Todays Workouts- AM- 11 miles total with 3 by 3 miles at 6:20-25 pace. PM- 3 miles easy on the treadmill (not done yet)

Sunday evening when I saw todays workout on the schedule for the week I have to say I was a bit surprised. I thought “Really Mr. Hadley, we are going there already?” Then I got excited, like real excited. We are going there already. I’ve done this workout twice before but never this early in a training cycle. It’s a perfect workout for me, someone with a strong endurance disposition. I prefer to do this type of workout alone and in my own neighborhood where I know all the mile markers by heart. Once you mentally get over the idea of running 3 mile repeats you can really settle into a nice groove and enjoy it. The recovery time is short for this distance (3 minutes) so you feel as though you are tricking your body into 9 miles of marathon pace work. I loooved this workout. I ran in my Nike Pegasus trainers and averaged 6:22, 6:23, & 6:23 for the three sets.

After my cool down I drank a huge glass of green tea with honey and milk. I read about it in the book pictured below and have been drinking/craving it since. Which leads me to listing my favorite things as of lately. A few days ago I took my youngest to the library to borrow a book on Baby Tigers and saw this sitting next to the check out. I grabbed it like it was a Wonka Chocolate Golden Ticket and had my son check it out for me. I have read Matt Fitgeralds other book “Racing Weight” and loved the advice. This book, titled “The New Rules of Marathon and Half Marathon Nutrition” is a bit broader and covers many of the current debates that we read so many conflicting information about (sugar, carbs, caffeine?!?!) so if you have the time, it’s well worth the read.

After the girls night in party I talked about in my last blog entry I went to Trader Joes to buy the same whole wheat pizza dough they used that night. It was my first trip to Trader Joes in years because the one in Arlington, VA was always so horribly crowded that I never wanted to go back. So I drove to TJ’s, spent over $100, got in my car, drove home, and realized I forgot the pizza dough. Alrighty then. I did, however, find the best salad, sandwich, veggie dip ever and it has an exciting name- “Cilantro Salad Dressing” I alone went through an entire bottle in 5 days.

My next favorite thing is completely un-running or health related. The Mr. has been traveling for work and while I usually lean towards the gritty “guy” shows I started Season 2 of Girls and fell in love with it. I watched the entire season 2 in three days, staying up way too late. While it’s about 4 girls in New York City it is not another Sex and the City. It’s a bit uglier, darker, cheaper, but HYSTERICAL. I considered the hours watching and laughing with my legs up as running recovery.

My last and probably best find is the Roller Recover R8 that I had asked about in my last post. Here is the website (http://www.rollrecovery.com/r8/) but I picked mine up at Running, Etc. here in Virginia Beach or Norfolk. It looks like a torture device and the first time you use it, it will feel like a torture device but I promise stick with it. I had a huge knot in my thigh and had tears rolling it out. The following day it hurt terribly but now the muscle is completely smooth. I’ve been using it every day except the days I am sore from drills or speed. It is a very pricey investment but I strongly believe it’s worth it.

Like always, Thanks for reading. Hope you are having a great week and Happy Running Day!

Today’s Workout- 9 miles averaging 7:35 pace

I hope everyone had a fantastic Memorial Day weekend! Between the Elizabeth River Run 10K and my 12 year wedding anniversary (how is that possible?) the three day break went way too fast. Saturday morning I picked up Renee High and we drove to Portsmouth, VA together for the 10K. Once we got there I realized I forgot my racing flats and a part of me wanted to cry. Renee’s amazing boyfriend then drove to my house, picked up my flats and brought them to us. I repeat, AMAZING. I hope the beer & cookies I bought him were a good enough thank you. I will never make that mistake again.

We warmed up for about two miles and the temperature was perfect but like all Virginia Beach races, very windy. I did some of my brief warm up routine and we were off! I have decided that for any distance less than a half I won’t wear a watch so I don’t have exact splits for anything past the first mile. I tried to stick with some friends Andrew & Mark for that first mile but we had a very strong headwind making their 5:52ish (I think that’s what I heard them say) first mile too fast for me. In the end though I averaged 6:00 pace so I found that interesting. The majority of the race was uneventful. I sat way behind Renee as 2nd place female and was caught like most everyone else in no-mans-land with no one to help block the incredible wind. The course was gorgeous though as we ran along the water around the Portsmouth Naval Hospital and I may have become a little complacent from miles 2-4. Around the four mile mark the 3rd place female popped up behind my shoulder. I had no idea she was close and in my mind I let out a Scooby Doo voiced “Ruh Roh!” Funny how you think you are pushing and then you somehow push more. I was so concerned about competing that I never saw the 5 mile marker but my last two miles must have been well under 6:00 pace for me to have crossed the finish line in 37:17 (2nd female). Coach Mark Hadley and I had discussed that since we just started back into the training cycle after my Boston recovery break that a 6:00-6:05 pace would be about right so I was happy to have finished on the faster end of that.

Guess who else I got to see Saturday? Hollie Heimer I was thrilled to see her. Here is a picture of Renee, Hollie, and I.

Renee, Kristen, Hollie at the ERR 10K

Later that night Renee had a girl’s night in and let us all know that we were free to wear our p.j.’s if we wanted too. I was all over that. The food was so good! Homemade whole wheat pizza, bell pepper quinoa pasta, broccoli slaw, nutella, cookies…..I said nutella cookies, and much more. I ate way too much and claimed it okay because after all it was “health” food. We washed the health food down with margaritas Here is a picture (minus Carly the photographer). I’m the third girl from the right in black and gray Target pajamas.

Hanging with the Chicas

Sunday was the Mr. and I’s 12 year wedding anniversary. We had already celebrated in Vegas (I wrote about it for the new readers) so we kept it low key. We didn’t exchange gifts or do anything sappy or special. The dinner picture below is not from Sunday. We took the kiddos to the pool and then watched the Phillies and Games of Thrones (we are behind by 3-4 episodes so don’t give any spoilers ) To recover from the 10K I ran 5 miles at an easy pace (7:50ish) and played plenty of driveway basketball. Great day!

Ran through the pouring rain to make this dinner reservation!

Random question but who has the Roll Recovery tool? I’ve read so many positive reviews that I am thinking of picking one up at Running, Etc. today. Opinions? Anyone race this past weekend? Eat any great Memorial Day food? Have a great week everyone!