Hanging up my running shoes

[FredtheDuck]

We did yoga a couple of nights as well and that continues to be really enjoyable and relaxing.

Do you do yoga at a class, or at home via DVD/other medium? I'd like to add it back in to my routine, but I'm not a member of a gym anymore so I'm looking for good alternatives to a formal class.

I really do appreciate how easy they made the return process though,

Good to know. DH may be in the market for a better hydration solution soon, so I'll tell him that this place has a good return policy.

in the interest of science

 

[ZellyB]

Do you do yoga at a class, or at home via DVD/other medium? I'd like to add it back in to my routine, but I'm not a member of a gym anymore so I'm looking for good alternatives to a formal class.

We have a DVD. I've never done yoga before, so I was too worried about making a fool of myself at a class. The DVD we have is just a very beginner basic 30 minute thing, but I really do enjoy it and given the fact that I'm a total novice at yoga, it was just my speed!

Good to know. DH may be in the market for a better hydration solution soon, so I'll tell him that this place has a good return policy.

Yeah, it was really easy. I sent an email and they replied in 24 hours with a return authorization number. He did suggest that the problem might be the fit, but said also no problem if I just want to return.

 

[Sailormoon2]

Yeah, it was really easy. I sent an email and they replied in 24 hours with a return authorization number. He did suggest that the problem might be the fit, but said also no problem if I just want to return.

Nice to know there are still quality companies out there!!

 

[disneydaydreamer33]

That is so good that you could return pinkie! Between Costco and Target that will return anything and without a receipt, I have a hard time when companies don't take returns!

 

[run.minnie.miles]

That is great that you can return it! I just had a really bad return experience with LOFT and it totally changes the way you look at a company. Great customer service is SO important!

 

[ZellyB]

YOU SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!! IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TOO!!
Training 7/2 - 7/8
​

Well, hello there, Summer!! Not so nice to finally see you.

Sunday 7/2 - Nice and easy rest day today in a continuation of a long weekend to celebrate America's birthday!!

Monday 7/3 - Track work again. 4 cadence drills/4 acceleration gliders and 12x400 (10K pace). This went well. We are getting much better at consistently hitting the 400 meter segments at our desired pace.
Tuesday 7/4 - Met up with an old running buddy who moved away but was back in town for the holiday. YAY! We had a great early morning run. 6 miles at 120/30 intervals and an overal pace of 10:19! That's fast for me, y'all.

No yoga tonight because we were out late with the kids shooting off fireworks!! Not quite as pretty as these though!!!

Wednesday 7/5 - We are still being lazy about getting back to our core strength workouts. Oops.
Thursday 7/6 - It was ADR day!!! Woohoo. With that in mind, we cut short our run to only 4 miles. Running 2:00/:30 intervals and pace was 10:47. I managed to get all the ADRs I wanted at pretty much the times I wanted. After I got myself very frustrated trying to make the website reservation system work, I finally just gave up and called and they were able to get me all set up. I also called a bit later that morning and secured our reservation for the night after the marathon at Victoria and Alberts! I'm stoked!!

Friday 7/7 - Rest day. I tried to be better about hydrating in advance of our 13 mile training run the next day. The forecast was showing a hot day for this long run.
Saturday 7/8 - This ended up being a really difficult run for me. It all started out so well, too. Our group was doing well and tracking around a 10:45 mm pace, but as the sun came up and the heat started to rise, I could really feel myself struggling. Finally around mile 9, I told Chris to keep on going with the group, but I needed to slow down.

I kept up intervals for a bit longer but just ran slower, but eventually on one of my walk breaks, I could tell I was getting light-headed. For once I was smart and listened to my body and just started walking. I kept telling myself that pace wasn't important and that I just needed to finish the miles. At around mile 11 or so, I was starting to feel better and so added back in some run intervals and also around that time, the next Galloway pace group caught up to me. They run :60/:30 intervals and around a 12 mm pace, so I just started in with them on their intervals and finished out the last couple of miles feeling better. I was actually pretty proud of myself for not beating myself up like I usually do when this happens. My legs felt fine and strong, so the real issue was just the pace, and pace in this training run was not important. Also, once I got back to the car and Chris found me, he told me it was 85 degrees out at that point, so no wonder I was having a hard time. Overall pace ended up at 12:04 and, you know, I'm perfectly okay with that. I know in cooler temps, I would have been able to easily run this 13 miles and that's a good thing to acknowledge, because by the time our fall races roll around it will be cooler and I'll feel great. So how's that for looking at the silver lining?

And best of all - It was my birthday!!! I figure going out and doing what I did at the ripe old age of 53 is worth celebrating too, right? And that's what I did. We got home from the run and spent the rest of the day hanging out in the pool with some nice cold cocktails and then I got taken out for a lovely steak dinner. It was an awesome day!!

 

[roxymama]

 

[rteetz]

Wow what a way to celebrate your birthday! Happy belated birthday by the way!

 

[Dopeyintraining]

Belated birthday greetings to you!!

And what a great way to celebrate.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Happy Birthday!

Glad to see you slowed it down when things didn't feel right. That's a great approach. Keep up the great work!

 

[Anisum]

HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY!! Sounds like you had a great day!

 

[Sailormoon2]

marathon at Victoria and Alberts!

Amazing@! This is such a bucket list item for me, DH is so not a Foodie, so he could never justify the cost, and the whole experience would just be lost on him. LOL! But my sister on the other hand, who is also a Disney die-hard, and I have our eye on this for some point down the road.

I kept telling myself that pace wasn't important and that I just needed to finish the miles.

Totally right. Pace in the heat=how does it feel? I'm glad you listened to your body, and had a successful completion in the end!!

And best of all - It was my birthday!!!

 

[FredtheDuck]

Happy (belated) birthday! Loved reading your approach to finishing out those tough 13 miles, I think it takes a lot of self-awareness to know that you can finish if you're smart about how you do it, and a lot of smarts to be able to put the entire thing in context and know that it was actually a pretty great effort. Nice job!!!

 

[Ariel484]

Happy birthday, my friend!

Smartly making it through a tough run, pool, cocktails and steak?? Sounds like a great day!!

 

[run.minnie.miles]

Happy happy birthday!! I hope you celebrated big!

Your recap of your long run is something that I really needed to read. I admire that you didn't quit (which is likely what I would have done in that heat!) but you were very smart about finishing. AWESOME JOB!

 

[girliea]

Happy birthday ZellyB--a little late but sounds like it was a good one!

 

[SarahDisney]

Happy Belated Birthday!
Slowing down is definitely acceptable when the weather is terrible ... I'm really impressed that you were aware of why you were struggling and found a way to adjust. You definitely earned that awesome birthday celebration!

 

[disneydaydreamer33]

Happy late Birthday!! It sounds like it was a good one! Running in 85 degrees just sounds awful, I'm really impressed you stuck with it in a smart way!! Bravo for that.

 

[sourire]

Happy happy birthday!!! Sounds like it was a wonderful celebration!

 

[ZellyB]

JULY IS FOR BIRTHDAYS! AND OPPRESSIVE HEAT
Training 7/9 - 7/15
​

Sunday 7/9 - Rest day after my difficult long run on Saturday. I actually felt good. Legs were fine and not overly tired which confirms my feeling that this was really just about heat more than the distance. Feeling good!

Monday 7/10 - Track work today. 4CD/4acg/14X400(10K pace). Good run today on the track. Felt good overall and did a good job on hitting our paces.

Tuesday 7/11 - 6 mile run. UGH. Much more hot and humid today and my legs just felt really heavy, so not a very speedy run for us today. We did manage to get our 6 miles in though, so that was the up side. 2:00/:30 intervals and overall pace of 11:12.

We forgot to do yoga this evening.

Wednesday 7/12 - Rest day. Just can't seem to motivate myself back into strength workouts.
Thursday 7/13 - 6 mile run. Felt a little better today than on Tuesday, but still took it a bit easier than previous weeks. 2:00/:30 intervals and overall pace of 11:01. Feeling comfortable with the longer 6 mile maintenance runs though, so happy with that.
Today was also my Dad's birthday. He's 93 years old and still doing great. He routinely goes for walks at the fitness center every day and does some light weights, and does lots of work around the house and still loves to mow the lawn. So happy we still have him and in such good health!


Friday 7/14 - This is normally a rest day before our Galloway group long runs, but we were going to be out of town on Saturday, so decided to try and do our 8 mile run on Friday morning instead. This did not go well. We got a late start, so getting in 8 miles before needing to get home to prepare for work was going to be tough. It was hot and humid again and once again, I had lead legs.

As time was running short, we ended up calling it quits at 6 miles. I know missing 2 miles won't kill anything, but I was pretty frustrated by the end of it. 2:00/:30 intervals and overall pace of 11:21.

Saturday 7/15 - My sweet little girls turn 14 on the 17th (today!!). I'm not sure how that is possible since they were just born yesterday,

Easter bonnets by giseleb2, on Flickr

but regardless, they wanted to go to Worlds of Fun amusement park in Kansas City with some of their friends for their birthday. So, it was me and Chris and 5 teenage girls at an amusement park that was roughly the temperature of the surface of the SUN!!!

We actually had a really fun day and took a break mid-day to cool off and rest before closing the park down at midnight!!! The kids had a great time. I hadn't been to an amusement park other than Disney or Silver Dollar City in many years, and boy, is there a big difference. It was fine; it was fun, but I certainly missed the magic of a nicer theme park.

So, anyway, as I post this today, my baby girls are growing up on me.

Teens by giseleb2, on Flickr

And one final rant - the pictures today are brought to you by Flickr because Photobucket decided to hold me ransom in order to continue to use photos for 3rd party hosting. I wouldn't have minded paying a reasonable fee to continue to use them - I get it. They are a business and need to make money, but they wanted something like $400 per year for 3rd party hosting. So, yeah, not gonna happen. Meanwhile, this journal as well as my trip reports that I've done now have dozens of crappy shots of Photobucket telling me how popular I am and that if I want to share that with all my fans I need to go pay their ransom. All this with nearly no notice of the change. Maybe at some point I'll work on changing over my trip reports to Flickr or another hosting site and try to fix them, but that would literally take me hours and hours of work. Hmmph. Rant over.