Yeah, it has been almost a month since my last post. Sorry about that. Life has been busy recently and it was hard to make time for blogging. But through it all, I never failed to get some 'foot time' in and work towards being ready for my Windrunner 10K race on August 21st. Yes, it is only 8 days away! And, I believe I am ready! Not sure what my timing is going to be but I will be happy to run the 6.2 miles in under 1 hour 15 minutes. This is my first 10K so I am basically setting a baseline here. And if I do pretty well, the pacing for this race will set my corral in the Disney Half Marathon in January. So I want to do well. This is a trail run so it will be different than my usual runs, but I think I can handle it. More runs, more experience, more fun!
So what have I been doing? Well, the week of July 17 I put in over 12 miles of running and 6 miles of walking. This week ended with a nice four-day weekend vacation with the family in Idlewild, MI where we got to chill at our summer home. And it was nice that my Mom, aunt, and cousin were there to share time with. While I was there, nestled in the Manistee National Forest, I got in a 5.3 mile run early on Saturday morning. Good run at a decent 12:00 LSR pace. Good thing I put on some insect spray because running in the forest is like moving through 'bug heaven'. The best part about that run was that when I arrived back at the cottage, I just took off my shoes and HRM and just walked straight into the lake! Best cool down bath ever!
The following week was the beginning of our Diocesan Mission Trip to help victims of the Katrina Hurricane. We work with Habitat for Humanity and LakeShore Baptist Church to build houses and do other service projects to help the community in LakeShore and Bay St. Louis in Mississippi. Needless to say, it was very HOT out there -- 97 degrees and 95% humidity was the norm! I managed to get in one 2.5 mile walk one evening, and two early morning runs totaling 6.5 miles. Even running at 5:30am, the temperature was in the 80s with humidity nearing 90%. So I decided that since I was working on building houses outside from 8:30am - 3:pm every day, that my one walk and two runs were sufficient exercise for that week. The good thing about those two runs were that it was good for preparing my body for running my 10K in the middle of August, right?
I returned from Mississippi and immediately got back to training for the 10K. On Sunday, August 7, I decided to get in a LSR but at the club in air conditioned comfort (after spending 8 days in Mississippi, I was done with the heat). It felt great to be running, even on the treadmill. I ran for 7 miles at a 13:20 pace and felt really strong. I took that as a good sign!
On Wednesday, I ran with my CARA Training group. Not much of a group that day -- only two of us showed up -- but it was a perfect running day. The temps were mid 70s, cool breeze was blowing, and the sun was setting (and it was beautiful to watch during the run)! I put in 6 miles that evening (and I had run 2.5 miles earlier that morning during my cardio workout) so I clocked in 8.5 for Wednesday. The legs felt pretty good! I even sprinted the last 1/4 mile of my evening run -- over 7 mph! (Well, that is sprinting for me, at least).
Today I got some awesome news! I weighed in at Weight Watchers and lost 2.8lbs. But wait! There's more! I also reached a total weight loss of 102.2 lbs! I finally made it to my 100 pound milestone!!! I am SO EXCITED about this! I blogged about more on my other blog site at rickpeete.blogspot.com but suffice to say that I will be savoring this milestone all day (while I spend it walking miles throughout the Chicago Comic Con conference floors. Yep! That is where I will be today. I wonder how many miles I will actually walk today...)
So now, I am in my taper period. Don't plan on doing too much running this week. Probably run 3 miles on Wednesday and maybe 2 miles on Saturday just to warm up the legs. But next Sunday, August 21st, is the 10K race. So prayers are always welcomed!