Running Pictures

Cleaning

I had a bad day at work yesterday.  Work in general right now is just stressful and I think that working 72 hour work weeks last fall for awhile really burned me out and I haven't completely recovered yet.  (Trying to write test procedures for 12 hours a day, 6 days a week gets very tedious and mind numbing.)

So I admit I'm a little bit more prone right now to get stressed easily.  I feel like I could use a full month off to just sit around and do nothing! :)  I'm behind on things right now.  I need to get into the dentist, I am well overdue for a haircut, we are out of a lot of groceries... etc.

Anyway, yesterday when I got home at work I started cleaning. I've found that cleaning tends to be something I do when I'm stressed, frustrated, mad, or just feeling emotional.  I always thought it was more of a stress relief to be doing something like scrubbing the shower/tub and getting the frustrations out that way.  But now I'm starting to think it's more about control.

Some of my frustrations at work are related to lack of organization, schedule, etc.  And I can't do anything about any of that.  But when I go home and see our house looking kinda blah it's a really nice feeling to get stuff done and have it looking clean.  I don't know if this makes sense.  But it's something that I can take action about.

There are other ways I could relieve stress or pound out frustration.  Running works really well right now.  So does playing music.  But yesterday I just had an urge to start cleaning.  And I was pretty happy afterwards because I could see a difference.

Week 11 Half Marathon Training

Week 11


Plan miles:  19 miles running plus some cross/strength training 
Actual miles: 22.65 miles in 4:02:07, no cross training but some strength training (upper body only)


This is the last week in my training plan! Next week would be a taper week with the half marathon on the weekend. Since the half marathon isn't until May 6th, I now have 6 extra weeks to keep training. My plan is to maintain the base and just bump up my long run. I do want to run 13 miles beforehand; hopefully in a few weeks so then I can taper down. Next week should be a ramp down week; I've had 2 weeks in a row with 10 mile long runs.

Having some fun taking a picture

My long run this week was supposed to be 10 miles. I made it 10.06 miles. Our group that tends to run on the weekends met at the jail trail (Eliza Furnace trail) this week. I don't know what's been wrong with me but I've been really struggling recently and this was a bad run for me. I started out ok but my knee was hurting, my calves were hurting, and I was slowing the group down the 2nd half of the run. I thought maybe it was my shoes, but when I ran 10 miles to pace Colleen last week, I felt like I could have run more if I wanted to and I wasn't sore at all afterwards. And I wore the same shoes then.  Maybe I need a ramp down week and then I'll bounce back. That was my plan anyways, to take it easier this week.


I originally blamed my runs not being as good recently on this amazing weather! I love the weather and how unseasonably warm it has been but it definitely makes running harder. I'm used to being cold and dressing in layers and I guess I've gotten used to the running being what warms me up. Runs have been hard now and I've been sweating like crazy. Someone at the running group for my run on Thursday said that this is especially hard because it went directly from 40 to 80 without a transition in the middle. I thought he was right, but it was cooler for the run on Sunday (around 55 I think) and I still struggled a lot.  


Our winter was so mild both weather and temperature wise- is this a sign of global warming? ;) I have to say, I am worried about the summer and how HOT it's going to be. You never know, though. We'll see!


On a side note, I'm really upset about my Garmin watch. It's not working right now. I'm going to have to call today to find out what's going on (and I don't know if it's covered under warranty anymore) but I'm bummed that it's likely I won't be able to use it next weekend. I guess it's back to Cardio Trainer on my phone, hopefully temporarily. I'll miss being able to see how far I've gone and some of the extra stats (like split times).


Mileage on shoes

Teal: 362.8 miles (retired)
Purple: 65 miles
Brooks: 44.35 miles

Ultramarathon Picture

This is from the ultramarathon Colleen ran.  It must be after my first loop (her fifth loop) starting the last loop.  I didn't even know anyone took a picture!

Pens vs. Jets 3/27

I haven't been a good blogger recently (especially related to topics other than running).  I think I whined a bit in a previous post about work. I feel like I'm just burned out a little bit right now and when I get home I just don't want to do anything!

This past Tuesday Dave and I went to another Penguins game.  Boy, are they on fire lately!  Just last night they clinched a spot in the playoffs and they've won something like 12 of the last 13 or maybe even better than that!  And even the loss was in OT so we got 1 point for it.

We saw the Pens beat Winnipeg, 8-4, with a Neal hat trick.  We were close to seeing a Malkin hat trick and/or a Kennedy hat trick in addition!  They both scored two goals as well.  Wouldn't 3 hat tricks in one game just be amazing???

We usually eat somewhere around the arena or downtown beforehand and we tried out a new place this time- Tailgaters.  I think I'd go back to Pizza Milano before going to Tailgaters again.  Tailgaters was recommended for sandwiches, but we got pizza (maybe our first bad decision).  It was pretty small and very smoky outside, so we stuck around inside.  The waitress ended up giving us some free beer, so the beer price would have probably been the same at Pizza Milano vs. Tailgaters (but better choice for the $ at Pizza Milano).  The pizza, though... WAY better at Pizza Milano.  So if we do go back to Tailgaters, remind me to try a sandwich instead of the pizza.

At Tailgaters

On the way to the arena we were just looking at poor Mellon Arena, almost all the way down.  I know there's a lot of controversy about even tearing it down and after tearing it down what should go in its place.  Which makes me really want to go to the wall that's left of Forbes Field.  I still haven't been there and don't know where it is.

Anyway, here are some pictures we took on our way to the game.  Because I think pictures are a lot more interesting than rambling on and on in words.

Week 10 Half Marathon Training

Week 10


Plan miles:  19 miles running plus some cross/strength training 
Actual miles:  21.69 miles in 3:47:46, some cross training and strength training (some lifting, just upper body though, ab work, and 12 miles on the bike in 40 minutes)


I went to get fitted for new shoes and ended up buying them.  It turns out that I pronate pretty badly and when they saw me in my old shoes they immediately said that I need new shoes.  I could tell a difference even in the store just walking to see how the fit felt!  So I now have Brooke Ravenna 3 with some inserts.  They told me that my other shoes were too wide, and not long enough.  So we went with the regular width and added another half size to the shoe.  Now I'm in 11s. That makes me feel like a giant.  


It did take a little bit to get used to the new shoes because it makes me run a little differently.  It made my calves sore more easily but by the end of the week it was feeling better.

Photo Credit: Colleen

I had my worst run ever, on Wednesday.  I'm not sure why.  I didn't drink even close to as much water as I did during the day.  It was my 2nd day in a row running and I had done a 5 mile loop at North Park by myself in slightly less than 49 minutes which is still really good for me.  I was struggling so much on Wednesday and made Mandy and Jen walk more than they needed to.  I wanted to get at least 5 miles in but we ended up with 4.3, and Jen had to get back to her Zumba class so she ran ahead while Mandy stuck behind and walked up a hill with me.


I ended up outside for every run, and took advantage of this beautiful weather.  It's so weird to be running in shorts and a t-shirt in March!  In Pittsburgh!


My long run was supposed to be 9 miles, and I made it 10 miles, helping pace Colleen for her ultramarathon.  My post about it is here.


Next week is my last "real" week of the training plan!  I'm going to have to come up with the remaining weeks myself ahead of time so that I am not just winging it.  I'm worried if I wing it I won't keep going with consistency and that's what I really need.  My goal is still to have run the full 13.1 miles once before the actual race.  I think I'm going to need that mentally.


Mileage on shoes

Teal: 362.8 miles (retired)
Purple: 65 miles
Brooks: 21.7 miles

Pacing Colleen

I wasn't sure if I'd write a blog post about this but I decided it might be worth it.  Here is Colleen's post about the race.

Colleen ran an ultramarathon yesterday.  It was a 50K (31.1 miles) around the 5 mile loop at North Park.  I've heard other people complain about how it can be boring to run a lot of loops like that, but one advantage is being able to stop at your car every so often.  To de-layer clothes, pick up water, etc.

Colleen had two pacers for this race- Sarah and myself.  We're part of the group of 6 that has run together at North Park in the past.  There's a picture of the 6 of us in this post.  Originally one of the guys was going to run 20 miles of the 31 to prep for the Pittsburgh marathon but he ended up not being able to do it.  Sarah was an addition towards the last minute.  I was originally going to run laps 4 and 5- I figured that if we got her 5 loops and 5 miles away, the last 5 would be easy for her on adrenaline and being excited about finishing.  But Sarah was going to run laps 3 and 4, so I asked Colleen if she'd rather I do 5 and 6.  I also originally was going to take pictures at the end for her and just sit around the cars for the last lap, but told her if I ran the last lap I didn't think I'd be able to run ahead, grab a camera, and take pictures.

So that's what I did, ended up running laps 5 and 6.

Colleen killed the first 4 laps.  She ran the first 3 laps, I think (plus the 1.1 at the very beginning before starting the actual loop/lap) without walking other than to get water at water stops.  She texted me around 16 miles and I realized I needed to get moving or I was going to miss meeting her for the 5th lap because she was ahead of what she projected.

I rushed around and barely got there in time.  I think I passed them in the car about half a mile before the boathouse/parking lot.  I ran into the bathroom and as I came out of the bathroom, I already saw Sarah and thought I had missed Colleen.  But she paused at her car so I headed to meet her there.  She had also given me her water belt to bring and I handed that off to her- it was all ice because I pulled it out of the freezer just before getting in the car.

We started out and my first thoughts the first mile were, crap.  I don't think I'm going to be able to do 2 whole loops here.  That's 10 miles.  My plan called for 9 miles, and the most I've ever run so far is 8 miles.

But Colleen had hit a wall about a mile before we met up and I took over for Sarah.  So she was starting to slow down.  If I'd try to do loops 3 and 4, I don't think I would have lasted the entire time.  Props to Sarah for that!

It took a little bit for me to get situated.  Usually when I run with Colleen, she can smoke me easily and I'm the one dragging while she's pushing.  I could tell she was tired- she was running straight but kind of loose and we bumped into each other a few times.  I was running too close to her for how much she had run and how tired she was.  I felt really bad about that too- I was there to help her, not to screw her up!  But I adjusted and tried to run a little further apart than we normally do.

We did a run/walk combo on that loop and it worked out so that we walked most of the hills.   Colleen said that every loop the hills just seemed worse and worse.  I still don't know how she did that over and over 6 times.

There weren't many racers and everything was open- roads, path, etc. to the public.  I tried to be a good pacer but I could have probably been better.  I wanted to distract her by talking about things, but I don't normally really talk when I run, not to mention I'm not really good at monologues.  I asked her questions a few times and I knew she was struggling to get words out so I decided not talking was probably better than asking questions.  I ended up just pointing out people/clothes, etc.  I figured that was better than nothing and got us looking around instead of thinking about how far we were running.

After the 5th loop (my first loop) we saw Sarah waiting.  Colleen had asked me to take two of the water bottles from her belt to fill at the water station, so I cut through the parking lot instead of around it and sped up so I wasn't holding her up trying to get her water.  I waved at Sarah and Colleen handed Sarah her car key so Sarah could grab her camera and take some pictures at the end.  Even with that, Colleen caught up before I could even fill the water bottles.  But she wanted to pause to dump water on her head and drink some gatorade.  One of the guys standing there helped me with the water bottles and stuff.  Poor Colleen, I'm a terrible helper!  She had a gatorade in her hand and I just handed her the water bottle to put it back, and she couldn't get it in there with one hand. The guy helping her actually was the one who put the water bottle in.  Now I know how to be better for next time!

I'm glad I ended up pacing her for the 6th loop. I could tell it was a real struggle.  I tried to pump her up, she had done such a good job and she needed to know it to get that final push through to the end!  We walked quite a bit more on that loop but kept doing the walk/run.  I think most of the time when we ran, I was slightly ahead of her trying to encourage her a little bit. Also, because I was so focused on doing what I could to encourage her, I didn't even really notice going around the loop and how many miles I'd done overall.  That made my long run much easier.

The last mile she started to push it again, and I think we ended up running most of the last mile.  We got to the parking lot and I started telling her, "See, we've done this just as extra laps to add on an extra .1 mile, you can do this!"  And when we got to where Sarah was taking pictures, I dropped back and walked and watched her cross the finish line.

Just before the finish line.
Photo Credit: Sarah

I know it wasn't my race but it made me smile all goofy for her.  I knew how much that took for her, especially mentally, and I was so proud of her!  She did this coming off a knee injury, without doing the recommended training (which I personally think is crazy but wow she did it), and with only one marathon under her belt.  She beat her 20 mile race time from a few weeks ago (at the 20 mile point of this race), and her marathon time from last October as well.  She really killed it for this race.  I think her finishing time for 31.1 miles (and her Garmin actually measured a little longer) was around 5:20.

One other thing about the race- wow was it HOT for March.  When I got in my car to drive away it said it was 78 out!!!  One mile in and I could feel sweat dripping down my face.  I knew it was going to be bad.  And at the end I was covered in salt.  My face, my arms, and my legs.  It looked like I had really dry skin but nope, just salt all over.  The shower felt SO GOOD when I got home.

So here are the mile splits for when I ran with her.  I did run .32 miles after she finished to get an even 10 miles in and averaged an 8:58 mile pace for that.  The slow mile 6 wasn't actually with her completely.  I cut off .5 miles of the loop to make sure I'd be strong the whole 2nd loop, and was standing around waiting for her.  During that I actually walked back towards her a little bit to catch her a little earlier, and was moving to get out of the way for other runners and bikers while straining to see her run around the corner.  My watch has auto pause on it, and it kept pausing and resuming as I was doing that.  So that mile (mile 6) is a bit skewed, time wise and we actually ran it shorter than it says.

1	09:53	09:53
2	10:29	20:22
3	10:21	30:43
4	10:11	40:54
5	10:57	51:52
6	11:48	1:03:40
7	11:14	1:14:54
8	11:18	1:26:12
9	11:19	1:37:31
9.69	06:40	1:44:10

The average pace was 10:45.  Considering in the past for 5 miles our average pace has been 10:17, that's not bad at all, especially based on the fact that Colleen had already run 21 miles before I started running with her.

Good job, Colleen!  You did an amazing job!

Colleen and the pacers
Photo Credit: RL

Running pictures

Last night Colleen and I went to North Boundary Park and took some pictures.  We got a LOT of pictures because she has a photo burst setting that takes a ton of pictures right in a row.  My camera has that but it limits how many you can take at a time, and Colleen's doesn't.  Here are a few of the pictures she sent me as teasers.  I'll probably post more from the rest of them when I get them all.

Week 9 Half Marathon Training

Week 9


Plan miles:  10 miles running plus some cross/strength training and a 10K race
Actual miles:  7.98 miles in 1:22:41, a 5 mile race in 47:55, and 3 days of cross training (14.8 miles in 50 minutes on the bicycle and a few untimed walks around my neighborhood.)


This was another ramp down week per the plan, with a race.  I only have 3 more weeks left in the plan with the 3rd week being the half marathon week, so pretty soon I'll be kind of making my own stuff up.  My plan is to just keep building the long run by a mile and make sure I keep some ramp down weeks in there, every few weeks.


I didn't get all the miles in, but work was a little crazy, and a good friend lost her husband, so between those two I had a little bit of a time crunch.  I don't really feel too bad about being a little low on miles, though- because I feel really good about the race I ran.  I ran a 5 miler instead of a 10K because that was what was available.  My original plan was to run the 6th mile right after the race but we had a funeral to go to, and literally hopped in the car after the race to make it to the funeral in time.  (If there had been a conflict and we wouldn't have made it to the funeral, I was going to drop the race altogether.  But since the timing worked out and I had already registered/paid for the race, I still ran it.)  See my race recap here.


I did have two walks that I'm kind of counting as cross training.  I at least got out there and even just walking, I feel it in my calves from the hills.  One of the walks was with my neighbor and we walked pretty fast, and I couldn't pass up the beautiful weather on Sunday so Dave and I walked around the neighborhood again together.


At this point my minimum runs are supposed to be 5 miles unless they substitute for cross training.  I got a 6 mile run in with People Who Run Downtown and managed to squeak in 2 miles another day on the treadmill but that's really all I had time for.  My legs are still feeling pretty good though, and I'm happy with how I did this week.


Oh, and my Garmin watch I got for Christmas?!  It's now been used more than 100 miles!  At the rate I'm going, too, I better buy another pair of replacement shoes for my purple ones.  I might need them by the half marathon!  Or be close to needing them.

Finishing the race on Saturday.

Mileage on shoes

Teal: 362.8 miles (retired)
Purple: 65 miles

March Mad Dash Recap

The March Mad Dash is a race at North Park, where I run about once a week or so.  The path around the lake is a 5 mile loop and the March Mad Dash was either a 5K, 5 mile, or 10 mile race.  I signed up for the 5 mile race because I want to build towards the half marathon but I haven't even done 10 miles yet for my long run so I wasn't ready for that leap.

I was so nervous about this one.  We do this loop most of the time we run there and we're usually slightly over 50 minutes but that's running with other people (and Colleen especially is faster- I tend to run faster with her).  Also, most of the time we use the Jeff Galloway method of run/walk intervals, normally in 4:1 minute increments.  I had no idea what to expect time wise.  I told Dave I was aiming for 50 minutes but it could be slower or faster.  (I didn't really think I could do much faster than 50 minutes, honestly.)

This was my friend Sonja's first 5K in a few years and we saw her at the beginning as well as Colleen, who was taking race pictures.  It's really nice to have people to talk to before a race.  They also had booths set up although we didn't really look at many of them.

Photo courtesy of Colleen
I'm in the blue on the right and Sonja is in the pink to the right of me.

All 3 races started at the same time and place, by the boat house, so Sonja and I started out running together.  I told her if she wanted to go faster, to do it.  My original goal was to stay around 10:00 miles and push it towards the end if I had enough energy.  I wasn't really paying attention to my watch although I did tell Sonja every .25 miles how far we were and noticed we were slightly ahead of a 10:00 pace.  When we hit the first mile, Sonja asked if I wanted to speed up and I said no, telling her that I wouldn't be able to maintain much faster for 4 more miles.  So she sped up and we split off at that point.  (BTW, Sonja came in first place in her age group!)

When I reached the 5K turnaround, I actually saw Sonja coming back right before it.  I almost missed her- I wasn't really paying attention and didn't even realize the 5K turnaround was coming up!

The miles actually kind of flew by.  It might be that this course is so familiar.  I did notice things like the 5K turnaround for the Resolution Run, and I knew where the hills were and was prepared for them.  They aren't really that bad at North Park, but I knew how far they were and mentally promised myself with each one that if I pushed to get to the top I'd let myself walk after that for just a little bit.  Then I'd get to the top and decide that was the hardest part and just keep running.

I also made an effort to pass people more than I normally would.  If I caught up with someone, I tried to push enough to speed up and get around them and put a little bit of distance between before slowing down.  That seemed to give me something to focus on as well.

There were pretty decent water stops- I think there were 4 on the course at each mile and another one right after the timing mats for the 10 mile race.  I didn't stop at any of them, but when I got past the water stop at mile 4 I decided to walk for one minute.  I didn't want to walk more or less.  I felt I needed a little bit of energy.  And I did, walked, just one minute.  A guy I had talked to at the 5K turnaround passed me and encouraged me that it was really close and to keep going!  But I wanted that full minute to rest a little bit.  And it worked- I passed him, and in the last half mile really started to ramp up my pace (for me).  The last 2 .25 mile splits were 2:13 and 2:15, so slightly under a 9 minute mile pace for half a mile. And even with the walk, my last mile was still under 10:00.

Approaching the finish line.  Look, all 3 of us have both feet off the ground. :)

I ended up running a little farther than 5 miles- I started somewhat behind the start line and my GPS had me at 5.07 over the finish line.  As I rounded the corner at the end I really kicked it up and according to my GPS was around a 6:20 mile pace!  I don't know how people do that for an extended time though.

I was so focused on the final burst that I missed my official time but per the pictures I saw later, it was around 47:55 or 47:56 which is a pace of 9:27 for the whole race (counting the extra .07 miles though).  I'm pretty amazed at that.  My sister told me to aim for a 9:30 race for the 5K in Savannah and I thought she was nuts- that I couldn't maintain that speed for 3 WHOLE miles!  And I just did for 5!

Photo courtesy of Colleen

So here are my mile splits:

Mile	Mile Pace	Total Time
1	09:31	09:31
2	09:21	18:51
3	09:23	28:15
4	09:27	37:41
5	09:48	47:29
5.07	00:26	47:55

My slowest mile includes the minute of walking, and I can't believe I was around or below 9:30 for each mile that I fully ran.  I never expected to be able to do that!  (Yeah I'm still saying wow to myself pretty frequently.  I know it's not fast for most runners but it's definitely better than I really thought I could do.)

My fastest .25 "lap" was 2:13 and my slowest .25 "lap" was 2:45 (which included walking).

Hershey

This weekend we went to Hershey for a night with some really good friends.  The main purpose of the trip was to go to Troeg's Brewery.  Dave and I went there in November of last year and we really like the scratch beers, which are only available at the brewery.

We went up Saturday and headed straight to the brewery.  They had two scratch beers (info from their web site):
SCRATCH 57-2012 – WEIZENBOCK  RELEASE DATE: 2/7/12

Scratch #57 is brewed with two cocoa powder varieties and two kinds of berries to create a tart twist on a classic German style. Unfiltered and carbonated to a near-champagne finish, the beer is 7.9% ABV. 

Fermented in our open-top fermentation room, the yeast gives hints of pepper and clove designed to complement the fruit flavors.  The cocoa powders add bitterness and some mouthfeel; the boysenberries and raspberries provide a tart, dry finish and the vanilla yields a subtle, sweet finish to the beer.

TRIPLE MANGO IPA RELEASE DATE: 2/23/12 

Scratch #58 is collaboration between Tröegs brewers along with Troy Gadbury and Brad Moyer, winners of a homebrew contest sponsored by Al’s of Hampden. This Triple Mango IPA is bold, brazen and over-the-top.

Unfiltered and highly-carbonated (for killer hop burps), Scratch 58 measures in at 125 IBU’s and 10.8% ABV. With a spicy mango nose and an intense overripe grapefruit flavor, we recommend this beer as the grand finale to your day as it overwhelms even the most-hoppy beers.

BARLEY:Maris Otter, Crystal, Carafoam Maris Otter provides an earthy flavor with strong hints of biscuit and is the predominant barley taste in this beer.

HOPS BOIL: Columbus, Simcoe, Nugget, Cascade?HOPBACK: Simcoe, Columbus

DRY HOP: Columbus, Cascade Columbus dry-hopping creates a strong herbaceous flavor, while the entire hop blend screams grapefruit with pine and floral accents.

YEAST:House Ale Yeast 

JUJU:Wildflower Honey, Cane Sugar, Alphonso Mangoes Alphonso Mangoes create a luscious aroma and spicy complement to Columbus and Simcoe hops. Honey and cane sugar provide additional fermentable sugar for this high ABV brew.

I'm not crazy about chocolate in beers- it tends to taste a little like coffee to me.  So the Weizenbock was ok but not fabulous.  I did like the Triple Mango IPA but it wasn't available for growler fills.  And it was pretty high in alcoholic content.

They also had Nugget Nectar, which was one of the main reasons Dave wanted to go there.  Unfortunately, they were already sold out of bottles but we can also buy that in the Pittsburgh area (although I think it can be hard to get).

After Troeg's we headed to the outlets and did some shopping.  

After checking into our hotel we went to Bricker's, a pizza place.  I ate Old World Pizza, which I'd never heard of, and thought was really good!  They flip the sauce and cheese (so the cheese is on the crust and then sauce on top) and used provolone instead of mozzerella cheese.  We weren't ready to crash yet so we headed to the bar at What If after that.  I was pretty impressed with the bartender- he remembered all of our names and seemed to know what he was doing.  We joked we were going to switch around so he'd forget who was who, and when we paid the bill he said our names, pointing out of order, and got it right.  Guess we wouldn't have fooled him by changing seats!

Our biggest takeaway from the trip, though?  We brought a bunch of empty growlers and were planning on bringing back some good beer to Pittsburgh.  But none of us checked the hours for the tasting room and didn't realize it doesn't open on Sundays until we were sitting outside the brewery on Sunday.  Oops!  We were disappointed, but it's not really that long of a trip from Pittsburgh so we'll just have to go back.

Week 8 half marathon training

Week 8


Plan miles:  20 miles running plus some cross/strength training
Actual miles:  20.09 miles in 3:27:41 and 30 minutes of cross training (9.1 miles on the bicycle)


This week I got some good runs in.  First, I met up with a running group and ran downtown, Pittsburgh.  Those miles just flew by and I was faster than I am even when I run with Colleen.  Which was really surprising.  


Another day the weather was beautiful so I just had to run around my neighborhood and enjoy the weather.


My long run was at North Park, and I did make it 8 miles.  Poor Colleen though- her knee is hurting and we did the whole thing in intervals.  I wasn't thinking.  I figured if we did intervals and took it easy, it would be better for her.  But starting and stopping running can really tear up your knees.  And from what I hear she's really hurting now.  She wrote about our run here.

Finishing the 8 mile run.  I didn't realize Colleen was taking pictures.  (Photo credit: Colleen)

Finally, we went to Hershey overnight this weekend (mostly to go to Troeg's Brewery) and I got a run in around Hershey.  I'm getting used to running with other people but this one was by myself.  I saw 3 other runners and 2 bikers, circled the high school and looked at their track, soccer field, etc.  And on the way back to the hotel a cop was parked along the side of the road watching traffic.  He might have thought I was crazy- I started circling around parking lots because I wanted to get 5 miles in.


After retiring the teal shoes, that was definitely causing my knee issues.  I had no problems on the 8 mile run or any of the other runs this week.  I think I will probably be out shopping for another "backup" pair soon.  I kind of want to get fitted again just because now I'm more comfortable with running in general and think I'll have a better feel for what will feel good.  Not that my current shoes don't work but I want to try others.  I also have a feeling my shoes have been discontinued- I got the second pair pretty cheap and they only have weird sizes available now.


Next week my minimum runs (other than where I can choose either cross training or running) are 5 miles.  This will be painful if I end up on the treadmill at all!


Mileage on shoes

Teal: 362.8 miles (retired)
Purple: 51.9 miles

After the 8 mile run.  Photo credit: Colleen

February run totals

I can't believe it's already the end of February.  I know it's the shortest month but it really flew by.

I've gotten away from the Jeff Galloway plan somewhat and am trying to start running straight more.  The Jeff Galloway plan is great but I'm not learning how to pace myself.  Anytime I try to run straight, I tend to start out too fast and I can't maintain that.  So I'm mixing up interval runs with straight runs to start getting a consistent pace that is sustainable for longer runs.

I also tagged along with a running group, People Who Run Downtown, at the end of the month and I don't know why I didn't do that earlier.  I had a lot of fun and this will be a new way to make more runner friends, find new restaurants, and new running places around the city.  I'm hoping I can go again next week and try to do this somewhat regularly.  We'll see!

In the month of January, these are my totals:

Run: 57.264 miles
Walk: 6.63 miles
Total: 63.894

I actually looked at these numbers on February 28th after my run and realized that I was within a few miles of my January total.  So I decided to run Wednesday instead of cross train and that pushed my February mileage above my January mileage.

Also, I tried to break out the walk intervals when I did use the Jeff Galloway method - so although I broke out walking, most of that is actually part of my run for training.

January: 62.892
February: 63.894
2012 total: 126.79

I didn't even try to make them almost exactly 1 mile apart- that's just how running the loop around my house on the 29th worked out.