Race Recap: Jack O Lantern Jog

I ran the Jack O Lantern jog at Sandy Creek Nature Center. The course is certified. It's flat and I've heard great things about it.

My goal in this race was to run a 22:30. But secretly I was hoping for low 22s, which I think I'm capable of.

I was really excited about this race. The weather was supposed to be great. Then my fast friend said he'd pace me. PERFECT.

Then the weather forecast changed and got really cold. I don't do cold. My asthmatic lungs don't work when it's cold. And I was dreading this.

Had I not had a friend pacing me, there's a good chance I would have just not shown up.

But I did. I took all my inhalers and dressed as warmly as I could (wool socks, crops, warmest long sleeve with a tank over it [I thought I would get too hot in this top. I didn't], and a sweat band.) I warmed up with track pants and a vest. I could have kept the vest on. I never really warmed up.

How the race went:

I started my watch at the start. It didn't start. So I had to start it again after I'd run a few seconds. Ugh.

Mid stride checking my watch. 

Mile 1: Felt good. 7:08
Mile 2: 7:12. Still going strong.
And then I completely bonked in mile 3. I was wheezing. I could hear this high pitched gasp at the end of my breaths. And I couldn't. My watch was showing 7:40 pace. I tried to change my breathing—nose breaths, deeper breaths. That didn't help.

It wasn't my legs or my energy. I just couldn't breathe. I was dying. I yelled to my pacer as much and he slowed down.

I kept telling myself I could finish one more mile, and then a half mile and then I was just looking for the finish line. I did sprint to it.

I thought my time was 22:31. That's what I saw when I crossed the line. But officially it was 22:33.

Which was my goal time.

And I should be happy to be chipping away at that PR 5k time. 11 seconds since September is awesome.

But I'm so disappointed running a 7:40 third mile. Those aren't good splits. I should have been at least 20 seconds faster.

I finished second place woman and 10th overall for a small race.

Me and my awesome pacer Mike. THANK YOU. 

I ran my cool down and my breathing normalized since I wasn't racing.

And I want to be positive. I did the very best I could. I ran in the coldest weather I've ever run in (46 degrees with 22 mph winds). My lungs wouldn't have done that a year ago. And my lungs gave me a good two miles in the cold. I just need to work on my endurance. (Good news: legs are fine.)

But overall I'm just disappointed in myself. The course was great. I'd run a race out there again. But I think my next race will have to be when it's warmer. I've marked noon and afternoon races—and might do a day-of sign-up if there's good weather. Hopefully I can find a race in the high 50s or 60s.

**The owner of the running store told me good job. And that actually does make me feel better of the race. I will try to be positive. (I DID THE BEST RACE I COULD.)

Workouts this week: Oct. 9-15

This was a tired week of working out: a few rough runs.

Monday: Off
Rest day. Caught up on SNL from the weekend

Tuesday: Speed work
It was 86 degrees and 70% humidity.  I think that’s all I need to say. It was hot and soupy out. It felt like June and everyone was complaining about the weather.

The workout was 2 1200s and 2 800s and a bonus 400 if you wanted.

I aimed to go around 7 minute pace. Hahahaha. With the heat, that wasn’t happening.

My 1200s were both at 5:16. Which is 7 minute mile pace plus one second.

Then on to 800s. My first lap felt hard. My second lap was utter garbage. 3:31. I felt sick. My stomach hurt. I felt like I was going to barf. It’s one of the worst laps I’ve had since coming back after shin splints.

I took an extra 10-20 seconds to recover after everyone else. (My recoveries are usually shorter since I’m the last to finish). I ran another 3:31. It was hard. So hard. It was the second lap again. My legs were okay. My body was just working too hard in the heat.

I didn’t do the bonus 400. I had nothing left. I barely finished the last 800.

I did a cool down for an even 4 miles. That was super hard.

Wednesday: 5 miles
It feels like July outside. I ran 5 miles. It wasn’t as bad as yesterday, but it’s just too hot to feel good on a run. 85 degrees. The trails were practically empty. I didn’t see as many other as I usually do. There was also a big tree down (new) at the bottom of the main hill—so to get around you needed some knowledge of the trails. So lots of things to go around on this run. There’s a fence near the band practice field, the chain at the top of the hill, a lot of the side trails taped off (so varying degrees of being able to go around.)

Thursday: off
I was supposed to run 4 or 6 miles today. I decided it was too hot and I wasn’t running. I WAS going to go to yoga, but I had to work a few minutes late, so I didn’t go to yoga. And I didn’t do yoga at home. I walked Mojo, did 20 minutes on the exercise bike and then did 10 minutes of stretching and rolling. Oh well.

Friday: 4 miles + yoga
I’m back on track after yesterday’s laziness. I ran 4 miles at the iM Fields.

I had my hair braided and my elastics fell out around mile 1.5. So I ran almost a mile with my hair tucked in my sports bra. I did thankfully find the elastics again. Yay.
There’s a new obstacle every time I run this trail. I noticed a “Do Not Enter” sign for the first time. I was past it before I realized what it said. They have installed another gate in the forest part of the trail (in addition to the gate at the bottom of the area between the tennis courts and the Redcoat practice field). They added some gravel after the (open) gate. Ugh.
And maybe people are heeding the sign I only now noticed, because I see way less people out there.

Then I went to yoga. There were only two people + the instructor. This happens every now and then. It’s a good way to stretch after a run.

Saturday: Long run
Third 10 miler today. I felt a little tired on this one. I took my first gel. I was trying it out. I think other than being gross (the texture!) it had NO effect on me at all. I didn’t notice a difference.

The trail was covered in leaves—which slows me down a tad (since I can’t see the roots and there are roots EVERYWHERE on this trail.) Saw three deer. Including the two from last week.

I think I only had 8 in the tank today, because I got to 8 and my legs would not turn over.

WHEN DO 10-MILERS GET EASIER?

Those last two miles were utter garbage. They were hard. I wanted to walk. And I didn’t know WHERE TO RUN. I found this little trail and I wondered if it would work. I tried running road miles and my legs didn’t like that—I was running super slow and my feet weren’t landing right so I switched to an unknown windy trail and that helped some. I had nothing left.

And then my legs were achier after I finished. (They’re usually fine.) I felt like I was stiff and a little more limpy than normal.

NOT my dog. His doppelgänger
at the nature center where I did my run. 

I did get 25,000 steps in for the day. Which is awesome.

Sunday: Run + yoga
I was up at 5 because the dog and the cat both puked. (Super gross. Don’t ask.) And I couldn’t go back to sleep. That’s off topic, but oh well.

I had 1.7 miles to run to make my goal of 25 miles. And I’ve only done 2.5 in speed work so I did some more speed.

I did a walking and running warm up (½ mile) and then did 3 1000-meter repeats. Which is a fun little workout. 5 laps at the indoor track. 60 second between each.

I was supposed to run around 4:23 for each 1,000 as part of a sub 22 5k workout plan I saw online. I thought a few seconds slower would be okay, because I’m not quite there yet.

4:30 (7:12 pace)
4:22 (6.59 pace)
4:13 (6.45 pace).

So a nice progression there.

I started a little slow but within target. (7:12 would be perfect for a 5k). My watch doesn’t do pacing right for indoor runs. It was saying 7:40 pace or 8:35 pace for these laps. (Also I just noticed it said 90 second recovery, but I thought it was 60 seconds, so oops again).

I ran another lap so it would be 3200 meters or two miles.

Then I headed to yoga. I like this combo of speed work plus yoga. It makes sure I stretch after the run. And I need to stretch.

Week by numbers:
Workouts this week: 5 runs, 2 yoga classes.
(And a lot of bad runs this week. Tuesday and Wednesday, it was too hot to run. Saturday I was tired. Friday and Sunday were okay.)
Miles this week: 25.85

Lululemon Dawsonville outlet review

I’ve wanted to go to a Lululemon outlet since I knew they existed. I love getting a good price on Lulu.

But until now the closest to my house were Myrtle Beach—6 hour drive and Orlando—11 hour drive.

In August, a Lululemon outlet opened in the North Georgia Premium outlets. It’s a 90 minute drive from my house. I learned about this 2-3 weeks ago. And when I was an hour horth of my house getting my car repaired, I tacked this on the end of my trip.

The store really was a mix between the warehouse sale and a showroom.

Scarf wall. 

• The interior was pretty spartan. It wasn’t warm like my local showroom (with candles and wood floors). But it was functional.
• There was a small men’s section and a TINY kids section. 75% of the store was women’s clothes.
• Clothes were arranged by type: a wall of bras, leggings together, capris together, tanks together, longsleeves together—and arranged by size. 6 together etc. There was a wall of bags and accessories.
• Most of the clothes had their final sale price marked on them. Some of the clothes were MORE on sale: $24 sports bras, $10 off long sleeves, $29 tanks. The educators said they change their sales daily, so I’d go back.

Selection
A vast majority of the stock was items currently on markdown: things that won’t move. (high neck sports bras that most people don’t like, a strappy tank that has poor reviews on the website.)

It was slim pickings for favorites and I spent more than an hour carefully looking through all the racks.
• I had wanted some more Cool Racerbacks. There were a few in 4 in neon orange, but nothing in my size.
• There were NO swiftly longsleeves. I found a short sleeve in 1 color. It might have been the only one in the store.
• As for crops, they were still expensive. I tried on a pair of run inspires from a few years ago. Still $69 so I passed. There were a lot of wunder unders from 2 years ago, some jet crop slims. If you wanted any crops in black, they were only in stock in 12.
• There just wasn’t a lot in my size (a 6). There was a ton of cute stuff in size 12.

I was a tad disappointed in the selection, but that’s probably better for my wallet. Here’s what I got.

• For Matt: tank top $29 and shorts $39 (price online)

• For me, I stocked up on $24 sports bras. I got an energy bra, a floral print invigorate bra, and two light support black bras that I figured I could wear to yoga. I’m always reaching for black yoga bras. (There really weren’t that many bras. Maybe a dozen in my size).
• I got a blue swiftly short sleeve.

• I found a yoga tank for $29 (I was hoping it was a run tank, but it’s not. It's the reveal racerback and it's cute but it rode up A TON during yoga.
• I got a black casual long sleeve, just because it was comfy.

• I eyed the scarves for $24, but didn’t know who I’d buy them for (as a gift)

I wanted some shorts, but there was nothing interesting in my size (again super small selection). Just lots of micro mini tennis skirts. I looked at the crops, but didn’t see anything I was interested in. Lots of previous season dud styles.

I had wanted a yoga mat, but they had one pink super thin mat and a bunch of thin yellow ones. They all looked thinner that I’d like.

I’d go back to the outlet, but I think the key is buying what’s on the sale of the day. Everything else isn’t that great of a value. Unless you’re just looking for an older style. But it was really nice to be able to try so many different styles on.

Workouts this week: Oct. 2-8

Getting faster! 

Oct. 2: Off
Took today off working out. Always amazed at how much time I have when I don’t run. I made dinner for Matt and me, prepped a salad for lunch tomorrow, caught up on SNL, did some dishes. It’s amazing

Oct. 3: Speed work at the track
Today’s workout was 10x400 at the track
The directions were to take the first few slower than 5k pace with short breaks (less than 90 seconds between each rep).

My 5k pace is about 7:20, so I was thinking about 1:50 per lap. Maybe faster since I want to get my 5k down closer to 7 minutes a mile.

Well everyone else at the workout runs 6-minute miles in their 5ks, so I was WAY behind the group. I was looking at my watch and running easy and strong and finishing 10-20+ seconds behind everyone. I was running great—but everyone is so much faster than me.

Can we have more people my speed at this workout? PLEASE. Would love someone to run with. (And since everyone is faster than me I was getting maybe a 60 second break. I knew because I had about 30 seconds left on my watch everyone we restarted laps.)

Splits
 1:48, 1:48, 1:43, 1:43, 1:40, 1:39, 1:41, 1:38, 1:38, 1:21. (7:09 to 5:19 a mile pacing)

I turned up the speed for that last one. Strava said 1:19. Mike called out 1:21. It could have been faster. I got boxed in by a newbie runner on the first 100 and couldn’t go around (despite me saying I was going to run with Sally and lining up next to her. This guy kept blocking Matt too.)

I was happy with this workout. I worked HARD but not too hard. I was working to keep those first reps as easy as I possibly could while maintaining.

Garmin. Again I tried setting the workout in Garmin.
But it wanted me to do a 90 second recovery after my warmup. (That is NOT what I programmed).

Wednesday: Your Pie Group run

I am THE WORST at going to group runs. (It’s probably been since June).

I had planned to do 5 miles today, but I saw an announcement for the Your Pie group run. And I’ve been meaning to try it for six months. I decided today was the day. So I went and ran some laps around the track and then did the run. (3.14 miles)

The perk is you get a ticket for free beer or gelato. I got some sorbet. I ordered a pizza to be a good consumer.

I don’t do group runs because I don’t run on the roads. (I worry about shin splints). And I like to pick my own route. It didn’t hurt to do a few miles on the road today. It was nice to see other runners. But meh. I think I’d rather run trails. (And I didn’t particularly want pizza after a hot run.)

Oct. 5
I really didn’t want to run today. I was tired all day. I came home and took a nap. But felt like I needed to get miles in. So I waited too late and didn’t actually start running until 7:04 (when sunset was at 7:10.) That first mile was okay. Mile 2 was DARK. Mile 3 was scary dark. Mile 4 was dark to the point that I needed a headlamp, but ran in the grass so it was okay. (The wood trails were darker than the trail around the fields).

IT IS GETTING DARKER EARLY. It didn’t think it would THAT dark so fast. But it did. I even saw a bat fly by my head on my last mile.

My plan had been to run 6 miles, but I didn’t have that in me. I ran 4 and I’ll say that’s good enough.

Oct. 6
I usually do Friday yoga after work at the student gym. But I went home and kind of did 10 minutes of yoga on my own. I did 20 minutes on the exercise bike and 30 minutes of yoga and 10 minutes of rolling. Apparently I REALLY needed to roll out my legs. Yikes.

Oct. 7: Saturday long run. 
I decided to do my long run today. And the plan was to do it solo. Matt was supposed to do his 12 mile run with a group, so I’d do 10 miles of trails by myself. (I couldn’t think of anyone to ask to run with me.) Matt slept through his group run and then decided to rest instead of run, so it was indeed by myself.

I probably waited a few minutes too long to start my run. I started it after 8 a.m. I ran the first four miles of Cook’s Trail, stopped and got water, and then ran a mile of Buckeye Trail to Lakeside Trail until I got to 5 miles and then turned around and came back.

My route wasn’t the best, because that section of Buckeye Trail was STEEP and I had to walk. (13% grade at the steepest and the hill goes on for a half mile). That’s not the mile I need to add on. So if I do 10 again, I’m not doing that section. It was too steep. It looped me around to Lakeside Trail and I was running downhill and there was a bridge, and I had so much momentum I almost went over the side of the narrow bridge (and there was a good 8 feet of drop under the bridge). I had to use my arms to save it. Eek!

The run back was a bit of a slog. I was tired. (I did see three deer.) It was 100% humidity and I could feel it. And running solo for that many miles is BORING and LONELY. Pandora quit somewhere around mile 7 so I put it on my run playlist on my phone. My hip flexors were sore on the last two miles, so I need to make sure to stretch them out. But I did it. I did 10 miles. And I didn’t walk on the last four miles back (I was so bored and tired. It was a mental effort not to quit, even though I wanted to.)

Then the rest of the day was super busy. We had a lot planned.

Oct. 8
I had 2 miles left to make my goal of 25 miles (since I ran shorter on Thursday). But I decided to get another speed session in. (One of the sub 22 5k training plans has speed work twice a week).

My idea was to see how fast I could run 2 miles. I haven’t done this in a while and it’s a little like a tempo run. I’m trying out race pace to see what I can run a 5k in.

I went to the indoor track (it was humid and storming outside) and did a short warmup (I was running late), and then ran 2 miles.

Garmin cannot figure out pacing for an indoor track. It never tells me my pace right. I tried the workout function as opposed to the treadmilll run. It was way less accurate. (Said I ran .78 miles total instead of 2, but it still had my overall time like a stop watch).

The track wasn’t too, too busy, so I didn’t have to weave too much.

My goal was 14:00. So two 7 flat miles. Ambitious? I think I’ve run a 14:20 before at the track. That calculated to 52.5 seconds per lap (if my math is right).

My first lap was 48 seconds. Too fast. I dialed it back. At the half mile point I was right at 3:30.
Mile 1: 6:49

(Which is the first time I’ve broken 7 for a mile since July. Workouts haven’t really called for it.)

So all I have to do is run 7:10 for my next mile and I made my goal.

At this point, I wasn’t checking my watch every lap. I looked down on occasion, but tried to FEEL where I should run. And sadly, this mile was a little slower. 6:57. For a total of 13:47.

WHICH IS FASTER THAN EXPECTED.

I was SO HAPPY WITH THIS TIME. And I’ve worked so hard, it’s GREAT to see my times dropping. (I didn’t know I could run that fast. I’d hoped, of course.)

It was a hard run, but I wasn’t DEAD after. It wasn’t unreasonably hard. It was also solo—so a possibly a little competition could make me a little speedier.

After that, I walked two laps, changed clothes and went to yoga. That was my stretching.

Workouts this week: 5 runs (1 group run), 2 yoga classes
Miles this week: 25

Workouts this week: Sept. 25-Oct. 1

Monday: still sick
Day 5 of battling a nasty virus. Sickest I've been this year. Didn't have any energy.

Tuesday: Attempt at running
After missing 3-4 runs last week, I thought I'd TRY to run before I lost any fitness. I was feeling a tad better. I had more energy than the last few days. I wasn't feeling great. My thought was just to see what happened. If I had to run-walk a mile, so be it

I went out to the IM Fields and ran 3.5 miles.

My legs were so happy to run. Stretching them out felt great

And the run didn't feel THAT bad. (I didn't feel like I'd lost any fitness)

A lot of the side trails were blocked off as part of a stream cleanup they're doing. That was kind of annoying, but gave me a chance to stop and take pictures of the trail closure signs.

When I stopped running, I started coughing like a smoker. But will call that run a success. (And I don't think I could have run a day earlier.)

Wednesday: Athens Road Runners Trail series

I'm awful about going to group runs so I try to make the trail runs, so darn it I was going to this one. (Though still sick and I sound congested when I talk).

The run was six miles of Cook's Trail: three out and three back.

I got to mile 3 and it was a total struggle fest. It was 91 degrees. I had dropped way back. On mile 4 and 5 I had to walk. I was one of maybe 6 people to do the full six miles. Except Sally, all the other women did 4 or 5. I was the last one to finish.

The is one of the hardest runs I’ve done in a while. I would have loved some water midway. My throat was dry. I was congested. I couldn't breathe. I was super sweaty. Just ugh.

But it cleared a lot of congestion out of my head. I felt better after.

Thursday: Yoga
Went to yoga to stretch today

Friday: speed work
This is the speed work I didn't do on Tuesday because I was sick. The workout was 5 800s, start at 10k pace, 5k pace, a tad faster, 5k pace, 10k pace.

I did this on the indoor track at Ramsey. I did a little more than a half mile for a warmup and then stretched.
3:44
3:37
3:17
3:30 (then decided to do 6 instead of 5, so threw another in at 5k pace)
3:35
3:43

I felt fine in this workout UNTIL my last 400. It’s 4 laps around a 200 meter track. On lap one I started to get a tickle in the back of my throat. It was the asthma attack tickle. But I had just taken my inhaler. So I struggled to breathe and tried to run another 600 meters. I really, really needed water. I finished my laps, coughed, got water, walked around, wheezed, wheezed some more, and then did my cool down. It was pretty scary. But now I know I can run 600 meters at 7:30 pace after an almost asthma attack.

(Also, Garmin is NO help during these workouts. It doesn’t measure the indoor distance correctly so it says may pace is between 7:40 to 8:48 a mile.)

Saturday: 4 mile run
I wasn’t up to my long run today so decided to give it an extra day. I’d run some easy miles so I could make mileage for the week. Matt ran with me.

Sunday: Long run + yoga
Did 8 miles of Cook’s Trail this morning. We ran at 10 a.m.. The weather is finally cooling off. The weather was perfect. The trail was beautiful.

Officially the trail is closed because of storm damage from a few weeks ago, but it’s runnable. We ran all the way to Sandy Creek Park (where I got some water and blew my nose.) I actually got a PR for my time coming back. I probably would have had an even better time if I hadn’t stop for a minute to switch on Pandora, adjust my headphones and wait for Matt. (He’s still sick, like me 5 days ago. Thought it was amazing he did 8 miles.)

I guess the trail is officially closed, because a tree fell into boardwalk, and thus the boardwalk isn’t 100% structurally sound. (Just be careful) And a few board are a tiny bit loose. But mostly fine. Matt said the trail was rerouted in a section (I didn’t notice.) The big tree that fell over the path had been cut up and was on either side of the trail.

Matt led on the way in and I led on the way back. It was a decent run. I could have run 10—if not for germs and congestion.

I went to yoga to stretch out that evening.

Week in review:
5 runs + 2 yoga classes
Miles this week: 25.5
Miles this month: 93 (missed 100 miles because I was sick. Boo)