Intervals On The Track

I ran 5 miles this morning and did weights for my biceps that included things like curl with a bar and dumb bells, rows with the bar and dumb bells, incline curls, reverse curls, hammer curls, across chest curls and curls while my elbow is on my knee. I also did abs which included crunches a hundred different ways, russian twist with a 10lb weight and v-sit. In the afternoon, I joined the c-c team for an interval workout on the track. It was 2x400, 2x 800, 2x400 and 2x 100. They were tempo pace interval which is about 80% effort. The first 400's were at 90 secs. each, 800's were 3:16 and 3:17 and the last 4oo's were 91 and 92 secs. The 100's at the end were to be run like you were finishing a race. We did a mile warm-up and a mile warm-down. Total miles 6. For me, the pace was nice and relaxed and I tired to concentrate on form. It's been a long time since I have thought about my running form. I think as I have gotten older my form has suffered, mainly due to my back problems. I need to try and think about it more often! Total for the day-11 miles

It's cold!!!

Woke up this morning to hear the wind blowing outside and if I didn't know better, I would have thought that it was snowing. We left a couple windows open last night and it was cold in the house. I don't think I'm ready for winter yet!!! After Keith headed off to school, I ran 8.2 miles in a cold drizzle. I wore shorts, a long sleeve shirt and gloves, I'm not ready to break out the tights yet! After my run, I lifted and then went to the Y and swam 1 and 1/2 mile that included 500m pull. Went shopping at Sams Club because Corey needs some stuff at school and we will be seeing him down at Marietta this weekend. Now I'm tired and in a bad mood and all I want to do is take a nap but I know that won't happen, maybe it's PMS!! LOL Until tomorrow.........

More Speed and Hills

Yesterday I decided that if I want to get faster and more efficient in races, I have to quit doing what I call "junk miles" and start to doing intervals, tempo runs and different things to improve my leg turn over. I feel that I have the ability to run faster than a 7:00 min. pace per mile as I did on Saturday. I know that I will never be as fast as I was 10 or 15 yrs. ago but I still would like to improve my times in all distances. The key will be to stay healthy, train smart and not over do it like I have a tendancy to do.LOL With that being said, Today I ran an easy 5 miles in the morning followed by weight lifting. In the afternoon, I did a hill workout with the c-c team. Behind the Loudonville High School , there is a hill that everyone calls the football hill because years ago, the football team would have to run it for punishment. It's about 200 meters long and is straight up. We did about a mile and a half warm-up, 10 hills nonstop(I ended up going 13 because I ran 3 extra with the slower girls)and then 3 miles for a warm-down. Total miles for the afternoon was 6.5 because I also count the half mile from my house to the school and back. Total miles for the day-11.5. So far I'm off to a good start!!!

The Weekend

The above picture is the relay team for the Akron Marathon that was held yesterday. Lf to Rt-me, sorry forget the next girls name, my sister Pam, Michelle and Shannon.

Let me first start with Friday. Ran 6 miles, lifted weights and swam a mile. Keith and the Loudonville Redbirds defeated Johnstown with a score of 20-0. This is the first time we have ever beat them in the 6 years that we have been in this conference. This is the first game that Keith started on defense and had 7 tackles. So right now he is playing both ways. It has been a long time since the football team has had a record of 3-2. Go Birds!!!!

After only about 2 hours of sleep, I got up at 3:30 am on Saturday to meet my sister for the relay at the Akron Marathon. I was to run the 5th which is the last leg but decided to run the 3rd and 4th leg also with my sister and Michelle so I could get a long run in. It was exciting to see the lead runners come through while Pam and I were waiting for our 2nd leg runner to come in. Pam's leg was 6.8 and we ran a nice pace. It was good to be able to run with her a chat because we don't see each other much. She is 2 years older than I am and is a piot and Physical Therapist. She has run quite a few marathons including the Great Wall of China Marathon. She also struggles with back issues and sometimes I wonder if it is a hereditary thing. I ran just a little bit with a girl named Michelle, who was our 4th runner. I tried to pick it up to about a 7:30 pace for the 2.5 miles of that 4th leg. Once she handed off to me, I wanted to run 7:00 pace for the 7.9 miles. I was able to do just that because I ran it in 56 minutes so it probably was a little over. I was happy that I could maintain that after running 9 miles before that.
Through out the entire race I saw a lot of people from our area. I talked to Bob Schroer while waiting for our 4 th runner to come in. He seemed real excited because he thought the team he was on would place in the old age group. LOL. Also saw Joe Crawford after the race and he ran a PR in the Marathon. Good job to everybody!!! Oh, I almost forgot, I would like to thank the young man who shared his chocolate milk with me at a little store right down town by the finish. We were both looking for the milk and there was only one pint left, so we split it. Thanks a ton whoever you are!! Warmed down a little bit and then had to get home, take a shower and go to Baldwin-Wallace to watch Corey play football. Mariatta lost 34-14. Corey had 6 tackles, made one extra point and missed the other. He had his bicep stepped on which was giving him some trouble but today it was only sore. Next week Mariatta plays the big, bad Capital University. Please, lord keep everyone safe!!!

Now, on to today. A group was meeting at Mohican, this morning for a 21 miler on the trails. I was planning on going but, since Fri. night and last night I didn't get much sleep, I hit the snooze button and went back to bed. I feel like a wimp and some what guilty but I was sooo tired! I did run 12 miles later on in the morning and went to the Y and swam a mile with 450yd pull. total 1 and 1/4 mile swim. Tomorrow, I hope to do a hill workout with the c-c team. Enough talking for now...........

Two Good Runs

Ran 5 miles this morning and felt good:) Did weight lifting for my biceps, triceps, and back along with abs.

This afternoon I ran with the c-c team getting a total of 7 miles in. We did 5 x one mile repeats and the girls really rocked! Everyone was running under the times that they were suppose to run and I think all of us were felling pretty at ease with the pace. Not big on remembering the times but most were 6:30 to 7:00 minutes. Pretty relaxed pace!

Saturday, I will be running the Akron Marathon relay that my sister put together. I will be running the last leg which is 7.9 miles. I do not know the other girls on the team, except my sister, or what type of runners they are. I guess it really doesn't matter. I will just go with the flow and have fun!! I promise!! Until tomorrow.......

Total miles for the day--12

Is It Really Fall?

I can't believe this weather. The humidity is through the roof and when I got done running this morning it was like I jumped into a swimming pool. I was totally drenched in sweat like it was the middle of the summer! I have never really minded the heat but I can't stand the humidity!! The dear weatherman keeps saying that a front is moving in to cool things off, he had better not be wrong!! And for once we closed our pool before October, so I can't even enjoy a dip in our pool to cool off. Anyway, I ran 8 miles again this morning and decided to skip the weights and go straight to the Y. Swam a mile and a fourth and then went to spinning class for 45 min. I can still feel the soreness in my quads then standing up on the bike or it's because I am not riding as much as I did this spring?

I talked to my sister tonight, who is also a runner, and is doing the Akron Marathon on a relay team. A long story short, one of the girls on her relay team is sick so there is a chance I will be running the last leg for her team. Should be fun! I love not planning things and just jumping into races at the last minute, that way I don't have to think about it!

Tomorrow will be a two-a-day. I plan to run 5 in the morning, lift weights and then interval workout with the c-c team. Although things can always change! It's time to start getting on Keith to get ready for bed or it will be midnight before he makes it. He's my night owl!!!

A Special Friend

The above picture is Haley Young and myself before the home C-C meet this afternoon at Loudonville. Haley is a senior this year at Loudonville and has ran C-C and track all four years. I have trained some with her the past couple summers and I will show up every once in a while when the team does interval work to run with her. This year she has other teammates to push her but in the past I would try to help her with the speed stuff. Little did she know however, she would push me also! She is a great friend and runner! This year she is between third and fourth on the team and is the team captain. She runs in the 23's or 24's for a 5k. She has come a long way since the first time I ran with her a couple a years ago. I'm so proud of her!! She truely loves to run, has great determination and will and is a very hard worker. She will go far in life as she will with her running. I think that the longer distance races will be her true calling once out of school and college. This year her classmates voted her to be the senior homecoming attendant for their class. She was so excited and happy!!! She holds a special place in my heart and I will really miss her when she goes off to college next year.

As for my running, yesterday I ran 6 miles for a recovery run, lifted weights and swam a mile and a half with 450yd pull.

Today, I got in 8 miles, lifted weights and swam another mile and a half. Tomorrow, my plan is to do the same plus adding a spinning class. Until next time.............

YMCA Half-Marathon

This morning I ran the Mansfield YMCA half-marathon that was held in Lexington,OH on the B&O bike trail. My goal was to run a 7:30 pace which is the pace I ran my last marathon in. There was about 40 runners so no real pressure except what I put on myself and the goals I set. The first two miles were right at 7:30 pace and felt a little strained. I'm thinking to myself that I'd be lucky to stay at that pace, but as I kept running the pace became easier and I was able to pick it up at the turn around point. Actually by mile 8, I was able to run negitive splits and kept it that way the rest of the race. The last half of the race became real comfortable which made me think that I started out way to slow. Ended up averaging a 7:16 min. pace which wasn't to bad after last weekend's 6 hr. run. My time was a 1:35.03 placing 5th overall and 2nd for the women with 1st in the old lady divisionLOL Congrats goes to Richie and Michelle placing 1st for the men and women! After the race, I went to the Y and swam a mile and a fourth very slowly which should help with the recovery. Thanks to the people who put the race together, it was a good one!!

An easy run and Homecoming

This is Keith and Shelby before going out to eat and then to the dance. It's great when I didn't have to spend a dime on Keith's outfit. The pants are Kyle's, socks and shirt are Mark's and the shoes and tie are Corey's. But don't they look nice!!!

Ran 6.5 miles this morning and did some abs. I have decided to run the half-marathon tomorrow morning in Lexington. I don't think I will be able to run very hard. Hopefully I will be able to keep a 7:30 pace which should be very comfortable for me and that was my pace at Cleveland Marathon last spring. I'll just have to go on how I feel. Who knows, I may just use it as a training run and have fun! If you can image that! LOL

Another Win

I just got back from the football game and the Loudonville Redbirds kicked Danville's butt 35-7. Keith had a great night playing defense. He really looked good but that is coming from his mother! LOL It was homecoming tonight and tomorrow night is the dance. Keith will be taking a very nice young lady named Shelby. I will post some pictures of them tomorrow.

I ran 6.5 miles this morning, did weights and swam a mile and a half with ladder sprints that included 25yd-50yd-75yd-100yd and back down. I ended with 3x50yd sprints and 450yd pull. Ididn't feel the best running today but felt good swimming. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for me.

Kyle run tomorrow morning in Grand Rapids, MI and Corey will be playing at Marietta against Wilminton. My thoughts and prayers like always ,will be with them.

Another Day Done

Yesterday I ran 7.1 miles, swam a mile and a fourth and did a 45 min spinning class.

Today, I knew I wouldn't have time to workout alot but I did get in 10 miles. Did about an hour and a half of weights working on triceps, shoulders, back and abs. I spent most of the day preparing food for the football team dinner. The parents of the players take turns feeding the team on Thrusday evening and it was my turn. We had sloppy joes, pasta salad, chicken and noodles(which I made) cupcakes, cookies and chocolate milk. We had some left over but the team seemed to come back for seconds. Loudonville takes on Danville for our homecoming and hopefully we won't play as bad as we did last week. Corey will play Wilmington at Marietta on Saturday and Kyle will run in Grand Rapids, MI. at Calvin College. Mark is going to down to Marietta, the grandparents are going to watch Kyle and I have to stay home and help Keith get ready for homecoming. It will be a fast and busy weekend.

As for my running, I'm not sure what will be next. You know me, I don't make plans until the day before a race.LOL There is a half-marathon close to Mansfield on Sunday but I don't know if I want to run it. I'll just wait until Saturday and see how I feel or maybe decide on Sunday morning. My leg has been bothering me some since the 6 hr run last Sunday and I sure wish I could get rid of the foot slap. It's real annoying when I'm on the road and hear my right foot slapping the ground and making a lot of noise. UGH!!! Need to go now, Keith just walked in the door from his first ever body massage. His back and hamstring have been bothering him so I thought a massage might do him good. Talk later......

Tired or Lazy!!

Once again I got up feeling totally exhausted! After Keith left for school, I laid back down for about an hour. Don't know if I'm really that tired or just being lazy and unmotivated. Got up and out the door at about 9:30am. Put in 6.5 miles on a fairly flat course. Pace was slow but nothing really hurt so that is a big plus. I'm just going to take it easy and not push the pace for a couple more days to make sure I have fully recovered from the weekend. Lifted weights which included benching, flies, shoulders and abs. Once again, I don't know if I'm tired or being lazy but I didn't swim today. I just couldn't bring myself to go to the Y and get into the water. There's always tomorrow.........

Helped at the home C-C meet tonight, with Bryan Derr breaking the course record for first place and Hadley Greer finishing first for the girls. Congrats to all the runners!!!

Recovery

I'm not sore or stiff from yesterday's 6 hr run but totally exhausted. I just couldn't get going this morning. After Keith went to school, I layed back down and slept until about 10:00 o'clock. I knew that I had to do something today in order to get rid of the lactic acid build up so I decided to go swim at the Y. Swam a mile and a fourth rather slowly with 250yd pull and 200yd kick. No running and lifting today but tomorrow I'll be back at it!! Until then........

The Weekend

I haven't blogged since Thrusday so I will start with Friday. Ran 8.1 miles, lifted weights and swam a mile and a half with 5x100yd sprints and 300yd pull. Friday night I am sorry to report that Keith and the Loudonville Redbird football team lost to Hillsdale 35-13. I'm not sure what happened but I guess we all have those down points in one's sport. I'm sure they will bounce back and be ready for the Danville Bluedevils this Friday which is our homecoming game. Keith will be taking Shelby Edmondson to the dance on Saturday. I will fill everyone in with all the details as the week goes on.

Saturday, I got up at 5 am to run since we were making a road trip to Powell, OH to see Kyle run in the GLAC Championship. Ran 6.5 miles. Kyle was injuried last C-C season so I was anxious to see how fast he could run an 8k. He ran a 27:18 placed 21st overall and was 8th for the team. OWU place second behind Oberlin. Kyle was fairly please with his run and so was I. He did want to be in the top seven for the team but there is always next week when they travel to Michigan. Between OWU's first runner and Kyle there was only a 40 second spread. Pretty good and I am so proud of Kyle!

Now on to today. I ran the Kokosing Odyssey 6 hr run near Kenyon College. It was a 5k loop on the trails. I did 11 laps with 20 min. to spare for 34 miles. It was a good run that was very pretty and well marked. I ran the first 50k in 5 hrs and then fell off the pace near the end. There was a couple really tough hills that took a toll on me. Overall, a good run!! My husband, Mark ran 5 laps for 15.5 and Don Baun ran 8 laps for 24.8 miles. Congrats to both! Not sore this evening just tired. Pictured below are Kim Boner, From Mt. Vernon, Mark, myself and Don.

Just Another Busy Day

After Keith left for school this morning, I ran 5.5 miles trying to push myself a little. Not sure of the time because I forgot to look at my watch but it sure felt like I was pushing myself. I think most of the miles were under 8 minutes. Did about an hour and a half of weight lifting and abs. After that, I had to do some laundry and pick up things that nobody seems to put away!!

At 3:00 pm, I went down to the school and ran 6 miles with the C-C team. Ran the extra from my house to the school and back to give me 7.5 miles. Total miles for the day-12.5

Corey is coming home tomorrow to watch Keith play at Hillsdale tomorrow night. He has a weekend off, no game, so it will be good to have him home even if it is for one night. He will go down to Columbus with us on Saturday to watch Kyle run and then back to Marietta to watch the Buckeye's play. It will be a fast and busy weekend!!

Goals

I think I need to set some goals for myself for the fall. I don't think I am doing Akron unless I decided the day before. Columbus Marathon is a possibility but the thought of running that far on the road kind of scares me. I'm just coming off this injury with my back so I really don't want to hurt it again or anything else. Roy Heger's race, Run with Scissors Double Marathon, will probably be my next race mainly because it will be on the trail. I will just go week to week and see what happens. I'm not a big on to do a lot of planning.LOL

Ran 8.2 miles this morning followed by a mile and a fourth swim with 450yd pull and a 45 min. spinning class. It was off to Sam's Club for some shopping and like always I spent way to much money!

I Guess You Can Call It a Recovery Run

Ran 6 miles this morning. I guess I will call it a recovery run since the pace was pretty slow and I have been putting in quite a few miles lately. Just felt kind of stiff and sluggish. Lifted weights when I was done running. Did my tricep workout which included skull crushers, close grip bench, rows, dips, tri kickbacks and abs. Went to the pool at the Y and was really dreading the swim but once I got going I decided to do some sprints. Swam a mile and a fourth with 12x50yd sprints. Really tired , maybe I need a day off. NOT. LOL A day off for me means I am lazy and giving up. I think that is one reason I never take a day off because I feel lazy and I just have to keep going because if I stop I may never run again!LOL

Had to stop at Wal-Mart on my way home to get some meds for Keith because he has a pretty bad sore throat and a cold. No fever thank goodness. We all know what that means, good old Terri will be the next one with a cold. Talk later.........

Happy Labor Day

Ran 6 miles this morning with Haley Young(a runner on the Loudonville C-C team) and then did a little extra to get in 10 miles. We had a good time chatting this morning and before I knew it we were done with our run. Haley is real excited because she was elected senior homecoming attendant for Loudonville. I am so happy for her! Too be young again!!LOL. When I was done running, I did a weight lifting workout that included benching, shoulders, flies and abs. It was in the shower and then some house cleaning. The rest of the day was spent laying around, listening to the rain on the roof and watching the US open tennis matches. Not a bad way to spend the day!!

The Weekend

I'll start with the weekend runs. On Saturday, I got out the door about 6:30am because we were headed down to Marietta to see Corey's game, Got in 8 miles at a comfortable pace and felt fine. Today, a group met at Mohican and we ran 20 miles. It was a great morning to run with great friends. We all ran at a nice relaxed pace until the end when a couple people and I won't mention any names, Joe, Michael and Michelle, decided to run at a 5k pace and flew down the trail to the covered bridge. Me, being an old lady, LOL did the old woman shuffle down the hill and was unable to keep up with them. My excuse, they are all younger and more sure footed than I!! Mark Carroll was also suppose to have run with us but, when I got home and got on facebook, he told us that he had hit a deer in Butler. He is fine but I guess and car and deer are not.

Now on to football. Friday night Keith's team(Loudonville Rebirds) lost in overtime to Crestveiw. It was 14-14 at the end of the fourth quarter. We got the ball first, and did not score. The ball went to them and they kicked a fieldgoal to win the game. What a heartbreaker!! Keith had several tackles and a lot of blocks. Good job Keith!!
On Saturday, we went down to Marietta to see Corey play against Thiel. Marietta won 20-14. Corey had a good game with 3 tackles and he broke up a pass. However, he did miss the extra point on the third TD. He said the line was pushed back and he had to stutter step and it messed up his timing. Oh well, no one's perfect! The pictures below are Corey before the game. He is number 14.

Are You Ready for Some Football!!

Keith just left for tonight's football game against Crestview. It's the home opener for the Redbirds. I think It's going to be a tough one tonight but if everyone plays well, I think that they can win. Keep your fingers crossed. Keith said that we will be throwing some tonight so that means Keith will see some action. Hopefully he will catch what is thrown to him.

Corey plays tomorrow afternoon in Marietta's season opener at home against Thiel. At this point, he is a starting CB and the place kicker. Last year they beat Thiel so hopefully they can do that again.

Ran 6.5 miles this morning and I actually didn't feel to bad after yesterday's miles. Lifted weights that included tricep and chest work(things like close grip bench and different types of push-ups). I also included abs. Went to the Y and swam a mile and a fourth. I felt tired swimming but I guess that can be expected.

Tomorrow I will have to get up early and run since we will be making a road trip to Marietta. On Sunday, the plan is to run 20 miles at MO starting at the covered bridge around 7:00am. I'm meeting some runners from the Y run club. If anyone wants to join us please come. The more the merrier!! I'll keep everyone filled in on the Lemke action!!!

Just Call Me Crazy!!

My workouts consisted of the following:

**5 miles in the morning

**about an hour and a half of weight lifting that included benching, shoulders, flies and abs.

**6 miles with the c-c team in the afternoon which included 4x1 mile repeats. The team was only to do 80% effort so it was a nice and relaxed effort. Ran with different groups that had different times 7:34, 7:31, 7:30 and 7:o5

**6 miles in the evening on the trails with the Y run club.

Total17 miles

Back to Spinning

** ran 6 miles this morning

** swam a mile and a fourth with 300yd pull

** 45 minute spinning class at the Mansfield Y. This is a noon class taught by Bob Gleason. He is a very good instructor and always has us tired and sweating by the end of the class. I haven't been to the class since this spring since I started ultra running training. I had to give up something so it was the biking since I felt that swimming helped me recover from the long runs. I didn't ride to hard today because I didn't want to be sore but my legs are tired. Last winter I went to class three times a week. I need to slowly get back into it, so I probably won't go to class again until next week. I will then try two days next week. I guess I love to punish myself.LOL

**Tomorrow afternoon I have two running choices. One is to do some type of interval workout with the Loudonville C-C team or two, run the trails with the Y run club. I'm leaning toward the interval workout so I can start to get some turnover going, if that's possible. I'll fill everyone in tomorrow. Maybe I'll do both.LOL

A Hilly Run

Ran 7.5 miles this morning on some good hills. Haven't pushed myself much on hills so today I went for it and it felt pretty good. Ran a course that I haven't ran in a long time so the change of scenery was nice.

Did bicep lifting and abs. Swam a mile and a half at the Y and I am done working out for the day!! Hey!!

Kyle ran at Kenyon this evening. He ran a PR for a 5k in 16:44. was sixth for the team and I think 15th overall. He looked good and at this point is running way better than last year. I didn't get a chance to talk to him after the meet so I don't know much more. I'm sure he won't be happy. Us runners always think we can do better! I think that if he is able to stay in the top 7 for the team he should be happy, but what do I know! In the pictures, kyle is wearing the red headband.