2011 Year End Recap & 2012 Resolutions

Looking back on 2011 I think I can finally give myself the title of "RUNNER"

In 2011:

Races: 6

Workouts:134

Duration: 82:01:16

Miles: 376.65

Avg Pace: 13:04

Cals burned: 64843

Weight:232lb

Compared to 2010:

Races: 0

Workouts: 24

Duration: 12:33:41

Distance: 47.83 miles

Avg Pace: 15:45

Cals burned: 8262

Weight: 242lb

One word comes to mind "WOW"!

For 2012 my resolution:

- running: "Race Further" 1st half marathon training plan and race scheduled. Also do as many 5K& 10K's that I can squeeze into my training schedule.

- swimming: take swimming lesson to get more comfortable in water

- cycling: ride more to get comfortable on bike

- triathlon: try a sprint distance triathlon (or duathalon)

- weight loss - lose 15lbs by 12/31/2012 232 to 217

2011 Webster Turkey Trot Recap

Participated in the the 40th running of the "two-five" Webster Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Morning. Decided to join 4800 of my closest friends for a trot through Webster Park.

Felt great Ran Great! Just running thru the muddy finish with 4K other people was a challenge.

From Nike+ Watch:

2.54 Miles, 27:52, 10:58 avg pace

MILE TIME AVG Pace

1	11:31	11'31"/mi
2	22:00	10'29"/mi

Negative Split! YEAH Baby!

Official Results:

Place:801

Time:0:27:53

A New Addition!

Haven't blogged in a bit.

I've been keeping semi consistent running schedule. Still on track for 1/2 marathon next year

and possibly a sprint tri. (If I can learn to swim :) )

Just Picked up a new addition. A shiny new bike! 2011 Raleigh Revenio 2.0. Park Ave had a really good end of year sale so it was a good time to buy!

Took it out for a 10 mile ride yesterday which felt good. Except I got the front derailer stuck. Ill get it fixed soon as I have to go for a full fitting this week.

SummerFest 12K Recap

I ran in Summerfest 12K!!

It was VERY HOT! 85 degrees and very humid!!

Official time: 1:48:02, 14:31 pace

318 place out of 325, 18 in my sex/age group out of 18:(

From my Nike+ Watch

MILE	TIME	AVG. PACE
1	9:58	9'58"/mi
2	22:03	12'05"/mi
3	34:49	12'46"/mi
4	51:06	16'17"/mi
5	1:07:28	16'22"/mi
6	1:24:36	17'08"/mi
7	1:40:32	15'56"/mi

AGAIN I went out way to fast and heat slowed me way down in miles 4,5 &6. Adrenaline, the crowd & a NOBO mentor are the only reason I was able to run the last mile and a half.

Still not sure why I take so fast! Is it because I watched IAAF world championship this week? My Jamaica roots? home of the great worlds greatest sprinters.

Any advice how to slow down on that 1st mile?

7ish Miles

Did a course preview with NoBo group. It was a 7.49 mile run in preparation for summerfest.

It was extremely hilly! I also ran naked on accident as I completely forgot my Nike+ watch

Of course I took off to fast as pace group pushed the pace. Slowed down about halfway and walked a few of the big hills.

All in all a good run. Really need to do more hillwork as I just don't have hills any of my current routes or routine.

Shoreline 5K Recap

I ran inaugural Shoreline 5K part of the Shoreline MultiSport Festival.

The Sprint Tri is one of the oldest in the nation. (Looking forward to competing in the tri one day)

Another 5K! Before this summer I've run 2 races in 10 years! This summer alone I've run 4 and 5th will be in Sept!!!

It was a warm one! 80 degrees at 8am! Breeze off the Lake was great, but it was a lot of sun. It was also different because it was small only 111 runners. Nice change of pace from the crowded races.

Official time: 35:46 11:32 pace

67 place, 6 in my sex/age group out of seven :(

From my Nike+ Watch

MILE	TIME	AVG.PACE
1	9:16	9'16"/mi
2	21:08	11'52"/mi
3	34:23	13'15"/mi

Of course I went out to fast and heat slowed me down in miles 2-3. I did have fun doing it and PR'ed mile 1!

1st 5miler

This morning I ran my new longest run a 5 mile run. Did it in 1:01 avg pace 12:20.

Ran with nobo 10k group 11min pace group. Started out really strong keeping a constant 11/min pace. Until I hit the back to back hills mile 3 in Highland Park. So I dropped back a bit. Then right foot fell asleep(need new shoes) so I stopped took off my shoe at traffic light then walked a bit. Felt fine after that. It helped that the last mile plus was all downhill so felt like I could have kept going..

I know the peak of program is a 7miler so looking forward to that in the future!

Marathon Training?

Considering this plan for next spring:
http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51143/Marathon-Novice-Supreme-Training-Program

Brighton 5K- Recap

Happy Birthday USA!!
I am a very proud American, I bleed Red,White & Blue!
What a better way to celebrate freedom than running a 5K??

I ran the Brighton 5k. Wanted to try a smaller race which in Rochester is about 600 runners...

Official time was 33:13, 10:43/min/mile pace. Placed 525 of 668.

Course was nice & flat! Was warm but not too hot with a nice breeze.

Nike + SportsWatch:

33:16, 3.13 mile, 10:37/mile:

MILE TIME AVG. PACE AVG. HR

1 9:38 9'38"/mi n

2 20:15 10'37"/mi 182bpm

3 31:48 11'33"/mi 184bpm

Have a little side of knee pain but I think it is time for new shoes. Purchased a pair of Brooks GTS Adrenaline. Will review later.

How did you spend our nations birthday?

The Great Fish Oil Experiment

Interesting post:
http://running.competitor.com/2011/06/news/the-great-fish-oil-experiment_29397

I am going try try this experiment out myself.

Nike + GPS SportsWatch

I have been running with my new Nike+ SportWatch GPS powered by Tom Tom for about a month now. All in all glad I got it!

Now this is my first GPS watch. I had a short time with the NIKE+ Sportsband before make the big switch. The sportsband for me I just couldn't get to give me an accurate in run pace even after a few bouts of calibration. I will say it did hold its value when I re-sold on ebay.

For starters it was very easy to setup and link to my existing Nike+ account that I've add since 2006. The account has been me used Ipod nano to Iphone to Iphone GPS app to sportsband to Nike + GPS. Which is my biggest reason for sticking with Nike over Garmin.

Here are a few of my Pros & Cons:

Pros:

• Fits well and not to bulky
• Nike + web interface and account
• Cool color
• unique haven't seen any runners wearing yet
• battery life is good (if you remeber to charge it)

Cons:

• Syncing:
• Can't get a consistant sync connection. Sometimes it works sometimes it complains and just shuts down
• During sync it always is update GPS which takes a bit
• I have a workout it won't sync but is still on watch
• If my wrist were bigger i'd have issues as i am on second to last wrung
• No ability to add bike module. Which works for me but not for those triathletes
• when doing labs you really have to whack its face pretty good to manual mark lap
• Takes a good 2 mins before GPS is synced. Its fine for me as long as i walk abit and have it ready and paused before a race.
• GPS mapping is a bit off, though its getting better.

How To Spot A Bad Pace Team Leader

Funny Article:
http://running.competitor.com/2011/06/features/how-to-spot-a-bad-pace-team-leader_30046

10K Program

With my new found confidence I am Signing up for a 10K running program even though the graduation is 12K. What's 2K umongst friends?

The base mileage for 10K is 1-2 miles running. During the info session I heard one lady ask another lady which program she was going to participate in. The lady quickly said "5k, 1-2 miles running my azz"

1st Group run is 6/18!

New Longest Run

Did my new personal longest run 4.55 miles, 58.14mins, 12.49/avg pace

5 miles I am gunning for you.

It isn't and ultra or anything but to me it is progress. Not sure how I will feel tomorrow but feel pretty good now.

How does it feel to crack 5 miles? 10 miles? 20miles? 50 miles?

Lilac - Recap

2011 Lilac 5K. Very good run. Plenty of Hills. Very Crowded!! Crowds of runners from beginning to end. Also a humid day.

I completely missed the post run fest?!?!

Official time: 33:25, 10:47 pace, 49th in my age group

From NIKE GPS Watch:

MILE TIME AVG. PACE

1 10:08 10'08"/mi

2 19:45 9'37"/mi

3 31:11 11'26"/mi

Lilac 5K

Getting ready for the Medved Lilac 5k next Sunday!

Only in Rochester do we dedicate a whole festival & week to a shrub!

Should be a good race though the weather is saying rain for a week straight...Yuck!

Just doing my normal 9 mile/week training nothing crazy...

1st Race Recap

I did it! Thank God!

12 weeks ago didn't think I could walk 3.1 miles let alone run at a decent race pace.

Of course like all runners i went out too fast! You almost have to get around walkers and other runners. But more important I ran the whole way (except my shoe malfunction, re-tie my shoe when my key almost fell off on main :))

Heres my unofficial from my not so well calibrated Nike + sport band:

MILE TIME AVG. PACE

1 9:58 9'58"/mi

2 20:29 10'31"/mi

3 31:35 11'06"/mi

Official Time: 33:40/10:52 pace; 424 overall place/186 m/f place; 33 0f 46 for my division..

I also surprised myself I did and all out sprint at 3 mi marker to the finish. Something I hadn't practice. Felt like I needed to leave it all on the course!! Will be practicing in future.

All in all it was GREAT! These are the fastest times I've run all year! So I now know I can do it, I'm a runner!

As my shirt said today. "Running Changes Everything"

1st Race

Getting Ready for my first 5k in 5+ years. It is this Sunday. I feel ready but nervous... I know I can run 3.1 miles straight just worried about two things. 1) Going out too fast. 2) Letting nerves make me more tired than I really am. So we will see.. Wish me luck!

Out with OLD In with NEW

Earlier this season I had to retire my old NB running sneakers.

They served me well. I purchased them in 2004-2005ish. From a running store. The have alot of support as the salesperson said my feet are so flat. Tell you the truth not sure if I ever ran a race with them. At the two mile mark my feet started to tingle like they were falling asleep.

I went to another local reputable running store hoping to just get inserts. But I learned that running sneaker really only last 3-6months, or 300miles. So I got fitted and got these new Saucony ProGrid Guide 3 plus the insert for my flat feet. Turns out my old had way too much support. Andy told me these are runner for a much older person then I am. I do pronate slightly but I should be correcting that much because I can over correct. Also these new ones are so light compared to the old, I can now pickup my feet. Best of all I have new 2 mile tingle!!

Golf vs Running

So I've played golf as a hobby for over 10 years now. I always struggled to have a consistent swing so I never broke 100.

This is the first year that I plan to leave my clubs in the basement. I really want to take the break and focus on running.

So will I dust of the clubs again? not sure....

End of NoBo

Tonight was last night of my NoBo (No Boundaries) 5K learn to run program. Sponsered by Fleet Feet Sports

It was bitter sweet as when it began 12 weeks ago we only ran for thirty seconds today we ran 3 miles straight without walking.

I did my 3miles in 35:37 avg pace 11'52".

Graduation Race is May 1st!