Quality Miles Monday - I can't pace myself

Plan: Same as this day, 54321 workout.
Actual Mileage: 4.7 miles today, including lots of walking.
Route: Around the marsh in my neighborhood.  "The marsh" is 0.6 miles so I've been running as many loops around it as I want for various workouts.  It's basically flat but not a total pancake.

Weather: 70s and sunny.  It was glorious.
Execution: So, I felt strong, and going fast but not out of my mind.  But I did not hit the prescribed paces.  I am having significant difficulty pacing off my Garmin watch.  It kind of makes me insane.
Planned 5:00 at 10:30 pace. Actual: 10:27/mile (Good!)
Planned 4:00 at 10:00 pace. Actual: 10:19/mile (Ok, that's not so bad.)
Planned 3:00 at 10:00 pace.  Actual 10:32/mile.  (Doh.)
Planned 2:00 at 9:45 pace. Actual 9:27/mile.  (Good job!)
Planned 1:00 at 9:45 pace.  Actual 10:17/mile.  (Ooof.)
From today, I learned: I wrote my coach and asked if I should be doing more of these runs on the treadmill to learn what the paces feel like. We'll see what she says.

Bonus: I did my new "leg day" routine this evening as well.

TC 10K - 11 Weeks To Go

 Sunday planned: Run 1 Miles
Sunday actual: 4.47 miles in the morning.  Walk with the Dungeon Master at Palmer Lake.
From today, I learned: I ran today since yesterday's race was rained out.

Monday planned: 4 miles easy
Monday actual: 4.01 miles of running, plus a couple bonus miles walked. 
From today, I learned: This run was accidental and attitude is everything.  This was one where the heat felt good.

Tuesday planned: Run 1 miles, Tuesday weights
Tuesday actual: 1.19 miles in the morning.  Tuesday weights and bonus abs in the afternoon.
From today, I learned: I lifted slightly less weight on the squat and my form was much better

Wednesday planned: Hill Workout
Wednesday actual: Hill workout completed.  Bonus leg exercises in the evening
From today, I learned: I think the leg exercises will help make me stronger and help my balance.

Thursday planned: Run 1 miles, Thursday weights
Thursday actual: Run 1 miles outside, downtown.  Thursday weights.  Bonus walk with Dungeon Master.
From today, I learned: My GPS gets lost downtown.  Go by time.

Friday planned: Run 4 miles easy
Friday actual: 4 miles inside, on the track.
From today, I learned: It was nice to run in circles and listen to my audio book actually.  I did that a lot this winter and I'd missed it.

Saturday planned: Long run with pickups
Saturday actual: 5.69 miles along Victory Memorial.  Pick ups done.
From today, I learned: Good attitude is important.

Saturday Long Run

Plan: Run 2 miles easy, next 2 miles are at 3:00 hard, 8:00 easy, 1 mile cool down

Actual Mileage: 5.69 miles
Route: Along Victory Memorial Parkway, with an odd out and back while I was waiting for a train.

Weather: Started at 71* and ended at 77*  Sunny and humid.
Wardrobe: This bullet was always so important to me in the winter because I could never remember how to dress for the different temperatures and wind chills.  Now I'm all "I dunno, clothes?"

Execution: 2 miles easy including a walking warm up
3:00 at 9:51/mile pace, 8:00 easy running
3:00 at 9:12/mile pace, 6:25 easy running
3:00 at 9:24/mile pace
Run easy until I hit 5 miles.
Walking cool down.

From today, I learned: I was definitely not a slave to my watch on this one and ran it by feel.  That was the right decision.  I cut one of my rests short so that I wasn't trying to do a 3:00 hard running through the only traffic light on the whole route.
Bonus: Old grumpy me was thinking "this is so hard for 3 minutes.  How am I going to do this for a whole race?" and New "good attitude" me is thinking "wow, you did that 3 minutes, 3 times in a row.  When this started you wouldn't have thought you could do that at all, look how far you've come" So, I guess from today I learned a good attitude is important.

High School Reunion

So, my high school reunion is coming up.  It doesn't matter which one.  A friend put these questions on Facebook and I found them hilarious.

Anyone else not go to prom?

1. Did you know your current love? LOL
2. Type of car? Blue Chevy Nova.  The a/c was supposed to work but didn’t, and it didn’t even have a tape deck.
3. What kind of job did you have? I worked in the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History Youth Program and it was actually a great job.
4. Where did you live? North Avondale!
5. Were you popular? Hahahaha.  No.
6. Were you in choir? No.  My school was one of two in the city that had a Jazz Band for credit during the school day so I did that.
7. Ever get suspended? No. 
8. If you could would you go back? No.
9. Still talk to the person that you went to prom with? I did not go to prom.
10. Did you skip school? No.
11. Go to all the football games? No.  What is the deal with Football games?  I do not understand.
12. Favorite subject? Basically if I liked the teacher I liked the subject.  I did very well in History with several teachers. And Jazz band was fun.
13. Do you still have your yearbooks? 8th grade and senior year only. 
14. Did you follow the career path?  No?  It’s a miracle I even enrolled in college out of high school.
15. Do you have a class ring? No.  And I refer you to the prom and football questions above for further explanation. 
16. Still close with your best friend?  My ‘best friend’ was not from my high school. 
17. Who were your favorite teachers?  Mrs Seltz. Mr Thompson (AP European History), Mr Luckey (AP US History).  I actually really liked Mrs Callahn though her class was not AP and it was crazy hard. It was hard but fair.
18. What was your style: Hahaha.  Alex.
19.Favorite Shoes: I have no idea.
20. Favorite thing to eat in cafeteria? Senior year, I only had 5 bells of class so I went home to eat.  It was great.
21. Favorite band? I have no idea.  Moody Blues and Dave Matthews Band, which is an odd combination I know.
22. High school hair?  Actually about like it is now.  Below my shoulders, in a pony tail almost every day.
23. What kind of perfume? WTF.  No.
24. How old when you graduated? 17.  I have a June birthday.
25. Did you play a sport?  I played soccer 9th and 10th grade only.

TC 10K - 12 Weeks To Go

Sunday planned: Run 1 Miles
Sunday actual: 1.15 miles outside.
From today, I learned: It it so hot out.

Monday planned: Tempo workout
Monday actual: Run 1.17 miles in the morning.  Feel like baloney.  At least this one was inside.
From today, I learned: Sometimes, better to move the hard workout to another day.

Tuesday planned: Run 1 miles, Tuesday weights
Tuesday actual: Speed workout: 200M repeats. 
From today, I learned: It felt momentarily cool so I headed outside and then the sun came out so I was super hot.  This was a fun workout but I suck at pacing.

Wednesday planned: Run 5 miles, easy
Wednesday actual: 4.61 miles along the river.
From today, I learned: I sort of got stopped by a train, but this time it was only about the last 10 cars on the line.

Thursday planned: Run 1 miles, Thursday weights
Thursday actual: 1.17 miles in the sticky sticky heat.  No weights
From today, I learned: I'd felt lousy after weights last week, so I skipped them ahead of the race on Saturday.

Friday planned: "Shake out run"
Friday actual: 1.17 miles in the morning.
From today, I learned: My coach had 2-3 miles but it is way too hot.

Saturday planned: Cosmic 5K race
Saturday actual: Run 1.1 miles as a warm up to the 5K that was eventually cancelled.
From today, I learned: My warm up will take longer than I think. And I was smart to keep running in the warm up and get my mile done before the rain.

TC 10K - 13 Weeks To Go

Sunday planned: Run 1 Miles
Sunday actual: 1.22 miles.
From today, I learned: I have a massive head ache.

Monday planned: Tempo run Run 1 Miles
Monday actual: 1.25 miles around the neighborhood.
From today, I learned: Don't do a tempo run when I feel like garbage.

Tuesday planned: 4 miles easy Run 1 miles.  Tuesday weights?
Tuesday actual: 1.15 miles in the morning.  No weights.
From today, I learned: Run slow and easy when I feel like garbage?

Wednesday planned: Tempo run
Wednesday actual: 5.8 miles around Palmer Lake at an attempted Lactate Threshold run.
From today, I learned: Not all runs can be winners.  It didn't even get its own blog post.

Thursday planned: 4 miles easy, Thursday weights
Thursday actual: 4.5 miles easy.  Tuesday weights.
From today, I learned: Running when I feel good makes me feel better.

Friday planned: 3 miles easy
Friday actual: 3.24 miles
From today, I learned: This was a nice and easy run but I was super sore from weight lifting.

Saturday planned: 6 miles easy
Saturday actual: 5.29 miles in the crazy heat.
From today, I learned: I did not poop my pants, so that's good. Seriously, I though the route was closer to 6 miles than it was, but it was so hot that I just stopped when I got back home.

Long Run Saturday: Back at Rush Creek

Plan: Run at least 6 miles, make mile 4 around 10:00/mile
Actual Mileage: 6.21 miles

Route: Rush Creek Trail from Coon Rapids Dam.  It's been a while since I've been here and I'm glad to be back.

Weather: 70* and balmy.  I was dripping sweat.
Execution:
Warm up and run easy for 3.1 miles
Mile 4 was at 10:07/mile, or 10:06 if you look at Strava, or 10:00/mile if you look at my 'moving time' which I don't even understand.
Rest of the miles: went back to easy, and then after mile 6, walking cool down.

From today, I learned: I went into the hard mile trying to stay relaxed.  Trying not to go nuts on my pace, like I normally do when I start out a hard lap.  It mostly worked, but I was slightly bummed that I was a couple seconds off the pace too.  Sigh.

Bonus: I had a donut after the run and now I'm home watching the first stage of Tour de France.  After that, I'm switching over to Wimbledon.

TC 10K - 14 Weeks To Go

Sunday planned: Run 1 Miles
Sunday actual: 1.2 miles in the morning.  Bonus walk with Dungeon Master in the afternoon.
From today, I learned: I literally waited until after the storm.

Monday planned: Quality Miles Monday
Monday actual: Quality workout was done on the treadmill.  Treadmill felt like it was in a rain forest on the face of the sun.
From today, I learned: Tuck in my elbows when I'm running.

Tuesday planned: Run 4 Miles easy, Tuesday Weights
Tuesday actual: 3.77 miles.  It was so hot. I saw a fox, a blue heron, and all of the dead frogs.
Tuesday weights also accomplished
From today, I learned: I need to keep lifting light so my form stays good.

Wednesday planned: Run 4 miles easy
Wednesday actual: 4.14 miles, at the crack of dawn.  (Just wait 'till tomorrow.)
From today, I learned: I had to go the short way becuase of a train.  Also, you know how I sometimes have, um, issues?  Yeah, today was not a great day in that department.

Thursday planned: Run 1 miles, Thursday Weights
Thursday actual: 1.25 miles on the treadmill.  Thursday weights also done
Bonus walk with Olive around a lake in Robbinsdale.
From today, I learned: I went lighter on the weights and that was correct.
As a bonus bonus, I volunteered at Red White and Boom as a course marshal. Volunteering for at least one race is usually one of my goals for the year.

Friday planned: Run 3 miles easy
Friday actual: 3.3 miles in the morning.  In the heat.
From today, I learned: Sometimes an out and back is just the right thing.

Saturday planned: Long run with pick ups
Saturday actual: 6 miles, mile 4 at 10:07/mile (goal was 10:00/mile). 
From today, I learned: Run relaxed, even when trying to run fast.  I decided to not go nuts when the fast mile came, but to try to stay relaxed as I sped up.  I didn't quite hit my target, but I did stay relaxed and didn't want to totally die at the end of the mile.

Quality Miles Monday: Treadmill miles

Plan: "5, 4, 3, 2, 1" workout, which is not my track workout but a similar idea.
Actual Mileage: 3.5 miles on the treadmill plus 0.5 miles walking warm up on the track.
Route: Track: walking warm up.  Treadmill: Actual workout.
Weather: The reason I am inside.

Execution: I told my coach I was 'lulled into a false sense of security' on this one. To me, for some reason, this workout looked easier than the half mile repeats I did last week.  When it was 65* out.
Warm up: walking 1/2 mile on the track. 10 mins easy running on the treadmill.
5 mins at 10:30/mile (10:31/mile because it's what the treadmill can do), 2 mins easy
4 mins at 10:00/mile, 2 mins easy.  I am beginning to question all of my decisions.
3 mins at 10:00/mile, 2 mins easy.  I am beginning to fear flying off the back of the treadmill.
2 mins at 9:40/mile, 2 mins easy.  I have not fallen off the treadmill yet.  I may survive.
1 min at 9:40/mile, 2 mins easy.  I actually almost ran through the front of the treadmill, I was so excited to get this done with.
10 mins cool down on the treadmill.

From today, I learned: Are you familiar with the concept of 'chicken wings' while running?  Because I really had to focus on tucking in my elbows when I was getting tired.

Bonus: I wore my fast shoes today.

Running Conditions in June

Warmest Run: Yesterday (at Baker Park Reserve) felt the warmest, because I was out the longest and the black flies tried to kill me.
Coldest Run: I did one run in the rain.
Favorite Run: Baker Park Reserve on June 29.
Worst conditions outside: Baker was pretty freaking hot.
Other: I am surprised by the number of days with no pictures this month.