Running Ramblings and Race Ragz Review

Only 10 weeks until the Chicago Marathon!  I'm really excited about this race.  Not only do I get to visit my cousin Erin and her hubby Alex, but I'm hoping to PR in the cooler Chicago weather after training in the Florida heat.  My current marathon PR is 4:49 from the A1A Marathon. I'm aiming for closer to a 4:30 finish time in Chicago.

Here are my runs and average paces for the second half of July.  To finish a marathon in 4:30, my average pace needs to be 10:18 for the entire 26.2 miles. 

Date	Miles	Duration	Avg Pace	Type/Run
7/26/2014	14	2:29:04	10:38	long
7/24/2014	6	0:55:11	9:11	tempo
7/22/2014	5.02	0:46:10	9:12	intervals
7/19/2014	12	2:00:40	10:03	long
7/15/2014	5	0:45:17	9:02	tempo
7/12/2014	15.2	2:31:16	9:57	long

Saturday's 14 mile run was tough because I didn't eat enough carbs on Friday. I realized that about half way through the run when I was starving and already running out of steam. Mental note for later.

On Thursday's tempo run, I ran in my new Race Ragz custom made dry fit shirt. I received lots of compliments.  Everyone loved my new shirt with our running group's logo on front! Suncoast Striders Rule!

After 6 very humid and sweaty miles

My Race Ragz offers custom made dry performance shirts made for runners by runners.  I created my one of a kind personalized performance shirt using my own logo on the front and one of Race Ragz's pre-loaded images on the back.  They have 1000+ pre-loaded images/sayings for you to use on your custom shirt.

I ordered the women's synergy race tank in size medium.  It fit true to size.  This shirt was a thin, soft dry fit material.  It was very comfortable to run in with no chaffing issues after 6 miles.  It also did not ride up on my hips as I ran...always a plus for me!  The ordering process was very easy including uploading my own image for the front of my shirt.  I recommend My Race Ragz for any custom running shirt needs.

Now one lucky reader gets to win their own Race Ragz custom running shirt (up to $46 value)!  Enter below through Rafflecopter. Contest ends Aug 6, 2014.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I was given a $46 credit to create and order my own shirt from My Race Ragz.  All opinions are my own.

Run for Your Lives!

After running the Disney Marathon in January, the A1A Marathon in February and a couple of halves, I needed a little break from running.  I think for me, I also needed a break from the early mornings...I am not a morning person.  I was lazy and enjoyed it!  But eventually, I missed the running and my running buddies.

It's strange how quickly I lost my speed (which is relative to me and not runners that are actually fast) and amazing how quickly I regained that speed.

I started running regularly again at the end of April.  For me that consisted of 2-3 days a week.  Here are my Garmin stats from dailymile over the past couple of months.

Date	Miles	Duration	Pace
7/10/2014	6.02	0:55:44	9:15
7/9/2014	6	0:46:37	9:19
7/6/2014	10.01	1:49:37	10:57
7/3/2014	5	0:48:38	9:43
6/28/2014	12	2:01:55	10:09
6/26/2014	6	0:56:16	9:22
6/21/2014	10	1:38:39	9:51
6/19/2014	4.75	0:45:33	9:35
6/17/2014	3.2	0:33:30	10:27
6/14/2014	10.01	1:50:44	11:04
6/5/2014	4.37	0:40:54	9:21
5/31/2014	10	1:41:48	10:10
5/29/2014	5.31	0:54:23	10:14
5/24/2014	8.05	1:27:57	10:55
5/22/2014	5.5	0:50:32	9:11
5/20/2014	2.02	0:27:15	13:30
5/20/2014	1.01	0:11:02	10:56
5/17/2014	8.25	1:21:36	9:53
5/13/2014	3.02	0:33:31	11:05
5/10/2014	6	0:57:33	9:35
5/8/2014	5.22	0:49:35	9:29
4/26/2014	5	0:51:55	10:22
4/24/2014	3.36	0:33:29	9:57
4/19/2014	5.2	0:54:54	10:33

I'm happy with how my 5.5 - 6 mile tempo run pace improved nicely.  Even my longer run pace has improved.  My regular running routine is intervals on Tuesdays, tempo run on Thursdays and long run on Saturdays.

I'm back into training mode with LONG runs to prepare for the Chicago Marathon in October (my 5th marathon). After that, I'm running the Rock-N-Roll Savannah Half Marathon in early November and the Space Coast Half Marathon in late November.  My goal is for a half marathon PR under 2 hours. My current half PR is 2:06.

All of this summer training in the hot and humid Florida weather has got to make me faster when the cooler weather hits in fall....or for the zombie apocalypse (my hubby and I are watching The Walking Dead Marathon that was on AMC).

Are you training for any races, new PR goals, or zombie apocalypse?