Speed Work

Distance: 1.3 miles       Time: ???              Bright and sunny 5:00 pm
Temperature: 59 °F        Humidity: 32%          Pressure: 30.04 inches

I was a little short on time so I ran at USF around the trail but I used the fitness stops as markers for a sprint workout. I jogged a nice long on at the start then alternated walking and sprinting. It was a good run. I like to run hard like that sometimes. I feel like a real runner rather than a jogger. I know that I start running even when it is a distance but I end up pretty pathetic by the end. I used the sprints to concentrate on my feet and how long they are on the ground. I read an article that said that improving turnover rate is important for not plodding along during the long runs and that sprint type workouts help this. They also help you get faster in general so it’s all good.

I was also thinking about a new interval type workout where I run one sprint one walk one run backwards one and repeat. I may have to do this one at the local park rather than USF because the local park is a sidewalk. It might be safer than the trail when I’m not looking forward. Also then I could do it the first time around with .2 mile segments then with longer segments the second time or next time etc.

Speed runner Me!!

More Pirates!!

Distance: 2 miles         Time: ???              Partly Cloudy 5:00 pm
Temperature: 59 °F        Humidity: 53%          Pressure: 30.04 inches

Wow a big cold front moved in. Well cold for Florida anyway. At first I thought I was going to be whiney about the cold and then I remembered that it will be hot way toooooo soon so I was chilly at the beginning but warmed up quickly and was very happy after just a few minutes.

I have made a point on these last two runs to pick up my knees every now and then to make sure that I’m more running than jogging. Also I made sure that my arm swing went from my midline in front to my hip so that I get the most out of the motion of my arm swings. It helps pick it up through out the run and make sure I’m not getting lazy. Every time I felt tired I concentrated on these two things and they not only gave me something to think about but also seemed to pick it up enough that anything that felt tired seemed to work more efficiently and didn’t feel so tired.

I have found another run. April 29^th is the Draft Day Dash a 5K put on by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the benefit of some local charities. (I’m not sure which ones yet but I called the Bucs home office and they haven’t called me back yet.) It might not be a cancer run but I have to keep running and there isn’t one in the area that I have found. So this sounds like fun!! It is on the day of the football draft and starts in front of Ray Jay stadium and ends by running into the stadium tunnel and onto the field with the finish on the 50 yard line, while you watch yourself finish on the Jumbo screen!! How cool is that!!

Note that means another reason to do my favorite type of running:

P I R A T E R U N N I N G ! ! AAAARRRRGGGG <--Pirate for GO BUCS!!

Easy Tuesday - Soooooo Stiff!!!

Distance: 2 miles         Time: sub 28 min       Mostly Cloudy 5:00 pm
Temperature: 78 °F        Humidity: 79%          Pressure: 29.93 inches

Well it’s that time of year again where the humidity in FL is higher then the temperature. It was a very nice night out. 2 miles on a Tuesday night is pretty good. I didn’t have a lot of time so I jumped online and measured a route (see links) and went for a run. I was really tight in my legs. I think because I was still very sore yesterday after the fitness trail on Sat. I wasn’t useless, just stiff so by next week’s workout I should be good!! YEA!! Then the following weekend is MILES FOR MOFFITT!! There is still so much to do. Well no use sitting here writing about it…

…gotta Run!!

Friday's run and Saturday's workout!!

Distance: ? mile          Time: ~15 min          Clear and warm 10:00 am
Temperature: 72 °F        Humidity: 69%          Pressure: 30.16 inches

Yesterday (Friday) I ran for ~15 min with the point being to just go and do it for a time rather than a distance. I didn't have a lot of time so I thought I would try this theory. Then I wouldn't be upset that I was running late or anything. I think it worked well enough. I will have to do more of this sort of workout so that I can just go for a run. It was a nice day and I ran at the trail at USF.

Today I did the trail at USF for the fitness trail. I was happy to do all the exercises with the jogs in between. A year or so ago with Randy we had to walk most of the way to do the exercises or run the trail but not stop at the stations. I only had to walk once where I was supposed to jog and that was between the last two leg exercises. I could tell they were getting tired on me. I did complete all of the exercises at the highest “par” except the upper bocy stations. (I sooooo have T-rex arms!!) I guess I’ll have to keep working on them.

I found a really awesome resource on Runner’s World!! It’s a personal trainer system called Smart Coach. You enter the last race and time you completed and your goal and how long till you want to reach it and it gives you workouts for 3 days a week at a choice of 3 different intensity levels. Very cool!! I will use it to set up my next goal. I think that will be 5 miles. (5k – 5mi sounds reasonable) then I’ll move to a 10K…maybe. I don’t have a race at 5miles coming up. In fact I am having trouble finding races in my area for the summer. Not that I’m completely surprised at that so I may have to wait till September or October to find another race I want to do. In the mean time I can just improve and extend my distance. I know the summer will be tough because of the heat and humidity here in good ole F-L-O-R-I-D-A. (Yes, I sang it like they do in the swamp)

Tomorrow….hmmmm….I haven’t come up with a plan but I will need to soon. I’ll let ya know what I figure out.

Run Strong!

So far so good

Distance: 3.3 miles       Time: no time          Clear and warm 10:30 am
Temperature: 72 °F        Humidity: ??%          Pressure: ??.?? inches

I ran the tree today but it was a little weird. I borrowed a friends GPS running calculator. It was really cool. I measured two trails near USF today so I did 2 miles (2 x 1 mi trail) at one park and then the trail at USF and found that it was ~1.3 miles

So there was a break in the middle of the run but the trails are only a few minutes drive apart so it was worth it today to do it that way. Now I can run on the trails and have a better idea of how far I am going.

My arms are sore from the work on the fitness trail yesterday. It's not too bad though. I am also ready to add a short free weights program to tomorrow and some yoga for flexibility. I will pack a lunch tonight to save me time, so I am doing well on my new changes.

Until next time....keep running!!

Goal #2: Rounding out the fitness plans.

Distance: 1 mile          Time: 11:54:50 mile    Clear and warm 11:00 am
Temperature: 81 °F        Humidity: 47%          Pressure: 30.20 inches

Now that the two 5K’s are done, and I’m not worried about the Miles for Moffitt fun run because I can run the mile and the event is more about all of us gathering in the memory of Randy and the awareness of the fight against cancer. So today I get started on a new goal. This week is Spring break so I do not have to teach 3 nights this week. This seems like the best time to start some new habits while things are a little slower and then I can continue them when things gear up again. To accomplish the first goal I had to run regularly to get to the 5K mark. This new goal is to now to add meal planning and to place some cross training on the off days. I’m going to add just some small additions like the Saturday run will now be a short warm-up before a fitness trail, and Monday and Wednesday mornings having some in-home core, flexibility, or upper body work. These are small additions and will facilitate each other. I don’t seem to have time to do small ½ hour workouts on Monday and Wednesday because I am running around finding my lunch in the morning or finding dinner at night. If I have my meals planned a little better the night before (even just lunch) then the next morning can have an easy ½ hour of workout time to get me started. That’s my thinking.

Today I did start the Saturday part of this by running one mile in the park and then doing the fitness circuit on the trail. I wasn’t overly impressed. Most of the upper body exercises were either too advanced even at the lowest level (and I’m not the worst to try the trail) or the equipment was built for men. Some of the shortest of the fitness bars was too high for me to reach to do the recommended exercise. I’m 5’ 5” and that makes me right at the national average for women. I’m not tall but I’m not short either so this seemed to not be helpful. Next week I will do the fitness trail at USF instead. I like that one better. The important part is that I did complete the workout and it was a workout. I also ran between about every other exercise so I got in a little more mileage today but I don’t know how far it ended up adding on.

I would hope that my next goal would be reached within a few weeks to a month since they are a scheduling/habit goal rather than a mileage goal. In the upcoming weeks I will decide my next running goal.

I’m a well rounded runner!!

5th Annual Bolt Run

I did it again!! YEA!! and I did it better!! By my watch I had a time of 40:34!! That is 1:20 faster. Last time my watch was with in a couple seconds of the chip time, so since this time there were no chips I figure the watch is better than the "official" time since I didn't start near the start of the pack.

This was a much smaller crowd and I was worried that with out people all around me I wouldn’t keep going but I was still distracted enough to not notice that I was still going.

I made a friend for the day. She is in town at MacDill AFB for a couple of months and was doing the run. I guess she figured out that I was alone too because she started a conversation with me while we were at the start. Afterwards I found her again (she ran much faster than me) and we hung out at the “after party.” It’s really more like a picnic on the plaza, but it was the best part. This time there was fruit and water but not just bananas. I’m not a big banana fan personally. AND there was PIZZA and BEER!! It rocked!! Two guys came and sat near us and joined in the conversation and the 4 of us waved at Thunder Bug (He is sooooo cute) and listened to the winners. (not me…hehehe) I had a lot of fun!! It was nice to talk about our times and improvements even though my time was soooo slow but they were all encouraging and nice and gave me some tips but weren’t nasty about if I was making any mistakes.

Last week was for me but this one was for Randy!! I’m glad it only got better. I know that as I do more of these I will get to a time when my times level out and some will be better than others, but for right now, I’m glad I am improving.

Running a little faster!

Told you I did it....

Here I am!! That's me!! I'm running like a Pirate!! It looks like I'm walking but I'm running Wait, I have another to prove it.....





See Here I'm running. I didn't say I ran fast I said I ran!!




Here I am at the finish area with the Pirates!! AAARRRGGG!!!!

I had a very good time.





Saturday is the 5th annual Bolt Run 5K. It is put on by the Tampa Bay Lightning for the benefit of the Leukemia Lymphoma Society!! I hope I do well again!! I don't think there is a picture company there this time. Nothing was in the literature about it but if there is I will post more pictures after that. I don't have anyone to come and watch or run with this time again so I can't have someone take a picture as I go by.