Game plan for fall

First a confession... I told myself I was going to take it super easy this week to recover. I was going to be good and stick to the elliptical. But it has been a hellish week... I was kind of riled up after work Tuesday and went out to run 2.5. Then I did the same thing Thursday, logging 3 at the bike trail.

My legs are pretty sore from strength training this morning but I'm going to attempt to do two loops around the long trail at Dawes Arboretum tomorrow morning. Next time I go there with the pups I'll take some pics, it's beautiful there.

I'm excited... I have a new plan. Kind of, anyway. Still needs some tweaks. It might be a bit too ambitious, I'll play with it as I go along.

My goal is baby steps until I eventually get to the marathon distance. (May = Flying Pig). The big race I'm working toward is Salt Fork 10-mile trail challenge.

Upcoming races I'm eying

No committals yet, but these look like fun (I'll have to make some choices!)

Oct. 9 Bowman Cup 5K (alma mater's homecoming race)

New addition! Oct. 17: Kenyon Mudman Triple 5K or 10K

Oct. 30 Nu Race Trail Run (Ashland County), 8 miles

Nov. 16 Buckeye Classic Quarter marathon (Columbus)

Dec. 4 Salt Fork 10 mile trail challenge

Race Report: Hocking Hills Indian Run

Wow. That's all. My legs are threatening to revolt if I dare get off the couch tonight. I am absolutely doing this one next year.

The short of it: 10K (6.2 miles) in 56:53, 6th in my age group, 49th overall.

Age group results

Overall results

I was really worried... I woke up with a runny nose and a scratchy throat. Eight weeks of training about to be foiled by a simple cold. And most cold medicine gives me mild stomach upset, tolerable on a normal day but not while running. So I took some allergy meds and crossed my fingers. By the time I got to Hocking Hills I was feeling great. Phew!

Driving in I got a sense of what I was in for, the single lane roads were windy, curvy and hilly, the kind of terrain I really miss from living in Maine.

This race was a complex animal -- five different distances, but it was very well organized. The registration area was kind of a zoo with runners doing their pre-race stuff. Another sign of what was about to come: I looked for a place to run my warmup and there was not a single flat stretch of road in sight. To conserve I jogged around the parking lot a few times.

Showtime

The iPod has been synced and packed (trying to decide between the new Arcade Fire or my classic rock mix for the race.)

My purple tech tank top and black jogging shorts are laid out.

My watch has been located and packed.

My alarm is set for 6 am.

It's 10k time!

Got to get a Garmin

This is incredible. It’s a social media-type site that allows you to track your mileage and routes.

Once I get around to getting a Garmin, I can upload everything automatically.

For now, I’ve entered my runs from the last week by hand. Not quite sure how to share the logs yet but I’ll get my resident computer expert down here tomorrow to help!

http://buckeyeoutdoors.com/

Going public!

I’ve just wiped away all my other feeble attempts at being a blogger on my WordPress account (The record: one week, apart from the year I actually got paid for it).

But I'm going to transfer over a couple old posts from a private blog so it will look like this has been around for awhile!

I’m still of the opinion that no one really cares about me whining about shin splits but I’ve found some pretty cool public blogs by people in the area and figured I’d give it a shot.

To sum things up, my short and fragmented running career in a few paragraphs:

Ran track and cross in high school. Went to college. Abandoned running and did usual college student stuff. Graduated from college and did the usual young professional stuff. Joined a gym at a few points. Learned that actually paying the membership fee isn’t enough if you want results. What a rip. Started C25K a few times. Gave up a few times.

Goals for Saturday and beyond

It’s my first 10K and I’m ready. I’ve covered up to 8 miles on the completely flat Licking County bike trail, 7 miles at the completely hilly Dawes Arboretum. Cranked the treadmill all the way up to 10 grade, to the point where someone even asked me if I had a death wish.

I really want to finish in under an hour but I know better than to set that goal. My training pace is a 10 minute mile. My last 5k pace was an 8:25 mile but that’s mostly because I sprinted the last half mile trying to get third place (I did). BUT! It’s rough terrain and I don’t know how bad these hills are. And last year only three of 15 women in my age group beat an hour. So I’m going to be good and set my goal at 66 minutes. Moreover, my goal is just to run the whole thing, no stops.

I keep telling myself that I’m going to wait until the race is over before plotting out the next steps. I’m going to take a few days off. But I just can’t stop myself from looking ahead. There’s a 10 mile race at Salt Fork state park Dec. 4. Or I could just try to improve my 10K time? Or my 5K time? My mind wanders and then suddenly I’m on Fleet Feet’s site again!

One step at a time!

Hocking Hills Indian Run site

Hocking Hills Indian Run map

Hocking Hills Indian run 2009 results

Two great runs this week

Yesterday I covered 8 miles on the bike trail (Cherry Valley Road portion) without stops, plus a one mile warmup. The first two miles were rough but then the shin splits went away and all was good aside from a small cramp in my calf toward the end. Used my new Fuelbelt and got used to it quickly.

Wednesday I covered 7 miles at Dawes. Did the small loop as a warmup, then the big loop twice followed by on more treck around the small loop. I dragged a bit on the first two hills but hardly noticed them after. Ultimate in stress relief, there was hardly anyone on the trail and the new Arcade Fire carried me through perfectly.

Monday was 6.5 on the bike trail (extra half was because I somehow missed the turnaround point). Did long hills on the treadmill Thursday for a weekly mileage total of 24.5 — the highest yet.

This week I’m going to take it easy on the running. Here’s the plan — lots of cross training.

Sunday: Cross training – elliptical, easy, circuit training
Monday: 4 miles easy, circuit training
Tuesday: Personal training session, elliptical easy
Wednesday: 3 miles easy, circuit training
Thursday: Elliptical, circuit training or personal training (if my trainer can move my Friday session to Thursday, otherwise I’ll just cancel!)
Friday: Off
Saturday: Race day

Race Report: Licking County Pet-A-Palooza

(Crossposted from Facebook with a few changes)

My second 5K, the Licking County Pet-A-Palooza in Granville was this morning. Most of my runs lately have been at around a 10:30 pace for 5 or 6 miles, so I figured I’d shoot for a 9 minute mile. I bested that by about a minute, unofficial time was 26:02. I was the third female.

Lizzie the greyhound came to watch. I thought about running with her but I really wanted to race this one. She was happy to go though, since there were pet expo booths she got a lot of treats and attention. I’ve taken her on a few shorter runs and she loves it, she just has to stop occasionally. She really can’t do more than two or three miles. Gigi stayed home. She’s getting old, unfortunately, and tends to get overwhelmed when there are a lot of people around and a lot of activity.