Joined an Old Gym

Credit:Getty Images/iStockphoto

Joined an old gym?! By old, I mean it's a gym I used to belong to, so it's not new, or new to me. It's been quite a few years, though!


I stopped by to pick up my new badge last evening after work, and chatted with a woman behind the desk. It wasn't long before we realized we remembered each other from my last membership. Plus, she remembered my parents from their memberships there too (years ago)! It was a little bittersweet talking about that, but good too.


Meanwhile, my activity there is limited to low key activities until after my doctor sees the results from next week's cardiac stress test. Safety first.

C25K Week 8 Complete!

Had a really good run/walk on the American Tobacco Trail this morning! The skies were overcast, which really helped, especially since I got a late start. This is my longest distance outdoors since running the Run for the Oaks 5K at the end of Week 1. Glad to crack 21:00 avg. min/mile again with this run, as my pace had slowed lately. Just a really nice run.

Another Magic Mile Test

George and I returned to the American Tobacco Trail this evening, this time to do a Magic Mile. I was concerned about doing a Magic Mile at the end of a warm day, but the sky was full of big, billowy, gray clouds, with a gentle breeze but no rain. I was pretty pleased with my Magic Mile time, a 22-second improvement over my last Magic Mile in late May!

Warm-up walk: 0.23 mi, 4:59 min
Warm-up run: 0.27 mi, 5:11 min
Magic Mile: 1 mi, 17:22 min
Cool-down walk: 0.40 mi, 9:00 min

I think I spotted a red fox running away from the trail, but I missed the black snake that a couple of people on the trail mentioned to me. :)

Yesterday's Long Run on the American Tobacco Trail

Yesterday's Galloway long run was on the American Tobacco Trail in Durham, one of my favorite places to run! I'm not up to the distance on the schedule, but I did do my longest run/walk total of the season, and I'm generally okay with that.
It was our first run starting at the new time of 6:30 AM. I enjoyed the slightly cooler temperatures; in fact, I arrived at 6:00 and got a mile in before the official run started. Then I joined the 17:00 training group, which is run/walking at 20 sec/40 sec run/walk intervals. I was at the back of the pack for most of my time with the group, but was able to hang pretty well. I suspect that their actual pace was a bit slower than 17:00, since I was able to keep up pretty well. Since I got a mile in early, I turned around at 1.60+ and headed back to yesterday's sponsoring running store, where I enjoyed a discount on a new pair of running shoes, Brooks Ghosts. (I walked in expecting to replace my Brooks Dyads, but learned that the Dyad line has been discontinued.)

Oh, on my run/walk back to the start (and the running store), I switched from 20/40s back to a 30/30 run/walk ratio, since I wasn't with the group anymore, and I was able to improve my average pace a bit.

Run #1: 1.02 mi in 20:04 min (19:42 avg pace)
Run #2: 3.33 mi in 64:04 min (19:14 avg pace

The Time to Beat

I was determined to run/walk a half marathon this morning, since this was going to be my last long run/walk before next weekend's City of Oaks Half. I decided to do the run outside at a new (for me) trail, forcasted rain be damned. I drove to one of the entry spots for the local American Tobacco Trail, and basically did an out-and-back run, though I had to get creative at the end of my run to get to 13.1 and still be pretty close to my car at the end.

The trail was very pretty, tree-lined, paved and mostly flat. It crossed several streets, which I wasn't expecting. Before I started my run, there was a man at a table near the start with Hammer Gels, water, and water spiked with Hammer's energy stuff. It turned out the man was co-owner (I think, with his wife) of a new running store in Durham, Bull City Running. It was nice to chat with him for a few minutes about the gels, his new store, shoes, and the trail. It turns out that his store is right there in Southpoint Crossing Shopping Center, next to where I got onto the American Tobacco Trail.

A few miles into the run, at one of the intersections, I couldn't tell where the trail went on the other side of the street. I'm sure I would've figured it out, but as good fortune would have it, there was a lady standing near the intersection, manning a big water cooler. Turns out she (Suzanne) is with Team in Training, and was happy to point out which way to go. We chatted for a few minutes, and it was a nice, if short rest. All in all, there were quite a few people out on the trail this morning, even in the rain, though there were times when I seemed to have the trail to myself.

One of the reasons I decided to push for the half marathon mileage today was that I wanted to run all the way to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. It was nice to be able to run to see it and the interesting Durham skyline! I wish I'd had a camera with me. Then, of course, I had to run back to get to my car!

I'm fairly pleased with my time of 3:34:38, since it did rain on me some, I had some plantar fasciitis pain, and I ran out of water during mile #9. The time cap at next weekend's race is 3:30, so I'll have to focus and pick up the pace a bit, but I think it'll work out okay.

Side note: With today's run, I passed the 600 mile mark for the year.

Jingle Bell Run 5K Race Report

This morning I ran in the Jingle Bell Run 5K in Raleigh, NC. It was a beautiful morning, but chilly! I wore a new pair of leggings, and a new longsleeve Duke t-shirt as well, so I felt comfortable. I got there early so I could be sure to get a decent parking space, and to walk around my old stomping grounds a bit. The race started and ended at St. Mary's School, where I graduated from high school! Much looks the same from the outside, but there have been some changes as well. I took my camera with me this morning and took some pictures. The picture on the left is one of the main buildings on campus. It's a pretty school.

There were some festive costumes out for the Jingle Bell Run! Although this picture is blurry, and I was on the wrong side of these people (the people in the boxes and the Santa), here's a sampling of what I saw outside the registration area!

The goodie bags for this race included a pedometer and some Burt's Bees Lip Balm (yay!), as well as a long sleeve t-shirt and bells for our shoes, a cute idea! They suggested we put the bells on the opposite shoe from the timing chip, and since one shoe already had my spare car key, I decided to go with just one bell, and that was plenty. :)

After I put my camera back in the car, I ran into not one, but two people I knew who were running as well! That's a first for me since I've started running again, so I was thrilled! I knew that someone on staff at the Rice Diet, who was going to try to make it with a friend of hers, and she did..ran into her in the restroom, of all places. (She was faster than I was, but yelled out to me whenever she passed me at turn-arounds! That was encouraging!) As I was leaving the registration area, I ran into a friend from the Junior League, whose blog I enjoy reading. I learned pretty recently that she's a runner too, but I didn't think to ask her if she was running this one. Of all the hundreds of people there, it was a treat to run into her without expecting to see her! I got to meet her hubby and a couple of their friends as well. (Wish I'd still had my camera!)

Near starting time, I went to the back of the pack, as usual. Lo and behold, my Junior League friend spotted me and encouraged me to come start the race with them. It was nice to have company for the pre-starting time stretching and chatting. As it turned out, S. (Jr. League buddy) and I were running in the same ballpark, as we ran mostly on Hillsborough Street, down to part of the Capitol area, then down to NC State and the Bell Tower, then back to St. Mary's School. She pulled out ahead of me at first, and I gradually caught up with and passed her. Then she caught up with me, and we pushed each other to the finish line! The official times haven't been posted, but we were right together at the end. It was a lot of fun having someone to run with, very serendipitous, since we hadn't traveled to Raleigh together, or even planned to meet and run together. We both had a really good race, finishing around 38 minutes! Turns out it was a PR for both of us!

My foot and knee aches and pains were pretty minor in this race, and for that I'm glad. The pf wasn't really a factor as I'd expected, since it was sore early yesterday morning. I spent some time massaging and icing it, as well as doing the ibuprofin thing. My right foot burned a little from the falling arches issue, and I felt some tendonitis on the right of my right knee, but it wasn't too bad. (I took at hot bath and some more ibuprofin when I got home, so I'm feeling much better!)

I feel relieved and happy to finally break 40 minutes! Now I'm looking to break the 35 minute mark, and branch out into longer races. There's a 4-miler in Durham I'm thinking about in February that's a good possibility! 10Ks, here I come!

When I know my official time, I'll post an update!

Getting back on track

This morning I did 65 minutes on the elliptical machine, though at a lighter pace than usual. I'm still a tad sore in the legs, but it's getting better.

Meanwhile, the official times were posted for the Run for the Oaks 5K I did in Raleigh on Saturday, and my chip time was 46:30, right on target with what I suspected. I was the next to the last person with a timing chip to finish, and the very last person in my age group (40-44-year-old females), by 26 seconds. Still, I'm feeling really good about the race, and look forward to the next one.

George and I are talking about doing a 5K together this coming Saturday here in Durham. George is doing the walk portion, and I may do the walk with him. We'll see if I have my sea legs back by then.