Tired...

Almost in a way that is to the core...would it be awful if I went to bed at oh...7??? I didn't sleep well last night (might be because of the 10 hours the night before).

I was just reminded (due to watching diving right now for the Olympics). When I went to lay by the lake on Saturday that there was a car wash going on. They have them all summer. Fund raisers for high school teams...I'm assuming the swim team was doing it on Saturday...they were wearing board shorts (boys) all except one that is...one was in a Speedo...as in a banana hammock Speedo. Standing by the side of a busy intersection. And he was so young...I mean we're talking 14 (OK, all high schoolers look so young to me...seriously, no idea about the women that are molesting the high school students because they look soooo incredibly young, why would anyone not that age be interested in that?? Even when I was that age I wasn't interested!!). There is just something so wrong about a 14, OK, maybe 16 year old boy standing by the side of the road in a Speedo...

New York to Boston

This month I had a wedding to go to. It was in NY. I found out the date and got the invite in February, since they needed responses by June 1 and people needed to book tickets etc…I booked my ticket not long after I knew I was officially invited…then come May, it’s announced that there aren’t enough people that can make it and they are now doing the wedding as a private ceremony that day and that they apologize to those that made flight reservations already but they hadn’t had responses and people were going to end up spending money they didn’t have to go, so hence the change.

I hadn’t even responded to the message that it was changed, the groom asked me about it (he had had others email some saying they were happy for them, some saying they were angry at the change) and I said I should be used to people flaking on me by now, I mean I didn’t say it to be mean, but it was just one of those things. Never had a response back from him. Fast forward three months and I had an email from the groom, apparently people were asking what they are doing that day, and he included a link about the the private ceremony they are having, but they are still doing a boat wedding, like the original plan, and it does include some guests…umm…yeah, my invite for that must’ve been lost in the mail, or something…really irritated now as he KNEW that I had booked my ticket already so I could’ve been included so I wasn’t flying for nothing or didn’t have a wasted trip. Ah how fun and how great friends can be.

So before I even knew about the wedding change, I was contemplating just cancelling the ticket and using whatever remained for one of many other trips I’m supposed to make (to see my friend in San Diego, or my friend in San Francisco) and just as I was about to make decisions on that (not wanting to impose too much on the friend in NY even though he told me I was welcome to stay as long as I wanted) ANOTHER friend, one that lives in Boston, emailed me asking if I wasn’t coming out there sometime soon. I had emailed him after the wedding fell apart and he had invited me up to Boston. His remembering this and asking me about it again, I thought sure, why not go up there and hang out with him. He invited me to stay as long as I could, and since I love Boston, I thought why not. I checked into the train, figuring hey, can jump on it easy and run up…it was going to be $62-89 for a 4 ½ ride, ONE WAY!! I checked flights…just over an hour and it was only $150 (round trip)???? What’s up with that??? Seriously? Does Amtrak realize the ridership it loses?? Sure it’s not that bad if you buy a pass, but I’m not there long enough to need one. Anyway, all said and done I fly into NY on Thursday morning, Kurt is picking me up around 11 am and we are hanging out, then he’s dropping me back at the airport on Friday and I’m flying up to Boston to hang out with Bill…now debating letting my friend Craig, who is the reason I know Bill, that I’m going to be up there as well. Craig is even in town right now for work and will be seeing him tonight again (guess depends on how drunk I get if I let him know about my trip or not!), and I should probably tell him. If he finds out and I haven’t told him that might be weird…but at the same time, I kind of do want to see and spend time with Bill, but at the same time too, I’d like to meet Craig’s girlfriend that he has still failed to tell me about…darn him…if things are serious he’s supposed to share!!

So I did tell him...And we all went out for a fun Girls night on Friday, well, girls plus Craig!! I didn't get up early for my run on Saturday since it was a late night and instead headed out later, around 4, and managed 14 miles at an 8:54 or so pace...I'm still shooting to get the long runs to average 8:45 and I'm hoping at least by the 20 milers I can get one of them down there...I followed that up with 7 miles around Lake Calhoun and Lake of the Isles today. Averaged 8:50 pace there. And for the week I logged 54 miles.

Tempo Thursday and Cake

Here’s hoping…although as I type this, it will not post till after my run (unless I go home and post it, then run and then post again, would that be super silly?). I really am pressuring myself on my running, as you can see on my last post. Why? Who knows. I need something to freak out over maybe? Anyway last night I was up a bit later than planned, a friend is in town and I was asked to sub in on a kickball team, so between all that it was quite late when I went to bed, so I didn’t get a run in this morning the way I wanted to, but that means my legs have had 48 hours of nothing but a 30 minute bike ride in them (OK, not quite, but close) since my hill runs. I’m hoping for a really good tempo run tonight…and to try to solidify that, I had a 2:30 snack that has been shown in the past to be good for that. Cake. Yes, you read that right. Remember from 2006? Cake = Super Food? Anyway, I’m attempting it today and it wasn’t even an accidental thing. Nope. This was an, I was out running errands for lunch and I stopped at a grocery store that has a good bakery and has cake, smaller slices (and I cut the piece into two pieces, one for today and one for tomorrow). I wanted chocolate with white frosting, which wasn’t to be had, since chocolate for some reason goes with chocolate and white with white…I settled for the marble that was mostly chocolate and had chocolate and white buttercream frosting on it. Yummy!! Now only hope it works.

In other news. In prep for Twin Cities, and the group coming into town for it, I got a space booked at a bar that for some reason I overlooked till now…we will be having Happy Hour on Friday before the race and getting to know each other more. This is a combination of people from my two yahoo groups I’m part of. That should be fun.

So yes, I made it through my run. Was supposed to be 9, I did 10.5 (we finished at 8.5 on Tuesday and I had to make that even mileage). First two warm up miles felt really sluggish and I prepped for a bad run...second was close to 10 minute pace even but I had lost signal a bit. Anyway, I stepped it up and my first tempo mile was a disappointing 8:30, but then I had a 7:48, 7:44, 8:04, 7:44, and 7:33. The overall pace for the 10.5 was 8:24, which isn't bad. It's still a bit slower than what I would need to qualify and 25 seconds slower than the pace I'd like to run...so we'll see. I did tell myself after the first mile that was slower than tempo I wanted, to just relax and let it go...and after that it did and while it never felt as flawless as one run I remember well, it was faster than that run and still felt OK. So I'll get there...hopefully!

Marathon Freak Out

I was a little willy nilly on my typing last night. I blame the damn, I mean dam hill I ran with the group. I think I was on the verge of seeing the purple Martians (purported to be seen when carbo depletion is in effect late in distance races!!). Anyway, what I was thinking about all day yesterday, 2 months before marathon date, were my fears of how my training is going (yes, we all get that self-doubt on our training don’t we? But doesn’t that usually wait till taper time?) and if I’m doing the right things. I just don’t feel like I’ve gotten to the level and/or point that I need/want to be at this time.

My long runs have been going well, and the hill workouts I’ve survived, I just haven’t had any speed or tempo workouts (OK, technically they are kind of one and the same but I see intervals in the speed category and tempos as different, and really, they do build different things) that set me over the top. Nothing so far that says, yes, this training is going well and I’m so glad I run. Nothing like the last really great training I had and great marathon time I had, that said yes, you have it in the bag, this is the best run ever and I’m so lucky to be a runner (yes, I had one of those, it was during a rain storm even…one of the best runs I’ve ever had and faster than I had ever expected). I had one good tempo run, like 4 weeks ago now that really helped me feel good about it, the next two sucked, then I had the relay in there and those runs you’d think would have me feeling good (considering I ran 6.7 at a 7:30 pace, which is basically what I’d like my tempo pace to be at right now and then I managed to average 7:37 for 14.6 miles over a period of 18 hours) but while they did at the time, now I’m back to doubts…I’m 8 ½ weeks from marathon date, and I’m questioning everything…and I’m still in heavy, building into even heavier, training mode…shouldn’t that be enough to tell me that I’ve got it and don’t have to worry, still plenty of training time left?

I have one run, just a little over 18 in, that was slower than I’d like, but I did manage some faster miles at the end and average pace was still within the 60-90 seconds per mile slower than race pace you’re supposed to have. I have three 20 milers on the schedule (and one or two will be more than 20) and that’s what I had for my PR marathon, although I did have 2 18 milers in there too, but I think I’m close…mileage is a little lower than for that time around, but I’m at about the same scheduled mileage this week. I think it’s the fact that I have done NO intervals that might make me nervous…and that the tempos I’ve most recently tried have been a bust. I have one on the schedule for tomorrow. Trying to decide if it will be morning or afternoon. Seems the afternoon ones have been better for me, so maybe that’s what I need to do…I have nothing going on till a bit later tomorrow evening anyway, and I can sleep in a little bit then tomorrow (will probably still get up for a light run to loosen up for the afternoon since today I’m taking off and my legs will probably be stiff from the hills by tomorrow).

I think to convince myself of my training I need to really do that compare I was talking about. When I get time I’m going to run from the time I’m at now with training left vs what I did last time and try to adjust…based on finish time then and hoped for finish time now. I wouldn’t be so freaked but I’m putting a lot of pressure on myself to make this goal, my parents are going to be there and I really want to give them a good show, and with that pain in my heel…I did just order a night split and a book called The 5-Minute Plantar Fasciitis Solution or something along that line on Amazon…both had good reviews…let’s hope they help. I should’ve paid the money and gotten overnight shipping to have it now…hopefully they don’t take too terribly long. Apparently the book is an 8 week thing and the splint people had good success in 7 weeks (some even noticed overnight). I hope…mine is mild still…so hopefully…

The Dam(n) Hill

Yes...tonight was hill workout night. We ran the dam hill...literally...that's what it is. A run up from the Ford Dam...We me just under 2 miles from this wonderful hill and ran to it for a warm up. The hill itself is just under .25 miles, so we ran down, then up, and down, and up...for 10 repeats...oh yes...it was fun. Apparently this will help us come marathon day up Summit hill...I don't know. Personally I think they were trying to kill us. That hill definitely seemed never ending!!

Today it is 2 months to Twin Cities. Yes, two months from today I'll be hoping to break my PR. I'm very nervous. I decided I need to actually review my PR marathon training and compare it to now...in a quick review I'm really not sure where I'm at and where I was. I was doing A LOT more interval training then. A lot more miles, etc...and not much for tempo runs. Now my easy runs are faster, my long runs are faster, I have about the same amount of long runs planned, but I'm just not feeling like I'm doing enough. Maybe it's the lack of speed work in intervals or the lack of tempo runs (well, I've done them, just not fast enough) I just don't know...one of the coaches at the training group tonight told me to follow the plan, see what happens...but thing is, I can't afford to do something that might not be enough and might not quite work. Especially with only two months left!! It really has me feeling quite ill...just what I don't need...this has been a weirdly stressful week so far too. Long story on that to come!

Bad Sunday Night TV

OK, it was either Lifetime movies (which I have to admit I’ve seen a couple of them today, weather is kind of icky and I was supposed to take a rest day…I only did 3 miles…and stretched A LOT!!) or I flipped down and found Bridezilla…since I’m now in a wedding again (after a 6 year break) I figured I should watch it and prepare. Of course this is a friend’s wedding that I was in her first wedding and it was fine so I don’t see any problems this time around but I had to blog about this…

I watched the end of one, and this was the woman’s 3rd wedding, 2nd wedding to the guy she was marrying (yes, they had married and divorced and were marrying again) so wedding number 3, she flipped out at the rehearsal. Told her bridesmaids that they all had to wear girdles so they didn’t have tummys sticking out (not that she was small in that area herself!) and that some of them (including her 16 year old daughter) had to stuff their bras so they looked fine for the pics…umm…yeah…then she went back to the rehearsal and apparently it was someone at the rehearsal’s birthday and someone had gotten that person a cake…she went ballistic and grabbed some of the cake and rubbed it in the face of the guy that had brought it!! Then went off on it being her rehearsal, her day and no one should steal her thunder…umm…yeah…wedding number 3 (even if it wasn’t number 3, it still would hurt nothing to have a cake for someone else at the REHEARSAL!) and she was a psycho. Man…

So it’s a marathon apparently and number 2 that I’m catching has a woman and her fiancée that were going to a cake tasting, her fiancée missed the first and was insisting on tasting it before the wedding, even thought it was already ordered and basically he had no choice anyway, and he doesn’t look like a guy that passes up much for food (he was saying he doesn’t like red velvet cake which I guess is part of it, I don’t ever quite get that cause it’s just chocolate cake colored red and is very good) and they brought him samples of a bunch of cakes and he just started wolfing them down and she’s yelling at him telling him that he needs to fit into his tux (his size, I doubt that little bit of cake would affect hum!). Of course he tried and liked the red velvet and she was smug about that…then she’s insisting on him doing a boot camp to lose some weight for the wedding…that’s only a few days away…and she isn’t in great shape either so not sure where she has time to complain about him!! Ah well….it’s entertainment right? That’s why these things get so much viewership!

Long Run Saturday

Long run with the group today. It was a set 18 miles and we ended up with 18.35 on my Garmin. Pace was 2:47: 54, and overall pace of 9:09. Not as good as the last couple, but I survived it, which was the important thing. We ran starting at Lake Harriet, and went out 9 miles long the Twin Cities Marathon course and then back, not quite the same route but close, so I've seen a portion and roads of the course that I haven't seen or done before. Nothing too scary there...the biggest part of the hills is toward the end, and we do that section of the course as part of the long runs too.

I got done and was beat. My legs are still feeling really tight, I didn't stretch as good as I should've that's for sure. And my heel was aching badly. I've iced it twice and used a golf ball on it a bit trying to loosen it up. I was supposed to be going to the Nine Inch Nails concert tonight, but Trent Reznor is ill and so the concert was postponed...probably a good thing for me since I am achy...had a few options of other things to do, but not sure yet if I will or not.

I'm thinking that everyone is right too, about me maybe not being recovered from last weekend. I have been extra tired this week and that could be why the runs haven't been so good. Although Tuesday was decent and today I kept up with the leaders in the group so who knows. It was a bit more difficult on Tuesday though. My debate now is run tomorrow and get my planned mileage for the week (I'm at 45.35 right now and planned 50) or take it off and try to let myself recover a bit more. We'll see how I feel in the morning I guess.

Oh, and I think I'm finally caught up on my blog reading after being gone!!

I HATE Tempo Runs

Another sucky one bites the dust...this one was total crap though. Even worse than any of the previous two weeks (last week I didn't do one due to the relay, but if you recall the two previous ones were not nearly what I had wanted, although the one before that was perfect, difference, last 3 were in the morning the other was in the afternoon). Today was not even a single mile under 8 minutes...and I wanted at least 5 at 7:30...I did it last weekend at the race...what is wrong with me? OK, morning is different, and no, I don't eat before I go out, BUT, I'm used to going up to even 12 miles without breakfast...what's wrong now? I did the relay, but mileage last week was only in the 20s. This week on Tuesday (I didn't run Sunday or Monday being tired from the trip) the group ran hills at Hyland Park and it was hot and humid and a tough workout, 7.65 miles at right around 8:30 pace...I ran last night 6.35 miles (I can't have odd miles on my log!) easy and then this morning the 9 was a second per mile slower than last nights...I was all over the board and had to walk. My legs feel like jelly and I'm exhausted feeling...still....this is hours after that run. (stupid computer restarted on me before I got this posted) I was at a movie (The Dark Night Rocks!!) and ran out to my car for something and my legs didn't want to cooperate...easy run tomorrow might have to wait.

Ragnar

The short of it:

Up at 6:15 am Friday, July 25th , 2008. Traveled team 185 miles to the finish by 12:30ish pm on Saturday, July 26th, 2008. Had a few minutes nap before 2nd run, and 3 hours or so of interrupted sleep, on the ground, in an open field (had a sleeping bag) before getting up to ride and run one more leg…total of 14.6 miles, averaged 7:37 pace (according to the somewhat official time we kept over the course, about right according to Garmin too), tiny nap on the way to Gig Harbor, WA where we spent Saturday night, and didn’t go to bed till about 11 pm that night…there is a reason the shirts had the logo “Drive. Run. Sleeep? Repeat.” On them…I love the shirt! Oh, and our team was 63rd overall of 142 finishers and 10th in our division of mixed submasters (all members over 30).

Race, long report:

Where to begin…

This all kind of came about with a blog I began reading a year and a half ago or so. I was enjoying reading about her training for Hood to Coast, a group of running friends out there all tend to run it and some of them have been running it almost since it first started. They also have other relays some of the team have done together. Last year they had two people back out of Hood to Coast a day or two before the race and I stated then that if I only lived closer I so would’ve done it. Well, Annette told me she would keep me in mind for next year (meaning 2008). Last February she told me she was still keeping me in mind, but it was a pretty set team, however, there was a new relay they were going to do, it was a Ragnar series race, (we were told they plan to have 16 of them in the next year) in the Northwest Passage of Washington. I thought it sounded fun and it fit better into my training (end of July vs end of August) anyway so I signed on. The group didn’t, however, know that I was someone Annette knew from online. It didn’t phase me doing it since I’ve met numerous other running friends online and met up with them at races and it’s all been fine so just one more and not a big deal.

We were maybe going to need to go to the start on Thursday night, so I flew in on Wednesday before the race. No problems getting in and was picked up by Annette, Karen and Debbie, who were all on the team. Although Annette had a bad incident on Tuesday before the race, twisting her ankle which put her out of the race…Debbie’s husband stepped in though so no one had to pick up extra legs. I stayed with Annette and her husband Brian on Wednesday night and Thursday (I was in Van 2 and it was decided we would meet the team on Friday at the first big exchange zone). We had lunch on Thursday, Annette, myself, Karen and Kristina (another of the team, and also in the van that I was in) and I saw the town of Canby where they all live, just south of Portland. The plan was to meet up at Jack’s (captain) at 7:15, although not everyone got the message, Kristina picked me up and we were there, as was Jason, the replacement for Annette and Debbie’s (she was in van 1) husband. Karen (Debbie’s sister) and Derek, that last of the crew, arrived and we got things loaded and got ready to leave. Jason had to work on Sunday morning, so he was driving to the ferry landing and we were picking him up to head to exchange 6, Karen rode with him and the rest of us went and loaded up the van, got ice for the cooler and got some coffees to wake us up. Finally we were off…probably about 8:45.

Drive was fun, getting to know everyone (Kristina hadn’t met Jack or Derek before either and she commented to me how we were riding up with them and she didn’t know them, but she knew me, so it was good, and I kind of thought yeah, I know the feeling since I had flown out to see a bunch of people I didn’t know really either!! But hey, it’s all good…just weird how things happen) and it seemed to go by quickly…we met up with Jason and Karen (after freaking them out when Derek told them we had stopped at REI because I wanted to see it) and were on to Bellingham for a quick lunch and then meeting up with Van 1 at exchange 6, where our group took over. They had been told we were running behind so we had them a little freaked (it included telling them I had fallen off the rock climbing wall at REI and hurt my ankle) but all was good. They had eventually figured we were BSing them. Except for the person running at the time, she saw me when she passed off to our runner and asked how my foot was, I told her it had been a joke, she slapped my arm for it!! Exchange went well, Derek was first, and he had a short run, but it turned out to have a tough climb for him, so we had a little time before he got in (turned out the elevation maps for each leg were really spot on, I’ve never seen that for a race before). It was very cool as we passed him and yelled encouragement on the route to him and other runners, and then cheered people in at the exchange. For those that haven’t done a relay before, they use slap bracelets between runners so you don’t have to carry a baton or something, and you drop the one runner off, pick up the next, mark on a clipboard your times at each exchange and calculate running times off that. Each exchange had port-a-potties which was nice and depending on the runner’s leg, you could drive out and give them water at a point if they felt they would need it. Plus it gave you a chance to cheer your runner through tough spots. It went from Derek to Jason, Jason to Karen and then Karen to Jack, only we screwed up and didn’t see Karen come in and were just heading down to watch for her and she had been there for a bit…oops…but from then on it was good. Kristina was after Jack and then it was me…My first leg was leg 12, a 6.6 mile run (although Garmin had it at 6.7). First four miles were FLAT and kind of boring, I was hitting consistent 7:30 miles and enjoying passing people and hearing cheers from other teams and my own as they passed and then checked on me…I didn’t need water and they went on to the next exchange. Finally hit a few light rolling hills, which I welcomed (flat is very boring and kind of tough mentally when you’re used to a little hill challenge) and it ran along Puget Sound so nice views between the trees…Got into the exchange and was happy to have finally had a run. We relaxed a little bit, I stretched, then it was off to find something to eat before getting to the next exchange…real food vs the junk of oh, double stuff oreos (that my team informed me they had gotten into while I was running!) and milk duds, some bananas, peanut butter and bagels were in there too…Dinner was good, but kind of wish we hadn’t eaten to a degree, as I think I would’ve maybe liked a bit of sleep more, but then I was on an adrenaline rush so probably wouldn’t have slept anyway. It was then off to exchange 18 where we tried to nap a bit, but the team was almost there so we had to get stuff settled on the van and get going…

The exchange went, Derek looked good when we passed him and he didn’t want water, just sent us on to the exchange, same for Jason, Karen had an unfortunate incident where she got lost, turns out some of the signs were being messed with by kids, something uncontrollable unfortunately, so she got a little lost and came in much later than we expected. At this time it was pitch black and we were wearing vests and carrying flashlights too, so even scarier for her I’m sure. Jack’s was fine, but after we took off I really felt for Kristina, she had the worst run that set by far…very steep climbs. She was still not ready to talk about it on Sunday. My leg was only 3.6 miles but started on a steep downhill which was doing a number on my heel, then a climb and another drop and finally a run across a bridge to Whidby Island where the finish happened. It would’ve been a beautiful run, too bad it was dark…the cross to the island looked quite cool. I passed off the bracelet just thinking, now I can sleep for a bit…and that was our next move. We headed right to the exchange zone and took sleeping bags over to a field behind a school where I laid down and was out…others said they hadn’t slept much cause of the noise…I heard nothing!! Even with the hard ground I was just out.

So last legs came up starting around 7 am…everyone was trying to get someone else to run their last leg and talking about how they couldn’t wait to be done, but it was all in jest. Derek finished, was hurting, but he then asked who else wanted to give up their leg. Apparently he is notorious for taking others legs…anyway, no one took him up on it and we drove on, more cheering etc…My last leg was the last leg. I took the bracelet for what was set to be my hardest too. It was only 4.4 miles but had a decent climb a mile in, and then a climb to the finish. And it was at the end of all this so sleep deprived it wasn’t real easy. I had some good music…and partway up the hill my team stopped to cheer me on (well, actually it was at the top of the hill) and there was another team yelling really loudly for me too. That helped…I got to the top of the climb though and thought my arms were going to fall off. Actually I wanted to cut them off as I felt it would be easier. It was luckily a nice decent and getting toward the bottom I saw the Welcome to Langley sign, that was the town we were finishing in and knew I was only about a mile from the finish. The other team that had been on the hill was there again and yelled for me, even doing the wave…that was cool. I did my final climb and came around the corner to where the finish was, had a picture taken by Karen and then we all run down a chute to finish together (except for Debbie and Jason who had had to leave so he could get home and get some sleep for work on Sunday). The rest of the group included Doug, Del, Kathy, Cathy, Debbie and Bettie. Had some pictures taken at the finish and then over to the beer tent. I saw the other team that had been cheering and thanked them…one of the girls commented on my skirt (I was wearing one of my running skirts for the last leg) as she had one of the same brand. And they had known me as “pink skirt”…Beer was good, we then grabbed coffee and hit the ferry to head to Gig Harbor where we were spending the night. We had dinner then got some beer and hung out on the deck before crashing around 11. The next morning we did a kayak trip around the harbor for about an hour, I finally got to see a harbor seal, he (or she) was out fishing and it was quite cool to see from the kayak…I was wondering if I was the only one seeing it when I noticed Bettie nearby, and then Derek and Jack came up and I told them and then it popped up again and they saw it. Very cool. The rest of the group asked me if I had seen it and they were quite happy I had since I had talked about them. Then on the trip back to Portland it was decided to take me to some waterfalls outside Portland…talk about a gorgeous view!! (and a steep 1.3 mile climb up and then back down, OK, the run apparently wasn’t difficult enough, Kristina was having a bit of a tough time though and had headed back as she has been doing a boot camp with Annette that is killing them, and part of how Annette hurt herself!!) Then it was off to head home. The red eye was tough. Although my first leg was pleasant as I had a nice (and fairly attractive) guy I was sitting next to talking to on the flight. We exchanged facebook info…I got home and opted to sleep for a couple of hours before going to work. Was awake around 10:30 though and went in, even though I was a zombie…

Overall a really great experience though. I’m definitely game for doing one again. I hope to maybe go out and run with this team again next year, either for this relay or maybe their Hood to Coast team. I wouldn’t mind getting a team together for the local one here too. One thing about it, even though it’s a lot of running, it doesn’t tear you up as much as it might seem. I definitely am up for my 18 miler that’s on the plan for this weekend. Only reason I didn’t run yesterday was because I was so tired…Oh, I also tried some good microbrews out there as well. Next time I will plan on staying longer too. I was told all these great things they would’ve taken me out and done had I been there longer…I just hadn’t wanted to impose on people I didn’t know real well and wasn’t sure about people’s work schedules, etc…next time I’ll know!

Traveling to Oregon

My adventure started on Wednesday afternoon at the airport. I was scheduled to fly at 5:30 and was being picked up by Supershuttle at 2:45 or so, it was a little early and there were no other pickups so I was at the airport early and through security quite quickly since I had pre-printed my boarding pass. Gave me time to kill so I went for a beer at the Rock Bottom Brewery location at the airport. Had a couple there and talked to a few people sitting at the bar…then finally it was time to start the long journey.

Flight to Phoenix was uneventful and on time and on time to Portland. I had called Annette and told her things were looking good for on time and when I called her on arrival she was just getting to the airport. She had hurt her ankle earlier this week and was unfortunately out for the relay, but she came with Karen and Debbie who were running with us as well. We got back to Annette’s and plans for lunch the next day were confirmed. I got settled in and was out for the night. Of course woke quite early, even after having been up late, and after a shower and some chit chatting with Annette for a bit, Kristina and Karen arrived and we headed off to California Pizza Kitchen for lunch. We sat outside and had a nice conversation…finally we headed back and Annette and I went shopping for snacks for me to bring with for the race. Then some time by the pool and finally off to dinner at a little pizza place in Oregon City. Back from dinner and made an earlier night since it was going to be an early morning.

I'm Back!!

Safe and sound...red eyes are NOT fun!! (I can't sleep on planes!) But the trip was a whirlwind and a blast...I will try very hard to get an update up, even just a brief one, tonight, but if not tonight for sure by Wednesday (running group tomorrow night and dinner after the run). Off to work for a couple hours now!

Ragnar is Upon Me

And it’s not the Vikings mascot (our team mascot’s name is Ragnar so I find it fitting I’m doing a relay in this series!). That’s right folks, this will probably be my last post before my trip as I leave work around 2 pm tomorrow and will be heading to the airport via Supershuttle to fly to Portland where I will meet up with my team to head up to meet Van 1 at the first exchange zone somewhere south of Blaine, WA on our approximate 187 mile jaunt from Blaine to Langley, WA, located on Whidby Island in the Puget Sound area of Washington state. I can’t wait.

I’ll hopefully arrive in Portland at 10:40 as my flight states and meet up with Annette where I will be staying Wednesday and Thursday night. Thursday will be a bit of sightseeing and shopping to get snacks for the trip and early Friday morning we will be loaded up and ready for the drive to Washington to meet up with our other 6 runners who will be completing their first legs as we arrive. My first leg will start sometime around 7 pm on Friday, where I will be running 6.3 or so miles to the second exchange zone where Van 1 will take over again and my group will rest and head up to meet up in the next exchange. My second leg, a 3.5 mile run, will start around 4 am Saturday morning and topping it off with a final 4.2 mile run that will have us finish around 2 pm or so, in Langley, WA, on Whidby Island. Temps are looking to be upper 60s/low 70s during the day and nothing down further than low 50s at night, with sun and partly cloudy. Perfect weather in my mind. After the race we'll drink a beer or two at the after party and then head somewhere south to stay at someone's friends place and apparently there is a bar with live music nearby. So should be a fun time with a bunch of runners. The really fun part is I know only one of the people, and her from email and blog reading, the rest are all people that I don't know except from emails going on about the relay...but I'm super excited. After all, they are all runners and so far in my experiences in meeting up with runners from online groups they have all been even more fun in person. Can't wait.

My flight back is a red eye through Vegas and I may or may not be up for a full day of work after. We’ll see what happens. I told my boss I’d most likely be in in the morning, but we’ll see how I feel when I get off the plane at 5 am. I might work the morning, the afternoon or all day, it all just depends. Will hopefully get a report written up and posted with some pictures by Tuesday evening at the latest.

We're Gonna Win Twins...

And talk about a blowout. 14-2, Go Twins!! We actually saw a good game. About everyone got a hit!!

What a long day though. I was up at 5:30 on Saturday, out the door to meet the group for our 16 miler (averaging 8:42 thank you very much!). Lakes were packed because Twin Cities Marathon sponsored a water stop. We ran an area that I had only run one other time and then did some repeat of areas I run often. After the run it was a quick stop at Caribou for coffee then to a friends to quick change and head to the first bridal shop. Dressed her in numerous dresses, ruled out till we were down to 2 that we thought were good options. Then we went to lunch in St. Paul (and might I say that place is DEAD on weekends...took us a bit of walking to find a place for lunch but had a great brunch at a little French place, mimosas and bellinis included!) and then to the second shop. At lunch my friend officially asked me and her sister to be her matron and maid of honor (no bridesmaids or groomsmen, we are ALL the top spot!!) and her sister in law will be her third. I was there for part of the second shop, but had to head to the Twins. My friend finished and met us there and we had a fun evening of baseball and beer. She had one more dress she really liked at the second shop so now it's basically down to two. We also had seen a bridesmaid dress that she really liked at the first shop that probably would be fine with either and both I and her sister liked that one and price was reasonable...so hopefully that will be it!!

Today was day off from running. I actually managed to get some packing done too. I think I've about got everything I really need in my bag. Anything else I figure I can buy out there (probably including a cheap pillow to sleep on). As long as I have my three changes of running clothes (3 relay legs and no way I want to sit in wet clothes up to my next run) and something to wear after...I should be good. Debating on the shoes I'll wear though. I'd like the good ones, but they aren't easy to slip on, so maybe I will bring a pair of flip flops...they are small enough to squeeze in my suitcase...

Could be a busy week. Was trying to squeeze in a trip to see Batman, but think that will wait till I get back. My friend is going to maybe take me to see the other dress tomorrow, then Tuesday running group and Wednesday off to Portland...so looking forward to the relay and meeting Annette in person. Another running blog friend encounter!! With her and 11 others...nothing like a relay to get to know people too!!

Running, Weekends and Vacation

After a day to reflect…still not sure what the problem was yesterday (and last Thursday for that matter). I used to do all my hard workouts in the morning. I don’t know if it’s a matter of needing to be up earlier to be more awake, if it’s more humid and I’m not used to that right now (it has been a fairly mild summer so far and the humidity hasn’t been as up as it tends to be, but Tuesday I dealt with it and managed respectable times, although yeah, those do have quick water stops every 2 miles or so…)

My heel, still sore after, but I don’t think that actually is affecting my running. My right hamstring/glute is bothering and/or tight, but again, not something I think is the problem. 2 weeks ago I did this run in the afternoon, and it went really well. I don’t think the morning should be affecting it, but maybe it is. I had tentative plans today and last week too after work so had to do the morning thing. After next week, which is a recovery/race week so I’ll have less mileage and see if that makes a difference for the next week. I have one more week that’s technically “endurance” training anyway, and then I move into more speed work.

In the meantime, I should order and re-read and update myself on the diet I should be focusing on (based on a nutrition book I read a while back) and trying to get the crap out of my diet…that said I still managed to eat 2 cupcakes today (wish I was running this afternoon actually as I have tended to have good runs after cupcakes and/or cake!). My work is bad…we have treats once a month for the all company meeting. Sigh…this was the first cupcakes they had and they were good, although I have had better. Then lunch was provided for something else, but I ended up going to my standby meal of peanut butter sandwich (something I keep on hand) because they had subs and all the subs had mayo or a dressing of some sort and I don’t like mayo!! At all…it makes me sick!! Bad experience long ago and I avoid it now!

Friday

OK, I have to say, maybe the shoes are magic and if so I need to get more. I got my Danskos on Tuesday night (and wore them Wednesday) and my Chaco’s on Wednesday and wore them Thursday and today. I woke up last night and went to the bathroom and I didn’t seem to feel heel pain as much as I normally do when I get up and start walking (and no, unlike what I’ve heard about PF that it’s excruciating when you first start walking and it loosens up, mine pretty much stays the same all day, anytime I get up to walk). So I’m hopeful that wearing these and continuing icing regularly will help.

I wasn’t able to get up for my run this morning. Which I know I’m going to regret. I decided maybe I’ll go to the gym at lunch and strength train and then go home and run 4 miles vs the 6 I was planning and then maybe have a bike ride (or maybe I’ll keep from the bike ride since I am running 16 with my group tomorrow). I definitely need an early night tonight as I’m exhausted and didn’t want to get up this morning and I have a very full day tomorrow. Meeting the group for a 16 miler at 7 am, then heading straight to a friends to shower and prep for the day before going wedding dress shopping with her, her mom, sister and soon to be mother-in-law. She has an appointment at 11 am at one place not far from her and then plan is for lunch someplace fun and then to another shop for a 4:30 appointment, although that one I’ll be leaving early as I have tickets for the Twins tomorrow. Meeting up with a couple of friends and the friend I’m dress shopping with will be coming to the game too as soon as she’s done at the second shop. We'll be enjoying baseball, in good seats, mainly I’m there for the beer cause I’m not a big fan of baseball, but I’m going with people who all like it, which is why I got the tickets anyway, and I'm a fan of my Twins no matter what. Probably go out someplace after as well. And Sunday I have plans for a brunch and drinks with a friend on a patio…should be fun!!

At some point over this time I HAVE to get some packing done. I leave on Wednesday. I have to decide on transport to the airport…do I take Supershuttle, Cab or drive…and/or some combination of those…haven’t decided yet. But the packing is something that I am freaking that I haven’t done yet…I mean it’s a short trip, and I don’t care about re-wearing and/or wearing the shirt from the race that night or something, but do need the right running stuff…weather looks to be good for it though. Highs in 60s, lows in 50s…sun, although most of my running will be later and/or at night!! Getting excited about the relay.

And one more add on...OK...I ran after work, 6 miles, not that fast, was supposed to be recovery, but it was 8:35 pace...what's up with that?

Crap Run!

I don't know what is wrong with me!! I had a good long run Saturday, Tuesday night run wasn't bad (8:39 pace for 9 miles with 90 degree temps and high humidity) overall considering the conditions. This morning I was up and out the door just after 5, humidity is high (my shirt is soaked) and it's not as cool as would be nice, but it wasn't overly horrible. I decided instead of a straight tempo I'd do longer cruise intervals, 2 miles at hopefully 7:45-7:50 and then a mile rest and another 3 miles of cruise intervals and a cool down. My warm up mile was 9:42...very slow for me lately. First 2 were 7:56 and 8:05...OK, not what I wanted but I dealt with it. Had a 9:11 recovery and then 3 cruise at 7:54, 7:59 and 8:10 or something like that. Last mile was around 8:40...Overall was 1:07:53 for 8 miles. NOT a good run with average of 8:30. I need 10 seconds per mile faster than that (OK, technically 6 seconds) for 26 to make my goal 3...this is not good. I have no idea what the problem is. Tempo runs are my least favorite but probably most important....I'm heavier than I want to be...and maybe my eating has been crap...have to stop with the junk and just maintain keeping good food in me...how do I do that though?

Advantages of a Running Group

1. Obviously the people to run with is a big one. Not to mention water, powerade and jolly ranchers and starburst at the water stop (set up at a central point where you did loops of no more than 4 miles before you got back to the water).

2. Yes, someone to get you out of bed because you know there are others running...and I was able to get up and run with the group at 7 am and it really wasn't THAT bad...

3. A whole bunch of interesting new people to talk to that WON'T ask "how many miles is that marathon? Are you going to win? Or look at you funny when you talk about running 15 miles

4. Getting to know new people (main reason I joined). I ran and talked with at least 4 or 5 different people at points today and am still kind of running with one girl I met first Tuesday night who ran 3:28 in March...someone right around my goal time!! And she figures that's about what she wants to run this fall!!

5. People to agonize with you up that last really, really steep hill!!

6. People to get you to knew places to run. I had never known about the trails at Fort Snelling before...shaded and mostly soft!!

7. Water and powerade along with a HUGE bag of gummy bears, red vines, cookies and granola at the finish.

8. People to go for coffee with after!!Yes, it was a fun day...and there are a couple of hotties...(I went to coffee with two of them!). Not quite as nice as my gym hottie, but it's something new...Most of the guys are married, or I'm debating if they are straight, but what does it matter...it's all about eye candy right?

So those are the advantages. After a rough week, planned 14 today, ended up being 15 (which is what I actually wanted) and it felt good. Averaged 8:52 overall, had an 8:17 and 8:30 near the end, lost signal for the very last so it came up slow, but I'm guessing it was close to that and I'm happy with that as that is more than I hoped for. Now if only I can keep that up for the 20 milers when they come!!

Mile 1 - 9:22
Mile 2 - 8:56
Mile 3 - 9:00
Mile 4 - 8:55
Mile 5 - 8:37
Mile 6 - 8:47
Mile 7 - 7:46 (I know this one was off and probably averaged into the next one)
Mile 8 - 9:26
Mile 9 - 8:33
Mile 10 - 8:44
Mile 11 - 8:37
Mile 12 - 8:17
Mile 13 - 8:13
Mile 14 - 8:41
Mile 15 - 9:37 (had a huge hill to climb)

Oh, one more advantage...was done before 10 am...

Shoes for PF

Oh what a week. TGIF!!

So, I saw my chiropractor twice this week (I had a lot of tension in my shoulders that I wasn’t even noticing) and she also adjusted my foot/ankle and I had some massage and ultrasound done on my left foot/heel. It’s still sore, seems more sore this week, but then last week I put it through a very rigorous workout in anticipation of my relay (my team officially starts 2 weeks from today although I won’t be starting for a few hours yet, being runner 12). I’m prepared, or as prepared as I’m going to be for it. I’m just looking forward to the fun of meeting a bunch of new people and getting this experience!! Anyway, my chiro did get on my case about the shoes I was wearing, and I said I like barefoot and she said my foot won’t heal without proper care. She told me I should get some Chaco sandals…although on looking, I didn’t find many that were work appropriate. They had the sport/casual sandals, but nothing for work, or the ones that they used to have for work related have been discontinued and/or are only available in not so great colors. I did find a pair on Amazon I could live with though and ordered them (the blue pair). Set to arrive next week. On my second visit to the chiro this week I mentioned ordering the one pair but that they didn’t have good work shoes, she then told me about Dansko brand which I looked at and found a number that I like…and ordered the brown pair with the buckle to start and have these two I’m considering (I really like the brown but since I have the other style ordered in brown, I SHOULD just order the black and call 3 new shoes in a supportive style good for now…do I really need to spending this money?? No…especially when there are other things I want too!! But then this is for my foot, which I need to have healthy right?).

This weeks running. Ran with my running group on Tuesday and did 7 miles at an 8:34 pace. Not stellar but OK. Legs have been feeling kind of tired this week, and not sure why. I’ve been good about building up mileage slowly, but Tuesday’s wasn’t great, heel hurt but I ran an easy 4 on Wednesday and then Thursday got up for a tempo run that didn’t go nearly as well as last week’s. Last week I hit 7:55 pace for the 7 miles when that was supposed to be pace for the tempo miles. This week I did 8, managed 8:20 pace and only a 7:58 (due to a very close 8:30 pace for the 1st tempo mile). It also felt really difficult. I’m not sure if it’s because it was a morning run (haven’t been doing this and it could be I was sluggish and not ready for it), my legs were tired from the later night run the night before, or if there was some other factor…I think my eating was OK from the night before and I’ve done 10-12 before a meal before with no problem. Anyway, it’s something to think about (mainly I did the morning run because we were due to have storms and it was going to be warm and sticky last night, which it was, we had storms come through that had alarms going off in the building and we were supposed to go to sheltered areas, I was on a phone call that I couldn’t end because I needed some answers, a tree ended up going over on a couple of cars in the parking lot even, thankfully mine was not in that lot, it’s the executive/visitor’s lot). This morning I got up and did an easy paced 6 and will do the gym (strength and maybe bike) this afternoon due to more potential storms tonight. Tomorrow is a 14 or so miler with my running group. I have to be up early for it, but oh well. No real plans for the weekend which is good. I had almost forgotten a friend is on layover here for about an hour and a half tomorrow afternoon so I’m heading out to the airport to see him (have a few errands I can run around the area anyway so works nice) and have a coffee or something before he continues on. Then not sure about the rest of the day. I might keep the miles lower, even though I wanted to maintain same as last week (43) or more for this week…guess heel will dictate that. OK, the new shoes have to come soon!!

Uggh...

Oh so glad I just ate and am watching "Running on the Sun", documentary about Badwater and they had a segment on the feet...and video pictures of it...don't eat and watch this!! It's an interesting movie so far...but yuck!! I don't have as ugly of feet as I thought!!

Tonight was another group run. Base building for some so it's somewhat slower but for more of a challenge I biked 4 miles there, then did the 7 mile run at 8:34 pace and then 3.25 miles home (took a shorter, less hilly route). So it was a decent workout day. Will try to do a bigger update tomorrow about the video taping last night etc...

4th of July

Well, here is another week come and gone and very little blogging. I don’t know what’s wrong with me other than just not having the energy after a long day of work, workouts and what not to sit down and actually type something up. I’m also very, very far behind on people’s blogs…I think so as not to overwhelm myself, I might need to just start doing a read two people’s a night kind of thing and keep it at that…and get back to the doing the blog in the morning and pasting it at night when I can get online…I really hate that I can’t read them anymore during the work day!! I’m sorry, but is there anything wrong with taking a break and/or using my lunch (considering by law I’m technically allowed 2 15 minutes and a half!!) to read about my friends from around the country? It’s not like I’m surfing porn or something!!

Anyway, I think my last post was after my running group last Tuesday…the rest of the week went something like this:

Wednesday
Nothing much. Trip to Trader Joe’s, which I love, and then relaxing that evening. I had worked out in the morning and it was a rest day from running.

Thursday
Confusion could describe this one. It was warm but not too bad…I was doing the run in the evening and planned 7 miles with 5 at tempo. That meant, for tonight, 7:55 pace. Well the overall run was 7:55 pace. I started with a warmup of around 9 minutes and then the first tempo mile was 7:30 or so. A bit fast and during it I decided I wanted to do cruise intervals instead…then realized during the second mile, which would’ve been recovery for cruise intervals, that that was a copout and I should stick to the plan, so I picked it up and salvaged it a bit at 8:34 or so, not great if it was tempo mind you, but alright, next 3 miles were something like 7:33, 7:30 and I know last was 7:20…well, a bit better than the 7:55 so I guess I’m short changing on the tempos right now. Might need to rethink that!! After the run I cooked up my lasagna and had dinner and then was vegging and ready to go to sleep but roused myself and headed to my fav bar since I hadn’t been there and seen some friends in forever…caught up with them and had a nice evening.

Friday
Ended up having one more beer than planned on Thursday so crashed at a friends instead of going home and ended up with a later start than planned due to a stop for coffee and a few errands on the way home, but that was OK. I got home, ran 5 miles (in anticipation of trying for a 3 in 24 to practice for my upcoming relay) and then got myself ready and headed to a friends parents for 4th of July fun. Got there and an hour later we were on the pontoon on a small lake, cruising and swimming. There was another girl that is a marathon runner so we had good conversation and before we knew it, it was time to go back and have food…good grill out and chips and fun stuff and then we sat on the dock while others were on the pontoon…they came back, some left and the few of us remaining ended up going back on the lake to watch fireworks around the city. Nice evening and I was home at a reasonable hour, but was so tired I opted to sleep in and run later the next day.

We had the most perfect day too. 80 degrees, sun, very low humidity and no wind…we don’t get many of those in MN at all, and even less of them during the 4th (usually too hot or too cold) so it was awesome to have for once.

Saturday
Skipped morning run and started around 11…not a great idea since I was running during more heat and humidity than I’ve been exposed to so far this year. I ran 12, figuring I could quit a bit earlier if I needed to but toughed it out. There was walking…I didn’t bring water (I know, dumb) or my electrolyte tablets but I managed to struggle through at a 9 minute pace…all things considered I guess I should be happy with that. Had a lazy day and relaxed after that, got nothing done I had wanted to, but oh well…ran another 3 later that evening and called it a day (this was the real plan to get the 3 in 24, the 1 pm finish, 7:45 pm start and then a Sunday morning run). Watched some TV and went to bed.

Sunday
Got up and did a quick 4 miler, wore my Garmin and ended up with an 8:40 pace which isn’t bad considering I did 12 and 3 the day before…I guess I’m OK for the relay.
Later in the day met with a friend to go to a Shakespeare show at a local British Pub that was fun. I had the time off though, it was at 6 pm the last 2 Sundays and then yesterday and next week it’s at 3:30 for another thing going on that day too. So we were there early and ended up going to do mini golf that is at the city modern art museum and sculpture garden. The famous Cherry on the Spoon is housed here so I had to finally snap a pic of it on our way back for the Shakespeare thing.

Over burgers and chips (fries, we were at a British pub remember) and a srongbow cider for me and stella for my friend, we watched Shakespeare’s work, all 37 plays, done in 97 minutes (abridged of course) by 3 men in tights…needless to say it was quite humerous. Started with Romeo and Juliet, then a very quick run through the comedies, basically calling them all the same, then the histories which were done as a football game and finally ending with Hamlet…the pub we were at has a lawn bowling area on the roof, and the play was done in a corner and people were set up on blankets to watch. This same pub does movies on Mondays in August (British themed of course) and all for free…it was definitely a fun time and I might end up going again next week with different friends. But since they improv some of it it’s bound to have different parts to it and be just as fun again.

Monday
So that’s the recap/week in review. I had other things I was contemplating writing on, but they will have to hold till another time. This is long enough as it is. Had 2 30 minute strength sessions last week, 2 bike rides (at the gym) and managed 43 miles…seeing my chiro today!!

Running Group

My first run with my running group. We are split into 4 groups, the 4:45 and slower marathoners, the 4:00 - 4:45, the 3:20 - 4:00, then the sub 3:20 group. My group is called the Kenyans...I always wanted to be a Kenyan!! What a good day for a run too. I actually was able to be up and moving for the 7 am start time without even wanting to lay around much more. Made it to my running store, then off for a nice little loop around the lakes. I even wore my I love the lakes running shirt. My group, at least this week, consisted of men. Yep, me and about 6 other boys...some cut the run short, 7.5-10.5 were the options. I did the full 10.5 and we averaged an 8:49 pace, which is right about where I want to be anyway. I had 19 miles on my original schedule for this week, but opted to just run with the group and finish with them. I met probably 10 people that I talked quite a bit with and I know I'll get to know more as training goes on. Maybe I'll make more of the morning runs than I thought. Anyway, after, we had shopping day. 30% off everything at the running store, for the most part. Yay!! I got my marathon shoes (well, I might use the ones I've had a little longer but only wore a couple of times because I like the color better but we'll see), some electrolyte caplets because I don't know if I even know where mine are right now and they do work (at least I believe they do) a new pair of socks that I like but don't like spending full price of $9 for and some body glide cause you can never have too much of that.

I think I've recovered from my illness yesterday, so hopefully am at it for tonight as it's a friends birthday and we are celebrating out watching live music with the girls. It should be fun. Not sure I'll drink, but might force myself since I don't want the birthday girl to have to drink alone...we'll see what happens though. As of right now I don't even feel like it.