I'm almost done with the first leg of my European journey.  I've spent the past few days in Budapest, Hungary for an arbitration competition.  I am so exhausted.  We didn't quite get over the jet lag before having to wake up early to arbitrate and then attend the evening social events (cry me a river, right?) But as we write this I'm seriously on the struggle bus staying awake!!

We went on a 6 mile sight-seeing run throughout the city of Budapest on our first full day in town. It was so awesome.  We stopped ever so often to explore castles, take pictures, buy a few random goodies, and eat lunch.  The weather was sub-par but the company was great.

(Map of the run. We had no idea where we were going but we did a nice little circular tour around the downtown!)

 (Run/posing for the camera)

 (Teammate bonding!)

 (Castle in Budapest)

(Posing at the steps leading up to a monument).

All-in-all, a great run.  Where is the most interesting place you've run?

10k training: Week 10

As much as I want to share my life with you all, I have to keep this short and sweet today because I am a busy traveling lady. Week 10 was a little hectic but I managed to finish my indoor triathlon and do most of my runs. All-in-all, week 10 felt really good and made me feel more confident about the 10k in April. 

Week in review:

Monday

Did Tuesday's workout pretty much. I cycled for 13.68 miles at the gym. 

Tues

Did Monday's workout. Ran 3.12 mi at a 10'00" pace on the gym treadmill. Then did the spin bike for 10.3 miles (which goes much faster than the other gym bikes btw!)

Wednesday

Went to spin class for 1 hour. Let me just give a standing ovation to anyone who is crazy enough to do that more than once a year. I was D Y I N G. DYING DYING GAH! It was so hard! 21.4 miles biking in 1 hour. 

Thursday

Thursday was interesting.  I signed up for something called "Run with the dogs" (I hope to write more about it soon), but basically, once or twice per month a group of runners takes out the dogs at the humane society for a 2-4 miles run.   Thursday was the training day and I had a lot of fun meeting everyone. Unfortunately, we didn't get to actually go out for the run yet, so no puppy run time.  I did end up just running around the area afterward and actually ran into my boyfriend (who was also running lol!).  I did 3 miles at about a 9'20" pace, and then did a few striders. 

Friday

Nothing!

Saturday

Was supposed to do a long run but had no time--I was also not in the mindset.  Saturday I was traveling from Champaign --> Chicago --> Zurich --> Budapest and I was all anxious about making sure I was packed and ready to go .My head was in the clouds!  I did manage to get on the treadmill for a few minutes and do a 2.6 mi run. 

Sunday

Jet lag, sleeping, drinking wine, and more sleeping!

Earth, Wind and Fiyaaa 5k

Someone once told me to never write words with extra letters attached (see above: fiyaaa) and I made the conscious decision to ignore them.  I want you all to know that I am singing my title to you, like Alicia Keys in Girl on Fire. Can you hear me?  Okay, I am done singing now.  So, I ran the Earth, Wind, Fire 5k this weekend and am here to report back about it!  It was my first officially timed race where there were actually medals for the winners (not that I got a medal..ha!). But that made it more exciting for me than the un-timed fun runs I've done so far. I wish they had a Miss Congeniality award because I totally would have won that. 

The race was on campus and there were around 215 people participating, so it wasn't a huge race.  It was about 38 degrees F and not too windy, so colder than I'd like not too bad.  The race was a 1.55 mile loop that we did twice.

Racers starting out.  My friends and I started in the back of the pack so as to not intimidate everyone around us ;)

This is my friend Jen and me at the almost-halfway point.  I saw the photographer so I tried to make it look like I was running strong.  Turns out I just looked goofy.  At least I was smiling--not looking bad enough to make it to the Seriously Ugly Race Pics site. Thank goodness. I know most people are hyper critical of themselves, but now looking at these pictures, I'm pretty sure I get a triple chin when I run. C'est la vie.

 Although I have run a 5k in 27 minutes on my own training runs, I have been struggling the past few weeks with endurance and energy, so my goal for this race was under 30 minutes.  I was averaging around 9:30-9:40 minute miles.  I sprinted the last 0.1 so that I could make my time.  I finished at 29'29".  Not as fast as I'd like, but I have to keep remembering b a b y  s t e p s.  I have my whole life to get faster. 

Accidentally turned off my Garmin so my 4th lap is all funky. 

After the race was the award ceremony.  I try not to feel this way, but I get a tad jealous of those girls who win their age group awards.  I sound like a bitter old whiner but I used to be fast back in the day (albeit at shorter distances in track).  My body looks the same, but it isn't the same because I am much slower.  I just hope that one day I can get back some of that speed that I feel I have lost over the past..gah...8 years?  There is a chance that I won't get it back though even with more experience, and I need to be happy with whatever pace I find myself at.

As far as what I wore, I was really proud of my selection as far as layering.  I wore my nike running tights, a lululemon cool racerback, my target c9 running mittens, my lululemon "what the fluff" earwarmers, and then a very thin avia long sleeved tech shirt.  I also wore my new running shoes and they felt great! (Same pair as before but I think pink put some extra pep in my step). 

Did you run any races this weekend? 

Do you ever turn into the green-eyed monster when you are around a group of runners much faster than yourself? 

10k Training: Week 9

Weeeeek 9 is over. Week 9 was hard!!  I'm going to do this recap a little differently because I have come to accept that I will not be following the day-by-day guide, but instead, am at least trying to get most of the workouts done at some point during the week. My week:

Monday

Did nothing! Still tired from the bike/run with Brandon

Tuesday

Ran: 3.01 miles with a few walk breaks. 

Splits: 

Miles 1 & 2 @ 8'30" pace (then Walk)

Mile 3 @ 9'17" pace

Also did a Cardio H2O class and biked on the recumbant bike for 10 miles. 

Wednesday

Biked at the gym. 15 miles

Thursday

Ran: 3.00 miles at 9'46" pace on gym treadmill

Friday

Biked at the gym. About 10 miles

Saturday

Ran: 3.1 miles at 9'30" pace for the Earth, Wind, Fire 5k (recap to come!). I am going to call this my "hills" workout because the course had about a mile of incline.  Then biked 13.5 miles next to Brandon at the gym while he ran. I'm getting sick of the indoor biking for sure. 

Sunday

Ran: 6.2 miles at 10'18" pace for my long run--did it on the gym treadmill at my apartment complex. I had a little knee pain...which I almost always do. But I otherwise felt excellent! Very proud of myself for reaching this milestone. 

How was your week of training ?

New Stuff Thursday

The title of this post is the least cool or clever title ever... mmk just had to get that out of the way.  It's safe to say that I have done a little shopping the past few weeks, but I've been too busy to post pictures or give any updates.  So I'm just going to update you on a few new workout-related purchases at once!  

First up is the pair of Lululemon Run: Speed shorts that I found on the Lululemon Exchange facebook group.  The shorts are the polka dot naked seam speed shorts from the 2012 Sea Wheeze half marathon.  I read Lululemon Addict's posts about the Sea Wheeze marathon and saw these shorts and made it my mission to find a pair somehow.  I was impressed by the facebook group and how fast I got my shorts. They were in good shape and I am happy with the purchase!  For reference, I am wearing a size 4 in these shorts.  I think I'm ideally between a size 2 and 4, because they are a bit loose on my leg, but I'll probably continue with size 4 for the speed shorts. 

Next, I got some neon laces for my Asics Gel Nimbus running shoes.  I've had the shoes for a few months and they were feeling pretty blah to me.  I got three pairs of neon laces from the Nike outlet. 

Spare laces! So cheap at the Nike outlet, they were $1.99! I must admit, I got the idea from Neon Blond Runner to go to the Nike outlet for the laces. Thank you!!

I also ordered a second pair of my Gel Nimbus 14's from runningwarehouse.com because I have put about 200 miles on mine and wanted to start mixing it up every other time with a new pair so I can get more uses out of my grey ones . I really like this pink color!

Next up is a pair of Pink Nike shorts that I got from the outlet.  I don't think they are tempo shorts but I'm not really sure what they are exactly.  They fit almost like a mix between the tempos and pacers. Like them a lot! 

I also got a tank for $7!!!!! from the Under Armour outlet.  It fits almost like the cool racerback, but its a bit stretchier and tighter. I like it because it feels like it holds me in a bit more. I apologize again for the dirty mirror myspace shot. 

And finally, even my Gracie girl got something new... a haircut! She looked like scrappy stray dog and something needed to be done before the ASPCA came knocking at my door.  She wanted me to show you all her before and after so you could marvel at her beauty. 

Have you gotten anything new lately? 

Do you own a pair of lululemon speed shorts? How do you like them to fit? 

10k Training: Week 8 & February review

This is the second week during my 10k training that I didn't get all of my runs done, but I'm not too upset about it.   My knee had been hurting last week and the beginning of week 8, so I decided to take it easy. I'm glad I did.  My knee is now feeling pretty good, so I think some time off did the trick for me!

Week 8 in review: 

Monday

Scheduled: 3 miles easy

Did: 3 mile run/walk through the neighborhood. It ended up being almost a 3x1 speed workout. 

Mile 1: 8:59 

Mile 2: 8:42 

Mile 3: 8:46 

It was really windy too, so I was torn between running fast to get the 3 miles over, but having a hard time running and breathing and needing to take walk breaks.  I also think I was a bit tired from my 5 miles the day before. 

Tuesday

Scheduled: Easy C/T or off

Did: Cardio H2O swim class and 8 miles on the bike at a 10.7mph pace. 

Wednesday

Scheduled: hills run

Did: Nothing! Resting the knee

Thursday

Scheduled: 3 miles easy

Did: Nothing again... Don't you hate when you start feeling guilty for not running?  I DID, however, go home to my parent's house and buy a new-to-me car so I was actually too busy to get a run in. 

Friday

Scheduled: off

Did: Nothing that involved running. It was a campus drinking holiday so you can probably figure out what I was doing

Saturday

Scheduled: 5.5 miles

Did: Nothing! It was my 1-year anniversary with the bf so we spent the day out of town. Was going to do my long run but decided to wait until Sunday to do it with my boyfriend..... 

Sunday

Scheduled: Easy CT

Did: 5 miles long run, 18.6 mi bike ride from h*ll! (see previous post for more details). 

Also, the end of Week 8 also marked the start of a new month. So I'd like to do a quick review of my running in February 2013 compared to past months. 

February Stats:

Total Distance: 45.4 miles 

Total time: 7.43 hours 

Average Pace: 9'48"

Compared to January, I ran only 14 times versus 19 times and I ran 2 less miles. January was a longer month, though, and I also got sick this month and had some knee pain.  My pace definitely increased this month, which was pretty exciting, although my past few runs lately have been slow again (wah wah wah).  So all in all, it has been a decent month. Hopefully March will bring more miles and less illness and pain.  I am heading to Europe for 2 weeks, so that should be interesting as to whether I make it out running enough and what not!  My goals for March are to keep speed where it is generally and to increase mileage.

I'm doing an ironman...nbd

It actually IS no big deal. I'm doing an "ironman" over the course of a month as a part of my gym's triathlon challenge.  So, in 30 days, I have to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run 26 miles. 

(I even got this nifty piece of paper to fill out my miles, old school style). 

It was not until starting this triathlon challenge that I realized how much I hateeeeee riding the indoor bike.  I've never done a spin class, is that different?

I took the above picture yesterday.  Obviously, I'm highly lacking in the bike miles department.  So today, my friend had the bright idea that I bike alongside him during his long run, and then afterward, I run the rest of the way for my long run (this will hereafter be referred to as "worst idea ever.")  So what ended up happening was me riding on my mountain bike for 18.6 miles with a million layers on and it being 24 degrees outside.  I wanted to kill everyone.  And afterward, I had to do the run home because there was no way I would do another inch on the bike, and we were exactly 5 miles from home. I h-a-d t-o d-o i-t.  When we got home, I was so pooped I could have collapsed. How do people seriously do that on a regular basis? Gahhh

Honestly, the worst part might have been the pain I endured from that dang bike seat.  The bike seat was so hard and skinny and jammed in places that should never be jammed. I have bruises in places that shouldn't be bruised! I think I need to get a cushioned seat cover AND those special biking shorts with the padding.  Today was just not okay!

I learned recently that today's workout is referred to as a "brick." Bricks are pretty much where you do two different types of workouts back-to-back (e.g. biking/running; swimming/biking, etc.).  While I intend to do more brick workouts, I don't think I will be doing ones this intense in the future! Hope you all had a good weekend, time for me to pass out!