Thursday, April 28, 2011

Progress!

Apologies, for my lack of posts this week, folks -- especially my recent fails to post my scheduled “Tuesday Inspiration” and “TGI Carb Night” posts. I even cooked something new and delicious before my long run and totally intended to share it with you. But, then I was distracted by a glass of wine and Moulin Rouge...sorry.

Things have been going very well in the running department. Come to think of it, other aspects of my life seem to be coming together as well.  I’m starting to feel less like an extremely confused twenty-something and more like a slightly confused twenty-something!

But, anyway, running! Gorgeous weather has made the last few runs very enjoyable.  I feel lighter and faster on my runs. I feel stronger, thanks to Jillian and weight training tips that I picked up from a post over on Stuff Jewish Girls Like. (I can do multiple sets of push-ups without feeling like my arms are going to give out. Did I mention that I can also do them correctly? Progress!)

Other updates:

Speed Work
I did two speed workouts last week. You heard about last Tuesday’s workout, but since I couldn’t tell if rain was on the way on Saturday, I hit the treadmill for another tempo workout. This week, I managed to get myself out of bed early enough to run intervals before heading to the office on Tuesday (the reward of getting myself out of bed early was guilt-free beer consumption while watching my first baseball game at Nationals Park with a group of fantastic people). Running at an 8:30 pace is starting to feel more and more comfortable. I’m starting to feel really good about setting a goal time of 53 minutes (10 minutes faster than my current 10K PR) for May’s 10K.

Long Run – 7.1 miles on Sunday
Sunday’s weather made for a much more gorgeous run. I didn’t map out the route before and got to do a bit of exploring. I ran up to the National Presbyterian Church, which I haven’t done in months, and through Georgetown along R and Q Streets. Fact: When I am independently wealthy, I’m buying a home in that neighborhood. I spent that leg of the run paying more attention to picking out my dream house than my breathing/pace/making sure I didn’t face plant.

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K
There is a post that I’m struggling to finish about my decision to run this race. Whenever I try to discuss the reason I’m running, I lose all emotional composure and have to step away from the computer. Until I'm able to get it together, I'll keep this brief: I’m running the Race for the Cure 5K in June. If you feel so inspired to donate to my fundraising efforts, use the link below to visit my fundraising page.  (IRL Friends -- expect an e-mail from me soon.)




I'm participating in the 2011 Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure.
2011 TeamRaiser widgets



That fall race schedule of mine
The drawing for non-guaranteed entrants to the NYC marathon was held yesterday, and I am sad to report that I did not make the cut.  On the bright side, I saved $196 (plus travel to and from NYC and a hotel stay)!  The Marine Corps marathon apparently sold out in 28 hours (seriously!?), so that's out too. It's all good, though, because there are plenty of other awesome races to run this fall.  Barring catastrophe (or not being able to register for these), I've selected the following races:
-September 4, 2011: Rock and Roll Half Marathon - Virginia Beach
-October 9, 2011: Army Ten-Miler - Washington, DC (General registration opens on May 15th)
-October 15, 2011: ING Hartford Half Marathon - Hartford, CT
-November 20, 2011: Philadelphia Marathon (Registering tonight!)

It sounds like a lot, I know.  However, aside from the two October races, I think that there is enough recovery time between events.  And, I can pretend that I'm Rocky Balboa while I'm running through the streets of Philadelphia.  "Everyone needs a montage!"

I'll resume regular updates and posts next week, including my epic training plan for these races!

2 comments:

  1. So glad to hear that you're seeing the influence of the shred's core training in your running!

    Your race schedule for the fall looks like SO much fun. I'm so curious about the R&R races, so I'll look forward to reading your race report on that. Philly is such a fantastic city to run in, too...I don't know what the course map looks like, but I'm sure the 26 miles will fly by. I'd like to run the Philly half at some point...perhaps I will take this post as inspiration and get my butt moving on registration for that this year!

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  2. Do it! Do it! It looks like both races follow the Schuykill River, so I imagine that will be very pretty.

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