3.23 & 6 miles

Thursday - I had a nice quick run at 5:30am. It was muggy and my GPS was a bit off (had me running my first mile at 6:50 no way). 3.23 miles 8:29 pace

Friday - 5am run with my neighbor C. It was very muggy again (when I see people running later in the days on muggy days like this, i cringe!). We ran the first 4 miles together at a very easy pace (between 9:30/10). C was struggling so she told me to go ahead as she needed to walk a bit. I finished the last two with negative splits and it was hard because of the humidity.
6 miles 57 minutes

5.25

Schedules don't always work out, so tonight I had to forfeit my running group. I know boo hoo...but I did manage to get up at 5am and go for a nice 5 miler.

I started out around 9:05 and finished with my last mile being 8:00. Good run, I plan to do another 4/5 miler tomorrow morning before the heat hit!

5.25 44:20? 8:29 pace

5.71 & 2.37 in same day

We were at the summer hou se this weekend for Memorial Day and my in laws were all there...including my speedy sis in law. She has been injured with a stress fracture since March (same as my itbs) from our Toledo marathon training. She just started running this week and was feeling a little sluggish and skeptical about running longer than 3 miles. But of course even with her injuries she still kicked my butt and pushed me to run faster and also running with me this semi long run gave her confidence that she can run longer distances.

And yes, we ran early in the morning then after a long day, lunch in South Haven, wineries, family BBQ, pontoon boat ride with drinks, we ran again at dusk! The second run was a short one and she ended up leaving me behind for the last .1 mile but not that far behind!

5.71  47:18 8:17 pace

8:14, 8:27, 8:12, 8:16,8:22,8:07

 

2.37 19:28 8:13

8:09, 8:21, 8:06

5.02

Friday I woke up at 440 and met up with C and another friend M for a 5am run. It was so pretty out and peaceful. We ran 5 miles and they were slow miles....honestly probably the slowest I ever ran even slower than when I first started running. It was a work out for M, not much for C and I talked easily the entire run. But it was a push for M and it was great to encourage her...and 5 miles is 5 miles! When we were done I felt like I could have kept going. That is why I love running so much, the different paces and the different places where people are in their running, encouraging and pushing one another@

5.02 miles 54:32 10:52 pace!!!!

4.15 & just under 5

4.15 miles - Tuesday after dinner I had a nice run. It was very humid out and what normally is an easy run felt much harder, sweatier and breathing was heavy. I had negative splits again, as I usually do when I run solo. Again, I really enjoy my runs after the kids are in bed and it's still light out, but cooler.
4.15 miles 35:40 8:36 pace

4.86 miles - Wednesday was my running group. We had a great turn out tonight, some runners that found out about our group from last weekend's 5K. I was happy that my friend M that runs pretty much my speed joined us, so I was not the only girl running with the boys, aka the 'fast' group. It was a good run, much less humid and again it's always nice to run/talk with others. The last mile my friend M was struggling a bit and the guys started getting ahead. But I caught up to them and finished with them and M was close behind me.
 4.86 (although our friend that maps our runs swears it's 5 miles by bike and by walking it) miles
41.54 8:37 (last mile 8:20)

Maybe I'll start reviewing my beers I drink at Grape and Grain after our runs.

Tonight I had Founder's IPA Centennial since they were $5 and I'm an IPA kinda girl (7.5% for $5 is a deal to me). I do enjoy this IPA, not my favorite but very light, just enough hoppy for two pint glasses!

spaghetti squash with no cook tomato sauce

This dish is great for warm days, when you want a nice pasta dish with low carbs and no hot stoves. I make this no cook tomato sauce for real pasta too but we really enjoy using Spaghetti Squash instead of pasta.
No Cook Tomato Sauce

4 garlic cloves - place in a bowl of 2 tbsp of olive oil and let sit.
 
1-2 lbs. plum tomatoes - peel off skin, squirt out seeds and squash with your hands. Place in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.
Toss the tomatoes and add in 2 tsp grated lemon peel, 2 tbsp chopped up butter and mix. Add in the olive, sans the garlic. Mix well and season with more s & p as desired.
When you pasta or squash is ready, mix into the sauce. Use a little pasta water to thin out. Top with freshly chopped up basil and fresh parmasean cheese.
Spaghetti Squash
Cut in half, lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and guts. In a dish, place 1 half face down and pour about 1in of water. Microwave 6-8 minutes until soft. Do the other half the same way.
When squash has cooled a bit, pull out and mix with the sauce. It will melt the butter. Top with extra lemon.
In the fall/winter I prefer to bake my squash but since it's warm out will use the microwave.  
 
 

Location:Western Ave,Homewood,United States

7.15 & advantages of running buddies

It was a humid, hot night (remember Chicago has two seasons, winter and summer). My neighbor and another friend from our running group and I wanted to run, we decided on an evening run since it would be cooler and the kiddos are in bed then. Anyhow we wanted to do between 6-7 and were happy we ended up with a little over 7. C had to let us go ahead of her the last mile but she did it, M and I kept going and picked up the pace a little bit.

I really do enjoy my alone runs, I actually never wanted to run with others....but after I started running with G and sometimes N during marathon training, I realized how fun it is. Miles go faster and most importanly THE PACES CHANGE. When I run alone I tend to run as fast as I can , mostly start out with a few warm up miles then end with negative splits. When I run alone I constantly think of my pace, and keep thinking how I have to run faster because going above a 9 is slow! But rarely do I have a 'slow' run or 'easy' run and maybe that is what led to ITBS? Not sure, but I really do like running with different runners, because it makes me run at different paces. I like running with my neighbor because she makes me slow down and I make her run faster. I like running with the guys on Wednesdays because they make me run a bit faster but evenly.

Tonight's run looked like this....a few months ago I would have been disappointed that it was so slow. But now I look at it differently; I ran different paces this week, different runs and changing it up works different muscles and I feel that these slower runs make my faster runs, faster.



And now for some fresh popcorn (left over from the girls' movie) sans butter and salt BUT topped with how my grandma taught me to eat popcorn - with M & M's. I actually devoured watermelon after my run as I was super thirsty from the hot run.


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new PR - Apollo 5K

This is my third year running this local race. My first year I ran it in 27:31, second 24:49 and now....
23:27 - 7:33 pace
I was pretty happy with this, but as a runner you always think you can push more next time and get faster. Most of our running group was there and it was great to run with them all, almost everyone PR'd so it must be something to say about running with others. It probably helps that our leader ran his 5K in 17 mins. But all in all a great race and so fun to see friends do so great.

Cheering section


Running group


After race celebration

Good runs this week

Monday - after dinner 4.18 run 8:27 pace
Tuesday - after dinner 3.02.warm out 8;46 pace
Wed - running group run. 5 miles about 8:48 pace

Local 5k is this weekend. It'll be fun to run with new running friends. I'm trying to break 24 mins!!!

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6.5

Ran this morning with my neighbor C. I like running with her because I push her to run faster and she pushes me to run slower. So my longish runs of the week actually are slower and I feel that my mid week runs are faster...make sense?

Anyhow, I had a great run, no pain of course it was only over 6 miles but I will continue to increase my miles a little each week and see how it goes.

18 miles for this week, not bad with no pain and some nice speedy runs!

4 & 3

I had a nice 4 mile run on Monday. With the sun setting later I have been fitting in my run after dinner then letting C get to the gym for his training after the girls are in bed. I love running outside and will do anything to avoid the gym and treadmill.

4.05 miles 34:43

1	8:47
2	8:41
3	8:32
4	8:18
5	8:31

Tuesday I ran a quick 3.01 - felt good.

25:14 8:23 pace

ElevationPaceSpeed00.5 mi1 mi1.5 mi2 mi2.5 mi3 mi

1	8:31	3
2	8:26	11
3	8:11	-17
4	8:47	0