Thursday, April 22, 2010

A busy, busy week

Hello world!  I am here and feeling refreshed.  After a relatively hectic week at work, I am relieved that tomorrow is Friday and I had a really great run with team ELK today.

Our goal was to set out for 5 miles, which is the longest we will have run together.  Aided by Helga (the cruel trainer AKA my Garmin), we took off for our run.  The first mile, we talked, giggled and it flew by (12:31).  The second mile, we started to seperate a little as our paces varied, and I focused on lengthening my strides, powered through my "point of death" and felt great (11:51).  We decided to walk at 2.5 miles and walk until 3 miles (15:02).  The 3rd mile was slow, but we ran and talked and laughed (to the point where I thought I might have to stop running because I was doubled over so much--seriously, I love these girls) (13:32).  Finally, the last mile, we seperated out. Its fairly hilly and I prefer to power up a hill  fairly fast, instead of take it at a steady pace, and I pulled ahead, finishing my last mile in 11:21.  Sweet last mile, but I think its a sign that I really should be running faster throughout my runs and working on my speed because I can handle it as much as I think I might die. 

The husband went out with me on Tuesday to run intervals.  We decided on .10 sprints, .10 walking (I was pushing for .05 walks, but he was not feeling it).  He thought it was a good workout for him and more interesting than just running, but I felt bored.  I just never got to the happy place I get when I just run. Its certainly helpful that I do these runs, but I have a hard time talking myself into them.

The Broad Street Run is only 10 days away and I really want to improve on my ten-mile time.  I am curious though; I had planned on a long (12 miles) on Sunday (Katye--NCR at 9:30???), but should I do it a week before a race??  I hear a lot about tapering, but honestly, is that something I should think about doing since I don't even run that fast?  It probably seems like a dumb question, but I really unsure of what to do!

How is April almost over?  Does it not seem like this whole year is flying by?!?

I hope you all have a great night?!  What are you excited for this weekend?

6 comments:

Gina said...

Helga is a perfect name!!! I toyed with Natasha, cause it sounds more exotic than Gigit..but I decided I want to have a silly trainer rather than harsh.

Good work on your run! Isn't the information amazing? I have been spending so much time on Garmin Connect. AND, I love knowing the elevation. It's so fun! I'm sure it will wear off eventually, but right now I am still all kinds of giddy for my Garmin :)

dawn @ running the dawn said...

P.S. that comment was really from me over at runningthedawn...didn't sign in with the right google account whoops :)

Unknown said...

Haha! I figured it was you; I only know of one Gigit the Garmin Gadget!

Anonymous said...

this is so funny cuz I literally just had this talk with one of my friends. She's been running with the same group of girls for a while but the truth is I know she could run alot faster if she allowed herself to push ahead. So one day we ran with the other girls for the first part of the run then they were done so we went for another 4 miles...I was sticking with her paces and wasn't even trying to push her but she was running a full minute faster when she let herself find her own pace instead of sticking back with the others. Sometimes we have to push ourselves out of our comfort zone and find what we are capable of! AKA 9 min miles for my half may 8th for a sub 2 hour half...yeah about that.

and Sunday sounds great!!! I may be a bit out of it from the two days of sleep deprivation, running at all hours of the night, and sleeping in a van tomorrow and Saturday but it will be great to get out there and have someone to talk to!

jamie@sweatyhugs said...

You know I know nothing about the whole tapering thing. LOL I wish I had some advice. I'm excited for your next race though!

Anonymous said...

When i taped for my two halfs, I started 2 weeks out, my firstw eekend instead of a 10-12 mile long run i cut it down to 6-7, then the weekend before the race I cut i down to 4 then ran 3's all the week of. Don't know if that's "proper" but it's what I did!