Happy Happy Joy Joy

Today I had a 7 miler planned and around mile 7 I said to myself:
 "you know I'm feeling okay I think I'll go to eight"
Then when I hit 8 miles I thought:
 "You know, I'm almost to 10 and I haven't been in double digits for a while I think I'll go to 10"
Around mile 9 I was thinking:
"Oohh, my legs are tired maybe I should have stopped when I had planned"
But then I remembered a little trick my friend Amber taught me.
 She told me once that:

 "If your feeling tired speed up for a few minutes then you can slow back down to your regular pace and it will feel slow"

So I followed her advice and sped up for a few minutes then back down again and badabing badaboom I just ran 10 Miles!!
 I was so excited and happy about it I jumped off the treadmill and went and did a running back handspring double back flip and landed in the splits!!  (okay maybe not)

This is what I looked like in my head!  (Real picture is Nastia Luikin-olympic gymnast)

The BEST part of the run is I HELD my 10:30 pace that was my goal!  I love runs like these!

"I am Adrienne!  I am strong!"

TGIF
Happy Running,
NRR

I'm throwing in the towel!

So this morning at the gym (yes I belong to a gym but haven't found a gym I love) I decided that I should become a 5K SPECIALIST!  Because MAYBE, just MAYBE if I run everyday for the next year than MAYBE I will be able to run a BLOODY 5K at the time I've been working on for the last month!!  Okay, so I'm not a patient person.

Here are the stats:

1 Mile warmup
1 mile at goal pace then started sucking wind
1 minute unplanned break
1 more mile at goal pace
1 minute unplanned break
 .75 miles at goal pace
1 minute unplanned break
finish to 3.1
1 mile cool down at slower pace
5 total miles
You would think with all the little breaks I was taking I was running hundreds of miles NOT 3.1!

I realize I haven't been pushing the speed drills much in the past but I really want to be able to do this RIGHT NOW!  Oh well, I'll keep plugging along.

So on to the towel throwing in part.  Actually it was a towel throwing out thing.

I was a little discouraged I'm not a superwoman and can't magically run the speed I would like to with little effort so in order to kick the "I'm just normal" blues I said to myself---the dishes can wait, and the  laundry, and the bathrooms and all that "I have to be responsible" stuff because I'm suppose to be the grown up and I got the littles and we "threw out the towels"! By the pool that is!

Reece even bellied up to the bar for some eats although Sadie preferred to have her belly right on top of the bar, we were having so much fun I wasn't even mad Sadie stole all my gushers.

So the moral of the story is if you feel like you've been given "lemons make lemonade" or in our case Gatorade which consequently we didn't make at all we just grabbed it right out of the fridge.

Even though the run wasn't all I would have liked it to be, it wasn't all horrible either and if I had to rate the day on a scale of 1-10 I would definitely give it a A+

(An A+?  but didn't she say....1-10? ???  I can hear what your thinking, try to keep up!)

Happy Running,
NRR

FOCUS, FOCUS, FOC...SQUIRREL!!!

This morning's run was intervals.  I attempted to complete 1/2 mile repeats at 1 mile pace 8 times.  What is this called?  8X400? 400X8? Is 400 a half mile?  I'm too lazy to google right now.  I'm still trying to figure out the run lingo.  Anyway, I was taking 1 minute breaks in between and suddenly I would be counting in my head 63, 64, 65 and it would dawn on me I was suppose to be running.  I seemed to be thinking about everything else that I needed to be doing instead of what I was actually doing.  I stumbled my way through but not very happy with my mental game.  Oh well, on to all that other crap I kept thinking about needed done.

Nobody's ever drown in sweat before....

but it wasn't from a lack of trying........

Today as I finished up my 7 miler one of my little's looked at me and asked

 "Do you sweat a lot when you run?"

I looked at him with all the love of a mother and said

"Pumpkin, Here's your sign"

Happy Weekend and Running,
NRR

Although I've never met the two.......

I'm guessing this is what it would look like if EMZ and Jamoosh went for a run together!

Solitary Confinement

Today I was SUPER DUPER excited because I was going to go try out the gym that a lot of my new friends here in AZ go to.  I dropped the Reecer off at preschool and Sadie and I headed over.  The parking lot was full--good sign.  I went in with my "5 day free trial" coupon.  Got Sadie situated in the kid care--thumbs up there.  I went and picked out a treadmill and started my warmup.  Okay, immediately I realized this was going to be a problem.  ALL of the equipment machines have individual TV's that are at eye level about a foot from your face.  I guess a lot of people would like this but it made me feel claustrophobic. I wanted to go to a gym to feel like part of a group, or be part of a group because so much of my training is all alone by myself, sniff sniff,  but with the TV positioned like this you can't see around it.  I ran two miles like this and then I was done.  It was too annoying.  I got off and decided I'll do weights but as I was doing this I looked up at all the peeps on all the treadmills, elliptical, bikes, etc. and they all looked like zombies.  Nothing worse than being in a room full of people and feeling all alone. Have you seen the movie Wall-E?  You know how all the people live in this big spaceship in space and go throughout their days completely sedentary and have robots do everything for them?  This is what the people at the gym looked like.  Nobody was really running that hard or cycling that hard or ellipticalling that hard they were all just staring at their individual TV's and going through the motions of "working out".

  Looking for Wall-E pictures I came across THIS post and I have to say I agree. (I like the Wall-E comparisons, the matrix quotes not so much).  Anyway, I decided this wasn't the place for me.  Fourth gym I've tried since moving to AZ and fourth gym I've hated since moving to AZ.

So I headed home deflated but still needing to run and I decided to stall some more check out some running blogs real quick before I jumped on my own treadmill minus blasted TV in my face and I saw Jamoosh's post about the  "Equalizer". So I began reading, reading reading..blah blah blah (I mean this in a nice way Jamoosh) and then there it was...THAT'S YOUR PROBLEM!  It couldn't have been more clear if he reached through his computer and slapped me in the face.  Jamoosh's post was about how he had just had some awesome runs and if others hadn't then it's basically our own fault.  He's right.

**It's my problem if I feel alone in a crowded room.  I can go talk to someone.
**It's my problem if I don't get my running done.  I have two feet just put one in front of the other, just cause I don't like the gym I can come up with plenty of other options.
**It's my problem if I don't "train hard" Just because everyone else is slow poking doing the zombie workout doesn't mean I have to.  If everyone else jumped off a cliff would you? Okay maybe.

Anyway, thanks for the heartless unsympathetic motivation Jamoosh.  I got on my treadmill and cranked out 6 Mean Deans, then did the Hard Core club workout and when I finished I felt strong and refreshed because I was physically drained and dripping with sweat.  Make sense? I love to run.


P.S.  Although I liked your post Jamoosh.  I'm going to correct you on one thing---90 years ago women didn't earn the right to vote we just finally gained the right to vote which we earned long before that.  But I know what you meant.

Girls rule!

Happy Running,
NRR

Core Club take 1

Today I did a non eventful 3 mile treadmill run then followed it up with the 1st day of the Core Club Workouts courtesy of Jamoosh over at the Last Mile Lounge.
 I have to admit I have been a total slacker at the core workouts ever since I moved to Arizona.  I use to be pretty decent when I lived in Colorado because I had a certain workout instructor--SCOTT--who would kick my butt every Monday and Friday and sometimes Saturday but alas those days are behind me.  I think all of the core workouts went pretty well except I did have to adjust on the Push Up ones...Why do I suck at push ups?  I've been doing them forever and yet I'm still such a wussy.

No I'm not posing!  Why do you ask?

The plank was going okay until the 2YO decided I needed to put in a little more effort.

Pictures courtesy of my 10YO who thinks his mom is a wuss.  Laugh now buddy!  Your day will come :)

Well since yesterday's post I'm probably now known as the poop girl so not to disappoint I thought I'd share the latest in poop news.  Apparently pooping runs in the family and today when the pictured 2YO was suppose to be napping she decided to remove not only her dress but her diaper full of you know what and it was all over!  So it's been somewhat of a crappy weekend.  Is it Monday yet?  Something for Adam over at The Boring Runner to look forward to as the time approaches for his own little pooper scooper to arrive.  Now you can see how I do the 2-3 or was it 4? loads of laundry everyday. Don't worry though Adam, the little stinkers are the best!  Can you argue with this cute little face?

Happy Running!
NRR

P.S.  Back to school tomorrow!!! Can I get a Woot Woot!

"I am EMZ"

Part 1
I usually like to run in the mornings but sometimes that doesn't happen.  Today was one of those days.  In fact all day long was pretty booked.  Five o'clock rolls around and it's time for the boy's football practice.  I decided this would be a perfect time to run.  I'll take them to practice, run while they are practicing.  Good plan.  Well, it was 112 bloody hot degrees.  It was going pretty good but at about mile 3.5 I started feeling really tired and was wanting to do that "stopping" thing I do where I'll stop for like 20 seconds and "catch my breath" but in reality it's just a mental thing I need to work on.

So as I was debating wether to stop or not I remembered my previous post and something EMZ said that she says to help her on runs.

She says:  "I am Strong".

So without thinking I started saying "I am EMZ, she is strong, I am EMZ!"

I don't think that is quite what she meant but HEY it worked!  I didn't stop!

I had an entire conversation with myself during the next mile.

Saying things like: "I'm EMZ, EMZ wouldn't stop so since I'm EMZ I can't stop.  This would be a short run for EMZ and since I'm EMZ this isn't even hard."

My apologies and thanks to EMZ for this post.  If you felt drained around 5:45 pm last night it was because I was summoning your awesome abilities to help me on my run.

I also apologize for the stalkingish feeling this post may have but don't worry, I won't ever show up at your house with ropes and duct tape in my trunk I'll just stick to checking your blog for tips and motivation.

Actually finding the blogging running world has helped me a lot in the last few weeks.  Weird but true.  I find inspiration (and laughs) from a lot of your running blogs and it's been great.

Part 2
I borrowed my husband's Garmin on this run to see if I liked it and wanted one of my own.  This is very new for me because I've never kept track of my time.  The few races I have run in I don't really check the results or wear a watch to keep track so this was sort of an experiment.

Can this watch be any bigger?

Here is what the Garmin said:
Mile 1 = 9:44
Mile2 = 9:55
Mile3 = 10:20
Mile 4 = 10:07
Mile 5 = 10:48
Mile 6 = 10:24
Mile 7 = 10:18
Total overall pace 10:14

Great!  So what the crap does this mean?
What I, the newbie, learned from this is:
A--I run faster on a treadmill than outside in 112 degree weather.
B-- Knowing it was hot I realize my pace should be slower but why is it all over the place?
C--I obviously ran the first couple miles too fast and then ran out of gas a bit.
D--I knew going in I was suppose to try and keep a 10:12 mile pace according to Coach Dean for this long of run but how am I suppose to do that?---look at my watch the entire time?  This could be dangerous with my coordination level or lack of coordination, chance of injury level will increase if I have to do this.
Conclusion:  Liked the Garmin, I can see how this would be useful--DON'T SAY DUH!!

As soon as I get a Garmin I'm going to run into this!

So what do you make of these different mile times? Suggestions?  Would love to hear em.
(It was a mile loop, every mile was the same course-just the times were so different)

Happy Running,
NRR

Clarification on "Mean Deans"

When I did my Mean Deans last week I was "off" on a few things so I thought I'd post the actual link in case you are interested in this workout so you can do them correctly.  Click Here

Credits to Coach Dean for this beastly workout.  They are on the schedule for Friday--eeek!

Happy Running!
NRR

Help Needed

I thought my 5 mile run this morning was pretty good until Trav showed me pics from his Moab trip he took a few weeks ago.

So here they are at the top of the Arch

Repelling Down

Now let's do it upside down?!!

Yes, I married a Crazy.

You know at running camp after hearing some of my history Coach Dean told me that I shouldn't run races with my husband because no matter how well I perform it will always seem sort of blah in comparison to him--YA THINK?!  

 I'm my hubby's biggest fan and he is my biggest supporter but sometimes it's hard not to compare isn't it? 

At least he does nice things like bringing me this home after his basketball game this morning....

QT Diek Coke with vanilla paired w/rice chex for breakfast for after my run.

 Mmmmmmm.

Speaking of running, as I was saying I felt good about my run this morning.  It was a goal pace run. I did a 1 mile warm up, 3.1 miles at goal pace and then 1 mile cool down.  BUT I stopped for a 30 second "break" in the middle of my goal paced miles.  Why?  This is what I do.  I'm a self sabatoger.  Last week I ran 6 miles at goal pace (because I wasn't paying attention) so naturally I must now do something to make sure I don't meet my goal.  Why do I do this?  It's a struggle for me.  I'm trying to work through it.  I have mental issues.  I realize this.  But I need your help!  Do you ever stop on runs?  How do you work through that moment when you want to stop and what "tricks" do you use to get through "that moment" until you can refocus. What do you tell your self or say to yourself.

Hello World!

Hubby was back from traveling and so I was able to sneak away from the treadmill Saturday morning for my run.  OUTSIDE :) !!

Conditions were perfect.  It had just rained and it was nice and cool.

Thunderbird park is close to my house and I love to run on the trails there so I decided that even though I was suppose to do a long run and not a hill run that maybe I could combine the two?

Bad Decision.

It started off fine but by mile 2 I was well past warm up and into the hill and already starting to revise my plan.  I decided--okay, I'll do short hill repeats instead of the steady hill run.  So I would run hard for 30 seconds and then take a 2 minute slow jog break then another hard 30 second run then another jog break.  It was ugly.

Thunderbird hill isn't really a running trail but a few of us still try to run on it.  It's super rocky and you end up looking down most of the time so you don't twist your ankle.  I guess I didn't really notice this before when running the hill because I haven't ever worried about my pace on the hill before,  I would just run it to run it.  Trying to keep a "solid" pace and running this hill is a lot more difficult, but since I'm trying to do quality miles instead of just quantity miles I was trying to salvage the run and get it to fit in one of my goal runs for the week.

As I just finished one of my 30 second hard runs up a steep part of the hill I rounded the corner and was sucking some serious wind catching my breath when a walking hiker, 80 years old at least (!), on his way down, asked "Are you okay?!!"  I was SO ANNOYED!  I panted out a "yeah I'm fine thanks".

--- BUT---unless I am on the ground convulsing PLEASE do not ask if I'm "okay"!!

If I'm up on both feet,  putting one foot in front of the other just know I'm fine.  It may not look pretty but some of us crazy SOB's are trying to run up a rock pile that most people walk up.  Am I alone here?  It was almost as bad as when you are in a race and coming up on the last mile and someone WATCHING from the sidelines yells--"You're almost there!"  I feel like taking off my shoe and chucking it at their head.  Maybe I'm over sensitive.

Suggestions of appropriate things to say: "Good work", "You got this", "Holy crap your running up this beast--that's awesome!"

Well I made it to the top and when I turned around to run back down I quickly was reminded of why I love this hill!

#1 The Views are Amazing!!   --This is why I run--   So I can see the places that you can't get to in a car or a bike. Someday I'll bring my camera with me (I say this to myself every time I run this hill)

AND

#2 Flying down the mountain at top speed feeling my body just relax and letting my legs "just go" is a feeling I can only get running downhill, THIS hill especially where my adrenaline is high because if I take just one miss step I'm going into the cactus or a rock, there are plenty of them around--Love it!

At the bottom of the trail I didn't get into my car like my hiker friends.  Instead I cooled down by running home where I greeted my car in my garage where I left it that morning.  Don't feel sorry for me.

I'll be  "Okay".

Thanks,
NRR

**I have to put a disclaimer at the bottom of this post so I won't have guilt.  I'm sure the gentleman asking if I was okay is a very nice person and was just concerned for his fellow (wo)man.  Good for him, we need more like him out there don't we?

My vVo2 was Maxed!

......MUST...........FIND.........OXYGEN!!!!

Picture in honor of my hubby who is flying to Hawaii today for work.
You suck!--I mean, I love you.

Today it was a treadmill speed workout and it was a SOB Good One!

Tracks be damned are great for speed workouts but do you know how much effort it would take me to haul four littles to a track so I could run for 30 minutes than turn around and haul them all back? That's a workout in itself.

Anyway, I digress.

It was a vV02 Interval workout.  30 repeats of 15-15s.  It's a 1:1 Work/rest ratio.  Don't know what you V02max is or what you vV02max pace should be?  Click HERE for a super duper long explanation great crash course on vV02.

I warmed up for a mile (something I didn't use to ever do because I'm lazy I didn't realize the importance of warming up) then I started in with the repeats.  I set the treadmill @105% of  vV02 max pace and ran 15s, then I would jump off for 15s rest, then back on for 15s run then off for 15s rest.  Repeated 30 times.  The first few times you might think "this isn't going to be that bad" but just wait......repeat 6 your thinking okay this will be good, ......repeat 10 your thinking holy moley,.........repeat 15 your looking for an exit........20 your sucking too much wind to care........25 your trying not to puke and even at repeat 29 I was wondering if I was going to just let the treadmill carry me off and hope to land on the floor and get to a lower elevation for more oxygen.  A bit too dramatic?  Okay maybe a touch but it was a good speed workout on a treadmill. Who knew?

I kept track of my repeats using the latest running technology available.  Pink marker and paper taped to shutter next to treadmill-can't do that at a track. Every time I jumped off for my 15s rest I marked a tally.  (Yes that is my own writing not my 4 year olds because my hand wasn't so steady right after my sprint--QUIT JUDGING ME!)  I actually ran with the marker in my hand because a 15s rest wasn't long enough for the picking up, putting down.

If you try this workout and it isn't hard enough for you then your not running fast enough.  You have to run at at least 105% of vV02max to reap the benefits of this type of workout but you can run faster.  Once you can't hold the pace you should STOP-DON'T TAKE LONGER BREAKS in between.  It needs to be 1:1 work/rest ratio. Good luck!

**Credits to Coach Dean for introducing me to this workout.
*Total Mileage 3.5

I'm a Scaredy Cat!

-K- I was on the treadmill once again today and I was really feeling like running so I did a 7 minute warmup at a slower pace with a 1 incline (of course) then I cranked my treadmill up to my goal 5K pace.  Six miles later I finished and got off and was thinking???  Hmmmmm, I just ran 6 miles at what I'm trying to run 3.1 at?

Of course this is on my treadmill, in my home, in my comfort zone, and NOT in a race.  I repeat NOT in a race.  Races are a whole other story for me.  Do I dare try a 5K official race???

Not yet.

I need more practice.

Am I the only one who freezes up on race day and sets a PR heading for their car to get away? Yes?!

Okay, just checking.

Happy Running,
NRR

Do you have Sabotagers' among you?!

Today was suppose to be the "hard" quality strength run workout of the week. It started off with a 1 mile warm up. Then I needed to do "Mean Deans". This is where you run 1 lap around the track at a fast pace (5K race pace) then you stop and do various strength workouts in between laps. Today I did 10 push ups, 15 sit ups, and hopped on each foot 15 feet each way, then without taking any breaks you run another lap and repeat this over and over and over. A well conditioned runner should be able to repeat this 12 or so times (?)  depending on the mileage they would like but this would give them a solid 3+ miles at 5k mile pace. The idea is once you can't hold your pace you need to stop. I was going to shoot for 8-10 laps. Sadly I made it to 6 and I was wasted. Rather than continuing at a slower pace I was suppose to stop so my grand total for today's workout was 2 and 1/2 miles with the strength workouts in between. I'm so wussy :( Next week I'll try to add another lap or two.

I have to say although I feel the mileage was weak sauce I was happy with myself for not psyching myself out mentally. It was raining and I still ran. I used the street in front of my house because I didn't have access to a track for my Mean Deans. I would run clear down the street then turn around and run back. On my first couple of laps my husband and kids and dog were out there and when I would get to my "home base" to start my sprint and then do my strength workouts my 75 lb dog would come and jump on me!! Ugh!! To say I was annoyed would be obvious but sometimes the husband, children and dog are oblivious to what I'm trying to accomplish. After the second time my dog almost TOOK ME OUT I decided to yell at my husband to get him the crap out of my way! To which I received the evil eye and my kids saying things like, "gees your like a old lady who hates dogs!"

Here is the culprit Jasper--who I love---just not jumping in front of me when I'm trying to sprint! Don't let his cutest fool you, he is a killer :)?!

My old self might have stomped off into the house thinking "why do I even try when it's so ridiculous" but I didn't. I kept going even though every time I got back to "home base" my kids and husband were still giving me the crusty looks. It's nice to have such support sometimes isn't it?! Anyway, I finished and all is well with the world again.

BTW today is my 12 year wedding anniversary so even though I yelled at my husband and he was giving me the evil eye what we really meant was "I love you darling!"

Here we are 12 years ago today! Love you babe (and your evil eye!)

So am I the only one who has built in sabotager's?  Anyone? Anyone?
Happy Running

The Non Race Runner