Sunday, January 30, 2011

Perfect Sunday

But first - it was Girls' Night on Saturday! Dinner out, a big clothing swap and many shenanigans ensued.

We even played dress-up:




And the runners provided a realistic ridiculous demonstration:






As usual, the party continued long after I had to leave. Sometimes having a long run on Sunday morning really cramps my style! Luckily, I have awesome understanding friends who do their best to accommodate my lame schedule and don't tease me too much for always being the party pooper. 

I managed to get to bed at a reasonable hour, but the Sunday morning alarm still came early (doesn't it always?).

We were running from a local golf club where we would enjoy a delicious brunch after the run, organized by one of our runners who works there. The change of scenery was a nice as we started along the golf course paths (cleared specifically for us!) and headed toward quiet country roads. I could probably count the number of cars we saw on one hand.

It was another cold morning (though not quite like last Sunday), but the wind was light and the roads were clear - what a treat!

Hubs and I both had marathon race pace (MRP) on the schedule as part of today's long run, so we planned a route that would start with the others and veer off after a warm-up to run an out-and-back on flatter terrain. I also recruited our good friends P & U to join us us (well, they joined me; hubs is too fast).

We ran the initial 14K at a nice and slow pace before taking off for the 13K (8mi) MRP portion. My goal was 5:20-5:25/KM (~ 4:45 to 4:48 marathon). The results:

5:24
5:22
5:23
5:17
5:21
5:15
5:15
5:17
5:12
5:13
5:10
5:01
4:49
avg = 5:15/KM (8:27/mi)


The pace felt completely comfortable and we chatted away the entire time. I had been admittedly nervous about this run, but it turned out to be a great confidence-booster. We kept it on the conservative side for the first few, then gradually picked it up and eventually finished off by pushing it for the last couple.

Hubs, of course, was far ahead (and also had a great MRP run!) and turned around to pick us up once he had finished. After a cool down of a couple miles, we were back to the golf club to freshen up and dig into brunch.

30.0KM (18.6mi) - 2:47:08 - 5:34/KM (8:58/mi) 

Feels great to have my first 30K of this training cycle under my belt!

On the way home, we made a mini detour to the Adidas Outlet store. Don't you just love the smell of clearance running gear?


I just grabbed a couple of tees - my husband is the shoe whore in this family! (He likes them flashy!)





After some laundry and a trip to the grocery store, this afternoon/evening involves some serious couch time...  and possibly some chocolate covered almonds.

How was your Sunday?

32 comments:

Richelle said...

What a great run! Have you posted an entry about your running goals for the year yet? I hope I didn't miss it!

My Sunday has been relaxing so far... church, errands, chatted with my brother on the phone, checking up on the running blogs. Yesterday was a busier day, and my checking account took quite the hit with the purchase of three pairs of running shoes! I'll be posting an entry about them soon.

Kim (Book Worm Runs) said...

I love Girl's Night out!! So fun :) Great job on the Marathon Pace run...that is awesome!!

ajh said...

The swap sounds like a blast! I have never been to an Adidas outlet. Good job on the pace on your run. We had snowy roads today and it didn't help the pace at all!

rinusrunning said...

Nice fun pics and a long end fast training.
Good job and you do the marathon with no problems!.
www.rinusrunning.nl

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a pretty awesome Sunday to me!

Nicole said...

My sunday was supurb! 10 miles in baby! woooot! :) nice job on your run! yay for good friends!

Lisa said...

Definitely sounds like you had a great weekend! Early morning today, but seems like it was worth it, on both ends!

I had a pretty good weekend - productive and somewhat relaxing.

Marci said...

Sounds like a great weekend, and great job on your long run! Curious what you got at the addidas store!

Laura said...

awesome run. My Sunday was 24km run, ice bath, house cleaning, awesome dinner..and at 7pm I am ready for bed.....

Char said...

My Sunday was great. Thanks for asking. I'd had a tough run Saturday and thought I'd be really tired the next day but no, felt ok. I got all my chores done, had a nap then a 30 min recovery run. It was such a relaxed day.
Great splits on that run! Looks like your beach holiday didn't do you any harm.

Q said...

Glad to hear you had a great weekend!

My Sunday was great as well. I started out feeling guilty since my plan to get up early and run didn't pan out, but instead I did some housework, took a power nap (or 2 teehee) then did my run mid-afternoon.

Now I'm basking in the glory of comfy clothes and warm socks.

Jen said...

Sounds like a fantastic day! YAY for great runs and yummy guilt-free food after!

Jen Feeny said...

What a fun Saturday night and great job on the run chica!

2 Slow 4 Boston said...

I don't read many running blogs talking about training distances in KM being a silly American dude, then I thought I better check the country your in. Sure enough, good 'ole Canada. Next time I visit, I'll have my KM to mile converter.

I agree cheap running gear is hard to pass up, even for a guy.

Unknown said...

Not the sure whore - Love it! Looks like a great weekend. It was 70 degrees here and I enjoyed EVERY minute.

Winks & Smiles,
Wifey

Teamarcia said...

What a fun weekend! My weekend? Let's just say it had its ups and downs.

Amy said...

Nice job on the run! I had a great Sunday too - long run, hike with the BF, and then he cooked us dinner AND cleaned up. Heading to bed early with my book!

Jess @ Blonde Ponytail said...

Oh, you and your friends are so adorable! Looks like a blast! And SUPER job on your long run! It was worth leaving the party early for!

Jamie said...

Awesome job on the early Sunday morning run!

Gotta Run..... said...

I just purchased 3 pairs of shoes of a clearance website(all for my boys). Told my hubs I would only buy one pair but the deals were just to good to pass up!! :)

Great job on the run! Nice, strong pace girl.

fancy nancy said...

These pictures made me laugh out loud! How fun!

Great job on the long run...can you share some of your mojo please? Pretty please!?

Anonymous said...

great job on the long run. u rocked it, as always!

and nice buys. hope u bought something for urself as well!

Unknown said...

The clothing swap sounds like a great idea. Love the running pictures!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a perfect sunday indeed! And love the hubs shoes! LOL!

Runners Fuel said...

I need to hit up the Nike outlet. Thanks for reminding me!

Emily said...

you guys are too cute! I was out late with a fellow runner who did nothing to encourage me to go to bed early and rest up for my early sunday morning training! I was definitely dragging more than a little when my alarm went off the next day.

Denise said...

aw, looks like you guys had so much fun on saturday night. everyone needs to laugh like that!!

nice pace on the run on sunday!

RunToTheFinish said...

hilarious!! i love the photos and umm yes to some shopping

dawn @ running the dawn said...

that looks like WAY WAY too much fun! a clothing swap? what a great idea! i need to recruit some friends to see what we could come up with.

great run!

J said...

Great job on that run! You totally rocked it!! I need to hit up the outlet soon and get more running stuff!

Lindsay said...

oh you know, a little shopping. home depot, bed bath and beyond, laying out in the 72 degree weather. ;)

N.D. said...

I wanna jknow more about the clothes swap!