Getting Hilly & Mixing It Up!

Another Galloway Group run this morning - with 7.5 miles this time.  We took it easy and went very "low and slow" because even at 6:30am we were already under a heat advisory warning!  The only snafu of the morning was missing a turn (again) and going up an unnecessary big (at least for Dallas) hill.  We realized our mistake and turned around, went down the hill, and got back on track.  The upside is that it definitely helps with hill training for San Francisco!

On another note, I haven't been very happy with how cross training (elliptical) on Wednesdays has left my legs feeling not-so-great for my Thursday morning runs - so I'm mixing it up a little.  This week I left out the cross altogether, but didn't like that either.  So I've come up with a new plan - my standard week will now look like this:

• Monday - short run
• Tuesday - strength (upper body & core, no leg work)
• Wednesday - short run
• Thursday - cross train
• Friday - yoga for runners
• Saturday - long run
• Sunday - rest

I'm thinking that since the yoga for runners isn't intense (basically just stretching) it won't be too much before the long run.  I tested the theory by doing yoga yesterday morning and I felt fine during the long run today.  Next week will be the first full week I try the new plan out, so we'll see how it goes.  If I don't like it, no harm done - I can just as easily switch back and figure out another day to cross-train.  I'm hoping it works out, though, because this new schedule allows me to incorporate all the different training aspects I'd like to, while still keeping my legs "fresh" for running.

Today's stats:

• 7.45 miles; 01:45:58 min; 14:13 min/mi pace

Twin 275K Races

No, I did not run two 275K races this weekend, we attended them.  We got to have another fabulous couple of days with friends - great for my social life, but not so great for my running...again.

Three friends flew in on Friday, and we went out for dinner at an amazing mexican restaurant and then out to one of our favorite places - a dueling piano bar (fun!).  I had one margarita with dinner, and then only water at the bar because I was the D.D. for the night.  Still, the long week, the big dinner, and the late night caught up with me the next morning.

While everyone else slept in, I hit the trail early Saturday morning (skipped running with the group this week) for a 6 mile run.  It was already warm, humid, and sunny when I set out, so I knew it wasn't going to be stellar.  But I got it done, and even though it wasn't great, I was really glad I woke up early to sneak in a run - I felt so good once I was finished!

After I got home, I got cleaned up and the rest of the group got up and going, then we all headed out for brunch/lunch.  We toured around during the afternoon, then headed over to Texas Motor Speedway to watch the once-yearly IndyCar race being held that night (the main reason my friends were in town).  This made for another late night, followed by another early morning taking them to the airport this morning.

After a whole lot of traveling/visiting and generally busyness over the past few weeks, we're really looking forward to settling back into our normally quiet routine for the next couple of months until San Francisco!

Saturday's stats:

• 10 min. warm-up walk
• 6.0 mi run; 1:18:36 min; 13:06 min/mi avg pace

Hitting 200!

I hit the 200 mile mark today!  This is a great milestone, but it's almost 6 months into the year, and I'm less than a 1/3 of the way towards my goal for the year - which is 700 miles.

I'm not too worried at this point, because  most of my training in the begining of the year was for shorter races, and I'm just now getting into the "long" runs for my SanFran training.  And I know once that once my full marathon training starts, the miles will add up quickly.

I decided to try out the 2:1 ratio on the treadmill this morning.  I didn't stick with the 2:1 the whole way through - around the middle of the run I decided to do some 1:1 intervals to make sure I had enough in me to finish out the full 45 minutes.  Knowing that I'd had to slow down in the middle, I don't know why I was so surprised by my slower average pace, but I was.  Wow.  That's slower than I've been in a LONG time.  Obviously I've got some more work to do!

Today's stats:

• 10 min. warm-up walk
• 45 min.; 3.36 mi; 13:24 min/mi avg. pace