Week Two

August 4-10
Total Miles: 21 (give or take)
Death Toll: 0
Injuries: 1 (The Flugninator has an ankle injury!)

Week Two has come and gone! I can't believe it! Jen had a "secret" run Monday morning. She made it two miles (which was two more than I can say I did Monday.) I joined her Tuesday and we decided to "turn it up a notch" and try to run 40 minutes. Up until this week, we had been completing our 3 mile runs in about 30 minutes and were totally psyched! We couldn't believe that in our first week, we were averaging an 11 minute mile.

While this might not sound impressive to some of you, we were pretty darn excited!

So, we took it up a notch and went for broke, running 4.48 miles in 42 minutes, averaging about 9 minute miles! Woohoo!

(Shoutout to whomever suggested we give regular updates on the actual progress- we'll be sure to make an effort and include stats throughout the post!)

I had a non-secret run Wednesday [the difference between "secret" and "non-secret" runs, is you disclose that you're doing a solo run...not agreeing with the group that you'll take the damn day off and then still run...kinda like those "secret studiers" that we all knew in college- you know who you are :)]Oh and in case you're wondering, I did 3.5 miles averaging 9:38 per mile!

So, Jen and I resumed Thursday (I need to point out that Jen and I live on the East side of town, and Flug lives downtown; this is like a 20-25 minute, $2 toll road hike for her [each way]. We'll join Flug for the Saturday run). So, here we are, up bright and early on Thursday, we're kinda feelin it, we're kinda not, but we gotta do it. So we set out, again for at least a 40 minute run, trying to reach 5 miles. We did 5.3 miles in 54 minutes averaging 10 minute mile! Can I get a "whoop whoop?!"

We are pretty darned impressed with ourselves! And BONUS...you know what this means...Massage Envy, here we come!

TGIF! Or so I thought! Friday's run hurt like hell...and let me tell you why. ThomsonWhoDoesNotRun decided we need to start working on our endurance which entails, interval training. You see she's been reading the UK version of Runner's World (yes...the UK version- she picked up the wrong copy- but we're not sure how) and it's given a time table and training suggestions. So, since there's no time like the present, we decide on a plan of action and implemented it Friday morning. For our second mile, we traded sprinting ahead of each other. So I took the lead and the first few "trade-offs" were fine, until ThompsonsWhoDoesNotRun, a.k.a. "Secret Runner" decided she was going to sprint with me on one of my turns to pull ahead of her. OH NO SHE DIDN'T! Girlfriend's a sprinter, unlike myself (I've learned). In all the runs we've completed to date, she totally out sprints me hands down. I'm lucky if I can get half way into the sprint before I drop off and she picks up speed and off she goes! So we're running and I'm yelling "BACK OFF...CUT THIS SH*T OUT!" Well, she just thought this was hysterical and tried it again a second time! I repeat for future interval training "CUT IT OUT!"

Oh, I completely forgot to tell you how we did on Friday: 4 miles, averaging 9:21 a mile, for 37 minutes!

Finally, end of training week two...Saturday. Being up on a Saturday at 6 am is not my idea of a good time. In fact, I'd rather sleep in and wake up around...now (9:30ish), just in time to catch 90210 and Melrose Place re-runs on the Soap Network (don't act like you don't watch it if you come across it people!). However, that was not to be, so I was up and at ThompsonWhoDoesNotRun's by 6:30. We had a good run along a new stretch of road, wide open to us (it's not in use). So, we ran and ran and ran, and on the run back, we saw two deer off in the distance! It was awesome...it was straight out of the Discovery Channel or National Geographic. It was a mamma and her baby. They meandered for a while and checked us out from a distance as well before gracefully heading back into their wooded home! It was so cool. All in all, we went 4.77 miles in 48 minutes this morning. Had we kept going and not decided to have breakfast again at "Morning Glories" we would have hit the 5 mile- 60 minutes mark. But we'll just save that for next week. If you're wondering where the Flugintaor is....she's out with an ankle injury! Please wish her a speedy recovery.

As a final thought, I'd like to request your input. If you haven't noticed the "Jen's" have given themselves fun names. I didn't realize this was apart of the "blogging world" so I need a fun name and I'd like you to either a) make a suggestion or b)tell me which one you like better: Dancing Diva or Skinny Bitch (that last one courtesy of ThompsonWhoDoesNotRun.

Until next time...which could be in the next few days if one of the other girls post...

Mandy T, The Fluginator & ThompsonWhoDoesNotRun