So I Am a Little Late

One of my pet peeves is being late.

I am always late.

It is not a good combination.

14 days into 2013 and I am ready to list my running goals for the year out there for all the interwebs to see.

It's not rocket science, but it is helpful to write them down so I can keep reminding myself that I have the goals that I want to achieve.

I am now in my 3rd week of training for the Tobacco Road half marathon and I think I am off to a good start. I have been trying to add a fourth day of running to my usual 3. With that and some weight training I am slowly starting to see some improvement.  This past weekend my long run was a 6 miler on a local bike path. As a runner who is consistently within the 11 min/mile range I was psyched to see these splits.

These are some speedy miles from me. Although I think having to stop at some intersections was partly responsible, I know that I was running pretty well and feeling good. It is nice to see some progress in the numbers.

I am hoping that, by sticking to my goals and training hard and smart, I might see something less than 2:34 on the clock when I cross the finish line in March.

Commitment Day 5k Recap

There's just no way I can read through everyone's awesome New Year's Day race recaps without adding my own to the mix!

I started the year off with the Commitment Day 5k in Raleigh  I love the premise behind the race series - a nationwide movement to motivate people to live a healthier life style. For me it was a great way to jump back into training mode for my Spring races. I was also pretty excited that two of my favorite Tweeps, Bang and Melanie were running this race and let me tag along with them!

Just as I arrived at the race it started raining. I was disappointed to realize that the vest I had set out the night before was still laying on my guest bed and was not in my running bag, where it would have been slightly more useful. I finished my pre-run banana and pinned on my bib and sucked it up and headed out into the rain. (Side note: You know you are a runner when you randomly find much needed safety pins in your car.)

I found Bang and Melanie pretty easily at the start and chatted with them while we waited. Once we started I ran with Bang who is a Galloway runner.  I happen to be a runner who takes walk breaks when needed but I have never run at prescribed intervals before. We ran 3:1 intervals (3min run:1min walk) and it was not bad at all. Looking back at my Garmin stats a lot of the running intervals were at paces faster than my average pace. Plus, being a solo runner 99% of the time, it was really nice to pass the miles with someone else.

The course was an out and back with rolling hills. For being a rainy and cold morning there was pretty good crowd support and the volunteers were awesome. There just seemed to be a happy vibe among all of the racers as well. And there were a lot of racers- from very speedy runners to families who brought their kids along for the fun.  (Almost) everyone just seemed happy to be out there.

We finished in 35:41. I went into this race with no real time expectations. I just wanted to run and have a good time. I knew I wouldn't PR because I have not been running much in the past month. But I feel like I had a good workout and it was an awesome way to start the year! (Also, the pecan pancakes afterwards were pretty stellar too!)