My First Mile

Remember when you ran your first mile?  I do - I was on the treadmill at the YMCA.  I ran until the display said 1.00 and then hit the stop button and caught my breath.  Well - now I have another mile to remember...my first mile swim!  I actually hit it faster than I expected.  Last week, I came sooo close (my wednesday swim was only 60 yds shy of the mile mark), but I didn't realize it until I was logging my swim or I wouldn't done two more laps.  So, today before I got out of the pool, I checked my lap count to see how close I was to the magic 36 laps...and I had already swam 41 laps!  Hmmm, what shall be the next distance goal for the hour long class...I'm not too far off from 2km (44 laps) so that is not much of a stretch, maybe an even 50 laps (2,500 yds)?  Why not? 

Today's workout - Swim 2050 yds. First mile swim!! 

Not Exactly "Master" Swimming

Don't get me wrong...I am no "Master" swimmer.  But, I do know how to swim - I took lessons through the YMCA back in Indiana about 30 yrs ago after all.  However, I have never been a part of a swim team/group.  Over the past couple years, I have been in the pool maybe twice a month (at the most) as cross-training. 

But then I got some "bucks" to spend at my gym for a referral.  Out of the options that they had, for some unknown reason, I decided that three months of Master Swimming would be a good way to spend those "bucks".  For two weeks before I actually signed up for the group, I made it the pool twice a week and tried to build up somewhat of a base - you know, so that I could make sure that I could survive trying to swim for a whole hour! 

So, two weeks ago I took the plunge and actually showed up for the group.  There were probably about a dozen people there that day.  I was by far the worst/slowest swimmer in the group. Somehow, I managed to survive the whole hour - although I wasn't exactly keeping up with the group.  There were 3 people in my lane and basically, I would go last and swim around twice.  Then I'd wait while they passed me (because they were about to lap me!) and repeat.

After class, the instructor asked me how I felt about the class and told me it would get easier. But I don't feel too bad about it - I mean, I couldn't even run a mile when I started out, and here I am two marathons later!  Today - I ALMOST swam a mile!!  I was only 60 yards short!  Next week's goal - I will get that mile swim for sure!

Today's workout - Swim 1700 yds.  Words of wisdom from the coach: Lift elbows higher on the recovery, I'm a really good kicker (could that have anything to do with the fact that I run?)

Only two weeks into class and it is already getting a little easier.

Working on my Fitness (again)

I got a little sidelined by a sore hip, and took some time off to recover.  It has been harder than expected to pick it back up again after only a couple months off!

Here is what I am currently up to:

Master's swimming (will post about this one at a later date)
Training for Ragnar Relay (August 17-18...will be here before I know it!)
Trying to increase my runs to prepare for a fall half marathon
Debating which half marathon that may be???
Generally trying to have fun with random crosstraining (including Zumba!) to help prevent future injuries.
Oh yeah, and...trying to sell our house, having a new house built, going on vacation, working, enjoying my family, you know...life!

Although it is tough, it feels so good to be "working on my fitness" again!

Today's workout - 4.17 miles on hilly terrain around my neighborhood. I didn't think there were that many hills nearby, but wow was that tough!  or maybe it has something to do with the treadmill hill workout I did only a couple days ago? Today was only suppose to be an easy run, but what was I suppose to do? Turn the other way when I came across a hill?  I need to be able to kill those hills in a couple weeks at Ragnar!!
Run: 4.17mi 45:37 (10:57) hilly

 

Where have I been?

It's been a long time since I have posted anything here...obviously. But I have been doing some running. I won't drone on about everything that has happened since I last posted, mostly because I don't want to try to remember it all.


So - current stuff. I am in the midst of a streak. Nothing too exciting, 14 days at less than 3 miles per day. But at least I am running consistently.

Plans/goals for the year - I'm planning to focus on improving my short distance PRs in the spring. Hopefully, by the fall I will be able to finally make a solid attempt at a sub-2:00 half marathon.

Grand Old Day "On the Go" 8K Race Report

This wasn't a goal race for me...I chose it mainly because I wanted to find a race that the kids could do this summer, and they had a 0.25mi kids run (most of the kids runs around here are at least a half mile, which I thought was probably too far for them).

So, I hadn't trained specifically for this race, although I have been training for half marathons recently. I had also been feeling under the weather - I had a cough and some congestion the last couple weeks that just won't go away. So, I didn't go into this race with too high of expectations. My A goal was to break through 45:00, but I wasn't counting on that. My real goal was to set a new PR (which I thought I should be able to do reasonably easily based on other recent race times) by going sub 47:00.

I ran this race 2 years ago. At the time, it was my first 8K and my first race longer than a 5K. I actually ran it because I was hesitant to go straight to a 10K and I thought it would be a good stepping stone.

On race day, the family all got up early and headed out to the races. This was a bit different, as I usually go to my races solo. We were running a little late, so I jogged over to pick up my packet then met the family near the start line as I got prepared. A couple minutes later I had to go get lined up.

As we started I realized that I had started too far back - we were going way too slow, but I took advantage of that and made sure I ran close to the area where my family was standing so that I could wave wildly at the kids. Then, it was time to start weaving around a bit. When we got to the mile 1 marker, I realized that I was going way faster than I thought and figured that I would regret it later...oh well, this isn't a goal race anyway. So, I just kept going at what felt like a reasonable pace for 5 miles. I lost some time pushing my way up one of the hills which I remember thinking to myself on the way down the other side - gotta take that time back! At the turn-around I started to feel pretty tired and my side started cramping...weird, that doesn't usually happen. Then I realized that I wasn't breathing as deeply as usual, due to the congestion issues. I forced myself to take some deeper breaths and the cramp went away. Around this time is also when I suddenly decided to care about my finish time. I realized that I was exactly on pace to finish at 45:00 even. The 'back' part of the course was a little tougher than the 'out' part because of the hills, but I was now determined to keep up this pace. I somehow managed to keep it up, but had almost nothing left for sprint into the finish (I guess that is a good thing, right?) I ALMOST hit that 45:00...missed my a whole 3 seconds! But I beat my previous PR by exactly 2 minutes and did much better than I had anticipated, so I am very happy with the result.

About 15 minutes after my run it was the kids turn. We went to line up and I put us all the way at the back of the pack because I knew my DD would get freaked out by all the kids around her running all of a sudden (she gets scared of people quite often). We took off all hand-in-hand (too cute, I know) and both of them just kept laughing. As we got going, DD kept running ahead and getting in front of DS then slowing down - she wanted to beat him! We were the last finishers, but of course, no one cared. They both ran the whole distance - no walking at all! I am so proud of them!! I am especially glad that they had fun - they had smiles on their faces the whole way!

Stats
Race: Grand Old Day "On the Go"
Date: June 6, 2010
Distance: 8K
Official Time: 45:03
Average Pace: 9:04
Overall Place: 222/411
Place in Age Group: 28/61