev. Gain: +3 ft Date: 08/08/09 Up/Downhill: [+6/-3] Time: 06:57 PM Difficulty: 2.0 / 5.0 Weather: A Few Clouds 72 F temp; 68% humidity 72 F heat index; winds SE 5 Performance Distance: 7.00 miles Time: 1:04:48 Speed: 6.5 mph Pace: 9' 15 /mi Calories: 777 Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 36 +0' 21 6.2 -0.2 +3 ft 2 9' 29 +0' 14 6.3 -0.2 0 ft 3 9' 25 +0' 10 6.4 -0.1 0 ft 4 9' 20 +0' 05 6.4 -0.1 0 ft 5 9' 15 +0' 00 6.5 -0.0 0 ft 6 9' 07 -0' 08 6.5 +0.1 0 ft end 8' 35 -0' 40 7.0 +0.5 0 ft Versus average of 9' 15 min/mile

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Lucky Number 7

Michelle from Runnin' Down A Dream asked me to be a guest poster on her blog. And it happens that I'm guest poster #7. Cool. I didn't think anyone cared about what I had to say. Anyway, if you don't know my running story and want to find out without digging through my blog, you can check it out here. Hope you like it!