December 2010

2011 Fitness Goals and Other Resolutions!

by blueeyedrunner on December 31, 2010

“Everyday is a new opportunity to make new decisions.”

Happy New Year’s Eve! I seriously cannot believe that today is the last day of the year. I hope everyone has a great time ringing in the new year. Now for some goals and resolutions for 2011:

I may not be able to reach all of these goals but that is why they are goals, so here it goes:

Running

1.) PR in the Marathon.
I am training for a 3:20 Boston but I will be happy with any PR.

2.) Break my 19 minutes for the 5K. (Current PR = 19:35)

3.) Break 40 min for the 10K (Current PR = 40:52)
Yes I am crazy, but you already know that.

4.) Move up in the Grand Prix Standings.
I took 2nd in my age division 2 years in a row now.

Fitness

1.) Become certified as a Personal Trainer.
I officially registered for the exam today. I’m taking it in February. Hopefully I pass.

2.) Start working in the fitness industry (teaching classes and/or training clients).
I’ve been certified to teach group fitness for over a year now but I have been afraid to get out there and start. In 2011 I will start teaching, whether it is one client or an entire class.

3.) Be able to do 25 full (not modified) push-ups. At one time.

4.) Get certified to teach spin.

Resolutions

1.) Improve the blog. (Suggestions welcome)
~Photography
~Writing

2.) Attempt an ice bath!

I ended the year with a killer 2 part workout: a 4.75 mile run (8:40 pace) and a 60 minute strength class. Again, my favorite instructor was teaching and included lots of the dreaded plyo jumps and running drills…lots of cardio for a strength class but I loved it. The strength training component was aimed at muscular endurance, meaning low weight, high reps. It has been a looooong time since I have taken a strength training class because I was on a spin kick for awhile. It was a killer. Leaving 2010 with a fitness bang.

I’m off to prepare for tonight. We are going to our friends’ house and I need to put together a veggie platter.
See ya next year!

*What do you hope to accomplish in 2011?
*What do you think makes a great blog? What would you like to see more of on here?

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Organization and Training

by blueeyedrunner on December 30, 2010

“A moment of reflection can inspire your dreams… and such moments are necessary to remind us that life is worth dreaming about!”

Okay, enough of the reminiscing posts. I promise no more. I guess I just like to keep track of things and be able to look back. For now, it will be all about looking ahead.

My booty is still killing me from Tuesday’s plyo jumps! And so are my quads. And why oh why did I commit to going to spin yesterday? Talk about SORE. But, actually, spin really helped to flush out my legs. I just took it easier than I normally would…even if it wasn’t all that easy. My favorite Pilates teacher taught the spin class and I love taking classes with her because she focuses on form and staying relaxed, even if your legs are going a million miles per hour.

Besides diving head first into my training plan, I’ve been spending a lot of time this week trying to get my life in order for the new year. I just love new starts.

~Cleaning, laundry, etc.
~Studying for the personal trainer test (more on this tomorrow!)
~Boston Training
~Resolutions/Inspiration Board

Boston Training Update
Yesterday turned into a cross-training day because I was that sore. Today I did 6 easy (3 outside with dad, 3 on the treadmill) because I was still sore! I guess I forgot that I took an entire month off from running and although I have the determination and willpower to get out there and train, my body has other ideas. I’m okay with making some hard runs easy ones as long as I can keep getting out there. Even though training this week isn’t going exactly how I had planned, I think its actually going pretty well (I mean its only week 1). Considering I originally wasn’t planning to start training until the new year, I’ll take it! It looks like I’ll be just under 40 miles for this week. Not bad.

*New Years Eve: Love it or hate it? What are your new years plans?
Personally, I think New Year’s Eve is a little overrated, I would much rather go to a house party and be with friends and loved ones to ring in the new year than go out in the cold! And that is exactly what we will be doing. A couple of years ago I did the whole NYC New Year’s Eve. It was so cold and so crowded! No thank you!

*Be sure to stop by Stephanie’s blog and say congratulations!

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2010 in Races

by blueeyedrunner on December 30, 2010

“I race in order to dig deep within myself and see what I’m really made of.”

March 13th – St. Patty’s Day 5K
Time: 21:34
Pace: 6:54

April 24th- Clinton Township Country Run (15K)

Time: 1:06:05
Pace: 7:04

April 25th- Lincoln Tunnel Challenge (5K)

Time: 20:14
Pace: 6:31

May 2nd- Our House 5 Mile Run

Time: 35:36
Pace: 7:07

May 8th- Newport 10,000

Time: 42:20
Pace: 6:49

May 23th- Run for Rachel 5K

Time: 20:20
Pace: 6:32

May 29th- Spring Lake 5 (Miler)

Time: 33:05
Pace: 6:38

June 12th- Womens’ Mini 10K in Central Park

Time: 43:46
Pace: 7:03

June 21st- Presidents’ Cup Night Race 5K

Time: 19:35
Pace: 6:18

June 27th- Pine Beach 5K

Time: 19:58
Pace: 6:25

July 10th-Belmar Five (Miler)
Ran as a tempo run
Time: 37:05
Pace: 7:20

June 21st- Downtown Westfield 5K
Free pizza…yay!

Time: 20:08
Pace: 6:29

August 29th- (Not Quite) Fall Classic 4-Miler

Time: 25:36
Pace: 6:24

September 5th- Woodbridge Crossroads of NJ 10k

Time: 40:52
Pace: 6:36

September 11th– Rock n’ Run 5K

Time: 20:31
Pace: 6:33

September 26th- Newport Liberty Waterfront ½ Marathon

Time: 1:33:46
Pace: 7:09

October 10th- Steamtown Marathon

Time: 3:29:35
Pace: 7:57

December 12th- USATF-NJ 10 Mile
Time: 1:17:58
Pace: 7:47

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2010 in Pictures

by blueeyedrunner on December 29, 2010

Other 2010 Posts:
Running Highs and Lows
2010 really flew by, probably because we were so busy this year! I seriously don’t remember any year going by as fast as this one has.

We kicked off 2010 with a trip to Mexico to celebrate Matt and Ilse’s wedding.

I celebrated my 26th birthday.

We went to Lake George and Dan broke his collar bone snowboarding.

Dan and I celebrated our 4th anniversary together.

I ran 18 races.

We adopted our precious Cooper.

We celebrated many weddings with friends…

…and I caught the bouquet

We spent a great summer ‘down the shore’ on Dan’s boat with friends and family.

We went to some concerts with friends.

And a Giants game.

We took Coop on many picnics and trips to the park.

A really big park.

I ran my 2nd marathon and qualified for Boston.

Dan turned 27.

We celebrated the holidays with family.

What were some of your highlights from 2010?
What are you most looking forward to in 2011?
I am looking forward to running the Boston and New York Marathons!

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Boston Training Day 2: Treadmill. Again.

by blueeyedrunner on December 28, 2010

Thank you for all your nice comments on my previous post! I couldn’t be happier with this running year and hope to continue making improvements in 2011.

I am off and running with Boston training. So far both workouts have been completed on the treadmill but that is certainly better than nothing. According to my schedule, today was an easy day, so I did 8 miles at 7.0 mph (8:34 pace) It took about 1:08. Thank God for my new ipod because I never would have made it on the treadmill for over an hour without it. After the run, I stretched and foam rolled then did:

50 modified push ups
~3 sets of 15 + 1 set of 5

3 sets of 20 lunge jumps
~10 on each side.

To do the lunge jumps, lower down into a lunge keeping your front knee over the ankle and lift your back heel off the ground. Jump up into the air as high as you can, switching the front leg with the back and lower back down. That is one rep on one side. Repeat, switching legs again. That is one rep on the other side. Be careful to keep good form and do not do too many of these if you are not ready as plyo jumps have a high rate of injury. I wanted to do these after my run when my muscles were already fatigued and they were definitely feeling it.

So far this week:

Sunday: REST
Monday: Track ( 3 x 1600 w/ 1 min rest interval) + warm up and cool down
Tuesday: 8 miles easy + Alternating lunge jumps & pushups

I may go back to the gym later for something easy. I can’t help it. I’m off this week and love to get in lots of workouts while I still can. I stopped in the cafe on the way out after the gym and grabbed a protein shake and a salad. I came home and iced and foam rolled again. Now its time to shower, walk the pup, and head out to cash in on some Christmas gift cards!

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