Pre-race pic

Post Race pic

GOAL ACCOMPLISHED!!  Ron and I have officially run the longest distance in our training season.  We finished the 26.2 miles in 4hours 17min.  I will update in depth later but we are just returning home and the goal for the rest of the day is do to the bare min to survive.  We are both hobbling around.  Thankfully Ron is recovery from his post race dehydration, something he seems to be plagued with after any long exertion.   More updating later, I am headed to the couch!

THE BIG SURPRISE WAS SEEING DOUG AND ROBYN ON THE COURSE CHEERING AND SCREAMING  FOR RON AND I.  They had driven 19 hours to cheer us on!!!-WHAT GREAT INCENTIVE TO ADD TO OUR MOTIVATION!

THE TIME HAS COME

Last night my parents arrived in town to help take care of the kids while Ron and I embark on our last leg of our Marathon training-THE RACE! I can't believe that it is Nov and the race is Sun. It seemed so far off so long ago and now that it is here staring us in the face it is almost unreal. To think back to all the places we have run, from CA to MI seems ages ago. From running in sweltering heat and setting sun to running in the freezing cold under the morning blanket of star's the memories are many. Tonight we say goodbye to our Tulsa running partners-they feel pretty good as they have their marathon accomplishment under their belt, completed three weeks ago. The morning looks cold but should be perfect running weather once we get warmed up. All race essentials are going on the plane with us-don't want to arrive without our running shoes! We are both ready, it seems to hit me in waves the amount of time we have dedicated to training and this race. All the time and effort are well worth it, not just the memories and friendships strengthened but most of all being able to help in the fight against the Leukemia as added a much greater dimension to the whole experience. Seeing the determination and strength in little one's so small only make us want to work that much harder. Our friends who are on this real life journey of battling leukemia are forever the real champions in the race. For all the complaining and seemingly tough times of training it pales in contrast to the rough times Katherine has pushed through and is able to just shine. Thanks again, to all, for your support and your prayers.
I close with the encouraging words Brayden told me as I tucked him in tonight. I don't know how slow he must think I run or how long he thinks this race is but his concern was that I was not going to be back in time for Christmas and his Birthday. I know I can make it before both, and really just seeming the smiles on their faces when we return is reward enough!
http://www.rnrsa.com/home.html

LAST SAT RUN

I can hardly believe that this is our last Sat run. It seems like just yesterday that I was saying I can't believe I am training for a marathon way off in NOV! The time has come and we are both excited to go and hopefully accomplish the goal of a 26mile completion. I am so thankful for such a wonderful husband who has trained with me through out the entire past 6 months. Ron's parents are in town for a visit so Ron and I were able to run the sat long run together. While we were out we were passed by many fast men out doing some pretty hard/fast runs. Ron has been great running/training with me and continues to assure me that he will be by my side through-out the race this coming Sun. I know that he could be training a lot harder and faster and could be out there with those guys but having him by my side means the world. Anyway, we continue out taper, which feels wonderful and continues to make me a little nervous at the same time. Last week the longest we ran was 6miles and on Sat we completed 10miles...lowest mileage in a LONG TIME. This week I think the longest we run will be 4...I hardly even remember by 4mile route! So this week stats: 10.03Miles, 8:56pace, turnpike/hills.
We are ready for this coming Sunday and look forward to heading out. Not only have we accomplished our training schedule I have also reached my fundraising goal plus some! I never thought that I would be able to raise the amount of money with such ease. To all friends and family who gave and continue to pray and cheer us on we both thank you! The support means so much to us and to be able to support such a great cause that is close to our hearts we thank you. Every day we see the results of cancer research as Katherine continues to thrive in the face of this disease.
If any of you are interested in following us as we race you can get updates as we run by following this link http://www.rnrsa.com/. Our race numbers are 7071-Beth and 7103 for Ron. Thanks again for all your support!

THE END IS IN SIGHT!!!

The motivation for running this past week was the thought that this was my last week of having to do full mileage. I have been running in the morning as by the evening my motivation for getting out and running is non-existent. I actually have enjoyed the quiet, cool mornings...a nice change from the blazing hot sun this summer. I have seen the sun set, the sun rise, felt the bite of cold winter air in my chest and endured the sweltering Tulsa heat. The time has come to get this race done! I think that we are ready, although it makes me nervous to start a taper as mentally I feel as though I am not putting in enough mileage to sustain me to the marathon. Ron assures me that thats not the case.
Okay, so after completing the weekly runs of 6, 8 and 6 miles we finished up on Sat with 15miles. Perfect running conditions, I ran by myself but ran into my training partner about midway which helped keep me going. I managed to run 15.2M at an 8:44pace, no hills. Ron ran 14M at an 8:50pace-hills.
Our training partners completed their race this past Sun and had lots of tips to pass along. I believe that Ron and I have to have a solid agreement on how we plan to run and what we plan to do with any obstacles we might face as things don't always go according to plan. It was good to talk with them but also a little scary to here their thoughts and frustrations through-out their race. Well, on to another week-one with less miles, the days seem to just fly by as Nov 16 quickly approaches.

TULSA RUN

Just a quick update. This week was one where I felt low on energy and it continued on to the Tulsa Run. Unfortunately I felt at the top of my game one week ago and seemed to have crashed after last Sat. Anyway, Ron and I both did the Tulsa Run this morning. It was terribly cold and even though it started at 9am I still ran with a long sleeve shirt. The course was a little different this year and it seemed full of endless hills. I could tell that I have been focusing on just getting the miles in and not speed work because the 15km seemed endless. The conclusion of the morning was that when running the marathon I will not be racing, I am going to just run at my comfortable pace and feel good about running! We both ran the 15km. I finished 35th in my age category out of 281. My time was 1hour and 16min, around 8:15M/M. Ron finished 37th in his age category our of 227 with a time of 1hour 9 min, around 7:28M/M. It was actually a very good run, I think we both thought we could run faster because of all the running we have been doing. I missed having family on the course as no one was in town this year to participate or watch. Even the kids were left at home-I missed seeing and hearing their positive words of encouragement at the conclusion of the race.
The Marathon is coming up! My running partners are completing their marathon tomorrow in Washington DC-they are going to have a wonderful run. It is crazy to think back to the weeks during the blazing hot summer where we were meeting three times a week working intensely on speed and distance. The training had definitely paid off and I am so glad they spent the time figuring out our training schedule.

SOLO RUN

This morning it was just me, myself and I out running. Ron decided to do his long run on Sun. I ran with the TNT group but with everyone at different distances and paces I just headed out alone. It actually was not that bad, the path was fairly busy and most runners are pretty friendly, making the miles past pretty quickly. It was a very cold start to the day, in the fifties-but perfect by the time I was finished. I wore shorts but had a long sleeve shirt on-first long run of the season with a long sleeve shirt, hard to believe just a month ago I was still sweating it out in the Tulsa heat. Anyway, I ran a total of 15miles, a total time of 2 hours 12 mins at a pace of 8:45. I think the cooler temps kept me moving! Hard to believe that we ran 22miles last Sat....seems a LOONG time ago. On to another week.

WHAT A WEEK

Today was the last 20mile run before our Marathon in Nov. It was just Ron and I running, after talking to the sitter, dropping off our drinks along the route and a quick bathroom stop we hit the pavement by 7am. We ran a new course, still along the river but different enough that it didn't seem so long. We basically ran three loops, each starting and ending at the car. It worked great and it was much easier mentally breaking up the miles. These are our stats according to the Garmin, my new i-pod sensor didn't calibrate too well and was not up to par-frustrating! (It would be nice if you didn't need to buy a new one after your old one dies!)

TOTAL DISTANCE: 22.2 Miles
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 3 hours and 27 min
AVERAGE PACE: 9:19M/M
TOTAL TIME FROM START TO FINISH (including water breaks and having to move the car)
3 hours 45 mins

The best news of the day is that Ron is feeling great and informed me that his legs were not even that sore. I on the other hand feel like my hips have rusted in place. Thankfully Ron is paying me back for being sick last run and took the kids for a nice long bike-ride this afternoon. I am so glad to have this run done, our neighbors have their marathon in two weeks and are in their taper...I am little jealous as the weekly training has been exhausting. These are my weekly totals for this week-including today

WEEKLY TOTAL: 42.9 miles
AVERAGE PACE: 9M/M
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 6hours and 28 min
CALORIES BURNED: 6000cal (equivalent to 2LBS OF FAT!!)-which I have replaced with my new favorite munchie cinnamon sweet potato chips!

Tulsa Zoo Run

http://www.okrunner.com/race-results

This morning I skipped out on the typical long Sat run and opted for a race. I was a little concerned as when I woke up early in the morning there was a whole lot of thunder and wind going on. Thankfully the race was a late one-9am and it was clear and sunny by the time the starting gun went off. It was a 10km, so I thought that it should be an pretty okay run, as I had run that same distance about 3 times this previous week. Mid-run I discovered that it is much easier to run long at a comfortable pace that to run fast for a shorter distance. It was a hard workout and for the last 2 miles I think I reached 100% of my target heart rate...which means I was heaving! Thankfully the kids and Ron were along the course to inspire me and keep me pushing forward. That is the least I can say for everyone else along the course. It was the quietest crowd, no-one was evening cheering as I came up into the ending shoot. In fact the last little hill before the ending there was a lady standing at the bottom yelling for everyone to watch out as there was a hill ahead,how un-encouraging is that! Well I did complete it in the time I was shooting for, unfortunately there was a lot of racers out and I didn't place in my division. My goal was 8M/M. According to the GPS watch my average pace was 7:55, a total distance of 6.3Miles with a total time of 49:55. To be in the top three of my age division I would have had to break a 48. I will post the link when the times are posted on the Tulsa Runner site.

The is the last Km...yes I am moving!

Getting Close

We are getting close. Counting this Saturday we are eight weeks away from the big day! It is a good thing as the weeks are seemingly a little long with all the training. With that said we did manage to get in our run on Sat. It actually felt wonderful, my body had recovered from last Saturday's run and with a distance of 12 miles is seemed like an easy morning. I ran with the TNT group this morning, actually just with a friend as everyone in the group is running or walking different distances and paces. We completed the 12 miles with an average pace of 9:32. If felt pretty good as we ran the hills part of our running course. It was a cool and crisp morning, wonderful to run without the humidity that has become a part of so many of our runs. Ron also completed his 12 miles. He is battling a sore hip but still managed to complete the miles in about the same time. Hopefully some stretching will help relieve some of the discomfort so he is able to run a little more during the week.
We are still training during the week and amazingly I was able to complete much of the schedule even after the long 20miles last sat. This week I logged about 30miles. It is crazy what your body is able to accomplish with proper training.

WE DID WHAT??

YES, we did our first 20 mile run this Sat. I am so glad it is over with. For those of you who have visited us or know the area we ran basically all the way from our house to downtown and back. We ran the west side of the river due to construction which made for a big hill on our way back. I have to admit I walked at that point, about mile 15 and I was about done at that point...not a pleasant sight, I was breathing so hard I think the walkers who WALKED past me were wondering if I was going to be okay. We ran with our neighbor and her running group, they did a great job putting out water and Gatorade along the path, about every 3 miles there was at least a drinking fountain or their water stops. The stats are as follows, a total of 22.5 miles, 3hours and 50mins, average 9:50running time. We ran walked the last 2 miles or so back to our house. Ron and I ran together as the kids were with a sitter. It was great running together, no I didn't get too crabby at mile 15. We took four Gu's along and one bag of running beans and ate all of it. I think we are going to need more the longer we go. The GU's tasted so good the longer I ran, it became half my motivation for the last 6 miles.
After the run Ron sat with the hose to try and cool off. We started the run at 8:30, later that our normal Sat runs, I was not used to running in the noon sun. I actually enjoyed a nice cold bath, always seems like such a crazy idea but it always feels great. Ron made it to the bed and then his stomach kicked in. Sad for him he spend the rest of the day and evening running back and forth from the bathroom, he just couldn't hold anything down. Crazy, as we really watched fluid and energy replacement during the run. The good news is that there were no huge blisters or big muscle pulls. Besides for some very sore legs, stiff hips I think we are both going to make it through this weekend okay.

Mapping Tulsa Running Trails

With my Garmin 305 GPS running watch I have enjoyed collecting the data; pace, heartrate, and the GPS data. With a fitness program SportTracks http://www.zonefivesoftware.com/SportTracks/ you can upload my runs, biking, and canoeing data. Then you can look at your splits and other graphs. Also with my GPS data I have used it with my GIS program ArcView to make maps of the trails of Turkey Mountain.

Today I got a call from Norman with the Tulsa Running Club http://www.tulsarunningclub.com/ to map some maps of the Tulsa area running trails; River Side, Lafortune, Creek Turnpike, and others. I am thinking about using GoogleEarth and GoogleMaps to map the trails and other features. Below is the a test map of Lafortune Park.

View Larger Map

MUD ROCK AND HILLS RACE

It turned out that the weather from hurricane came through mostly on Sat and we awoke to a beautiful morning. The humidly was gone from the air, the sky was a crisp clear blue and Ron was out for his big Turkey Mt-Mud Rock and Hills run. The kids and I loaded up and made it to the course and had a lot of fun giving all the runner's high fives. They were all full of mud but most everyone had smiles on their faces when they saw the kids. Ron did great. He completed the entire 25Km/15.5miles in 2hr and 48min. The big thing was that although he was very tired at the end he was not sick-those of you who know Ron and his track record will understand. There was about 200 runners-some crazy ones running a 50km course. There was about a 2000 feet change in elevation through out the course so I think that Ron got more of a workout this Sat for his long run than myself. It is nice to change up the training with some races, always fun to get out and run a different course under different conditions. I was just glad I was not the one running in all that mud as ron fell twice, thankfully he was not hurt and is still able to continue on our marathon training.

AND RUNNIN, RUNNIN and RUNNIN RUNNIN...

So goes another Sat morning. I was up nice and early although it was hard getting up this morning. I ran with the TNT running group so we ran the usual route of riverside, finishing up with the turnpike path complete with hills. This is what I tend to run though-out the week as it is so wonderfully right by our house. The only problem is that it is starting to get a little old, my brain knows every little curve, hill and mileage. It was a very humid morning, one member of the group said it was 94% humidity and boy did I believe her. It rained a little mid way through the run and by the time we finished every piece of clothing was soaked. Today we ran 14miles at an average pace of 9:50 M/M. The first 8 miles we managed about a 9:40 and then edged the 10M/M along the hills-always hard completing a run with the hardest part of the course, I guess makes for good training. I am now enjoying snacking on the runner's GU Energy Gell, just as long as there is water in sight-vanilla bean being my favorite. Ron took today off and is planning on running the Turkey Mountain Tatur Run tomorrow morning. It is raining heavily and so on top of being very wet, he is going to be very muddy. Well another week down and only about 9 more to go. This marks the start of some heavy mileage in the upcoming weeks, hopefully the rain will subside, and we continue to be injury free.

Count Down

Including this Sat there is only 10 more Sat long runs until the Marathon. It is hard to believe-I think that I have been running/training for about 25weeks, almost half a year! Seems crazy but time just keeps marching on, and we just keep jugging along.
This morning marks the start of Ron and I's training together, yes we have been running together but always on some one else's schedule. Own friends marathon is about 1 month earlier so they continue to increase the miles. Ron and I decided to decrease mileage this week and set out our plan for the next 10 weeks. You would think this would be a good thing but Ron informed me that we may decrease in distance but we need to start picking up the pace on our long runs-GREAT!! (this is what I get for asking him to run with me!)
This morning I was up and running by about 5:45, there is something to be said about running by yourself on Sat mornings in the peace and quiet-take note this only applies to Sat's! I ran a little over 13 miles on our hilly course with an average of 9M/M. Ron ran the same course starting about 8:30 and completed the same mileage but at an 8:30M/M. We both felt pretty good, cool weather made for nice running, although it was a little humid by the time Ron made it out the door. Besides for the achy joints we continue to be injury free-I am thinking that some glucosamine might be in order for the last couple of weeks.
Our weekly training sessions remain relatively the same although they seem a little longer and faster than a couple of months ago. Thankfully, another Sat run is completed.

Current Long Run Schedule/Goals (made by Ron)

9-6 12mile 9M/M

9-13 15M 9M/M

9-20 20M 9:45 M/M

9-27 13M 9M/M

10-4 ZOO RUN-6M, possible additional evening run

10-11 20M 9:30M/M

10-18 15M 9M/M

10-25 TULSA RUN 9M

11-1 15M 9M/M

11-8 10M 9M/M

11-15 26.2 RACE DAY

LONG RUN

Yes, the training has been continuing. I have just been unable to fit in updates while on vacations. The big news is that Ron and I had our longest run to date. 17.5 miles we managed to run this past Thursday. We had to move around our schedule but managed to get in all our miles for the week. For those of you who know the area we ran from about 40th st in town out to Holland state park to the end of the pier-no we didn't jump off, and then back. It was not too bad until the end. Somehow I melted and just about everything gave out, sorry to say Ron had to bear the brunt of my frustration, thankfully he still ran with me later in the week, although I do slightly blame him as our pace was faster and somehow he convinced me to run an extra .5 miles. It is a great feeling to have accomplished such a distance but that is not what I was saying after running about 2.75 hours.
So we are back on track, unfortunately the weather is not. We arrived home to wind, cold and rain. Ron braved the weather, I hit the treadmill for eight miles...eight miles too long on a treadmill, but it felt great after being cooped up in a car with three kids for 12 hours!

Another Week Completed

What a week. It has been such nice weather compared to what is the norm here in Tulsa. Saturday I again met the TNT group to run with at 6am in the morning. Although cooler temps the humidity was high. We ran 10.5 miles around 9:30-10M/M. It was a very nice run- this morning there were friends there who were on the same pace so we competed the run together, always nice to have someone on pace with you for the distance. We also managed some hills as well, something I do not usually do on long run days. The new experience on this run was trying some sports goo, as I forgot my running beans. Lets just say it was sooo sweet I had a hard time swallowing it-there would have been no way I could have kept it down with out water!
Ron also got in his run, after I completed mine. Ron ran the Hunter loop as we call it-it is about an 8mile loop from our house. He was shooting for fast times today since the mileage was low. He finished with about 8M/M for the entire distance-great run. We all completed the morning with the three mile loop from our house. I pulled the girls on bike and Brayden rode with own bike while Ron jogged along side. A stop at quick-trip for a slushie and everyone was happy. Another week completed!

MI ???

I am beginning to think that I am training in MI. The last three runs I have done I have gotten rained on. Not a big deal as it was just a light mist and felt great as the humidity was high. Kind of felt like training for soccer season minus the cold!
With that said, this has actually been a hard week so far. You would think that with the cooler temps it would be great. Unfortunately this week we are trying to increase our speed a little over some longer distance. It is a struggle as my body likes the comfortable pace of 9:30. We are trying for 9M/M and they have been a stretch-at least for me. Thankfully Ron ran with me tonight, along with some friends who kept me going. It is always hard to complain when Ron is running right along side me pushing all three kids. So we gave up the track tonight and ran a straight 7miles trying for 9m/m. I ended up taking a little bit longer and more frequent water breaks but did finish-a little under the goal, but the way things were going I was glad to be done.
The kids did great even if they did get a little wet-we had the rain shield but I think it would have been a sauna with it on!

Off Day

Thankfully today was a day of rest. Actually it is supposed to be a cross-train day but we tend to take it easy after our long runs. Today we managed a slow bike ride, but a big one for Brayden who road the entire 6 miles on his bike.
Anyway, we have been watching the Olympics and this weekend has been a lot of fun seeing some of the incredible times the Olympics Runners are putting out. The Women's Marathon pace was a crazy 5:30-I can't imagine keeping that pace for 26 miles. Just for fun we might have to run one lap-400m, this Wednesday at that pace, it would be about 1:25. Ron might be able to do it but not me!
We also watched the 1500m, just a little shy of 1mile. The runners in this race could run an 800 (2 laps) in 2 minute-resulting in a 4M/M. At my best it takes me 2 minutes to run a 400 (1lap)-resulting in a 8M/M which I think is pretty fast. Their times are truly unbelievable.

This morning was out longest run to date. Both Ron and I managed to complete a 15 mile run, it took all morning as we alternated but it is done. Actually you couldn't have asked for better conditions. I ran around 6:30, cools temp and overcast-never even saw the sun, in fact it spitted just a little rain. Ron ran after myself and thankfully the sky's stayed overcast as he didn't finish till noon. It took both of us about 2.5hours. I ran a nice 10m/m, Ron held around a 9:15 for his run. We both felt pretty good, except for some major aches later this afternoon, a great feeling of accomplishment. Both of us experimented with eating some sport beans through-out the run and I think it helped us keep going.

I also met my TNT running group this morning as my usual running partners were out of town. A small group but very friendly.

This is Ron after his run, he enjoys sitting with the hose, I ended up sitting in a tub of ice which felt great, just a tad cold but good.

Training Continues

This week it is Ron having to run in some different conditions. He is discovering the difficulty of running in a different altitude-although he still managed 8 miles at a pretty fast pace. I on the other hand have been left to run with three kids. Some how running and pushing the jogger just couldn't get me motivated to get out today so I ended up on the treadmill. Not the best but not the worst. It was speed workout so it was pretty nice to just set the speed and run. The downside was I ran out of time as I just had an hour with childcare. Guess I should have run faster-yeah right! I am wondering how some people train who are able to keep a consistent schedule as ours is constantly changing week to week, I think that is why we tend to shy away from running groups.
Thankfully another Speed Wed is concluded-total 6.5 miles 4 miles around 7:40 pace, with .12 mile cool down inbetween each mile.

NO HUMIDITY

I am discovering that traveling is a good thing this time of year. Running in any other place other than Tulsa has been a very refreshing break. This morning I was able to run in CA while visiting my sister and her family. It is very hot here but with out the humidity it feels like a huge weight had been lifted while I was out.
The only issue I had was finding a route. Sharon's husband does a little running and thought he might be up in the morning to show me a 5mile route that I could just run twice but he didn't quite make it out of bed. Thanks to the Nike plus Ron got me a year ago I managed to get the distance down, although I didn't really know where I was running. I have visited before and so I was able to recognize some of the major streets, I managed a nice 10miles. The only issue was running on sidewalks which I almost bit the dust twice with all the uneven cracks, learning I need to pick up my feet a little! Anyway it went wonderful and Sharon survived watching Andrea along with her new little baby with the help of her husband. I missed my running partners but nice to have some solitude as well.

MAXED OUT KIDS

Tonight was speed work-out, once again something I was not looking forward to. The plan was to start around 7:30pm as to miss the heat of the sun. Unfortunately the track we normally run at was being locked up as we arrived so we ended up at a different track. This made for a later start than normal. Ron and I actually felt pretty good, I think the longer break-not running for two days helped a little. It was the same work-out as last week

One Mile warm up-8:45

One 400

Two 800's

Three 1600's

One 800

One 400

We were supposed to have a mile cool down for a total of 7 miles but it was totally dark and we had three crying kids spread out around the track. Brayden had managed to step in some very sharp prickers, Becca was crying for Brayden's sake and was just tired. Andrea was flipping out because she was left on the opposite side of the tract and thought she was left all alone. We decided to call it a night.

It was a great run except for the last 2 laps., mainly due to crying kids. Ron ran about 7 M/M and I managed about 7:45 M/M. A little faster than normal, nice to accomplish and feel like we are making some headway with all this training. I am hoping for some cooler temps in the following days, our options with the kids are few with such high temps and as evident tonight they were stretched a little too far!

LONG RUN

Okay, so you might have thought we were wimping out this week as we didn't do our long run Sat morning. As I have said training with family and events keeps us very flexible and so because of a busy Sat we decided to hit the pavement this morning. What a beautiful run. We ran along a road that had some beautiful homes right on a lake and with the morning sun it was inspiring to run next to. Ron and I had our longest run to date-14 miles. I can hardly believe it but it went fairly well. It took us over 2 hours and I found that I am needed a longer running play list. With the cooler weather we both felt good and not too worn out, although Ron is already zonked out on the couch. Our lesson today was watch what you eat the day before you run...which is something I know but find hard to follow, as you never know when nature calls!

COOLER TEMPS!

How wonderful to be in an area where the weather is not so BLAZON HOT!! We made it to Holland MI and were greeted by much cooler temps than Tulsa Ok. We have to switch up our training routine with traveling and events but the training continues. Yesterday was a day off, not so much relaxing as we were in the car the entire day but a day of rest none the less. Today we did our four miles. Not having to run in 90 plus heat Ron and I both put in much faster times than we are used to. I managed about 8/8:30 and Ron was about 1 min faster. It felt great, a nice change after such a hard week. We will see how I feel after our long run. Our plan is to run longer while we are home as to make the most of the cooler temps. Check back to see how our long run goes!

SPEED WORK OUT

Tonight is the night I usually dread. Not only are the speed workouts getting longer it is getting hotter and more humid as the summer progress. We do these workouts at an area track and the kids usually hang out in the sand pit. Tonight I brought our DVD players as we were going to be there a little longer. Thankfully we started at around 7:30 we are back in the 100 degree summer days of OK weather and it is just horrid. Enough complaining....we run with a couple friends who are also training for another marathon, a little sooner than ours. It is always great motivation to know that there are more people waiting for you to run.

TONIGHT'S PLAN

Easy 1 mile warm up 9:30

1 400 8M/M

2 800 8M/M

3 1600 8M/M

1 800 8M/M

1 400 8M/M

Easy 1 mile cool down

Yes we managed to stay on pace, I should say I stayed on pace. Ron has his own pace and tonight he was running on a 7 M/M pace. Since we started so late we were running laps in the dark and we almost locked in the track, thankfully Ron saw them locking up and ran to stop them.

That's all for today, check back again-thanks for you support-check out my fundraising site if you have not had the chance.

This is the data from tonight-based on Ron's running, as he was the one wearing the watch and heart-rate monitor. The blue is the pace and the Red line is his heart rate.

BACKGROUND INFO

Thanks for checking out our training site. Ron and I have been running for about 4-5 months, or I should say consistantly running. We have both done some running but usually one of use takes a break after 4 months or so. Anyway we are back on and it feels great to be doing some serious training and making headway. These are distances that seems so unatainable....if you know me you know that a mile was pushing it 5 years ago and that sprinting is more my thing. It goes to show that correct training can really built you up. Currently Ron and I are averaging about 25-30 miles a week, hard to believe.


The kids are great supportors and love to cheer us on. They are always first at the door when we come in with words of encouragement, although Becca hates it when we are sweaty. We tend to alternate so one of us is watching kids while the other runs. If we are feeling good, or I should say if Ron is feeling good and the weather is bearable we will run with the kids-yes, all three in the jogger. It is pretty motivating for myself to see Ron running pushing three kids!

The training schedule goes as follows

Mon- 9M/M Hilles 5miles

Tue-Cross Train, usually an easy jog or we really enjoy biking

Wed-Speed Work 7 miles, varies as to the week

Thurs-9M/M easy 4 miles

Fri-My Favorite! REST

SAT-Long Run, varies as to the week-just finished 12miles

Sun-Cross Train

This year we have run about 500 miles, and by Ron's calculations by the end of the year we will of added another 500-amazing! if you don't know already Ron loves data and has a bunch with his GPS watch. These are a couple graphs of running info upto today's run.

These are total distance's for each month, unfortunately you can't read it very well but as you can see the miles are slowly increasing. July is running about 115 now that we are at the end of the month.

Come back soon....still a work in progress!