Step back mileage...necessary but not always fun...

I must admit that being in a "step back" mode for the past 2 months has been a little difficult. I'm really only stepping back my mileage every other week but I don't necessarily write down what mileage I will do each day like I usually do. I know how many miles I want to run each week but I'm trying to enjoy it nonetheless. It is hard to not run your regular mileage and when I try to explain this to others...they just don't understand. It still amazes me at how much I actually love running! Yeah, I know, you think I'm weird but oh well...there are worse things to be addicted to right? 

I've been having some pain down my legs when I drive and the doc said it was probably a pinched nerve. I have some anti-inflamatory medicine and I can tell a huge difference after just 2 days. It has not affected my running pace at all...just uncomfortable when I drive. Good thing I have a high tolerance for pain!

I will soon be ramping up my base mileage to 50 per week and then comes the marathon training in October! I'm looking forward to writing my own training plan this time around. Bobby coached me for a year and a half and I know I will refer to the plans he created for me too. 

It seems I do something with running almost every evening. I have my run class 2 nights a week, CRW run group on Tuesdays, XC team practice on Tuesdays and Fridays, and Godiva track meet on Wednesdays.

Fun times!!

FYI-I have developed a 4 week training program for beginners or those wanting to get back into regular exercise. I will meet with you personally to explain all the details and get you started. If you are interested, send me an email. dawnwhiterunning@gmail.com

That's all for now...Happy Running
The Olympics are soo soon!! Will and I leave August 1. We will communicate via facebook while we are gone...

Ahh...the heat...

Hydration is important in a runner's life and so much more so when the temperature creeps up and up. Just drinking water while you run is not good enough. You need to stay hydrated throughout the day and night. Planning ahead will eliminate lots of problems.
I like to carry my hand bottle filled with Gatorade or water and a wet bandana with me while I run. It gives me a little bit of relief as I dab my face. Sprinklers are a help too!

So, my run class is going very well. We are slowly building up their endurance each week. Several comment that they can see improvement and of course, this makes me very happy! We have about 6 weeks until the 5K, I can't wait to see how they do.
Happy Running to you all!

The cutest Runner Girl!

2012 Summer group (minus 3)

NEXT STEP Performance Training

I never thought I would have my very own run class but that is exactly what has happened. I have 17 participants and from what I can tell, they are having a good time. We are beginning a 9-week program that ends with a 5K run. My desire is to teach these runners how to slowly build up their base in order to accomplish the running goals they have set for themselves. I am teaching them how to stretch before and after workouts, my nutritionist is coming to share with them in the next few weeks, and they receive unlimited encouragement. I truly believe each one will be able to look back on our training time together and see much improvement, if they have followed the training plan. 

Remember this, "If you are going to doubt something, doubt your limits."

If you are reading this and want to take the NEXT STEP, please contact me for more information. It only takes a few small changes to make a big difference!

Komen Global Race for the Cure and D.C tourists

Will and I had a great time in Washington, D.C. this weekend. We try to visit our nation's capital once a year. Of course, if a race is involved, I am very happy about that! After a long ride and a lot of rain, we finally arrived on Friday and checked in at our hotel. The race was Saturday morning so we left bright and early for my warmup time. The starting line was near the Washington monument and the race went around the city and ended at the National Mall. I was trying to place in the top 5 for my age group and post a better time than last year. I ended up placing 7th out of some 340 women aged 40-44 but my time was better by almost a minute. Yay! Now time for sightseeing...

After breakfast and a change of clothes off we go to the National Art Gallery. While I don't particularly like art museums, my history buff hubby fills in the details about these pieces of art and who these people were, so it wasn't too bad. It was pretty interesting actually. We ate at Ebbitt's Grill for dinner and walked around the monuments afterwards. Our visit to view the White House was a little different this year. Usually, there is the one lady that has been demonstrating since 1981 but this year there was a large group and 2 other single men demonstrating for different causes. What those causes were, I couldn't tell you. I read their signs but couldn't figure it out.

I always look forward to my early Sunday run around the National Mall but this year, I just had to add in a detour to the White House to see if all the demonstrators were still there. Only the one lady and about 4-6 policeman were around. Bummer...It was a great run around the monuments and then we went to the new Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial. It was awesome and if you go to D.C.  you need to stop by. I will post some pics of it below.

Home is a great place to be. We have been gone the last 3 weekends and I am looking forward to being here for a while-at least a week or two anyway.

This week is a week of endings and beginnings. It is the last week of Fit-tastic at Capital RunWalk and the beginning of my own run group in Garner with NEXT STEP Performance Training. I will blog about my run group after Thursday, which is our first training session. I am proud of the Fit-tastic group and excited to see how they do in the 5K on Saturday.

Happy Running!!

USA Masters 8K Championship

The good thing about being a runner who is constantly training is that if you decide on a Tuesday evening to sign up for an 8k Saturday race, it's not really a big deal. Of course, if this had been a marathon, I wouldn't have signed up. So, I get this email from USATF about the 8K National Championship to be held in Williamsburg, Va. on Saturday and the deadline to sign-up is Thursday evening. I looked over the entry requirements and saw that the only thing I needed was to be a USATF member, age 40 and above. There was no other requirements. Hmm...I thought, this would be a good opportunity, I know I won't win or even come close but still, I would be lumped in with the other elite master runners there that day. Cool! Let me assure you, in no way do I count myself as an elite! So, I talked to Will and signed up. We arrived on Friday in time for me to attend packet pick-up (yay for PPUD!!) and then I had to attend a "technical" meeting that evening. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the rules that applied to the USATF runners. We had a different bib than the other runners and we also had to wear a bib showing our age on our back.  

There were about 1,900 runners for the 8K but the USATF runners were able to line up in the front. We also had our own tent and our very own port-o-potty. You know I was excited about that!! There were several teams racing in the master championship. It was pretty awesome standing around and seeing these teams dressed alike and encouraging one another. I'm hoping CapRun will be able to participate in this sometime, too! So, the race begins and as always, I have my own thing to do. I'm racing against myself and trying to reach my goal for that day. But, there is something about being passed by some men wearing a bib that says age 70-74. Umm...okay. Alright, back to my goal, I enjoyed the run and was able to stay focused to finish in 39:05. That is 1 minute slower than my 8k PR from last November so I was pretty happy with that. The finish line was on a track. We ran 3/4 the way around and finished on the 50 yard line. As usual, the volunteers were so encouraging and helped make it a great race. 

The results: My age group is 40-44 and there were 15 racing. I finished 15th. Yep, dead last but, still got to go to the elite tent and use the potty haha. In the regular race there were 132 in my age group and I finished 16th. This number sounds better. Here is the link for the Masters results. http://www.usatf.org/events/2012/USAMasters8kmChampionships/results.asp

I must add this little tidbit, even though it has nothing to do with the 8k but, at the technical meeting the Boston marathon race director was there to help out. Dave, I hope to participate in your race one day! 3:45 is still within my reach. Let's do it!

Thanks for reading! Don't forget my beginner running group will begin soon! There is an informational meeting May 31 at Buffaloe Lanes South 6:30pm. 
Email me: dawnwhiterunning@gmail.com for more information. See you there!

After the race...

 

                

My cool USATF coat!

Burro Loco 5K Trail Race: Tall grass, shoelaces, and the unknown

This past weekend I ran in my first trail race. I wasn't planning to run and really wasn't prepared, which was probably a good thing. It was definitely an interesting experience. I had gone down to Myrtle Beach to run with the Black Dog Running Co. at their weekly social run and someone mentioned this "Burro Loco" 5K that weekend. I saw it was a trail race but didn't really think it would be a big deal, so I signed up. Little did I know what I had gotten myself into. Not one to be able to "race for fun" I realized very quickly how different trail racing is from road racing. For one thing, you don't go as fast. I had warmed up on the course about a half mile that morning and wished later on I had seen the entire thing. There were about 125 racers that morning and as we lined up, I still had no clue what was getting ready to happen...Off we took through the woods and after the first half mile I realized that I had better pay attention to the ground or I was going to fall flat on my face. The tire tracks I had been following suddenly disappeared. Umm...what now, I thought? The grass was as high as my knees and there were dips in the trail, too. My shoes were soaking wet and I could feel the grass and other weeds tearing at my legs. Through the first mile I was the lead woman. I figured I would be passed pretty soon but was giving it my all. Not once did I ever consider the creatures that were lurking in those woods. haha! Yea, I guess there probably were some snakes around. I was too busy trying not to fall and twist my ankle and then for the first time ever in a race my shoelaces came untied. I always double knot and have never had a problem but the high grass worked them loose. I was going to just ignore it but figured my shoe would come off sooner or later so I begrudgingly stopped to tie it. Would you believe I had to stop and tie the same shoe two more times and the other one time!! That cost me about 15 seconds! I crossed the finish line with one of them untied but I was not going to stop anymore! And then there was the long jump I took. I came up on this creek thing and with only a split second to decide went soaring across. Not sure how I made it but, I did-then there was a second one. Good grief...not wanting to chance it, I ran to the outside and a shorter jump. I had already been passed by two women, but I did end up finishing strong as the third woman overall. My time was 25:04. And then there was the issue with my shoes. I had my Brooks Green Silence on, not a smart choice for a trail race, but all I had other than my brand new Kinvara 3's. Thanks to the mud runner who told me how to care for my shoes. They are as good as new...well, I can tell they've been through something other than road work but still usable.

So, I am not sold on this trail racing stuff...trail running for training, yes...but I am a long distance runner and do not want to injure myself. If I couldn't run my marathons because of some trail race, well...let's just say, I'd be pretty upset! Kudos to all you mud runners and trail racers though! Next time, if there is a next time, I will see the entire course before I decide to run...


I did meet some new friends! Tammy, Daniel, and Tina-I will be in touch!!

                                            Burro Loco 5K

Tobacco Road Marathon Race Report March 18, 2012

Let me begin by saying that the last I heard, the man who went into cardiac arrest at Myrtle Beach was going to be okay! Very happy!!


Following my disappointing finish at MB, Bobby and I discussed my doing another marathon pretty quick like. I didn't push myself too hard at MB so he thought it would be okay. We waited a couple weeks to see how my long runs went-how I felt, etc.-before deciding. I seemed to be doing pretty good, so he said I should try again...only this time we decided I would not "broadcast" my plans. In my defense, I know there are many of you who like to read my posts and follow my running, so I enjoyed having you along for the ride on my way to trying to BQ. We thought that maybe the expectation of wanting to BQ and everyone knowing my plans added to my stress of the day and may have hindered me--now I'm not making any excuses--I tanked at MB and couldn't qualify. It was my fault. But, we wanted to try something different this time so, I signed up for Tobacco Rd 2 weeks ago. It was very weird not putting anything on facebook about the race and having only a handful of people even knowing I was running. So, if you think I was a little irritable last week, now you know-I was tapering! LOL! I didn't try to hide it, if I was asked what my next race was, I told them. 

Anyway, on to the race itself...I did a good job of carbo loading this week (I do not want any pasta for at least a week for sure haha) and keeping hydrated. Someone asked me on Friday how I felt and I said-the same way I did before Myrtle (which was good and ready to run) so we will see. Race morning was normal for me-I had gone to bed about 8:30pm and woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 1:00am! I tried to rest until 3:30am and then it was time to get ready! Yay! I'm feeling good, legs feel good, and it has stopped raining. My "taxi driver" aka Will, who was not so bright eyed and bushy tailed, rallied out of bed at 4:30am so we could leave for the race. He had to work but had graciously offered to drop me off--I love my husband!! We only got "lost" once but managed to find the drop off zone by 5:45am. It was a short walk to the baseball complex and one of my favorite and necessary places--the bathroom! Now it is time for my pre-race warmup and once that was done I went to the bathroom again and went to meet my 3:45 pacer. I told him if he helped me BQ he would become my new best friend and he assured me he would be able to help! Cool! One last trip to the potty and off to the start line. Man, was it crowded as I weaved my way to the pace group. I planned to stick like glue to the 3:45 man. The race started off great...until after mile 6 and then I started losing pace with my group. I felt good, I just couldn't keep up. Slowly, I saw them inch away from me. Not again, I thought! I kept on and tried to keep an even pace-it didn't go so well. Many things are going through my mind (you do know that racing is as much mental as physical right? it can be tough-the mental part!). I began to think that I needed to change my goal for the day. I wanted to finish in 3:50 or under 4 hours. I had done it before--I could do it again. I was also thinking how in the world did I run the entire marathon at Disney without stopping one time. I can't believe I ever did that! So, I had good miles and I had not so good ones. I stopped when I needed to and ran as "fast" as I could for that particular moment. There was a time that I realized I could actually still BQ but it would take extreme effort. Of course, I didn't have extreme left in me this day. Finally, I reach mile 23, then 24, then 25. One more to go. When I hit mile 26, I thought, okay this .2 will be the longest ever! I was booking it--as much as I could, almost at 4 hours and I needed to finish quick. I forgot we were going to finish uphill-good grief-my last 10 steps were almost slow motion-I had nothing left to give. But, I finished in 4 hours-I haven't seen my official time yet though. This is what my watch said...it will be right around that time. So, my take on today is that, for now, I'm not going to worry about Boston. I mean, if it was easy to qualify, everyone would be doing it, right. I love running too much to keep stressing myself over this. Once I turn 45, my time goes up by 5 minutes anyway haha! I am looking forward to some shorter races over the next few months, a relay race with my Cap Run buddies in November, and I am pretty sure I will be running the Dopey/Goofy Challenge at Disney next January! That is a 5K, Half and Full all in a 3-day period- worth 4 medals!! And Disney medals are THE COOLEST!


Thanks to all who came out to cheer me on today-a few were missing that I wish could have been there but it meant a lot for the others to come! My 2 sisters were there to give me a ride back home. Thanks to Jenna Pearsall for taking such great pictures! Mel, Scar, Karen, Paul, Debbie, Charles, Blanka, and all the others too! I didn't mean to leave anyone out! Thanks to the wonderful volunteers at the race! They were awesome!!! See below for my intervals today and a few pictures!

                                    Near Mile 23--almost done!

                                Me and Jack! He BQ'd at MB!

                                           Me and Jenna!

INTERVALS

MILE	TIME	AVG. PACE
1	8:12	8'12"/mi
2	16:28	8'16"/mi
3	24:32	8'04"/mi
4	32:55	8'23"/mi
5	41:11	8'16"/mi
6	49:34	8'23"/mi
7	58:17	8'43"/mi
8	1:07:24	9'07"/mi
9	1:16:43	9'19"/mi
10	1:25:49	9'06"/mi
11	1:35:20	9'31"/mi
12	1:45:20	10'00"/mi
13	1:55:00	9'40"/mi
14	2:04:26	9'26"/mi
15	2:13:25	8'59"/mi
16	2:22:00	8'35"/mi
17	2:31:37	9'37"/mi
18	2:40:56	9'19"/mi
19	2:49:28	8'32"/mi
20	2:59:39	10'11"/mi
21	3:09:01	9'22"/mi
22	3:17:49	8'48"/mi
23	3:28:30	10'41"/mi
24	3:38:25	9'55"/mi
25	3:48:21	9'56"/mi
26	3:57:33	9'12"/mi