Tapering Has Begun

A quick update before I take off for the day. It’s a good stopping point in my workload for the day I think…

Rest of Memorial Weekend was pretty relaxed after the race. Was in Mankato with friends on Saturday night and had a couple of drinks and stayed over, then came back Sunday and spent it at Calhoun reading and trying to get some color, then kind of cleaned and relaxed on Sunday night, although the place still needs work!! Monday I had gone for a run in the AM, quite warm even at 9:30, should’ve gotten up earlier!! Was dripping sweat early on and didn’t stop till I got in the shower…gross. I then ended up meeting a friend to shop, it was warm and both of us were needing to look a bit, we went to the mall (not someplace I go often) and I found a few work things and some out of work things for pretty good prices so that was nice…I had missed seeing season finale of ER and she had it recorded so we then decided to go grill at her place (after a Blizzard earlier at the mall) that evening with her boyfriend…we had burgers and asparagus and yummy potatoes as we refer to them, all on the grill then kind of vegged and I went home to bed.

It’s taper time now of course and I was going to do a light speed workout yesterday but decided instead to sleep in and then after work spent more time at Calhoun (plans are to go there again today) and got home to a package from a friend but before opening it I went for a light tempo run…at least that was the plan. 6 miles, 1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool done, marathon pace (projecting around 8:45) or a bit better for the rest of the run, well, first mile was an easy 9:30 warm up, 2nd mile, 7:35…oops…8:20, 8:19 and 7:55 followed…last mile trying to slow down and cool down was an easy 8:38 with an overall pace of 8:21…oops…oh well. I just did what was feeling good and I definitely could’ve gone further and faster, so it was a nice little workout. Today I did 3 this am and will do an easy 3-4 tonight most likely and did some light strength training, I’ll do two more sessions this week of 2 sets, then next week only 2 days and 1 set then nothing week before the marathon.

Northern Lakes 30K Race Report

So my training is now complete. Last long run under the belt and now it's taper time and mental preparation. I can do nothing more trainingwise other than letting my body recover that will change what is going to happen in 3 weeks...and I have to remember that every day and not over do anything. The 30K was in White Bear Lake, about 45 minutes from my house and Devi and I headed up there to run about 6:30 am, after having been up since about 4:30, having breakfast and a little pre-race prep. Oh and I tried one other new thing, 5-hour Energy, the drink that has been handed out lately at some races and I have to say I think it did the trick on this run.

We got there with plenty of time, visited the porta-potties twice and made it out just in time to jog to the start line, line up and go, I lined up at the back wanting to start slow, this is just a training run, 3 weeks to the marathon…The conditions were humid and set to get very hot by the finish, I hit the first two miles right on at 9:30 pace (and my GPS was right with them, but there were the only two it was on the same page with, all others were off) and could tell people around me had started too fast, but I was feeling good, first water stop was at mile 3 and it was still congested so I had to stop and wait for water to be poured and I took two cups, which was the state for each one, one to drink and one to dump on my head, just after this water stop Somewhere Over the Rainbow came onto my MP3 and I thought of a friend of mine whose daughter was killed in a car accident 2 years ago, that song was played at her funeral and this weekend she would've graduated from high school, it made me sad and I got teary eyed and thought of her and him during the rest of my race.

The run was pretty uneventful, I felt good the whole time and managed to run the entire thing with only the stops that were required to get water. It was a nice course, along some lakes, light rolling hills and good support except that the water stops that were supposed to have Gatorade did not, I only managed to get one small cup of it at mile 9 and that was not enough…I skipped water at a few of the stops because I wanted the Gatorade and just focused on getting back and hoping against hope some would be at the end. Thankfully I had brought some of my Endurolytes tablets and they definitely helped. There was one girl that had passed me and was long gone around mile 7, she had been running a really good pace and I thought good for her, I knew my pace was on and I kept putting bulls eyes on people ahead of me and slowly passing a lot, other than that girl, no one else passed me, which was kind of nice. The girl that had passed me I saw again at a little before mile 15 or so, wasn’t focused on catching up to her, but she was doing walks and runs by this point and I did catch her and pass her at about mile 18, she passed me again with about half a mile to go, but then I passed her when she started walking and I managed to keep in front of her and pass a few others before the finish. I didn’t think I would kick much, but at the end I had something, probably just wanting to get done and have some ice water and Gatorade, my stomach was queasy though, and the heat was definitely getting to me.

More and more I’m glad my marathon is starting at 6 am, as I should be done before it starts to really, really get hot that day. My GPS had the course at 18.88, well, at least that’s how far I ran and some of the miles were definitely off so I am guessing it’s a bit off, but I had really wanted to run 19 or 20 this weekend anyway, so I’m glad I got the extra distance in. My time was 2:53 or so, I need to check that as I hadn’t seen official results yet and my average pace was 9:09, I had been shooting to start at 9:30, bump up to 9:15 and finish the last few miles around 8:45, I had a few miles at the end in the 8:48 range and one at about 8:30, I'll have to get my splits uploaded and analyze tings...I wanted to average 9:15, I was a bit fast and it was hot, so it probably would’ve been even faster on a less humid day so it was actually a really good run, and I'm not sore or hurting at all today.

This is the best training session I've had for a marathon. I've done everything I could to keep from being injured, followed a good program and now I have 3 weeks of mental prep light workouts and some cross training and good eating so I can really see what I can do for once on a course when all conditions are right. So I'm focused on eating well, maybe losing one or two more pounds and no more alcohol until after race day.

Bring on the taper.

Payday, Jeans and a Long Weekend

It's Friday of a long weekend and I got paid today, from both jobs!! Yay!! And I weighed in and am at 129.4 pounds too!! And this is a bad weigh in week, women out there should know what I mean...I started the year hovering around 136-137...and I haven't been able to hold under 135 in 6 years...

OK, so a quick, quick update than back to working hard for another 2 hours and then out for THREE WHOLE DAYS!!! From both jobs I might add, and I didn’t even ask off at B&N!! Whooo Hooo….

Last night went for my 8-10 planned 8-8:15, managed 8 for 8:21 pace, it was hot, it was humid, I’m fine running in the heat, I relish it as I hate the cold and won’t run in it, but I do need time to acclimate but the last few years spring has been a few nice days, then cold, maybe another nice day then blasting summer (temps are maybe going to hit 90s this weekend, and yes, I do live in MN!!!), it’s not so much the heat but the humidity that really gets ya…I was dripping sweat, so bad when I got home clothes went right in the machine and I was right in the shower BEFORE the stretching. Had to, it was so gross.

Anyway, I finally figured out the weekend. I’m going to St. Paul to night with my friend to get our race packets, then picking up tickets for the bands I’m going to see next weekend, then we are going to have spaghetti and watch a movie, to bed early and then up early to run the 30K…After which we are running a couple of errands then I’m going home to veg and then drinking the 75 or minutes to Mankato to meet friends for drinks and stay overnight at the one friends parents, come back up at some point on Sunday and probably spend at my happy place (see previous post for picture)…then I do have a grill out I’ll most likely go to, better print directions for that…Monday might be going to see X3 with some friends, but also need to get some cleaning and organizing done around the house…I get to do whatever I want and I LOVE that!!

Monday officially starts my taper too…Will try to post a race report at some point, this is just more a fun run anyway, last long run before the marathon, just get a shirt and water stops provided instead of having to wear the fuel belt!

Weekend Decisions

I’m actually rested right now…I slept good and slept in a little bit, instead of running this AM I got up and did my pilates core DVD so slept in a little bit and then got a few things done before showering and getting to work. Tonight I’m planning 8-10 at 8-8:15 pace, it’s cooler and overcast, wondering if I’ll be OK in shorts actually, but that’s what I have with unless I go home and run from there…haven’t fully decided yet. Most likely will run the trails near here though, change of scenery and all.

After the run, I need to get my room cleaned tonight since I have a friend coming over tomorrow and we are running to get our race packets for the 30K on Saturday and then renting a movie and she’s crashing at my place since we have to be in White Bear Lake (probably 30-45 minute drive from my place) by 8 am on Saturday…after the race we’ll do our typical latte and mocha after the race and maybe breakfast someplace, then going to the running store to use my coupon and maybe to the Trader Joe’s that just opened here (after everyone in CA that I know raving about it, I can’t wait to go!) to check it out. I might go to Lake Calhoun after that and relaxing a bit in my happy place but I might end up going to Mankato to hang out and have cocktails with friends…I haven’t been down in a while and it would be fun, but not sure I feel like going…I have nothing going on this weekend though and I do want to do something!! I to have two grill outs I could go to as well, but we’ll just have to see…I definitely should do something to avoid being home with the freak though!! Oops, I mean the roommate…

This picture is pretty much right from where I tend to go and relax...and sometimes run, rollerblade, walk, people watch etc...

To Accept or not to Accept...

On one positive note...129.4 this AM...sure, I know it was because of the run last night and not eating much, but I'm getting close!! 4.4 more pounds!!

Sleepy…well, looks like TriGals sleepless nights have come to me!! OK, so not really, I’ve been sleeping when I can, except for last night, but will get to that. I just haven’t had a chance to have much sleep cause of a hectic schedule.

Sunday night I was working and came home to have the roommate knock on my door at 10 pm to ask if we could talk, 1) the only time I close my door is when I’m going to sleep, 2) I don’t want to have a stressing talk at 10 pm at night when I want to sleep!! Went to bed and slept good, just not long enough and snoozed in and just ran instead of running and strength on Monday am but then had a nice easy afternoon run with a friend and went to a movie, that was fun.

Tuesday I had my interval training and ended up skipping morning run again…sigh…but I was exhausted feeling and had slept so good for the night. Had also e-mailed roommate on Monday morning and said 10 pm is not a good time to talk and that when my door is closed it means I’m going to bed…So last night I ran 11.25 of the planned 12, 7 x 1 miles planning 7:15 or so pace, but that was not to be. I had not eaten enough for the afternoon to fuel me (should’ve found and had some cake at 2!!) and it was warmer and more humid that I have run in so far this year…then the darn GPS was having trouble on some spots on the path, so frustrating to have to stop and try to get signal again. I was going to cut the workout back, but did do the 7 hard, averaged a 7:34 with the slowest being mile 4 at 7:51 (lots of loss of signal) and fastest being mile 3 at 7:13…It was an OK run, not the best, but I’ve had some really great ones. Tomorrow is my last really hard workout of the training session, 8-10 tempo miles, shooting for 8:00 but will adjust based on the temp and how my leg feels (it’s still tight). I’m running a 30K on Saturday which is just a training run with water stops, but also will be a PR even though I’m not racing it…I’ve never run a 30K before!! :)

Anyway, I was feeling quite exhausted in a pleasant way after the workout and was going to go to bed early since I work tonight and thought about heading there around 8:30 but wanted to watch just a bit more of Desperate Housewives…so I figured I’d stay up till 9…I ran back to my room for something and come out and roommate is turning on the light in the living room (I’d been sitting in the semi dark cause I’m in down mode working toward a sleepy feeling and why waste electricity, just cause he’s the dummy that sits with the blinds and curtains closed in his room and turns the light on on a sunny Saturday afternoon to work at his computer or whatever…) and asks me if we can talk, it’s almost 9, I’m settling in for sleepy time and had already told him that that is my routine at night and not a time to talk so I tell him no, he replies he wants to apologize and say a few things, and again I tell him no, I’m working on chilling and getting ready to go to bed in a few minutes, I don’t need a stressor, so then he goes on again about wanting to apologize (too little too late as I already told him I felt I deserved an apology for something he had pulled last week and when you have to tell someone, that kind of negates the sincerity in my mind) and again I say no, then he rants that “you should be able to accept apologies from people when they give them, that if you can’t accept apologies then you can’t forgive yourself…” and some other such nonsense…just what I need before bed…heart rate up of course. I told him again, no, I was watching my show and then going to bed, I did not want to talk at that time and sorry, if you are really apologetic about something, and someone requests that you leave them alone at that time, forcing an apology on them doesn’t seem that apologetic to me...Not to mention that apparently if he apologizes, whether I think he’s sincere or not, I’m supposed to accept it…well, when you ask someone to not do something and they continue to do it and apologize each time for it, that to me doesn’t make an apology…ughh…

Thankfully June 20th he's gone...wonder how I could get him out before then and I think I have a roommate lined up at least on a temp basis that is a good friend of mine and knows my roommate troubles. I think we’ll get along well and it will help both of us out!!

Oh, and so after all that, I didn’t get to sleep till after 11 and taking a Tylenol PM and now I have to be up till midnight tonight cause of work…another thing he has to apologize for…do I have to accept it???

Quick Update

Need to do at least a quick update. I haven’t posted a new entry since last week!! Weekend was so hectic though. I need to post my training schedules, am going to do that soon, probably on another site so I don’t have so many listings here, but will have a link to them. One of these days I will get past race reports posted too. I want all things in one spot!!

Anyway, last week I had scheduled 70 miles. I wanted to have a huge mileage week and then start into tapering, I’m 3 weeks from the marathon on Saturday, have a 30K race I’m doing and then the next week is 12, then 9 and then the race…hopefully I won’t go absolutely insane during it as I have usually wanted to cut back in those weeks, but now I’m so wanting to keep running…but I know I can’t. I only managed 54 of the planned 70 for this week. My tempo run I could tell right away was not going to feel good and I cut it back to 6.25 miles, my leg has still been bothering me and still no massage to make it feel better. That’s on the plan for next week though (no time this week I don’t think, although maybe Thursday after my run). Anyway, the intervals also didn’t happen and turned into a 6 mile tempo run, all I had time for at the time, but it was finally a good run at 8 minute pace, over some decent hills and not the pain that I had been having. I did 18 on Saturday that started off a bit sore but managed to keep feeling good and at a 9:25 pace, although actually was probably a bit faster as I lost signal a few times on my GPS (might have to wear my other watch and pause it to keep track of lost time when I do lose signal) then I had to take a quick break to take eggs out of the fridge for the angel food cake I was making when I got home (have to have them at room temp). Anyway, after my run I had to get cleaned up and dressed to get to my brother’s where I was throwing myself a party, he was hosting because he lives close to the bar that had the band I wanted to see. Was a fun night though, and I wasn’t too bad the next day, even though I thought I would be drinking a lot…now I’m done drinking till my marathon. And trying to eat much better, need to read that book I bought!!

Today I have my last really hard interval workout, planning for 7 x 1 with .5 recovery and 7:15 or so pace…that’s if leg cooperates. Thursday is a last hard longer tempo and then the race on Saturday…hopefully all goes well!!

Happy Belated B-day

Not a great week runningwise…this kind of sucks, but oh well. I’ll deal with it, I’m down to 4 weeks out come Sunday, not end of the world to not get the workouts in that I would’ve liked this week, I can work a bit hard yet next week and then be ready for the taper.

Yesterday was one of those days…I had a really great weight day, although all that I ate yesterday caught up to me and I was up a bit today (and yes, I realize I shouldn't weigh everyday, but there have been as many goods as bads), but still safely below 135 which was a stepping stone for so long, still would love to safely be below 130 and hold there, but I’m sitting at least at my college weight right now (having graduated 6 years ago) so that’s good. I had wanted to run 13 miles, intervals of 1 mile with half mile recovery, but there was just no time in the morning as I had company that was trying to convince me sleeping in is a good thing. I finally said nope, you can sleep, I'm going running...it's hard to explain to non-runners that running is better than pretty much everything else that can be suggested doing!! I had had a few drinks at midnight and got a ride home, so I ran to get my car. I was offered a ride to it, and had to explain that I don’t care that my car is 5 miles from me, I WANT to run and get it, literally…so I did…And had finally, finally, finally a nice run this week. Monday I started out on 12 tempo miles and the sugar I had eaten made me feel like crap and paces were off, and the hamstring was so tight I was worried I might be hurting myself continuing, so I cut it at 6.25 and a pace of about 8:45. Tuesday I got up for a run and made 5.75 miles as recovery, but it still was sore. Yesterday I started and it was only tight for a little bit, I managed to turn the 5 miles into 6 and temp ran at 8:15 pace, this was nice. Then I was going to go for a second run, but didn’t quite get that in before I was needed to go out to dinner…and even though I was out till midnight celebrating (I was told I look like Keri Russell of Felicity fame last night and apparently that has been said before, I just hadn’t ever heard it before, but hey, it was a nice compliment, guys think she’s hot) and then up at 5:30 to run, another 6 in the bag, 8:45 pace I think…not the best, but it could be worse. Haven’t eaten the best today and when tapering comes, I have a feeling weight is going to come…but tonight going to a friends for celebration number 2, grilling burgers, cupcakes from Byerly’s and then outlet shopping with a 2 ½ year old and 7 month old…this is called birth control!! My friends kids are sweet though…hope they are good tonight!! Tomorrow night I work (by choice as I switched so I could have Saturday off) and then Saturday will be celebration number 3…that sounds like a good amount of time to celebrate. I think after 30 you get more days cause it takes longer, you know more people, have to celebrate with them all right? And my sister is out of town so won’t celebrate with her till she gets back…so actually I think I get 2 ½ weeks this year!!

My present to myself, well, I’m getting myself an emerald ring as soon as I find one, but the big one was my entry to Marine Corp. I’m excited to get out there and see friends and run through DC in October…nothing like registration opening on the 17th…I knew it was fate that I was going to run that one when I saw that date!!

Monday's Weather

Another somewhat dreary day…I have 12 miles tempo pace (shooting for 8:15) tonight…I’m actually not looking forward to it because of the weather. I’m tired of the gray and gloom and chill, I want the nice sunny shorts weather back. It’s going to be like last year, we had a bit of nice weather, then it got cold, then it just came into summer humidity!! No adjustment time.

Anyway, I’ve managed to maintain the weight loss down to the 131 mark for about a week now with stability, hopefully that means I’ll at least l be below 130 before the marathon in 5 weeks…heck, it might be possible to get down to the actual 125 that I’d like to lock onto, the scale has shown me a few times under 130…just have to stick hard by avoiding the bad for me snacks that keep coming…like the Teddy Grahams and licorice and chocolate today. I have two days this week that might be bad, Wednesday is something I don’t know that I can avoid eating bad, planning lunch with a friend, might want to hit my favorite restaurant that I haven’t been to in so long for dinner and there might have to be some cake at some point…Saturday at least I’ll probably eat or not eat OK, but I’m running long that day and THEN drinking beer…but it’s the last real going out night that I’m going to have before the marathon. In fact I’ll probably abstain from all alcohol after Saturday until the 17th and have my victory beer after the run. I was going to go a month out, but Saturday just can’t be helped…I will probably drink way too much that night…have to drown the sorrows that come with getting old right?? At least I don't work on Wednesday and I can get a nice run in, and hopefully a much needed massage. And the sun might even be out...it is interval day that day too.

Alright, time to psych up for that run tonight. Also made a decision that the roommate does have to go, I just have to tell him...and I'm terrible, but since conflict stresses me so much, I'm going to send him an e-mail...terrible, terrible cop out, but I have to do what is comfortable for me. Tomorrow I will send it to him.

Great Run and a Conflict

A cloudy and gray weekend…it’d be nice if we had some nice weather, it’s taken a turn for the cool side too. Kind of sucks, but oh well. It was actually nice enough weather for the 22 miler I did yesterday. Last longest run of my training before taper, I’m doing 16-18 next weekend, then a 20 miler (in the form of a 30K will do a half mile or so warm up and cool down or maybe just run a bit harder, maybe 2nd half close to marathon pace, whatever that is, I was just going for sub-4 hour, no idea how sub-4 hour I can get). My pace for the 22 miler was 9:25 or so, I throw the or so cause I had a bathroom break and a few water breaks (had to stop to get it as it as a fountain, didn’t drink on the run the way I will at the marathon) and I had to stretch a few times as I had very, very tight hamstrings. I am trying to get a massage scheduled, but so far no call back from the person I called. Will have to try her again tomorrow, shooting to get in on Wednesday if not before, but that kind of sucks as I have two hard runs between now and then and now it’s so tight I don’t get it loosened up till further into the run, yesterday it was actually 11 miles in before I didn’t notice it, and it’s putting strain on other things…

Also dealing with other stressors in my light kind of sucks right now. I am so a non-confrontational kind of person and there is a situation I need to deal with and get out of my life and until I do, it’s going to continue to bother me…ughh…I’m just so passive-aggressive…for me confronting someone is the equivalent of the adrenaline and nervousness of every single race I’ve ever run all rolled together…and I was a varsity track runner for 6 years (lettered in 7th grade), at least 2 meets a week and 3 races a meet…that’s a lot of races…and a lot of adrenaline…I know it’s terrible, but I’m really considering e-mail to the person in question for the confrontation. Said person has just very much pushed me over the limit and this person has only been in my life for about a month now…really bad decision on my part!! It sucks because the person is in MY home and is showing a complete lack of respect for my things. Glass sitting on the wood of the magazine rack instead of the coasters which are obviously there, no shoes removed before walking through the house, using the hand towel I have out for wiping hands for washing face (even though there is room for said person to hang towel on towel rack for this use) making a mess with water all over mirror and counter when washing face even though I have already asked him to be more careful in doing it…I’m wiping up water and cleaning the mirror at least twice a day (because after discussion wiping the mirror with the hand towel apparently was person’s solution to the problem, forget that that just makes a smeary mess)…OK, maybe I’m being too anal, but it is my house and I like things just so, particularly when guests could come over at any time…guest ready is the term I have for keeping the place clean…

Time Passes Slowly Sometimes...

Alright…it’s a dreary Friday and I can’t wait to get out of here…nothing against my job, I’m just tired today and debating on getting a workout in or just going home and taking a quick nap before going to a friends place…I really want the nap, but should do the workout…I feel awful not having done one today, but reality is, tired as I’m feeling, I probably won’t get much out of it anyway, am I justifying?? Probably…ughh…I feel just icky today, too much sugary crap, OK, doing better this weekend!!! There is one problem in that I’m going to go out to see a band play tomorrow night and will be having a couple of beers…I’m only bringing a little bit of money with so I can’t have more than a couple, but still…I suppose I say it’s early celebration or non-celebration of that non-holiday that I sometimes try to ignore depending on how I feel that day. I hate getting older…:( I just am not at the place in my life that I wanted to be at by now. Anyway, 22 tomorrow, and rain forecast, 40% chance. Ah well, there was rain 2 weeks ago for my 20, and there might be rain the day of the race (hopefully not, temps in the 50s-60s and overcast is what I want!), considering I’ve had great weather for all 3 so far, I’m not expecting good conditions, so better train in the bad!!

A Rough One

Again, the tough ones make us stronger right? So I have been a bit tight lately, OK for a long time, it was for a long time my left side, kind of along the IT band and I’ve been meaning to get a massage but have yet to do that…It’s always been a bit tight, but fine when I’m running. Suddenly it shifted and now it’s the right side, in the problem area and I can’t seem to loosen it up. I’m stretching it a lot, and really once I’m running it loosens up and feels fine, but I always seem to start a bit stiffly…yesterday was no exception…

Normally Thursday is my tempo day and Tuesday is intervals, this week is messed up cause I realized Monday that I have to work tonight and I couldn’t do my workout tonight, so I had to switch the hard ones to Monday and Wednesday and I wasn’t mentally prepared for the intervals on Monday so I did tempo, which was OK but humid so a bit slower and intervals last night…Intervals were on a flat, limestone trail, old railroad track and I finally figured out how to recover my splits so I can even put them from this run and last intervals in finally!! Since last week I had done 5 x 1s with plan for 7:30-7:45 and managed 7:02 for the slowest and 6:51 for two of them, I thought doing 6 x 1 this week I should be able to hit 7:00 or so again, so goal was 7:00-7:15 or so…well, that didn’t quite workout. My overall run was 11 miles in 1:35, average of 8:41 pace, but that was because the recoveries were incredibly slow mainly because I had to stop and stretch almost each one. The problem came because I warmed up, then ran hard, then walked a bit, that tightened up my legs and it took the first part of the next repeat to get loose again. Times looked like this:

Mile 1 – 7:24
Mile 2 – 7:18
Mile 3 – 7:01
Mile 4 – 7:06
Mile 5 – 7:13
Mile 6 – 7:05

OK, not very consistent, but oh well. The run averaged 7:33 I think according to my Garmin for 8 miles, then I had the warm up mile and cool down mile and a half, plus some stretching between warmup and first interval.

While I was running I passed one guy, but he came up on me while I was trying to massage and stretching my hamstring and he said something to the effect of that sucks and I agreed and said normally I’m OK but just been tight lately. I passed him then on my interval and he said the weather is a bit cool, which yes, that I agree with and part of why I wasn’t staying warm, I was in shorts and short sleeved shirt and tights would've definitely helped me on this one. It was also a bit windy heading out, but had it at my back coming back thankfully…probably why the first one was so much slower than the rest. Not sure about mile 5 though.

Two more hard interval workouts (7 x 1 for the next two) before taper…

Mind Wanderings

Monday I ran for the first time this year in humidity. It was definitely high humidity too!! Well, we were on the verge of a rainstorm so I suppose that makes sense that it was higher humidity…the air was so damp that my ponytail ended up wet from swinging over my back…talk about disgusting with sweat!! Anyway, I survived it though, and managed to do it over my neighborhood hills at an 8:14 pace…a little slower than I wanted when I had been hoping another 8:00 or so pace, but I did 9 miles and it did feel good. I was definitely tired at the end though.

Yesterday was kind of a free for all day…Normally I have been working on Monday’s and Wednesday’s so I do morning workouts, short runs and strength training and then Tuesday and Thursday are easy in the morning and harder in the afternoon…this week that didn’t work out cause I work on Thursday, hence changing the tempo run to Monday afternoon and the Intervals to tonight. Tonight I’ll run on the flat trail that I ran on last night, intended an easy 4-5 miler, came out around 8:50 pace and had been following a nice 4 miler in the morning.

I went to see a movie last night, Syriana, which I had wanted to see for a long time. Still not sure what I thought of the movie, but man does it make you think!! A lot of very relevant for the time clips and blips and some so fitting and couldn’t have been known about while the movie was filming.

I’m still reading my boards, I haven’t posted now since I had the flame on the one, haven’t posted to either…and I do miss them to some degree at least. There have been posts I wanted to respond to, but held back…and there have been things I wanted to ask, but again I’ve held back. I don’t now what it is I do, or what it is I can change about me to not get people so up in arms. Why can’t I be one of the people that everyone likes?? It’s still such a bummer. Had an off board so called apology from the flamer, but it didn’t really feel right…and I responded back saying I was sorry for having offended, that it wasn’t my intent and that I would no longer post…no response to that one, kind of shows me more about the apology. I still don’t understand why I got the response I did anyway…it still hurts too. I’ve had interactions with this person before, and I know everyone else has no problems with this person…so why me…probably still mad at me that I didn’t want to go to Starbucks in Chicago and just asked if there was any other place we could go…that one didn’t go over well. Can’t change things, yet this year they are suggesting what other things should we do…Always me I guess…I think I’m about due for a good cry…almost did at work yesterday cause of something, and almost again at the movie, guess that’s how much it moved me…

Weekend Good, Monday Bad!!

Weekend was fun but really hectic. I left work early on Friday to drive to mom and dad’s, met up with them and went up for a drink and then went with my grandma and a cousin for dinner the restaurant in town. After dinner we went home and to bed. I was up and ran 14 miles averaging a 9:08 pace, then I rested a tiny bit, stretched and pushed out a hard mile in honor of Bannister, but only hit a 7:05…I was a bit tired. Then it was off visiting grandma’s (both of my parents mom’s live in my home town, makes things simple!!) and then we went to a benefit dinner for my old track coaches daughter…It was nice seeing him and catching up and him pointing out how I had refused over and over to run the 3200, I told him about my 5 x 1s at just under 7:00 pace last Tuesday and the mileage for the week and he was impressed. Sunday was more visiting and then heading home to get to work on time. I made it in and made it through my shift and then crashed. It was a good weekend though. Glad I was able to make it down there finally.

I’ve had to adjust my week, hopefully that won’t mess anything up but it might make it better. Normally I’ve been doing hard workouts on Tuesday and Thursday after work, but this week I work on Thursday so I’m doing it tonight and Wednesday instead. I decided 8-9 mile tempo tonight and then 6 x 1 intervals on Wednesday since it looks better weather-wise anyway. And I forgot my watches to be able to do the workouts where I wanted to tonight too…
The bubble burst today, I hate Mondays...I knew it was a bit early to be celebrating that victory over the scale on Friday, having run as much as I had the previous day, I was up to just over 134 today, not such a good weekend apparently. I knew I had a couple too many beers on Saturday, and I also ate way too much, was just feeling ravenous all day…anyway, I’m back on though, going to work really hard all week to not overeat!!

The Tough Ones Make Us Stronger

Last night I went for my tempo run for the week. Plan was to shoot for 8:15 or better per mile, kind of hoping for 8 minute miles and I had 11 miles planned. First one, warm up mile, was right on 8…oops. The rest were in the 8 minute range and I was running them over rolling hills. Heading back toward home I was at 8 miles about a mile and half from home so went through my little park near home to add on some more. By this point I was noticing my legs were feeling tired. I went through my mind thinking, OK, why am I hurting at this point…the hills, maybe, I have been running hills, but I don’t run this route all the time, and I haven’t been faithful with my lunges lately, so I vowed to do them when I got home. Anyway, as I continued on, still on target but slowing (ended with an average of 8:10 for 11.25 miles), it dawned on me, yes, I do do double runs on “hard” days, used to do the hard workout first though, but not more than 4 miles so it’s always been fine. Yesterday morning I did 5.25 just because I was feeling good and the easy pace was still a sub 9 pace…OK, that might be the reason my legs hurt, oh, and also the fact that I did 5 x 1s at 7 minute pace on Tuesday too...hmmm. I figure 16.5 miles on them, with 11.25 at a good pace, I’m doing well. I ache a bit today and my morning run was just over 9 minutes which is slower than it has been lately. But that’s good. Sore tired legs on a long run tomorrow (only 14) is good to keep marathon conditions going. This is the last cycle before the marathon and I need to be on target. 5 ½ more weeks.

And I was thrilled to step on the scale this morning and I am now at my “soft goal”…which was below 130…I was at 129.8!!!! I’d really like to hit 125 before the marathon, and I think more and more that that could be possible. I just have to be really careful with my eating for the next month. But it is a happy day.

Cutting Corners

People do it all the time...whatever way they can get ahead, cheating on their taxes, lying about a project they did, using cheap parts and charging like you used good parts...and you are doing a disservice not only to yourself, but a lot of other people in instances like that. But what about in running?

An interesting question was posed today on a board I read…If you saw someone taking a shortcut in a marathon would you report them and/or talk to the person? This one kind of tears me…I think of the scandal last year at the Marine Corp Marathon with the group from Canada that had some of their runners cut a couple of miles off so they could be sure to make the bridge cut off and be able to "finish the marathon". The excuse was if they didn't do that, some of their runners wouldn't make the cut off time and would be discouraged, OK, so then why did you pick this marathon to do, why not do one that allows slower people time enough to finish? This is a charity group, they raise money and from what I’ve read about it, they encourage women to get off the couch and out the door and do something good for themselves. OK, that’s great, awesome in fact, that you are getting people out to do something like that…and the goal is to do it in a year. OK, a bit tough, but still honestly doable with the right training…this charity group should pick a marathon that has a less strict time limit and allow the women to actually do the full marathon and claim the real victory no matter how long it takes them…some courses are even open for 8 hours!! They were given medals for something they did not complete. The told people they had run a marathon and they had not run the marathon 26.2 distance. Who did it hurt? Mainly them. They were the ones claiming false victory, but to some degree it does tarnish the sport.

In answer to the question, when it isn't someone that is going to win, then yes really it’s only cheating themselves and it’s something they have to live with. If I could report it, or somehow let someone know, I probably would, and it sucks that there are people out there that would do that as I think of runner’s as some of the greatest people in the world, and it sucks that even in our sub-group of the population that there are people like that. And why do it? Does it give you great feel saying hey, I ran a marathon when you know that you only ran 24 miles? What is the point?? My one biggest problem I think that would come from it though would be if someone cut corners and made it to Boston that way. Again, hurting themselves most, but by doing that they are doing a disservice to the sport that I have had the love/hate relationship with for so much of my life, but has now almost become an obsession…

Spring...My Favorite Time of Year

How do you bottle a feeling?? If I could bottle the way I’m feeling right now, I could make a mint…much better than any of the mood altering drugs out there…Runner’s High…And spring…mixed together…is there a more heady combination???

I love spring. It’s my favorite time of year. A time of rebirth…I don’t think of January first so much as the beginning of the year, well, I do, but not in the same way as I look at spring. Spring is a new beginning in a much different way. I see new possibilities, everything seems different. While some complain of the rain, I embrace it, it brings the flowers after all…and the scents in the air, wow, tonight was the sweetest of all perfumes…everything smelled so wonderful. I’m truly blessed to not be plagued by spring allergies because nothing smells better to me than that mix of flowering trees in early spring when you’re out on a run.

Today my workout was speed. I am on another new cycle…last week was rest, so this week my body is ready, I moved up to intervals of 1 mile. The goal was 4 or 5 x 1 mile repeats with ½ mile recovery at a 7:30-7:45 pace on the miles. I am a freak too. I wore my GPS and set it for intervals, but I also wanted a running time, so I wore my Timex too…I ran out to where I knew a mile was, then turned and hit a hard pace toward the path I was going to run around for my repeats…it was slightly downhill for the first part, but mostly flat around the half mile path I used for the run…first mile was 6:53…oops…a bit faster than intended, but there was a downhill. Recovery was about 9 minute pace. Second interval was around 7:05 or so, I can’t quite remember the pace and can’t seem to recover it on my GPS, but it was probably about that. Third one I hit again on a downhill as I went off the path for a bit…this one was around 6:57 or so…Fourth right around or just under 7 and last one was 6:51, again completely on the flat…OK…guess I was underestimating my time…I was feeling so good too that instead of the 1 mile cool down I went 2 miles to finish out a 10 mile for the day…Overall pace was around 8:20 I think for the whole run…not bad. And I feel really good…

It's Official

I sent in my registration for Marathon to Marathon today. Starts in Storm Lake, IA and finishes in Marathon, IA...same day as Grandma's, June 17, only a 6 am start...ughh...

My year started off weird. I knew I wanted to run some bigger race, just wasn’t sure what. Half of full?? A couple of halves?? There was the option of the Country Music Marathon (of which I’m not a fan of country, but I was all set to go for it) and considered the Flying Pig cause I have friends that live near Cincinnati and have wanted to do it since I first heard the name…I was going to to possibly do the full, but changed my mind to the half for Arizona Rock n Roll, then a friend had to back out cause of back pain and instead I just went to Arizona for a much needed vacation a little later. That still left me thinking…should I do CMM (couldn’t afford it after my trip to AZ) should I consider Flying Pig (really thought about surprising people and showing up for the half since I had miles to fly free AND friends to stay with) but then Disney came up and I lack some vacation time…so that put me back at the question of what I was doing…although a lot of this was more recent.

Back in January I also thought long ad hard about Grandma’s. A friend was running it and had a place to stay, I could crash with her…it’s the 30th anniversary, I could’ve done it since it was my first on my 30th, but I also just hate repeating…I’m not one to do the same course over and over, I like trying new things…then I found Marathon to Marathon, tiny race through corn fields, I’ll definitely need music for this one, but it ends in Marathon. If I can’t do the Greek marathon, maybe I can do one that at least has a name connection!! So that has been on my mind for a long time now. I never quite fully committed myself though. After I registered for Disney, I mentioned to my grandma she should come out for that and see family, she knew I was looking at the marathon in Iowa though and since it’s close to home, it’s easy for her to get to, and she was hoping she’d see me run there. As soon as I read grandma's letter mentioning that, it sealed the deal. M2M it is. Then I had the breakthrough 20 miler that definitely said yes, I can have a good marathon, that was the date I was going to register, and it slipped my mind…but the training has been going so well, so much better than anything I ever imagined…So today (meant to send it yesterday but missed mail pickup) I officially sent my registration form in. It’s set. We have camping reservations, mom and dad will be bringing their fifth wheel, I might set up my tent, we’ll see. It should be fun…I actually looked and the person that won in my age group last year ran a time that this year might even be on track to what I’m running, an advantage to running such a small race?? Not as many fast people?? Could I maybe place well?? Not something I'm really thinking about, I just want to get my time goals, but hey, one can dream right? I also have friends coming up from Missouri to run as well, so that will be really fun.

Then there is a town celebration after, hopefully we’ll end up hanging out for it a bit, I’d like to have some fun after my labors. Maybe we should camp for two nights and plan on partying it up at the town celebration!! I have yet to really do that after a marathon….