Beautiful clouds

I really didn't want to get up. I almost fell asleep getting ready to go.  I dilly dallied way too much.  BUT I still got out for a run.  I had been talking about how my favorite temperature to run in is about 55F.  Well, it was 56F this morning, so I just had to take advantage of it.  I was treated with a beautiful dawn.  There was a large group of striated clouds right were the sun was coming up.  The effect was red and blue stripes across the sky.  Beautiful!

I ended up at 2.13 miles at an average 10:48 pace.  Not bad for not having run in ages.

4 bunnies

A bit faster!

Today's run was shortish... 1.5 miles. At first, I didn't feel like running at all.  But, I got into it and sped up.  The last half was almost all under a 10 min/mile pace.  That's fast for me.  Overall, I averaged about 10:10. An overall nice run to a 165bpm Podrunner podcast called Breezy.  It wasn't breezy here, though.  It was still and 68F with high humidity.

~5 bunnies

Lots o' bunnies

10 of them!
I got in my 30 minute run this morning.  No music.  Rather slow.  It was only 49F and somewhat windy (~12mph) and I was slightly underdressed.  I wore shorts and a lightweight wicking T-shirt.  By the end, I wished I had listened to music because the earbuds keep the wind out of my ears.  Otherwise, it was a good run.  I need to pick up the pace, though!

My adductors were rather sore this morning.  I think that might be thanks to the overhead squats yesterday.  I think my adductors tend to be tight and squatting stretches them.

A warm morning run

I hope the 20k isn't this warm. It was around 70F this morning and I know by the time I would be getting done, it'll be even warmer.  Humid and the sun will be high.  I know it's not as bad as it could be, but the 50s or 60s would be so much more comfortable!

I got in 3 miles this morning.  No issues.  7 bunnies!

Attack of the worms!

My long run scheduled for yesterday got pushed to today, thanks to rain and cold, windy conditions.  Of course, the family still went on a bike ride, but that was for adventure.  That rain made for lots of worms on the sidewalks today.  I wonder how many I killed during my run.  It was impossible to avoid them.

I finished my 4 mile run with a pace of 11:41, which was a bit faster than goal.  That's fine.

Bunny count: 7

Last Thursday, I got my 3 mile run in.  I don't think I blogged it.  The bunny count was 4.

Loop-dee-loop... and 7 miles

Sunday I got in a beautiful 7 mile run.  Some of it was on the cross country field, which is very wet in the morning.  I don't like that.  Luckily, my shoes tried off rather quickly.  Only one bunny.

Today was a 4 mile easy run.  This is a drop-back week.  I'll only do 11 miles, after 15 last week.  All easy runs.  Sometimes I play with my runs.  Today, I decided to do loops around the neighborhood.  The picture in my mind was more fun than the actual run looking at the GPS track.  Oh well, I still had fun!

Bunny count: 5

6 mile tempo run

Today was 1 mile warm-up, 4 miles at 10:58 and 1 mile cool-down.
I was a bit disappointed that the tempo portion of today's tempo run didn't seem very "tempo", but after looking at the Garmin history, I see I averaged a 11:08 pace during that portion while my goal was 10:58.  Not too far off, considering it was 4:30am and I was pretty sore from squatting yesterday.  My pace was rather erratic, though.  I tried to take a path that would lead me by as many houses as possible. So, my map looks rather funny.

Bunnies: 9

My run map.  The brown was the faster section.

Backing up

No, I'm not backing up, the cars are! I must have hit the time of morning just right.  Every now and then, I have to wait for a car to back up, but today it was three or four.

A good run.  2 miles.  It was still dark, but aobut 50F and no wind.  Nice.

Bunnies: 1

2 miles - check

I managed to get in my scheduled two miles this afternoon.  This morning it was storming, so I wasn't going to go out and get struck by lightning!

It was a bit chilly and windy, but not as chilly or windy as I expected, so I was overdressed.  No bunnies.

5 gooey miles

Today was my long run for my 10k training. I did 5 miles, as a "taper" since the 10k is a week away. It's funny to think of 5 miles as a lesser distance!

I tried the PowerBar Gel packets today. I used one a few minutes before the start of the run with a drink of water. Then, at about mile 3, I used another one. I can definitely see why you want water after one. I didn't have water, although I did time the packet to be near a source of water if I really needed it. I think on the 10k, I will plan to use it at a time right before a water stop so I can wash it down. The two packets should be plenty.

All in all a wonderful run. I wasn't all that excited about it beforehand. During the first mile, I kept having negative thoughts. After that my head cleared and I just enjoyed it. I could have easily run farther, but held myself to the plan!

Bunny count: only 4!

7 miles!!!

Another person best distance for me! I wasn't sure if I was going to go for 6.5 miles or 7 miles this morning. But, since I was going to get to the coffee house at about 6.75 miles, I decided I might as well make it an even 7.0! The last quarter mile or so I felt a few twinges in my back hip, so I'm glad I wasn't going any farther. I think I'll cut back the distance slightly for next week's long run, in preparation for the 10k in two weeks.

Today, I ran some on our local university's cross country field. It was a nice and low-impact surface. My feet did get a little wet from the dew, but the grass had been mowed, so it wasn't too bad. The part of the field that I was running in has alfalfa fields in the middle. That's a strange experience because alfalfa is rather fragrant. It's has an almost sickeningly sweet smell.

I didn't take a bunny count, but I wish I had. In the first mile and a quarter I saw around 30 of them!! The rest of the run, I saw maybe 2! Very strange.

It was a nice day for a run. It was about 54-56F with no wind. There were some foggy patches, which are so pretty. Once the sun came up, those cleared out.

Poor Virtual Partner...

...I seem to beat him or her almost every time!

I felt like I needed a bit of a challenge today since I really didn't feel like running much. So, I set my VP for 30 minutes at 11:20, a pace slightly faster than I've been running lately. I was behind at first, for around half of the run, in fact. Then I kept my pace a little elevated and slowly caught up and overtook VP. I finished the 30 minutes about 95ft in front. I'm glad I got out, of course.

I covered 2.68 miles. I ran without headphones, since my 10k race will not allow headphones. The difficult time will be when I don't wear them for a long run...

It was a nice 48F or 51F depending on the source of information. No wind, which I appreciated.

Bunny count: 5

Back to the streets

I had a week off while at a sailing regatta then I lazed around a week without much movement. So, this morning, my brain was trying hard to get me to sleep in. Luckily, I didn't let it. Although, it did manage to delay my run a little.

All I did was run slowly for 30 minutes. In fact, I ran at what is now for me a slow pace of 11:53 minutes/mile. So, in 30 minutes, I only went 2.53 miles. Ack! Oh, well. My goal was to break my two week hiatus, and I did. The temperature was a beautiful 65F with a very slight breeze.

During the run, I kept thinking about the 10k I signed up for. At first, I was kind of scaring myself. There are also a marathon and a half-marathon being run at the same time, so I will be running with around 3,000 of my closest friends. A friend who used to run in lots of races was mentioning how pushy and crowded these runs can be. I don't like huge crowds. I have somewhat of a phobia of being trampled!

So, I started thinking about how I was going to keep from falling during the race. I'm sure it's mostly at the start that I have to worry about really tight crowds. Hopefully, they will have pace designations, so I can correctly group myself and not be behind too many slower people or in front of too many faster people. My guess is the former is more likely. Not because I'm fast, more because I underestimate myself.

It's kind of bad that I had that 2 week break right now. This Saturday is a 5k race. In fact, it's the one that I ran as my first 5k last year. It would be cook to run it again, but I'm not really prepared. We'll see how I feel when Saturday rolls around. Maybe I'll sign up on site if I feel up to it.

Bunny count: somewhere around 12

Darn sidewalk! And a beautiful bike ride...

To start the day, I got up for a "long" run of 4.5 miles. It was one of those days, when things just don't seem to be easy. The good thing was that nature didn't call this time. But, I was going down one sidewalk where there is a slight unevenness. I almost always trip here, but I've never fallen... until today. Luckily I caught myself without doing any real damage. I didn't fall on my legs and I didn't land wrong on my hands. Just a little scratched up skin on my palms, which, as I write this, is already unnoticeable. A couple years ago, I tripped on an uneven sidewalk. When I fell, I caught myself poorly on my wrist and hurt it pretty bad. It took several weeks to heal and if I remember correctly, it was the reason I quit C25K the first time.

A lot of people were out walking their dogs this morning. Maybe that's why it seemed like the bunny density was down a bit. I've started making it a point to greet every one I pass. That was fun today, since I passed so many people.

Since I wasn't "feeling it" and since we were planning on going for a bike ride, I kept it to the 4.5 miles that I had on the plan. My average pace was about 11:30, so I guess I sped up a tad. But, I didn't go as far, so maybe it doesn't count. My knee was feeling a bit funky, but not weird enough to stop. I stretched fairly well when I got home. My hear rate stayed between 170 and 180 bpm, so I'm happy with my exertion level.

It was a beautiful morning. 60-62F, with a light 5-6mph wind. Sunshine! Simply wonderful.

Bunny count - 12

The beautiful morning turned into a beautiful day. After a not-so-nice beginning with my daughter (not her fault) we got on the road and drove to Saylorville Lake. We parked and got out our bikes. We started up the fun, hilly, and twisty trail for a wonderful 10 mile ride. The trail is the Neal Smith Trail. It's a very nice, well-used trail. Highly recommended for a family outing.

The ride was a little warmer, with the record saying 73.5F to 78F. Really nice. A light 1-2 mph with (with some higher puffs) kept us cool, too. Most of the trail was mostly shady. There is a beautiful prairie area, which isn't shaded, but that was fine. Thanks to the flowers, birds, and butterflies, it was a nice nature ride.

While at a park during a break, I practiced a few chin-ups on the play equipment. I still can't get all the way up from a dead hang, but I did several jump-up chin-ups.

The air is thick

Even though I tried to talk myself out of it, I managed to make it out the door for my 30 minute run this morning. It was HUMID! 100% humidity, foggy.

About 18 minutes into the run, the annoying happened and I had to head home to take a bio-break. So, I took care of things and headed back out to finish the 8 minutes I had left. I'm proud of myself for finishing them up.

I totaled 2.5 miles today.

How annoying. My husband, who doesn't run very often, went out for a run last night and his first running portion was 5.25 miles, about what I ran for a PB distance on Sunday. And, he ran that at a little under 10 minutes per mile compared to my approx. 12 minutes per mile. Argh.

Otherwise, the run went well. I didn't use a podcast today. Man, hearing myself breathe is annoying.

Bunny count: 11

Update: The cool thing about it being humid in the morning is that you can see the spider webs very well. They are all over the grass, big and small.

14 bunnies

I haven't posted in a few days, but I haven't been sitting on my duff!
Tuesday and Thursday I had PT. My PT on Tuesday was intense, so I took Wednesday off. Friday I mowed the lawn, which is an hour and thirty minutes of hard work, so I definitely count that as a workout. Saturday, I did a yoga session from Yoga Today. Sunday, I pulled my daughter in a trailer to church and back, which is about a hilly 6 mile trip, then we walked around the Des Moines Art Festival for 2.5 hours.

This morning, I got up and went for a jog. The PT said I should start to try jogging again. It was a slow, easy jog with an average pace of 12:10 over 2.18 miles.

I managed to see 14 bunnies today, which might be a record. I didn't count a couple that were farther away from me and didn't run away. It was a beautiful morning. Lots of tweeting birds. Not much traffic. I even got to greet someone on the path.

So far the knee is good. I ended the jog for other reasons of Mother Nature. argh.

The Bunny Count is Back!!

I'm sure the whole world was missing my bunny count. Well, folks, it's back. And with full force!
Bunnies: 9 (all alive)
Dead squirrels: 1

I had a relatively easy run this morning. It was nice. Windy, but not crazy windy. It was 42F when I left, so not bad. I had on a long-sleeved running shirt, a water-proof windbreaker, and a (drum roll please) new reflective vest! At 5am in the dark, I'm always worried that cars won't see me. Also, I wear headphones. Although, I don't have the music up loud, sometimes it's hard to tell if the noises are coming from the music or not.

The running portion of my outing was right at 3 miles, which took me 33 minutes and 40 seconds. Not bad for a somewhat hilly, easy run. I'm going to only do shorter runs before the 5k this weekend. I used a 152bpm Podrunner podcast called Power Trip. The combo of running outside and listing to the electronic beats of Podrunner is so relaxing. It's almost meditative. Ohmmmm....

It was, of course, dark when I set out this morning, but by the time I got to a path that is nice to run on, it was getting a little light. I don't run on the path in the dark, because it is completely unlit. Not only is it a bit scary, because of the trees, it gets so dark, it's hard to tell what's on the path and the condition of the asphalt. As I was crossing the street to where I would need to decide to go down the path or not, there was a dead squirrel in the street. It probably sounds completely crazy, but I took that as a hint not to go down the path!

During the run, I could feel an odd stiffness in my knee toward the back of it. Toward the end of the run, I started cramping a bit in the foot on that side. Probably due to worrying about my knee. Anyway, I think it will be ok. I might wear my brace today to help with it. I didn't run with the brace. I'm not sure the (second) one I got would be good for the repetitive motion of a long-ish run.

I so missed running outside. I sure hope this knee thing rectifies itself, so that I can continue running.

Nice cool run with the hubby

After my husband got home tonight, I mentioned that I was going to go for a run. He asked how long I'd be out and I said less than an hour (including warm up and cool down). The surprising thing is that he was asking because he wanted to come along! His father is visiting right now, so it was a rare moment for us both being able to be out of the house while the kids are sleeping.

Although, when running south, there was a strong cool headwind, it was overall very pleasant for running at 60F/16C. It was the kind of day where you could get by with very little sweat compared to normal. Even if your face got sweaty, the wind dried it off!

After a brief warm up walk into the cold breeze, we ran for 30 minutes. It was a fairly leisurely run, which was good, since I wanted to keep my heart rate lower.

bunnies: only one

A new animal sighting

Today went ok. I almost talked myself out of running this morning. But, I got out the door around 5:20am. The first half I did really well, but got my heartrate up too high. I was over 180bpm and couldn't get it down much without slowing down. (That HR was at the top of a long hill.) So, I slowed down. As Gary was mentioning, I'm probably taking it too hard. According to Wikipedia I should probably not be going over about 150 in order to build endurance. But I'm often in the "anaerobic" and "VO2 Max" ranges. Not great. Maybe this coming week I will work on longer but slower runs. I will be travelling, so I'm afraid I'll be on a treadmill.

Today for the first time on a run, I saw a raccoon! A relatively large one. He was running across the street on a collision course with me, but as soon as he saw me, he turned around and headed back to where he came from. I'm glad he did turn around because if he kept on, it would have probably meant he had rabies or some other disease.

The stars were out in full force today. Clear sky. I enjoyed that.

bunnies: 5, this time during the first half
people: 2
raccoon: 1

Thank you MobiBLU

Beautiful morning today. I got out of the house at about 5am, maybe a little earlier. It was already 66F (12.8C) with a breeze. The stars were only partially obscured by clouds. Very nice.

Today went a tad faster. I ran at 11.03 min/mile. This time I used a 159bpm mix: The Road of Excess. I did feel like I sped up some using the faster music. I was hoping I sped up more than that! By the way, I'm sure you're no longer reading this, but for DJ Steve Boyett and DJ Beatsmith, if you ever feel a neck cramp coming on right before I post a blog entry it's because I have to cram you into this:

This is my MobiBLU mp3 player. It has 1GB of memory. Plenty of space for the workout music and NPR podcasts I use. It's from Korea. It has worked great, especially after I flashed the memory on it so it stopped freezing. Very cute. AND I don't have to use iTunes to get music on it. I would have probably purchased an iPod by now if it weren't for iTunes, and by that I mean the PC application, not the music store.

Bunny count: 5, all in the last 10 minutes. Maybe I wasn't paying attention earlier? Or do they not wake up until 5:15?
People count: none! Only a few cars. Or does the one motorcyclist count?