Spring 2012 Racing Recap

Hello Blog World......

Obviously, I haven't been posting lately, I have been keeping up with my favorite blogs from time to time.  Sometimes I comment, sometimes I do not, but always enjoy checking in.  On a whim, which is the way I live my life these days,  I decided I really should post an update.  So to update everyone,  I will give you the week to week narrative of my training,  etc..

*My last post was in Feb. and it was about my first race of 2012, the Sweetheart 5k in Gulf Shores, AL 23:01.  You may recall, I was pleased to start the 5k season only 3 seconds away from a PR (personal record). 

*Feb. - I started #BurpeeFebruary and each day of the month was the number of burpees to be completed (Feb. 5th - 5 burpees, Feb. 15th - 15 burpees, and Feb. 29th - 29 burpees with push-ups included.   Of course I would pick a "leap year" to do the burpee challenge :)

*Wk of Feb. 13th - 60 miles
*Wk of Feb 20th - 26.5 miles - Arbor Day 5k in Biloxi, MS  great weather, great course, but couldn't run fast ???  23:22  (weight is one of the answers, but....????)  I did this fun challenge on Sunday   - "Outside Your Comfort Zone" 50s Workout -  ouch, tough, and had to modify it, but completed in 51:29

Wk of Feb. 27th - 39.5 miles - Get Your Rear in Gear 5k in Savannah, GA  - 24:16 - warm & humid and decided before the race to "tempo run it".  It still hurt at tempo pace.....  Chad and I had an excellent trip visiting Savannah.   It was nice and relaxing and I managed to get in some running.  (my favorite time to run is while on vacation, exploring different cities on foot)  Another year older on this trip too - eeekkkkk

*wk of March 5th - 58 miles -I decided another challenge was in order for March, so a few of us participated in "Plank-itMarch".  I started at 30 seconds and each week added 30 seconds to the plank time, ending the month at 3:00 minute planks.  bye bye March - TOUGH!   In preparing for the "Blue Ridge Marathon" - "the toughest road marathon in America" - i've been running on hills some solo, many with Terri.  This week's long run was 15 miles, running on hills with friends (Kily and Terri) - we had a great run 9:14 avg., on the hills.  After the run, I set the treadmill incline on 10, and walked 1 mile.

wk of March 12th - 55 miles - this wk Terri and I started running hill repeats.   on Tues., Terri and I ran "the billboard run" - a 3/4 mile hill series that makes me want to cry, lol .  (thank you Terri - CAN NOT do this workout solo).   Fri evening Terri and I ran a race, the St. Thomas Irish-Italian Fest 5k.  Terri is having an excellent year of running so I encouraged her to run the race to get a new 5k PR.  (she had run a 5k in 2 years).  She came in 2nd overall female (22:45) in the race and PR'ed by several minutes - sweet.  I followed her as closely as I could and I ended the evening with a 1 SECOND PR - 22:58, and 4th overall female.   (80 degrees & still carrying the extra lbs. - yes I'm excited)    Sat. am, Terri, Kily, and I partnered up again.  I had 22 miles, and they ran 14.  with the "fast for us" 5k,  Fri. evening, we ran this one slow on the hills.

Wk of March 19th - 39 miles - Tues. Terri and I ran hill repeats in Bent Creek.  The hill is .37.  It's tough!  I ran the ups and downs hard.  I'm running some downhills hard, to prepare my quads for the steep downhills at Blue Ridge 26.2.   On Sat.,  Terri and I were back at the races.  The Azalea Trail 10K in Mobile, AL.  This was my 26th running of the ATR.  It wasn't a good race day for me 49:34 official , Garmin 49:22 - too warm and humid.  Terri ended the day with another huge PR.  so excited for her...... 

Wk of March 26th - 49.5 miles - on Tues., Terri and I were back at the "billboards" running the hill series.  Fri night another 5k - I prefer the evening 5ks with the lower humidity (77ish degrees)  Cancer Fighting Fool 5k - 23:09.  I won the ladies overall, which means the fast ladies didn't show up.  Yay, because I won a $40.00 gift certificate to "Gourmet & More".  Yes, that's going to help my current weight issues - lol  
Yesterday, was my last long run before Blue Ridge.  I put together a "challenging" 20 miler. (if you're a local reader,  the route was 40th, Richburg, Cascades, Honeysuckle, up Hwy 11, billboards & Bonhomie loop)  It's the toughest training, long run that I've ever attempted.  Terri and Audrey ran the first 10 with me, and Kily joined us around 4.5 miles and he "gutted-out" the rest of the run with me.
So thankful to have friends to run with.  We chatted and laughed and got it done.    With the 5k Fri. night, and the extra hilly course, I was happy to finish the 20 at 9:50 avg. 
5 weeks after the first Outside Your Comfort Zone 50s workout, I repeated the workout.  I finished the workout 2+ minutes faster this go around.    (48:44)

So now I will taper a little.  While I have mentioned I have been training on hills, truly the hills here locally, will NOT compare to the race ahead.  Luckily, I have ZERO time expectations.  I do hope the hill training and the cross training will help me to have a solid effort, but most of all,  this one is for fun.   (note:  if I had been training to "race" the marathon, I would have limited my spring racing, but with the "planned, no expectations 26.2 ahead, I was free to race until my heart is content.  My heart is just about content ... ha ha.  Also, I've realized this spring that it appears that I will continue to struggle with weight issues when I'm not seriously training for a marathon.  It seems that's the only time I have the motivation to keep the weight down.  It's still frustrating because while I obviously enjoy the food, the WHOLE time the extra lbs. BUG ME.  It's maddening! 

The April Challenge is Mountain Climbers.  Terri tells me (via her trainer), the "correct" mountain climber is with the legs coming forward with the knee OUT to the side, not with the knee coming straight ahead, like I've always done them.  I tried it this way, and it is much more challenging.  I will start with 30 seconds of mountain climbers and add 30 seconds each week.  This is a "make your own rules" mountain climber month, so make up your own challenging rules and get started with me.  Jump in anytime during April.