1st Annual Fort McHenry 5k Tunnel Run

We did it! Jamie and I completed our second 5k run...

and Stephanie finished her first 5k run! What a perfect day for the run, the weather was gorgeous…sunny and comfortable. I hadn’t realized that this was the first time they had ever done a run through any of the Bores of the Fort McHenry Tunnel. I’m happy to say I was a part of this event! We ran to support the Maryland Special Olympics.

Tolls Before the race

I was lucky enough to have my mom there to cheer us on! She was very nice and held/watched all of our bags for us while we were running. She also took most of the pictures for us! Thanks mom, I love you! The race started at 9am and everyone started to gather around the mysterious starting line around 8:45am. A blow horn sounded and the race began!

I was a little worried about the race course because a little over half of the course was up hill and the rest was down hill. Picture running down into the tunnel, up out of the tunnel, turning around and running down back into the tunnel, and the last mile or so is uphill. We did not have time chips to capture individual times so I have a very rough estimate of my time. Based on my time (not sure where the starting line was so guesstimated it) my “rough” splits are as follows:

1st mile – 9 mins

2nd mile – 7.34 mins

3rd mile + .14 – 10.96 mins

Like I said, who knows for certain when I started and when I finished according to time. The finish line was a little confusing because the women had to go to the left and men to the right. The girl in front of me literally stopped at the finish line which confused me because aren’t you suppose to run through the finish? That slowed me down some, area was very narrow and there wasn’t room for passing unless I had intended to plow her over, which I wasn’t! Although the thought did cross my mind. The time on the clock at the finish line was 28:08.

Here’s me (pink shirt/blue shorts) just a little while after crossing the finish line.
Overall, I felt really great in this run. My first 2 miles were awesome! I felt pretty good my last mile considering it was all up hill. I kicked up my pace a little too soon and petered out some towards the last stretch. I truly believe the training I’ve been doing the last 3 weeks (easy, long, tempo, repeats) really contributed to my endurance and pace. Granted I don’t think I beat my last 5k time, but I think I finished in the same time or right around it. I feel AWESOME because the majority of the race was hills and that is WAY different than running mostly level ground. I just know that if there wasn’t that last hill I would have creamed my last 5k time. I was well on course to a personal record. Another time!!

Jamie and Stephanie finished the race not to long after me and they were FANTASTIC!

Race mascots!

Week and a half in review

9-11: I WILL NEVER FORGET! ALWAYS IN MY HEART, PRAYERS, THOUGHTS, and BEING!

Wow it’s been a very busy week and a half for me: beach, work, workouts, planning, etc. My excuse for being MIA for this past week. So for your reading pleasure I’m going to share with you what I’ve been up too! In an effort to keep from writing a book, I’m going to use key words and phrases to describe some of my days :)

Fri, Sept. 4: 6:30am take-off (road trip), brunch at Sonic…YUM, meet up with the other half of our posse, 3 hours later…arrived at BEACH, 5 ladies grocery shopping, snacks, hummus and veggie crisps, boxed wine, chatting on the beach=cloud & slightly chilly, turkey & cheese roll-ups, dancing, beer, shots, pizza, awesome DD = Amy, more snacking, sleep!

Sat, Sept. 5: Breakfast = scrambled eggs & ham, whole wheat english muffins, fresh strawberries, juice, milk; SUNSHINE, hours on the beach, dolphins, playing in the waves, 1 mile walk to boardwalk, dinner at Mangos, mint chocolate moose track ice cream, 1 mile walk “home”, 80’s movies marathon needed, charm city, chocolate city, sleep!

Salmon w/mango sauce, black beans, rice, steamed veggies

Sun, Sept. 6: early riser = reading on balcony while listening/watching waves crash on the beach, quick trip to Outlets, MORE BEACH TIME, paddle ball, jellyfish, beach “police", moved chairs 10 feet to our beach, almost time to go, dinner = not so good server, very helpful bus girl, drive home. Thanks Michelle for driving, very much appreciated!!

Monday: Week 1, Day 3 of 5k training plan = 6 miles. Goal to run easy 11:14 miles. Was suppose to do Sunday. 1st mile = 9:00, 2nd mile = 9:11, 3rd mile = couldn’t find mile marker, confusion, lost momentum! 4-6th mile = 4:1 run/walk ratio. Wasn’t well hydrated and didn’t eat enough nutrients. My hips, quads, and calves were a bit sore as well as my lungs, lol! I powered through and finished!! I’m in desperate need of a new pair of these:

Tuesday: Feel good day! Picture…new black button up dress and red heels. Lots of compliments! I’m in no way bragging, but we all need compliments every now and again and this was my day! I felt great. Week 2, Day 1 of 5k training plan = 2 easy miles. 1st mile at 10:23 and second mile at 10:54. I made a mental effort to focus on my pace. Felt great!

Wednesday: rest day. Received awesome news!! My Grandma, who is a cancer survivor is going off chemo for the next 3 months!! I’m thrilled for her. LOVE YOU GRANDMA!

Yesterday: Attended training for work = best training I’ve had in ages! Dealt with the Law Enforcement aspect of my agency. I have a huge appreciation for our nation’s law enforcement officers (LEO), probably because it’s always been a part of my life. Thanks to my dad, I’ve grown to understand and appreciate the importance of LEOs and how every day they are putting their lives at risk to protect us. The training was engaging, exciting, informative, and I’m trying to convince my director for more. Ha!

Week 2, Day 2 of 5k training plan = 5 miles. I ran 1 mile for warm-up and then ran the next 3 miles at a 9:31 pace, my last mile was my cool-down. I did this run at the gym on the treadmill. It was raining and getting dark by the time I was ready for my run.

Today: 5 minute warm-up on the arc trainer, 20 minutes on Stairmaster…Aerobics program, levels 9-11, 10 minutes on treadmill walking at 3% incline. Abs and lots of stretching. Planning my dear friend’s 30th birthday party and planning my other wonderful friend’s bridal shower! Lots of fun things happening the next few months!!

Week 1 Day 2 = Speedwork

Today was my first day ever doing any organized speedwork. I debated trying to run on a local school track, but didn’t want to risk being booted off. So I headed to the gym, which was very painful because the weather is unbelievable!

I ran a total of 5 miles in 51:19. This included an easy 1.5 mile warm-up. I then did 3 x 800 meter runs in 4:19. In between each repeat I jogged 400 meters. For my cool-down I ran 1.25 miles to complete my 5 miles.

I did complete each 800 meters in under 4:19. I made sure I ran a slow 400 meters in between allowing myself to recuperate and be ready to run the next 800 meters.

The workout was challenging. I did notice a small cramp creeping its way into my side but managed to keep a full blown cramp at bay. I didn’t hydrate enough before my run, which is probably the cause of the cramp. I also had a slight headache off and on throughout the end of the run. One last thing…I really need to learn how to relax my upper body when I run. Like a lot of people I hold tension in my neck and shoulders. I’d say about 50% of my runs are uncomfortable for the simple fact that either my right or left shoulder is tight. Over and over again I have to remind myself to relax and allow my body to move in a natural flow while running.

All in all, I’m quite pleased with my first speedwork run. I believe doing speedwork outside on a track or wherever will be more challenging because I have to pace myself instead of the treadmill setting my pace. This is part of my goal…learning to run outside successfully!

Week 1 Day 1

Today was the first day of my 3 week training plan to a faster 5k. My mission was to run an easy 2 miles at a 11:14 pace. My mission of running 2 miles was accomplished; however I completely failed at running at the 11:14 pace. I ended up running a tad over 2 miles at ~7:52 pace. Big OOPS! I know your probably thinking, is she crazy, she ran faster that should be good, right?! It’s not bad, but I really want to stick to the plan to see if the science behind the different paces/tempos/repeats really does make me run faster come race day.

I stepped outside, the sun was shining, there was a slight breeze, the temperature was an awesome 70 degrees, I turned my IPod on and it was all over! I downloaded several new songs today and HOLY SMOKES did they make a difference. The first song in my new list was My Time (thanks Jamie for the recommendation!). The song started and I immediately felt chills run up and down my body; the chills you get when you literally feel a song that good! My feet started tingling and I just couldn’t wait to get started. What an awesome feeling!

These lyrics especially, spoke to me:

“Go hard today. Can’t worry bout the past, coz that was yesterday. Ima put it on the line coz it’s my time…”

I started off fast and was trying to slow down both mentally and physically, but the beat of the music was propelling my feet. I was really pumped! My next easy run is next Tuesday. I’m going to change my strategy up by listening to more relaxed chill music. Slow it down some!

Smart Coach = 5k Training Plan

After some research and helpful suggestions from Fit Chick in the City, I decided to give the SmartCoach a try to help me come up with a 3 week program to help to attempt to train to run a faster 5k come September 20. SmartCoach is a training tool provided by Runner’s World. I realize I’m not giving myself a lot of time to train. But hey, I’m willing to put all my effort into this program for the next couple of weeks. I’m curious to see if the combination of my motivation and this program will help me run a faster pace come September 20 resulting in a faster time!

Here's your individualized training program:

Your current race time is: 0:27:27 for a 5 K Your distance training goal is: 5 K You currently train: 11 - 15 miles/week How hard you want to train: Hard Your long-run day: Sunday Your training program Starts: Monday, 8/31/2009and Ends: Sunday, 9/20/2009 Length of your training schedule: 3 weeks

Wk	Dat	Mon	Tues	Weds	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun	Tot
1	8/31 9/6	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 2 mi @11:14	Rest / XT	Speedwork Dist: 5 mi, inc Warm; 3x800 in 4:19 w/400 jogs; Cool	Rest / XT	Rest / XT	Long Run Dist: 6 mi @11:14	13 miles
2	9/7 9/13	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 2 mi @11:14	Rest / XT	Tempo Run Dist: 5 mi, inc Warm; 3 mi @ 9:37; Cool	Rest / XT	Rest / XT	Long Run Dist: 6 mi @11:14	13 miles
3	9/14 9/20	Rest / XT	Easy Run Dist: 2 mi @11:14	Rest / XT	Speedwork Dist: 5 mi, inc Warm; 3x800 in 4:19 w/400 jogs; Cool	Rest / XT	Rest / XT	Race Day Dist: 5 K @8:50 Time: 27:27	10 miles

I’m already going to have to make adjustments to this training plan. Tuesday is the first day of my program. I head to the beach that Friday for Labor Day weekend. My first “long” run is suppose to be on Sunday, which is the day I come back from the beach. I’m not sure what time we are coming back, but I’ll do my best to fit it in at some point on Sunday. I’m also interested in my Thursday runs, I’ve never tried repeats before. I’m going to have to run on or near a track in order to accomplish these because I don’t have something like this to track how far I’m running at what pace. I’ll also have to figure what track to run on because school is back in session and I’m not sure of the rules of the school tracks due to after school sports and when the public (me) is allowed to use the track. Also if you haven’t already noticed, the last day of my training program is actually my race day…so hopefully I’ll be running faster than my 27.27 time!

Minor adjustments, nothing that I can’t handle! I’m looking forward to throwing myself into this program, I feel I do better mentally and physically when I’m working towards a goal! Send me happy positive thoughts and vibes (telepathically that is, ha!)!!

Sleepy mornings

For the last two weeks, I’ve been struggling to get out of bed. I feel so tired when I wake up, I can’t really figure it out. I’m going to bed at a decent hour and should be getting plenty of sleep; anywhere from 6 to 8 hours depending on the night/morning. I do dream pretty wildly, so maybe my dreams are too active and I’m not getting enough quality sleep. I never really use to be a “snooze” button hitter, but I swear this morning I hit snooze every five minutes for a half hour. Yes, I realize I’m not getting any sleep if I’m hitting the snooze every five minutes, but I just don’t want to get out of bed! The worst part is that I know once I’m up and moving around I’m fine but it’s almost like I don’t want to do that. Bizarre! I’ve also become somewhat of a nap taker (when I can); just 20 minutes and I feel rejuvenated.

I finally got up this morning and ate a quick piece of toast with peanut butter and strawberry jam. I forced myself out the door to head to the gym. I’m glad I went because I felt ten times better once I got there. I worked my quads and abs. I know I was getting tired my last set of bench jumps because I actually missed the bench with my left foot/leg and ended up slamming my shin into the side of the bench. Ouch! Haven’t done that before, but it was bound to happen eventually, ha! I regrouped and finished it out. My goal was to step out 20 minutes on the Stairmaster, but only 1 of the 3 were working and that the "one" was being used. So I ended up doing 20 minutes on the Arc Trainer.

Dinner was very light and tasty this evening! I made a salad that included black beans, corn, couple of sliced olives, diced white onion, pieces of rotisserie chicken (got from Costco), sliced apple, feta cheese, topped with a dollop of hummus. D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S! I’ll be eating this salad or a variation of this salad for the next couple of days, plenty of leftovers! Next time I’m going to add a little more onions and some red pepper flakes. Several years ago, my friend Kimberly made a variation of this salad and I really enjoyed it. Not sure what made me think of it, but I’m glad I recreated it!

Argh, picture blurry! (new camera maybe?!)

I just realized today that I have a 5k in about 3-4 weeks. I haven’t been running all that regularly this summer. My goal is to run a faster time than my last 5k in May. I’m going to do some research on some 5k running plans that will help me to increase my pace.

Anybody have any suggestions on what I can do to run faster and survive; recommended training programs or plans that have worked for you?