Zenaida Arroyo

07
Jul
2013

Weekly Workouts, July 1-7, 2013

Workouts this week:

Tuesday – 2 x 1200 (2 min RI) and 4 x 800 (2 min RI)
Tired. Not feeling it so I only ran 3.65 miles. I am losing my mojo to run intervals. Maybe I’ll take a break from them. Or maybe it was one of those days. But then again I’ve been having too many one of those days.

Thursday – 3 miles easy, 3 miles @ short tempo, 1 mile easy.
I ran 4.06 miles at the Community Bank of Elmhurst 4 on the 4th race. It was a great race and you can read the recap here.

Saturday – 9 miles at HMP, 10 minutes walking
I met up with PA again at 7am on 31st street. We decided to alternate our meeting location because we live on opposite sides of this world. 🙂 It was already too hot at 7am. He had to run 11 miles and at first I was fine with it but then told him to go ahead without me and that he could meet up with me on the way back. I was no longer planning to run 11 miles. I finished my run and he came along about 15 minutes later. Next week we are meeting at 6am. His plan is 12 miles and mine is 10. We’ll see how it goes.

Sunday
Went back to Bikram Yoga Chicago for 1.5 hours of hot yoga. Today was the first time going on a Sunday. I found parking in front of the studio and there were no more than 20 people in the class. I don’t know if it is like that on Sundays or maybe people were away because of the holiday. The instructor was nice and friendly. He assisted me several times with some of the poses. I really need to go there more often. Some of those people are really flexible and have no trouble with the poses.

Total miles ran this week is 17.21.

06
Jul
2013

Community Bank of Elmhurst 4 on the 4th

categories: Race Recap

On Thursday, July 4th, I ran a 4 miler. The last time I did this was in November 2008. Let me just say that it is now one of my favorite races. The problem is that there is not that many of them.

The race started at 7:15 but being a morning person I was up at 5:30. I had coffee and a Clif Bar. I was not sure how long it would take me to get to the race so I left a little after 6am. I got there at 6:30. I found parking and went to pick up my bib. On the way I found another runner, DL, whom I met at another race last year. Packet pick up was a breeze and then I waited for the race to start.

And off we went. It was a nice course. We ran through residences and part of downtown Elmhurst. By then it was warm but nothing out of control. The first water stop was around mile 1.5. I grabbed two cups and walked as I drank them. I have not mastered the skill of running while drinking water. There was another stop before mile 3 but this time there was also watermelon so I grabbed a piece. It was delicious!

The last mile was great! I kept a good pace till almost close to the finish line. Since it was uphill I just took a quick break for about 5 seconds and carried on. My finish time was 41:19 and yes it was a PR!! I am so excited and happy about it. Now I want to do a 5K and see how I do.

Here are my splits:
Miles 1 through 2 – 9:39, 10:29
Miles 3 through 4 – 10:42, 9:57

I got so many compliments on my socks.

The shirt was nice.

04
Jul
2013

Three Things Thursday, July 4, 2013

categories: Three Things Thursday

1. As you probably noticed on the header and website address, I purchased my own domain. It is easier to remember and identifies more with me. So make sure to save this page as one of your favorites: www.seezenaidarun.com It is still a work in progress so if you have comments/suggestions, please let me know.

2. Happy Independence Day! On this day 35 years ago I came to this country with my mother and siblings. It was the beginning of a new life and a new home for me. I am proud to be Mexican but I am also very proud to be an American (I became a U.S. citizen after my 18th birthday). This country has given me so many opportunities. My father brought us here to have a better life and indeed we have. Well, it may not be perfect but it is still a good life.

3. I ran my first non-half marathon race today. Well, not really since I’ve been running since 2005 but lately running only half marathons so you know what I mean. I don’t know why I never ran this race but now I will make sure to do this every year. The race I did today is the Community Bank of Elmhurst 4 on the 4th. Not only was it a fun race but I also got a PR. My last one was in November 2008 with a finish time of 44:28. Today I finished in 41:19 (per my Garmin). Yay! Now I am motivated to run a 5K and see how I do.

02
Jul
2013

L.A.T.E. Ride

categories: Fun

On Sunday morning I biked 25 miles in the L.A.T.E. Ride. It was quite an experience. It was the longest bike ride ever for me. Or at least that I can remember. I can finally cross it off this list. Yay!! We rode mostly on the street (shown on map as straight green line) whereas the last couple of miles were on the bike path along the lakefront (shown as green dots).

I did this ride with my friends, XB and OG. They picked me up at 11:30 pm and quickly found parking downtown. We had to pick up our packets which was a long line but luckily it moved fast. However, “the packet” was a bib and a shirt. I’m used to giving my name to the volunteers and they checking a list to confirm I’m registered. Nope. Nobody did that. Just a shirt and a bib. Next!

Anyway, we lined up with the others with the same bib color (we were orange). The first wave went off a little after 1 a.m. and then every 6-8 minutes another wave took off. I was nervous and scared. I did not want to fall or have any kind of accident.

The first few miles were congested and since we were on the street, we had to follow the rules of the road For the most part the route was fine. I was a little bit terrified of the hills. No problem going up but coming down I thought for sure I would fall. I had to brake a few times to slow down but I did not want to do it too hard or risk the bike making a complete stop and then me falling over the handlebars.There were some streets that were completely closed for car drivers (nice) and others only one way. I felt bad for the drivers because the one way streets were taken over by us so there was no way they could make a left turn into another street. Also, in some areas it was really dark but at least I could see the bikes because they all had lights but I could not see the pavement. Yikes! I rode carefully and slowly there. The crowd was friendly. Some of them were giving us high fives. I refused to take off one hand from the handlebar. There were a few times that my nose itched and I had to very quickly scratch my nose.I was happy to get to the rest stop. I reunited with XB and OG since I “lost” them a few miles back when I stopped at a red light. The rest stop was AWESOME. There was a ton of Zico, bananas, and Cliff Bars. I tried the dark chocolate flavored Zico and was not too impressed with it. I think I’ll stick with the regular kind. About 10 minutes later we took off again.The rest of the ride was very smooth. There were a few cars and red lights on Montrose Avenue. The best part was the lakefront. By then we were more than halfway done. I will admit that I was TIRED. My arms, back, and bottom were hurting. My bottom hurt the most. I would ride for a bit then move/adjust my bottom to ease up the pain. The bike was not properly adjusted for me/my height. Yep, lesson learned. But overall it was still a FUN ride. I had been wanting to do this ride for years and am so glad I finally did it. Would I do it again?

There is another similar event that takes place Memorial Day weekend. However, it is during the day and takes place solely on Lake Shore Drive. The whole drive is closed so no chance of getting hit by a car.

Once we were done, we stayed for a little bit and then went to eat breakfast. I got home at 6 a.m. I don’t remember ever coming home at 6 a.m. Or have it? If I did I must have blocked it.

Just Keep Running!

30
Jun
2013

Weekly Workouts, June 24-30, 2013 and June in Review

categories: Half Marathon Training, Monthly Review

Workouts this week:

Monday – Cardio
Rode my bike along the lakefront. I forgot my Garmin but I think it was about 9 miles.

Tuesday – 4 x 1200 (2 min RI)
Done. It was tough and I struggled to get them done.

Wednesday – Cardio
Skipped the bike and instead went for a massage. My legs were sore. 🙁

Thursday – 2 miles easy, 3 miles @ short tempo, 1 mile easy
It was rough but I only did 2.41 miles. I was very tired. I did not want to get up in the morning and told myself that I would feel better once I started running. Nope, did not happen.

Saturday – 8 miles at HMP, 10 minutes walking
I ran with my college friend, PA, who is running the Chicago Marathon in October. I have not seen him since last year in October. We had a great time! For the most part I was able to keep up with him but struggled towards the end. With a half mile to go, I told me to “go” and he did. That was OK with me because I did not want to hold him back and I told him that various times. He was cool with staying with me for most of the run.

I cannot believe that we’re already halfway through the year. This month I ran 80.43 miles compared to 73.89 last month. This year I’ve ran 467.83 miles and I’m a bit behind if I want to meet my goal of running 1,000 miles this year.

I ran two half marathons: Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego and Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle. My best time was in San Diego (2:22:06) but then did not so good in Seattle (2:30:39). Oh well. I should not be so hard on myself and expect a good race every single time. Actually, it can be a good race if I just change my attitude. Is it all about the finish time or the experience? If it’s the former than I’m in trouble because I have many more races this year and I don’t expect a PR at each one. It can be a fun race if I don’t focus so much on the finish time but instead pay more attention to the course, the volunteers, the runners, and anything else associated with the race. So my plan for the rest of the year is to enjoy my races.

I’m thinking of doing the 4 on the 4th race on Thursday. My 4 mile PR is 44:28 from November 2008. Yes, it’s been that long. I think it’s time to find out if I can set one this year.