Running(Trespassing) the Vineyard

One of the most difficult challenges I've come across moving to MD is that I no longer have a neighborhood to run in. Or my fabulous friends to run with! There is a nice public park down the road from our house that I ran in last week. I plan to take my camera with me next time to take some pics of the beautifully restored historical barns that are throughout the park.

Near our house is a vineyard that I've heard has a gear Pinot Noir. Unfortunately, I haven't made it over there to try the wine yet but I did run through the vineyard twice last week. I ran into the owner and although he reminded me that I was in fact on private property he allowed me to still run on his beautiful property. Here are a few shots I took on what I can only assume was about a 3 mi run. (My Garmin is still out of order and I plan on getting a new one ASAP!)

These gravel hills are intense but I really love the challenge.

At the base of this hill is a lake with geese and turtles.

This is the tasting area. I can't wait to go when they're open and try the wine!

The grapes are so beautiful you forget you're running uphill.

This hill is my north face. I was about half way up when I took this pic. It's a monster!

I just love this picture.



This is the final hill leading up to the exit and the only paved road in the vineyard. Amazingly, I ran on the side of the road instead. After running on asphalt and sidewalks for the past two years in FL I'm really enjoying running on gravel and trail. It makes my legs super sore but I feel like I'm learning to love running after not truly appreciating it in the past. I took for granted how convenient it was to just meet my girls and head out on our perfectly plotted, paved, streetlight lined routes. Running allows me to still feel close to my friends even though I don't live close anymore. Having to run by myself in an unfamiliar place is a big adjustment but I'm deciding to embrace it, enjoy the scenery and run as often as I can!

Secret Service 5k

2009 Secret Service 5k

This weekend was the Secret Service 5k in Tampa. The course is an out and back along the water. My sista-in-law, Shelly was visiting for the weekend so she ran it too. It was her first 5k and she did great! All my girls ran a great race with Barb and Christy placing 2nd and 3rd in their age groups.

To keep the spectators busy during the race there were the Presidential limo's that you could sit in and have your picture taken, an inflatable obstacle course and javelin. The kids had fun running around eating all the free food!

Drew and Ty ready to battle.

Ty was hilarious. Don't tell him he's too small!

week 2 & 3

Ashley is training for her first triathlon and she's doing a great job at not missing any work-outs and giving her all each time. We are super proud of her and she can't wait to join team trialicious!

She wasn't thrilled about heading out for a run on this day because of the cold and wind but the cute new running outfit helped motivate her. As with all runners, she was happy when it was done. It's fun to watch kids tri-training because it's all based on fun and games that are inadvertently training!

Back to my training...or lack there of.

Week 2:

Mon-off

Tues-off (this was a recurring theme this week)

Wed- bike 35min

swim150 wu, 200 buoy, 2x300 free, 150 cool

Thurs & Fri- off

Sat- run 2mi(quickly, the croaking alligators were serious motivation and also why my4mi run was cut in half)

weights:legs

Sun- you guessed it, off!

Sorry excuse for a week, at least I'm honest!

week 3:

Mon: 60min long run-very boring on the treadmill

Tues: swim wu-400, last 50 of each 100 kick

main-8x100 EBEH

cd-6x25 This swim felt all chopped up but at least it wasn't boring!

Wed: 50min bike

Thurs: off

Fri: swim- 4oo

I ran out of time to do my set because I was preoccupied with watching Ash swim in the lane next to me. Also, my shoulder was killing me from all the painting.

Sat: off ( unless you consider spending all day running kids to their activities training)

Sun: 12mi bike

Week 1

First week of "official" training went pretty good. I'm trying to work on my nutrition and get my calories in to support my work outs. I failed pretty miserably the first part of the week but got better as the week went on.

Monday- 3mi run

Tuesday-Taught pilates 1hr

2mi run

Wednesday-9mi bike at 5:30am-This ride was dark and dangerous. Since I'm already nervous on my bike it was a bit stressful.

Afternoon: Taught step 1hr

Swim: 900

My legs felt really heavy in the pool. Step always makes my calves really sore.

Evening: 2mi treadmill run

Taught Bodyflex 1hr

Thursday- OFF

Friday- 5k night race in Ybor

My calves were still sore to the touch from teaching step. I know better than to teach step two days before a race but I wanted to help out a friend. At least my time was still fine. Overall time was 29min by my watch but apparently the "start" was at the end of the first street we ran down and I started my watch when I passed the guy with the airhorn. No worries, it was fun and the weather was beautiful!

Saturday- 1mi fun run at Healthy kids day with Ashley

Sunday- 7mi run with Teresa

I missed a swim this week and I'm not really sure how that happened. The swims on the schedule were easy this week so it's not that big of a deal. They do advance pretty quickly though so I don't plan on missing any in the future.

8 weeks

It's 8 weeks til my first tri of the season. I'd hoped to get a few more races in this season but with Matt's traveling and my shoulder injury it turns out Dunedin will be my first tri of the season.

3mi run yesterday. The battery is dead in my Garmin but my wrist watch said it was 29 mins. Not bad considering it was hot and windy.

I'm doing a night race this Friday in Tampa. It should be a lot of fun. I'm excited about the longsleeve shirt too! I'll be needing a lot of those this time next year.

Iron Girl 2009

Yesterday was the Aflac Iron Girl 5k/10k in Clearwater. This was my second year running this race with my running girls. We had a few new friends with us this year too. We all ran the 5k, which consists of running over and back on the new Clearwater bridge. The entire race is pretty hilly with a hill at the starting line and another hill right at the base of the "curly cue" you run down after climbing the steep side of the bridge. Even though the bridge is definitely a challenge the views are so amazing that you can't really complain. We had perfect weather! Even though I only improved my time from last year by 10 seconds I felt strong and steady the whole time.

I'm sure I could of pushed myself a bit harder but I was too busy enjoying the beautiful views and appreciating the experience since this will probably be my last Iron Girl event in FL. But, I've already got my sights on the Iron Girl tri in Colombia MD next year!

Short yet productive...

This morning after dropping off all the kids I decided to do a short 2 or 3 mile run in the neighborhood and incorporate some kind of speed work.

I ran from my house to the front gate in 8:25. Then I went into the front park for some speed work around the "loop", which we've figured is just under .25mi per lap. I did 3 laps w/ a 20sec sprint each lap. Then I jogged a nice cool down (into the wind) home.

Luckily the rain didn't start til I was on my way out to run errands. Glad I got in a decent run in without too much discomfort in my shoulder.