Last LONG Run Before the Half...Or the 14 Miler that Wasn't

Well, it wasn't 14 miles, but it was more than the half distance.  13.34 miles with an average pace of 15:16.  Based on that, I shouldn't have any problems finishing my first half within the 3.5 hour time limit.  I even have a little extra time to play with.  Not much, mind you, but a little.

And now, faithful readers, the part you like the most about my long runs...pictures!

The last long run I did, I started from the house and ran in and around the neighborhoods.  I did the same yesterday.  Last time when I got to this point...

I turned right and followed this path across the bridge.  Yesterday, I turned left at the T.

Right before I got to the next road, there was a map.

The blue line is the trail I was following.  The star is where I was at when I took the picture.  Back to the left, at the intersection of the blue line and the black line labeled Peek Rd. is where I joined up with the trail.  Word to the wise...do NOT stand on an anthill while taking a picture.  Those little buggers will get your attention quick, fast, and in a hurry!

View of the drainage system/bayou I was running along.

Another view...on the other side of the water are two great egrets.  In between them is a blue heron, although you really can't see him.  I've seen these before but never in flight.  In flight, they are an amazing site.  They really are blue!

I did not realize how far this trail extended until I saw this sign...

Please excuse the graffiti.  Seems to be more and more of a problem these days.  This is where I crossed over into the park where I did my first long run, although this is on the south side of the road that runs through the park.  Of course, I didn't realize that at the time. 

When I saw this stretch of trail, I really started to wonder where in the heck I was!  I think this was between the 6 and 7 mile marks.  Probably closer to 7.

One of the wildflowers I saw.  The picture doesn't give you a good idea of scale, but these little flowers are smaller that the tip of my little finger.  I'm only 5'1", and I have small hands.

This is the playground at the new baseball park the county is building.  I finally realized where I was when I got here.  This park is right across the road from where I started my long run on Jan. 21.  I turned back towards home when I got to the road.

Almost stepped on this little guy!  Good thing he was green, or I probably wouldn't have seen him.  He was sitting in the middle of the sidewalk right about where the park ended and the housing subdivisions started.  His shell wasn't any bigger than a silver dollar.  I took a couple of pictures and then moved him into the grass so he wouldn't get run over by a bicycle or another runner.

I didn't take any other pictures the rest of the way home.  This was about mile 9.  I had another couple of miles to go before I even turned back onto the road that would lead home.  And another 2.5 miles after that!  I didn't realize it was that far.  Amazing how distances can be deceiving when you're driving as opposed to running/walking.

This is me, after I got home.  Sorry for the blurriness, but you can see that I worked hard on this run!

By the way, I was laying on the floor with my legs up the wall when I took this.  Helped to stretch the back of the legs.  I sure wish I had remembered to stretch my quads though.  They're starting to talk to me tonight!

I wish I could say that I didn't have any discomfort after this run.  The last 3-4 miles of this run though were VERY uncomfortable.  Yesterday afternoon and part of today, my left hip and back of my right knee were letting me know they were NOT happy!  I think I've figured out part of the problem though.  Other than this long run, I didn't run at all this last week.  Not good, I know.  I really don't have any excuses.  I just let life get in the way.  Not enough hours in the day, and all that...Lesson learned!

On the docket this week...2 short runs (30 minutes each), and a 5 miler on the weekend.

Have a great week, faithful readers!

GGGW!

What a wonderful girls weekend!  My friend, Sooz, and I drove up to OKC on Friday to spend the weekend with our good friend, Jan.  We had an absolutely stupendous time!  Really didn't do much of anything, but it's been so long since we've been able to spend time together.  And after the busy week I had, this weekend was a much needed time of relaxation & fun.

We both worked Friday morning and hit the road in the early afternoon.  OKC is a bit of a drive, but we got there around 9 or 10.  Opened the wine and got all caught up in front of the fire on the balcony.  And the view...?

Here's what it looks like during the daytime...

First activity of the day - a 4 mile run (well, almost...3.84 actually).  And the last .84 mile was actually a walk.  It's kind of hard to run when you're carrying a Starbucks coffee!  Unless, of course, you don't mind burning yourself.

Some of the sights from our run...

 See the yellow boats?  We rode one of those on the canal ride we took later in the day.

Next...off to lunch at Toby Keith's!  Yes, that is a bus in the wall.

Look, it's bumper to bumper in there!

Next up...the canal ride.

 We saw these sculptures on our run, but I was able to get some more (and better) pictures during the canal ride.  The sculptures depict the 1989 land rush in Oklahoma.  They did such a good job with this!  The artist's attention to detail makes these sculptures appear so real.

 The building in the background is the brand new Devon Energy building.  It's so new that it isn't even complete yet.  Jan likes the depiction of the old and new together.  I do, too.

After we got done here, we went to the OKC Memorial.

Across the street from the memorial is a church and another display.  As much as the memorial moved/disturbed me, I think the statue across the street moved me even more.

Then it was wine tasting time!

And appetizers and drinks at a Tapas place...

And, finally, dinner at a new sushi place....(Wish I'd taken a picture of our food.  The presentation was awesome!)

And off to home we went!  Great, FULL day of activities (and relaxing).  Sunday was spent in the car driving home, but after all the moving around on Saturday, sitting still was nice.

Yesterday it was back to the grind, but we're not as busy this week as we were last week.  Now I can take some time and learn more of what I need to know for my new position in the department.  OJT is great, but I need to learn more of the background in order to be really effective.

Have a great week, everyone!  I have my last LONG run before my half this coming weekend - 14 miles.  Wow!

12.5 Miler

Awesome run!  Time was good, too.  3 hours, 8 minutes.  As nervous as I was about the distance, I really enjoyed the run.  I did find it strange that I wasn't sore at all after this run, nor was I sore the day after.  And I really didn't stretch out well afterwards as I had somewhere else to be within an hour after I got done.  Of course I had to shower first!

In the course of my wanderings, I found a new trail (man made, of course) to run on every so often.  I'll leave you with some of what I saw on my run.

Can you see the turtle in this picture?  He was quite large!

This is an Easter display beside a church that isn't too far away from my house.

By the way, I took all of these pictures with my Blackberry.  Pretty good little camera, I think.

11 Miler Is In the Books!

I did it!  My longest run ever!

And I must say, I am feeling it!  Yesterday when I finished, I stretched.  Apparently, though, I didn't stretch enough because I stiffened up pretty bad.  The left hip is much better today, but the back of the right knee is still pretty sore.  I'm thinking I won't be running again tomorrow.  Maybe on Thursday; we'll see how it feels.  And today my quads are starting to get a little sore, as well.  Yeah, I can tell I did a long run yesterday!

Average pace for the run - 14:33
Calories burned - 916

I can't lie; I treated myself to a Whopper Jr. (with cheese) for lunch.  And it was good!  All is not lost, though; I had a side salad to go with it, and water to drink.

Only 2 more long runs left on the training schedule:
March 3:  12.5 miles
March 17:  14 miles

Have a great night!

Time Check!

Results are in for the Heart of Katy Fun Run/Walk that the hubster & I did on Saturday

                           
Hubster:                

Me:                      

5K Tomorrow (2/11/2012)

5K tomorrow...with the hubster!  Really looking forward to our first "together" running event.  Of course, he's much taller and faster than I am, so we won't run together for very long, I'm sure.  But it will be fun.

You Know It's a Good Run When...

1.  Aaaahhh! said the brain
2.  EVERYTHING moves!
3.  But not until after you're done and home again...

Whew!  It's been a tough week and probably not going to get much better.  The beginning of next week promises to be just as tough.  It's that time of the month at work again.

I did a 3 miler on Saturday.  (Sorry, no pics this time.  Didn't carry my phone.)  The hubs came, too.  It's amazing how satisfying it is to run with him...even though we don't really run together.I guess it's that whole shared experience thing...

I haven't gotten to run since, until tonight, for one reason or another.  So I made sure to get one in tonight since I actually got to leave the office on time.  This Saturday is a 9.5 mile run.  I'll take my phone with me this time, especially since the hubs will do his own distance and then go home.

Until then...