Thursday Thoughts – Birthday edition

August 4, 2011 by 13 Comments
  • Yep it’s my birthday and I started my morning nice and early with an easy 3-mile run. My kiddos thought I was going to sleep late this morning…and while tempting, this workout was my little gift to myself to start my 46th year right. Running’s truly been a gift for me – it’s made me healthier and fitter than I have been in a very long time…and it helps keep me sane. Seriously, how many things can you say that about?!
  • I know some people who dread their birthdays – the thought of getting another year older. I prefer to think of it as my own personal New Year’s — a chance to reflect on the past year and set some new goals. (In case you hadn’t noticed I’m very Type A…it’s all about goal-setting!)
  • Celebrating will be fun but low-keyed …in other words, one glass (ok maybe 2) of wine …more celebrating after Sunday’s race 🙂 I’m meeting a friend for lunch and shopping (of course!) and tonight J is taking me to the Chihuly exhibit then dinner. I’ve been dying to see this exhibit…can’t wait!

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Filed Under: 3 things, birthday celebrations, gift of running

July Rewind

August 1, 2011 by 6 Comments
Good things for the month:
  • Reached another monthly high with 89 miles.
  • Despite the heat, only missed one training run (opted for an extra rest day vs. short recovery run)
  • Had some very strong workouts at the track and did a much better job of committing to strength training.
  • Introduced Saucony Kinvaras into the rotation and love the way they feel.
  • Started working with Team Sony Walkman — (more on that to come)
  • Lots of new followers — I so appreciate the support and encouragement!

Things I could do without:
  • Have I mentioned the heat? Yeah…enough about that!

On the decks for August:
  • Providence Rock’n’Roll Half is this Sunday!
  • More strength training.
  • Finalize my fall race plans.



How was your July — did you meet your goals?

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Filed Under: month in review

Friday Five

July 29, 2011 by 6 Comments
  •  “I wish Morgan Freeman could narrate my life” – saw that on a bumper sticker on my run this morning. It cracks me up what people will put on their cars! (though if I were to have someone narrate my life, Morgan is a good choice!)

    • Worked on hills in my run this morning….still need a lot more work here!  
    • I’ve been debating running a 3rd half marathon this year – in part because I’m curious to know what I could do with this distance in cooler temps. My hubs J suggested I wait to see how I feel after next Sunday before I commit to another one…he may be right.
    •  I admit I’ve started the weather watch for Providence – so far sunny and a high of 82.
      • Today’s is the Tiny Terror…er, I mean my youngest’s 6th birthday! We’ll celebrate after camp today with some of his favorites – a family water gun fight, pizza dinner, giant Ghirardelli Double Chocolate brownies and presents! This weekend we’re headed to an amusement park with friends to celebrate their son’s birthday (which is Saturday), the Tiny Terror’s birthday and my oldest son’s birthday (turning 9 next Saturday) — should be a fun day filled with crazy rides and too much junk food!

      Happy Friday!
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          Filed Under: birthday celebrations, Half marathon, kids, Morgan Freeman

          Trackwork and Shoe Questions

          July 27, 2011 by 7 Comments

          It was pouring rain when I woke up yesterday so I decided to switch up my workouts and do an easy 3 and strength training yesterday and save the track work for this morning. (It’s funny I don’t mind running on the road in the rain, but I find the track gets a little too slick).

          Well it was absolutely beautiful this morning and I couldn’t wait to get to the track. I was surprised at just how many people were already there when I pulled into the parking lot! I’m very lucky that our local high school has a high quality track, and people were definitely taking advantage of it this morning. This was my first run in the Saucony Kinvaras I won from SUAR‘s giveaway a couple of weeks ago – I wasn’t sure how my legs were going to hold up so I also brought along the Mirages I’ve been running in regularly, just in case.

          On tap today, 3 x 1600s with 800 jogs with a target pace of 10:15.  After warming up, I hit the first interval right on target at 10:14. I felt really good so I decided to see if I could do each of the next two a little faster. I did the 2nd interval in 10:04 and the 3rd in 9:54 – mission accomplished!

          I liked running in the Kinvara, though I think for now I will use them only for speedwork. My calves and feet still need to get stronger before I start putting more miles in them – perhaps sometime in the fall I’ll try them on some easy, recovery runs. For now I’m happy to continue to use the Mirage for most of my runs. I had been alternating between the Brooks Adrenalines and the Mirages, using the Adrenalines for my longer runs. But of late I was feeling a little discomfort in my left knee towards in the latter half of my runs, so just out of curiosity I started using the Mirage for all my runs and have had no problems. I’m now running exclusively in the Mirage and plan on using them for the race.

          So I’m wondering if the difference in the heal-to-toe ratio between the two shoes was causing the discomfort? What do you think? Do you use different shoes depending on the workout?

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          Filed Under: Brooks Adrenaline, Kinvara, rotating shoes, Saucony, track work

          Me and Mother Nature on a long run

          July 24, 2011 by 8 Comments

          After seeing the forecast for Friday, with temps in the 90s in the early morning and climbing to 100+, I decided to do a tempo run and shift my long run to Sunday. I’m all for training in it if you’re gonna race in it…but there are limits!

          While the oppressive heat had subsided, Mother Nature was still clearly in a mood this morning. It was in the mid-70s with matching humidity by 6. Fine…bring it on! Slow and steady was pretty much the approach – today’s run was just about getting the miles and focusing on form.

          Around mile 7, the rain started – a good steady shower. Fine…bring it on! I’ll take running in the rain over the heat any day. Well…Mother Nature must have known was I was thinking because just as I got to around 9.5 miles, the sun came out in full force. I thought – I’ve got a mile and a half to go…Fine…bring it on!

          In the end 11.27 done and all in all it was a good steady run. I was surprised how quiet it was on the roads today – for most of the run, I saw no one else except for the occasional cyclist. There finally a few runners towards the end….unusual.

          While obviously not ideal conditions, I’m so glad out I got out there today. Only 2 weeks to go until R’n’R Providence – hopefully this past week of heat-running will serve me well on race day!

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          Filed Under: Half marathon, long runs, RnR, weather

          Heat-induced Randomness

          July 20, 2011 by 8 Comments

          I think this heat & humidity is turning my brain to mush. I can’t put a coherent thought together…but then, this is why then invented bullet points (isn’t it?)

          • I blew my streak of early morning runs today – slept through my alarm and then it was too late to get out before the heat and getting the kids off to camp. So it looks like I’m moving my tempo run to Sunday.

           

          • This is what the forecast looks like for the next few days. Friday’s 11-miler should be interesting…I may be looking to set a new PR for how early I can get out on the road. Tell me again why I registered for a half marathon in August?! 
          • I’ve been trying to plan a family vacation for the fall — the kids have a couple of long weekends so we thought we’d try to take advantage of the airline fares being lower then. Also wondering if I can loop in a race into these plans if the timing/location works. 
          • I’m still all over the place on fall races – the only one I’ve registered for is the Tufts 10k for Women. I ran this race last year with my friend Kathy and had a great time. As soon as it was over I knew I wanted to run it again!

            Have you figured out your fall race plans yet or will you just wing it?

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              Filed Under: general musings, Half marathon, Tufts 10k, weather

              Monday Motivation & Compression Sleeve Winner!

              July 18, 2011 by 2 Comments
              “Don’t bother to just be better than your contemporaries or predecessors.
              Try to be better than yourself.”
              — William Faulkner
              Love this quote – it’s a great reminder that we’re really only in competition with ourselves!
              And, the winner of the McDavid Compression Sleeves is DEM from Happy, Healthy and Strong. Congrats! Shoot me an email at runningwithattitude (at) yahoo (dot) com and I will put you in touch with the folks at McDavid.

              To everyone else – thanks for entering and don’t forget the great folks at McDavid are offering Running with Attitude readers a special promotion of 15% off any of their products! Just use the code RWA11 – it’s good thru 7/31/11.

              Happy Running!
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              Filed Under: giveaways, McDavid USA, Monday Motivation, Quotes

              A Good Morning

              July 15, 2011 by 3 Comments

              Ran 10.25 miles this morning.

              It was a perfect summer morning – still cool, a slight breeze, the sun bright but not intense yet. There were lots of runners out taking advantage of the break in the humidity — everyone I passed seemed to be enjoying the morning, enjoying being a runner…there were a lot more “Morning” ‘s today and the runner’s wave…even some smiles…better than the grunts and pained looks I’ve seen on recent runs. Saw a couple of friends out running too and chatted briefly – always a pick me up to see friendly faces!

              I love that I still get a little giddy when I see that double-digit on my Garmin. I remember where I was last summer, when getting to 6 was a huge deal. I love that sense of accomplishment (both then and now)…hope that feeling never goes away!

              Hubs took on getting the kids ready and off to camp – I actually had the luxury of stretching and foam rolling post-run instead of the usual mad dash! So now it’s me, the dog, a cup of coffee and a quiet house – perfect way to start a Friday 🙂

              ————————————

              Don’t forget my McDavid compression sleeve giveaway ends Sunday!

              Have a Great Weekend!
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              Filed Under: early morning runs, giveaways, long runs, McDavid USA

              Comfortably hard

              July 14, 2011 by 5 Comments

              “Comfortably hard” – if you look up the definition of a tempo run, you will inevitably find these words to help define the effort to put forward for these steady pace runs.

              Well, the truth is comfortably hard is a moving target…depending on the day; what body parts are cooperating…or not; whether Mother Nature is cooperating…or not.
              Some days, comfortably hard can feel like  you’re flying…working at it, but flying – firing on all cylinders. And, other days, comfortably hard is any movement after you drag yourself out of bed for your run.

              Like so many aspects of running, what constitutes comfortably hard is relative. It varies from runner to runner, and for each runner it can vary from run to run. Sure you set out with a target pace in mind, but that pace is yours alone. And, sometimes you hit it consistently…enjoy it and take note of what worked. Other times you won’t – don’t beat yourself up over it…also take note of what didn’t work and accept that this was today’s definition of “comfortably hard.”

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              Filed Under: observations, tempo runs, tough runs

              Week 7 – Half Training

              July 11, 2011 by 3 Comments

              Week 7 already! I feel like the weeks of this training plan are just flying by!

              I got some good feedback on my question about step-back weeks – and for the most part I ran the suggested distances on the plan. I did bump Friday’s “long” run up to 6 miles just because I was feeling really good. I even took an extra rest day yesterday cause my legs were just feeling dead – so I decided to sleep in and then head to the beach with my hubs J and the boys. We had a great day!

              This week begins the final push to Providence:

              Monday — Yoga
              Tuesday — Tempo run (5)
              Wednesday — Easy run (2 or 3) plus strength training
              Thursday — Rest day
              Friday — Long run (10)
              Saturday — Strength training
              Sunday — Easy (4)

              I’m also recommitting to doing ab work daily, cause that’s been sliding lately. I’m also gonna tighten up on what I’ve been eating – I’ve been really good during the week and then letting everything slide on the weekend…not exactly an effective strategy to shake these last 5 lbs, right?!

              So, what are you up to this week?

              Happy Running!

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              Filed Under: RnR, step-back, training