9 Mile Run Check...Hills Double Check

Run Distance: 9 Miles. Run Time: 1:45?

So yea it did take me literally forever to finish those 9 miles on Sunday but at least I did them. I know I had received lots of advice to take the weekend off and I did halfway take it. I took Saturday off and skipped the 6 mile tempo run. My first skipped run that wasn't made up and it did make me feel a little guilty. So I made sure that I got that 9 miler in on Sunday. I was at Andy's house again...(reminder lots and lots of hills). My stomach was still displeased with me a little bit but I was bound and determined to get that run done. I even made Andy go shopping for running shorts with me because I'd forgotten to bring any and I don't really have an enormous supply. Anyways...the run went alright. It was warm but there was a bit of a breeze that really helped. I charged at every hill for the first 7 miles so I was proud of myself for that. (Like how I sugar coat the good before hitting the bad? lol) Anyways, so actually at about mile 6.5 I started to really get sick of all the hills. Almost literally. My stomach was kinda feeling a little puky. But I think that might have been because I am a smarty (not!) and hate the hassle of bringing water with me. So I don't. And what happens? Rachel is looking at every backyard swimming pool and fancy yard fountain like she's some kind of a lost woman in the desert. Anyways, my pace was pretty slow at points of this run as well. I started out okay...at about 9:30. But by the end of mile 1 and a whole heck of a lot of hills...I was creeping by. The funny thing is...I really felt like I was running fast. I was quite disappointed when I hit my I-Pod and the dude said I was only running at like 10:30 or better yet...11:00!! I think I did literally groan out loud at one point when I hit the button and heard 11:00. I blame it on the wind...and the hills. Because really...how in the world does one typically run at about a 9:00 min/mile and then end up running at 11:00? Schnikes! But regardless...I finished the 9 miler. And my legs were doing this funky spasm thing the whole day. Not sure what that was all about. I didn't even realize it until I was looking at my legs later that night and noticed that it looked like a creature was inside of my leg. Andy then told me that he'd seen it after I finished my run earlier in the day so evidently the creature had been in there the whole day.

Congrats to all of the Grandma's Marathon finishers this weekend!! It was a hot one out there!

Busy Weekend

Friday Run: 4.25 miles, 40 minutes
Sunday Run: 5 miles, 50 minutes

So my Friday run went really well. It was a treadmill run again because it is unfortunately all I could fit into my schedule. This time I was actually able to pick up pace on the TM. Hit "7.0" for a good amount of that run which of course I didn't look at what pace that was equilavent to and it's impossible to figure out with the warm up and everything. But it was faster than a normal treadmill run I know that.

Sunday, I was at my parents house. I was scheduled for a tempo run but it was more of a hill run than a tempo run. My mom told me about this great 5 mile route that she used to walk so I set out to run it. Well, she hasn't walked this in quite some time and couldn't remember all the hills. So yea...hill training #2. I may have to move that tempo run to another day because it appears that I am always somewhere that has tons of hills when I go to run it. Hills make it pretty tough to get any kind of decent speed in.

On a side note, ended up burnt this weekend. I was taking full advantage of my parents water hose and wet/dry vac and cleaning my car. Ended up with a very crisp red back. And of course I was still wearing my running top from that morning so I have funny lines (the bra top running tops that have a sort of sports bra lineage when burnt). That and I guess my old Spanish teacher now lives behind my parents. After I got out of the shower, my mom was like "Rachel come meet the neighbors, its your spanish teacher from high school." So that was cool.

Hope all of you had a fantastic weekend!