I'm Melting....

You would think coming from Tennessee, land of heat and humidity, that running here in the heat and humidity would be easier. The temperatures are less, the humidity is less so why does it feel so much harder to run in it? Much as I dislike the prospect, I think after summer school is over, I am going to have to get up in the wee hours to get my milage in. Yuck...me likes me sleep!

I mentioned that some ladies from my WTP are continuing to meet on Monday evenings. Last week, three of us were there and decided that we were going to train, as a group, for the Virginia Beach Rock N Roll Half Marathon but in 2008. The three of us there have all done at least 10 mile races so this is a nice goal to look forward to.

As life has a way of doing so, I was not able to go out with the RR this past weekend. I had to pick up one of the kids by 9 am so there was no way to make a 5 mile run at 8 am and still get there by 9 am to pick her up. Bummer.

This week, there were four of us that met to run. Two of them are speedy bunnies, one is speedier than I am but stays with me and of course, there is me. I am still plodding along. I like running with others since it actually forces me to run faster than I would. When I am by myself, I tend to go along and not really push myself like I should.

After letting Jess, the lady who was not there last week, about our Rock N Roll plans, we decided to up the ante a little bit more and also go for the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in April. This will be after my Disney runs so I should be good to go.

It is great finding people who will run with me!

Chugging Along

Wow, I didn't realize it has been so long since I posted. I am still running, still struggling to find the motivation to run.

I am meeting a few ladies on Monday evenings still and running with them. It turns out that one of the ladies lives about 2 blocks from me. We are both fond of running a trail near here so we are going to set up some time to run it.

Reston Runners are meeting near me this weekend as well. It is a five mile run. I have to be in Fairfax Station by 11 am so having the run near me will make it possible for me to go. Since it is right here, I don't have to worry about driving time and can make it back home to clean up before I have to dash out to Fairfax Station.

The weather was really nice tonight for our run, we did an easy 3 miles. We also, as a group, decided to run the Virginia Beach Half in 2008. Woo hoo!!

Trail Half

Woo hoo! I got in! I got in! There is a trail Half Marathon locally coming up that I wanted to run it. There is a cap of 250 runners, there is no online registrations and it closes quickly. I waited until the registration was up, printed it out and rushed it to the post office. I sweated, hoping that I got in and was thrilled when I saw that I was listed on the list of entrants. There is a practice run on August 18th that I am hoping to make it to as well.

This week was the last week of the Women's Training Program. It ended with the Woman's Distance Festival 5K run. I entered it and Kaitlyn also wanted to run so I entered her.

We picked up our packets from the YMCA on Saturday. We got some good stuff in the packets too. Kaity got a pink and black preshrunk fitted cotten running shirt with the WDF logo on it. I don't really care for fitted shirts so I opted for a lime green loose t-shirt with the logo. We also got a beach ball and a beach tote with the logo on it. There was a pedometer and software too, as well as the assorted fliers and coupons (including one for 1 week free at the YMCA) I think the best thing in the packet had to be the hot pink socks from The Sock Guy. It has WDF, 2007 and says Hottie on the cuff. I appropriated Kaity's pair since they are too big for her.

Saturday had really gorgeous weather but it was pretty humid. The course was decorated with pink flamingos, signs and men in hula skirts with coconut bras. We ran part of the course out on the W&OD so had to content with other runners and bikers who were not part of the race. The race officials did very well with keeping the non racers off the course and out of our way.

I knew I had not put in the miles so was not expecting a PR but I did PR! I had my slowest 5K ever LOL Kaity came in a few minutes after me. We didn't win any door prizes but we had fun.

A few other ladies who took part in WTP plan to continue to meet so we will be running on Mondays still. This will work into the training plan that I am going to follow to train for the trail Half.

I am actually looking forward to getting in more miles once again.

Back of the Pack

It is interesting. I have said before that although my pace group for the women's training group is supposed to be 11:00 - 16:00 minutes per mile. I am generally at the back of the pack and I have been running just over a 12:20 mile. This means that it is a darn fast pace group.

As the weeks have passed, I have sped up a wee bit but several in the group have slowed down and are now running in the back with me. One lady, her name is Sue, thanked me for being a steady pace during the runs. So I have gained not only running buddies in the back of the pack, the coaches are also letting others know that I set a steady pace if they want to run back with me.

I signed Kaitlyn, my 10 year old, to run the 5K with me. They are going to have some serious goody bags for everyone running. I got her a skort today so she can run in a skort as well. We got a blue tech shirt as part of the WTP and they asked us to wear that for the race.

The Trail Half I would like to run opens up for registration in a few weeks so I have printed out a Half training program. Next week is when I will start that up and ramp up my milage once more.

Chicken Playing Squirrels and A Skirt Ambassador

I have been wearing my running skirt to the WTP for the past several weeks. People rarely comment on it although last week, one person did.

I am not sure why tonight was different. Maybe it was because there were less than 100 women rather than the nearly 300 usually there. I had so many people ask me about my skirt tonight. Several ladies said they have thought about it but worried about comfort. Don't worry! They really are comfortable..more so than skirts shorts (no one caught that error for a few days!) by a long shot.

Tonight we actually ran the Women's Distance 5K course. It is mainly out on the W&OD with a few little detours off on the side. It is a nice course although I don't much care for the incline at the 2.5 mile mark. It is not steep but it does go on for a bit to get you up and out of Sugarland Trail and then up and over the Fairfax County Parkway.

I went out entirely too fast although it didn't feel fast. I was running under 11:30....way too fast. I made an effort to slow down. Slow down? Why??!! Because this was a training run and I would rather run it easier than run it like a race. I ended up running at a 12:24 pace for the run. I would like to actually bring up my miles and bring down my time just a wee bit for the actual race.

It is hot and humid here, just like in Tennessee. The nice part is that I live right near a very shaded trail. There are parts of the run that are not shaded but big parts are shaded. Of course, there are also these annoying little black gnats too. Yuck!

Kaitlyn and I ran the Sugarland Trail last week and had a squirrel play chicken with us. We were almost up to the squirrel, who apparently was not aware of us (and we had not seen him) He started to dart out in front of us, which startled me and caused me to do the girly shriek thing, jumping back. He back up when I did and we stared at one another for a split second. Just as I started to move forward, he decided to try darting forward again. I waved my arms and he scampered off into the woods rather than crossing the path. Not even 2 minutes later, there was another squirrel sitting in the path, looking at us approaching. This stinker decided to stare us down until we could almost touch him before scampering off. Bold little squirrels in Virginia.

Did I mention that Lorrie, who I met in Cincinatti, convinced me to try running with a hat? I don't like wearing hats. She was firm in the belief that if I would try it, I would like it. She encouraged me to get a mesh hat. I found a lime green Runner Girl hat that I liked but I object, on principal, to paying nearly $20 for a hat after shipping is factored in. So, I resorted to eBay, where I got a Nike mesh hat, sherbert orange. I would like to find it in raspberry or lime but sherbert orange works. I have worn it a few different times and I have to say, it is not making my head nearly as hot as I though and it is really good at keeping my hair out of my eyes, sweat out of my eyes and the sun out of my eyes. So, for now, I will keep wearing it.

Running Skirts

I bought a running skirt a few months back from SkirtSports and really liked it. I got it in the winter so never actually wore it outside to test it out. It is currently MIA from moving but I know it came with us. They are kinda pricey, even on sale. I was very pleased to see that Target now carries a running skirt and an even nicer surprise, they carry them in larger sizes.

I went to two different Targets near me and scored a plain black running skirt and a navy blue with sky blue trim running skirt. I was a little apprehensive about going out in public but I took it for a spin around the trail.

It was really, incredibly comfortable! There was no riding up at all. It is a little shorter than my shorts are, so if nothing else, my tan line will be up higher this year. I even wore my running skirt last night to my Women's Training Program class.

For those looking, Wal-Mart also carries a running shirt. It is not as nice as the one from Target and only comes in black or white. In both the Target and WM version, the shorts underneath are not as form fitting as I would like. Still for under $20, they are worth checking out if you are considering a running skirt.

Someone asked me Why would you run in a skirt? Why not? I am a girl, why not look like a girl when I run? Beyond that, they really are comfy.

So last night was our second night of WTP. I ran with the beginning runners. At the start of the run, the coach said the front part of the pack would be at about a 11:00 while the back would be closer to a 15:00-16:00 We started running so I moved towards the back. We went just over 2.5 miles and looking, we did not run anywhere close to a 15:00! The slowest my Garmin said I went was 12:25. I don't think anyone was running slower than a 12:40 mile. It was a good run though.

I am in the air over renewing Fitness Journal for another year. It is Fitness Journal that has my map of running across the US. I really like that feature but there are so many FREE fitness logs, I don't think I am going to renew. I did add a ticker with miles run. It is not as cool as the map across the US but is that map really $40 cool? I don't think so. I have maybe 2 weeks left in my current membership and then I am not going to renew it.

Women's Training Program

I joined a local Women's Training Program to get the oomph back that has been sorely lacking. The goal is a local women's 5K at the end of June.

Based on my last beginning running class, I was expecting maybe 50 ladies to be there. WRONG! There were over TWO HUNDRED!

After a short course outline, we seperated into 4 groups - walkers, walk/runner, beginning runners and advanced beginning runners. Right at the get go, they said "Speedy demons, if you run faster than a 9 minute mile, you are not welcome here! We have a different class for you" Hee hee

One of the instructors was a lady I had run with out on the club weekends, Tina, so it was nice to see a familiar face.

We did an easy half mile, then stretched, then did an evaluation mile to see if we needed to go into beginning runner or advanced beginning runner. I already knew I belonged in the beginning runners (11 min - 16 min mile pace) and since I did the Half yesterday, I ran it very easy and slow. We then went as a group for about a mile.

I think I am really going to like this group. We are free at any time to join a different group. If I am just not feeling it, I can go with the walkers. If I am feeling speedy, I can join the advanced beginners. The only man in the class is on a bike and he patrols the courses to make sure no one is left behind. There is a high number of coaches in each group so no EVER runs solo. Even during the actual 5K event, these coaches will be on the course with their group and make sure that everyone is doing well. We will get to run the actual course in a few weeks.

I thought of Clare, a friend up in Canada, during all this and wished that she had something like this near her. Clare has joined a few classes in her local area after being assured that someone would be at her pace and she would not have to run solo. In each case, she had no one at her pace and when an instructor ran with her, they made comments about her running faster and catching up. I know she was frustrated with her local running classes.

So, if anyone is thinking of joining a running class, be sure to check it out!