Galloway Training Recap (Week 5)

Another tough week....fatigue got the best of me this week so I skipped the weekday training. Therefore, no miles during the week. I had every intention of getting out there and run but I just couldn't. But I did my assigned miles for the long run. 

Tuesday:

No running

Thursday:

No running again...

Saturday:

I woke up early even though I just wanted to sleep in. Got ready and head out the door by 5:50am. I walked 2 miles even though I was tempted to run...but I followed what Jeff Galloway assigned me to do...my pace was 22:45 but yet, I was supposed to do my long runs at 16:30 pace!?!? After 2 miles I did 15/30 I felt great for 9.25 miles. I walked the last 3/4 mile because it was getting hot. But overall I felt great! (Minus the heat...lol). My average pace is 18:05. I didn't reach my suggested pace but I felt really good so I am ok with it :)

Total miles for the week: 12.01 miles

Galloway Training Recap (week 3)

Another tough week. I didn't get to do the required weekly training because we had to get ready to cruise with Mickey! I had every intention of running and doing my workout on Tuesday but ended up going home and took care of packing and cleaning up the house. One of my favorite thing to do while cruising is to actually get up early and run around on Deck 4! (I know, weird...right?? Lol) So guess what I ended up doing on Friday?? Lol 

Tuesday:

No running

Friday:

Got up early and attended the stretching class then went down to deck 4 and did 4CD (45, 49, 50, 51) and 4 AG drills. Then did 1 mile of 15/30 intervals.

Miles ran: 2.01 miles

Saturday:

I woke up early again and attended the stretching class. Then I signed up to run the Castaway Cay 5k. It was VERY HOT and HUMID! I ran 15/30 the first 2 miles but ended up walking the last mile. I finished it last but at least I didn't cheat and did 2 loops!

Miles ran: 3.05 miles 

Total miles for the week: 5.07 miles

Galloway Training Recap (Week 2)

Ever since my first run with Galloway training, I have been more excited about going outside and do my workout! Of course, week 1 was tough...and didn't get to do the week day workouts. Week 2 was much better (but still didn't follow the plan all the way! I still need to really follow the plan and not skipping out on the weekday workout...

Tuesday: 

Weather: sunny, 81 degrees

Warm up, 4 CD (45, 49, 50, 50) followed by 4 AG

4x800m: Lap 1 (30/30) - 7:40, Lap 2 (20/20) - 7:31, Lap 3 (15/15) - 7:18)

Total miles ran: 3.52 miles

Thursday: 

I skipped the workout

Saturday: 

Weather: cloudy, 71 degrees

Plan - 12 miler long run

What I did: I ran 6 miles and did MM during the first mile

Magic Mile #1 (time per 1/4 mile): 3:41, 3:44, 3:47, 3:53 (final time: 15:05)

Total miles ran: 6.02 miles

Total miles for the week: 9.54 miles

eCoaching with Jeff Galloway

I have been running since 2012, and just recently completed half marathon #12 couple of weeks ago (Disneyland Dumbo Double Dare). My fastest half marathon is still 3:17:33 (my first half marathon) and I can't seem to PR...I have discovered Jeff Galloway's e-coaching couple of months ago and have been contemplating on signing up for his ecosching. Well, after my #12, and the time hasn't improved (probably because I haven't followed the training program in a long time), I finally decided to bite the bullet and signed up for his e-coaching. 

2 days after signing up for his e-coaching, I got an email from Susan with some questions to be filled out.  I filled them out in details and send it back. Within a day or so, I got my personalized training program from Jeff Galloway!! (Which align with 4 half marathons and other races that I will be completing in the next 6 months). So you would think I was excited about going out there and run, right??? Wrong! I had a hard time getting out there and do my weekly workout!  I ended up missing the weekly workout but I did do my long run this weekend despite not feeling well.  

Jeff wanted me to do my long runs with 15/30 intervals with at least 16:30 pace. Well, most of my long runs ended up being 17-18min pace so I was little worried about keeping up with 15/30. I started my long run on Sunday night (finally decided to get out there and run) and walked for 5min before started on the intervals. after a mile, my pace went from 20min to 17:30 and I felt really good!! By mile 2, I was running 16:10!  It was very humid but I felt good the whole 3 miles!! My pace ended up being 16:20 (after the 5min cool down). And no aches and pains whatsoever! Not even my Plantar fasciitis!!!

So glad I did the long run today. Now I feel better about the training and about myself and now looking forward to do my weekly trIning next week!! 

My goal is to run 3:15 half marathon by the end of the coaching without any injuries! (Sub 3 would be GREAT if I can do it!!)

Race Recap: the best race...EVER! Nike Women's Half Marathon 2014

What can I say? I'm a sucker for finisher's medals....when I found out that Nike women's run series gave away Tiffany's necklace at the finish line couple years ago, I knew it had to be on my running bucket list. But only one problem....back then, Nike only had the race in San Fransisco...in OCTOBER. I knew then that running the race will just have to wait until I retire...lol. Then came a big announcement from Nike last year!! A new race!! In WASHINGTON D.C.!! In APRIL!! Heck yah!! But still...I didn't think I was able to do it. 

When I came across the race info for 2014 and saw the race date, I was ecstatic! It just so happened to fall on on our spring break! So what did I do?? I recruited my friend Betsy and Angela to run the race with me! We signed up for the lottery (unfortunate for Angela as she had completely forgot to sign up 😞) and waited for the results. I had to prepare myself in case we didn't get in. Well...WE GOT IN!!! 

Fastforward to race week. Jeff and I got there on Wednesday so we could enjoy DC for a little bit. The expotique opened on Thursday so we did the tour of the Capitol and the Library of congress before we went to the expotique. Unlike runDisney's expo, this expo was really small. I got my bib in one tent, then walked up to another tent for the race shirt and the bag. Then I walked down to the actual expotique.  Inside the HUGE tent, there was a big screen right in front of the entrance. As I was about to check out the expo, the screen caught my eyes! MY NAME was on the screen!! I thought that was neat!  So I walked back and forrth on the sensor with my bib and took pictures in front of the screen as my name popped up! Now...THAT WAS COOL!!!

I walked around a very small expo. I decided to get my running analyzed before our tour started and so glad I did because it confirmed me for the third time that I'm a neutral runner! And the video that they sent me was really neat!!

Now let's fast forward to the race day. Since the race started at 7am, we got up around 5am and left the hotel about 5:45am. Walked to the Metro, got on with no problem and got off at Federal Triangle to drop off Jonathan's bag. By the time we got there it was about 6:15am and no one was hardly in the corral so we went ahead and walked up to the front of the Wave 3 corral.  Took several pictures with the Capitol and sunrise as our background and waited for the Wave 1 to start!

The weather was PERFECT! It was about lower 60's (maybe upper 50's?).  Right about 7:15am, our corral (the last corral) crossed the starting line. I was very nervous because we have to finish by 11am!! Of course just like any other big race, the first 1-2 miles were very congested. Betsy and I ran and ran until we reached the Capitol,before I took my first walking break. Betsy is a fast runner and I'm slower than her. I felt bad that she was staying with me and I kept telling her to keep going. But she stayed closed by. We started 1/1 ratio and I felt incredibly great despite I haven't ran much in the past couple of weeks. We ran by the mall, passed the Washington monument, Lincoln memorial and ran through a tunnel (lost the GPS signal for a bit there) and ran across the bridge to the Arlingtn cemetary. By mile 5, Betsy and I were separated (potty break) and I went on. The first part of the course was very nice and lots to look at. However, the second half was kind of boring. The course was in the park (I think?) and nothing really nice to look at. As I was reaching mile 9, I started to get worried because I usually hit the "wall" around there. But the "wall" wasn't there and I just kept on...not as strong as in the beginning but I kept on. Between mile 10 and 11 was the chocolate station and boy oh boy those chocolate truffles tasted so good!! I probably had about 6 chocolates while running!! (And probably could had some more chocolates to last me until the finish line!! Lol). We went through the tunnel again and I knew I was getting close to the Pensylvania Ave.  right before I reached mile 12, I saw a jumbotron and saw my name on the screen again!! It was amazing and gave me a boost of energy that I needed to finish the last 1.1 mile!!

That last 1.1 miles seemed like 3 miles but I finally crossed the finish line! YAY I DID IT!!! Not only got my Tiffany's necklace, I shaved off about 30 second from Albany half! It felt so good that I finished the race without getting swept and finished it on time!  Betsy finished before me and she waited for me to cross the finish line, get my necklace pic and we headed back to the Metro to get back to our hotel. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this race!! Would I do it again?? You betcha!! But too bad Nike cancelled DC race for next year. But I would do another Nike Women half as long as it is doable :)

 

Weekly Training Report: 3/09/14

Weekly Training Report: 3/09/14

I just could not get into the training mood, but thanks to my friend, I got out and walked some this week!

Sunday: Rested

Monday: Rested

Tuesday: walked with Besty and Angela in Betsy's neighborhood. 

Miles for the day: 3.03 miles @ 16:26 pace

Wednesday: Walked with Betsy and Angela again. This time, we added some running intervals. My Nike App states that I ran 5.34 miles but my Garmin says 4 miles. 

Miles for the day: 4 miles 

Thursday: Rested to get ready to go out of town

Friday: Walked ALOT at Disney! My fitbit said I walked 16,670 steps (6.55 miles). 

Saturday: Walked around Disney! According to Fitbit, I took 20,642 steps (8.08 miles)

WEEKLY TOTAL: 7.03 miles (not counting the Disney walking)

Training plan for next week:
My tentative plan for next week is to try my very best to follow the Galloway training plan for week 10:

Sunday - Rest
Monday - Rest
Tuesday -  4 cadence drill, 4 acceleration glide, 1 mile run and 15 min warm down run (if the weather is good)
Wednesday - tennis 
Thursday - 30min walk
Friday - 3.21 miles run for RDS World Day
Saturday - 4 Acceleration glider, 4x800m intervals (or 8 miles run)

Wow! Where have I Been!?!?!

It has been over a year since my last entry. What was I doing this pas year, you may ask? Well, here's a quick snapshot of what I have done in the past year and a half....

1) I did all of the major races hosted by runDisney (DL half and Tower of Terror 10 Miler in September, and Wine and Dine in November) and got my coast to coast medal in 2012. I must say, of all the races at Disney, I really enjoyed the Wine and Dine course despite being a night race and I got sick before the start of the race. 

2) In 2013, I ran the Dolad Half with my friend George, I meant Keisha (her very first half) and then ran the Princess half for Team RMHC, my first charity race, then of course did ToT again (going for Perfect status here!). In November, I ran my very first non-Disney half marathon race (Rock n Roll Savannah) and really enjoyed the race!  I enjoyed it so much that I signed up for another non-Disney race, the Space Coast Half the weekend after Thanksgiving. I was VERY impressed with the medal for Space Coast and will be planning on running that race for the next 4 years for the Big Bang Series!! 

3) My running mojo has been up and down during this past a year and a half (I did not train for most of the races at all) but since I found out that we (my friend Betsy and her hubby Jon and couple of the strangers on FB) got selected to run the Nike Women's Half in April 2014 that my running mojo has been sky rocketed!! (No I'm still slow...lol). So now, I'm in my training mode! (Like......seriously!!)

4) 2014 started off real slow....I just did Minnie 10k during the WDW marathon weekend and skipped the Donald half. Since I was already there for the 10k, I decided to volunteer at the expo and on course during the marathon on Sunday. It was FUN, and definitely will do that again for a free Disney ticket!! 

5) I ran the Gasparilla 5k and Half marathon (race recap to be published later) at the end of February and then decided to qualify for the Half Fanatics by running my hometown race, the Albany Half marathon (race recap to be published later!). I have NOT officially signed up to be a part of the fanatics YET, but I'm sure I will in the future. 

Thoughts on the past two years of my running journey...I ran my first 5k at Disney and my first half at Disney.  Back then, I would never thought I would do any races outside of Disney because I thought it would be boring. Well, guess I was WRONG! Each races (non-Disney) is so unique that I really enjoyed every single one of them!  The Rock n Roll Savannah had an awesome finish line for runners (and not to mention the free beer for the post race recovery drink) and running through historical Savannah was pretty neat. 

Space coast half...what can I say??? The out and back course is so beautiful and the finisher's medal is better than Disney (and a beach towel at the finish line!?!? Awesome!!). I did Gasparilla because of the pirate medal....but I didn't expect the awesome food at the finish line!! (Salad, rice and beans, yogurt, smoothie....and so much more!!). And then there's Albany Half Marathon...I decided to run that so I can qualified for the half fanatics! I never thought I would really enjoy the course!! 

So now, there you have it...and my runnung journey still continues!!  I'm looking forward to signing up for other races and maybe try to shoot for 6 half marathons in 6 consecutive months!!!