Not so Wordless Wednesday - National Half AG Award

As you may remember, I was lucky enough to win 3rd in my AG at National Half Marathon (none of the faster girls apparently ran!).  It's been awhile and George joked around that the jaguar dealership must be customizing my prize.  Well, it arrived yesterday, it was a certificate of my AG placement from Brightroom.  I thought it was pretty nice, nodded that I wish I could've picked the picture, but whatever, there were about 6 other pictures I would have been mortified if they were on it.

I was pretty proud, showed my husband.  He said, "that's nice, but what's with the picture of the two guys?"

 

Needless to say I'm working on a new hairstyle.  I hate leaving my bangs down cause I think it looks sloppy, but, this looks like Elvis... :)  

At least the shoes are styling! ;)  Happy Memorial Day Weekend everyone!  To all our servicemen, THANK YOU!

Saucony Kinvara - Shoe Review

Last week Saucony released the new Saucony Kinvara.  It is hailed as a shoe for minimalist running (aka Barefoot) running.  I am not a bare foot runner, for any reviews or information on Barefoot Running, visit Bare Foot Angie B's blog and she can give you great insight and ideas.

However, due to poor genetics, I am a toe runner.  Way before the movement began, I was leading the way... :)  Thanks to these same poor genes, I also have a super huge Barney Rubble forefoot.  This fantastic combination, causes me to need very wide width shoes with super duper forefoot cushioning.  Running Companies, unfortunately have not seen me as their "average client", so my perfect shoe has been very difficult to find.  I've tried lightweight running shoes, only to come back with severe shin splints or worse, a stress fracture, due to their lack of forefoot cushioning.

Since running companies typically get rid of the forefoot cushion and narrow up all their racing shoes, I have had a difficult time finding a lightweight racing shoe, with adequate forefoot cushioning and a pleasant width to accommodate Barney.  I tried the Newtons, but they are really made for mid-forefoot landings, and I run way up on the ball of my foot, so I hit too far up for them to be worth the hefty $165 price tag, but they were wide enough and fantastically light.  This past winter/spring I've been racing in Nike's lunarglides.  They are wide enough, (light at 8.6 oz for women's size 8) although at the end of the SunTrust Half Marathon, I felt the stability part of the shoe kicking in a little bit too much for my liking (I am a neutral runner).

Enter Saucony's Kinvara.  I was foaming at the mouth to get a pair, especially after reading some reviews such as RunBlogger's.  Even though he notes many minimalist runners won't care for the shoe, his notations that  "Kinvara actually will have a slightly thicker forefoot than most trainers" and "midsole of the Kinvara still looks fairly cushy", left me desperate for a pair.  Runners World Forum had another post about it, stating "So even with the very light weight, the forefoot of this shoe will probably feel pretty cushioned.", which left me waiting for the release day.  The shoe weighs in at 6.7 oz (women's).

Finally it arrived in stores, I took a little of my prize gift certificate $ and headed over to a local running store who had it in stock.  I tried it on, it felt a little tight in the forefoot, so I tried 1/2 size bigger than I usually take in a running shoe.  The material is a tight meshy material, which is super lightweight and breathy, but it didn't seem like it would give alot, so I went with the 1/2 size larger and it fit much better.  I was a little disappointed that the retailer who I had won the gift certificate from, added $10 to Saucony's suggested retail price of $90 (I was charged $100), but since it was a $50 gc, I was still ahead of the game.  Plus, they did have them in pink which was, well, fantastic!

I first ran in them for the mile race and really liked them, I was definitely on my toes and they felt fast!  I was still a little afraid they were too tight.  But, I was so pleased with them, I decided to try our mile repeats Tuesday in them.  I was flying, they felt great.  Friday, I ran a 4 mile tempo run in them and felt really good.  They feel so lightweight and plush in the forefoot.  I will admit this morning, my calves were talking to me, I really was more on my toes, especially since the last is so giving in the Kinvara, I can really go up on the forefoot more so than with my vomeros (which have been great, since they are built on the FREE last).  So it may take a little while to get my calves up to speed, but I really loved the way they felt!

My final opinion - Two thumbs up.  I think I've finally found my lightweight racing shoe and I am pretty excited.  Thank you Saucony!  I may even buy the mens in red, for a little extra width and to match our uniforms! ;) 

Three Things on a Fierce Thursday

"I love it when a plan comes together." - Hannibal Smith, The A Team

It's been a little tough getting back to Shangri-La since vacation.  Last week, both my track sessions were pretty tough.  I decided to hook up with a few of my fellow pals and race The Mile at the track.  It's been about two years since I raced the mile, with my best time being 6:17.  It was when I first started training with Capital Area Runners and I was hopeful if I kept training, by the end of summer, I'd see under 6.  I never did.

Early this spring, as I played in Shangri-La, I thought if I raced a mile then, I might see under 6.  But, I never did, vacation came, Mai-Tai's along with it and now I'm back to reality.  Coach George told me I needed to go out and race the mile and just do it.

Three things happened:

1.  I went in just hoping to beat my PR of 6:17 - I PR'd with 6:13  I hit the 800 at 3:10, so I was pleased that I was still able to push a little more the 2nd half.  Who cares that I was the last one to cross the finish line?

2.  Jessica got under 6, which is what she was aiming for, now she's got some new goals.

3.  This Tuesday, 2 days after the mile race, our interval session was mile repeats (I love me mile repeats).  I was smoking!  I felt great, it felt easy, comfortable and after 3, I felt I still had another in the tank.  Who knew that racing a mile was going to finally purge out the last remnants of Hawaii?

Now the goal is to get under 6 by the end of summer!  Let's see if I can do it!  Oh yeah, Coach George ran the mile too, he's back into his training mode, he ran 5:17.  He said he wants to get under 5 by summers end.  Who will get their goal first?  My money's on George, since he has the muscle memory of having run in the 4's and I've never seen the 5's!  But let's make it a challenge, shall we? 

How did me, the girls and the coach celebrate running our mile? We headed over to Carderock where we ran another 8 miles, the fasties a bit ahead of me, luckily coach George stayed behind to run my slower pace and keep me company.

Everything's coming together post vacation, just like I planned... ;)  Lawyers Have a Heart 10k is only 3 weeks away, hopefully tempo will show me some good signs tomorrow!  Happy Thursday everyone!

Mile Warriors:

PRF Half Marathon on Mother's Day

First off, Happy Mother's Day!

I saw many of you celebrated by running races as well, or just getting out and running!

I celebrated Mother's Day by running the PRF Half Marathon.  I figured it would be a great race to use as a way to get my long run back up to the 13-14 mile mark.  I am nowhere ready to race that distance, since returning from vacation.

The race consisted of two loops around Arlington of 6.55 miles.  You have the option of running either the first loop alone (the Quarter Marathon) or running both loops for the Half option.  Congrats to MCM Mama for PRing (and volunteering in the cold)!  

It was nice to see so many people I knew running (and working) the race, but it was cold & windy at the start!  I made an error of parking too far from the race start and spent alot of time debating with myself if I was underdressed (I wore my CW-X ventilator shorts) and maybe just turning around and going home would be best.  I luckily talked myself out of it.

A lot of people give the looped courses a bad rap.  When I lived in Ashburn, there was this lake that was 2 miles around, sometimes when I didn't feel like running, I would tell myself, just one loop.  After you finish the first one, you're already moving, so why not one more...  By the time you know it, you've made it 10 miles.  That's a lot nicer than going out on the trail and mentally seeing that distance.  I say this because I love the loop.  In the back of my mind it was run the first loop easy and then try to push it comfortably the 2nd.  

I really liked the course, I was only using it as a  faster than normal long run, but I saw the time on clock at the first turnaround and just tried to beat it. (I did by +1:30).  I thought we had some pretty views.

While the day was far from perfect for walking or standing around, it was perfect for running, and with the strong wind, it made the loopy course perfect, because, with the exception of about a mile (the 5.5-6.5 and the 12-13), you were only in a headwind short moments.  Of course the toughest miles, you were fighting some pretty strong winds.  It was also a FLAT course, there was a slight incline toward the turnaround and end, but I think it is a pretty fast course.

I had looked at last years times and saw if I was able to run under 1:45, I might have a shot at AG, further incentive to not run too shabby.  I ran 1:42:14 and got 2nd in my age group.  

The race was about 9 minutes slower than National, but I ran tempo on Friday and lifted & pool ran for 2 hours on Saturday, so I feel as though I'm getting back into my warrior mode and as long as I stay focused, (and the weather isn't HOT), I may be able to get a PR!

Congratulations again on your races, I'll be around commenting when I can!  Let's keep the spring weather coming! 

Warrior back on Track

and back on the track!  (the blogging track too!) :)

Last Tuesday, after GW Parkway, I showed up for my first track workout since leaving for vacation (4 weeks), I had yet to run a tempo run since National Half Marathon.

I ran 50* miles my first week back from vacation, after only running 5-6 miles every two days while on vacation.  My legs were pretty sore and after my second 800, Coach George told me I was scaring him with how bad I looked.

Now to clarify, because I did, it was my running form that scared him, not the over-indulgent amount of pink I was wearing.  He shut me down and I was slightly depressed that I couldn't do the workout, as I felt that I already took enough time off from speed-work.  However, my legs were sore and I am listening to my coach now, so I shut it down and just jogged. 

I got a massage on Wed to help my legs feel better and they did feel better.

I showed up for the tempo run on Friday and was able to run 5k at a 7:03 pace, evenly, and I was pleased I was able to manage that!  It wasn't where I had been before I left, but it was better than I was last October!  I made it another 50 miles (24 pool "miles").

This past Tuesday, I made it to the track and was pleasantly surprised.  It was pretty hot and our session called for two sets of 1200, 800,400 and my 1200 and 400's were not so far away from where they were before I left, but my 800 was at the same pace as my 1200.  Weird, huh?  Anyway, I was pleased.

I'm running the Pacers Running Festival Half Marathon this Sunday.  I've done 3 -2 hour pool runs, but I haven't run on land more than 10 miles since National Half, so I decided I really to get my base up and my tempos back, before trying to race that distance.  This week I'll have over 50* miles, probably closer to 55* with the race, so I plan on running this as my first long run in awhile.  It looks like the weather will be pretty sweet that morning, and I just got new running shoes, which I hope will ward off any leg pain!

On another aside, the next long peak race I was looking at doing was June 12, MCM 17.75k race (a little over 11 miles).  The course map has you in Quantico, hilly, off-road race, but I figured, easy PR.  Coach George advised me on Tuesday to skip it and run Lawyers Have a Heart 10k that same day. So, without much hesitation, that is a done deal.

Lawyers Have a Heart 10k, next race I want to really race!  (or shall I say next race I want to rock in red?)

I promise that's the last post tonight, I gotta get some sleep, it's tempo time tomorrow! :)

*I typically only run 3-4 days outside and run the rest as deepwater pool running, where 1 minute running in the water = 1minute running on land.  I run in the water for a time and call them miles for my brains sake.

George Washington Parkway 10 miler

I've been away from blogging for awhile, sorry - it was pretty hectic coming back!

Well, the week I came back to town I had the GW Parkway Classic 10 miler.  The race was, as usual well organized, but I wasn't ready to roll.

Since I'm a VIP (that means DIVA) in the race series, I got to take a separate bus, along with a group of other VIP's (DIVA-dom & DIVO-dom) and arrived at the start line in a nice fashion.  

I have a special affection for this race, the first year I ran it, it was my first 10 miler and I ran it at a faster pace than I had ever run a 10k.  It was the first time I ever went, "huh, where did that come from?" (and how do I keep it coming?)

The 2nd time I ran it, I had taken a 2 year hiatus from racing and didn't quite have that early morning drive to Alexandria from Ashburn down. I was on line at the porto-john when the gun went off.  I think it was the first year they had a HUGE amount of runners and I still had yet to pick up my race packet.  I lived in Ashburn back then, so by the time I got to Mt. Vernon, I really had to go!  Anyway, by the time I did my duty and ran over to the packet pickup, they had already packed everything up (Yikes!).  Anyway, they found my packet and off I went about 10 minutes after the gun time.  It was fun passing everyone the entire race, but I wasn't where I hoped it would be.

The next year I ran it, which was the next year, Pacers, who manages the race, had just hired Coach George Buckheit, now our Capital Area Runners coach, to be their coach.  They held a contest to win coach George to train you for GW Parkway - you get free entry, free shoes, free outfit, etc. If you PR your race, you get another pair of shoes.  Anyway, I played my - 3 knee surgeries, broken knee cap, toe walking/running, sad & pathetic, lonely runner, married to a non-runner who doesn't understand runners, they never let me play in reindeer games - hand and won. Coach George helped me PR', I fell in love with this whole track workout, running group mentality, started our website, helped get all our red shirts and apparel, then moved our website and ordered all our new red shirts and apparel when we set off on our own and became our beloved Capital Area Runners.

I registered for it the last two years, but it just didn't work out for me to run it and this year, since I've been in Shangi-la, have become a Fierce Warrior, I decided that I was going to run it, 2 week vacation or not!   

Race morning was nice, a little humid, but no sun and semi-cool.

The week prior to the race, saw me adjusting to the time difference and while with the race, I was able to call it a 50 mile week, the only long runs over 7 miles were in the pool.  I was more concerned with getting my mileage up this week than racing well, so no taper, more the opposite!

I arrived at the starting line, saw Tara (who wound up PRing, whoo-hoo) and wished her luck.  I tried not to look at my watch, but I went out pretty fast.  At mile 5 I decided to call the first 4 a tempo run and just run the rest easy, since this was the first time I had run.  At mile 6 I played my DIVA card, took my shirt off, tossed it to a volunteer at the water station and asked if he could give it back to someone at Pacers, "they know me, I'm VIP".  Ha, I'll never see that shirt again.  

While I'm sure it was unpleasant to most of the other runners and onlookers, (after two weeks of trading my Muscle Milk for Mai Tai's), but the freedom of being in the sports bra cooled me off and I picked up my pace again.  I was surprised that I was able to keep the pace stable in the 7:40's, although disappointed I didn't have the kick at the end.  

Overall, I was pleased to be under 80 minutes for the race (77:18).  I got to see a lot of friends and it helped get my warrior mind back on track! 

I'm impressed by everyone's races while I was gone and sorry the weather got sooo hot again. Hopefully, we'll go back to that beautiful weather that we all race so well in! ;)

here is the elevation chart for GW:

 

Rock the Red

Move over Capitals, there are some individuals who really want to Rock the (Races in) Red!  Coming soon to a race near you!