Naming Your Training Runs

31. August 2013 · 1 comment · Categories: labradoodle, running, Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Hi all,

Happy final day of August (How does it happen that in a blink of an eye 8 months of the year have flown by?!!!) I’m in the middle of 5 straight days of training runs. It’s my last push of training before my Center of The Nation Series (5 half marathons in 5 days). You can read more about that here.

So I decided for fun I’d name each of these runs.

Thursday started off with the Bouncy 7:

sports bra fail

sports bra fail

Apparently my sports bra has reached the end of the line. It’s lost it’s hold!

bouncypost

My pace was a perfect. Not too fast, not too slow. I stopped for water and to eat a few energy chews which slowed me down a bit between miles 5 and 6. I normally don’t fuel unless it’s double digits but I want to get in a groove now for my big events in a few weeks.

Friday’s run I named Run for Pi! Nope that’s not a typo. Do you remember the math symbol Pi (π) ? Pi = 3.14

MMMM Pi?

MMMM Pi?

Another run with exactly the pace I was hoping to keep. I’m planning on 11 min miles with perhaps a few slower walking miles each day  so that my final half finishing times will be between 2:30 and 2:45.

Today’s run I’ve named Fight the Funk 4.4. I’m not sure why I have been feeling a bit blah lately. Oh and apparently I timed my neighborhood run perfectly after garbage pickup. Seriously, garbage juice and stinky cans for the entire 4 miles! Good job Sally!

day3

foul and funky 4.4

Tomorrow I’m planning somewhere between 16 and 20 miles in NYC with some friends. And monday I’ll eek out another 3-5. Stay tuned for the next post to see what I end up naming those.

In other news, Duncan’s been my one true thing lately. And I’ve been making sure he knows just how much I appreciate his unconditional love.

There was a little romp time last night…

doodle cuteness

doodle cuteness

A trip to Petco for more superheros

Ironman completes the set

Ironman completes the set

And then, today we went to support our local dog park where they were having a big fundraiser called the Summer Fun Dog Wash to raise money for some necessities for the park. (I designed the nifty flyer).

photo 1

Duncan didn’t get a bath but I donated some money for a frisbee and 3 homemade cake pops…I ate 2 of them already luckily i remembered to take this pic of the last one!

photo 4

Now it’s time for chores (phooey!). Hope you enjoy your Labor Day weekend!

Question: Cake pops? Have you tried them? Do you like them? Anyone running anything special this weekend?

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Be Grateful When You’re Up and Graceful When You’re Down

28. August 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: running, Uncategorized · Tags: , , ,

I was talking to a friend yesterday. We talked about the ups and downs of life. He said be grateful when things are good and graceful when things are not so good. Genius! I had nightmares last night and was up most of the night. It made me feel a little uneasy so I did what I always do….I went for a run…

fast and graceful

Fast and Graceful

Seriously…9:37 pace? that’s superfast for me! I guess I could also call this speedwork. lol! My 2nd mile was a 9:19 pace! Woot Woot!

While we’re on the topic of grateful and graceful, I wanted to give a shout out for a fellow blogger. I discovered Monika somehow through some other running blogs a few months before her world turned upside down. She was in the middle of training for the Marine Corps Marathon and found out she had an inoperable brain tumor. I’ve continued to follow her journey through reading her blog and have been more and more inspired by her. I mean, who can ever complain about a bad running day knowing there’s a girl who’s squeezing in her runs between chemo doses. Oh and she’s run 1 marathon since starting treatment and will be running another one this October while fundraising for the Kesari Neuro-oncology Lab at UCSD where she is being treated. You can support her efforts here.

It’s Hump Day. Have you seen this funny Geico commercial yet?

 

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going back in time after blog blackout

27. August 2013 · 2 comments · Categories: running, Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , ,

Hello.

So it’s August 27th. My blog back end has been a mess and i’ve been unable to post until today. So I’m going to be posting a bunch to catch y’all up.

Here goes….starting with August 20th

8/20

How is your week going? I’ve been so very busy. Sunday I did a nice shake out recovery 3 miler. I really wanted to go by how I felt and not by what the watch said so I taped the face of the watch.

you are going at the right pace for how you feel

you are going at the right pace for how you feel

I focused on keeping an easier steady relaxed pace. I’m getting closer to the 5 consecutive half marathons and my plan is to go slow and steady so this was a great way to really tune in to my body. I’m happy to report I predicted my pace would hover around 11:30 min per mile and guess what? It was exactly that! I really do know my pace. Woot woot!

and the tape reveals...

After the run I headed to another birthday party and then went straight to my brothers house for a family get together. And that’s where this happened:

fro yo

Calm down, they both weren’t for me….my niece joined in on the action. It was delish!

Needless to say my house went uncleaned and I didn’t prepare at all for the week. But never fear. My sister in law gave me leftover Chinese to take to work for lunch and homemade waffles that we secretly call crack waffles because they are so addictive. They make the best pre and post run fuel 🙂

As a matter of fact today after I managed to run another 3 somehow although I swear I felt like I was still asleep I had one.

crack waffle

crack waffle after sleep walking running

Oh and speaking of addictive sweets, yesterday my boss and I tried out a new place called Pie Face. I fit right in 🙂

do i blend in?

do i blend in?

Question: Do you tend to crave sweeter foods in the morning or savory? I’m a sweets girl through and through. All day—every day!

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Do you remember the time you left your cell in my car?

25. August 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: running, Uncategorized, vacation · Tags: , , , ,

Yesterday morning it was time to say goodbye to Lake Champlain and the beautiful Adirondacks. Donna and I (and the doodle) were on the road by 7:15am. The plan was for me to drive about 4 hours to Rockland County where my friend Sue lives so I could visit with her a bit before driving the last hour home. I was also planning on dropping Donna at a train station right in that town where she could get an express train to Manhattan and then transfer to another train to be home by 2pm (she doesn’t drive so she is used to being dropped at train stations). I got her to the station at 11:33am for the 11:45am train. She got her ticket, and then we just hugged goodbye and talked about how perfect things had worked out. The train pulled in to the station, she got on, and then the doodle and i walked back to the car. I opened the passenger door for Duncan to hop in and that’s when I saw Donna’s cell phone! It was charging in my car on the drive down and in our excitement that she was able to catch the express train neither one of us noticed. So I grabbed the phone and started running back to the station where the train was still actually in the station but the doors were closed. I screamed and ran like they do in the movies….but much to no avail…. the train pulled out…

Later in the afternoon she called me from her ….um….what do they call them?…..oh right! land line. (shiver) and we came up with a plan to get her the phone back.  I had plans to drive in to Manhattan and run with my peeps this morning, so Donna decided she’d take the train from her house to Penn Station and i’d meet her there after my running. So this morning I drove into Manhattan…

Verrazano Bridge sunrise

Verrazano Bridge sunrise

…and put on my SpiBelt with both my cell and Donna’s cell on the belt. I felt like Tim the Toolman Taylor!!! Off I went to meet my peeps. We ran along the west side up to Central Park for a loop and then back down the west side.

some of the female peeps who all have worked or still work at the same place.

some of the female peeps who all have worked or still work at the same place.

we passed some cool looking sculptures like this one:

engaged to the big apple =)

engaged to the big apple =)

and then there were the usual colorful canoes:

photo 1

I had planned on running 10 miles but it was still so early that i ran 3 additional miles, then walked 1 more and still had time to grab some breakfast before Donna’s train arrived. The phone return went off without a hitch. We laughed about it and said goodbye and then I walked another mile back downtown to get to my car and head home.

Speaking of cell phones… I met up with my friend Sue  yesterday (after the train station drop off) and we talked at length about cell phones particularly smart phones and how addictive they are for some. (raising hand! yep. i admit i’m addicted to being connected) then today a friend posted this vid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OINa46HeWg8#t=109

 

Question: How addicted to your smart phone are you? I confess I desperately held my phone up to one corner of the cottage while I was away just to post a pic to instagram!

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