Track fun with the kiddo--sort of

Beautiful, 57 degree day, took kiddo to track where I had a frustrating but then ok run. Frustrating in that the kid wants to run a 5K with me in June ("I want to run the race with Mommy"), so I was trying to run slowly with him, SLOWLY!, but my dear 5 year old thinks he's Lightening McQueen (the speedster in Disney Pixar's CARS movie), so he spurts way ahead then stops, waiting for me! Aaaah! After about 3/4 mile of him darting ahead & getting all out of breath, then me stopping and saying, "I'm not running if you won't run slowly next to me" I just let it go and let him run how he wants to--he's five, right?!? We were fine after that. Funny thing was, when I let it go and just basically said, "Run how you want," he stayed with me! Things that make you go Hmmmmmm. He ended up doing 6 laps, then got bored and ate his fruit snacks while I did two more laps, which were fun:-) That was all I had time for, we got a late start due to a school meeting, so we had to go pick up my little guy.

Long run of some sort this weekend. I am aiming for 13 miles. Aaaaaahhh. And where the heck does one purchase Gu?

Day Run and Training Partner

Blogger ate my first post, here is the abridged version.

Ran in daytime today, R3/W1, no real probs, just a labored run. Got it barely in under 12 min miles:
3 miles
35:55 (11:58/mile)

Also found a training partner for HM. SIL is an Air Force Academy grad who finished a marathon in the 1990's in 4:10--clearly, a LOT faster than I am. She is glad for the excuse to get out and exercise again, I am glad for the expertise and companionship. We'll probably only do a few long runs together due to schedules, but on race day, I told her she does NOT have to stay with me, she can zip ahead if she wants.

Showed her my training plan, Galloway's To Finish plan. She was suprised there was a long run of 14 miles a few weeks before the HM.

Peace out.

Quick run & doc report

I totally bagged my long run this weekend to do Christmas preparations:-( That said, I stole a half hour today and actually ran in the daylight at the HS track today. Ran a short 2 miles, 1/8 mile walk break in there at the halfway mark, but ran the rest of the way. Felt good.

2 miles
23:55 (approx 12 min/mile)

The doc (who is a heart guy as well as a gp) says that whatever is making my pulse race is NOT life-threatening, first & foremost, so that is good. But he is sending me for a stress test (you walk/run on a treadmill and they watch your heart) the day after Christmas to see if they can figure out what is making it happen when I exercise. Possible solutions, based on what, if anything, they find, could be 1) slow the heck down (like I'm speeding along already with my 12-minute miles, right?;-)), or 2) give me some sort of medicine to take before I exercise to keep it in control.

But that's the scoop, everything else with me is A-OK! He didn't say to stop running, he gave me props for starting:-)

Longest run yet...6.64 miles!

In my quest to run a HM April 29, I am following Galloway's Beginner program...and today I bumped my long run up to (drum roll, please...)....

SIX AND A HALF MILES! That is 10.69K!!!

This is also the first week I've ever gone above10 miles in weekly mileage.

Gorgeous day, about 50 degrees & sunny. Gave myself permission to run slowly since I was going for 6 miles. There was never, not for a second, any doubt in my mind that I'd finish this run; nothing hurt, wasn't really out of breath, tummy behaving, etc. All systems were "go." I felt so good at 6 miles that I realized a measly half mile more would be half of a HM. So I pushed for it. I was mindful of not pushing any further since my previous long run was only 5 miles.

Ran a mile to the HS track, did 4.5 miles on the track, ran the mile home. With music, since it was daylight! Since I was running so slowly, I decided to up my usual R3/W1 to R4/W1, and all was groovy that way:-)

Made a cool discovery today, too. I've had trouble in the past keeping track of how many laps I've run at the track before. Today I had a stroke of genius (if I do say so myself), I ran in Lane 1 the first time around, Lane 2 the second time, Lane 3 the third and Lane 4 the fourth. That's how I remembered what lap I was on:-) Then, each mile I finished, I'd drop something at the start line, like leaving a breadcrumb trail for me to "count": Mile 1 I put my cellphone down; Mile 2 put one glove, Mile 3 the other glove...I feel pretty clever for coming up with this trick:-D (don't burst my bubble if this is some ancient runner's trick...just let me feel smart today, ok??;-))

I also discovered I like running at the track. A lot. First, it's cushy; second, my little lane number counting trick keeps my mind occupied.

So here are the stats, I can't believe they belong to moi:
6.64 miles
1:25:16 (12:50/mile)

Of course, not all is rosy...I guess a person can't run for an hour and a half without some minor aches & pains. One ankle [previously sprained twice 20 yrs ago] was a little sore at the end of this (doesn't hurt now, though); and one [previously broken 10 yrs ago] toe is starting to ache a little, too. But that is all. That's ALL!

I'm taking it slow, taking it cautiously, and taking it one run at at time:-)