Halfway There...

We are officially half-way through the training program. The 8-mile run on Sunday concluded week nine! Chris and I had a really great run on Sunday; because we are still unsure of pacing and whatnot, I have broken the run down into each mile so that Lauren can see if we are on track and if we are tackling the long runs properly. Plus, I just learned how to use a bunch of cool new features on the GPS watch!
Mile 1: 9:53
Mile 2: 10:10
Mile 3: 11:07 (the extra minute came from a 1-minute walk/water break)
Mile 4: 10:01
Mile 5: 10:01
Mile 6: 11:11 (includes a minute walk break/water/sports gel pack)
Mile 7: 10:09
Mile 8: 9:49
Total time: 1:22:24 Average pace: 10:18/mile
The run was the best long run that I have had throughout the training. My right shin is incredibly sore today however; I am not sure if it is a muscle strain or shin splints. (It wasn’t hurting at all during the run) Any treatment suggestions are incredibly welcome. I could barely walk on it today. This is the first time I have really felt any pain or soreness after running. I am not sure if I should try running tomorrow or if it is better to take the day off?
I can’t wait until we can get together again for another long run; Chris and I will definitely check our schedules, and we will set up another play date in Dallas one weekend.

Breakthrough!

Tonight I had the best run of my life...that’s right, of every single run that I had ever made, tonight’s was the best. I jogged four miles without any stopping, or walking, etc... I just ran straight through the whole thing! I literally had a smile on my face the entire time!! We finished in 39:35; it was also the first time that I have ever run without looking at my watch one time. This run tonight made all of the misery from last week melt away. I am now more excited about running than I was on day 1. I pretty much played the cheesiest mind-game with myself the entire time, but hey it definitely worked. I imagined every bad thing in my life and everyone who has ever tried to hold me back, and I ran away from them. I looked forward to ever great thing that is in my life, and I ran toward them!! I just wanted to share that with everyone!!! Hope you have a great week and an even greater 8 mile run on Sunday (eek...that is just a tad scary!)

It's Official Folks...We're Runners!!

Well, Sunday we completed our longest run to date. It was quite amazing! I now consider myslef a runner for two reasons: 1) I ate a disgusting pack of goo for the sake of running and 2) I ran in public in a sports bra! After mile 3 I decided it was a little too hot for a long-sleeved shirt, so I tied it around my waist and finished the run in my sports bra! Our run went well; it took us 79 minutes start to finish. I felt really great the whole time until the last mile when I started to really break down, but hey...I finished! This week will be even more challenging, and I am really looking forward to taking it on.
I hope everyone has a fantastic week, and I look forward to hearing from you!!

We Run So We Can Drink and Eat Wings

Yep, this is a picture of us about 40 minutes after completing 7 miles in 75 minutes. Suck on it Weight Watchers. We're at Buffalo Wild Wings watching the 'aints (formerly known as the Saints) lose. Good try though guys, really.

Anyway... Lauren and I think the run went really well. White Rock was wonderful and the temperature tipped the scales at a massive 53° at 3:00. Excellent running weather. This week is a series of 3-4-3 followed by an 8 mile run on Sunday. It's going to be tough because my parents and two youngest brothers are coming in. Somehow, I don't think they'll want to come.

On the technical side... the Garmin reported me as having burned over 1500 calories during the run. I found a good forum post somewhere on the net alluding to an update. We'll see how it fairs. In the mean time I have a very informative Runner's World article to share.
HOW MANY CALORIES ARE YOU REALLY BURNING?

Running Blues

Well Team, we have nearly completed week 8 of training!! This week has by far been the most difficult week that I have experienced thus far. I’m am not quite sure what it is...my schedule is all jumbled because school just started, I haven’t had the time to monitor my diet as carefully, and I am just feeling crappy about my progress. Two out of the three runs this week had me in tears and wanting to just quit. My three mile run times have been great the last couple of weeks, but this week I was barely able to finish them! Hopefully this is just a small bump in the road, and soon I will snap out of it. For the Sunday run, Chris and I have worked out a plan to keep it enjoyable: we are going to run 10-minute miles with a 1-minute break in between each mile. I think this will help me to tackle the long run with more confidence!! Oh yah, we each got a Clif shot thing so that we can try them out on Sunday. I’m pretty stoked about that!!!
Happy trails my friends!!!!

Inspiration from a DVD rental

If you're looking for something to give you that extra push of motivation that will get you through the long hours of running that training for a half marathon or marathon requires, then you should rent Running on the Sun. This film documents the trials and tribulations of forty runners as they attempt to complete one of the most difficult and dangerous races in the world: The Badwater. The race is a grueling 135 miles through Death Valley in the July heat, through sand storms and up miles of mountains. The race has to be completed in less than 60 hours; to get the "belt buckle," the coveted finisher's medal, you must finish in less than 48 hours.
I never realized the things that can happen to the human body under such pressure; then again, I also never realized how much a person could push himself to achieve a feat like this. The runners are what everyone would call "runners," but not necessarily what you would call "athletes." They're regular people, just like you and me, who set out to do something extraordinary. They were men and women, and they ranged in age from mid to late 20s to a man who was 68. They came from several different countries. Most of them were blue collar workers. One was a New York Times journalist. One was a United States Marine. Two men were amputees.
It was incredible to see who made it the entire distance, and who was taken down by the elements. While the young Marine succumbed to the heat and became so dehydrated that he had to be given an IV, therefore disqualifying him, a man whose right arm and leg were lost in a land mine crossed the finish line before the 60 hour time limit.
If that doesn't motivate you, then I don't know what will.

Another big one @ White Rock

6.64mi in 1:25 for a pace of 12:49. Max pace: 8:19 waiting outside of a porta-potty according to the Forerunner (ran in circles for a while). It was a good run with a nice easy pace in which ran 5 and 1s for the most part because we're still building Jaspreet up. He's showing a ton of improvement and just needs a little more motivation to go all the way.

White Rock is nice and flat, and it's pretty hard to get bored. We'll definitely be out there again.

One word of advice. Take the maps you get off of the USATF website, like this one, with a grain of salt. We ended up taking a different route back because it turns out Mockingbird doesn't seem to have a side walk at the turn around point in the link above and you do not want to run down Mockingbird without one. Aside from this little snafu, I love the website and from now on I'm going to post our courses under the Team Allison Krewe name. Look for links to those in a later post.

Team AllisonKrewe: 12/31/06

Left to right: Cassidy, Chris, Sadie, David, Lauren

First run as a team, 5 miles

Yep, no I in Team...

Sunday was the AllisonKrewe team's first run together! That's right, all four team members plus junior puppy member Sadie were running all over Rockwall...or at least, all over the area surrounding the apartment complex so that it added up to 5 miles. Making our own path was easy thanks to our new GPS watch which tracked our every move. In my opinion, the run was a good one. Good pace, nice and easy, several challenging hills, only two stops, felt good afterward, and everyone stayed together. Of course, it was a lot more interesting since we were just running without a set path. It was like Choose Your Own Adventure running: do we run down this sidewalk or cross the street? Do we choose the hilly neighborhood or the track? Do we turn around or go down the random dirt path? Do we keep running through the sticky mud that weighs down our shoes or head for the back parking lot of the Hobby Lobby?

Nothing makes running more entertaining than having 3 people and a dog running with you, and having no idea where you're going. Yeah, we know, we're EXTREME.