Another 4 miler

Did 4 miles at L's house. It was a nice day, only about 60 degrees. My shin was aching by mile 3, so we ended up walking the last 1/2 mile. I think it may be time for new shoes.

First County Farm Loop - 4.1 miles

Hot run today. Did my local hill route with L. Averaged a 13 minute mile. I hope to be able to finish the loop without walking in 5 weeks.

Market Sqaure 10k

I finished my first 10k! Granted I was slower than dirt, but I felt good, ran most of it, had fun, and FINISHED!

The start of the race was cool and foggy. The Market Square 10k is part of a bigger Market Sqaure festival, and all the vendors, food carts, and music stages were set up at the start of the race. This being my 2nd race, I now know that I must start at the back of the race pack, and I have to say, the view from the back was amazing. As the gun fired, I saw 1,560 runners spint down Congress St., and seeing wall to wall runners bordered by Portsmouth shops and covered by balloon arches I felt part of something huge. The start of the race was flat and fun. We double backed on downtown Portsmouth and got a whiff of the food vendors at mile 1. My running partner, L, and I planned to run each mile and walk for a minute (or until we felt good.) So that's how we started. By mile 2, I was starting to warm up and the pack was starting to spead out (away from us!) We ran past neighbors with cheers, music was blasting, informal water stops were scatered down the street. I was carrying a hand held fuel belt water bottle and skipped the water stops. Going into mile three was down hill and fast. L and I ran a 35 minute 5k.....faster than both of our first 5k race! We walked about 5 minutes of mile 4 before I took off and started picking up my pace. Mile 4 and 5 flew by. I really have not idea what happened! I remember hearing the Rocky theme somewhere in mile 4. I had hummed that to L in mile 2, so I shouted out to the spectators there. The next think I knew, I was passing the mile 5 at 1:02. I walked a minute and started my last mile - uphill. I felt great. I actually passed a couple of people - one lady was walking at the crest of a hill. I said hello and she said great job! I was psyched. I passed an older gentleman up the last hill and asked, "how's it going?" and he said "it's going." That's how I felt. I could nbow see race finishers walking down the street towards me, clapping and cheering. I still can't believe how nice runners are! One gut said, "your almost there, only 200 yards." I couldn't see the finish, but I took the guys word to heart and started picking up the pace.
Then I could see it....the finish. The clock read 1:16....I was going to finish in under 1:20! My finishing time was 1:16:37. I averaged 12:20 a mile. Not great, but not horrible.

I have to say, Portsmouth puts on a nice race and despite the cool air and fog, people were out there cheering for us back of the pack runners!

I have worked out a training schedule for the next 5 weeks in preparation for the Habour Trail 5k. My goal is to drop my time by 10% - or 3 minutes. That's a 11 min mile. I can do it, but it will take some effort.

Road to the 10k

Over the last 2 weeks I have been trying to up my mileage in preparation for the Market Square 10k.

Week 1 - I did 3.5 miles Tuesday, 2.5 Thursday and 6.2 on Saturday (Dry run)
L and I ran the Market Sqaure 10k course last week. Our goal was to finishe the course and have a "pleasant" experience. This would be our first attempt at 6 miles. The most I had done before this was 3.5! We finished it in under an 1:30. That was with walking the entire 4th mile! the course is hilly, but the neighborhoods are shady - it should be fun!

Week 2 - 3 miles Monday, 2 miles Thursday.
We did a gym run on Monday. I was traviling the rest of the week, and didn't get out until Thursday morning. I ran down near the Portland wharfs. THe was beautiful!

Next stop 6.2 miles!

Red Hook 5k!

So we finished up our 8-week beginner training with a bang! We did a practice run of the race course on Thursday. It was 90 degrees and HOT! We all finished cranky, but we were at Red Hook, so went in and had a beer and food - what could be better than that (will run for beer!).

So on to the 5k - Today's race went ok. I had a stomach ache, so mile 2 was a bit of a pain (literally.) I finished the first mile in 12 minutes, second in 11, third in 13.....for a final time of 36:23. A PR for me, since it was my first race! It can only get better! Red Hook / Runners Alley puts on a good race. Maybe I'll do another!

40 minutes - are they trying to kill us!

Beautiful weather! Windy, warm, sunny!

I believe they are trying to kill us - actually it wasn't THAT bad. we did 40 minutes - and by the last run, I felt pretty good. I could go another mile! Or at least another 1/2!

Workout:
Walk 2
Run 8 / Walk 2 x 4

30 minutes of running - YIKES

So we bumped up to 10 minute runs with a 3 minute walk break - big jump from 3 minutes! The middle run was a bit painful....i started wheezing! My allergies are a little out of wack - that must be it.

Workout:
Run 10 / Walk 3 x 3