A beautiful night for a run

The weather here in Reno has been amazing this past week. Today the temperature was in the high 80's which made it way too hot for me to want to run. Instead, I got my hair done and went out for sushi with the family. I was still suffering from 'sushi bloat' when Don asked me if I felt like running. Did I feel like running?? Of course I didn't feel like running!! I never feel like running.

But I got up and put on my running gear anyways. I laced up my shoes and clipped on the little red safety light. We grabbed our trusty reflector vests and bright yellow wristbands and were out the door. Did I forget to mention that it was nearly 10 PM? We got outside and the weather was better than we could have hoped. It was 72 degrees and no breeze, just a nice calm night.

We ran through the neighborhood for a slow 2-mile loop. We're planning on doing a longer run tomorrow and just wanted to get in a nice, easy run tonight to loosen up our legs a bit. It felt good but the sushi burps that I kept having were getting annoying. As an added treat, our youngest son, Jonas, joined us on his bike. He doesn't usually like to do stuff with us (teenager and all that) so it was nice to have his company.

I'm hoping that our run tomorrow will be as nice. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Another run down, so many more to go

What a beautiful day in Reno! The weather was absolutely gorgeous today. I mean really, you couldn't ask for a better day for a run. The temperature was fantastic and there was a slight breeze that kept us from getting too warm

We decided that today was the day to amp up the mileage a little bit. We convinced our oldest son to come with us (on his bike) while we ran to Mira Loma Park and throughout the surrounding neighborhoods. I was trying out my new shoes, a pair of Nike Free v3.0. I thought that since they felt so nice I would try them without socks today. Bad move. About halfway through my run I got a hotspot on my foot in a different place than I normally do. It's terribly distracting to run while thinking about how big the blister on your foot is going to be when you finally take your shoe off.

All in all, it was a great run. We went 3.64 miles in 35:13; average pace of 9:41 minute per mile. Booyah.

Hotspot or not, I kicked that run's ass today!

Fartlek? You betcha!

Honey felt inclined to do a little speed training today because we've both been a little sore on our off days. I agreed to go under the condition that it wouldn't be too far since my calves and guts were not feeling up to par. We decided to take a nice mile run (remember, this is our off day) and turn it into a Fartlek workout.

I have a nice mile run in the neighborhood and there are enough straightaways to make it decent for this point in our training. Lead feet were everywhere and by the time we hit the school and prepared for our first pick-up in pace I felt like I'd already run 2 miles....we hadn't even got a half mile. :( Our sprint lasted for about 100 yards and we continued on our run.

For our mile run we managed to get in 3 sprints. It wasn't great, but I just keep telling myself, "You ran on an off day! No complaining allowed."

Bring on the RTO!

Another run down, so many more to go!

Tuesday meant another day for running and it didn't matter how sore I was, I went running with honey anyways. Since our RunKeeper failed us last time we decided to try the same route again to get a more accurate feel for where we stand. We left our house with the sun burning on our backs and the wind hitting us in the face. It wasn't good. I bitched throughout the majority of the run, couldn't muster any spit in my mouth, and had a chest cramp the whole time.

But you know what? I did it anyways. I ran despite my feet feeling like I was wearing lead boots. I ran despite my chest feeling like it was going to burst. I ran despite my mouth feeling more parched than the Sahara. And you know what? I'm going to do it again today. Not for as far today, but just a quick little run to remind myself that I can't get by on winging it. I have eleven teammates that are depending on me to suck ass.

RTO training, Part II

With less than two months until the big race we've decided to begin training again. Last year we sort of eased ourselves into it because we were a teensy bit afraid. This year, we know what to expect and we know that mean we can't pussyfoot our way around training.

Today was Easter Sunday and what a beautiful day in the Truckee Meadows. I think the temperature hit 72 degrees. After having a pretty relaxing day, thanks to a great breakfast by Peg's Glorified Ham n' Eggs, we realized we could no longer delay the inevitable. Run we must, and run we did.

We started out around 7 pm, with the sun securely hidden behind clouds and a nice breeze to keep us from overheating. Rather than just hitting our neighborhood we ventured out towards Mira Loma Park. Neither of us were gagging, and we had figured out a nice cadence to our spit cycles. Oh yes, training has definitely started.

Not a bad run...just under 3 miles (2.73 miles) in 27:27.....just around 10:04/mile.* Not too shabby for our first day out. Here's hoping I can walk tomorrow. ;)

*RunKeeper GPS was all wonky and didn't correctly measure the mileage. The time has since been corrected to a more realistic pace. ;)

Easing back into it

I'm ashamed to say how long it's been since my last good run. I could blame it on our family vacation to England but I won't. I'll just blame it on the fact that I slipped back into my sedentary lifestyle so effortlessly....until tonight.

Don has been trying to get me to run with him and I've managed to finagle my way out of it. Today was different. I could feel that if I didn't start running soon, then all of the training I did for the RTO would be for nothing and I'd be back at square one. So I agreed to go for a run tonight.

We had dinner fairly late and it took a while for our bellies to un-bloat. By ten o'clock I was feeling like if I didn't run right at that moment that I'd never run again. I cajoled my husband into getting his running gear on; he was midway into a show and I made him stop it.

The weather couldn't have been better. It was about 75 degrees and as many stars as I've ever seen in Reno. There was a nice breeze so it felt cooler than it was and it made the run all the more perfect. There was very little traffic and we cruised around the neighborhood, hoping we wouldn't get lost on the dark streets.

We finished just over 4.15 miles in 49:14. A nice run on a nice night to ease myself back into training. For what, I have no idea. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Happy Father's Day, honey!

As I sit here writing this it's Father's Day and you're over in the UK. I miss you terribly. I am sad that we have to spend this Father's Day apart. It has made me start to pine away for you and reminisce about all of the things I love about you. I'll save the details for when I see you again but know that every single day I am so proud to be your wife and proud that our children have you for their father. You are the kind of man that mothers want their daughters to marry. Kind, loving, funny, charming, devoted, romantic and intelligent are just a few of the adjectives that pop into my head when I think of you.

Happy Father's Day sweetheart. You are an amazing, father, husband and friend and it has been a pleasure to raise our two fine boys with you these past sixteen years. I miss you like crazy and I love you even more!