naDDy

The naDDy is a running route that one member of the Omaha running community runs every day, nearly. The name of the route is something he originated, and the reason speaks for itself: the route sucks balls.

I ran with my new running friend, and the way the course is laid out you can do any variety of different runs on these roads, and they are all TOUGH if (and I know they are) they are anything like the one we ran today. Crap people. This was WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY worse than Boston will ever even think about being. I made it through though, and the way we went today, it ended up being only 17 miles, not 18, which was fine with me. 17 miles isn't a sneeze out there, and you'll be able to notice that from my paces, seriously.

Okay, for those of you who know me pretty well, you know my pace tends to ride up when I run outside. Here are my splits:

Mile 1 - 8:12
Mile 2 - 7:58
Mile 3 - 8:05
Mile 4 - 7:52
Mile 5 - 7:30
Mile 6 - 7:39
Mile 7 - 7:44
Mile 8 - 7:42
Mile 9 - 7:53
Mile 10 - 7:49
Mile 11 - 8:08
Mile 12 - 7:45
Mile 13 - 7:47
Mile 14 - 7:42
Mile 15 - 7:59
Mile 16 - 7:52
Mile 17 - 8:01
Mile .01 - :03 (5:00)

Total - 17.01 miles, 2:13:48, 7:52 average pace

Now, I like to think I'm a fast(ish) runner. That was freaking ridiculously hard. I would challenge any of you, if you come to Omaha, to run out there, if you dare.

And finally, the course itself--

Wabash

So two days ago, Sunday, August 24th, Phillip and I drove out to a mostly shaded, 63-mile limestone biking/running/xc skiing/horse riding?/walking trail that runs from Iowa into Missouri. I had heard that it was great to run on, very soft and forgiving, easy on the legs. And one of the team members runs there every Sunday morning for his long runs because of the shade factor. I couldn't wait. I had planned on running for 2 hours.

Let me just point out that last week my mileage was pretty good, considering I'm still building--

Sunday - ran 10.1 miles (I'm starting with Sunday because that was the first day of traveling to Dallas)
Monday - elliptical for an hour, ran 4 miles
Tuesday - rest day (class from 8:00 am to 9:30 pm straight)
Wednesday - ran 12.66 miles
Thursday - ran 10.1 miles
Friday - ran 11.36 miles
Saturday - rest day (travel back to Omaha)
Sunday - had planned on 15? maybe? I had no clue.

Anyway, I know I'm just getting around to this, but I guess it's better late than never. That trail was fantastic!!! I'm going to post an elevation map and my mile splits here in a second.

My plan going out was to run out for an hour, turn around, and run back in for an hour. No real goal at all. No pace goal, no mileage goal, nothing. I just know that I can typically run a little over 15 miles in 2 hours. So you can imagine my surprise when I returned.



200 feet isn't a big deal, but I think the layout is pretty cool.

Miles were as so:
1 - 7:47
2 - 7:39
3 - 7:39
4 - 7:39
5 - 7:39
6 - 7:37
7 - 7:23
8 - 7:11
9 - 7:20
10 - 7:19
11 - 7:08
12 - 7:03
13 - 6:56
14 - 6:56
15 - 7:06
16 - 7:05
.01 - :02 (7:32)

Total - 16.01 miles, 1:57:39, 7:21 average pace

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?

Schlep Bag

Almost forgot!! I took a sewing class last Wednesday, and learned how to sew a bag! It was a first for me--never have sewn before, ever!

Here are the pictures:

Cooper Institute

So I'm sitting here in my hotel room in Dallas--what I'm waiting for, I'm not sure. I really don't know what to expect from the next few days. I am here for a Personal Training class at the famous Cooper Institute, which features four days of in-class training, CPR certification, and a final exam on Friday from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. I won't be flying out, though, until Saturday because there were no other options on dumb Southwest. I had to wait until then to get a decent flight at a decent time for a decent price. I MISS PHILLIP!!

I left early this morning and arrived here at 10:30 am, after which I immediately found my rental car, drove said rental car to the hotel, then went to the grocery store to purchase food for the next few days. It's nice; since I have a suite at the Residence Inn, I can buy food and have room to store it in the full-size refrigerator here. Normally I have nowhere to store my ice cream. ;)

Anyway, I am really anxious about the next few days. I have no idea what to expect. I don't know if I am cut out for this, seriously. I feel so out of my element, though this is probably the one topic with which I'm most familiar. I don't know; I guess I'm just not confident enough. Typical.

More to come on this later. I don't know when I'll be able to post, much less run, as the days are from 8:00 to 5:00, and that's quite a long four days of continuous learning.

Crazy the way the mind works.

Quick post here before the Women's Olympic marathon--

I did a double today.

Elliptical - 12.42 miles, 66 minutes, 5:18 average pace

Then, weirdly, I wanted to run outside...I'm becoming hooked, and I'm getting a nice tan since I run so late in the afternoon. It has been around 80 the last few days I've run out there.

Anyway...I tried, very hard dammit, to keep it slower today.

Splits:
Mile 1 - 7:45
Mile 2 - 7:43
Mile 3 - 7:36
Mile 4 - 7:36
Mile 5 - 7:35
Mile 6 - 7:35
Mile 7 - 7:35
Mile 8 - 7:27
Mile 9 - 7:30
Mile .21 - 1:34 (7:32)

9.21 miles, 1:10:02, 7:36 pace

Now, off to the races!

Progressively...

Off work today, so I got out for an early run with Phillip. I decided that I should try running with him, mostly so that I could motivate him for his scheduled 60 minute run. I should have stayed with him, but after about half a mile (or less) I just couldn't do it. I just cannot force myself to run a 9:30 pace. I get impatient.

Anyway, so off I went, running my own race. Went along, not even paying attention to my garmin, just running by feel. I was planning on 8 miles, but after mile 4 I was feeling so good I decided to make it 10. After 5 miles I turned around and made my way back to the house, but noticed at mile 10 that I had run pretty progressively, so decided to do a slower 11th mile. Looked at my data and uh...

Mile 1 - 8:30
Mile 2 - 7:47
Mile 3 - 7:32
Mile 4 - 7:33
Mile 5 - 7:25
Mile 6 - 7:23
Mile 7 - 7:22
Mile 8 - 7:13
Mile 9 - 7:06
Mile 10 - 7:01
Mile 11 - 7:24
Mile .16 - 1:09 (7:12)

Total - 11.16 miles, 1:23:31, 7:29 average pace

Fast times at Northern Natural.

I decided to run again today (fourth day in a row), even after telling Phillip upon leaving the house this morning that I was taking the day off. HA! Yeah, right. Anyway, it was special being the fourth day because I haven't run more than 2 days in a row since I was hurt.

And freaking crap! Seriously, this is getting out of hand. I'm NOT running outside anymore. My theory is this: every time I get out on the road, track, sidewalk, street, etc. my body must think I'm running a race. I decided to try running outside today because, at the time, it was only 72 degrees and cloudy. It's humid, but it's alright. Not bad out.

Mile 1 - 7:37
Mile 2 - 7:33
Mile 3 - 7:21
Mile 4 - 7:02
Mile 5 - 7:11
Mile 0.11 - 0:44 (6:40)

Total outside -- 5.11 miles, 37:28, 7:20 average pace

After 5 miles, I gave up and went inside to run on the treadmill.

Total inside -- 3.14 miles, 25:00, 7:53 pace

I really need someone to run with if I'm going to run outside.

Why I Don't Run Outside Every Day...

Today's run was normal -- on the treadmill. I ran 12.14 miles in 1:35:00, a 7:53 pace.

Yesterday, though, I went to the gym and did the elliptical for 1:06:00, and that's all I was going to do.

12.44 miles, 1:06:00, 5:18 average pace

Then, as I was heading home, I saw a girl outside our apartments running...I got the urge to run--but not just run, to do it outside. Seriously. This is the reason I stick to indoors, where I can KEEP THE PACE DOWN. I ran on the same trail I ran on Friday from work, only this time I started on the trail by our apartments, ran 4 miles out, then 4 miles back. The last .09 was when I noticed the sprinklers down the road at our apartments were going and I decided to run through them.

Mile 1 - 7:31
Mile 2 - 7:22
Mile 3 - 7:17
Mile 4 - 7:21
Mile 5 - 7:18
Mile 6 - 7:16
Mile 7 - 7:09
Mile 8 - 7:04
Mile .09 - 0:36

Total - 8.09 miles, 58:59, 7:17 average pace

No more running outside unless I can keep my pace down. Bad Tonya.

Out on the trail...

I did something very spontaneous today for my run. I went out with a co-worker on the trail that runs from my office to, conveniently, our apartment complex. The distance is only around 3 miles out and 3 back, but the girl I was running with is only able to run about 4 miles at this point.

*She's working on it, though! Only 6 months ago she could barely run a mile, and just last month she decided she wanted to run a 5k. She said she was awarded 2nd in her age group, and I'm so glad for her!

Anyway, so we got about a mile and a half out and she became over-heated and had to stop and catch her breath (it was around 80, probably about 50% humidity). I kept going to 2 miles and turned around and ran back. She was at the office already, waiting on me, and she said she was sorry and that she would definitely be up for it again. I don't know if she was overheated from the sun or from running my pace. Either way, at least she wasn't discouraged!

Outbound - 2 miles, 15:46, 7:53 average pace
Inbound (me by myself) - 2.02 miles, 14:07, 7:00 average pace (I have no idea how that happened)
Total - 4.02 miles, 29:53, 7:27 average pace

I then went inside and ran 4.43 miles on the treadmill at a 7:53 pace, for 35:00.

Total overall - 8.45 miles, 64:53, 7:40 average pace

In all, a very nice run today. I also did an hour on the arc trainer after work.

Better than ever!

Running is going so much better. I'm coming back, I think. Since I wrote the last blog, I have run and cross trained six out of ten days. The remaining four days consisted of three days of cross training, and one day of rest. Those six days of running were even better because three of them were at my regular easy pace, one was at recovery, and two were progressive, going way beyond my easy pace. I mean, WAY beyond. Especially today.

Today's run went something like this:

5 min @ 8:34
5 min @ 8:20
5 min @ 8:06
5 min @ 7:54
5 min @ 7:42
5 min @ 7:30
5 min @ 7:19
5 min @ 7:09
5 min @ 6:59
5 min @ 6:49
5 min @ 6:40
5 min @ 6:31
5 min @ 6:23 (Olympic Trials qualifying pace)
6 min 15 sec @ 6:15
3 min 45 sec @ 6:23 (Again, if I could run this pace for 26.2, I would be the happiest person alive. Ever.)
5 min @ 6:31
5 min @ 6:40
5 min @ 6:49
5 min @ 6:59
5 min @ 7:09
5 min @ 7:19
5 min @ 7:30
5 min @ 7:42
5 min @ 7:54
5 min @ 8:06

Total: 17.35 miles, 2:05:00, 7:17 average pace

This run today gives me a total of 43 miles this week, definitely different from the last few weeks. The last time I ran this many miles in one week was the week after Mother's Day...when all this crap started. I mean, look at my last 2 months of running, starting May 19, by week--

19.2
19.2
9.2
1.3
10.6
11.3
5.6
28.6
28.1
36.7
and this week, 43.1

Pretty terrible, considering I was running at least 50 miles a week every single week for 3 years. :(

Anyway, hopefully that's all behind me now. I'm going to take it easy, do whatever I want, until I officially decide I want to race something. I don't know when that will be, but I just want to enjoy running again before I commit to something.