HH Intermdiate 5K - Week 7, Day 4

Still sore from lugging our kiddos and all their stuff around the Rutgers Game Thursday night. Geez, we have to park so far away now that the Scarlet Knights are so popular! :-)

Here's this morning:
7 miles
1:31:47 (13:06/mile)
Temp: 59 Humid @ start: 87% ; Humid @ end: 63% (cool how that dropped in the 90 min!)

Tried so hard for neg splits, but clearly I still went too fast in Mile 1. Grrr.

Mile 1 - 12:59
Mile 2 - 13:09
Mile 3 - 13:00 (ok, there's a negative split)
Mile 4 - 13:26
Mile 5 - 13:35
Mile 6 - 13:11 (ok, there's one more)
Mile 7 - 12:24 (and the last mile neg at least)

All in all felt pretty good. Ready to hunker down for Labor Day weekend.

HH Intermdiate 5K - Week 4, Day 3

I skipped Day 2 this week after my labored run Tuesday. Just felt funky yesterday, just lead-like. Weird.

But today's run, despite the humidity, was better. I started off slower and maintained that, and felt myself get faster the last mile, woo hoo (I can only go by how I felt since Garmin didn't feel like tracking my location tonight, grrrr). Kept my HR in Zone 3 the first 10 min, then let it into low Zone 4 for the next 20 min, final 10 min I let it get to Zone 5, I was trying to kick it into high gear at the end. I walked a good half mile home to cool down.

Here are the stats:
3.09 miles
39:41 (12:50/mile)
Temp: 76 Humid.: 80%

Going to the Shore this weekend, will not do the official 5k there, but there is a 5 mile race the following day on Long Beach Island I may try to convince my relatives to join me for...we shall see. I hope we can do some type of organized run while we're at the flat shore, for goodness sake!


ETA: Here is a photo of the first real hill I ever encountered in a run!

HH Intermdiate 5K - Week 4, Day 1

3.01 miles
36:21 (12:04/mile)
Temp: 70, Humid.:58%
R10/W1

Tough run, not sure why. I had to take an extra 30 sec. walk break at the beginning of Mile 3. Maybe because I had to run at night tonight instead of in the a.m. I dunno.

Anyway, here' s how it went down:
Mile 1 - 12:04
Mile 2 - 12:03
Mile 3 - 12:09 (extra 30 sec walk break @ beginning of this mile)

Hope to run a 5K this weekend, we shall see...

HH Intermdiate 5K - Week 3, Day 2

Should have been Day 3, but it was a hot one yesterday. Oh well...

It was "SPEED" WORK day! I did 10 x 200.

Except for confusing the "Lap" and the "Stop/Start" buttons on the Garmin, well, it was a great workout:-) Only wanted to vomit and/or faint once, ha!

Here's how it went down:
My button confusion happened for the first 5 reps. After running each 200, I stopped the clock on each recovery 200, instead of hitting "lap," duh. The total for the 5 run reps was: 6:25 (avg = 1:17 per run 200--I started in the outside lanes).

Rep 1:
?
Rep 2:
?
Rep 3:
?
Rep 4:
?
Rep 5:
?
W 200 - 1:56 - This is when I figured out my Garmin stupidity.
Rep 6:
R 200 - 1:11 (9:09/mile pace!)
W 200 - 2:00
Rep 7:
R 200 - 1:13 (9:29/mile pace)
W 200 - 2:01
Rep 8:
R 200 - 1:08 (9:00/mile pace)
W 200 - 2:00
Rep 9:
R 200 - 1:06 (8:46/mile pace)
W 200 - 2:03
Rep 10:
R 200 - 1:04 (8:34/mile pace)
W 200 - 2:13

Total: 2.03 miles
approx. 28:24 (13:59/mile)

HERE is where I am setting my future sights, think....
1. 5K at the end of my current plan: High Speed Chase for the Cure at Rutgers, go RU and to raise $$ against cancer, win/win.
2. A local 5K to raise $$ for two local kids who have been stricken with Leukemia:-(
3. The date looks good for the Philadelphia HM (run concurrently with the Philadelphia Marathon), so I'm tossing that around my brain for a bit...

The Play Was the Thing

First ten performances of a theatrical play, then a week of play with the family at Disney World.

But after about 3 weeks without running, I'm back.

Here's what I finally mustered up tonight:
2 miles
25:00 (12:30/mile)

I kicked it into overdrive in the last 1/4 mile and actually hit a 8.6 minute mile for about two seconds, ha!

The spirit is moving me, I want to run a half. I want to run a half. Not sure if I should pick up where I left off--HH Intermediate 5K Week 3--jump to Week 6 where I would be had I been able to run in the last three weeks...or just bail on the 5K program and pick up a HM program.

The heart wants to just bail and start a HM program, but something about not finishing is not sitting right with me. So I'll see the 5K program through and maybe jump into a HM program later. There, glad I talked myself through that.

HH Intermdiate 5K - Week 2, Day 3

3 miles
37:46 (12:35/mile)
2:30 pm - Temp 81 - Humidity 39% (yay)

Around once a month, um, I don't feel like running. Today was one of those days. But, like happened to Amy a few days ago, as I arrived home eagerly looking forward to sitting on my old perch, the couch, I saw a guy jogging down my street at 2 in the afternoon. Well, geez, if HE is out in the midday sun, I guess I can do it as well. I was only going to go a mile. Just make it to the traffic light & back, I told myself. But I kept going. Past a few more lights. And before I knew it, I was 1.5 miles from home. Well, yippee!!! A 3 miler, just like Mr. Higdon wanted me to do:-)

Oh, and my last mile was fastest! 12:49, 12:54, 12:04!!!

HH Intermdiate 5K - Week 2, Day 2

Was on the road by 6:05 today. Walked out our door and was hit with the wall--you know that wall? That wall of humidity. At 6 am! Yikes.

Mr. Higdon wanted me to try my very first tempo run today. I ran slowly for 10 minutes, then sped up a little (to, oh, 12 minute miles) for 10 min, walked 1.5 minutes, then finished with 10 minutes of slow jogging. It was kind of cool to see that I was working hard in the faster part of the run, but that I was surviving, too. I may not be "faster" yet, but things are getting a little easier (despite the heat & humidity, that is).

So here are the stats:
2.31 miles
30:34 (13:13/mile)
Temp 75, Humidity 85% @ 6 am

HH Intermdiate 5K - Week 2, Day 1

3.25 miles
44:30 (13:41/mile)
6:15 am
73 degrees, 77% humidity

Annoyed @ my Garmin. I stepped outside this am and turned it on and got some weird screen about "beep intervals" or something or other. Turned it off & on and all was well. Until it didn't pick up satellite until halfway through my 3 miler. And then until I got home and it laughed at me and said, "Ha! You didn't run July 10! Your last run was July 8!" So, um, Garmin, if I hauled my carcass out of bed @ 5:45 on my summer vacation, I want the credit for it, ok??? Grrr. I hope the thing is ok.

Had to run early or it wasn't going to happen. Patting myself on the back since I got back from rehearsal @ 11:30 and still managed to get up, woo hoo. Kept my HR in Zones 3 & 4 until the end. There might be something to this taking it slow until the end business.

Going to be hot next few days. It'll be morning or nothing.

HH Intermdiate 5K - Week 1, Day 5

Week 1, DONE!

Managed to get up early again and accomplish this:
3 miles
41:38 (13:52/mile)
68 degrees, 66% humidity

Concentrated really hard at going out slow, and keeping my HR in the 80% zone. Feels good to have this week under my belt. But I had three days off of play rehearsal--we are heading into tech week now AND a stretch of 90's & high 80's temps, so I hope I can manage to lug myself out of bed in the a.m. to get these runs done and stay with the plan.

*******And an update on my mom, who is fighting breast cancer...she is nearly done with the first round of chemo, which has really packed a wallop on her--she is sick for about five days after it:-( She gets it every three weeks, so right as she's starting to feel good, BAM, another treatment:-( She gets a little reprieve from it in August, then starts radiation (that's every day for a few weeks). She also goes in once a week for some special medicine to fight her particular strain of cancer...a lot of IV's and a lot of holes in her arm. So many that last week, they had to operate on her arm to put a "port" in it to make all the needles easier. Please keep her in your prayers if you are so inclined, she is a brave woman.

HH Intermdiate 5K - Week 1, Day 4

Got up at 6:30 again...on a Saturday...in the summer...

5 miles
1:08:16 (13:39/mile)

Here are the splits. Not quite negative, but notice that fastest last mile, woo hoo!

Mile 1 - 13:18
Mile 2 - 13:42
Mile 3 - 14:15
Mile 4 - 13:55 (2 min walking break instead of 1 min at the beginning of this mile)
Mile 5 - 13:03 (a sprint to the finish--10:10 pace the last minute-ish!)

I have been concentrating more on HR and effort and less on pace as I work on this HH plan. With the past 2 months of very little running, I want to start up again slowly and just start getting miles in--and I want to actually finish each run and not burn out.

This run: I tried to keep telling myself to start slow, that slow & steady finishes the race. I so wanted to give up in the 2nd and 3rd miles. I was just tired, HR was high with a slow pace. Then I turned onto a busy street with a lot of shade and the cars created a SUPER breeze--that seemed to energize me. I just stayed there the rest of the run and I think the cool breeze and fast pace of the cars really helped me finish strong. There was also the definite mental hurdle of "3 miles"--after I hit that, I kind of felt like I was almost there.

HH originally called for a 3 miler to day and 5 miler tomorrow but I flip-flopped them since I have church & rehearsal tomorrow. So one 3 miler to go tomorrow and that will wrap up HH Intermediate 5K Week 1!

A Plan: Hal Higdon Intermediate 5K - Week 1, Day 1

Back out there today!

3 miles
39:20 (13:06/mile)

Here is a link to the plan, we'll see what we can do with this. I dig that it has an elementary crack at "speed work" (in quotes because it's ME we're talking about, "me" and "speed" are not usually used in the same breath...). Many thanks to Jeanne, for wisely talking sense into me, recommending that I stick to 5K's for awhile while my nights and mornings are booked.

Glad to have a plan again. Here is the 5K I'm aiming for--it's the one year anniversary of my first 5K:-)