Week 2 Run Report

Only ran 3 days during the 2nd week of the year. Had a lot going on and plus Week 1 was a pretty good start in terms of volume. Best runs was on Sunday. Ran outside on one of my normal routes and didn’t have to much of a plan regarding pace, but I wanted to do 5-6 miles. I was feeling ok but really couldn’t judge my pace because my freaking GARMIN 110 has completely died and I am wearing my regular NIKE watch with doesn’t have GPS.
Let me take a moment to gripe about GARMIN for a minute. My first GARMIN watch was the 205 which I wore for quite sometime without much problem except that it did take a while to find the GPS signal much of the time. It died about a year ago and I felt like I got good “mileage” out of it. I bought my first 110 about 18 months ago and within a few months, it was giving me problems. Luckily, Garmin replaced it, without requiring a receipt. However, they replaced it with a different color. The gave me the one with a PINK stripe on it, as opposed to the all BLACK one which is the one I bought. PINK! ICK! But, oh well right…was glad I got it back and it worked fine for about a year. Then, the HR monitor stopped working. OK. I just let it go and moved on. Then, the whole damn thing just DIED. BLANK. Nothing there! Should have been fully charged. BLANK.
Suffice it to say, I am done with GARMIN. To pay their prices for a product that lasted a year is just not worth it. Until I get super anal about having my pace at my disposable every second of every run, I will be fine to just run with my sturdy NIKE watch…which I’ve had for about 6 years and no problems, by the way. I map the distance in my car afterwards or on mapmyrun.com — same thing i did before having a GPS watch. Ok. enough about that!

So, the Sunday run…I felt good first couple of miles which are the ones with the most hilly portions. I knew after about 2.5 miles that my pace had accelerated, but couldn’t tell how much. I was feeling good and happy and it was a gorgeous day and good running temperatures. As I approached the 40 minute mark, I knew from past runs approximately where I was in terms of mileage and I figured my pace was pretty good. I came to a short downhill section and sped up and then finished with a about another half-mile of a rolling section. That last section, I just turned it on a found a deeper gear. Lungs were stretching, thighs were burning, heart was pounding. End result = 5.2 miles @ 8:41 pace. BEST PACE IN A WHILE. HAPPY RUNNER!

2012 Week 2 – approx 13 miles

**Big things happening. Last day at my current employer/job is tomorrow, FRIDAY! Next Monday, I plan to leave Atlanta and make my way back home to San Francisco in my sporty BMW. Hope I don’t hit any snow. Everyone keep their phones handy for a 911 call from me! 🙂

Re-Set

Time to reset. Click the reset button back to zero. I want to choose something new. A new adventure. Not to outdo what i have already done, but to simply have a new goal. It’s who i am. It’s in my make-up. I have been standing around in my house wondering what to do on some days. I have been tired. I have been a little sick. I have been still. I have sat with the uncomfortable. I have felt the post-big-run blues big time. And I have tried to just be with it instead of distract my way out of it with any variety of means. It has not been comfortable, but its what i needed to do. The post-run blues were expected but not to the degree that i have experienced them and so i was thrown for a loop. Now, its been nearly a month since the run and i am just now starting to feel somewhat back to normal, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. I have had so many thoughts, reflection, etc…but will have to save those for another day. why? Cause I bought a new watch. A Garmin Forerunner 100 with a HR Monitor and I wanna go test it out. See Ya.

hey little butterfly

Did some short, high intensity workouts during the week on Wednesday & Thursday. Wednesday was treadmill + weights. Thursday was sprint hill repeats outside. The Hill sprints were also on a day when it was about 88 degrees, so i am especially pleased with that workout. I want to be faster. Bottom Line. Faster on flats, faster on hills.

Saturday – ran 3 miles at 8:43 pace. flat and some small up/down areas

Sunday – went back to Kennesaw and ran same 5 mile route I ran last weekend with Jeff. I pushed the entire way. Didn’t stop at all. (last week, i stopped about 2-3 times). My time was a full 3 minutes faster than last week. THRILLED. There was low humidity yesterday so that definitely helped! Those 5 miles are no joke.

I felt happy and free and had fun. I wasn’t smiling or nothin’, but i was happy inside. A runners happiness. You know what I’m talkin about…

I’m glad to see some of my different workouts paying off.

I had been thinking of going out to Bay Area to run Double Dipsea on June 26th…but flights are over $400. yikes. I might just take the $ and buy a new SUUNTO watch I have my eye on…

Lastly, I saw a very beautiful blue and black butterfly while I was on the trail. At one point, it was right on front of me, weaving right and left…as if it were my guide…

Cheers —