Last weekend I ran my last 15. It was a very fun adventurous run! The first two miles we had 8 runner girls on the road with us, several who already ran 10 and needed a 12 so we met up with them to run their last two and begin my 15. The first two miles of my run were at a 8:00 pace .... fast for me ... especially to start off a 15 but that seemed to set the pace for the day. I must say how cool it is to see 8 girls running two by two on the roads. That was one of my favorite moments of this training. There have been a lot of favorites but that was one of the best by far! Jana, Kelli, Amber, Erica, Emily, Anna, Renee and me! Amber was running her 22 so she had someone with her the whole way like I did the weekend before for my 20 .... Like I have said before ... amazing running friends!
After those two miles 3 of the girls were done for their long runs for the day and Kelli, Amber, Emily Renee and I ran out on our next 10 route.
Helena is full of hills so its almost impossible to not run hills in Helena. We have a great route that goes from town to the mountains. For those of you that know the area, we run from the Hospital area to Colonial then into the South Hills. We ran out to Jackson Creek this time (into a little town called MT City) then up the road to the Quarry. We were trying a new route from online maps so we were a little unsure of where the road goes, we always run the backside of the road but not usually up to the quarry. We saw Quarry road but it didn't look established so we ran up a beautifully paved driveway ... we knew it didn't look right but it was miles so we didn't care. Once up the driveway it was confirmed that we were .... yup, up a driveway. LOL. So of course we ran back down the driveway to the main road. We thought maybe their was two Quarry roads so we ran up to the next road to see and .... wait for it ..... nope that wasn't it. So in an effort not to make Amber's 22 miserable .. she and Kelli continued back the way we came and Emily and I ran the unpaved/unestablished road called Quarry!
Up into the mountains we went ... beautiful! Deer, Antelope, Bunnies ... we had a little of everything including mud! The mud from all of the ran on the dirt road was piling up on our shoes. It was super thick stuff too! So we had to run in the grass and soak our shoes. Emily's shoes started squeaking they were so wet. Kinda funny! She promised not to super man in the mud this time ... she and I are always the ones being adventurous running in crazy spots! ha ha .. we, together have never met our match though! We always come through ... ha ha!
After making it over the ridge we dropped down to South Hills Road and then to another road that was a nice rolling down hill back to town. We loved it! Should be a great one when the weather clears up and the roads are dry! Ha ha ha ... another adventure down!
But wait, I still had three miles to go! Everyone else was done for the day but I had three more miles to get my 15 in so I ran three more. Thank goodness for Emily, I was out of water and she brought me some, I didnt think I would need it but by the time she got to me I was out and drank a full bottle of hers :) Saved Again :)
I did a great 8 mile before work on Friday .. that felt awesome. Nice EASY pace and overall great run. I have been so lucky with great runs this time around. Lots of tummy problems but great runs in general. An old friend Lori ran with me early after she was up all morning saving a mans life who had a heart attach. She is a specialty nurse and an amazing one at that! I had to be up by 4:30 to meet up with her at 5:15 .. mornings are hard for me but I am hoping with the warmer weather I will continue to get up early. Mornings stink until I start running ... then I LOVE them.
Wednesday this week I ran a 5 with strides. It had been raining all week with minimal breaks in the weather but I found one for a bit on Wednesday. I had a great run at lunch time and at the end of it when I was doing my strides I was watching the black clouds and wall of rain come toward me. Yikes, I knew I was going to get nailed with rain. The strides rocked though .. I was running a 7 minute to 6:50 minute pace for them and they felt good. My knees hurt later but they felt good while doing them. On my last one I saw my hubby's big red truck come up on one of the corners ... he saved me from the rain! I got poured on but I would have been so much worse off had he not found me on my route! I soaked his truck but he didn't care. He said that when he is duck hunting its worse than what I did, LOL.
Here is what the last few weeks hold:
Tomorrow Ill run my last 12 :) and I wont do any other cross training the next two weeks ... only run!
Next Week ... Easy 5 with 5 Strides, Tempo Run 5 Miles with 3 at 8:50 pace, 5 Easy and 8 to 10 Long
Marathon Week ... Tempo 5 with 3 at 9:00 pace, 5 easy, 3 easy, 26.2 = RACE DAY!
Kinda cool HUGH!
Ill need to find a few routes in Tacoma to run while I'm there. Maybe I can meet up with someone from Team DetermiNation on Wednesday afternoon and or Friday!
Well that's it for this time! Mom of 2 I run for you! Hugs to all
