yes i'm alive. not much to report. alive and kicking. yup. exciting stuff. I'll try and think of something exciting to write about soon. If i can't think of something maybe i'll type out portions of the dictionary for you all to read. How would that be?

Confessions and Updates

I have a confession. I have been cheating on my blog with facebook. I know I know - facebook is the lazy man's blog - a quick one line message - no real thought - but it's just so easy - and I've been so busy... I haven't even had time to read any one else's blog. Ok enough of that - what's the update in my world...
Well I ran pittsburgh back on may 3rd - didn't train very well for it - but going into it decided i just want to have a fun race - i wanted to run a relaxed - evenly paced run - where for once i didn't go out too hard and die. So the morning of pittsburgh - i started off towards the back of the pack and just kept saying to myself "run comfortable" started off around 9 minute miles - got some 8:30s in there - did a good job of running nice and even. I came through the half way mark and the announcer said "these runners are on pace to come in under 4 hrs." Well going into it I thought - i'd just like to beat my pr - it was a 4:25 - I know - not very fast - but hey it was my best! I had a secret hope of getting near 4hrs - but my primary goal was to run a comfortable smart race... so i pushed that out of my head as best as I could... I did well until I hit the mile 22 marker and my legs felt soooo heavy... I tried to keep thinking positive - i had run so well so far - but i have to admit I walked for a bit on this mile - i think the pace was 10:45 or something for that mile. Fortunately when I hit mile marker 23 the course took a sharp down hill - so whether i liked it or not my legs started really moving again and I got back down to a decent pace. From there it was pretty much down hill and then flat to the finish. Around mile 25 someone yelled "come on finish under 4 hours" and I started to panic... I saw some guy laying on the ground with parametics - and I started to panic some more... I stopped worrying about the under 4 hrs - since it wasn't even my goal to start - and just concentrated on running with a nice smooth stride. Final time... 4:01:01. I was so happy - no i didn't break 4 hrs - but it was a 24 minute pr with half assed training preparation - and it wasn't an all out effort. The only down side of the day was that steve ruptured the interface between his achilles tendon and the muscle at mile 5. But the good news is he back up to a walk run - so hopefully we'll get him going again soon.
In a few weeks were heading up to michigan to check state number 5 off my list - there is a small town marathon - I'm thinking i'm just going to walk run it with steve. If im going to complete a marathon in each state I can't race them all. I think it will be a lot of fun - I think we'll start early with the walkers - take our time - take pictures and just have a nice get away... either that or i'll be typical me and actual try and race it... I'll let you know what happens.
Next on the list is marine corp. My original plan was to aim for a 3:50 there and then aim for my bq 3:40 at my next marathon.... we'll see how this summer goes though - solar is aiming for a 3:30 this fall and if I have any desire to continue running any runs with her at all - i'll need to kick it into high gear.... so who knows maybe i'll set my goals a little higher. My training has been sparatic since pittsburgh. I've gained some weight - had some weeks where i have done nothing... and i mean nothing. I'm going to start my 16 week training program for marine corp the week after 4th of july - til then I'm trying to get back in the swing of some decent work outs - and actually running 4-5 days a week. Sad I know - but that's what i've been reduced to. So far this week:

Monday a.m. - yes i said a.m. - i actually got up and ran - it was suppose to be an easy run - pace was about 8:45 - so I was ok with that

Tuesday - took night off to hang dry wall - actually strained my stomach dragging drywall around

Wednesday: 6 mile trail run with fleet feet group and solar - garmin was dead - but we were both breathing pretty hard and not talking nearly as much as normal - so i have to qualify that as a pretty good effort

Thursday: actually did my track workout by myself - go me! 3 x (3x600) with 400 recovery between sets. Well the workout said to do 4:00 between the first 3 600's then 3:30 between the send 3 600's then 3:00 between the last three. Well dummy me ran the first 600 - then waited for 2 minutes... and 3 minutes and I was like this is just way too long of a recovery - what is the point of this? so i started my second 600 - i then realized what a moron i was - that by 4:00 minutes it meant start your 600 ... finish your 600 - keep the watch running and on 4 minutes go again. duh. For me this was about a 1:30 between then a 1:00 min between and finally 30 seconds between. I have to admit that my last 600 was more of a 40 second break - my goal was to keep all of the 600s under a 7:00 minute/mile pace. And i achieved that.

So - so far it's been a decent start at getting back on track this week. however it is 9:30 a.m. and I am eating potato chips as i write this.... oh well baby steps. ( i brought a few chips with me as a treat for lunch... just couldn't wait til then to get into them!) that's all for now!

Race Report

This past weekend I flew down to meet steve in D.C. to run the Suntrust National half marathon. I ran this race in 2007 I think - and it was alright - not the most scenic run thru the ghettos of D.C. However, I thought it might be fun now that it had been a few years to give it another shot. Going into this weekend - i didn't run Thursday or Friday - b/c my legs still hurt from the 20miler the previous Sunday. I was a little worried about how bad the half would be - so i thought better to rest than to over do it. As usual I wasn't sure what to expect. My goal was to just run a nice comfortable training run instead of racing. My training has been less than consistant - so I didn't want to worry about pace. I just figured I would try and run a sub nine pace the whole time and just enjoy a race for once.
Well Friday night was a rough night - apparently our hotel was party central - so we didn't get much sleep thanks to our neighbors. When we got on the elevator at 5:55 that morning 2 guys were getting off the elevator - who had obviously just returned from a night out. there was a third guy passed out on the handrail in the elevator. Steve was like "dude" you going with them? So the two guys had to come back and wake him up - he had puke all down the front of his shirt too. Ew. Well my stomach was already upset - I was really getting nervous for some reason - (more nervous than usual that is) It took everything in me to not throw up before that race started. I was also freaking out b/c I didn't know how to dress. The forcase was between 36 and 38 degrees. I do not know how to dress for that. Too cold for shorts - too hot for pants - just bought some capri's but wasn't going to wear them with out trying them on a shorter run. I eventually ended up with a tank top, a short sleeve shirt, gloves and pants. Wish I would have had some arm warmers. It was a beautiful sunny day - but just one of those in between temperature swings. Then when they played the national anthem I started crying. I have no idea what my problem was.
The race started - and I just kept saying to myself "run comfortable" by that i meant - don't worry about your pace - don't push so much that you feel like hell - just run and enjoy. So in the first mile I had to stop and tie my shoe for the first time -
mile 1 : 8:56 - ok - not too bad with the shoe tying in there
mile 2 : 8:26 - felt really comfortable still - getting hot though
mile 3: 8:29 - still felt nice and comfortable - slowed down to take off long sleeve shirt
mile 4: 8:31
mile 5: 8:59 - i think there was a bit of a hill in there - and I realized both shoes were untied - picked it up a bit after that -- but still nice and easy
mile 6: 8:19
mile 7: needed gu - and both shoes untied - hands were cold so had trouble with tying shoes and getting gu open. By the time i started running - my lap pace for that mile was at 10:40 - tried not to panic - and just picked it up again... mile ended up at 9:41 - ugh. I need to get something to stop these shoes from untying!
mile 8: 8:10 - still felt good
mile 9: 8:30
mile 10: 7:49 - I felt awesome at this point - so i decided to just go with it
mile 11: 7:55
mile 12: 8:37 - stopped at a water stop and checked port o pot line - told myself to suck it up and get going - i could hold it for another mile
mile 13 : 7:52 -


Total time 1:52. Now - that is not the best race I've ever run timewise - but it was the best race i've ever run. I had such a good time, the race flew by, I wasn't worried about my time or anything else - and for the first time i ran negative splits! I'm always the type that goes out too hard and then is dragging my butt over the last few miles. When i got done with this race I felt great and that was the best feeling!

So a few notes on this race - they redid the course - MUCH MUCH better - ran us thru much prettier neighborhoods. Not much fan support - no music or bands - but it was a beautiful course and a beautiful day. The thing is - it doesn't matter what side of politics you are on... when you are running down a road next to the washington monument - it's a really cool feeling. Also I was listening to people's conversations as I passed them - that's the other great part about starting off slow - all you do is pass people the entire race - which is so much more fun than being passed!!! anyway I heard this lady talking about fundraising she was doing and her friend said he would give her a nickle a mile for a half ironmant. I said "well that's not very supportive" so I asked what she was raising money for and if she had a fundraising website. I told her if i could remember her name by the end of the race I would make a donation. By the end of the race i had her last name all wrong - but with a little research i was able to find what i thought was the correct lady's web page and I made a donation. I got an email back from her and she is sooo excited! It was pretty cool... b/c you know she thought - yeah right she won't remember...

At the end of the race the "bag drop" or pile of bags from hell as I would have called it was ridiculous. Basically they took all the bags from the half marathon and threw them in a pile. It took me about 5 minutes to find my bag - which wasn't too bad - but there was this poor man standing there who had dropped out of the full marathon and could not find his bag. It took me what seemed like forever to find his bag. I said what does it look like and he said "it's black" that didn't really narrow it down - so it took awhile. I figured I would change in the car real quick and then come back to see steve finish. His pr was a 2:17 - so i figured I had a few minutes - i changed real quick got out of the car and looked up and steve was standing there. He had finished in 2:05!!!! I was so excited for him that i punched him! I couldn't believe how awesome he did! I told him - no more sand bagging on his races - i expect him to keep doing that well!!

It took us about 2hrs to get home from the race b/c we couldn't get out of the neighborhoods were the race was being run. The cops were not coordinated so the streets were gridlocked! When we finally got back I realized why I was so nervous. I haven't really "raced" since the towpath fiasco. With my training being so wacky i wasn't sure what kind of shape i was in - and i was nervous about racing again. So i have to say - i am very happy.... I didn't break any records - but it was a great race- and it definately lets me know i am in better shape than i thought - and that I am ready to step it up again!

two week update

oops - i'm behind again!

ok week 1 back

I don't remember what i did - i did get 30 miles in.... let me see

Mon - 4 miles 1 mile warm up 4 800's and 1 mile cool down on treadmill
Tuesday - 4 miles with amie - decent effort
Wednesday - 4 miles easy
Thursday - 6.25 - moderate effort - should have been a tempo run - but decided for first week back to just run at a good pace. Pace was slow for a tempo run - but it was rainy and WINDY - and i was holding between 8:30 and 8:45 pretty easily - which as of late has NOT been happening let alone EASY! - Twisted my ankle pretty bad on the sidwalk - but all in all a good run.
Sunday - 8 miles on pine lane with amie brian and steve. Tricked amie into doing 4 more on the towpath. Ankles are still mad about the frozen mud on pine lane!

Total running - 30 miles - no lifting - no swimming no biking. well it was a start

Week 2

I was out of town Thursday - sunday - so i knew it was going to be a rough week.

Monday - rest day
Tuesday - 1 mile warm up 1.5 mile cool down 10 400's on treadmill. was doing what i think was about a 1:40 pace for the repeats. Felt good. Skipped 11 and 12 b/c my shins were hurting on treadmill.
Wednesday - ran 8000 errands before packing and heading to my sister's to spend the night since we were leaving at the crack of down for the airport. Around 9:30 p.m. finally headed out for a run. Had no interest in doing this - turned out to be an awesome run- it was a clear night - the stars were out and for once it was not windy at all! Ran 5 miles
Thursday - Landed in Boston at 9:45 - spent the entire day driving to portland maine (this is only a two hour drive) we made so many detours at these little towns that we didn't get to portland until after 6! We had a blast. I was able to add two more running store shirts to my collection. (I like to find specialty running shops when i travel and get a shirt with the store name on it) I got one from "The Maine Running Company" and another from "The Boston Running Company" the boston one is huge - he had very little inventory because his store had just been robbed the previous week! Once he told me that - i figured he could use the sale so I bought it anyway.
Friday - set out to do 12-15 miles along side route 1 in freeport maine. I was exactly 4.25 miles from our hotel door to the LL Bean outlet. I decided to run 5 miles out - just in case something went poorly - i didn't want to be too far out frorm the hotel. So I turned around. With 3.5 miles left my siter called and said she had come back to the hotel from her practice to eat lunch with me. So I decided to just settle with 10 for my long run. It was a really great run. Held about an 8:40 pretty easily on a pretty hilly route - with awful wind and rain for the last 3.5 miles.
Saturday - drove back to boston and walked all day. I walked past the "marathon Sports" Store in Boston. It was closed - but they had a clock counting down to the boston marathon start. I took a picture and sent it to elizabeth and amie - just to make them a little nervous! ha! Someday I'll get there for it! Anyway -
Sunday - Got home around dinner time - had no desire to run in the rain.

so weekly mileage - only 20!! no weights or swimming or biking. ugh - on to week 3
i'll post the plan! oh and i'll post some pictures from my trip. It was beautiful in Maine!!

Day 1 report

Ok - day 1 - not perfectly to plan - but not too bad. Went home ate a little food and headed up to the gym. The gym was packed... so it took forever and a day for us to renew our membership. At this point it was getting pretty late. So i hopped on a treadmill... to do my warmup. Put the incline at 1.0 - it is amazing to me how tough i find it to run on the treadmill. So i ran my mile at just under 10 minute pace according to the treadmill...even though it did not feel that slow...then i upped the speed to an 8.5 pace for my 800s which i figured would get me to around a 3:33 800. I did 4 of those with a 1:30 recovery inbetween the first ones - the last one I was so hot and dizzy that i hopped of said treadmill til the pukey feeling went away - i did the 4th 800 and a cool down and called it a day. The plan was to do 3 miles of speedwork not 2 - but seeing as how i've never done speedwork on a treadmill - and the fact that i didn't want to show my dinner to everyone - i cut my losses. Well at this point i went to start lifting at 8:10 - the pool closes at 8:30 and the gym at 9:00... it was sooooo crowded that we decided to push the lifting off to another day and opted for a quick dip in the hot tub before the pool closed! so - i didn't do everything on my list - but it was a good start. Fortunately I'm meeting solar tonight - so no bailing on my run tonight!

enough is enough

I have been a miserable slacker. Enough is enough already. No more excuses - no more being lazy. I'm going to start posting my weekly workouts as a way to make myself accountable. I'm also going to plan runs with running buddies - since I seem to keep bailing when it's just me. I am so done with the snow. After a winter of running in the cold and snow - i've reached my limit - and just can't seem to make myself get out the door. Once i'm out there it's fine - but it's those first few steps down the driveway that are the hardest part! Wish me luck and give me hell if I don't stick to what i'm suppose to do. 10 weeks til pittsburgh and if I have any hopes of enjoying that race I need to get to work now!

i've forgotten how to run

I have taken a month off from running. This is why:

1 week: recovery from disney and buckeye 50k/turned into half mary
2 weeks: giant hole in my leg and stitches - no exercise allowed
1 week: was fighting a bit of a bug - learned my lesson in october not to push it when sick - you end up getting sicker.

So - this week I was starting fresh. Why is it that the week you "start" over again - you have 800 billion other things going on in your life that make it really hard to get work outs in? It is friday morning and thus far on my "starting fresh" week I ran 5 hideously slow and painful miles on Tuesday night. That's it. 5 freaking miles at a pace slower than what my planned marathon pace was back in october. How the heck am I going to run the national half marathon on march 21st and pittsburgh marathon on may 3rd in an respectable amount of time if i'm running 5 crappy miles a week? I'm planning on running tonight and then getting in my long run this weekend... but i feel like i'm starting from scratch. How can 1 month off kill my fitness level this badly? What would happen if i had a real injury and had to take actual time off? I'd probably be running 20 minute miles if I had to take more than a month off! ugh i am so frustrated! I'm not worried about getting a great pr or anything in pittsburgh - i've learned that races are way more fun if you don't put that kind of pressure on yourself - but good lord i don't want to run 2 hrs slower than i should be capable! At this rate i'm going to see if i can start pittsburgh early with the walkers! ha! ugh.

Seriously?

So - spend yesterday getting all geared up to kick off a new training program - and now I'm sick and my leg is infected again. Seriously - what is wrong with me? I have been sick more in the last year than ever before? what am I turning into some type of hypochondriac? Anyway - spun for a half an hour last night - kept getting light headed and thought i was going to throw up. Hopefully I'll be feeling better here soon. yuck.

Making Up for Lost Time

I spent a good portion of last night helping steve lay out his training plan for our next marathon - probably pittsburgh. It's funny how long or short 12 weeks can seem. In some ways I think ok 12 weeks - that's fine i have decent mileage base this winter - I should be able to ramp up the intensity and get into shape for this next race. My definition of in shape is changing a bit. I don't know that I'm going to go trying to get a BQ or anything. When I ran Disney with steve - it was the most fun I've had running a race. I didn't think about time at all - until we rounded the final mile and I said to steve "if you pick it up right now you can come in under 5hrs" we did and it was awesome! I know i haven't written a race report - but being with steve during that race and crossing the finish line with him on his first marathon will always be one of my favorite running memories. That and the part where I accidently tripped him and he went rolling across the ground in front of cinderella's castle -- nice - hey I'll run the marathon with you to get you through it - oh wait let me make you fall down and get bruises all over you at mile 12!
Anyway - back to my race plans - i obviously want to keep improving - and I have certain goals - both BQ and inbetween - but I think if I've learned anything - it's that if you aren't running to enjoy it - than what are you doing it for? That being said it is still time for me to get my butt back in gear. In my three week vacation from running and any exercise (stupid hole in my leg) I have managed to gain 10 lbs. I'm not even making that up. This morning i weighed 140 lbs. On my wedding day 1 year ago I weighed 128. I need to get back down to 130. I'm hoping this will happen when i just get my butt moving again.
Steve and I went for a 5.5 mile run on Saturday and it was a ton of fun. We actually ran in shorts!! how cool is that. I took us on a route that is basically downhill for the first 2 miles - and uphill the last 2 - this is one of the routes i used to get ready for the hills in cincy last year. The run was great - we talked to the whole time and even got into a water fight and a short race at the end of the run.... woke up the next day and lo and behold I was SORE ! yes - sore from 5.5 miles!!! aggghhh
So it is time to get back in the game. Hopefully tonight i'll be able to map out my training program and start making up for lost time. Anyone up for hill repeats tomorrow night?

Yes I'm alive

Wow, it's yet again been a long time since i've had a chance to blog. Work has been crazy busy - don't even have time at lunch to keep up with my blog - and once i get home i usually don't feel like sitting in front of a computer anymore... so enough excuses... what's going on.
Well currently I'm on a two week break from any exercise. I got some moles removed on my leg and i have two rows of eight stitches each on my leg. I would ignore the doctors warning and just go ahead and run- but the stitches are pretty sore just from wrestling with my dog.
So i know i need to write a race report -perhaps i'll have time this afternoon... Right now I'm looking forward to my birthday and anniversary this weekend. I'm antsy because of the no exercise - and i'm not doing well with this whole new dog thing. I don't dislike dogs. They are wonderful creatures that can be a lot of fun. I however am not a good person to have a dog. Steve was out of town two days this week and i ended up in tears both days because of this dog. I think I'm going to have to give this dog back so we can find a better home for him. A pet should not make you cry everyday - it's not fair to you or the dog. I'm sure all you dog lovers out there think i am horrible. But i'd rather find the dog a good home... Anyone want a new dog?

Race Time

Wow. As I sit here watching the snow starting to fall - i can't believe that the marathon is here already. I have been running all winter long - but you wouldn't know it to look at my blog. I guess it was because i was doing a different kind of running - running with out crazy goals and workouts with paces planned down to the second. Don't get me wrong - it was important to make sure i got my long runs in - but half the time i didn't even take my garmin - or even remember to start it if I did. And that's ok. Sunday Steve and I will be running his first marathon. I am so excited that i will be able to cross the finish line with him when he finishes his first 26.2. It's nice not be worried about a specific time either. We are just going to finish. I'm even thinking about taking a camera with me so we can really enjoy the whole experience. Where better to run for experience than the magic kingdom? Since I always have to be nervous about something - i'm worried that this snow they are predicting is going to stop us from getting to florida on time. I've even gone so far as to send my race waiver, a copy of my license, and a letter of authorization for a girl at work's aunt who lives in florida to pick up our race packets and drop them at our hotel for us - just in case we don't make it to florida until after the expo closes. Hopefully it will all work out.
After that we will spend a few sunny days enjoying the parks and then it is back for the frozen I mean buckeye 50k. I'm hoping i can do the whole thing - but we'll see what i'm able to do. 26.2 miles is still a lot to do the week before a 50k - even if we are taking it easy at disney. We'll see what happens. Perhaps I'll just hike the half marathon portion of the 50k ha! we shall see. Wish us luck!