Saturday, February 18, 2012

Progress: What a Difference a Year Makes

Today I ran 10 miles with the F'N Runners. I wasn't planning on doing 10.

This morning's group. I'm on the far right. In the front in gray is Jeni, and in yellow is Don.
And a bunch of non-bloggers. At least, not that I'm aware of. 

Some of us did eight miles (four out-and-back), and by the time we got back to our cars, almost everyone else had already finished or were good doing eight, but a couple were going to do another mile out-and-back for a total of 10. I was feeling good, so I figured, why not? My total time was 1:33 (I stopped my watch for a couple short breaks.) It was the first time I ran double digits in one day since my last half marathon on October 1. (I've been sticking to 7-8 miles for my long runs almost every weekend since.)

Last May, I ran the Soldier Field 10 mile race. I trained for it and busted my butt to a 1:48 finish. Today wasn't quite slow enough to be considered a truly "easy" pace (according to my heart rate) but it certainly wasn't race pace.

On Thursday night, I ran six miles with the F'N Runners. It was our first time meeting on a Thursday night. I wasn't sure what to expect.

FNRC
Thursday night. A bunch of non-bloggers and Kelly is second from the right and Amanda is on the far right.
Actually Gen (in the blue) has a blog but I don't know if it's "public." She can comment with the link if it is :)

I ran with a couple friends, and our pace was 8:33. It definitely felt like a tempo for me (comfortably hard), but considering last June my 5K PR pace was 8:30, and I busted my butt for that one too (and it was the week after the Soldier Field 10 that I trained for), I was pretty proud of Thursday's run.

It's amazing what you can accomplish with some consistency.

DailyMile

I am SO EXCITED for my spring half marathons and seeing how far I've come in two years. (My first half was in May 2010 and my time was 2:48.)

And do you know how accomplished I feel to be done with 10 miles, showered, and ready for the rest of my day by 11am? (Keep in mind I drive 20 minutes each way for these group runs.) I've certainly changed in the past 10 years year. Before hooking up with my running club, if it wasn't race day, I very rarely got up early to run. And even then "early" was 8am. Yet another mark of progress!

Also last night I did some core work (class at the gym) and then "cross training" at Room To Move, my sis-in-law's studio: Hoop Dance Party Party.

Hoop Dance Party Party
She brought her own fans


Hoop Dance Party Party

Hoop Dance Party Party

It was hard to get good pictures in low light with everyone moving. Anyway, it's part of their $5 Fridays series, the third Friday is Hoop Dance Party Party. Basically come and do your thing. Fourth Friday is a Tribal Belly Dance workshop.

Don't forget! Every $5 you donate to the American Cancer Society = 1 entry in my "favorite things" raffle, including Sparkly Soul headbands, Bondi Bands, Clif Shot Bloks, Honey Stinger Waffles, Body Glide and a custom race t-shirt quilt. Learn more.

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