RE: Personal Records

Post Pregnancy that is...

As a new mother this blog is about the last thing I'm able to get to after a full day of work, connecting with the baby, and then maybe a quick run after doing house chores. But I do want to brag a bit about how my times are getting faster and faster each week.

I ran the Brew to Brew, Leg 7 on Sunday. And I LOVED it! This leg starts out on asphalt, fighting a wind that is blowing Eastward across that plains, which makes for some serious resistance training.

Then you reach a fork in the road that says to the left, "Boat route," to the right "Road Route."
A race volunteer stands at the fork and tells you the estimated boat wait time. When I got there it was 10 minutes. Since I am running 11 minute miles now a days, and the road route adds an extra mile, I decided for the boat route. But to be honest I would have taken it no matter what because I was extremely curious.

So you make this pivotal decision for yourself, which could possibly effect your relay team's final time and turn left toward the boat. Immediately you are now trail running, which I am totally interested in, though have never officially tried. I ran another two miles on a dirt road, that turned to a hilly gravel road and then a mud path to the river. Once at the river you have to grapple over logs to get down the mud cliff to the boats. There, a bunch of muddy runners linger to get across on a 10-person rowboat that is pulled over by a rope and a four wheel on the other side of the river.

As I waited my turn to get in the boat I can honestly say I felt I had arrived. I wasn't a volunteer standing at the side of the banks of the river. No! I was one of the special ones - a runner, a muddy sweaty and tired runner, whose eyes were still focused on the goal of the end of my leg. I had run over 4 miles at an 11 minute mile pace through an extremely tough wind and on rough gravel. When I had registered for the race before Christmas I had estimated my pace to be 14 minutes per mile, on a clear day. But since then I have lost 15 more pounds and trained hard to get faster.

So my new personal record for running an off-road 4.7 miles, with a 5-minute boat ride included is now 58:50 minutes, a 12:34 pace. If you take out the boat ride I was on an 11:25 pace despite the wind.

Other post-pregnancy PRs:

5k training run - hilly Loose Park: 34:45, 11/mile pace
2 mile training run - hilly Loose Park: 22:16
2 mile training run ( a week earlier): 23:17
2 mile training run (a few weeks earlier): 27:40

I just keep getting stronger and faster.

My next goal is to run the Trolley 4 mile Run at the end of April in less than 44 minutes.
Also my brother-in-law gave me the fitness test requirements for folks in the Air Force and Army. I'd like to meet and exceed their minimum requirements for women my age.
If I do this I think I will get myself an Air Force or Army workout T-shirt as a reward.