Sunday, April 4, 2010

Minus One :( / Two Excellent Runs!




Today was gorgeous, beautiful, awesome, incredible, fantastic, sweet!  What a day for a run with friends.  T was back and I had a running partner.  She showed up with her son who was home for Easter so we had a repeat of a December run minus one!   One of the participants is in DC and was not here to enjoy this wonderful day!

We were going for an 11 mile run. T and son showed up with shorts (which T's son also wore in December -see above link) and  I sported long sleeves and capris. I am always sure I will be cold!  T and I often look like we are running in different climates.  Since T had been missing for the last two weekends we had lots of catching up to do!  We ran  a good pace but not too fast to chat!  Traffic was heavy for a Saturday morning in the country.  Everyone was probably going to the dump recycling center.  I was even able to run an errand on this run which I am rarely able to do. I left a check off for a friend, saving a separate trip in  a car. Yeah me!  I run to vote and that is about it for errands that make sense for me to do on a run.

Our paces (really my pace - they both can run much faster than I can)
10:17 overall
10:01
10:16
10:18
10:19
11:04
10:50
11:01
9:41
9:49
9:50
9:43
.1 at 11:45


Way to rock on the last 4 miles!  I was very pleased with this run/pace.  I felt great, pleasantly tired the rest of the day.  We played around with my new camera.  My other camera was slow slow slow and just not getting any action shots. This camera has the continuous shot feature which is fun to try.  The picture of the 3 of us was using the self timer which as you know I love to play with!




A lot of you commented on my goal post that I had met a  lot of my goals. Well yes but they are goals intended to be met several times in one year.  (race with family, place in top half of field, PR for calendar year in various lengths, place in age group etc.)  But many of you also suggested I do some new goals.  I have taken your advice to heart and I am going to add a 10 mile race as a goal.  I have never run one and am interested in doing one.  I keep reading about your 10 mile races with some jealousy and need to step up to the plate and run one. There is the Paul Mailman Montpelier 10 Miler in June so I should run it.  It is the same day? weekend? as a race I have done the last two years. I like the race because it is a very flat 10K (PR!) but it is poorly organized and that drives me nuts. So on to new races.  Hey that would meet another goal!

After I wrote the above I decided to start setting up my potential races table.  Yeah, I'm  a geek.  Come to find out all good races happen on the same day. There are 3 good choices on May 8. One of my favorite races last summer was the Shaker 7 in NH. It was a loop  around a lake and quite pretty.  It was a small but serious group of runners.  It was an automatic PR as I had never run 7 but this  year I was hoping to go back and beat last year's time. It is on the same day as the PMM 10 Miler.  Choices, choices!  What is a racer to do?

Today's run - Sunday - was incredible!  We were pleased with yesterday's run but today's was even better.  T's son came back for more so once again there were three.  We did our favorite 6 miles and I feel like the pace we ran was outstanding!  I am always happy with around 10 when I am not racing on a casual run.  Our overall pace was 9:35 with the mile splits being:
9:58
9:59
9:41
9:16
9:25
9:30

I was especially pleased with the last mile as I usually slow way down (see yesterday's last tenth above) and did NOT slow down today. We rocked it on top of our long run yesterday! What a great weekend of running!!!!!!


Happy after today's run!

23 comments:

TMB @ RACING WITH BABES said...

That does sound like an awesome weekend of running! Great last four miles on that long run! Love the new pictures too! They look great!

Molly said...

Love your new header photo!! You really rocked it with your pace on both runs, nice job.

Anne said...

Great job on your runs and the photos are so cool! Plus, those are excellent times :) What a great running weekend you enjoyed!

Darlene said...

Love the new spring header! I find the some weekends have so many races I can't pick and other weekends, there are few. I am envious that you are so goal-oriented. That's great. I think my goal is to have more goals LOL

Julie said...

I really think your new header picture is fantastic:) It wounds like you had several really good runs!! Woo hoo!! I am glad you had some company when doing those runs too! For me running with people makes the time and miles go much faster! Nice work there girl!!

RE: Running group multiple runs....There are different start times because everyone has their own persoanl goal for total miles. Some runners start at 5AM and want to get in 20 something for the morning. The group run officially starts at 8 AM...his is when the photo is taken. Most people will run an hour. I knew that I wanted to run 11 to 14 so I made sure that I was there by 6:30AM. The group really varies in terms of talent. There are the super studs who run 6 minute miles all the way down to a few runners who do 12 minute miles. I just have to find the people who run in my 8:30 for training. It is so much fun..one of the best things that I have done:)

Monica said...

Great job! I love your new pictures! As usual, such beautiful countryside.

Tina @GottaRunNow said...

Liked the pics (the new one at the top of your blog, too)! Great job on finishing fast towards the end of both runs!

HappyTrails said...

LOVE the beautiful new header photo - no more snow for awhile - Yay! Sounds like you had a great couple of runs - I can "feel" your joy - keep it up! Choices, choices - pick the most scenic and potentially fun - it's all about fun. Have a great week!
Kathleen

Unknown said...

I can always tell that you are "hooked" on running and your enthusiasm is contagious. I just love that tired feeling for the rest of the day too...there's nothing like it!
Your header photo and the tree pictures are gorgeous, the new header is my favorite, the sun is perfect!

Jocelyn said...

You are so incredible! All of you are. Awesome runs and great pictures. :D

Johann said...

I'm glad you had such a good weekend of running! Go for the 10 mile race! It's great to try new races when possible. The pics are great!

LookingUpAgain said...

Great job! What a great weekend for some runs :)

Marlene said...

Definitely a great weekend of running! Way to go! Love the negative splits on your long run, and that trail photo is just beautiful! Makes me want to be outside NOW.

akjenniekt said...

Sounds like a great weekend:-). I love that the weather is getting nicer- makes everything better!
I think that's a great goal to race a 10 miler- new experience should be fun:-)!

Anonymous said...

I was going to say as I was reading those paces, "way to rock the last four!!!"

Eliza Returns said...

I L-O-V-E the pictures!

The weather looks fabulous for a run! :D

Great work!

Anonymous said...

I had to start following just based on your blog title alone! Great name!

April said...

Love the photos!! Sounds like you had a fantastic running weekend!! I'm jealous!

Keri said...

Love the new header photo!

Great job picking up the pace on the last few miles on your runs!

newrunner said...

Nice job!! Thanks for sharing the photos.

Jill said...

I love the profile header pic, too! Reminds me of my twin cousins, their mom always dressed one in blue and the other in pink. Ha. Nice job on the mega runs!!

MCM Mama said...

Those are some nice splits! Great job!

Amy said...

I just love a great run that includes getting an errand done at the same time - sounds like you had a great weekend!