10.5 Miles

Yesterday after work I didn't want to run that much, but after the pressure from the bet at work, I made myself run 10.5 miles. Somehow I ran it in 1 hr 16 minutes...so somewhere around 7:30 minute miles or something. Yes, I did measure the distance twice because I was doubting I could actually keep up that pace for 10 miles. Last night I did 15 minutes of abs right before bed.

I wanted to do 20 miles this morning (honestly, I did) but I have the Bop to the top in a few hours and I didn't think I'd be done in time since I had to wait until the sun came up. I'm HOPING that my legs won't be too cut up afterwards so that I can still run and get at least 10 miles in today. I'll take a lot of medicine before I run and just ruin my muscles for the day. You're supposed to get used to running on tired legs, right? Anyway, wish me luck on those stairs!

A bet at work puts the pressure on

*Updated info at bottom
**Another update at bottom
***and another

Well unfortunately the director of the company that I work for learned that I run long distances. He also learned that another employee at our San Antonio facility is a runner. The difference between me and the other runner is that I am slow and he is fast. He ran his last marathon in 3:30, but he walked about 6 miles and was sick. I think he ran another marathon in 2:30 or something crazy.

So anyway, the cmpy director is a competitive guy and wants to have a bet between us. We're both running the Boston Marathon this April and the director is going to use this Heartbreak Hill Striders Age-Graded Calculator to find out who's the better runner. If he's better, then the San Antonio employees will get a free day off work. If I'm better, then us Indy folks will get the day off.

Based on my results from my best marathon, I fall into the top 64% of my age group. The other guy falls into the top 88% group or something. Although I'm semi-competitive, I don't like this bet because the other guy is obviously way faster than me. There's too much pressure.

I just talked to the director this morning and he said that guy is running 90 miles a week. That's ridiculous! Who has time/motivation for that much? I thought my dinky 40 miles a week was good.

I told the director to change the bet because there's no way I'll win. I told him if we did a bet on long distance races (such as ultras), I'd be happy to win that one. I challenged the guy to run Land Between the Lakes 50 Miles or Mohican 100 Miles with me but it's 100% doubtful he'll try it.

Anyway....I might bump my mileage up to 50 miles a week in February just to get closer to him, but that's still far away from 90. Wish me luck!

*I just found out that I might get some leeway on my Boston finishing time. The bet might state that if I finish within x amount of time from the other guy, I win. Keep your fingers crossed.

**Okay...the bet is official- I have to finish within 40 minutes of the other guy's time. His goal time is 2:40 and so I am pretty sure (KNOCK ON WOOD) that I can finish by 3:29 (hopefully sooner). Also, this is that guy first's Boston marathon and I think he's only run 2-3 marathons in his life.

***The winner does not get a day off work. Instead, the whole facility will get a cookout in your name and a trophy up in the gym.

A good run better be ahead...

Out of boredom, I ate wayyy too much yesterday. Actually, just a lot of unhealthy stuff. I wonder if I had eaten a ton of food yesterday, but all vegetables, if I would be writing this post. Probably not. Anyway, I woke up feeling full which is always gross.

Soooooo, that means that I now feel like I need to run a million miles to work it all off. Today is supposed to be about 44 degrees out and sunny. WOOHOO! I'm going to the park and going to run on trail for the first time in awhile. You better expect big miles out of me.

Land Between the Lakes 50 Mile

*See my Land Between the Lakes 60k 2009 race report here.

I finally decided to sign up for the Land Between the Lakes 50 Mile Trail Run on Saturday, March 14. It's in Grand Rivers, KY which is about 5 hours away. It was a fun run last year and it'll ensure I meet the Ten More Miles! challenge of running 30 miles in March. It'll be the first ultra of the year. Woohoo!

7 miles of sprints/hills

1 mile run
3 miles of incline every other .25 miles
1 mile run

4 x .25 mile sprints

2 x .5 mile incline

I did 15 minutes of ab stuff and they were the longest minutes of my life. My abs were soo sore during the whole time. Wow, I'm out of shape. And the leg lifts SUCK but I could already tell that they were easier today than yesterday.

10 Good Miles

I went running outside today on a new route I had measured out. I hadn't planned on running at any specific pace but somehow I was feeling great and ran 10 miles at about a 7:35 pace...finished in 1hr 16 mins. It felt great to get my legs moving fast and not just slug around at a slow, easy pace.

Afterward I made myself do 15 minutes of ab work, as recommended. I can already tell that my abs will be sore tomorrow, even after my measly sit ups, just because I never work them out.

3 miles on treadmill

...thus completing my goal for the week.

11 mile run

Yesterday Chris and I headed out around 1:45pm for an 11 mile run around downtown. Running with someone is way better than alone. The sun was out bright so that helped a ton with the temps, but the wind was awful. We ran pretty slow the whole time because of the winds; it felt like we were just going backwards. Some people were ice skating around the canal which was fun/scary.

13 consistent miles

After work today I went on the treadmill and SOMEHOW ran 13 miles without stopping. After Spanish called me out on my previous post, I made sure that I kept on going. I felt good the whole time, most likely due to the slow 9:05 pace with no incline. It's too bad that the treadmill makes my knees hurt. I hope to finish up the remaining 14 miles tomorrow. I haven't started adding other workouts yet but don't worry, I'll eventually ease into them.

13 mile run in increments

It was freezing outside today so after work, I went to the gym there and got on the treadmill. I wanted to do 10 miles but after the first mile, I knew it'd be hard because as we all say- the treadmill sucks!

Somehow I was able to keep running, as long as I gave myself breaks off that dumb machine. I ended up running 3 sets of 3 miles, with a 5 minute walking break inbetween. Then I continued to run 2.4 miles, bathroom break, then 1.6 miles.

I averaged an 8:47 pace or something. Somehow I felt like I was running faster when I was running 9:05 per mile than when I was running 8:34 per mile, and the miles seemed to come by faster. It was probably because I felt more comfortable running at the slower pace so I didn't mind running that much. Hmm.

I learned it's a lot easier to run at work because different people come in and out during the time. I especially like it when others get on the treadmill next to me because I know they won't be doing more than 3 miles, so I always make it my goal to run a little bit farther than them. I know, it's dumb.

It would have been better for me to run the 13 miles all together, but oh well- at least I got the miles in. ANNND, I'll always be taking walking breaks during a 100 miler so this was good practice, right?

Dangit. I forgot to do ab stuff before showering. Oops.