MCM

Race morning I got up at 5:20, with the plan being to catch a metro down to the Pentagon stop and walk to the runner’s village, use the potties and then to the start line. I had my usual pre-race breakfast and carried a banana and bagel along for later since I knew I was eating much earlier than normal. I had slept really good, which actually scared me as normally before a race I’m awake every hour and this time that wasn’t the case. Also, due to the start temps of 40s and highs of 60s with winds from 10-20, I opted for my tights and a long sleeved tight fitting but light weight shirt with a short sleeved one for more warmth over the top. I don’t like to be cold and just didn’t want to chance anything. If the wind hadn’t come up, I would’ve regretted wearing that much, but since it did, I was so glad I had on what I did as I would’ve been quite cold. I had a pair of pants I had made to keep warm before as well, they were cheapies I had bought at a second hand store and cut in half and stuck Velcro to, to make pull apart pants for about $4 (and two cuts to my fingers) and they worked beautifully. Connie and I made it to runner’s village about an hour before the start and I went through the potty line twice and figured that should be good, since I had also gone twice at her place, but of course get to the start line and feel like I need to go again, this I expected to go away, but it was always kind of there (enough that I almost used the bushes along the Potomac that many of the guys were using between miles 4 and 5) The start had a 10 minute delay (I was in the scarlet wave, the gold wave had a delay too because of a heart attack, and then there was the man that died at mile 17, as has been stated though, that’s the best way for a runner to go and I know that’s how I would choose, of course years and years from now) but we were off with the guns fired and lots of excitement. It was a very packed start, it took me just over 2 minutes to hit the start line and I was running in a massive pack, unfortunately having to dodge a lot more than I would’ve liked just to have running room. The first 2 miles are shown to be uphill, and it looks like a steady grade, but it was actually an up, then a down then a steeper up but then a really steep down for the next mile or two. This time was pretty uneventful and I didn’t really notice much, but on the downhill was able to pick out the 3:50 pace group a bit ahead of me and I slowly started to make a move to catch them, which I did in the first 4 miles I think. Then I found the 3:40 group and started working my way up on them. At about mile 5 ½ we had seen the lead runners coming back on the out and back we were heading into and that was kind of cool and I noted that when I got back out it would be mile 9 and at mile 10 I’d see my friend Connie, or hope to at least. This section was uneventful except for being so packed and kind of energy draining. I caught the 3:40 group right around mile 8 and heard they were on 8:24, perfect pace and wanted to stay with them for a bit. I knew I was about 2 minutes ahead of 3:40 pace, and I had been training to run a 3:35, so I was doing well, and should’ve still had something in me for the time ahead. I got a bit behind them on one of the packed water stops, but was still with them and Mile 10 came up and I knew as packed as it was finding Connie would be impossible but then I heard my name yelled out and turned to catch a glimpse of her, that is the only time I saw her on the course though. At the next water stop, sometime after 11 I realized I had not had any Powerade yet, and I’m used to taking it with water every few miles. I had had some sport beans, although had lost one bag of them and a gel, but without the Powerade I was feeling a bit off. It had just been so hard to get anything at the water stops, they were pretty packed together and lots of people that didn’t seem to know how to use them so I was kind of avoiding them a bit, except to get the water which was more toward the end. Anyway, I moved a bit ahead of the pace group on this stretch we were heading up to the Capital and I could see the stream heading down the otherside of the mall and the stream ahead of me. I remembered seeing the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington monument, but I didn’t even notice the capital on the way up and down the mall (although that’s all I had seen for the past couple of days prior when driving). On the back side, heading up to mile 13, the pace group caught back up with me and I heard the pace leader telling people to stack up as we were heading into a strong headwind here and it was at mile 13 that I realized it wasn’t my day. I’ve told people that “it just wasn’t there” and I know that other runner’s know what that means. I hadn’t felt comfortable with things yet that day and the halfway point was just leaving me with thoughts of so much time left yet to run. I hit the half with about 2 minutes in the bank, and slowly watched that dwindle away…My IT band has been really tight for the past couple of months. Not sore in the way your knee hurts from it, but just tight on both sides of the knee cap and the whole muscle just ached. I kept moving and just ticking off miles as there was no way I was going to quit. I even attempted to keep the 3:40 pace group with me, they were not that far ahead at the 15 mile point, but they kept moving further away. At mile 16 or 17 I had decided 5 was a good number to retire on…I’d finish this one in under 4 and go out on that, and stick to shorter races…then I started thinking would Grandma’s be a good race for a BQ, and I know there is a breast cancer one that I will want to run in my aunt Elaine’s memory in 2008, but that might just be for “fun”, then I reminded myself no thoughts on another marathon until you are finished and beyond the one you are in…so I kept on. By mile 16 I took some Vitamin I and stretched my IT band as much as I could, I had walked through it to take the Vitamin I, there were three water stops I walked through, just because I needed the water, there was wind that was feeling so drying and to get enough sometimes you had to take it slower to make sure you got what you needed. At mile 17 I was 2 minutes over my BQ goal, so I stopped for the port-a-potty that was open and just kept moving forward, left, right, repeat…So heading up to the 14th street bridge and mile 20 I decided to have fun and played with the crowd a little waving my arms for more cheers along with a few other runners, waved at cars going by honking the other direction, thought about flirting with some of the cute marines manning the water/powerade tables and also decided I would need hugs at the end…at mile 22 there was a Target tunnel to run through and I thought of my sister who works for them. We came through around to the Pentagon again and mile 24 and I am pretty sure we were on the side the plane hit, so I had a thought for those that died on 9/11…I also was running with my yellow Kelsey ribbon on my shirt, but this one also took on meaning as the yellow ribbon for the soldiers, and I had my cousin’s and Letty’s sons names written on my bib. I came around another overpass and down to a water stop at mile 25 and finally the home stretch…I kept struggling on and looked up to see Arlington cemetery, first time I had seen it since I was 17 and in high school and it made me feel very teary eyed…that and the Pentagon are really the only things that stand out for things I noticed of the monuments on the run interestingly enough…and nothing like picking the most emotional ones to see and think about. I finally started hitting heavier crowds and missed the 26 mile mark but saw the hill and knew I was close…I dug in and started climbing, my stomach got nauseated, but that passed quickly and two more curves and finally the finish line…I got my medal and a hug from a cute marine, collected one more from one of the guys handing out the blankets, then got a picture by the memorial….and stood and looked at it for a while…then off to find my friend, it took a long time to get through the crowd, but somehow we did manage to connect…I bought my finisher’s shirt (which was just one more in the huge amount of money I spent on running things, there were way too many good deals at the expo!!) and we headed to the metro, which was packed so instead headed for a walk to Georgetown, back over one of the bridges I had run over and about 2 miles later finally got a cab back to Connie’s. I talk to a few people after the race, well my mom and my roommate, I was disappointed enough that I didn’t make too many calls right away.

I would have to say this is the toughest marathon I have run to date. Not that the course was that tough (although it was a bit hillier than I had thought, it wasn’t that bad, I do run over hills similar to it at home, but I don’t think I did enough downhill running to cover as much downhill as there was) but it just wasn’t there that day. Anyway, I didn’t want anything to really eat right away, I’m not one to be able to eat much after a long run, it takes me a long time to get an urge to eat. We did go for dinner quite a bit later though for a really good burger and fries (home cut fries) and a couple of drinks. Was up and off for breakfast and then a flight home yesterday and I collapsed into bed by 8:30 and slept hard through the night. I am still feeling really sore today. This is the longest that I’ve felt this sore too. Tomorrow I will attempt a run, I was going to cross train today, but I think I’m going to leave that till tomorrow too. Might soak in a bath when I get home and use the marathon fizz that a friend brought me from Lush (she was in Canada and it’s a really awesome bath store up there and other places around the world, but not yet here!!). The verdict is still out on another marathon or not…For right now, I’m going to relax, go back to just running for fun, I’m at 1775 miles for the year right now, I’d like to run 2006 for this year, yes, I know, that’s just silly, but I know you guys will also appreciate the number for what it is…beyond that, no goals, maybe a fun 5K in December and next race is the “I’m Thankful Four” 4 miler on Turkey Day…but nothing else will be decided till January…then well, we’ll see. I’m bummed, but I knew early enough in the race that it wasn’t there, and I know I felt that my training wasn’t quite there either, I was having issues with it and had been ever since June after my great training and race then, I had a lot of after race depression after that one, but this time I’m just feeling relief that it’s done and I can just relax now…I think one hard marathon a year is all my body can take, the 2nd one has to be more for fun, and I think I do better with a spring one. But I’m not going to use any excuses for missing my goal time. I put in training, I know what I did miss and can correct that if there’s a next time, but it just wasn’t there, but I did have a fun trip and got to see friends and have an enjoyable visit.

Official Chip time: 3:55:39, 8:59 pace, 3542/20932 overall, 749/8133 for female and 128/1397 for my age group. I got home to my I’m Thankful Four registration form and my Disney finisher’s certificate, so that helped too. So far I’m not feeling the extreme disappointment that I could’ve, it’s probably because I realized early enough in the race that I was off, but I’m still waiting for it to hit…

Midwest Airlines and DC Weekend

I have to say, Midwest Airlines is a great airline to fly. Even with that layover thing I didn’t know about, it was a wonderful airline to fly and I will be attempting to use them more often. Not only are they out of the smaller terminal at the airport so easier to get in and out of, it’s a very nice airline. On the flight out I had a connection through Milwaukee, their hub, and on the flight from Minneapolis to Milwaukee, about an hour gate to gate, they served fresh baked cookies for a snack!! Two gooey chocolate chip cookies…so yummy!! Then on the flight from Milwaukee to DC they served cookies again, along with a pretzel snack and your typical option of beverages. The seats were only 2 to a row on a 727 size I believe and they are nice big seats!! Almost as big as some of the first class flights on regular airlines!! On the way back we got cookies again, both legs, (so worth having two legs unless you are on a diet!!) and on the flight into Milwaukee the flight attendant on giving landing instructions also congratulated all the marathoners they had on board and everyone applauded us…so it was very cool and a wonderful experience flying. It was also easy in and out of DC National where my friend was just down the road shopping when I got in…my bags came off the plane really easily and I was out the door and in her car about 5 minutes later. We headed to her place in Northwest DC and decided to go for dinner at a little Italian Café not far from her place. We walked there and had a good dinner, then back to her place to sleep, where she had given me her bed so I could be sure to get a good nights sleep for the days up to my race which was very nice of her. My friend Connie, that I was visiting, is a friend I’ve known since college, probably about 1995 is when I met her as she was in her undergrad in political science with plans for her master’s and PhD to follow. She had even told me if after those two she didn’t have a job she’d get her law degree!! Anyway, she moved on to Indiana after her BS and then to DC for her PhD which she is in the process of getting still after a few setbacks. Connie is another like my friend Leesa that I can not have talked to for a long time, but we get together and catch up and it’s not like we’ve been apart. I love the hospitality she gave me (my last trip I was there for 10 days and she was fine with that too!!) and she has two fun kitties to play with now too.

Friday she had to go into the office for a bit, but I went with and from there we went to the race expo where I spent WAY too much money but I found some spectacular deals that I just could not pass up. Nice heavy weight pants, 2 long sleeved, wicking, under tops and shorts for $90 (the pants themselves were normally $80) I held myself off after that and avoided spending all the more that I could’ve and saved so I could get a finisher’s shirt (the competitors shirt was given out but you had to buy a finisher’s one at the finish line). Friday night we ended up just watching a movie and snacking. Saturday we went to a little market area where we got a good deal on some cool photos of the DC area and met some friends of mine for lunch who were also in town for the race. Then we relaxed again that evening, I got my stuff together and started mentally preparing myself for race day. It was predicted for windy conditions, a wind storm with gusts up to 60 MPH had been in effect on Saturday. Thankfully Sunday dawned with the storms gone, but still wind that came up later in the 10-20 MPH which was a bit of a factor, but not terrible. So I ran the race and after the race we met up with a friend of my friend’s and a friend of his and went out for a couple of drinks and food, then it was back to Connie’s to relax and to sleep again, I was exhausted as was she as she is maybe coming down with something. The next day we went for a late breakfast at IHOP and then it was off to the airport for my flight back. Not nearly enough time in some degrees but a good time. Also was exposed to some fantastic chocolate at a chocolate place in Union Station…and we had Canolli chips and dip for dessert Friday and Saturday…yummy.

That was the weekend!! OK, yes, I know, some of you are waiting for the race report, I’m typing this part up and will type up the race as best I can over the rest of the day. I have a lot of things I’m still contemplating and formulating to be sure I capture everything in it. Unfortunately I didn’t make my goal, but I did run what I know to a lot of people would be a very happy race time for them (in fact my roommate said she would retire and have her shoes bronzed if she could run under 4 hours, which the time was).

6306

I sit in contemplation as I wrap up a few final things at work and plan to head out of the office no later than 10:45 to get home, change to traveling clothes, and catch my ride to the airport. I’ve checked my flight status and found one surprise though. My itinerary had it listed Minneapolis leave 1:05 arrive DC 6:20, coming back I leave at 3:00 and arrive in Milwaukee at 3:55, then flight from Milwaukee 4:20 arrive in Minneapolis 5:30…I just checked the flight status and it has me leaving Minneapolis 1:05, arrive Milwaukee 2:10, flight from Milwaukee 3:35 arrive in DC at 6:20…WTF?? When I booked it, it showed direct on the way there (at least the way I read it, and it showed the connection on the way back) way and connection on the way back, how the hell did I suddenly have an hour and a half layover in Milwaukee? I mean I’m sure I still would’ve booked this flight anyway, but talk about misleading on the booking.

OK, that’s my little freak out. Not a big deal, but the change in planes gives chance to luggage being lost which wasn’t a worry before. I still am carrying my shoes and basic running clothes in my carry on, but my carry on is small, it doesn’t have room for ALL of my running stuff I want to bring, so I’d potentially have to buy some things if my luggage gets lost. Alright, that bit of freak out is over now too. I’m going to run Sunday, I’m going to relax, be calm and I’m going to find that feeling I had in the 3:28:xx dream a week ago. I’m ready, I’m prepared, my training has me set to run at least a 3:35, maybe even better so there is nothing to worry about. If the weather sucks, it sucks and there is nothing I can do about it. The chances we take in signing up for any outdoor event. If I don't get my BQ there due to weather (the only acceptible excuse) I have my back up to still be able to run it on 08. I can run Grandma's again. It's a flat, fast course that is perfect for a BQ, so the pressure can be lightened. It just means I don't have the 07 option of Boston, but that doens't matter...besides, not making any decisions on anything till Sunday at 12:30 anyway!!

I was 30 when I ran my first marathon…interesting that in 6306 the first thing I noticed is the 30 in the middle. My first marathon I ran as 668, 2 sixes, hmm, is there meaning? Grandma's was not a stellar performance, but I ran and completed it and that start is what brought me to this point in the first place. When I finished that first one, the idea of one day running in sub-4 after my finish (4:48) wasn’t even in my thoughts, but now I’ve done that, and regardless, I’ll do that again on Sunday. Running 10 minute miles was maybe an easy run, 9 minutes were pushing it…now 9 minutes or even a little faster are easy and 8 minutes are the push, or even 7 minutes…that’s my focus. My reminder. And the fact that on October 29th, I have the opportunity to exercise some demons and bad memories from that date…It wasn’t something I thought about until last night, the realization of what that date really was and what it can mean for me to meet my goal on that day.

Madonna was awesome. She wants me to stop by and/or call and leave her a message to let her know how I finished. She does remember me from June when I was in for the work then. She loosened up my IT Band. She found a knot I didn’t even know I had in my right calf. She worked out the stiffness I had in my upper shoulders, although didn’t have as much time for that as she would’ve liked. She worked my quads. My lower body is ready, my upper body feels good and with the stretches she gave me to do, I’ll feel good. I’m bringing my stick with me. I can ease and stretch the muscles more between now and Sunday. I guess I’m as ready as I’m going to be. I took my last little jaunt this morning too. Just an easy 2 miles, I don’t know that I’ll have time tomorrow and I didn’t want to go 3 days without running…I’ll do fun things tomorrow and Saturday will be a lot of sitting, drinking water, Powerade and resting. I’m ready…and here’s hoping 6306 will be good luck.

A Positive Request

OK, one more message before I head out to get my massage…

Reading Material for the Plane:

Flags of our Fathers – inspiration for this particular race
Runner’s World – Nov, little bit I haven’t finished yet
Running Times – Oct that I haven’t finished
Running Times – Nov that I picked up for the flight
Ultramarathon Man - Dean Kananzes, the true nut!! Marathons are nothing!!
Marathon & Beyond – Boston Issue, for flight back if that all important happens
Marathon & Beyond – Grandma’s Issue, it was my first

One request to all those reading, please, please, please thing positive thoughts and help send positive energy my way. Particularly on Sunday if you have a thought about the race going on…I’m going to need every little bit to meet some goals and make my hopes come true!! I need to block out the negative!!

Trip Reminders and More Taper Stupidity!!

OK, someone slap me…I wanted to post this yesterday but ran out of time at work and at home as it was a busy day. I wanted to run yesterday, 4.5 miles and I was going on the treadmill at lunch just to be easy. Got down to the locker rooms and there were people on both treadmills, I didn’t want to wait and come back later, so I figured OK, I’ll use the elliptical till one of the treadmills opens up. It’s similar to running and I’ll just transfer whatever distance I make and cut that down from the mill…Went in to change and had everything but socks…oops, I remember that I had needed to throw them in and forgot. Well, I REALLY needed to run as I had a top that I had somehow not worn all summer even though I bought it ages ago and it goes really well with the race ready shorts I want to wear, so I wanted to wear it (see, don’t try anything new on race day!) and try it out and have time to wash it and let it dry before I leave tomorrow. So I decided, I’ve run barefoot in shoes before, not a big deal. I went out and .25 on the elliptical and the mill freed up so I switched. It felt way too easy. I sent it for just under 9 minute pace at 6.7 miles per hour, left the incline at 1% and things were good, except I could sense blisters maybe starting…well, I cut the run to 3.25 on the mill instead of the 4.5 miles I had wanted to do and went and changed, sure enough, the start of some blisters. Good thing I stopped when I did, too bad I had started at all!! It wasn’t too bad tempwise after work, wish I had run after instead but I had thought my roommate and I were going to go out for a burger for her birthday but ended up she had gotten things going late and hadn’t gotten her run so instead we met later for a drink and appetizer (she drank a drink, I had water) and chatted a bit. While she had been gone I had taken a nap instead of finishing up my packing, so I get to do more of that tonight. I have no clue what to bring!! Sigh…

I should be able to get one more post in tomorrow (and heck, maybe I’ll get another in later today even as I think of things I need to remind myself of) but this is how the next few hours and days are going to go down.

Work, of course I have to work today yet and tomorrow morning, but I’ll leave today around 4 and tomorrow around 11
I’m going to run to B&N at lunch and pick up Flags of Our Fathers. I was contemplating getting it to read on the plane (not that I don’t already have a ton of things to read anyway) for inspiration. Figure this is the right marathon for that book and how often does that happen?
I’m seeing Madonna today!! Not the pop star and not the mother of Jesus, but the wonderful massage therapist that I saw prior to my last marathon…the one who loosened up my IT Band so well that it felt like a new leg, oh yes…and I’m bringing my stick along to keep it loose!!
I need to finish my packing tonight. I need to print my check list to be sure I have everything, most things are already in the suitcase, but will bring just a few more things in case of different conditions and/or who knows what else might happen. But I do have one set of clothes and my shoes in my carry on, along with sport beans and fruit bars
From now till the marathon I will not be without a water and/or Gatorade/Powerade near me. I have my 34 oz work mug full of ice and water and I filled two other bottles so I can refill without having to make the trip to the café too much today.
I’m going to see Connie in just over 24 hours now…my flight is leaving Minneapolis at 1:05 tomorrow and I arrive in DC around 6:20 pm…I cannot wait to be out of here.
I have my confirmation for bib pickup, my itinerary and training schedule all in my folder with any other things I need…I’ll probably print a bunch more from the website too and just have it to look over if I want to.
I have my Garmin charged, I’m going to load my MP3 (although I don’t know that I’ll use it, every little bit that I don’t have to carry with me might help!!) and my digital camera battery is charged. Maybe I should bring my film camera too…
My roommate is giving me a ride to the airport, we are meeting at home at 11 to go tomorrow, I should be there no later than 11:30 and flight at 1:05 gives me time to buy water, Gatorade and get a snack of hopefully something somewhat healthy and good carbs before I fly
I have to remember to trust my training and listen to what Kurt and Ginger Breadman have stated to my last post, work will be forgotten the second I set foot in the airport. My focus is going to be seeing my friend and catching up with her, seeing a few friends from running group and one that is a work person but we won’t talk shop, and having a great performance…visualization and lots of rest and something good to celebrate at the Irish pub we will be hitting after the run!! And nope, no scissors will be used by me till after Sunday!!
Oh, one more purchase, Airborne, I’m not taking any chances getting sick while flying out to DC!! I have a friend that got sick prior to Chicago and had to stop at the halfway point, he made a gallant effort up to that point and if not for a bad flu/cold he’d have met his goal…

Anything else I’ll post later, and like I said, probably one more tomorrow…

Dangers of the Taper

OK, so no, you shouldn’t do anything new or dangerous during taper, meaning no handling sharp objects, no running over trails and/or places that are unfamiliar, no eating something new and exotic, no clipping toenails a couple of days before the race, well you get the picture. I stupidly broke one of those rules yesterday and was using scissors. See I got this great idea to go to a 2nd hand store and buy some cheap pants and/or shirts that I can “throw away” at the race, during the run and be comfortable at the start and not loose good things…I also got the great idea that hey, I am not going to want to stop to take off the pants (shirt easy to take off on the run, but pants…a little harder…so I got the idea I could cut them apart and Velcro them back together…it is really a great idea and I’m glad I thought of it, but with a cut to my finger and a slice on the thumb, my hands might not agree, at least it didn’t do anything to my feet!! I should be pretty safe for the rest of the week too. Tonight I’m working, tomorrow night I have a friends birthday and we are just going to get something to eat, Wednesday I have no plans other than just finishing my packing and making sure I have everything I need!! Thursday I work half a day and then I fly out to DC so that should cover me…unless I do something stupid at the expo or on the easy run I have hopefully going on on Friday…or hopefully I don’t do anything stupid at the party that I’m going to for a little bit on Saturday night. Last time I was in DC I had a LOT of fun at the parties we went to, but since I won’t be drinking, I should be OK!! We just did the e-mail update and Connie and I are probably going for dinner or what not and meeting up with a friend of mine that is going to be in DC this week too. Friday I’m going to the expo and hopefully not spending TOO much money. Saturday is relaxing and catching up more, then pasta, a little socializing and then to bed by 11 or so (thankfully we have that extra hour due to the clocks being set back!!) and then up and running my race…and after apparently there is an Irish Pub with a buffet that we can take just a couple of metro stops and get to after the run on Sunday…I just said I will need much barley beverage after to hopefully celebrate my new PR…we won’t talk about a time right now. Anyway, I best get a few more things done and then will be heading off to work my last shift for at least a week…still debating on that quitting or not…sigh...unfortunately the one running store I checked with is not hiring right now…

Impressions from Chicago

I was following the Chicago marathon yesterday, and though my dial up is so slow at home and I was having issues getting to the site, I managed to follow up on people I knew that were running it thanks to another friend following and posting to one of my on-line running groups and then I did talk to one of my friends upon her finish via a phone call...I also managed to finally get onto the site and check on a few others that I knew were running...And it gave me mixed feelings. I have one friend that was wanting to qualify for Boston, but she started to adjust her goal and was shooting for about a 3:25 and she ran a 3:36. She got her BQ and that's awesome, but I know the slower time will probably have her a bit bummed, but it also scares me. I saw her training and the results on some of her prep races and she was doing awesome, and she didn't quite get her time goal. I still think she did fabulously, especially considering the fact that it was so cold in Chicago. But if her training got her the BQ but not the other time goal, I don't know how my training can possibly get me the 3:35 that I was shooting for. I have another friend that was shooting to break 3 hours and he ran a 3:06, which I don't believe is a PR for him, and I have a feeling, knowing him, he might be a bit disappointed by that, and I also know he had fears and worries about his marathon training this time around. This was his third marathon this year as well, and honestly, I think he did fantastically, but it does again have me worried. He was freaking about his training as much as me and didn't quite get his goal, so how can I possibly get mine? Now I have another friend that was shooting for a PR, but wasn't sure how he would do, he had done the training but he was out to have a good run...well, he ran a PR and then some. I believe he wanted to run a 3:20 or better and he ran 3:18 or something like that, so he did fantastically. It just shows all conditions and changes and things can affect everyone different and you just never know...although it doesn't necessarily help me one way or the other in my feelings. My biggest detriment to my run is going to be myself. My mental self that is. When I ran track, yes, I was running for myself, but I ran a lot of relays, you were running for other people and it required a lot of intensity, intensity that I didn't necessarily always have in comparison to the others, funny thing is I bet now I could outrun any of the girls that were faster than me, except one...but I battled myself and had a partial giving up. I have to somehow get past that on Sunday. The thing I have never put in print, or verbalized to anyone about my Marathon to Marathon is the fact that I defeated myself. I was on Boston pace. That wasn't the plan, I wanted to break 4 hours, however, I decided to see how I felt at 3 miles and bump up the pace if I felt good...and I felt good so I bumped up the pace. I made up the time I was down and up to mile 20 I was on Boston pace, but I started to hurt at mile 20 and I didn't want to keep it up. Six miles just seemed way too long and I decided I couldn't keep the pace up for that distance, so I started walking through the water stops AND I took a bathroom break. The bathroom break wasn't 100% necessary, I could've gone another hour without it, but I think I took it to add more time to the over BQ time I was going to be. If I had missed by only a minute or so, I would've probably been hitting myself so much for that, but I added another 30 seconds with that stop, and came in 1:55 over what I would need. I guess it was enough to make me not worry so much about the fact that I missed it. But the honest truth is, there is a chance I could've done it. I just talked myself out of it and I'm worried that I could do the same thing to myself on Sunday. I just don't seem to have the drive and desire to do things always to the best of my ability anymore and I don't know what's wrong and/or what changed in me to bring this on, but it's not a good thing.

Random Tapering Thoughts

I have my checklist to go by for what I need for the marathon, but I'm thinking ahead to the fact that it’s maybe going to be colder than I like (I’m one of the weird ones that would be fine running 26.2 miles in 70 degrees as long as the humidity was low, although I’d say a start of mid 50s with highs in the mid 60s, very low humidity and no wind and cloudy would be my ideal if I could order up my weather) at the start and I plan on buying a paint suit from Home Depot or Lowe’s this weekend for about $5 from what I’ve been hearing, to wear till just before the gun goes and whip off before starting to run. I bought some of that type of stuff for Chicago last year, at the expo, for $7 a piece for the top and bottom…kind of dumb…but it kept me warm up till time to start running, particularly since you kind of have to be there early. I never think ahead for throw away clothes. I should be paying more attention and buying stuff when it’s really cheap and just having it stored away for races, but I don’t always think about things like that when I’m shopping. I tend to start wearing tube socks for sleeves, maybe gloves (of which I’ve gotten throw away ones, but tend to keep them in pockets instead of throwing them so I have more around than I really need but never can seem to find them). For the throw away things, I’m thinking about getting some Velcro and getting some pants at least that I’ll cut in half and then put some Velcro on so I can peel them off really easily while running…but we’ll see. I’m a very cold person. Today I almost froze to death just watching the two guys leave the gym to go running today. I had along my tights that are supposed to be good to -10, but for me they are not!! A windbreaker pant, a light weight long sleeved shirt, a heavy weight long sleeved shirt and a windbreaker jacket as options to wear. I looked at the news site for the news station 2 miles from where I work for the weather and it was 35 degrees at noon when I was going, but 28 with windchill….I decided the treadmill sounded better. I was in shorts and t-shirt and feeling a bit cold at first and then I saw one guy come out in shorts, jacket, headband and hood up, he headed out the door and I got a chill, but his buddy, that had already been in the gym headed out with him, he was wearing a SLEEVLESS shirt, SHORTS and that was it!! I was running 6.25 miles and decided to go intervals, 3 x 1 with ½ mile recovery at 7:40 for the first, 7:35 for the second and right around 7:35 for the third…warm up mile and cool down 1.25 in about 53 minutes, about the same time as the marathon paced 4 miles with 1 mile warm up and 1.25 cool down over hills on Tuesday…anyway, they came back when I hit 4 miles, probably 32 minutes they were out in the cold…some people are insane!!

Anyway, it finally came to me today that I should apply for part-time job at one of the running stores in the area. Actually I’m going to apply at all 3 of them that are close to me and see if hopefully I can’t get a couple of nights a week and/or one weeknight and one weekend shift there. Discount I could use more than the books, a different type of retail with people that I actually have a lot in common with and would enjoy chatting with a lot, and hopefully decent management (the stores seem to be pretty cool when I’ve been in there so I could guess management is decent). I’m doubting any of them have openings, but wouldn’t it be nice if they did? I have to go to one tomorrow anyway to buy some Clif Shot Blocks so I’ll ask and find out. I don’t know how to recommend shoes, but can learn, but when it comes to all else I have a lot of running knowledge, it’s my favorite when people come in looking for running books cause I can actually help them with that stuff.

So for this week I’ve run 6.25 twice, 4 miles easy yesterday and Saturday I’m going 8 a little harder for part of it and 3.5 easy on Sunday. Tuesday I’ll have 4.5, Wednesday 3 and Friday 2 and then the marathon on Sunday…by the end of next week, after the marathon I’ll have 1780 miles for the year…I think I should be able to run 2000 miles this year…actually maybe I’ll shoot for 2006 for the year and plan on getting the final miles on NYE, wouldn’t it be cool to run from say 11:45 pm to 12:15 am, run in the new year? But I know I’m going to be out having cocktails with friends that night…

Anyway, just random thoughts today, but I wanted to post something…I also need to get some work done!!

No Self Confidence...

I'm having a breakdown...I almost should post this someplace where I can keep it completely private. This is almost a journal entry, not something I should probably share with potentially the whole world, but I have to vent somehow. I'm definitely in the process now of looking for a different job. I liked the work, and most of the customers at Barnes & Noble, and it was a "fun" type job, but now it sucks. It's totally destroyed my self-esteem and last night I actually left the store and started crying. A part-time job should not make you cry. I stupidly re-read the review. It was actually stated in there that I need constant supervision, that I have no sense of urgency, and basically I translate it all to say I'm a crappy worker and I suck at yet another thing. And then last night I, oh horror of horrors, was having a nice time conversing with a customer. And of course it was near where both managers on duty last night could see me pretty easily, one of them actually told him I had to get back to work and basically to leave me alone, then read me the riot act about spending so much time with customers. I'm sorry, but I enjoy talking to people and getting to know new people, this is also a guy who is a runner...that's why I started talking to him. He had a half marathon shirt on. In his younger days (he looked to be late 40s) he told me he had run a 2:48 marathon...and he was giving me tips. He was commending me on my runs and times, I mean to have someone that has run a 2:48 telling me that my 1:44 half was great and that I was a fantastic runner and shaking my hand and telling me I was going to do well at MCM, well that was something I needed, having to get yelled at over doing it was something I did not need though. I'm an adult, I'm sorry that I can't be rude to people and send them on their way, no matter what the customer is going on about, I'm never rude, and OK, this conversation I was enjoying, but I've been involved in many that I haven't liked and still was fine. That's the thing, if the conversation had been just me being polite, nothing would've been said or done I'm sure...Now though, I'm questioning everything about myself...it's taper time, I'm questioning my running ability, the training I've done, etc...and now I don't feel like I'm even a worthwhile person. I apparently am not good at any job I do...I just so desperatly want to be past all this. I want to find something I'm good at in the workforce...I'm having troubles at both jobs and I just feel like I'm never going to find something that is right for me. I really am feeling worse and worse about myself as time goes on, and all this is ticking down to my marathon and setting up higher and higher expectations, when I don't meet my goals, which I just don't think is going to happen, what is that going to do to me?? Why can't I find my self confidence? I so need a change...but it's not like I can just pack up and move. I need to find a job before I can do that. And to top that all off, I am eating terribly and going the wrong way on the scale...I'm going to be carrying at least 2 more pounds than my last marathon and there I missed my BQ by 2 minutes...carrying 2 more pounds (or more) can't help.

Why am I stressing?

'Cause it’s taper time and what else do I have to do?? I’m really infuriated at job number 2 now…isn’t that sad? This is the job that is supposed to be stress free and it’s by choice, although technically I do kind of need the money, but I’m so fed up with one particular manager, but then I feel do I REALLY want to quit when I do like most of my fellow employees and I like some of the regular customers that I know I wouldn’t see anymore if I wasn’t working there, but I just can’t handle this one manager anymore. I used to like all the managers, well, had issues with one but her and I got around that and get along well now…This other guy though is one of those who should never be a manager. He’s a suck up to the customer kind of guy and couldn’t care less about employees, in fact one store he worked at he actually stated in the first meeting he was part of and had contact with the employees at was that “none of you are not expendable.” Nice huh? A guy that should be in management right? So he was doing the reviews this time around…now for one, I couldn’t care less about the review, I’m not even upset by the crap in it as this job doesn’t matter to me at all. It’s something that I know I’m good at the things I enjoy about it and that’s all I need worry about…but it was so crap and I really am ready to walk on it. Heck, I’ve never come as close to quitting as I have on most occasions when I work with him and get to hear his 20th reminder on things I know and already do and/or ignore and will never do because I think it’s stupid and just let me alone so I can do my job. Just last week another guy and I were both at one of the information desks, he had been putting books away and wandering the floor, I was at the desk, manager Dan comes by and asks us which one is wandering the floor, umm, Ed had been if you had been paying attention instead of coming along on the 2 minutes when we had had a rush and both of us were at the desk after helping customers…and if you don’t want two at the desk, then don’t schedule two of us at the desk!! As it is I always stay at the desk cause I see too many people who wander away for too long and then customers are left waiting or someone else has to help them…and we can’t do much away from it anyway since you need the computer to look things up….So when it came to my review he actually said that I am never at lower information when I’m supposed to be and cited one instance of a time I had been caught by a customer and was chatting with them for about 5 minutes while collecting things in the café, in that time someone had left the computer logged in and a customer had come up and started trying to use the computers that are employee use only, it wasn’t me that had left the computer logged on, yet it was in my review about my being away and someone using it on their own…then, he goes on to say how I’m often standing around doing nothing (no, I’m standing waiting for customers, so I’m available to them when they need me!) and that I chat too much with customers (that’s my job, helping customers!!), yet the positives are that I’m approachable and customers and co-workers like me…hmm…sounds like I’m doing my job, which is helping customers get what they want when they want it. And how can I be never at the information desk when I’m scheduled there yet standing around doing nothing. Then during the review he asked me what things I wanted to learn, where they could train me more etc…Umm…this is a part-time job to me, I don’t want more responsibilities and I don’t want to do anything more…I’m just going to be there, selling books, helping people find things, that’s it. I don’t want to handle putting new books out, arranging tables of books, etc…I took the job to help customers by recommending, finding and/or putting books away when needed…I don’t need this crap anymore and I can make more money doing other types of work I’m sure…probably better hours too. I want to go in tonight and give my two weeks and state that it’s because of the crap manager they have that I am quitting…

3:28:xx?

So, woke up this morning after having a very, very vivid dream...it consisted of me in the process of running MCM and the final time was the subject of this blog...interesting...I know I'm not trained to run that pace, but strange that the dream had me at that pace. Thing is, I was running the race, I remember bits of the dream distinctly and when I finished it had all felt so easy I wasn't hurting at all (that's what should right away tell you it was a dream right??). It didn't have any weird things like other marathon dreams I've had, like that I'm beating Deena Kastor, or that I've forgotten my shoes and am running barefoot or something. Nope, this one was very realistic. My friend Connie that I'm visiting when out in DC was there, my mom was there, which was the one weird element, but it was just a strange thing. And of course all my thoughts after were of calling anyone and everyone that I know and letting them know that I had my BQ...ah...if only dreams were predictors of reality!

Now it's morning, I'm at work, had thoughts this morning of getting out of bed early and just either cleaning, or doing something prior to coming to work, but I didn't want to get out into the chill air (I have the furnace on, it's just not set real high that time of the morning) so I cuddled longer under the covers. Too much to do today at work, too much to do at home over the weekend and just never enough time for it all. And then the demands on my time by others...I'm one that's very much in need of downtime, alone time, time to do my own thing...at least that's how I've been lately...wish there was more time to try to do everything. You know, clean up the mess I've made in my house, help the friends out with the things they need/want from me, and still have that "me" time...

A long day…

Well, at least it has kind of felt long although it has passed pretty quickly. I’m still frustrated over things at work, trying not to let them bother me…it’s this time of year. I am a spring/summer person. I live for the day the leaves start to change, the green, the freshness, the rain washing away the dirt and grime of winter, the flowers slowly starting to bud and open and perfume the air with their beautiful fragrances…the days start getting longer, each day gets a little warmer, neighbors that I haven’t seen all winter are now lingering outside longer to enjoy it and you get a chance to get reacquainted and all the fun and joys of the long summer days stretch endlessly ahead. There are summer festivals, live outdoor music, runs outside in shorts and t-shirts, road races, fresh fruit and veggies as the farmer’s markets open, flowers to plant…you get the picture. As fall comes I hear people talk about how beautiful the leaves are, granted, they are pretty, but it doesn’t seem to take much before they are blown off the trees, the make a mess to try to run through (and dangerous roads!), the rainy days are cooler and not as much fun to run in, the days are getting shorter and there is a bite in the air when you try to run outside, winter is going to get it’s cold grip on the earth soon and all the trees will be dead looking…people are bundled inside and you don’t see them for the rest of the winter except maybe in quick passing at the mailbox….this past spring one of my neighbors upon seeing me for the first time in so long stated he thought I had gotten married and moved out or something…I told him no, I’m much too smart for that….but I digress!! I just can’t be happy about the fall, particularly when I live in Minnesota and the days have gotten very cold, including an overnight low last night in the 20s. It was 23 degrees outside when I got up this morning. It SNOWED yesterday!! Yes, you read that right. Granted it didn’t stay, except a light dusting on some of the houses, but it was flurrying today as well. I had to dig gloves out to drive to work in. Tonight when I get home I’m actually going to maybe light a log in my fireplace. That’s the type of weather we are at. I don’t care for cold. I really don’t care for cold at all. I’m a wuss. No matter how many layers I have one, no matter how well I dress I’m always still uncomfortable outside on runs in the cold (and usually uncomfortable because I am wearing too much to move comfortably). I’ve done my first two treadmill runs of the fall/winter season for the 2006/2007 winter already. It will be many, many, many more I know too…and I’m already so bored by it I can’t stand it! I hate running on the treadmill. I ran on it once this summer. That’s it. And that run was only because granted, it was hot out, but I could’ve done it, but it was just easier cause I was already strength training anyway. I do need some more warm weather stuff so I can continue to attempt running outside on at least the less bitter days…

Tuesday Tempo Run

So yesterday was my last “hard” workout that I had planned for the remainder of my training. I had wanted to run a tempo of 10 miles, 7-8 at MP – 30, I didn’t quite get that unfortunately, I don’t have my Garmin with me here so I can’t get the exact paces, there were a couple sub 8 minute but the average was 8:22…still faster than MP I need for my sub 3:40, but it really felt hard…granted, I did 22 miles 3 days prior to that run, but still…I know, I know, I’m tapering now…and last taper I was chomping at the bit to get more running in, it was hard to cut back, but this taper I’m tired and looking forward to the rest. I like that I only have a 12 miler planned for Saturday (although to be honest I’m looking forward to training and runs being over and being able to just settle for a 10-15 miler on the weekends, I like being able to be done with a run in 2-2 ½ hours!! Longer just gets to be really long. I have a plan already figured out for my recovery and mileage during the “off season”…I have yet to decide on any spring races and such as I’m waiting till I see how I do in DC for that. If I meet goals, well, I have 2007 or 2008 for Boston, if I don’t, then I might have to find a fast flat course to get that qualifier on in the spring…So many things to think about but right now I’m just trying to find the confidence in my training that I should have, that I had last time but I guess when you have more of a time goal it’s harder. I don’t think I’ve done enough of the things I knew I needed to fix to keep on track this time around…but now it’s too late to do more. Anyway, enough of frets…this is a picture of my friends’ boys…they had pictures on Sunday. You can see how much they love each other!!

Last Long Run and Taper

After the frustration at work and then the computer problems Friday, through the weekend and still continuing, at least I can give an update on my running. I did my long run starting going up a hill, mostly about a 1.5 or so mile uphill, similar to the 2 mile climb of MCM in just under 3 weeks now…one part a much steeper run than I will be facing that day. The rest was mostly flat with again a bit of uphill at the end, similar to the end of MCM….

Mile 1: 9:16
Mile 2: 9:45 part of it up a REALLY steep hill
Mile 3: 8:58
Mile 4: 8:58
Mile 5: 9:27
Mile 6: 9:10
Mile 7: 9:04
Mile 8: 8:41
Mile 9: 9:48 water and gel stop
Mile 10: 8:59
Mile 11: 9:07
Mile 12: 9:32
Mile 13: 8:42
Mile 14: 8:34
Mile 15: 8:47
Mile 16: 8:47
Mile 17: 8:55
Mile 18: 10:05 another water stop at a pump stop, so took longer
Mile 19: 8:56
Mile 20: 9:12
Mile 21: 9:25 up a hill
Mile 22: 9:21

Total run time was 3:22 or something like that, 9:11 overall average pace which is 1 minute per mile slower than my planned pace…I would’ve liked it if I had gotten my paces up at the end of the run none of my miles were the planned marathon pace, but I did do a compare to my long runs from last marathon to this one and found this:

Long runs of 18+ mileage (with one exception for this training) and comparison paces.

M2M	Dist/Pace	MCM	Dist/Pace
10	20M 9:14	12	20M 8:55
8	18M 9:11	10	22M 9:19
7	20M 10:10	8	18.5M 9:11
6	14M 9:08	6	13.4M 7:46
5	22M 9:23	5	20 9:23
4	18M 9:19	4	16M 9:15
3	18.88M 9:08	3	22M 9:11

OK, I can't get rid of the big space in the table, and that's the best way to read the pacing, so oh well...took me long enough to get that done anyway. It's been a long time since I coded a table for HTML and I used to do them all the time!! The first column is the marathon and weeks from the marathon (10 weeks out, 3 weeks out, etc) the second is the miles run and the average pace...looks like I'm a bit better off from MCM...but does that mean that much?? I was only comparing 18 miles plus, and then added one more cause it was the 1/2 and I thought that was kind of important...

Anyway, of course the taper freak out is happening, the job thing isn't helping me much either, and I think I'm getting some kind of cold, at least I seem to have a bad kind of cough going on and that's really not good...sigh...I'm running my last semi hard run tonight. 8-10 mile tempo run and then just some other light intervals and marathon paced runs. Only 19 days to the marathon.

Job Frustrations

Not a real good end of week last week and leading into the weekend as I had a big update typed up on Friday night and while on-line something got into my computer and it seems to be slowly frying things as it sees fit. I had an update ready, typed in Word, I opened word and it closed on me, then I opened it again, it stayed open, I opened my file and it crashed...and everything is really running slow now, particularly my program I use for converting CDs to MP3s for use on my MP3 player…I think I’m going to have to take it in to the Geek Squad to let them look at it as I have no clue what is doing it and how to get rid of it. I can’t run my anti-virus (not that it’s updated anyway) as it closes every time I try to open it. It sucks. I’m going to back up more documents that I don’t want to lose tomorrow (no time tonight cause of work at B&N) and then I’m taking it in…hopefully they can fix it!!

This was the end of my week though. I’m so extremely mad and frustrated about my job that Friday I was ready to cry. First they change my hours on me so I can be available longer, basically this has translated to bringing files up to the 12th floor on occasion after 4:00 (something that my co-worker, is perfectly capable of doing and she is here till at least 5/5:30 everyday considering she’s not usually in till at least 9:30) it’s never anything specifically paralegal related…and Thursday we had a fire alarm go off at 10 to 4 on my floor. I was tempted to leave then, but good thing I didn’t cause I got back to my desk at about 4:10 and Tami (my boss’ boss) called me to bring a file up to her which I did. She specifically asked me to bring up the one with the full signed agreement in it, which none of them had yet, so I pulled it out of our filing and brought that up. That was around 4:15, I think came back to my desk, with a bathroom stop along the way, wrapped up a few things and OK, left my desk to head home around 4:20-4:25…oh, no, a few minutes early!! Apparently the file I brought was the wrong one (no, it wasn’t cause I made sure to put the signed documents that weren’t in it, into it, but I didn’t pull out and put the actual document being looked for on top of the stack of signed ones, but it was in the stack, and it wasn’t a real large stack of documents). Apparently I was called again and when I didn’t answer she went and told James (my boss) that she tried me at 4:15 and I wasn’t there. Umm, I was going from 12 back to 6 and a bathroom stop, and I had BEEN IN HER OFFICE at 4:15. So Friday morning James came and talked to me and I told him that I had been in her office, that I had talked to her about the fire drill, that it takes time to get back to my desk and hey, she doesn’t leave a message, how am I supposed to know she called? (Didn’t mention the message part to him). So now I’m back in the office today and I’m still angry about it. I need to look for a new job because I’m sick of this crap. My boss’ boss apparently has it in for me, and I’m sick of this having to stay 30 minutes later than I have been for a year and a half all because one person wants me here to haul up files, even though there is someone else perfectly capable of that. My co-worker was recognized for the work she’s doing on something else and given a special gift card for it at our legal retreat and while I’m here every day at 7:30 sometimes a bit after 4 (before they changed my hours) and rarely even take a lunch, and I don’t work and force overtime while my co-worker (nothing against her, I like her) takes at least 2 half hour breaks for cigarettes and another half hour or more for a lunch break, which she says she works through lunch, but she reads the paper and other news sources and such while eating, that isn’t working…she doesn’t get here till 9:30 or 10 most days and sure, is here till 6 or 7 (but 9-5 with no lunch is 8 hours, 10-6, etc), sometimes she’s out earlier too…and she claims overtime when she puts it in or leaves early based on staying later…I am really now so under appreciated and I just can’t take it anymore. Of all the things I see and deal with, I was happy and OK with things when I was able to work and leave earlier and now that’s been taken from me and they couldn’t care less and apparently I suck at my job and do it half-assed anyway…so what’s the point? My job satisfaction has taken a nose dive from being about a 7 or 8 on a scale of 1-10 to 3-4 or even lower some days and my boss realizes this and actually doesn’t want me leaving because of it, wants my satisfaction to be up there, but his hands are tied because of his boss. He tried to tell me she was stressed last week, well, you know what, yes, I realize she’s working long hours, long days (and she’s one that comes in later too, she’s not a morning person) but that’s not my fault. I didn’t cause the stress and I don’t deserve it being taken out on me.

Oh Yeah...

And I had to run the 800s in dangerous conditions...the path I was running on had parts of it completely covered in leaves....man are leaves slippery on asphalt...definitely harder to run on and require careful stepping!!

Is Yasso for Real?

Can anyone tell me, from experience, if Bart Yasso and his theory are for real? Cause honestly, I think he must be smoking crack…yes, you read that right. According to Yasso’s theory running, what is it, 8-10, 10-12? 800s at a preset pace is a good predictor of how fast a person can run the marathon. If I understand the theory correctly, if you can run and hold a set pace for say 10 of them (10 is the number that most comes to mind) you can run a marathon at that equivalent, so if you ran 800s at 4:00 pace, you could run a 4 hour marathon, in theory. Recovery I’ve always heard is either half the distance, 400, or a recovery time of the distance you ran (4:00 800, 4:00 recovery), I typically just go the half distance and end up about 30 seconds less on recovery than on the repeat itself with a walk right after, light jog and then a walk just before starting the new one…I originally was even going to do these on a track, unfortunately the two tracks near me had football practice and while I still probably could’ve used the track, I didn’t want to interfere, so I chose to run around home and used my Garmin, but I even switched it over to metric so I wasn’t running half miles, but true 800s. I have a path near me that is just under a half mile around, so I have to run just over one loop around it for my runs and it’s pretty consistently flat except for a bump where there is a bridge…I set my Garmin for 10 of them, not knowing what my foot was going to be doing and figuring that was good for the confidence boost I maybe needed, I wanted to hit these at 3:35, my hoped for marathon pace. First a mile warm up, and foot felt fine, not tinges of anything so that is good. Then I did my 800s…

800 1: 3:37
800 2: 3:15
800 3: 3:15
800 4: 3:28
800 5: 3:25
800 6: 3:23
800 7: 3:22
800 8: 3:54 – this one was off, didn’t lose signal, but I know where I should’ve stopped and Garmin had me keep going, so no idea what was wrong, but pace felt about the same as the others
800 9: 3:23
800 10: 3:23
800 11: 3:24
800 12: 3:24

OK, there is my typical inconsistency, although I could say it looks almost to average around the 3:25 range…hence my assumption that Yasso must be smoking crack cause there is no way I’m ready to run a 3:25 marathon…the only thing about his theory that hits me though is that last training cycle, I did a set of 10 or 12 of these and pretty much ran 3:42s and that is what I ran for my marathon…sigh…OK so I wanted this to give me confidence and I don’t know how these made me feel!! But at least the foot is better. It must’ve been a pulled muscle like I was thinking, how I pulled it no idea, but I’ve been icing it and it’s feeling fine now. I iced again tonight just to be safe and will continue icing it into the weekend…I did get a different kind of weird ache along my upper quad or hamstring, not quite groin area, no idea what that might be, but it wasn’t till later in the run and could be cause of the colder weather later and tightening up. Anyway, just wanted to get this in tonight so I could not think about it tomorrow when I’m sure I’ll be swamped at work. Oh, and finished 11 miles in 1:41 or so...not a bad night. But I still don't believe/trust the times, even though I know my Garmin is on, I've tested it over measured distances...

Worries...

OK, on the injury update, my foot, still not 100% but I ran 3 yesterday morning and they were sore but not terrible. I worked all day in heels to keep it from hurting as bad and then I went for a 7 mile run (debating turning it into 8 or more but wanted to keep it light in case it hurt worse) on an out and back, limestone, flat trail…so it was softer etc…I had some slight pain for the first 3-4 miles but then it didn’t seem to be there or it went away…I think I loosened it up and it was fine, which leads me more and more to believe it’s just a strained muscle (how I strained it I have NO idea but whatever!!) and nothing more serious. I got up this morning and skipped the morning run just to be safe and while it was a little sore walking around, it didn’t feel too bad. I iced last night and again this morning and I’m going to take some Vitamin I before my run tonight just to be keep it feeling good.

Now, I’m so freaked about the idea of my time for this marathon. No idea where my confidence in myself went, but it’s so gone it’s just not even funny anymore. I feel like the idea of trying to run 8:12 pace is just unfathomable…if I can barely run 9:16 for my long runs, what am I think carrying the faster pace? Plus this is the same pace I had for my last marathon for my long runs and we know that didn’t get me a 3:35 so how can I possibly think I can run it this time around? Tempo runs have been worse, intervals, probably about the same. This week is also my final hard week before taper. I’m running Yasso 800s tonight. I’m shooting for 10 at 3:35 pace (maybe 12 depending on foot etc). If I can hit them all at pace or under, then I’ll feel a bit better, if not, well, then long run will tell me more. I’m going 22-24 on Saturday, going to start with a run up a hill and then down back into the lakes area that I like run, 2 loops around them and then back to the car which should be about the 24 miles (the chain of lakes run two loops is 21 miles). I’d like to average 9 minute miles or better…might as well put it all into that run as then I have 3 weeks to recover.

Weight, yes, yes, I know I’m not fat, but I want less body weight to carry for the 26.2 miles. I was yesterday 9 pounds above my goal weight (and 7 pounds above what my last marathon weight was) and today I’m finally back to within 5 pounds, but I don’t see myself losing 5 pounds in 3 ½ weeks…I could be back down to the weight I was at my last marathon, but I just wanted to be even a bit less, just to have less to carry. It’s going to be even harder to lose during taper as I run less too…sigh…why do I have to have these freak outs going on?? It’s too early for them…

Weekend Update and Whining

Things have been too hectic to manage to get updates done yet again…getting frustrated by this!

Saturday

OK, long run ended up being 16 miles, had wanted to do 17 but I got going late and was running pathetically slow…I’m so jealous of all those running at faster paces, sigh…and some of them aren’t even planning to run the pace I’m running. It makes me more worried everyday about my upcoming run. Anyway, I did 16 miles starting up a hill and through Burnsville to Lakeville and back, pretty hilly course, some on sidewalk, but thankfully most an asphalt surface alongside the road so I didn’t have to worry about the camphor surface and such that I often deal with on roads. However, by the end of the run, last 3-4 miles, my foot was hurting. I’d had this pain prior to my first marathon but have no idea what caused it then and what might be causing it now. It’s along the lateral part of my foot, along the bottom. It feels like a muscle pull or bruise and isn’t in any way related to the arch or heel. It was painful, and I decided I’d stop at 16 miles, the last few miles were pathetic, a lot of walking, but overall pace of 9:16. Not good. Last mile was only good cause it was down the hill I had started running up. Nothing like a mile downhill to help out your pace.

After the run I went to my sister’s and had my friend Shawn meet us there and then my sister, her boyfriend Brian, Shawn and I all headed to my company picnic at Valleyfair. Weather was nice, which is unusual for this time of year but I was happy that it was the way it was. Learned how rude the youth of today are too. Apparently when people are walking slowly in front of you and you want to get through, the appropriate way in a 10 year old mind isn’t to say excuse me, but to push through and yell move when someone won’t move. I didn’t win any prizes. They didn’t have as good of prizes this year either as there has been a shift in the control of the company and the big boss that was there giving them out last year is no longer here…ah well.

Went out later that night for a couple of drinks and seeing people I hadn’t seen in a while. Nothing too big, but had a few more than I planned cause my friend decided we needed shots…thankfully it wasn’t too bad. She crashed at my place and I woke up early enough for Twin Cities Marathon.

Sunday

Here is a picture of the finish line right here...it is a pretty cool finish...almost all downhill from just after mile 25...not a bad marathon, I may have to run it some year, although why should I chose to run 26.2 miles over a course I could run anytime I want to when I can go other places and run??

Marathon day and the day was perfect for viewing, but not so much for running. Highs were close to if not over 80, but for the elites it was just about perfect. We watched the 10 milers, had a coffee and then got back in time to see the elite finishers come across the finish line. We stayed in that area long enough to see the first woman cross around 2:30 and then headed back to mile 22 area where MNFirefly and UglyToes were so I could meet and say hi to them, chatted a bit, watched the race and then got a quick picture. The four of us watched and cheered till the 5 hour pace group came past but by then Devi and I were hungry so we headed to an area to eat and had really good paninis at a place called Bread and Chocolate…what more do you need?? Afterward I went home and cleaned up in my garage and nixed the run I had contemplated because my foot was still sore so I chose to rest it a while yet. My house was a terrible mess too, so I ended up just trying to clean and relax a bit on Sunday before going to bed early because I was exhausted.

Monday

Skipped the morning run cause I decided I was going to rest the foot yet and would try to squeeze something quick and easy in before meeting a friend for dinner…ended up deciding it was nice and I wanted to run at lunch time, so I started out and had a lot of pain (thought the foot was better cause I was wearing heels so was feeling no pain). Frustration of not getting a run in put me in a bad mood and a crazy Monday had me in even less of a good mood…work is just straining me right now for lots of reasons and really none of them good. I used to feel good about my job and not dread coming in, starting to feel the dreads now. Of course I got home and had a call from my mom that put me in a worse mood cause I was just already in a bad one and didn’t want to deal with things she was asking me…then the friend I was meeting for dinner got there and I feel terrible cause I was a despondent crab most of the night. Not the me he is used to seeing and I knew I probably should’ve cancelled with the way I was feeling and have been feeling. I was company for no one!! In fact after he dropped me off, he got out of there quickly. Dinner was yummy though, we went to my favorite place, and then went to Home Depot and Menards to find a ceiling fan for my spare bedroom for my cousin to install when up here this week (the reason my mom called me). I picked one out and am still debating though as there were two I kind of liked and am now questioning if I should’ve gotten the other one.

Fan A – More modern, not sure it goes with the room, but it has 3 60 watt bulbs in it, only 5 blades, but is 36” (room is small 10 x 11) so should be a good size for the room.

Fan B – Traditional look so should just blend into the room, only one 30 watt bulb, 6 blades for better balance, 32” should still be OK for the room

I really like Fan A, can get it online I found for the same price as Fan B actually, but the price difference didn’t bother me, it’s just whether or not one would overpower the room or not. The room has dark green carpet and lighter colored walls and all woodwork is dark…I also really liked a diferent fan for my own room that would go really well with Fan A, but Fan B pretty much goes with what I have in my room (not that that makes a difference)...decisions decisions.

I did ice my foot when I got home and then went to bed.

Tuesday

I got up and foot was still sore, but I did a quick 3 miles and it didn’t feel too bad, felt less sore running downhill…I’m still not sure what is causing it and what I should do. My plan was 10 Yasso 800s tonight, hoping to inspire confidence in myself for my marathon. Now I’m not sure what to do. This time I was even going to a track to run them. It would be a total of 10 miles. It’s either that or I just try an easy run on a soft path of another 5 or 6 tonight and then do the 800s tomorrow, which would then make doing a tempo run on Thursday out of the question, and if I do it Friday, that will make my long run on Saturday a bit difficult…although tired legs and the long run might be a good idea…I just want to be sure to get the intervals and the long run in this week. Those were my last two key workouts planned for pre-taper week.

Unfortunately I’m still crabby feeling today…I feel bad for my behavior last night though and need to apologize to my friend for being such a crab. Particularly when he insisted on paying for dinner…should’ve been me buying considering my mood!

Oh, and I iced again after my run, before I went to work today.