July 14-15 Training

Thursday, July 14

Hal called for a 7 mile "marathon pace" run today, and for me that's a 7:27.  I headed out without a Garmin at 8:30 in the hot morning sun for my run.  Oh yeah, and I was pushing the double stroller. 

Needless to say, I did NOT run a 7:27 pace.  But I did run for 70 minutes, was dripping with sweat when I was done (my hands were pruney like I'd been in a swimming pool), and managed to fit in a stop at a nearby playground for my two kids to get some exercise too.

I read a blog about a mom that pushes a triple stroller.  I really admire her because she is brave enough to post her splits when she runs with it.  I don't think I've ever worn a Garmin when I'm running with the double.  It is hard enough to run with 100 pounds of stroller and children!  In case anyone reading this wants a few tips for running with the kids, here is what I thought about today.

• Pack snacks  Mine usually eat their breakfast in the stroller (cereal, Poptarts, granola bars, etc.) or their lunch (cheese cubes or slices, crackers, drink).  If they finish it all, they get dessert.  Here is where you can add in foods that take a long time to eat (gummy bears, ring pops, and--my favorite--candy buttons).  Today I packed my kids' food in reusable bags, with the dessert inside this bag in a ziplock bag.  My kids could easily take their bags to the stroller and strap themselves in. 

Dry cereal breakfast with a gummy bear dessert

• Repeat your route  Others may disagree, but I think doing the same 3-6 mile route with your stroller is just enough, and this way the kids know how much longer they have to sit. 

• Reward them at the end  My favorite thing to do is to "race" my kids for the last block or so as we head home.  I let them upstrap and then "race" me home (of course, I let them win).  This lets them have some fun too! 

Happy faces (and ballet poses!) as we head out for our run

Friday, July 15

I had intended for this to be a 14 mile run since I was adding 2 miles to the 12 miles I had run last week in my long run.  I started the run with my friends, and we did our first mile in 11:02.  The rest of the miles were around a 10:00 pace.  They did 6 miles with me. 

Since I had not gotten a marathon pace run yesterday, I tried to speed up gradually so that my last few miles would be faster.  I was aiming to get a few of them to marathon pace.  I was happy to note that the last few miles ended up feeling great.  I think the speedwork is helping me to feel stronger in the long runs.  This is something I will try to note since it is a new thing for me.  I felt so good that I decided to add 2 more miles to the 14, and I ended up with 16.58 miles.  The last 5.58 were: 8:47, 8:07, 7:56, 7:46, 7:28, and 7:19 (for the .58).  My music died early on, but I think running the miles without distraction was also a good move training-wise.  I liked how focused I felt. 

One week down, 11 more to go!