Another Long Run, Galloway Style

Today I ran with the Galloway training group again, and I'm bone tired, but I did it! According to my Garmin, I went 6.31 miles in 1:35:03, a little slower than usual, but I'm glad I finished! And a 10K plus, to boot!

I tried a hydration belt today, but didn't like having something around my torso for that duration--it drove me a little nuts, and I didn't even use the water bottle, which was in the back. (Maybe I wore it wrong!) Anyway, I saw a couple of people with these handheld water bottles--I think I'm going to look for one of those.

I also need to buy a t-shirt that's not 100% cotton! I realy sweated a lot today. (Sorry for the charming image!) Several people commented aftward that I needed to get a wicking shirt, with the longer runs ahead this summer.

On a positive note, my new-ish haircut is finally long enough to *barely* fit into a ponytail for my workouts! Yay! I still have to clip the sides of my hair, but now it's a lot more comfortable. No more running with headbands, caps, or 5-6 clips in my hair! I probably sound vain for worrying about my hair for a running group. Mostly, I just wanted my hair to STAY out of my face, but I also didn't want to be remembered for having "bed head" for every Saturday morning run.

Part of our course today went around Lake Lynn, and that was very pretty!

Double Duty

This morning I started with the elliptical machine, 2.6 miles in 35:12 minutes. I was itching to get on the road, though, eventhough this chould be a rest day. Since I put new over-the-counter orthotics in my new-ish running shoes last night, I decided I should take the new set-up for a spin for tomorrow's long right--right?? I did trot around the area outside my gym for 7 minutes, going a whopping .56 miles. Not bad.

Tomorrow will be interesting, a 6 mile long run with the training group. It's been over 20 years since I've run that far! Yikes! :)

Back on the Elliptical

I did 35 minutes on the elliptical this morning, wish I'd gotten to the gym sooner for a longer workout. Blah!

Back Outside

This morning I decided to run to the nearby neighborhood I usually drive to run my morning run. Part of the way there, I ran in the grass, which was damp and a little "icky," so I was glad to get back on pavement. Otherwise it was a pretty good run, 2.93 miles in 40 minutes. I felt a little sluggish at first, but once I warmed up, it went smoothly.

Light Workout

This morning I did 20 minutes on the elliptical, then walked outside for another 22 minutes. I took it all pretty easy, which was relaxing. I needed the "rest."

Another Outdoor Run

This morning I slept in a little after a busy day yesterday, and decided to go for a run outside. I went to a nearby neighborhood and ran 2.75 miles in 37:31, a 13:35/mi pace. It was a beautiful morning for running, but I still felt a little sluggish and heavy-legged. It's probably because the past couple of workouts have been pretty hard. (Saturday was my long run with the Galloway group in Raleigh, and yesterday I did a fairly hard 46 minutes on the elliptical.) It's nice to know I have the day off from work and can get some rest today; tomorrow should be a lighter workout day, too.

Another Long Run

This morning I joined the Galloway group in Raleigh again for another long run. There was a chance of rain, but it ended up being great weather--overcast skies, a slight breeze, and occasional spits of rain.

I was glad to see my Junior League friend, Susan, and her husband there. She ended up trying the 13-minute pace group with me and had a strong run. I'd glad she decided to sign up too!

We ended up going at least 5.6 miles, which is what my Garmin said. (I waited until we started running before I got my watch going. We walked a few tenths of a mile beforehand to warm up.) Total time for me was 1:19:37! I know--moving forward for more than an hour in a run/walk/run pattern sounds like a long time (especially for me!), but the time went by very quickly! Yay!

On the Bike

This morning I did 30 minutes on the recumbant bike, and that was it. It's supposed to be a rest day, but I don't know how to do that yet, unless I am injured or sick! I didn't work up a sweat at all (which I missed!), and I didn't push very hard. Still, my quads feel a little sore, do I wonder if I did too much before tomorrow morning's 5 mile run. Time will tell!

Treadmill Run

This morning was a little chilly, so I decided to run on the treadmill. I started with a 10-minute warmup on the recumbant bike, then hopped on the treadmill. I surprised myself by running 35 minutes non-stop, for 2.82 miles! It reminded me that I am recovering and getting my fitness back, but it was also a reminder that running on the treadmill is easier than running outside. I didn't do any incline today, just did a plain, flat run. Still, it felt really good.

Elliptical Workout

This morning I did the elliptical for 45:07 minutes, doing the Gluteal #2 programmed workout that had me doing a variety of crossramps, plus forward and backward. I ended up going 3.5 miles, a little faster than normal for me on the elliptical. I listened to music the whole time this morning, instead of listening to podcasts, and I bet that helped. (I have a workout playlist that's pretty good.)

I know I intended on taking it easy in the gym this morning, but it didn't quite work out that way! Part of it, I think, is that I read in my Galloway book last night that, if following this program, you probably won't lose weight training for your first marathon, because of the reduced mileage. To be frank, I didn't like the sound of that! One of the several reasons I exercise is to lose weight. So.....I can either go against the training plan and run more miles during the week, or I can do the miles some other way, via elliptical, bike, or walking. I certainly don't want to go overboard and get injured again. That would stink! :-P But I need to come up with some sort of plan.

More Variety

This morning I did a variety of things, so between yesterday and today, I feel like quite the crosstrainer. I did 16:04 minutes on the elliptical machine for 1.20 miles. Then I got on the recumbant bike for 7 minutes and 1.22 miles. After that, I ran for 18:01 minutes and 1.35 miles. My legs are tired and a little sore now, so I hope to get to bed early tonight and take it a little easier in the gym tomorrow.

Yesterday I took a couple of walk breaks at work for a total of 1.57 miles, in addition to the elliptical and treadmill work that I did earlier in the day. No wonder my legs are tired now!

Combo Workout

This morning I started with 21 minutes on the elliptical machine for 1.57 miles, then decided to hop on the treadmill. Ended up going 15 minutes without walking (yay!) for 1.23 miles. In Jeff Galloway's book that I'm reading now, it says that it's okay to run your short runs without stopping, but that the long runs need to be the run-walk-run method. It's nice to have part of my weekly running done already. The Galloway plan suggests 60 minutes of running (or RWR) during the week, followed by the weekend long run. I am tempted to work toward running much more during the week, but I know that overtraining can lead to more injuried, and I need to work on crosstraining anyway.

Elliptical

This morning I did 45 minutes on the elliptical machine. I enjoyed it, eventhough I was a little weary from yesterday's run. I was tempted to get on the treadmill for a few minutes, but I knew I needed a break from running. I was also running short on time, as George and I were going to the early service at church.

I love being out of church early and having the rest of my Sunday to relax. This is something new George and I have been trying the past couple of weeks. The only thing I'm having trouble with is actually getting there on time! After getting up early on Saturday mornings lately to join the training group at 7 AM, I miss getting to sleep in at least one weekend day! Zzzzzz.... Part of it is that I'm still trying to get my exercise in before church. We'll see how it goes.

Galloway Run (-Walk-Run)

This morning I joined the Galloway training group again, this time for a 4-mile run. It was a pretty cool morning, in the 50s, which felt wonderful!

I decided to run with the 13-minute pace group today, just to see how it felt. I decided I wanted to push myself just a little bit more. All in all, I feel good about running with this new pace group. The people were friendly, and one older fellow named Butch ran with me for a bit and gave me some running form advice, which I really appreciated! I tended to be toward the back of this group when running, but not last. I ended up doing 4 miles in 54:59, a 13:45 minute average pace.

I did the timed mile (the Galloway program calls it the Magic Mile) in a little under 11 minutes (something around 10:47), running the whole way. That was at mile #2 of 4 today. The Magic Mile is formulated to help you decide which pace group it's best to run with. I think the 13-min. group will be good, at least for now. The run-walk ratio for this group is 1:1, which I handled fairly well today. The 12-min pace group, I overheard today, does a 2:1 ratio of running to walking. I'll be there in time, but it seems that the 13-min group is comfortable enough for me to train with, without being too comfortable or easy. Know what I mean?

Elliptical and Run

This morning I did 31 minutes on the elliptical for 2.33 miles, then I decided to hop on the treadmill for 5 minutes and did .37 miles I didn't want to run too much since I've got a long run coming up tomorrow with the Galloway training group.

I'm enjoying using the training log at BuckeyeOutdoors.com, as I'm able to enter my non-running workouts as well as my runs, and they show up in both daily and weekly workout summaries. I feel like I've got a new toy! It's neat! :)

Strength Training and Run

I shook things up a little this morning and started with 10 minutes on the recumbant bike, then did about 7 minutes of upper body strength training, thanks to inspiration from Jenny (her pullups) and Susan (her recent kettlebell class). Of course, Jimmy introduced me to kettlebells on his blog a few months ago. So, I did 3 reps of 10 swings with the 15-lb. kettlebell, then did some curls with the free weights.

Then I fired up my Garmin and went for a run outdoors for 35 minutes and 2.53 miles, a little slower than Tuesday. The weather was kinda sprinkly during my run, which felt good!

Good elliptical workout

This morning I did 50 minutes on the elliptical machine, a solid workout. I started out listening to podcasts on the iPod, but switched over to my workout playlist, and that helped a lot. As much as I like staying informed, the world news of late is a little discouraging, so I enjoyed the change of pace and motivation.

Outside Run

As I was getting ready to go work out this morning, I decided I just wasn't in the mood to go to the gym. Thankfully, it's a beautiful morning, so I fired up the Garmin and hit the roads! It felt really good!

So, I walked for a few minutes to warm up, then I ran 2.33 miles in 30 minutes. That's a distance record for me in these recent 30-minute runs! It's a 12:54 pace. I can't wait until I can do 3 miles in 30 minutes. Being able to average a 10-minute mile would be awesome! From there, I'd love to be able to break a 30-minute 5K.

More Elliptical

Yesterday I spent 45 minutes on the elliptical machine, this morning 20 more minutes on the elliptical. Nothing very exciting. I'll be fitting in a run soon--tomorrow?

Back from Galloway training run

Well, I'm back from my first Galloway training run! I met a lot of nice people this morning, and enjoying the run/walk/run with the 14-15 min. pace group. I feel a tad tired, but not much, like I still have some energy left. (I didn't sleep well last night, which probably accounts for the tiredness.) I ran strong, maybe fast enough for the 13-minute pace group, but was one of the slower walkers. Next week, we're having a timed mile as part of the workout, which will help with deciding which pace group to be with.

One of the guys I enjoyed talking to has the goal of running a marathon in every state, which is very neat! An older lady I talked to afterward shared that her goals are to finish and not throw up! Words to live by. :)

Since the group met outside of Raleigh Running Outfitters, the store opened early and gave us Galloway runnings some good discounts. I bought a running cap (thanks for the idea, Jennie!), some Body Glide, and the latest edition of Runner's World.

I wore my Garmin 205, but it ended up being almost pointless. I forgot to start it when we were warming up, and I forgot to turn it off for about 10 minutes after we were done, as I got too busy meeting and talking with more people, after which I went inside the store, shopped, and stood in line (where I realized my Garmin was still going!). Oh well. The plan was for us to run a long, slow 3-miler. I'll take their word for it and call it an enjoyable morning run. :)