Laugh at the Rules

New Blog for the new venue! I wanted to keep the same title I had, "Bring Your Own Sunshine", but since this place is new and sharp, I wanted to start fresh. Besides, it's summertime so I have lots of sunshine right now!

My goals are the same so I will copy them here from my other blog:

~PR in the 5K and 10K--I was close last year but fell a little short, and I think I can do it this year. It's tough beating times from when I was 24, but I'm trying! I did snag a 5 mile PR in August!
~Get 4:30 in the marathon

If I get some other PR's along the way, in the half, 10 mile, or 15 K, that would be great too.

My current PR's are:

10K 54:29 set in 1988-------ran a 10K 4.17.2010 in 54:57
5K 25:17 set in 1988--------ran a 5K 10.2.2010 in 25:43
10 mile 1:33:10 set on 3.27.2010
5 mile 43:21 set on 8.28.2010
13.1 1:58:10 set on 9.4.2010
26.2 4:45:36 set on 10.4.2009
15K 1:26:56 set on 10.18.2009

The inspiration for my blog title came from (blushing) a pair of underwear I have that says "Laugh at the Rules", "Agree with your Imagination", and "Color Outside the Lines" all over the edging. I am a total "rule follower" but sometimes I need to lighten up and just enjoy the ride. I was so disappointed with my marathon in Vegas last December, but I've realized all I can do is pick back up and try again! As my sister said after that marathon,

"I think the race is only as disappointing as you decide to make it out to be. There are many who will never run a marathon or who can no longer do them. Not trying to do a guilt trip, but remember: Enjoy the journey. Marathons are epics, and each one is a unique story."

Or you can name the blog Pissed at Rule, short for PR.

Jerry wrote:Or you can name the blog Pissed at Rule, short for PR.

"Marathons are epics, and each one is a unique story."

How true, enjoy the next ride.

Good luck with your summer & fall races, Peg. I can't remember if you said where your next marathon attempt will be. We all know you have a 4:30 in you. It's just a matter of finding the right day.

Peg great start to the blog and good luck hitting your goals.

Best of luck at meeting your racing goals! I know you can do it and look forward to following your journey to get there. I love the 10k distance I have to make a point of doing more of them!
Oh that's a lot of wording on a pair of underwear!

Schuey wrote:Oh that's a lot of wording on a pair of underwear!

I was thinking the same thing!
Peg, you're another one of those very consistent trainers and very determined runners. You're gonna do it!

Schuey wrote:Best of luck at meeting your racing goals! I know you can do it and look forward to following your journey to get there. I love the 10k distance I have to make a point of doing more of them!
Oh that's a lot of wording on a pair of underwear!

I find the 10K to be about the most challenging for me. Sorry about the underwear, but that's where I got the line!

Twin Cities is the marathon for 2011!

I love that you are chasing PRs that you set in your 20s. You completely embody the saying "age ain't nothin' but a number" Peg!

natalie.wolf wrote:You completely embody the saying "age ain't nothin' but a number" Peg!

Hey Peg I wonder if there is a pair of underwear with that quote on them. Heeeh

And I agree I find the 10k to be a huge challenge, it is one of those distances that is hard to race and master!

Your half and 5K times are very nice. Based on how you busted those, I'd think you could significantly take down every other one of your PRs. That 10 miler and the 15k are both at a slower pace than you did your half, right? So you really already beat those PRs. And that 10K is begging to be knocked down a bunch. Get something on the schedule and lace em up!

This week so far:

Monday--27 laps swimming (1350 m)
Tuesday--6 mile MP average 10:20 mpm
Wednesday--8 mile long run average 10:40 mpm (step back week)

I'm in week 3 of Intermediate II, doing my long runs in the middle of the week and racing about every other or 3/4 weekends.

Peg,
I can't believe you have your times dating back to 1988! It's pretty amazing that you were not substantially slower in 2010. :30 seconds....meh, that's nothing!

Ok, everyone is using cool emoticons....

teriziatea wrote:Peg,
I can't believe you have your times dating back to 1988! It's pretty amazing that you were not substantially slower in 2010. :30 seconds....meh, that's nothing!

Ok, everyone is using cool emoticons....

Thanks Tea! I used to keep track of my running in a little green notebook--back then I didn't follow any training plans and just ran when the weather was perfect and maybe got in 12 miles a week! In fact, my biggest year back then was 575 miles! I wonder if I had trained if I could've ever got under 50 for the 10K? Anyway, as my kids got older my running dwindled and eventually I had quit keeping track of my miles. My times obviously were much slower too! I renewed my love for running and became a consistent trainer in 2006, so I've been chasing those PR's as my "decade" PR's kept going down! It's fun to be able to look back at those old times and see how close I am!

I ran a couple half marathons in the early 90's and my best time back then was 2:10. I didn't run another until 2005, a 2:30. I was ecstatic when I hit 2:10 in 2008, 2:04 in 2009, and 1:58 in 2010!!!

Thunderstorm this morning, but I think I will be able to get out for 3 later.

Good luck hitting your goals this year Peg.
Your underwear is a heck of a lot more interesting than mine (probably a good thing).

Are you still doing the push-ups? Hows it going?

Ken Mello wrote:Are you still doing the push-ups? Hows it going?

Yes! I started over this spring at week one, and I'm in week five still. The other day I did 23, 28, 23, 23, 35. Thanks for asking!

6 miles today. I'm using Int II and since I move the long run to middle of the week, I end up playing with the other ones wherever they work. I already did my 6 pace and 8 long, leaving me with 3, 6, and 3 according to the plan. I want to have Saturday as my rest day this week, so rather than run 3 today and 3 tomorrow, making it 4 days in a row, I ended up doing 6 today. I figured I was already warmed up and sweaty and it wouldn't be that much different to have 20 miles in 3 days or in 4 days! I will swim tomorrow (easy on the legs!) and take Saturday off (busy day planned). Then do the other 6 Sunday.

Then I did pushups: 18, 18, 20. 20. 14, 14, 16, 35. and abs.

Do well Peg!!!

Hi Peg.

I see you are going back to TC this year. I'm there right now and I can see why you would want to have your breakthrough marathon here. I'll leave some fast running vibes for you to pick up in October. Keep up the good work.

Good luck and we can all celebrate with you when you catch a new PR

Peg Coover wrote:

Ken Mello wrote:Are you still doing the push-ups? Hows it going?

Yes! I started over this spring at week one, and I'm in week five still. The other day I did 23, 28, 23, 23, 35. Thanks for asking!

Wow that is one heck of a push-up workout. Also I think that it is a neat concept that you do your long run in the middle of the week.

Love the title of you blog, Peg. Like you, I'm a rule follower. But unlike you, I have no panties with clever sayings on them...clearly I need to rethink my foundation garments if I'm to stay on pace with the iTeam grannies.

Keep up the great training, Peg!

Hey guys, thanks!

Matt, Twin Cities is fun--crowd support is amazing!

Kathleen, that is funny! When my daughter was pregnant my best friend bought me "grannie panties." Guess what they were: thong panties!

I swam one mile today! Yay! It took me exactly one hour, but I stop every 200 m to defog my goggles and take a 45 second breather. I also stopped two other times to talk to other swimmers. So now that I have that milestone done, I plan to work on getting the time down to a reasonable amount.

Rest day tomorrow. I wont' be around (sad) as I am going to be support crew for my husband and two friends who are biking 65 miles. Mostly I will drive around and hopefully get a chance to read.

Happy Friday!