Portsmouth Harbor 5k

So I finished my second 5k!

I was hoping that the hill work I had been doing would help my running, but I have NOT been heat training! It was almost 85 by the end of the race - way too hot for me. I walked a good 5 minutes of the race and still knocked nearly a minute off my time! I had a great first mile, but the 1st water stop was out of cups! I grabbed some water from Matt who was at mile 1.5 and then some more at mile 2. After that, I thought I was going to melt!

After I pasted Matt a nun in full habit running with a group of 4-8 year olds pasted me! I was pasted by a nun and a 4 year old. I learned later, that the nun and the kids are from St. Charles School and the kids run 4 miles a day, 5 days a week! They were great! They all beat me!

Anyway, we ran along the river and of course it was low tide! It smelt like dead fish! The last uphill, I had to walk. It was open, sweltering and no wind! I did finish though in 35:38 (a 11:28 pace) I was 116 of 130 F2029. Onto the next 10k August 16th!

Hills, Hills, and pillow feet!

I did my 4 mile hill route today - 5 minutes faster than last week! I don't know if I should credit my shoes, the weather, my mp3 playlist, or me. I walked up the first and third hill of the three hill route - but I ran the rest! I said last week that I wanted to finish the route without stopping by July 10 - we'll see. even with walking I did it in under a 12:00 min/mile pace - pretty good!

My current playlist includes:
"I run for life" Melissa Ethridge
"Basket Case" Green Day
"Desire" U2
"Days go By" Keith Urban
"Born to Run" Bruce Springsteen
"Walking on Sunshine" Katrina and the Waves
"Move Along" All-American Rejects
"It's the end of the world" R.E.M
"Run Runaway" Great Big Sea
"Comin' to your City" Big & Rich
"Hit the Road Jack" Ray Charles

What do you listed to?

3 miles in NY

Went out SUnday morning for a three mile jog around M's parents house. They live on a lake, so the run was along small camps and year round homes....and it was Hilly! I had done a 2 mile jog a month or so, but this was crazy!

New shoes

So Friday I went down to Runner's Alley and bought a new pair of running shoes. They are Saucony Omni 6 Moderate. They are so comfy! It's like running on pillows. I'll do a bigger review later this month.

I did my first 3 miler with my shoes with no shin pain. I did a hilly route at M's parents. I walked about half of it because of the pain in my chest (not my lungs, something else - it happens every month) Wasn't a bad run overall.

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.