RnR: Week 4 Day 7

Great hill work this morning with my hubby and my BIL. We ran at the Los Gatos Creek Trail all the way to the top of Manzanita Trail at St. Joseph's Hill and down Jones rail towards downtown for a total of 6.65 miles @ 1:19:15. It was sunny, warm and humid. I had a tough time getting through the first 4 miles which happened to include 3 killer hills in today's running route. My legs felt like jello, I had a hard time finding my groove. I managed to get myself to a slow run the first hill towards the Lexington Reservoir but the St. Joseph's hill climb I pretty much just walked.

The way down the hills was a different story. I felt like I was flying out there and it felt awesome. It was well worth the struggle the first 4 miles. It was like a reward after all the hard work. My mile splits are as follows:

Mile 1 - 11:02
Mile 2 - 11:24
Mile 3 - 16:05
Mile 4 - 13:08
Mile 5 -10:59
Mile 6 -10:40
Extra 0.65mile - 10:08

Big thanks to my hubby, as always and to my BIL for running with me, for motivating and inspiring me to keep pushing myself to reach further. It was one tough but an awesome run nonetheless.

Our 6.65 mile route today

Today's elevation

RnR: Week 4 Day 6

I was all dressed and ready to head out to the gym this afternoon when I did the unthinkable! I sat on the couch and watched TV. The 2001 Planet of the Apes with Mark Whalberg just started and once I sat down, I got stucked watching the rest of it. I am blaming Mark Whalberg on this one!

I was supposed to do 3 miles today but since I didn't make it to the gym tonight, I made up for it by doing 20 mins of Total Body Pilates and another 10 mins of Pilates Abs both with Nicole Stewart on Exercise TV. It was late but I got it done.

I will have to try to shut out distractions like this next time especially now that I am on training. It's one thing to modify the training plan to suit my schedule but its a whole other thing to cram and try to squeeze in one missed workout/run into the next. I gotta stay focused and not get easily distracted anymore.

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RnR: Week 4 Day 5

Fridays are rest days on the schedule and so I took it. I am glad that I was able to get back on track with my mileage this week or I'd feel riddled with guilt while taking this rest day. However, this wasn't necessarily a rest day per se, because my family and I were at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk Friday and I was on my feet walking most of the evening. We watched the Gin Blossoms live in concert for free and the rest of the time was spent walking getting to and from one ride to the other.

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RnR: Week 4 Day 4

Got my running mojo back today! Evidently, having an unplanned rest yesterday has helped me get my energy back. After a few suckish runs in the past couple days, it is awesome to finally have a run that actually felt good! I hit the treadmill at the gym with the goal of making up the mileage I missed on Wednesday's scheduled 35 min tempo and adding today's 3 mile run for a total of 6 miles. I am so happy to have achieved the goal of the day. It wasn't one of my best runs whoever it certainly is one of those runs where I finished happy and contented. It was a really good solid run for me, I even ended up with negative splits!

Mile 1 - 11:51
Mile 2 - 10:42
Mile 3 - 10:20
Mile 4 -10:17
Mile 5 - 9:49
Mile 6 - 9:16

Still high on endorphins after the run when I got back home, I decided to follow it up with 20 mins of Total Body Pilates with Nicole Stewart and another 20 mins of Incredible Abs 6 with Cindy Whitmarsh for a total of 40 mins of workout on Exercise TV.

I wish it is like this everyday but then again running won't be fun anymore. It'll be just plain, monotonous and boring.  I guess having to go through all the ups and downs makes it exciting, interesting and most of all gratifying when you are able to persevere and get through the tough part.

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RnR: Week 4 Day 3

Totally slacking off today! It is 35 min tempo on the schedule but I've been busy around the house. Also, I've been seriously tired from not getting enough zzzs the past couple nights, its not even funny anymore. Gotta get this 'project' done so I can get back to my normal sleeping time again.

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RnR: Week 4 Day 2

I have been extremely sleep deprived for the past week. I have been staying up all night 'til the wee hours of the morning working on a project that just seemed like its never going to get done. I realized during today's run just how much lack of sleep has affected my training. I have been feeling tired and sluggish because of it.

Even though I knew this run is going to be hard, I headed out there to get in tonight's scheduled 3.5 miles. I was actually thinking maybe I can make it to 4 but as the run progressed, I was getting more and more tired and more frustrated. My legs were so heavy like I have casts on them and just overall feeling weak and exhausted. It was one of those suckish run that I just had to bail out by mile 3. I did a total of 3.09 miles @ 31:21 minutes and splits at 10:23, 9:56 and 10:00.

Not getting enough sleep is seriously messing up with my mood, energy and endurance. Today's run just made it emphatically clear just how important  a good night's sleep is if I want to run and become a stronger runner.

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RnR: Week 4 Day 1

Week 4 already! 8 more weeks to go 'til the big day! Gosh, it just seemed to fly by. I have my Los Gatos Dammit Run next week which will be my 'training race'. I just got my bib in the mail yesterday. This race is only 5 miles but it is going to be tough for me considering the course is on a gnarly rugged terrain. I have never run a race on a hilly course before so this is going to be quite a challenge.

I barely had time to fit in a workout today but good thing today's schedule only called for stretch and strength. I was able to get my workout in late in the evening. I did 20 mins of Total Body Pilates with Nicole Stewart followed by another 20 mins of 10lbs Slimdown Yoga with Chris Freytag. Thank god for Exercise TV On Demand. I could get things done anytime I can.

This is why I love training! I love having the structure to follow. It helps me get myself committed to training and be motivated to push myself to stick to it and get it done. One thing I learned about running is that, there is nothing impossible if you just work hard for it. Over a year ago, when I started training for my first 10k, I thought running a 10k race was a crazy idea. I was nervous just by the thought of it. Now looking back, I am so proud of myself for taking that challenge. I am now getting to a place where I'd never thought I could get to. I never thought I could finish a 10k, let alone a 13.1 mile race. This is now my 2nd half marathon training and would love to run more races in the future and maybe my first full marathon in the not-so-distant future.

from Pinterest