We're Still At It

Yes we are....we are still running several times a week. We did have a little break last weekend, but we were right back on the treadmill last night! Now it is VERY crowded right now at the gym - all those New Year's resolutions - so we decided that we would run for 30 minutes and then determine what we needed to do after that.

I've been feeling pretty good running for a full hour and completing about 6 miles in right around 62 minutes...so I decided that last night I would challenge myself. I haven't run a decent time for a 5K distance since last May. I've really been struggling with this. I honestly beleive it is because I've been really trying to add distance and make a longer distance feel really good and keep a steady pace. I've also been working on slight negative splits on those longer distances which means I need to run the first few miles at a little slower pace. Anyway - back to my challenge. I WAS going to complete this 5K in under 30 minutes! Darn it! I WAS!!! Off I went.

I started out a little slow - warming up...then I saw Rick ramp his speed up to a 10 minute mile and I knew it was time to speed it up if I was going to make my challenge to myself. I started running some intervals at 6.0 for 400 meters, then 6.2 for 400 meters, then 6.0, then 6.5 and reapeating that. When all was said and done I had completed the entire 3.1 miles in 29:53!!! My overall finish was 3.27 miles in 32 minutes....I was elated!!!

After a quick "potty" break we looked around and there were still a few treadmills available so we decided to try another 30 minutes. As you can imagine my legs were pretty much shot, so I did the "run/walk" thing. Of course THAT is what is showing on my mini....not my beautiful sub 30 minute 5K...THAT's why I had to TELL you about it!!!

Of course ALL that mileage was added to my challenge miles - I'm now up to over 50 miles for the month and the 75 miles looks like it might just happen! After all, I still have 9 more days and I only need about 20 more miles!!!

Now, Rick and I have joined the DRC (Dallas Running Club) and one of our first races is coming up on 1/31. We decided to do the 5K instead of the 15K since it is pretty close to our first 1/2 marathon of the year. I'm hoping that I can finish that one as well as I did on the treadmill...problem is the sidewalk doesn't require me to keep moving my feet at a certain pace to remain standing, so unfortunately I tend to slow down more when I get tired, LOL....I'll let you know how that goes!!!