Karanukkah and 5-Year Runniversary

The idea of Karanukkah (8 days of food, drink, desserts, and presents) occurred to me last weekend, and somehow my wonderful husband agreed to go along with it, so it has been a fabulous start to October!  I don't think this week's miles even come close to balancing out the gluttony (including stops at Maple View Farms, Moonberries, Tomato Jake's, Sullivan's Steakhouse, Noodles & Co., and Piola; plus cake, donuts, ice cream cake, and cupcakes), but it was worth it.  I'm registered as an Athena for next weekend's half marathon anyway, but after that I'll be much better about my diet and will hopefully lose a few pounds before NYC.  In the meantime... stretchy pants.

I also hit a milestone of sorts today - it has been exactly 5 years since my first race!  On 10/7/07 I ran the Anna's Angels 10-miler, which at the time was the longest I'd ever run.  Five years, a few thousand miles (3,485 since I bought the Garmin in May 2010), and 80+ races later, I must say thanks to Jenn P for talking me into that despite my protests that running 10 miles was just crazy!

As for training this week, it's had some highs and lows, but today's long run went really well and was exactly what I needed with NYC only one month away.

Monday: 1500m pull swim

Tuesday: 10M in 1:19:50, including 5 x 1M
Very humid and then rainy run on the ATT with Sara.  It felt tough, which I am going to blame on the not-so-pleasant heat and humidity, and having run over 20 miles two days ago.  Not super consistent with the splits (6:41-7:03-6:56-7:04-6:55), but with the long gradual up and down of the southern section of the trail it seemed like a pretty even effort and I'll take it.

Wednesday: 6M in 51:36
Nice recovery run through Colvard Farms on another ridiculously humid morning.  

Thursday: 6M in 46:36
Crazy humidity, take three. Where is fall?!  Middle 4 miles around goal half marathon pace (7:22-7:16-7:19-7:14).  The pace felt great for the first mile or two and fairly challenging after that, so I'm not sure how I can hold it for 13 if 4 is a struggle.  I'm hoping that a day or two off and cooler temperatures will help.

Friday: 8M in 1:03:01; Sync Cycling
Lovely, less humid run on the ATT with Ellen. 2M warm up then 6M averaging 7:46.

Sunday: 22M in 3:04:09
Lora, Caren, Ellen, and Allie were sweet enough to join me for my birthday long run, starting from my house and heading south on the ATT.  My plan was to run easy (around 8:30 pace) and though I went a little faster than planned, I resisted the temptation to try to keep up with my speedy friends.  Thanks to Lora for hanging back and keeping me company.  I can't imagine doing these long runs solo, especially in the pouring rain!  I felt great after sticking to the plan, so when I hit 20 miles I decided to pick it up and try to get one faster mile in.  Made it through the 21st mile in 7:18 and then slowed back down for a cool down mile.  Though one fast mile is not going to reap any physical benefits at this point, mentally I am happy to know that I can run relatively fast (for me) after nearly 3 hours.  Top that off with bagels, coffee, and mimosas with my lovely running friends, and it makes for a pretty great Sunday morning!

Weekly total: 52 miles