Happy St. Pattys Day!

Return of the spring weather. Thank you jebus! After the horrible rainy weekend the last two days have been so gorg. Monday was rainy in the am, but by nightime it had stopped. Went for my usual Monday tempo-esque run. Tuesday I canceled on lifting at the gym and did a recovery run outside, nice and slow. It was soo nice, and as an added bonus it was still light out when I started! Ran around Astoria park.

March 15- Garmin: 4.20miles, 37:05, 8:50 pace; Nike+:4.15 miles, 38:10, 9:10 pace

March 16 - Garming: 3.64 miles, 35:51, 9:50 pace; Nike+ 3.85 miles, 38:43, 10.01 pace

Today was off. Had dinner with the friends. KM made the tasty Irish foodies. Had a bit of Baileys but otherwise a dry day for me. Tomorrow is an interval workout on the track in the lovely warm weather!

Race Time

Little bit late with this post. Im writing 3/17 but am just going to backdate this to make it easier:)
The 8k race was this past Sat - yes I did end up manning up and doing it. I woke up and it was raining, but not pouring so I decided hey, why not, Im tough. Was surprised at how many other people apparently felt the same way. There was a lot more people there than I expected. I was wearing my black tights, a white tank, my white Nike core long sleeve and my Nike storm jacket. Also had on my headband and gloves. I thought about wearing a cap, but the only one i found was distorted from being shoved in my closet and looked too ridiculous so I passed. Got uptown about 20 min early. That was the miserable part. I hung around a bit in the subway station at 103rd to stay out of the rain and then decided to just head to the start. I jogged over to the park for a warm up and then went up and down the corrals to keep warm and stay loose. I was completely soaked and my pony tail was dripping. Couldnt wait to get underway. Told myself not to push, just relaxbut it was hard not too. I had to hold back from sprinting in at the end. I still have to digest the info from the garmin as far as splits go, but I was pretty happy with the end result. Plus, never raced 8k, so auto PR! Added 2+ miles at the end by running down from the finish to the subway at 57/5. Knee started hurting here and the wind/rain had started to pick up. I was sooo happy when I saw the subway and hopped on home. Took a nice hot bath and then a nap.

Garmin Race: 5.04 miles, 41:57, 8:19 pace. Extras: 2.27 miles, 21:22, 9:25 pace
Nike+ Total: 7.57 miles, 1:06:16, 8:45 pace

Wednesday & Thursday

Rough workout wednesday. I planned a treadmill interval workout that I found in an older issue of Runners World. It was supposed to be 3x3 at a pace 10 seconds faster than your 5k pace and 2 min recovery. I havent run a decent 5k since HS, so I though i would do the interval at 8.0. When I was walking up to the gym I thought I would do 15 min warmup at 6.0/6.5 then do 5x3, with a follow up cooldown to be determined on how I felt. Walking up my leg/knee felt fine. Upstairs in the tread room, not so much. I had a strange sharp pain in my hip/butt area. I tried to stretch it out but it wasnt going away. This and not getting the treadmill I wanted psyched me out (lame I know). Then I pull out my ipod and its dead! Ugh, worst ever. I start the workout and get through the 15 min warm up (6 min 6.0, reamining at 6.5). Hip is throbbing randomly, like every third minute. Out of stubborness I decided to continue. I ended up readjusting to 3x2 min with 3 min recovery at 6.5, then about 2 min at 3.0. After each interval I thought I would quit but I forced myself to finish it. The pain continued on and today my knee has been aching off and on. Ive noticed if I keep my leg bent under myself (as I often do) I get super stiff and achy when I try to get up. Not good.
Sadly no stats since my ipod was dead. The treadie said it was about 4.5 and about 40 min. Did a 2% incline again.

This sat is the 8k. Its supposed to be pouring rain. Not happy about this. Im not sure I want to do it. I guess Im going to wait and see what its like when I get up that morning.

Tempo Time

Gorgeous day again today. I was definitely looking forward to the evening run. Managed to get through it without being molested by random strangers.
I wanted the run to be a tempo run, not sure if I succeeded there though. Ill need to digest some graphs on the garm. I tried to run hard(ish) through 4 miles and then slowed it down. I actually stopped running 5 blocks from my house, as my leg/knee was starting to ache.
Stats:
Nike+-5.01 miles, 44:37, 8:52 pace
Garmin-4.74 miles, 43:16, 9:08 pace

Signed up for a race this weekend- an 8k. Its supposed to rain:( I also signed up for a 4 mile later on in april that last year had a nice technical tee, so hopefully they will repeat with nice swag.

Adventure Time

Went on a long run adventure today to Roosevelt Island. Friday I saw on tv that the weather this weekend was supposed to be lovely, high in the 50s and sunny. After hearing that I knew it was time for an adventure. Ive wanted to run some place new for awhile. I orginally wanted to run on Randalls Island but I couldnt find any route maps - maybe you can get there on foot from queens? who knows. So i settled for Roosevelt and set out around 12:30. I wore a black tank, black zip up longsleeve and black tights and was perfectly dressed. Headed out and ran down my usual way to astoria park then veered off to head towards the bridge. The route took me through some not so nice areas. This is definitely an early afternoon daytime run only. I got turned around once in a project parking lot but got back out quickly and found the right way. Roosevelt Island was very quiet and calm and it was such a nice day. I really enjoyed this run. I had planned to go about 9 miles, which seemed a bit ambitious but for some reason I really wanted to complete it. My left leg, thigh to knee, was aching during the last 3 miles, which had me worried that I would have the mystery knee pain come back. Its still sore, as I write, but no intense pain so thats good. I did a full loop of the island and then came back over the bridge around and headed up 34th ave. I initially stopped when I hit 9 miles but I hadnt yet hit 21st street so I decided to keep running to get closer to home. (i was also trying to meet KM at the gym at 2 for lifting, and it was 2:14 at this point so figured I couldnt have the luxury of a long stroll. Ended up stopping at bakeway on broadway but they were out of bagels:( Got a giant Zico instead and then walked home from there. Tried to meet KM but she had come and gone by the time I ended up at the gym. Did some quick lifting- arms only - and headed home to veg out.

Overall, great run, beautiful day. Im happy about my fitness too. I didnt struggle cardiowise at all and I kept it smooth and evenly paced pretty much throughout the entire run. Yay!
Stats:
Garmin-9.52miles, 9:31 min/mile pace, 1:30:31, HR=148
Nike+ - 10.32miles, 9:12min/mile pace, 1:34:55

the nike was really off on this one! although i did stop the garmin when i was going up and down the stairs on the way in/out of roosevelt island.

Heavy Lifting

Solo lifting sesh today. Did 30 min on the elliptical, and then hit the weight room.

Why is everyone on American Idol this season so bad?? Those group performances are soo awkward. yek!

Intervals!

Tough workout at the gym tonight. Did an interval workout on the treadmill.

2% incline, 10 min warm up (6.0, then 6.5) 10 intervals of 1 min @ 8.0 and 2 min recovery@ 6.5. Finished at 40 minutes, walked it off for 4, then finished off an even 5 miles at 6.5.

Nike+ Stats: 5.01 miles, 44'00", 8:46 pace.

This is basically the same interval workout I did before, but with more recovery.

I totally freaked out on my run tonight. I headed out the door at 9 on my usual later night-time route. About 5 minutes in I was just crossing the intersection at broadway and 31st when some guy yelled something at me and made some hand waving gestures, which of course I ignored. The scumbag then started running after me trying to say something. I had my headphones on so I couldnt hear what he was saying beside "Miss! Miss!" I kept going ignoring him, picking up the pace and hoping he would just drop off. Usually when this kinda thing happens its kids or young teenage boys who run after me a bit and then immediately stop, annoying but non threatening. This was something totally else. This jerk followed me more than half the avenue block, on a dark poorly lit street trying to get my attention. Who does this? It became obvious that he wasnt going to leave me alone, so I finally ripped out one of my earphones and said "what the fuck!" the idiot guy says "whats your name?" at that point I screamed out, like at the top of my lungs "Fuck you!" I think I stunned the guy with that because he stopped and I sprinted on down the street. Seriously, who does this to a woman running alone at night? Did this guy really think he was going to pick me up while I was running? Ugh. It totally ruined my run/night. I obsessed for the rest of the time about it too, afraid I was gonna see the guy again or that he was gonna come after me. I still cant believe that I yelled out like that though. It was extra loud too because I still had my headphones on in one ear. Oops!

Tonights Run: Garmin- 32'44", 9:11 pace, 3.57 miles; Nike+ 33'45", 8:51 pace, 3.80 miles

Update post for the last week including the big race report coming soon.