3/29/06: 8x400m’s at the Track…I’M LOVIN’ IT!

Tonight, my legs could sense the excitement of the track, I could tell, as silly as that sounds. I knew I was going to spank this workout into the ground after last week’s less-then-stellar hill performance. The plan was to run anywhere from 6 to 8-400m repeats…I of course, punished myself into 8. No less, I told myself…no less…

Although I wasn’t sure of my goal time for this workout, I knew I needed to stay under 2:00 per 400m since this would equate to approximetly a 8:00m for my 5k pace…and that’s just not good enough for me anymore. Although I am not sure what I would like to see for my 5k racetime next weekend, averaging 8:00/mile would still be a 9 second/mile improvement off my last 5k in December…and perhaps a chance for me to go sub-8:00 for more then one mile…

I did struggle with the 2nd-6th reps, but with the end in sight, I took it home on the last 3 repeats, and I couldn’t have been happier with my average repeat time of 1:52…what does equate to in my 5k? Hmm…not sure yet. Next weekend will be the test…as much as I say I dislike 5k’s, I am ready to stare this challenge in the face and hopefully PR and run strong throughout…and let’s all hope for more cool weather, at least through April:)


The STATS:
about 5 miles
37:30 total running

10:30 wu, 9:40 cd

1x400m: 1:47
2x400m: 1:54
3x400m: 1:58
4x400m: 1:56
5x400m: 1:57
6x400m: 1:53
7x400m: 1:46
8x400m: 1:50

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: 100% humidity…mid 60’s

3/28/06: Five Painfully Slow Miles at The Park…

So…I was eager to get running again since I hadn’t ran since Sunday. The weather was crazy cool for a day in March…but also very humid. I observed some of Houston best runners were out hitting the trails and doing their speedwork drills. It was very exhilarating and totally got me in the mood to run, and run well…

So…I start stretching and get all the kinks worked out…I am mentally preparing myself at this point and catch Sam whiz by and I shout at him real quick before I go…I’m thinking: ‘Legs-let’s run like gizelles today, nice and light and quick…’ Then as I get going, reality sets in. My legs are sore, heavy and I feel like anything BUT a gizelle. Perhaps-more like iron-lead weights at the gym or an elephant tiptoeing through the tulips, lol! But seriously…

I managed a few slow miles, and run into Sam again (not literally, mind you) before he decides to run with me until the edge of the Park towards where he parks his car…I am blocking anything my legs are saying to me at this point. ‘Behave,’ I tell them, ‘You can’t suck now that you are running with Sam.’ They behave, and we run a fast ¾/mile together…I didn’t say much as I felt like crap and he was pushing me…but it felt soooo good to let the legs do what they wanted to do…which was go.

Although I finished the run out slower then I would have liked, for a recovery run, I think I did ALRIGHT. Tomorrow is a SMARTie speedwork (8x400m) and I am really excited since this is one of my favorite workouts too…a lot more fun then 30/30’s and having 200m to recover in between repeats really makes a difference in my performance…we’ll see!

The STATS:
5 miles

46:08 total running
ave. 9:13/mile

mile1: 9:15
mile2: 8:09 (dang, SAM! :)
mile3: 9:26
mile4: 9:41
mile5: 9:35

Heart-rate: 171 ave/190 max
Weather: cool, mid 60’s, but maybe 100% humidity.

3/26/06: 12 Miles with Fellow HRB’er Edwin!

With tonight being the monthly meeting of the HRB Club, I decided to get in 12 miles before the meeting with super-speedy Edwin. Not only is Edwin a top-notch local Master’s runner, he is also a fellow journalist, teacher and humble and overall sweet guy. :) We had a great time chatting and sweating and making the rounds around the Park. Although we only got 9 miles in before the meeting (my fault), we finished our run after splitting a basket of Beck’s Prime fries (and I ate about 2 ounces of salt!)

The meeting went great, as well, and I finally got to meet Jan, James David and his wife and a few other new faces, as well as hear the details about Erica’s planning to do the Rock and Roll Nashville Marathon. Go girl-5 weeks to go! :) Overall, a great night and good running weather. Hope to see more faces out next time, and congrats to all on all the great racing that has been going on lately:)

The STATS:
12 miles

1:45 total running
ave. 8:45/mile

mile1: 8:38
mile2: 8:59
mile3: 8:31
mile4: 8:34
mile5: 8:42
mile6: 9:14 (long)
mile7: 7:50 (short)
mile8: 8:52
mile9: 9:01
last 5k: 26:35

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: cool, mid 60’s. windy.

3/22/06: Hill Workout with the SMARTies at Jackson Hill…

Despite the fact I was fighting a cold and I should have been at home taking care of myself, I still came out for 5 miles with my fellow Striders. It was good to see everyone anyhow and I needed to get in another 5 miles for the week. The plan was to run 2 miles out to the Hill, do 12 hill repeats, and run the 2 miles back.

Since I figured I wasn’t feeling my best, I convinced myself to only do 10 repeats. I didn’t even push myself on them (except the last 2 repeats)--I guess you can say I just went through the motions. Overall, I wasn’t very happy with my efforts. I kinda feel like I didn’t get my ‘moneys worth.’ And sure enough, with the slight amount of disgust that I had about my workout, I had a dream that kept me up half the night…

In my dream, I was racing a 10k…only that I got about 4k’s into it and decided ‘Ehh, I don’t feel like pushing myself today’ and I quit. Yup, that’s right, I QUIT in my dreams. I woke up all pissed off…that’s just NOT me to be like that and quit or not push myself. So I decided right then and there, I can’t force myself to run anymore unless my heart is totally into it.


The STATS:

5 miles
46.21 total running

2 mile wp: 16:02
10x hill repeats (anywhere from .58 to 1:28)
2 mile cd: 17:19

Heart-rate: 168 ave/188 max (too low)
Weather: cool. lower 60’s.

3/21/06: A Nice, Steady Tempo Run at the Park…

I had no plans to push the pace tonight so I ran 5 ‘relatively easy’ miles around the park…the pace felt great and the weather was nice, as well. In fact, I ran every mile at almost the exact same pace, and that was without using my watch to gauge my pace. Sweet! That must be a new talent I have, the more I run :)

The STATS:
5 miles

46.08 total running
ave. 9:13/mile

mile1: 9:16
mile2: 9:12
mile3: 9:15
mile4: 9:10
mile5: 9:12

Heart-rate: 169 ave/181 max
Weather: cool. Mid 60’s. low humidity.

3/19/06: 10 Miles of Suckage in 100% Humidity!

So after a long and stressful weekend where I did not take care of my body like I should have, I knew I needed to get out and run anyhow. Of course, the rain that we haven’t been getting all week finallyyyy happened, and although it was more of scattered showers, it brought 100% humidity outside and pure misery to me.

My legs didn’t want to cooperate and I had to stop and drink every 2 miles…I did take a GU at mile 5 just because I needed ‘something’ to keep me going. This was actually suppose to be a 11 mile run but I decided to cut it short since this is going to be a recovery week for me. And yes, believe it or not, the day after, I am sick with another low-grade cold. Now I have no choice about taking a recovery week:(


The STATS:
10 miles

ave 9:32/mile (slooww)

1:35.25 total running

mile1: 10:10 (legs felt like crap!!!!!!!!)
mile2: 10:01
mile3: 9:03 (okay, much better)
mile4: 9:33
mile5: 9:07 (took GU)
mile6: 9:20
mile7: 8:44 (‘3 more miles to go!’)
mile8: 9:25
mile9: 9:54
mile10: 10:04 (a little long)

Heart-rate: 166 ave, 181 max

Weather: 100% humidity, mid 70’s. yucky.

3/18/06: 3 MORE Miles of Recovery…

My body is still feeling tired from the amount of exertion that I have put on it over the last few weeks so I decided to forgo any kind of speedwork and just 3 more miles of a recovery run by my house. Yes, it wasn’t exciting or pretty, but I am feeling a little better. Still sore though, so I need to use TheStick and stretch and all that good jazz. I should probably get to riding my bike too as a form of cross-training!!!

The STATS:

About 3 miles
30:00 minutes

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: humid-trying to rain, but breezy.

3/16/06: 3 Miles of Recovery, which I really need!

After 4 days of harder then normal workouts, I decided to take today easy. 3 veryyy slow (almost to a shuffle) miles near my house. It felt great to be moving again, but my body just did not want to move. I guess this means that next week is going to be a recovery week, which is so crucial considering I have not been staying true to the schedule of 3weeks hard/1week easy.


The STATS:

About 3 miles
30:00 minutes

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: cool. Mid 60’s, humid but breezy.

3/15/06: A Nice Fast Workout of 16-30/30s!

It may be a little known fact about me, but I LOVEEE speed workouts. My biggest reason for loving them is probably that they are shorter runs where it is sometimes easier for me to focus, but don’t get me wrong: I love the challenge too of pushing myself mentally (go faster, run smarter!) and physically (go even faster then I think my legs will let me go!) No one else makes or breaks a speed workout, but myself. Plus, I honestly feel speedwork is what can ‘make’ a distance runner: Do it and it will pay off in big ways for longer events.

Mentally, the Indian Line workout from last Wednesday helped me focus for Saturday’s race. I was able to draw on feelings/expierences from that workout and run a mostly relaxed race through a tough, but doable situation (crazy hot weather and a much faster pacer!) This workout was no exception. Again, I used Saturday’s ‘tough as nails’ but relaxed mentality and ran a very strong 30/30 workout, with a negative back-half. And although I wanted to run with my fellow SMARTies, I pushed ahead-it was just me and the trails.

It was very…relaxing. I don’t know that most people equate speed workouts to running relaxed—but I am slowly learning: YOU HAVE TO. I overheard Coach Steeeeve telling someone to relax their shoulders and I became immediately conscious of what my body was doing. I smoothed out my leg turnover, started to listen to my breathing, and just tried to run smartly: conserving energy on the recovery and pushing it close to the max on the fast 30’s. And as I slowly peeled away from the rest of the runners, I went and ‘got it.’ (You know what I mean?) The faster I ran, the more relaxed and zoned I became. It was such a great feeling. Then there were plenty of high-fives and Gatorade to go around afterwards on a well-ran workout.

I love the feeling of getting faster. The more aware of my body that I become and the better I treat it, the more I love running and how my legs want to ‘go.’ I felt…so strong and light tonight. I can tell my body wants to go-go-go. And I don’t want to hold it back anymore--I am certainly going to ‘go all out’ for the Bellaire Trolley 5k. I am eager to conquer my fear of this distance from a mental standpoint and PR, hopefully big time. Of course, the biggest things to my potential success with that distance are staying relaxed/in control and trusting my training. I think if I continue to focus on these things with shorter distances in 2006, there is no telling what the end of 2006 with the longer 21k/25k/30k’s and 2007 with the Marathon are going to have in store!

The STATS:
4 miles
36:36 total running

wu mile: 10:17

first 8-30/30’s: 8:06
2nd set 8-30/30’s: 8:07
(this number is quite deciving as I did run faster then the 1st set…)

cd mile: 10:03

Heart-rate: 176 ave/204 max
Weather: cool. Mid 60’s, low humidity.

3/13/06: 11 Fast Miles at Memorial Park!

Okay, maybe not SMOKIN’ fast, but quicker then I normally run my LSD. I averaged an 8:48/mile pace, with a very consistant clip throughout. I honestly don’t know ‘why’ I ran this fast either, other then the fact it just felt good (I sometimes like to call it ‘The Running Spirit Moves me!’) I never felt any fatigue and only stopped a few times for water and GU and a little stretching…could it have been the fact I was coming off the high of this past weekend? Could it have been the awesome and cool weather? Could it have been the fact I was very relaxed and simply enjoying ‘the motion of running?’ Hmm, I don’t know.

One thing I did start to wonder about as a factor related to my running (since Saturday’s efforts with the Bayou City Classic) is that I have been eating a lot lately. Okay, maybe not eating A LOT, but I mean-eating to where I am stuffed/really full. Usually when I eat, I try to eat slowly and eat 4-5 small meals a day. Lately, I have been eating 4-5 meals a day…and they are big. Like for example, here was yesterday’s bill: (in this order) 2 packets oatmeal, granola bar, juice box, lean gormet meal-rice, half a bagel, banana, fruit cup, 2 pieces small chocolate, applesauce cup, Balance bar, GU, 2 cups pretzels and two slices of cheese. BUT!! I ate all of that throughout the day and had (in my mind) a kick-ass run!! I don’t get it.

Is it possible that I haven’t been eating enough? That was about 2000 calories of food, or about what I used to eat before I got this idea in my head to cut my caloric intake. But, these last few days are making me think otherwise. Maybe I should leave my caloric intake where it was and just be concious of WHAT I am eating, (ie: eat more veggies and protein). Maybe I should start a food diary? I just don’t want to get all paranoid about all of this. I mean, I am taking vitamins daily (vitamins B, C, D, flaxseed, calcium, and a multi) and I try to avoid junk/fast food (my vice right now is chocolate! Yum!) and eat fresh, uncooked foods every day. I have also cut out a lot of processed foods (I use to loooove eating cans of soup and ravoli!) but of course I still have my TV dinners for lunch.

I guess I am just trying to be smart about things and fueling myself up right, as I think I am starting to see a correlation between eating smart and running faster?! Yes, I want to lose weight (about 10 pounds) by next January so I can run faster and stronger, but maybe I meant to be a fillie the rest of my life, lol-but I am being serious too! Sometimes I wish there was a magic formula to all of this but I guess that’s what makes it all so much fun. Feel free to leave any advice for me…especially if you have diet issues too…

The STATS:
11 miles

1:36.49 total running
ave 8:48/mile!!

mile1: 8:58
mile2: 9:04
mile3: 8:40
mile4: 8:21
mile5: 8:48
mile6: 8:49
mile7: 8:16
mile8: 8:58
mile9: 8:55
mile10: 8:18 (short)
mile11: 9:38 (long)

Heart-rate: 176 ave/232 max
Weather: beautiful, cool. Mid 60’s, low humidity.

3/11/06: The Houston RRCA Convention and a new 10K PR at the Bayou City Classic!

More to come later, but an *almost* 3 minute PR happened today and I had my first-first place finish, although in the Fillie Division (140 lbs. +)...haha, I guess the beer and BBQ paid off last night.

unofficial chip time: 51:20.

I would like to thank mostly Steve Shepard, The Academy, and Shiner Bock beer...
Thanks to everyone who stuck around for the awards:) You guys rock hard.
______

Update: After pretty much lounging around the rest of the weekend, I finally feel up to being online again...the race sure did take a lot out of me and it doesn't help that I 'sampled' enough St. Arnold's for about 5 people, lol...but dammit, I deserved it! :)

I do want to mention though that I had a great time at the convention on Friday, including hanging out with Neil from FuelBelt (Thanks for the drink!) and getting to know a few attendees at the BBQ we had later that night at Jones Plaza. Good times with my fellow Striders (including HRB Vic!) and I think we did an awesome job hosting a national running convention!

Anyhow, back to the race, I went into this race well rested and well fed. I haven't ran since Wednesday, and although that was a hard run, I felt pretty good this paticular morning. Of course, it is hotter then anything so I am drinking water and Gatorade like a maniac to avoid dehyrdation.

After I get parked and realize I parked too far away and hurry to get to chip pickup, I decide I should try to compete in the Fillie competition since I knew it was a sure bet I have been putting weight on this week, especially with the RRCA BBQ the previous night, yummy. Sure enough, I made it by 2 pounds. Edwin was there to witness the specticale, I was sort of embarrassed.

Edwin decided he was going to run competively, which I was okay with since Coach Steevee had offered up pacing duties the previous day at the RRCA convention. I have never been paced before so I was a little bit nervous. Steve and I had decided to run at least a 8:40/mile pace, but after the first mile, he must have known I could do more so we layed it all on the table, or road rather.

Mile 2 was sooo hot! I had promised Steve I wasn't going to complain but I knew this race was going to be rough. I was already passing runners I am normally wayyyy behind so it gave me a little moral boost and I ran as strongly behind Steve as possible. He could tell by the 5k point though that the heat was getting to me, but I told him I wasn't going to give up. I knew I had too much 'in me' today to give up half-way.

After the leaders passed us, I got another boost of energy, but now we were going back towards downtown and right into the terrible winds...Steve tried to shield me as best he could, but you could tell everyone was struggling. The heat wasn't getting any better, but the sun was at bay so that helped a little.

At this point, around mile 4, although I normally never stop for water in a 10k as I bing my own, I was grabbing two cups at every stop. One to splash on myself and another to drink and splash on Steve. We managed the water stops very well, which I even impressed myself with--we never slowed down other then to toss our cups.

It soon became survival mode though, and I told Steve I was starting to feel bad. I knew it was going to be a mental battle from here on out. I told him to talk to me about anything other then the race. As he did, I suddenly started going 'out of my mind' so to speak. As in, I heard him talking, but all that I heard was my breathing, my feet hitting the ground, and I saw the runners in front of me. It was surreal and I was so focused that before I knew it Steve said it was 4/10ths to the finish line.

"Let's see what you got." he said, "Stay strong and focus." I nodded since that's all the energy I could muster. We sped up to what Steve said was about a sub-7:00 minute pace and finished strong. I was so excited as I approached the finish and knew Steve had very well coached me to a BIG PR!

I finished sooo strongly and tried not to cry or hypervenilate. I gave him a huge sweaty hug and thanked him about a hundred times:) I also told him I couldn't have done it without him, but he told me I gave it my all, and that's all that mattered. In fact, I ended up winning the Open Fillie competition, and my official chip time was 51:17! We even got a nerdy hardware picture with myself and Strider's Ted and Brett. Good times!

And then I proceded to consume my weight in St Arny's...lol. In fact, I was one of the last people to leave the post party. The day was just too perfect and I was on cloud nine...again a big thanks to everyone who came out to race, cheer or support today...it was so good to see HBR's Joe, Lisa, Sarah, Cassie, Jen, Holden, Edwin, Sam (burrito man!), and Erica. (I didn't get to see Steve B, although I heard he was there!)

Overall, it was a tough race (a lot of people struggled with the weather today) but it was my proudest race effort to date:) Really excited about my next race in April, the Bellaire Trolley 5k...can I PR? hmmm, after this race effort, I think so. Now, back to the hard training, partying is over and I got a couple of pounds and seconds to drop...

The STATS:
6.22miles

51.17 official chip time
ave 8:16/mile

mile1: 8:11
mile2: 8:01
mile3: 8:16
mile4: 8:18
mile5: 8:31
mile6: 8:40
mile.22: 1:17 (cookin'!)

Heart-rate: 186 ave, 204 max
Weather: humid, windy, just overall nasty.

3/8/06: 3 Miles of Indian Lines with the RRCA Executive Board!

So today is the start of the RRCA National Convention is our very own backyard of Houston. Chances are if you are in a running club in the United States, your club is a member of the RRCA. There are over 730 RRCA-affiliated running clubs in the US! I absolutely had the best time meeting the board as they are all just runners like you and I:). (And some of them are very very FAST runners NOT like me!)

We ended up roping the board in with our SMART training, which consisted of about 3 miles of Indian lines around Memorial Park. (Indian Lines, in case you didn’t know, are when you run in a straight line and the last runner sprints to the front of the line, and that continues on, well, for a while!) Of course I got pulled into the ‘performance’ group…which I knew was going to be a mistake since I was still trying to recover from the nice effort I put in the previous day with my 10 miler. Ah well, I am a glutton for punishment, and it was good to chat with Striders Amy, Frank, Tim and Chip anyhow, who I haven’t seen since the Marathon.

In the end, I put in a good effort keeping up, and although I got burned in the last ½ mile. My heart rate was at its max of 100% effort--I had no more gas!! The group was easily clipping a 7:30/mile pace. I think normally I could have kept up had I not ran yesterday! Strider Santos was in the same boat as me, since he ran 10 yesterday too! Overall, it was a great run and I am excited about our visitors from out of town.

Wanna get involved in the convention and you are here in town? If you are free on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, there is a FREE runners expo at the Hyatt-Downtown. See the convention website for more info!!! I’ll be working the convention on Friday and then running the Bayou City Classic on Saturday! Looking to PR, but most importantly, see my fellow running friends I miss soo much!


The STATS:
about 4 miles

33:15 total running
14:30 wu, 19:15 Indian Line

Heart-rate: 173 ave, 220 max!!!!!!!
Weather: humid, upper 60’s!!!!

3/7/06: Mid-Week 10 Mile Long Run!

After a long and exhausting weekend, I knew there was no way I was going to get in 10 miles. I also know I strongly dislike running my long runs during the week since they tend to really wear me down the rest of the week. However, I ‘sucked it up’ and managed. I actually had a great run, too. Granted, I was just doing loops around the Park, but time flew by soo fast.

The first 40 minutes I listened to music, the next 40 minutes I was ‘just’ thinking, and in the final 10 minutes when I knew I was almost done with my run, my legs started cramping up, lol. I think I can attribute that to me not really stretching well before I began running and not drinking enough water.

Well, Spring is officially here in Texas! Oh, what I wouldn’t do for another day of 50 degree weather!

The STATS:

10 miles
1:35:45 total running

ave 9:10/mile
no splits today-I deleted them:(

Heart-rate: 169 ave, 184 max
Weather: warm and windy, mid 60’s.

3/3/06: Recovery 5K by my House!

Tonight was too pretty of a night to pass up on a run so I got myself out (even though it was already getting dark outside) and got in 3.1 mile hike by my house. The traffic was fairly heavy (it was about 7pm at night) so I know I need to get a blinker for the next time I run that route. I had a great run overall, even though I felt like I was running faster then the 9:14/mile pace I calculated. I have to figure I probably ran slightly more then a 5k then!

The STATS:
3.1 miles

28.45 total running
ave 9:14/mile

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: cool and humid. Mid 60’s.

3/1/06: Memorial Park 60/60’s on the 400M Track!

So this was my first voyage to the track since before the Half-Marathon and I have to admit I was a little hesitant. First of all, there was a group of 5 younger women (all open runners) doing their speedwork too and of course-much faster then me. All I could do was feel a little self-concious. They were all skinny, in shape, and fast, lol. I could even feel their coaches eyes bearing down on me while I did my repeats, which was a little unnerving. I mean, I still feel ackward at times when I run, especially with speedwork. So maybe this wasn’t putting me in the right mind-frame for today's speedwork, but I put on some Dave Matthews Band (my favorite of all time) and all was forgotten.

Secondly, it was hotter then sin. Well, about 80 degrees, and the sun had not quite set yet so it was in my eyes half the time I was running. Still, I managed to block this too, out of my mind and get to work. The assignment at hand: 8x 60/60. Although I knew I wanted to/needed to aim for a 10k pace on my fast 60’s, I ended up going ‘all out’ and despite Coach Steve’s words of love laboring in my head ‘It’s like Chili…’ I knew I was going to get burned pretty quick.

The first 5 repeats weren’t too bad (they never are), and I was averaging about an 8:00/mile pace, which is actually not too shabby for my first attempt at speedwork in like a million years. Then, I found myself walking my recovery 60’s and stopping to get water more then I had planned. Oh, the heat was brutal (mind you, it is about 5pm). I don’t know how summer is going to be this year, but I am certainly not ready. I’ll take 40 degrees with gloves on any day.

The last 3 repeats were okay, but I felt my legs getting tired and my feet-heavy. My form started to stink…my head sunk down and my arms swung around wildly. That was one thing I noticed about most of the girls running too though-they let their form go as they did their final repeats. I made a mental note to focus on my last repeat and make it the best one yet. Sure enough, I pushed it the hardest, and my form looked (I think) and felt great. I think the fastest girl even said ‘way to go,’ which really gave me a boost to finish strong.

The prognosis after the fact? I need to be religious about my speedwork again and aim for one track workout a week (I think spring SMART will help with this). I need to continue to my CORE workouts and with my free-weights (which are already collecting dust after only 2 weeks, lol). And mostly, I need to stay positive about my self-image. Yeah, I know I haven’t lost as much weight as I would like at this point, but I am almost to the point where half my pants don’t fit anymore! Things are coming together for me, I just have to be patient, of course. I am really excited about what this year has in store for me. As Steveee says ‘You are still in the big fat part of the improvement curve…’ and I want to stay here as long as I can!

The STATS:
4 miles
34:58 total

8x 60/60 at 8:00/mile pace
9:15 warm up (1 mile)
9:14 cool down (1 mile)

Heart-rate: 196/max (97%-right where I needed for my short repeats)

Weather: HOT! mid 70’s. high humidity.

2/28/06: 3 Peaceful Miles at Terry Hershey Park.

So after running a little behind (haha!) and not getting to hook-up with the SMARTies and their 60/60 workout (60 seconds at 10k pace and 60 seconds recovery), I ran about 3 very peaceful miles alone on the trails at the park. It was a little dark and the only company I really had was the sound of my feet hitting the asphalt/concrete/wood planks and my breathing. At one point I thought I saw a possum and I dutifully noted I needed to bring a flashlight/headlamp next time I venture out on the out-and-back-trails alone (or at least a blinker so the bikers won’t run me over, lol).

After the peacefulness of the run, I brought my beach towel out and did some CORE workout and a REALLY good stretch and finally caught glimse of Coach Steveeeee and Striders Steve, Miram, Gavin, Chris, Jim, and a few others making a good clip around the TH loop. I guess it worked out that I didn’t run with them, as I think the only one I *might* have been able to keep up with is Jim. Steveeee later pointed out as we were hanging out that everyone running tonight (except Bezner) has qualified for Boston before! How impressive and inspiring is that! And for Bezner-he is certainly next. Give him a year-maybe next Houston:).

It was good to see old friends (some I haven’t seen since the Houston Marathon) and chat like old times. I miss the company of my running friends. Most of them will be participating in spring SMART that starts tomorrow in Memorial Park, although I won’t be able to make it until next week. Looking forward to working my 10k time into the low 50’s this spring and perhaps sub-50 by year’s end! (There, I laid that crazy one out on the table!!!)

The STATS:

about 3 miles (a little short)
25.16 total running

Heart-rate: 173 av/216 max (dumb imagination!)
Weather: cool. Lower 60’s I guess, high humidity.