4/28/07: Bayou Bash Relay-Spring 2007 Edition!

After stupid traffic issues, I arrived in plenty of time to participate in the race:) I didn't think I was going to make it, but I did. I found my team members (I only knew Strider Whitney but I had talked to Rodney a few times so I knew who he was).

I ended up running third, which was fine, other then it being pretty warm. I thought I was well but as it turns out, I only averaged about 8:25/per mile for the 2 miles. That was kind of a disapointment, but I haven't been running much lately so i guess I can't ask for more.

I did lose my key though and get shin splits after this race...ughh, and oh well, I still had fun, got to see my Strider buddies and Hillary is the best friend a girl can have...thank you, thank you, thank you a million times over, girl!

The Stats:
2 miles

Ave 8:25/mile
total running: 16:50

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: humid but cool

4/26/07: 5 and half miles by the House!

Got my tush out the door for 5.5 miles today. Felt good to run...felt even better to be done:)

The Stats:
5.5 miles

Ave 9:29/mile
total running: 52:10

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: nice.

4/25/07: "It's Been Awhile..."

After going out of town for a business trip and not having an opportunity to run AT ALL (I mean, seriosuly!) I finally made it out on a run, and this one was with the Striders on our usually Wed. night stride.

It was great fun although I felt slow and sluggish. I guess not running for almost 10 days will do that to you...back to the grind.

The Stats:
5 miles

Ave 9:54/Mile
total running: 49:34

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: nice.

4/16/07: Park and Polo Grounds Run

This is probably the last time I will run more then 8 miles until after summer, so I made the most of it. I didn't run very fast, but I sure enjoyed nature and the run and everything this run meant to me.

The Stats:
9 miles

Ave 9:47/mile
total running: 1:33.02

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: warm. humid.

4/14/07: A Saturday "Long" Run

I ran 6 miles this evening on what was an usually warm day. Well, at least I got out and did it!

The Stats:
6 miles

Ave 9:26/mile
total running: 56:41

Heart-rate: ave 168 max 181
Weather: warm

4/11/07: An Abnormal Wednesday Night Run?

Today was the next-to-last race in the HARRA spring series-the LP Run. Rather then meet up with the normal Strider crowd, a few of us met up at our spot and ran to St. Thomas to go watch the LP Run in action. If you aren't familar with this race, it's 33:20 of running around a track. That doesn't sound that exciting, but it really is fun to watch!

Santos and I enjoyed watching Bessie, Helen, fellow blogger Sarah and even Lisa Foronda (hey girl!) make their rounds around the 400 meter track. I had a lot of fun cheering for them, and even more fun chasing Santos back to the Park! Overall, a nice night and mark my words-I AM running the LP run next year!

The Stats:
4 miles

Ave 8:34/mile
total running: 34:16

Heart-rate: 161 ave, 190 max
Weather: cool, humid with breeze

4/9/07: Memorial Park/Polo Grounds Long Run!

I enjoyed 8 nice and QUIET miles on my favorite run today. It was pretty humid and my body was still a little tired after my efforts on Saturday. This wasn't my fastest long run in a while, but it sure felt good to jsut 'run.'

The Stats:
8 miles
Ave 9:28/mile

48.07 to PG, Mile 6: 9:09,
Mile 7: 9:13, Mile 8: 9:17

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: humid.

4/7/07: Do-Da-Du, My First Duathlon!

More later (I'm more exhausted from this then a tri...) but I finished strong, AND won my age group with 1:22:39 or so! Yeah to my first one-YOU NEVER FORGET YOUR FIRST!!!

--

Although I was pretty nervous about this (and why should I have been?) This was a very low-key race (only about 60 participants!) and an opportunity for me to get my ‘du-feet’ wet without getting in the water, lol.

I had a hard time getting to the start line/race start and so did everyone else, it seems. After finding a parking spot and carrying my bike across Memorial Drive at 7am, I was ready to go. Lucky for me, (in my infinite nervousness, I had forgotten to bring any gloves) and Strider Barry saved the day. It was pretty chilly and I was going to need them. I decided on tri shorts, tech tee and my long sleeve zip pullover to wear. I knew I would warmup on the first run and get rid of the pullover at Transition 1.

Barry and I checked out the transition area and the start line. This was going to be a little bit of a cross-country run it seemed. No biggie, just don’t roll my ankles, I told myself! After about 10 minutes of stretching and waiting, it was time to start. The race was so extremely low-key, everyone was relaxed and laughing/joking around and this put my nerves at rest. As the race started, I was actually having fun!

The run wasn’t as cross-country as I thought it would be…it was actually 'easy,' sans the downhill at the beginning and the uphill at the end! It was a bummer to see the leaders pass me on the way back though. I ran slower then I had planned to…just really warming up and saving ‘something’ for the bike and second run. The transition was quick since I didn’t change shoes and I just drank water.

The bike…ah the bike. How to put it nicely? SUCKED. Not because I didn’t spend enough time on it, but because it was windy as all get-up! Half of the 10 mile bike was into a headwind that even the leaders seemed to struggle with. You could see the pain on people’s faces as they biked toward me on the 2-loop course. Ouch, ouch, ouch. The headwind was most certainly evil, and in comparison, made running and finishing the Bayou City Classic 10k a piece of cake. The tailwind was sure nice though. The six 180 degree turns weren’t fun either. Eepp. Two things to work on for my next Du: quicker turns and shifting gears.

The second run started kind of crazy. My second transition was quick, but because my legs took a big beating on the bike course, they felt horrible. It took about 3 minutes of running to ‘shake out’ that bad feeling. Those of you that have tri’ed or du’ed before know exactly what I mean. But after the feeling went away, I took off the cycling gloves and went for the Gold. I told myself ‘I can run 2 miles in my sleep…let’s GO!!!’

I made it a goal to pass 5 people on the run…and I did! I kept speeding up as I passed each person. People that had completely wiped me out on the bike (And I mean I got passed by EVERYONE it seems on the bike!) were struggling with the run…so I just kept pushing faster to pass them. It felt great. Although the last uphill climb didn’t feel great…the finish line (that I almost missed!) and the water waiting for me made the finish very sweet. Plus I passed a girl in my age group by mere seconds right before that uphill climb. Cool!

We enjoyed delicious lettuce wraps afterwards and June and Steve sweetly waited to see Barry and I get our awards for placing in our agegroups. Neither of us had much competition, but it was still nice to be recognized for our efforts in the brutal weather! I am so totally hooked now…the Du was the funnest race I think I have ever done (okay, not a word! But that’s okay!) and I definitely plan to do another, maybe as soon as next month in Webster. (3 Mile Run, 17 Mile Bike, 3 Mile Run).

This means I need to train even more (especially on the bike!) but it’s very ‘duable.’ Plus, all the cycling is making me really excited about getting back in the pool again…it’s almost that time again--I am contemplating all the fun Tri’s that are coming up in July/August! YEAH!

The Stats:
2 Mile Run, 10 Mile Bike, 2 Mile Run
Total time: 1:22.36

18:29 Run1/.45 T1/44:41 Bike/.50 T2/17:49 Run2
Ave pace: 8:48/mile—13.6/mph—8:29/Mile

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: wooo! windy and about 50 degrees or so. Cold.

4/4/07: Strider Run and Chip Power Hour!

At least that's what I think Coach Steeeeve was calling it...Tonight's run was the perfect opportunity to run (okay, the BIG reason why we were all there-but not the ONLY reason!), catch up with old friends, and eat and drink to our hearts content!

The run itself was nice...saw my Strider girl Hillary and ran with her for a while. We hadn't seen each other since the Marathon so we had an awesome time catching up (talking more then we were running, I think!) Santos, Carlos, Ryan and Stacy, June and Marianne (although they didn't run with us since they ran earlier) , Loren and Lee, Will and Chip and probably a million others I forgot were also there. It was the largest Wednesday night fun run in a while no doubt!

Then we all hung around for adult beverages, tons of chips and more trash talking! I was able to meet some new Striders as well and have a beverage, although my stomach was still bothering me from earlier in the day. All in all, a great time and PERFECT weather! go out there and enjoy it...12 miles on the bike and 3 miles running tomorrow for me...weee!

The Stats:
5.6 miles

Ave 9:13/mile
51:38 total

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: upper 60's, 40% humidity

4/2/07: A Humid 7 Miles in the Park!

I can’t honestly remember the last time it was this humid…okay, I am being overally dramatic. I think it was last October or so when it last felt this humid. I sweated, and sweated, and sweated. And those of you that know me, know I don’t really sweet thhhhhhat much. But I didn’t drink much water either and that probably didn’t help the situation.

I think after about 30 minutes in the weather, I felt toasted. It had rained about 4 hours prior so there were huge puddles everywhere on my way out to the Polo Grounds. I did notice more runners on this route then usual though…My shoes got slightly soaked and muddy, but nothing too terrible.

I decided to hammer the last 2 miles as fast as I could (once I got back to the park) without feeling like I was going to pass out. IT felt nice. I finally feel like I am back to my pre-marathon fitness levels. I’m ready to start doing weekly speed workouts again and racing with some level of confidence/competiveness. Next up? Do-Da-Du on Saturday!


The Stats:

7 miles
Ave 9:20/mile

1:05.25 total

46:45 PG
Mile 5: 9:11, Mile 6: 9:28

Heart-rate: n/a

Weather: humid, maybe 100% humidity.

4/1/07: 3 Quick Miles on the Treadmill!

After enjoying my rather lazy Sunday and passing up on an opportunity to bike again, I only had time to run 3 miles on the treadmill. Was it fun?? Ehh, but due to carbo-loading at my favorite Asian cusiene, PF Changs, I defientely had some spunk in my step and ran fast.

Looking forward to 7 miles on Monday, 5 on Wednesday, and 3 on Thursday. Still plan to bike 12 also, probably on Thursday as a brick workout (bike then run).

The Stats:

Total running: About 30 mins
3 miles

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: nice a/c :)

3/31/07: 15 Miles on the Bike in the Rain!

So I finally got in ‘the long ride’ I have been wanting to do for a while. In anticipation of the ‘Do-Da-Du’ that I have signed up for that is next Saturday, I rode 15 miles on a rather lonely Saturday evening. I was the only one out at the Picnic Loop, and it was awesome, even when it started raining. It was pretty dark though, and the cops actually checked on me one time to make sure I was okay. Yup, no worries here!

Anyhow, I tried to ride ‘as hard’ as possible, while being efficient in my pedaling, which averaged about 15-16 mph…slow! But, I am already faster then I was riding on the old bike! It felt good…and I gained a lot of confidence that night. I am really looking forward to my race now, although I am still nervous…I plan to get in at least one more bike before the race, hopefully 12 miles.

The STATS:
15 miles on the bike

Total riding: 58:34
Ave: about 15mph

Heart-rate: n/a
Weather: cool but rainy.