Ramblings of a Runner

Half Ironman

2011-06-07T09:54:00.000-07:00

About six months ago - Jen suggested that we do the racing for recovery half iron man in early June. So of course without really thinking about it too much I agreed. The way I saw it, the half iron man would give me a reason to keep getting up early in the morning to swim and since i was training for a marathon the run wouldn't be a problem - I'd put in some time once a week on the bike on the trainer and I would be able to get through it. I didn't realize how how hard it would be to follow a marathon training program that was more aggressive than anything I'd done in the past - plus get the bike and swim in. I quickly found I could only do so many two a days - and since I didn't want to drown the bike got put to the back burner. Jen was really worried about me getting through the bike - i was more worried about drowning.

Flash forward to race morning - i have never gone from complete panic to complete calm so quickly and so many times. When i was calm it was because i really didn't know what to expect and I didn't really have any expectations. Sure - i had done the math - i was hoping to be sub 45 on the swim, around 3:15 on the bike and around 2 hours on the run - but i knew that would be on a good day and that it didn't matter because my goal was to finish. I kept myself in control until we got into the water before the race - the cold water hit my chest and I pretty much had a panic attack. I started crying and told Jen i couldn't and didn't want to do this - i felt like my wet suit was choking me and i could not get my breathing or my heart beat under control. I looked pretty bad because Jen told me there was no shame in not doing it. I knew if i didn't try I would always regret it and probably would never start another triathlon again. So I went for it.

Part I - The swim

Ever wonder how long it takes to swim 1.2 miles while breast stroking at least half of it and hyperventilating? Well for me it was approximately 48 minutes. The course was an out and back into the lake and then another out and back along the shore.  When i got to the part along the shore i knew i was close to being able to touch the ground which helped - and I also realized that if I kept up with my hyperventilating breast stroke I was going to be too exhausted to finish the rest of the race - so i actually did get into a pretty good rhythm - resorting to breast stroking for spotting.  The whole thing was pretty ugly - my swimming has really improved over the last year - and what i did in that lake did not reflect that at all. But I was so proud of myself - i was deathly afraid of that swim - i had never swam that far with out stopping, i had only swam in a wet suit maybe one other time and had only swam in the lake a handful of times last summer.   That was a huge accomplishment. I could have stopped there and been happy with the day. I figured I would get on the bike and see what i could do.

Part II - the ugly ugly bike

I hopped on my bike and quickly realized that I wasn't going to be able to hold 18mph like i had hopped - i was toast from the swim. I unhappily settled into around 15-16mph and tried to see how far I could get before Jen came blasting by me.  It took about 10 miles til Jen came blowing past me I think I yelled "that was the hardest thing I've ever done" and she yelled "I'm never swimming in lake Erie again." The bike route was a mess - potholes and rough roads and it made it really hard to get into a rhythm and by mile 20 I was ready to be done with the bike. My goal was to make it around the 3 loops with out getting lapped by Jen and her friend Paula. I figured if they didn't lap me then at least i wasn't dropping the pace too much. I think the first water stop was around mile 22 - i stopped and poured some water over my head and saw Steve and Matt and the babies cheering for us under a tree. I yelled something about this not being fun and headed out for the second loop - i just kept telling myself to get through this loop. The second time through the aid station - i skipped the aid station but stopped to talk to Steve and Addy. This was around mile 34 - i was feeling pretty bad and it was getting pretty lonely out on the course. I told Steve i was going to head out for the final loop - but i didn't know if i would finish this race today. Somewhere on the third loop i decided i was going to stop after the bike. I had to get through the bike to prove that I could - but it was so hot and i was burning so badly I decided it wasn't worth the sun exposure and that i would call it a day when i got back to transition. Well then it got worse. With 8 miles to go I stopped on the side of the road, sat down and I called my husband crying and asked him to come pick me up. So logical Steve said "where are you" and i said "i don't know - on a very hot road somewhere - and I hate biking and triathlons are stupid and I'm not finishing this" to which Steve replied. "i have no doubt that you can finish this bike and the whole race if you want to - if you don't want to that is OK - and if you want me to come get you I will, but you need to at least give me a street name" So I decided I would make it back. And i did. 3 hours and 40 minutes later. 3 hours and 40 minutes!!! I was one of the last people to finish the bike - the people on the run course were cheering for me - but you know they were thinking that no matter how bad they were feeling - at least they weren't that poor girl just finishing the bike up!

Part III - the run

When i got into transition i asked the race official if their was a cutoff time - I was so slow I didn't want to start the run if I wasn't going to be able to finish in time. He said - there is but you are not there yet - you are fine. Now Paula's husband was waiting for me by the transition. He told me how far ahead of me Paula and Jen were which did nothing for my morale. But he did say - come on this is the run - this is your thing - go do your thing. So I slathered some more sunblock on (not enough) and headed out. The run was two loops around a "shaded" lagoon. It was so hot and sunny that I made myself a deal - if I threw up I could stop. So I started running and then I would walk and I stopped at every water stop to throw several cups of water over my head and then I would continue on. Well I started to notice that no one was passing me (that would be because there was no one left on the bike course - but even the faster people who were on their second loop weren't passing me) - and i was passing people - not just people who were on their second loop and nearing the end but people that i recognized passing me on the bike. (Especially this one woman who passed me with about 10 miles left and then decided to weave back and forth to block me - seriously?  There are two of us left out here and you are worried that i might pass you!  ugh - i crushed her on the run btw) So my attitude changed - i thought well if i can at least get around this loop once - I'll walk the second loop if i have to - but at this point I'm not going to have come this far without finishing. So I started the second loop - running and walking and throwing water over my head. Around mile 10 I saw Jen going the opposite way - it was nice to see a friendly face. I also knew that I was going to finish - so i continued cheering other people on and continued to pass people - and i actually had fun. I finished the run in 2:07 - not too shabby for wanting to quit with 8 miles left on the bike, extreme heat and sunburn.   I was also really happy with that time considering how many times i stopped for water, to go to the bathroom, etc... it means that when i was running it was at a decent pace.

The result:

I finished in 6:43 - i was hoping for around 6 hours - but considering how close I was to quitting I'll take it! I wasn't last in my age group so that's good too. And I learned a valuable lesson - you can fake your way through a sprint triathlon - but a half iron man will find your weaknesses and make you pay for your lack of training. In hindsight i probably should have dropped to the sprint given my lack of bike time and open water swim practice.... but I'm glad i didn't. I always talk about how i don't have enough confidence in myself or my abilities and how weak i am mentally. Well I tell you what: panic attack and crying cell phone call to my husband aside - that was the toughest thing I have mentally ever done. When you are toast less than 2 hours into a race and you know you are in over your head - to mentally get yourself through 4 hours and 43 minutes more in the heat and sun - that to me is some mental toughness - and that is something I will always take with me. I told myself i had to finish because i was never going to do this again...

that was Sunday - today is Tuesday and I'm already wondering... what if i actually trained properly... or at least rode my bike further than 20 miles.... I'm not sure what mental illness I have but i'm pretty sure endurance events are the symptom...

i need to find a race

2011-05-31T19:20:00.000-07:00

i would like to find a marathon in September or October that is drivable and not in Ohio, Michigan, new york, or Pennsylvania. I like small low key off the wall races... but so far i'm not having any luck in finding a good match! I would appreciate any suggestions!

The Summer of Whatever

2011-05-30T17:31:00.000-07:00

Steve and I decided to run the eagle 5 mile run on Saturday. The original plan was for me to pace steve to a p.r. - problem was we worked out with the trainer on Friday - so our legs were pretty sore and steve hadn't been running much in the past few weeks so he didn't think a p.r. was in the cards for this race. So I decided to just run it and see what happened. The plan was that if we hit a mile and Steve was right with me - we would run together. So I ran with out a care - kept it comfortable - hit mile one at 7:15 - thought to myself - well i guess i'll just try to keep the others under 8 minute pace - got to mile two around a 7:30 - mile 3 around 7:30 again - mile 4 7:26 or something like that. I thought to myself - 5 miles is a lot shorter than a marathon - this is fun - and went into the 5th mile. The race finished in the minor league baseball stadium in Avon. As I rounded the warning track and crossed the finish line on the first base side - I ended up finishing in 37:01 - which was my 2nd best time ever and I got 3rd in my age group ...AND... I had fun. .. AND i wasn't running all out - I definately had a lot left in the tank... AND Afterwards my legs felt better than they had all week. So a week after I ran a marathon and a week before i'm doing a half ironman that i'm not properly trained for I ran and race and I did pretty ok. This made me think - I'm not a professional athlete - and it's ok if i do things that don't quite make sense. (no serious or professional athlete would run a marthon, race a 5 mile run and follow it up with a half ironman) This summer my goal is to run races and have fun and collect some age group hardware in the process. I think I'll find a fall marathon to do - just to keep me honest - but it might be a trail run and I might not tell anyone i'm doing it - i'll do it just to do it - and enjoy the run and lay off the time goals for awhile. After all this is suppose to be fun - and I think that I will in fact have fun during my "Summer of Whatever" ... stay tuned.. oh and keep your fingers crossed on this half ironman- i think if I can complete the swim I'll able to finish... but we shall see!

post marathon - pre half ironman limbo

2011-05-26T11:33:00.000-07:00

There comes a time in a lot of races when you’ve reached to low point – when you question why you do this and tell yourself that you are not going to do this anymore. It takes a few days, the pain fades and the accomplishment – even if it wasn’t quite what you wanted remains – and you go for that first recovery run and you remember why you do this.

I am currently caught in a recovery/taper sandwich right now that I have no plan for. So how have I dealt with it? I swam yesterday and had some potato chips and beer almost every other night this week. Result: I’m crabby and I feel like a million pound slug! The truth is I think I’m addicted to a running schedule. I’m not right without it. I don’t know how to just get some miles in anymore. I need a plan to tell me what to do! How nuts is that? I like to have a goal and to check off the things that get me to that next goal. I don’t know how to go with the flow. Maybe if I did – I wouldn’t get so worked up about things and would actually become a better runner.

So what should I shoot for? A fall marathon? A trail marathon in the fall – that would take the pressure off – no p.r. goals there… or maybe I should train to run a really great half marathon. Maybe I won’t drown at this triathlon on the 5th and I’ll decide to do more… decisions, decisions I need a plan. I’m lost without a plan. I’ve asked some of you – but what are your goal races coming up?

What went wrong?

2011-05-22T18:11:00.000-07:00

I promised myself I wouldn’t over analyze this race. I would take it for what it was and move on. But I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t analyze it just a bit. So here I go – I’ll say my peace and hopefully move on. I must warn you it will be long as I am on a 2.5 hour flight from Denver to Cleveland – so I’ll probably type until my battery on my laptop dies!

Phoenix –January 2011 – the worst marathon experience I have ever had. Was it my worst time ever? Hardly – I have walked / run several marathons that were at the 5 hour mark – because I ran them for fun – I ran them for the experience, companionship and to reach one of my goals of crossing off the 50 states. So the fact that Phoenix was a 4:19 – wasn’t the issue. It was how I felt during the race. I felt like I hadn’t trained at all. I knew I was in trouble as early as mile 8 – and I didn’t go out all that fast. I crashed and burned and didn’t deal with it well. I cried when I finished. I decided then and there I was either never going to run another marathon – or I was going to step it up. I knew I was capable of more and I was pretty sure most of my issues were in my head.

So I found a new training program recommend by someone who had great success with it – I found a marathon that was 16 weeks out and in other state (hence Fargo) and I went to work. It was a more aggressive training program than I had done in the past – but I quickly found that I could do it – that I could hit the paces and I could do the mileage. I started getting p.r.’s every time I ran a different distance race from 5ks to 30ks to marathons. Amie and I would do our long runs and I would have to slow us down when we crept too close to an 8 minute pace. I know it’s not smart to do your long runs too fast – but the pace felt comfortable – we talked the whole way and I was recovering well after each run. At the same time I was and am training for my first half ironman – swimming two mornings a week and spinning once a week. I was seeing great improvement in the water as well. In March we started working out with a personal trainer one day a week – and I was hoping this would be the missing piece that I needed. Strengthen my core etc – and making me stronger over all.

March 20th – I went to visit my friend cris in Atlanta , which coincided with the Atlanta marathon which coincided with a 20 miler on my training plan. The week before my knee went wonky – so I took a week off – and almost didn’t run the race. It was hot which I knew I wasn’t ready for and it was a hilly course – which I definitely was not ready for. I decided I may as well give a go – take it easy enjoy myself and check off another state. I have never enjoyed a race like I enjoyed that one. I went out at an easy pace – talked with people along the way – and told myself I could walk it in after mile 20. Funny thing is - when I got to mile 20 I felt awesome – so I said I’ll just hold this pace til I see cris at mile 23. At that point I realized that unless I fell down and didn’t get back up I was going to have a huge p.r. – so I kept running. At the end of the race I could have kept going – I felt that good. Final time 3:48 – an 11.5 minute p.r. from Wineglass in October (which incidentally was 6 months after I had addy and the first time I had broken four hours)

Coming off of a high like that in Atlanta I knew I was on my way to big things. If I could run a 3:48 taking it easy – what could I do if I pushed it? Maybe I really could get closer to 3:30. After Atlanta I got sick a couple of times which veered my training off track a bit – but I still had 2 twenty milers to do – and because of my schedule – they both ended up being solo 20 milers. 1st one – 8:40 pace – mostly in the pouring rain. I couldn’t go any faster. I chalked it up to running in terrible conditions – doubled up with the huge mental obstacle of covering 20 miles on the towpath with nothing but my crazy thoughts to entertain me. Then I got sick again - ran a couple of 5ks and found I couldn’t get back to the p.r. I had hit in February. I thought maybe it was because I was working out with the trainer on Fridays – how can you expect great performances on sore ,sore legs and muscles. So here we go to the last 20 miler 2 weeks out from the race. By mile 8 – I was toast. I was so tired and my back and shoulders hurt so bad from the trainer –that I didn’t think I was going to finish. Actually it was supposed to be 23 miles – I cut it short. Somewhere during that run I was able to snap out of it for a bit and pick up my pace- but by the end of things I was lucky if I could keep it at a 9:30-10:00 pace. Overall pace was still under 9 – but it wasn’t good. I got in the car and almost cried because my arms were so sore from the trainer I could hardly turn the steering wheel.

So I took two weeks off from the trainer – and took 2 really easy taper weeks. Fast forward to Fargo marathon. The morning of the race I told Amie – I am so tired- the thought of running 26 miles today is killing me – it’s not that I’m nervous about the pace so much as that’s a really long way to go and I really would rather go back to bed. I tried to shake off negative thoughts – I freaked out a bit – but not as bad as normal. As Amie had said to me - I had already had a great year – and a huge p.r. who cared if this didn’t go as well as I hoped? She was pretty confident that it would go well. (Can I just take a minute to say Amie rocks – who runs a 2:02 ½ marathon pregnant?)

I started off at an 8:15 pace because it felt good and it felt easy and I thought to myself ”maybe today IS my day.” I Stayed at 8:15 – 8:25 pace pretty easily for the first 8 miles – and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I was exhausted. My back and hamstrings were extremely tight and aching. It wasn’t a feeling of “oh I went out to fast – I can’t keep up this pace” – it was more like I don’t know how I can keep moving and not lay down on the ground… i.e. had I not flown half way across the country to do this race – I would have quit. I tried to keep my head in check – I said get to mile 13 strong – drop the pace down – do some damage control but stay strong – don’t get all crazy and doomsdayish and start walking. Well I stopped to walk for the first time at mile 10. The 3:50 pace team got me at the half – and I told myself that I could still salvage this race- it wasn’t going to be a 3:38 – it wasn’t going to be p.r. – but stick it out and maybe break 4 for the third time. Well my back had other ideas. Oh I kept moving – I stopped a lot to stretch my back to try to alleviate some of the pain – but I kept moving – I didn’t get all crazy and keep walking like I did at phoenix – but I was lucky if I could get my pace per mile down to a 9:30 – it was like I hadn’t trained at all. At one point I was running so slowly my Garmin shut off. I didn’t cry I just kept going.

I was hoping that if I could keep it together and get in around a 4:10 that I would be really proud of myself – and I am. But this was marathon #10 – this was going to be my best one yet. What happened? Did I subconsciously psych myself out when the 3:40 pace group passed me? I really feel like I mentally kept myself in check. Did I just do too much? Are flat and fast marathons just not for me? Do I need to separate my two goals – if I’m running in another state – just do it for fun – not time – and if I want to go for a time goal pick a hometown race? Am I burned out? Do I have unrealistic expectations? Did I just go crazy and try to cram in too much too soon after having Addy? Knowing that I am going to have a second child sooner than later – did I put too much pressure on myself to try to reach all sorts of crazy goals in between babies? And what do I do next? Do I take a break from marathons? Do I work towards a fall marathon and cut out all the other crazy tri stuff? Do I follow a 5k training program and spend the summer working on my speed? Do I only do marathons as training runs and don’t actually do the race I’m training for? Do I stay the heck away from flat courses?

So I’ve analyzed and basically written a book here and I still don’t know:

What went wrong?

Where do I go from here?

Blogging Again

2011-05-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

I stopped blogging after I realized that i was talking more about being pregnant than i was about my running/swimming/biking. I probably should have kept blogging - even if know one else wanted to read it - because I think getting your thoughts out there sometimes helps keep things sane.

So what's new? Well since i've had Addy - i have completed 3 marathons and my first sprint triathlon. 2 marathons were p.r.s and one was -well we won't go there. I am a few days away from completing my 10th marathon - my 9th state - i really wish i hadn't done two in ohio - so i could be on my 10th state right now! and two weeks after that i'll be attempting my first 1/2 ironman distance.

i've been debating in my head what my plan will be for Fargo. For awhile there I was easily running long runs at an 8:15 pace. I plug my recent 5k and 10 mile runs in to various extrapalators and they tell me i can do a 3:35.... but my training towards to end went a little off - my last two longs runs were solo runs were rather than distracting myself with chit chat I worried myself into rough runs that were more of an 8:40 to 8:50 pace. And i know myself - had I taken off the garmin and thought postively those runs would have been better. You would think that by the time a person was about to line up on a marathon start line for the 10th time they would have a plan in place. I ran Atlanta marathon as a training run on March 20th. The weather was hot - and I came to the conclusion that if i am going to run all 50 states sometimes I'm going to have to just run and enjoy the people and the sceneray - i'm not going to be able to race all 50 states at top performance (i'm not sure why this was such a big revelation -b/c i've completed several states where i ran really slowly just to check off the state) Well for whatever reason that was a huge revelation and it took the pressure off. I ran one of the most even paced races ever - and when I got to mile 25 i picked it up - i felt great the whole race - i didn't really look at my watch - because it didn't matter - i was running to finish. I ended up running over an 11 minute p.r. finishing in 3:48. it was hot and it was one of the hilliest courses i've ever run - and i've been training for a flat marathon - yet it was almost effortless (as effortless as running 26.2 miles can be)
This brings me back to Fargo - I hesitate to put a goal out there - qualifying for boston.. getting a p.r. etc because when i put expectations on myself I crack under pressure. If i put it out there that i want to run a 3:40 - the minute the 3:40 pace group paces me i will be defeated. I will think of all my friends and family who will be tracking me and watching me slip off pace and how they'll be disappointed for me - proud of me still - but disappointed. And that's when i lose it - that's when a 3:40 days that should have turned into a 3:43 day turns into a 4:19 day. So my plan was to try and approach fargo like atlanta - pushing the pace a little more - but backing off if it's not my day. I've blown up by mile 10 in a race and i don't ever want to do that again. But then i read trisaratops blog today - and I think maybe i need to put it out there - maybe i need to stop playing it safe. maybe i need to trust that my training - although it wasn't 100% exactly what the training program said - trust that it is sufficient - that i can run between an 8:10 and an 8:20 pace... and trust that i will be strong enough mentally to not crack when things get tough.
As sara was saying in her blog - i often have to remind myself that i choose to do this. Not only do i choose to do this - but i GET to do this. I have a body that may not be that of an elite athlete - but it does allow me to do some pretty tough things. I have a wonderfully supportive husband that not only helps make sure i get my runs in - but sometimes forces me to get them in. I think that whatever pace i decide - i need to remember that Fargo is going to be a celebration - my 10th marathon. I never thought I would run one - let alone 10. I also need to celebrate the fact that I have a daughter that is 1 year and 1 month old - and this is my 4th marathon since she was born - that is an amazing feat that I sometimes lose perspective of when I look at what all of my speedy companions keep accomplishing.
We'll get to that half ironman later - let's just say that lake looks mighty cold out my window!

Tri-athalons and other stuff

2010-07-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

So I finally did it - i finally got over myself and my fears enough to do my first tri. It was a sprint - and the swim ended up being a super super sprint because of the storm - but i still did it. and... i had fun.
Race re-cap:
I was nervous the night before - only because i was nervous about getting up so early and getting myself and my husband out the door with everything that we needed and getting Addy out the door before 6 a.m. I am not a morning person - oh i try - and for awhile there I thought that jen might be able to convert me - I'm better - preferring to do my workouts in the morning now - but by morning i mean 8 o clock ish... not 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. But i digress - I was worried Addy wouldn't sleep - and of course after weeks of sleeping at least 8 hours straight - she didn't have the best night. But we got out of the door on time - picked up my mother in law on the way and headed out to fairport harbor. In my haste to pack the family up for this race I never checked the weather report - i was assuming it was going to be like the rest of the weekend - hotter than hell. So it was a blessing and a curse that it was an overcast almost cool day when we got to fairport. They delayed the start of the race for awhile and talked of canceling the swim because of the waves - I really think the waves the boats made while we were practicing there the last few weekends were worse - but I understand they need to be cautious about lightening and people dying in the lake and all that.
Finally they decide we are going to go ahead and race - but that we will only be swimming out - not out and back... which was disappointing but at least my first tri wasn't going to turn into a duathlon. When my wave was waiting to start the storm really kicked in - Amie looked at me and said "i don't like this" I stayed calm though - when normally I would have freaked out thinking - well if amie said that - then it must be bad... but I was fine - I thought they might pull us out of the water - but then someone yelled "they said go" so we all took off. My first couple of strokes were beautiful - just like in the pool - and then i started getting kicked and hit - i know i know nature of the beast but i panicked a bit - and ended up kind of letting people go by so that i could have my own patch of water. Next time i'm going to head out to the outside of the swim lane - i may swim farther but then i wouldn't be pinned between a rope and a bunch of morons that want to punch me in the head.
As I got out of the water I waved at my dad and my mother in law and said quite enthusiastically "i didn't drown" I headed to transition where i may as well as layed down had a snack, watched a movie, and read a book for the time it took me to get in and out. The lense in my glasses was broken and kept falling out... i couldn't get my gloves on because they were soaked etc... it was ridiculous - but finally I got on the bike - got up the short steep hill with no problem - even passed a few girls on it. I haven't ridden my bike outside in over a year - and have just recently been riding on the trainer once a week for about 12 miles so i was hoping just to finish and hold around 16 mph. Well I just started riding and I looked down and I was fluctuating between 18-20 mph and I was passing people like crazy. I decided to not get all crazy and see if i could just hold around 18 - having never done this before i didn't want to kill myself on the way out and then not be able to maintain it on the way back. So i just started passing people - it was so much fun - i realized that the reason i was passing so many people was because my swim and transition were that bad! I think everyone in my wave must have been out of the water way ahead of me! I decided not to dwell on that and just focus on the fact that despite the ran i was having a great time.
After I hit the turn around point on the bike I saw Jen coming. I have to say - if i didn't know her she would have made me nervous - she looks so tough on that bike! I knew she was going to get me - despite the 5 minute lead I had on her - so I spent awhile trying to figure out how fast she must have been moving to make up 5 minutes in that short of a bike ride. Anyway I finished the bike ride without incident - didn't fall or break my neck or anything. Second transition went much better - b/c I wore my cages on my bike i didn't need to change shoes. I ran up the hill out of transition and was amazed at the amount of water sloshing around in my shoes. I was certain that I would be moving at around a 10 minutes pace - i figured that was about all i had in me.... but then as i was passing guys who started 10 minutes before me I decided to check my garmin and realized i was running and 8:20 something - which I know isn't lightening fast - but for someone who not exactly back into their fighting shape/weight and has never done one of these things I was excited! I finished the run strong - getting my pace down closer to 8.
I have no idea what my final time was - I don't know how i placed. I could have been dead last in my age group and I would have no idea.... but I don't care (ok i care a little) I'm just glad jen finally convinced me to do this - and I'm looking forward to my next race. I think I'll stick with sprints this summer - i know the distance is manageable and so next time i'll go harder on the bike and run - knowing that I can do this! Oh and congrats to jen on finishing 3rd in her age group - that is so cool!

week 3

2010-06-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

total miles running: 26
swimming: 0
weight loss: plus .5 pounds

i am typing this with one hand while holding a baby who just had her shots..so i apologize if it has some major typos...

This week Addy and I went with steve to baltimore for work... it was a bit of a challenge but we did well and i was able to get in a couple of runs on a local running path.

Mon: 4 miles w/stroller 10:05 pace
Tues: rest
Wed: 5 miles w/out stroller 9:11 overall pace - each mile faster than the last
Thurs: drive home from baltimore
Fri: 4 miles - w/stroller just under 10:00
Sat: 5 mile race 10:30ish with stroller
Sun: 8 miles - towpath 10:00 even

Jen, Will, Addy and I ran the eagle run in avon this week. I really like this race - it's a low entry fee they give you a long sleeve tech shirt, a tech hat and two water bottles and it's a flat course. Jen and I ran with the strollers and I think we were pretty much the hit of the race. "look there's babies" or "way to go mom's" was yelled at us multiple times. The guy at registration even gave Addy her own hat. It was a hot day - and I think jen and I did awesome - especially for 8 weeks post partum and pushing big old strollers! I'm so glad we were able to do this! I do think jen had another mile in her since she spent some time post race doing the cha cha slide while eating a piece of pizza! (don't worry I took video of this!)

My marathon training officially starts this week. Hopefully that will help get rid of some of this excess baby weight... I'm very encouraged by my running and by the fact that while i'm slow i am improving...however the fact that I gained another half a pound this week does not make me happy...

Let the running begin!

2010-05-26T13:13:00.000-07:00

Solar reminded me that i am actually running again, so i have stuff to write about. Right now I'm just really focusing on getting in some miles...enjoying my runs both with addy and with out. Although when you run with a baby you always look tougher. This week some woman told me that she was "so impressed!" There's a boost for your ego! Alright - so I am into my third week of being allowed to exercise again. So let's recap

Week 1: 17 miles running 3200 meters swimming
Week 2: 21 miles running 2600 meters swimming

Week 1: ran for the first time - (straight running - not the run for five minutes walk for 5 minutes cheating i did before i got the all clear from the doc.) Ran on the towpath - steve kept informing me that we were running at a 10:30 pace - i told him i was going to revoke his garmin privledges as i was simply trying to run a few miles straight - not qualify for boston! We ended up getting in 4.25 - and the last mile was down into the 9:30's which hurt me a bit so we slowed it back down. Met with jen to run with the babies a couple of times - ran 4 miles - didn't really pay attention to pace b/c i was just enjoying the company and hoping that neither of the babies had a melt down. Besides - who tracks pace when you are pushing a giant stroller right? :)
One night i went to run a 4 mile loop by my house - went out at what felt good - ignoring the pace - first mile: 8:49 - woo hoo - second mile 11:30... too soon for the 8:49 - the rest of the run absolutely kicked my butt! steve was amused by it though. Swimming is going really well for me. I'm swimming about a mile each time i go - which i never did before....and i even swam 1000 meters without stopping which is unheard of in my world!

week 2: met with sara and jen and the babies to run twice - went 4 miles each time - had a blast and even went to mommy and me yoga before the one run!! Had a bit of a break thru on Thursday night. my parents wanted to see addy so i had them watch her while i went for a run... basically ran the same path that had kicked my butt with the 11:30 mile the week before ... ended up running 5 miles at a 9:27 pace with each mile faster than the first... my final mile was an 9:05 i believe. So that was definate improvement! On saturday steve and i wanted to make it out to mentor headlands for the ctc greater cleveland practice at 8...well we got there by 11. Close i know - anyway - my goal was to run 6 miles - my longest yet - with a super secret goal of 7. Steve and i took turns pushing the stroller - well.. mostly he pushed - we took it easy and i got the 7 in. I think overall was a 10:15 pace ...slower than i would have liked - but heck 7 miles in my second week!!! not too shabby. I also swam twice this week - even got to meet jen for a swim as csu... which is back to the 50 meter length - which definately kicks your butt!

This week - ran 4 on monday with the stroller: 10:05 average. Drank beer on tuesday...don't know why my pants still don't fit! and today it is 91 degrees... so i'm waiting for the sun to go down a bit before i do my run. I'm hoping for 5 tonight and this weekend's long run needs to be 8. Then my official marathon training starts on June 1st. eek! I'm going to follow a bit more of a first timers marathon plan - just to slowly build up the mileage. I'll focus on getting faster for marathon in the spring. Jen and I are doing a 5 mile race with the babies on Saturday- i'm excited it will be fun. Steve's really hoping to get a new 5 mile pr this weekend too.

Addison Hope

2010-04-19T11:46:00.000-07:00

So my baby girl got her first piece of mail the other day - her social security card and a bill for about $2,400 worth of hospital services. Can't wait to see what the total bill was for the delivery! Anyway it was really weird staring at the name "Addison Hope Smith" in bold black type on an envelope that contained her social security card. I realize that she has been her for 19 days already - but she's official - the government even knows about her...
I'm doing pretty good - especially for the emotional head case I can be about life in general. I've been getting out for walks and starting today I am reducing the number of cookies, cakes, chocolates etc that I have been using pregnancy as an excuse to eat.
Steve had to kick me out of the house to go for a walk the other day - because i was getting a little unstable. I walked one of my old 3 mile running loops around my house. It was funny becuase I've run down the streets hundreds of times and during my walk I noticed things I had never noticed before. I've heard people say that running is the best way to explore a new area - b/c you see things you never would in a car... well when you are walking slowly you see things that you would never see when you are running by or looking down to check your pace on your garmin. For instance the people on the street behind me must have all hired the same builder who was on crack to put additions on their homes. Teeny tiny little brick bungaloos with huge additions on the front, off to the side, off the back, over the garage. And of course you have to do one addition with vinyl siding and another one with stone - why would you want to even try to match the brick? Any way I digress...
On 3 weeks from this coming wednesday i should be able to start running again... and of course i've been obsessing over that first run - I have dreams where i am running as fast as I can and it is wonderful! I also spend time worrying about how out of shape i will be and will I ever be able to qualify for boston? Will i be able to juggle baby and running and everything else in my life? What all do i want to juggle in my life now that I have a baby? I worry because I lost 24 pounds in the first week and a half and now the scale isn't budging... will even my fat pants ever fit again? And how frustrating is it that i can't exercise for 23 more days?
I guess what i realized on my walk is that yes life will be different - but it will be wonderful in ways it never was before - and running will be different - and if i'm in the slow lane for awhile - that's ok - I just have to make sure I take the time to really look at and enjoy the things I've been running past... and you know what is awesome? This afternoon I put on a jack johnson cd and laid on the couch while my baby girl slept on my chest... it doesn't get much cooler than that.

I'm going to be a mom

2010-03-30T10:25:00.000-07:00

Well Baby Smith has decided not to make her apperance. So tomorrow at 41 weeks and 1 day pregnant we're making her come out. My induction is scheduled for 4 a.m. - so it's basically tonight - well for someone who is awake most of the night it is anyway. Jen drove out my way today for one last prego swim, panera and some grocery shopping. It was just what i needed today. I've been getting crabbier -and a workout with jen always seems to get me back into a good place. It didn't really hit me that this baby is coming tomorrow (hopefully - hopefully it won't take til Thursday) until I took off my terrible giant purple/pink plaid bathing suit for what i realized would be the last time. It's very exciting - yet very scary. I am so excited to meet my daughter and to shed this incapacitaded body... but i am very nervous about labor. I think of people i know that are the biggest wimps who have survived... but i'm still so nervous. Obviously the human race has survived and i'm not exactly the world's biggest wimp... but still...
Wish me luck and a non-terrible -non-horror story delivery and hopefully before i know it i'll be posting pictures of our little girl and be blogging about being a mom on the run - literally.

so close i can taste it

2010-03-17T11:45:00.000-07:00

It is less than one week until my little girl is due. I feel like I am stuck waiting for a delayed airplane - and that i have no idea when the plane will arrive. I know that even if i have to be induced - she will be here by easter - and that she could be here any day now...but I'm ready to be done. I'm ready to meet this little thing that has been kicking the crap out of ribs for how many months now. I'm nervous... nervous to actually go through labor - nervous to actually have my own child. I'm excited though - excited for the next chapter of my life to begin. I'm excited to have my body back. i'm nervous about what kind of condition my body is going to be in after this is all said and done.
I can't fathom how much I am going to love this little girl - I think about my nieces and what they mean to me and how much joy they have brought to my life - and I can only imagine what it will be like to have my own child. I worry that I will have to ground her for the entire month of march 2031 - b/c she will most likely turn 21 on her spring break. Can you imagine how much trouble one could get into celebrating their 21st birthday on spring break? I worry about the fact that I will now worry for the rest of my life about her...
Back to running though - this weather has me soooo excited. I know i have to wait 6 weeks til after i have her to start running again - but after 39 weeks of pregnancy - 6 weeks doesn't seem all that bad. I ordered new running shoes last weekend when fleet feet was having a sale. My current running shoes turned into everyday "dress shoes" and are in pretty bad shape these days. I've also started considering options for a fall marathon. I'm looking at something out of state so that i can check another state off my list - but i'm also looking for something not too far away - since I don't want to make too many grand plans with baby smith on the way.

perspective

2010-03-14T10:41:00.000-07:00

So i found out this morning that a kid I ran cross country with in high school died last night. He was 30 years old and collapsed while chasing a suspect. He was a police officer for Cleveland Heights. I haven't seen Tom in years. I remember mostly his goofball anticts - heck we were in high school - but he was a good guy. How is a 30 year old dead from chasing someone? I guess it just makes you think. Life is short. Too short to worry about the petty things. Enjoy each and every moment that we've got.
I was thinking this morning how much I can't wait for this baby to be born. I'm uncomfortable, I'm tired, and I don't want to go back to work this week. I am convinced my daughter is on a mission to break my ribs in two. How lucky am I that I am about to be a mother to a thriving daughter who is fiesty enough and strong enough to be beating on ribs so badly? How lucky am I to have a job that pays the bills? and how lucky am I to be tired and crabby because there is a new little life in me? I am beyond lucky - I have a wonderful life, a wonderful husband and family and I need to remember that each and every day - and stop taking moments for granted.
My thoughts and prayers are with tom and his family.

hello

2010-03-03T10:17:00.000-08:00

So I've just found out that my blog is still up and running and that i for once actually remembered my password. Looks like i haven't blogged since around the time i found out i was pregnant. I'm not sure why that was - maybe because this is a trianing blog and I didn't feel I would have any training to blog about. I wasn't feeling really very well for most of the first trimester - and I guess I didn't want my blog to get even whinier that it probably already is. But now that I am 20 days away from my due date I wish i would have blogged - wish I could have gone back and read what i was thinking and feeling during all these times. I had no idea that I would become friends with jen and sara and that because of them I would learn to actually enjoy swimming, that i would consider 3 miles with a friend a very satisfying workout, that I would start doing yoga and that I would discover that apple cinnamon french toast is one of the best things ever!
I'm so anxious right now - I keep telling Steve that I will probably never go into labor - yet at the same time i'm very nervous about the whole ordeal. Let's face it - this whole process is going to hurt... a lot. Work continues to stress me out - but thanks to good friends that take me to yoga and swimming I'm surviving. And I have to give special thanks for having one of the best husbands on the planet. At times I have been downright evil over trivial things like cleaning the stove top or scrubbing the toilets. Add to this his stressful job, training for a marathon and oh adding 3 bedrooms and a bathroom on to our house that needs to be finished before this little one arrives - and it's a wonder he has any sanity left. I hope he knows how much I appreciate him - and that I apologize in advance for the evil things I will say and do while in labor.
Jen and I are signed up to run the 5k "to catch a leprechaun" race this weekend. I had a dream that i had the baby and couldn't do the race. It got me thinking what races and stuff i accomplished during this pregnancy...

charlevoix marathon: 95% chance that the baby was on board for this race.... since i'll never be sure - i'm going to go ahead and say she was. Steve had been injured and was just given the go ahead to run/walk - so we did exactly that. It was beautiful there in upper michigan (not the peninsula) It took us a long time to finish the race - but it was a good time. Steve was tired/goofy enough that he started singing around mile 20. He was also loopy enough that he agreed to re-run through areas so I could get a better picture of him.

Muddy Paws 10 miler : Was feeling a little off this day - didn't know i was prego yet - ran a p.r. though

Put-n-bay 5k: My brother-in-law and family were in town from China. Ran the race with Steve and Lance. I thought we were all just running together - steve decided to go into a dead sprint at the end and kick my butt.... i'll pay him back for that one - i promise! Afterwards we ran another 7 miles to get a good ten miles in.

Marine Corp Marathon: someone by the name of steve decided that at around 20 weeks prego I should not participate in the marine corp marathon. grr. Deciding it was probably for the best - I put on my spectator hat and decided to run steve in from mile 20. I started my garmin when the race started so that I would be able to have a better idea of when steve would be at certain mile points. I was also curious how many miles I would cover that day - especially since i think that we probably walked over a mile to get to the start. Long story short - by the time we got back to the hotel - my garmin had registered 17 miles - add the mile before i started it - i'm 18.... I so could have finished that race. Turns out that according the results - i did in fact complete the entire marathon... steve wore my race number and chip accidently... which would explain why i wasn't getting any text alerts as to where he was. I told him - this means i'll have to run a marathon in virginia under his name - so he can get credit for that state in our goal to run in all 50.

Turkey Trot: Ran with Steve, Jen, Matt, and Matt's sister. This was a fun run - I must say I didn't like the way they changed the course this year - it wasn't real pretty and I was really counting on a port o pot stop by the muni lot. It's amazing how being prego makes you need to pee just about every mile and a half.

Jingle Bell Run: this was a ton of fun - there were 10 ladies who ran this and went out for pancakes afterwards - 5 of the 10 were expecting! We even wore signs that said "running for two and running for pancakes" or something along those lines.

Tri-Club Swim Challenge: As I've mentioned before - i am not a very good swimmer - nor do i enjoy swimming - but since running has gotten more and more uncomfortable i've gotten to the point where I swim 3 days a week. At first I would try for 800 yards - sad i know and slowly it has increased... never quite got to a mile. I've only swam a mile once or twice - and that was several years ago now. However - swimming with jen I seem to be improving - she says i'm the only pregnant person that gets better as I get further along in this pregnancy. So one day jen sends me an email asking if I want to do the 25 x 100's challenge. Since breakfast afterwards was involved - i was in. We took it in small chunks and we did it. That's the furthest i've ever swam!

So what's in store for after Baby Smith's arrival? Well - the jogging stroller is ready and waiting to get out on the roads. Since i'm much better at swimming than i use to be - i think at least a sprint triathlon is in my future this summer... and I want to get in at least 2 marathons before I start baking baby smith #2. I still want to qualify for boston. so i'm hoping to do a fall marathon just to get back into training mode - check off another state and just finish in whatever time. Then in the spring I want to qualify for boston....

i think perhaps i'll start blogging again - it's going to be quite a journey i'm sure!

2009-07-29T14:06:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-12T05:45:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-23T10:36:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-09T12:58:00.000-07:00

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

2009-02-24T09:26:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-23T08:19:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-20T08:44:00.001-08:00

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?

2009-02-10T06:51:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-09T07:24:00.001-08:00

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

2009-01-28T06:36:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-09T11:06:00.000-08:00

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!

where have i been?

2008-12-23T05:32:00.000-08:00

what the heck have i been doing? i haven't updated this thing in forever! Let's see - training for the buckeye 50k is going pretty well. Steve and I did his first 20 mile run ever - he did an awesome job - he doesn't get whiney and b$%chy like i do towards the end of a long run. I'm getting excited about Disney... how bout i got a jury duty summons for the week we are suppose to be in Disney? Thank goodness i called and got it postponed fot a few weeks. I was thinking i was going to have to send one of you guys with steve in my place! Well -- in just a few hours i will be on vacation for the rest of the year... so hopefully i'll get some good runs in and have some time to catch up on my blogging. At least - steve will be futher behind in updating his blog than me...

getting back on track

2008-11-19T09:54:00.000-08:00

This week I actually went ahead and put my workouts on my outlook calendar. Figured if i had them actually scheduled in my day - i'd have a better chance of actually getting the workouts in. Today's track workout may kill me though. What to do - face the horrors of a treadmill - or a freezing cold track in the dark. i'm almost thinking the dark track sounds best...
Last night i squeezed in an "easy" 4 miler on the track at the gym and then a 20 minute pathetic attempt at a swim between work and a banquet i had to go to. When i say easy - I can't run easy when i am at a track on the gym - b/c inevitable some guy will come out on the track and try to run you over to prove their manhood by proving that they are moving faster than you - although usually they are just running a half a mile or something. So - I tend to get like a dog that's told he can't chase an ambulance when i'm running around the track - and finally i can't take it anymore - and I just let it all out for a few laps just to pass those stupid guys. So my "easy" 4 - turned into a bit more of a tempo run - can't be totally sure as i forgot my watch and had to rely on a digital clock - so if it said 5:20 - i had no idea if it was 5:20:01 or 5:20:59. Oh well that's all for now!

what i learned today

2008-11-11T18:51:00.000-08:00

3 reasons why people in ohio generally do not do track workouts in the winter

1.) it's dark

2.) it's cold

3.) running around the track in the dark and the cold really stinks.

Thanks to steve for getting my butt out to the track at 8:45 tonight when i got home - and for keeping me out there til i finished my workout - and even pacing me on my last couple intervals. He's the best!

Back at it again

2008-11-11T08:56:00.000-08:00

After getting two back to back trail runs in this weekend - i finally feel like I'm back to it again. Which is a good thing - b/c I think that my body is genetically engineered such that when i don't exercise on a regular scheudle for a few weeks everything i eat goes directly to my butt. Seriously you should see the pants I have on today - who let me out of the house in a pair of pants that looks like it is being swallowed by my ass? I'll blame steve. ha!
Anyway - what has been going on. No news on the moley moley moley moley front. Got a card in the mail the other day that looked like an invitation of some sort I opened it and it said "please call your doctor immediately regarding your biopsy" good thing i had talked to them already or i would have cried all night. I'm still waiting for steve's aunt to give us the name of some of the doctors she's worked at at the clinic.
On the running front Steve and I ran 8 miles of blue hen falls the other day. Boy that is a lot tougher than pine lane. The first couple of miles were fun... miles 3-4 got rough - miles 5-6 i worried i wouldn't make it back -- miles 7-8 were fun again. we were suppose to run 12 - but we got such a late start that i was starving! So we called it a day and went home to eat steve's awesome home made stew! Saturday night we went to a night at the races fundraiser. I love those things - $10-$20 for all you can eat/drink plus you get to bet on horse races that were recorded in like 1962. I think stuff like that is hilarious. We had fun - and I behaved myself enough that when we met amie and Todd for another 8 miles on pine lane on sunday i was in good shape. That run went really well - we're not exactly blazing through the trails - but i can definately tell that i am getting more confident running on the uneven terrain. I'm really interested to see how my running will improve after training for this 50k. Trail runs are hard work! I have to do my track workout later tonight in the cold and dark by myself - fortunately steve is going to come and watch so I don't have any weirdo issues... I hope to get a tempo run in wednesday night - any takers for a run wednesday night after work? and then saturday is 14 on the trails and i think sunday is 8 on the trails. Hope you are all having a great week!

doctors

2008-11-05T08:33:00.001-08:00

I am so tired of doctors. I have been to the doctor more times in the last two months than i think i have in my entire life. Not only did I have my stupid bronchitis etc. that wouldn't go away... but 4 months ago a co-worker and I were talking about her trip to the dermetologist. She was going their to have a mole removed. Well that got me to thinking about a mole that i had on my leg that looked like it had changed shape. Ok - i know this is gross and no one really cares. However - i'll carry on. So I decided to go to the doctor - my appointment was 2 weeks ago - where of course she decided to biopsy said mole. So now i have a giant hole in my leg and no bandaids left in my house. At the rate this was healing i was thinking maybe i could get back in the pool in another two weeks... Well the doctor tells me - we'll let you know in 1-2 weeks the results either way of the biopsy. So today is 2 weeks - i still have heard nothing. Girl at work informs me that when there was something wrong they called her right away and sent her to a plastic surgeon... otherwise i was probably fine. So I call the doctor and they call me back and inform me that this is a "very abnormal mole" that i will need to go have a larger hole of skin removed from leg - one requiring stitches. I said is it cancerous? She said it is "a very abnormal mole" that will most likely turn into cancer. What the heck does that mean? Is this just a CYA for the doctor? Am i seriously going to get skin cancer if I don't let them hack another whole into my leg? Is boring into my leg really going to prevent cancer? Judging from my experience and my co-worker's it seems like this doctor just likes to cut things off of people! So stitches - how long do you think they'll tell me i'm not allowed to run or swim for after that one?
I know i know - IF this is cancerous than missing a few weeks of running and swimming is well worth it to prevent cancer... I just don't know if i believe them. "very abnormal" coming from somone that seems to like to cut a lot of people up - just makes me sceptical. So that's what's going on with me today. needed to vent. I don't want to go get another hole cut in my leg

what to do with one's self...

2008-10-17T12:03:00.001-07:00

Day 5 of no running or exercise. I'm getting better - only 2.5 more days on antibiotics - which is good b/c it's reeking havic on my stomach... haven't taken cough medicine during the day for the last couple of days. Cough seems to flare up in the evening mostly... I told steve i was going to go for a run on saturday - and I had a massive coughing attack. Think that was my body's way of saying hey dummy - get completely better before you try running me down again. It's going to be hard - but i am going to try and give my body a full week off to get completely better before i run. In the meantime I feel lost. No workouts to over analyze or worry about -- just worrying about the size of my waistline as I continue to eat like I am running a marathon everyday. Not being able to finish a race is even more frustrating than just a bad race. I was disappointed after the pig in may - but I still ran my little heart out and got a p.r. - there was some accomplishment there - but this failed attempt at a run is killing me. If only I had not tried to squeeze in my last 20 miler when i was sick... perhaps i would have gotten better after a week... perhaps not. Should i try and run another race? Have I lost too much fitness being sick for the last 4.5 weeks?
It's more than a let down to train for 4 months for something and just not have it happen - it's like something's missing - I don't think i really want to run another marathon right now - don't know that i have it in me - and I worry that it would be really ugly if I tried... It's just really weird - it's like traveling a long way to get somewhere - only when you get there - wherever your were suppose to be going isn't there. What do you do? turn back around? go off in another direction? or just keep plugging along in the same direction - and hope that the place you were looking for will show up a few miles down the road?
So I sent in our race applications for the buckeye 50k -- other than that - i just don't know what is next. I wish i could enjoy this down time - but when you didn't complete the goal you set out to do - you can't really enjoy the rest in the same way...
have a good weekend everyone!

Worst Case Scenario

2008-10-13T09:11:00.000-07:00

Let me start off by congratulating Amie and Janet on the perfect day Sunday - perfect weather - perfect race everything went perfectly according to plan! I am soooo very excited for them!

That being said - going into yesterday's race - i had the mentality of "worse case scenario - i just finish" ha ha ha ha. Well... is there such a thing as the "even worse case scenario?" As amie said - she knew i was in trouble when i couldn't keep up with them walking to the starting line because of the sharp pains in my ribs. I ran the first mile with amie - and knew i just couldn't do it - that I wasn't 100% yet. And suprisingly I was ok - with that - i backed off my pace and decided to just take it easy and run a nice even paced marathon. Well I was walking by mile two. I couldn't breath - and even worse... I had sharp shooting pains in my ribs and side stitch - like pain that was really just soreness from all the coughing i had been doing.
So i backed down the pace to about a 9 minute mile - figured i can do this for the rest of the race - heck all of my long runs were faster than that. Not so - by the time i got to lock 29 (mile 3.5) I was seriously doubting if I would be able to finish - but i kept plugging on - walking and running. I tried to tell myself to only take a walk break every mile - but it quickly became every half mile and every quarter mile. At mile 6.5 my family was cheering for me like crazy and they kept saying "your time is fine" i think at that point i would have still been around a 4 hour pace - which would have been "fine" However, I was slowly getting worse. I had absoultely nothing in me - there was no deep place to dig down to - I have never felt so weak before. I told elizabeth i felt like i had the strength of a piece of paper. Well i passed my family at lock 29 again and I stopped to talk to them. I said I don't know that i can finish this to day - I've got nothing in me. I wasn't upset - i wasn't being dramatic or head case - i simply knew my body couldn't do this. They tried to get me to get in the car with them at that point - but i said - no i'm going to make it back to boston store. When i passed Elizabeth - she said - if you are having fun keep going - if not it's not worth it. Well i passed thru the halfway mark at 2:15 - yeah i know about a half hour off pace - but with the way i felt i figured if i could finish with a 4:30 - i would be just fine with that. At boston store - i convinced steve to come with me - but all i could do was walk. I would try to "jog" for about 30 seconds and I would start coughing so badly that I couldn't breath. Steve figured i should stop - but i said "no i'm finishing what I started" So we walked... if you can call 20min/mile even walking. I tried so hard - but that's all my body would do. I decided if my family was at station road i would accept a ride home. Well - they weren't there. So I thought - they must be at the turn - i'll get a ride there - well the turn was way further out than i thought - I had to sit down a few times before we got there - and when we got there - it was just in the middle of the road - the closest access point was station road. So the very cheerful volunteer crew there lent me a cell phone and I called my dad to come meet us at station road. So i made it to almost mile 22. You may be thinking - if you made it that far - why not just finish? At the rate I was moving - it would have taken me at least an hour and a half to finsh those four miles - which would have put me past the cut off -and would have done more damage than good. When i finally came to grips that i was going to quit - i started to cry - i trained harder for this race - than any previous races - and until about 4 weeks ago when i got this nasty bug - i was in my best shape ever. Well i soon learned that crying does not help one breath - and the coughing and associated pain in my stomach and ribs quickly made me stop crying and wallowing in my own self pity. Steve was great to walk all those miles with me - especially with the way the rangers were out there chasing people off the path. I think they looked at me - and thought - well if she falls down - and at least he'll have to pick her up - so they kind of ignored the fact that he didn't have a bib number on or a chip on his shoe. So that's that. I trained for four months and I couldn't even finish the race.
I went to the doctor for my follow up appointment. Ruptured ear drum - still ruptured... ribs - bruised from all the violent coughing -- mental note if your ribs hurt while walking to the start line - call it a day and enter a different race! Still have the ear infections and bronchitis. So round two of the antibiotics and if i'm not better in a week - i have referral to get a chest xray. Good news though - she's pretty sure that it's not pnemonia. I get winded walking around the house - but if i sit still on my butt i feel pretty good. Dr. steve says no exercise this week at all - and i can't argue with him. What does that mean for this marathon season? I don't know yet - we'll see how quickly i can get better - but i think i may just let this one go - and focus on running a fun race at disney in january... whew that was one long post!

holy crap

2008-10-08T13:20:00.000-07:00

the towpath marathon is in 4 well 3 days. do you count today and they day of the event? or just the days in between. No matter -- it's ALMOST here. I am going back and forth between - oh this is going to be fun - just think of it as another run in the park - to feeling really pumped and knowing this is going to be a great race to realizing that the meds the doctor put me on are causing me to shake and giving me all sorts of stomach issues.

I guess that's the evil/beauty of a marathon - you train for four months and you never know what you are going to get race day. Ugh - i can't spend the next 3-4 days being nervous... must think positive good thoughts....

I busted my ear drum

2008-10-06T11:16:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling under the weather for almost three weeks now. I'm not dying but I don't feel well - and rather than going away it's getting worse. Well with the marathon now only six days away - i finally went to the doctor. I was crossing my fingers that she wouldn't say "it's just a cold - have some chicken soup" that she would actually give me some drugs to make this thing go away! So she informs me that i have bronchitis and an ear infection - and... a ruptured ear drum. I knew I ruptured it last week - it hurt so bad - but everyone at work laughed at me -- turns out I really did it! So the doc said if I'm not breathing better by the end of the week - to call and she'll get me an inhaler. So hopefully by the end of this week i'll be feeling like my old self and be ready to crush this marathon!! Glad this wasn't all in my head - and that I really have been sick and that I actually have something to make it better!

A B and C goals

2008-10-02T11:24:00.001-07:00

After some email chat with my wise running friend mr whittaker... I am feeling wayyyy better about next sunday. First off - Brian will be out there around mile 20-22 - and is going to run me in if i need it - which will be awesome - especially if my super speedy cohorts have left me by that point! Number two - brian was telling me to set an A B and C goal -all of which I will be satisfied with... so here they go.

A. 3:40:49

B. 3:50

C. Break 4 hrs

Hopefully it will be an "A" kind of day... but hey a "C" is a passing grade as well no? I was also looking at the calendar - b/c come end of january my current job position should be changing. Well to put that amount of time in perspective - I will have run 2 marathons (towpath and disney) and hopefully my first 50k (buckeye winter 50k) between now and the time I get into my new position. Crazy when I look at it that way.

Last night Steve and I ran on pine lane for about 6 miles - it gets dark so fast! When we got done I noticed they have signs posted saying that the towpath will be closed october 12th for the marathon!!! I can't believe it's almost here!!

digging out of a funk

2008-10-01T07:18:00.001-07:00

Training had been going so well... then a few weeks before taper - I ran into a few injuries. I was able to still run well but had to cut back a bit - to keep my foot on track. Well after a couple weeks of that - apparently my foot decided it wanted a real rest so it went out and got a nasty cold and stuck it in my head and lungs. Such a nasty cold that I did not run my 20 miler on the sunday morning I planned. I actually bailed on my running buddies that morning - which in my eyes is a big no no. So determined to get the miles in - i did my run monday night. I pushed too hard... and basically knocked myself out for the week. Friday night I decided to do the akron half marathon. So we ran down to akron got me signed up - grabbed some dinner and went to bed. I woke up every hour on the hour b/c I was afraid I would over sleep. Got down to the race with plenty of time - warmed up a little bit - but was so out of it - i thought the race started down by the stadium - so i was wandering around confused. I eventually made it up to the start. My goal was to run a little faster than race pace. Just so I could see how that felt - and practice getting through the water stops and staying on pace. Well the first mile felt like i was really pushing it. It was a 8:19 -- when your goal marathon pace is 8:24 -- that's not exactly pushing it. So mile 2 - i started walking. I felt awful. It was like I was in a dream where no matter how hard you try you can't run - even though someone is chasing you. It took everything i had not to duck into the parking and get in my car and leave without finishing the race. I told myself that I couldn't wear my shirt from the race if i didn't finished - and besides - no matter how bad a day I am having - i'm not going to quit a race. So I plodded on. Walked a lot. Learned that I need to take my water belt with me. The race seemed to like to taunt you with the idea of a water stop. you would see a sign that said "aid station ahead" and I swear it would be another half mile til you got the water. It seemed long enough when you were thirsty - that you started thinking perhaps you missed the water stop. So anyway - it was an ugly ugly ugly day. Not as slow as my first half marathon - but almost 25 minutes slower than i ran at the river run. So what are you going to do? Well if you are me you worry and freak out and start doubting yourself. Well that was Saturday. Yesterday (Tuesday) amie asked if i was up for our last real track workout. I was not - i was nervous that I forgot how to run. But i knew i needed to go. It ended up being a good workout. I whined and complained because task mater glen was there - and he was trying to make sure that we weren't giving ourselves too much recovery time (which we still did) It made for a tough workout - and i was a little worried about over doing it. But - even with going out to fast on my first set - I kept the others consistant and right in the right pace zone. So I left the track feeling a 1000 times better.
On my drive home I got to thinking about the upcoming towpath and started worrying about the bq. Then I started laughing at myself. If you would have told me when I was training for my first marathon (4:48) that i would someday be obsessing about qualifying for boston - i would have laughed in your face. When did I go from - let's see if i can finish a marathon - to hmm i like this running stuff - i'd like to try to get faster - to this self depricating freak that is worried about running a 3:40. It's good to have goals - but why can't I ever be proud of myself for what i have done? I'm never going to win a marathon - I'm never going to go to the olympics - but I'm a pretty good runner. If you look at the common person - we are all pretty damn good runners. We run marathons and triathlons for goodness sake - we do something that most people don't even attempt! So i'm going to go out there in less than 2 weeks - knowing that i'm a pretty good damn runner. I am going to have the best run i can -- the towpath is home turf - I know the course well. It's going to hurt - but i am going to run smart - and i am not going to feel sorry for myself when things start to hurt. I am going to go out and try to qualify for boston. If it doesn't happen - then i am going to run the best race I can - and go for the biggest pr I can. and ... i am going to be damn proud of myself for finishing my 4th marathon. I will qualify for boston either in two weeks or someday - but i need to remember to run for the love of the sport - and not get so bogged down with splits and times and paces. i need to run to run - because it is what helps keep me right.

high school cross country

2008-09-20T19:09:00.000-07:00

Today was quite a day. I took my grandpa to see my old high school cross country team race. It was really interesting watching the girls run. I could see in so many of them - myself - especially at that age... thinking that you have given it your all - when really you are capable of much more - if only you wouldn't be afraid to push past your limits. I wanted so badly to jump into that race - and do my high school running career over again. I could have been really good. If only I had believed in myself. I don't want to go to a marathon someday when I'm not able to run and think - wow if only I would have pushed myself - I could have been pretty good. Now is the time to go after what i want and to see what I am made of.
So I was feeling pretty inspired by the time we were ready to leave the race. My grandpa - however was not - he was feeling pretty sick. Long story short - on the way to the car Grandpa started not feeling well and was having a hard time walking. I took off to see if I could find the cop I had seen earlier b/c I was pretty sure we were going to need help. By the time i turned around - my grandpa had passed out - and fortunately steve had caught him and laid him down on the ground. Well the next race had to wait to start b/c not only did one ambulance show up -- but two fire trucks that were blocking the course. Grandpa tried to get up - b/c he was embarrassed but we kept him down and made sure we got him to the hospital. Still not sure what caused it. Grandpa claims he didn't fall and he didn't pass out. I guess it's not falling if someone catches you! He was certainly not responsive for a good minute - though he denies that too. The hospital has decided to keep him over night to run some more tests. So keep him in your thoughts - hopefully they will find what caused him to pass out.
But I digress from positive thoughts. I've just finished reading the latest issue of runners world - and I've paraphrased, edited and plagerized some quotes in there. I've printed them out - as my Towpath to Boston Positive Thoughts. Here they are.

Towpath to Boston Positive Thoughts

To dread a race is to give it too much power, to start strategizing about how to get over it, to calculate your strength versus its distance and grade is a lost-cause algorithm. Only you can work out your relationship to the hill you’re on.
Only you can outrun that inner goon who has not faith in you at all.

There will be a day when you can no longer do this. Today is not that day.

I’ve never regretted going for a run, but I have regretted skipping one.

Highs and Lows

2008-09-19T06:37:00.000-07:00

So - I finally had a good workout this week - so I followed it up with a crappy slogfest of a tempo run this morning. Poor Elizabeth was forced to hang with my slow butt. Big thanks to her for being patient and running with me. Just felt like I was running through wet cement. Oh wait we actually did run through some wet cement at one point this morning! Oh well - there are a thousand factors that played into why I didn't have a good run - but the bottom line is they happen - and bad runs are not magic eight balls that predict the outcome of your upcoming race -- that is - not unless you let them. So I am going to put it behind me and be glad that it is done... and be glad that it is friday. Let's see what I learned today.

1.) I still do not know how to use my garmin - I am garmin handicapped - anyone who spends $300 on a piece of technology like that should at least be able to tell you how far and at what pace they ran. Nope not me - elizabeth had to take it from me like i was mentally handicapped so we could figure out how far we actually ran.

2.) There is a plus to sun glare - it makes downtown look beautiful as the sun bounces of the buildings

3.) I do not know my way around the flats like I thought. Took a wrong turn today and spent 25 minutes touring the area -- recognized a lot of places from the st. malachi run - but could not get out!!

4.) fall is definately upon us - my hands were freezing this morning and my nose was running like a leaky faucet!

Ok that's all for today.

Oh here is something odd for you. So as runners we are pretty much all aware of our body size and weight. And... if someone were to say to you - hey you look like you've lost some weight - it's usually a compliment. Well I went to this dinner last night and I ran into an ex co-worker. She said to me... and I quote "you look really thin - I didn't recognize you. You look sick - have you not been feeling well" I am by no means sickly thin - but had I been - why would you say that to someone? what if i was battling some disease and i didn't want to tell you about it? you don't tell someone they look sickly - that would be like telling someone - gee you look a little heavy - have you been emotionally eating lately? ugh. people are weird. ok - that's really it for today... HAPPY FRIDAY!!! ONE MORE 20 MILER AND IT IS TAPER TIME!!! WOO HOO!!!

when will i learn?

2008-09-17T06:22:00.000-07:00

Why haven't I learned my lesson? Why do I think that each time I go up to the track by myself - that it will be a normal experience - a nice workout surrounded by other people happily working out? Why do I keep thinking that there will be no weirdos?
Last night - i had to work late - and amie I weren't meeting for our usual track workout. Well after having missed a few track workouts in a row b/c of my foot and etc... I wanted to make sure I got my workout in. So I drove up to the track to make sure there was no football practice or anything - went home farted around for a while - my neighbor stopped by - so long story short - i didn't get out the door til almost 7:45 - with the way it is getting dark so fast - i didn't want to be starting that late - but what can you do.
I go to the track to do my warmup -and it was fairly normally - people walking on the inside lanes etc - but no bikes or anything. There was also a group of what looked like parents having a meeting in the bleachers - but there were no kids and it was dark - so seemed like as strange place for a meeting. Well my workout was 10 400's with 400 recovery. I noticed there was a guy running at a pretty decent pace - he would pass me on my recovery runs and I would pass him on my 400's. Well I started to notice that he seemed to be trying to race me. No biggie I figured - and I ran on. Well i took a pit stop literally behind an equipment building. As I was peeing I heard my car key drop in the grass in the dark. Let's just say it takes a long time to find a key in the dark as it is - let alone when you are trying to avoid the area where you just peed. ok gross i know - but hey it happens. I find the key and get back on the track and I hear yelling. I realize that it is the guy who was trying to race me. I don't know what he's yelling or who he is yelling at. Well I run another 400 and he is really trying to race me - but while he's doing that he's yelling something about wind sprints and being 46 years old and all sorts of incoherent stuff. In the meantime everyone else has left the track. So - i decide that I'm going to call steve to come sit up here for my last 5 400's just because this guy is really creeping me out. I call steve I call our house I call steve several times - no answer - which is really odd b/c he ALWAYS answers his phone. So I drive home real quick - b/c i'm staying up there in the dark with the weirdo and now i'm afraid that steve has hit himself in the head or something while working on the demo of upstairs. I get home and steve is fine - just doesn't have his phone by him - so I say I left my water bottle and headlamp at the track just come up with me to get it. So we drive back up there and the guy is still there - but my water bottle and head lamp are gone. The guy took it and moved to the other side of the track! Well with steve there I started on my workout again. Fortunately after a couple of laps - my crazy yelling friend left. Ended up being a good workout - but sheesh - why can't I ever have a normal workout??? My foot is hurting a little bit - but I discover last night that if i put my foot at a certain angle I can stretch that part of my foot out and it feels better. So i'll keep icing and keep at it. Less than 4 weeks til towpath.... eek!

river run

2008-09-08T09:40:00.000-07:00

On Friday - I was reading janet's blog and I saw that she was up in the air as to what do to this weekend race wise. She told me that she was going to run the riverrun half marathon on sunday - do a few miles before and a few after to make it a 20 miler. So - with very little arm twisting i decided to do the same.
On sunday morning - I couldn't sleep - i hadn't really run in a week - and I was nervous - I wasn't sure how to even run this race - do i got out hard to i take it easy b/c it's a 20 miler... I wasn't sure what to do. Needless to say the worrying did not help my foot or my stomach feel very good. I'm convinced now that half my injury is in my head. Funny how my foot felt fine on saturday but hurt sunday morning before the race.... ok i know it's not totally in my head - it's sore today and i know that that is from running - but i really think that it's like the good old bobbi mcfarrin song "when you worry you make it double - so don't worry..." So how bout I sang that song at kareoke on friday - night - a bad song sung by a very bad singer who's had one to many adult beverages... anyway - back to sunday. I met Janet for a 2 mile warm up - and then we were off - I ran with janet for about 3 minutes before I realized I should probably back off a bit - no need to blow up half way through this race. Before the race Janet suggested that I try for a 1:45 - which would be an 8 minute pace - which would put me right about where i need to be for my 3:40. So that in mind I tried to keep around an eight minute pace - didn't push it too too hard - I knew i still had five miles to go after the race - but definately made sure i was putting in a hard effort. Well i was doing great keeping on pace til I got to the water stops. I can't drink out of a cup and run - i have to walk for a few steps...well I learned that I take way too long at water stops - b/c in order to get my pace for that mile split back down to an eight- i'd have to run a 7:45 pace to make up for the 10 -15 seconds of walking. Well as the race went on - I tried to push myself hard on the last few miles. I ended up running a 1:47:31 - a p.r. by 9 minutes and 20 seconds!! can't be disappointed with that. So - according to mcmillian I should be at about at 1:45 - well according to everyone's garmin the course was .1 - .12 too long - and... I definately spent too much time at the water stops. I'm glad I ran this race though - it shows me that I'm close to a bq - I may not be quite there yet - and i might not be there at the towpath - but i'm close and I will get there soon. It also showed me that i really need to take into account the time it is going to take me to gu and take in water and even stop to pee if i have to during the race. I think this really gives me a better idea of what i have to do in order to make my goal. Oh - and I was secretly hoping to get top 10 in my age group - b/c this is a decent sized race with some great runners... I got 7th! i know it's no age group award - but i was really pleased with it! I think I'll definately do this race next year - it was a lot of fun! Oh and if you were wondering - no we didn't run the last 5 - poor Janet was freezing from the time she spent at the finish waiting for me - and my stomach wasn't feeling very good - so we walked the mile plus to the car and called it at day. A big thanks to steve for dropping me off at the start and picking us up at the finish!

phantom foot pain update

2008-09-05T12:09:00.000-07:00

I did not run Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. I spent the week icing and taking ibuprofren. B/c of work only swam once and never got to that darned eleptical. That's all i did. I feel like such a cow. I don't think I can ever give up working out - I just feel like a big pile of lumpy mashed potatoes. Anyway - on Wednesday when i ran down the steps in my house to get something - i realized that my foot was finally feeling better. So last night i took the old foot for a test run. It didn't really hurt - but it felt kind of funny - so i just ran 3 miles - no need to do too much too soon. My legs felt like lead though. I ran my warmup mile in 8:56 which i was pleased with for a warm up - but then i decided to pick it up for the next couple of miles. Yeah - 8:53 for mile two and then 7:56 for the last mile - my legs felt like i was running a sub 6 pace. Guess maybe my legs are still a little heavy from all the inactivity. Either that or the the ten pounds i feel like i gained this week... maybe i really gained it - in each leg - and that is why they are so heavy... ok or maybe not.
Well i woke up this morning - and my foot hurt. So i iced it for awhile - feels alright now -- i think i just need to cut my miles a little over the next few weeks and make sure to ice like crazy. I only have 2 more weeks til my taper starts - so i'm hoping I'll be ok. I've got 20 miles scheduled for this weekend. Was going to do it saturday - but I think i'm going to wait til sunday to give my foot another day of rest. If it starts hurting - i'll forgo the 20 -- it's not like i haven't already run 3 20 milers in this training program. Ugh - i just hope this doesn't all fall apart now... Keep your fingers crossed that things work out!

ugh

2008-09-02T06:55:00.000-07:00

So the long weekend is over and i'm back at work. Looking at the lake - i don't think it's happy the long weekend is over either -- The sky is a beautiful blue but the lake has the strip of gray yuck just hanging over it. I just watched the blue angels take off for what I can assume is their flight home - and it was kind of sad because it was hard to see them against the gray blech backdrop of the lake today. Well hopefully it's just fog and it will burn off. I had a nice weekend - too busy like normal but nice. Went to cincinatti to visit some friends - celebrated my mother in law's 60 birthday yesterday - and even got most of my closet cleaned out.
Here's the "ugh" part though - tell me if this makes any sense what so ever.
Last tuesday after work - i change into my running clothes and put on my running shoes. As soon as my right foot is in the shoe - i feel pain on the outside of my right foot. So i take the shoe off feel in there to see if there is something - put my foot back in -- repeat this for several minutes -and figure - oh well it will work itself out once i start walking. (note i haven't run since saturday and it is tuesday already) Well i meet amie at the track for our weekly track workouts - where she tells me she is having knee pain since saturday's run.
So - apparently my phantom foot injury decides it doesn't want to be outdone by amie's actual knee injury - and it starts really hurting - like i didn't finish my mile cool down hurting - and if you know me - if my workout says - mile cool down - i do a mile cool down - no matter what - so this is a big deal. Well I ice my foot and i don't run until friday after work. I'm suppose to do 10 at marathon pace - well i just wanted to test my foot out so - i just ran about 4.5 at marathon pace - i know not quite the same - but i was planning on running 15 the next day in cincy - so i figured i should take it easy. While i ran my foot was uncomfortable - it wasn't a sharp pain - but it wasn't right - but it also seemed that it wasn't getting any worse as i was running - just staying the same.
Saturday morning I set out on the bike path in loveland ohio -- it's kind of like the towpath - but there is no canal - just a river and it is paved - so it is more of a bike trail than an all purpose trail. Well i took my new garmin - and i had the best run ever. I set it to give me the average pace for the current mile i was on - and let me tell you how well that worked for me - I was able to average about an 8:25 pace (in case you are wondering bq is an 8:24 pace) - -easily/comfortably - which i attribute to the fact that I would look down and see that my pace was sub eight or in the low eights and I would slow it down a bit - so that i would not blow up. During this my foot hurt - but nothing that I couldn't run through - for example in a race if my foot hurt like that - i definately wouldn't stop - but in a training run - i figure i need to take it easy if i'm hurting like that. Don't want to do further damage So i went out 6 miles and came back 6 miles - thinking i could go out and back the other direction for the last three miles - well i got about a quarter of a mile to go steve was waiting for me - so we ran the last quater mile together. When we stopped i was hobbeling pretty good - so i called it quits. I haven't run since and i made sure i didn't bring all of my running stuff with me today so that i wouldn't be tempted to do my track workout.
I hate this - i know i need to take some time off to let my body heal - but after a run like i had on saturday - i feel like i am in such good shape - that i don't want to lose it - and i know i'm not going to lose 18 weeks of training in a few days - but still it's frustrating... especially since this injury seems like a phantom injury that my subconscious made up. How else does your foot not hurt one second and then the next second your self diagnosing yourself with tendanidous???

catch up time

2008-08-25T05:58:00.000-07:00

I sure am behind on my blogging. Not sure why - guess I haven't been quite as fired up on my running - and i know why - and i know it is a dumb reason. I'm doing the age old no no of comparing myself to others. Things are still going well - but i'm starting to wonder if my goals are truly attainable or if i'm chasing something that's still out of my reach. I'm doing exactly what the trusty training program says i need to do - but rather being pumped up about the fact that I'm running better than ever - and better than i thought i could - i'm looking at other people - and saying wow - this is so much easier for them - than me - who am I kidding? I know that you need to have a positive attitude - believe that you can do something and you can - believe that you can't - and you won't. At the same time I don't want to be the fool that's walking around saying they are going to do something - and everyone else is looking at her - thinking - what is this crazy girl thinking??? she'll never be able to do that - she's not that good. So I start to tell myself - well if I don't make boston at the towpath that's ok - and it is ok - running a 3:40 at towpath will not be make or break my life - and i don't want to be too disappointed if it doesn't happen - but at the same time - telling myself it's ok if i don't make it - is not the motivation one needs to do well. So enough - enough negative - enough of other people - i'm going to focus on the positive.

Since my last blog - i've done lots of stuff. Ran the twilight trail run. It was a lot of fun - ran into a girl i use to run in high school with - i think we pushed each other a little too hard in the first mile - but it was fun. I started off that race not sure how i would do - my stomach was angry all day - i even threw up at work that day - so i wasn't sure how the run was going to go. I didn't want to use that as an excuse to not push myself though - so I ran the first mile with my old high school buddy and then gained a little on her - my goal was to just stay with her or a little ahead of her since i figured she would be running at a pretty good pace. Well with the staggered start of the race - the further i got into the race - the more people started to come up behind you - well in a normal race you don't get passed by people moving this fast - so you just pick it up - - i think this was the first time i've ever run negative splits in a race - maybe all races should be like this! However as i mentioned - stomach was not happy - but i kept pushing it - got to about a half a mile out though and I had to slow down the pace just so i could finish with out throwing up - and with the way my stomach was that day - i figured the chances of me throwing up were pretty high. So i finished in 41 minutes - not to shabby - next time i run this race i want to break 38 - i think it can happen. You could tell i gave it my all though - b/c when they tried to hand me a beer at the finish - i said no -- yes folks - bridget turned down a beer - so you know she was not feeling great. I got some water and waited for steve to come in - wasn't sure how he would do since he was still sore from the half ironman just four days earlier... turns out he did awesome!! beat his last five mile trail run by ten minutes!!! way to go steve!

ok that's enough for now - i' ll pick up with the pedal to the point recap here shortly...

GCT - reaching goals

2008-08-11T10:12:00.000-07:00

So this weekend was the greater cleveland tri. I had thought about doing it a few months back - but quickly realized that trying to qualify for boston and trying to train for your first triathlon in the same time period and still have a normal functioning life - is a bit much for me right now. Steve however - was determined to complete the half ironman. Let's flash back for a minute - and remind all of you that steve is just barely getting back into running - he was sidelined for over two years with stress fractures - and is just recently returning to running - with limited miles - no way he is risking being totally out again by ramping up the mileage too quickly. That being said - completing a half marathon was going to be quite an accomplishment in itself - let alone doing it after swimming 1.2 miles and then biking 56.
Going into this weekend - I felt like i was racing - I was nervous for Steve. Steve - as usual was calm - so unlike me - wish i could learn how to be like that. Well long story short - as everyone knows - they canceled the swim on sunday. I was so sad as I took steve's wetsuit back to the car. Steve is an awesome swimmer - probably would have been one of the first out of the water. However they made them run 1.2 miles instead. I know that the water was rough but it just stinks - you train for a year for something and then they say oh well you can't actually do the event you trained for. Well steve looked good on the first run and great on the bike. After he went on the bike - i ran a slow 2 something miles out on the bike course where I joined e speed for another 5 -- ended up being a jacked up version of my tempo workout. But it was fun to be running while cheering on the bikers - i'm sure we looked goofy. Steve looked awesome when we saw him - so we headed back towards the park. (so did amie and janet -- nice job ladies!) I waitied for steve to make the turn into the park and I made a mad dash to the car to drop my sweatshirt so I could run with him for a bit and get some pictures of him. Well I ended up running the whole thing with him - how's the for an unexpected extra 20 miler this week? ha! Steve did great -especially since he was having horrible leg cramps - i mean like charlie horse type leg cramps. He drank plenty of water and gatorade, took his gu and ecaps. I don't know what caused the cramping. If anyone has any insight - let me know. Well we got to the last mile and I remembered that I had ditched the camera around mile six. So steve said "go get it" I took off running across the parking lot of mentor headlands like i was on crack. Ran to the car - got the camera and ran to the path so I could document steve finishing. He beat his goal time by 47 minutes. I couldn't be more proud of him. He finished what he started - even though he knew it was going to be tough. Anyway - just wanted to say how proud I am of steve - for this huge accomplishment!!!

and a sigh of relief.

2008-08-08T05:46:00.000-07:00

As i stated in my earlier post - i was really nervous about my 13 miles at pmp plus 15 seconds. I tried to keep my overreacting in check and just go out there and run. I mapped out 6.5 miles on the towpath since I can't totally rely on ghetto garmin these days. To be honest i wasn't really sure what an 8:35 pace should feel like. I knew it should be harder than my comfortable 9:10 default pace - so I figured well if i push it a little - that should be about right. Well I started running - legs were still heavy from my track workout on tuesday but otherwise i felt pretty good. Mile 1 7:40 -- hmmm ok - guess I'm pushing it too fast - so slow down. Well it seemed that when i slowed down my garmin said i was doing a 9:50 pace - and as much as i know that my garmin isn't accurate it still scared me. Now i knew from what i had mapped out that the redlock trail head was 2.6 miles - so if i was going to be at an 8:30 pace I should hit it at 22:19 - I hit it at 20:19 - or something like that. Clearly i needed to slow it way down. Well I started thinking - i wonder if i can hold 8 minute miles through the first half and then do the second half at 8:30's -- if i can do that then I should be in really good shape for my 10k. So I ran on to boston store - mile 4.5 - stopped to refill my water - was still at an overall pace of under 8 minutes. so i only had to go two more miles out - from what i had mapped out online i had a pretty good idea of where the 6.5 mile mark was - just in case i couldn't trust the garmin. Garmin crapped out right around 6.1 miles - and then popped back online around 6.5 - right where 6.5 should have been. My 6.2 time was about 49 something - and my 6.5 was 51:47 - so I'm thinking a 6.2 time of 46:27 - is totally doable - especially if i'm not running 7 more miles afterwards!!
So I had a gu - and made my way back. Refilled at boston store again (mile 8.5) - still under 8 minute pace - I could feel myself slowing down a bit - my legs were still heavy - but through mile 11 i was still just under an overall pace of 8 minute miles. Well ghetto garmin decided to stop at mile 11.09 for quite some time - so I kind of lost track of my pace a bit. Just tried to keep it pretty even. Ghetto garmin had me running a total of 13.22 - in 1:45:05 - (we'll call it 13) for an overall pace of 8:05.
So yes I pushed too hard - i'm tired today - and legs are a little heavy - but really that was a really encouraging run - I needed to know that i could do that - and that I still had some left in me. I can run a half maraton at an 8:05 pace and still keep going. Good to know ... maybe this boston thing can happen....
thanks for listening to my over analysis of a 13 mile run...

nervous

2008-08-07T06:58:00.001-07:00

I'm getting nervous about whether or not I am truly at the right fitness level to be aiming for boston - or if I'm overtraining. I'm able to do the workouts at the paces the mcmillian calculator and first program say i should... so far anyway. The thing is - i've found over the last few weeks that i am capable of way more than i thought i was. Track workouts for example. If you would have told me i could do 6 800's at a consistant 3:15 - I would have told you were crazy. I was happy with doing 3:30's... so now i start to think - woah - maybe i am capable of way more than i think - and that the only thing that is holding me back is me. the part of me that is afraid to push to hard - don't push a race too hard - or a pace too hard - b/c you might blow up. Well if i don't try it - how will i know?
So tonight - i'm doing 13 miles at planned marathon pace plus 15 seconds - or an 8:35 - I've never done 13 miles at that pace. but if i can't do that - than i sure as s$#t can't do 26.2 at 8:20... so i'm getting nervous - which iknow will not help. Also on my plate is a 10k this weekend. I'm replacing the dreaded tempo run this week with the 10k race. According to mr mcmillian - my 10k equivalent performance should be a 46:27 - 7:28 pace. I haven't run a 10k since my goal was to break 10 minute miles... so I have no idea what i'm capable of. Last 5 mile i ran was a few months ago and it was 38 minutes -- so if that is any indicator - i should be able to pull a 46 pretty easily... But here's my problem - i am going to over think this from now until the 2 days after the race. And that will probably cause me to work myself up into a tizzy and therefore not do well. I really want these runs to go well to give myself and indicator that i am in the right shape to be training for a bq. And i know that a bad race or a bad run doesn't mean that i'm not there - but i know it sure will set me back mentally. So - wish me good luck and positive thoughts.

it's been awhile

2008-08-04T09:08:00.000-07:00

wow - can tell i've been busy - haven't blogged and haven't logged all of my workouts. what's been going on?...
Well - last weekend did a 14 miler with amie on the towpath - i think the most noteworthy part of that run would be the point where i stopped running and started yelling and grabbing my nose. (I think amie thought I had lost my mind at this point) Well some bug had decided to kamakazee up my nose so far and with such velocity that my nose started bleeding which led to a huge sneezing fit on the middle of the path. I think the bug is still lodged up in my sinus cavity - somewhere i swear!
Got a good track workout in - and then failed at a lunchtime attempt at my tempo workout. I HATE tempo workouts. I get myself all psyched out before them - thinking i'll never be able to do the pace - then i decide to do them at the hottest time of day - and i just become a head case. Was suppose to do a 5 mile tempo run - was so hot and dehyrdrated that barely got through 3 miles of it - before i called it quits. I was maintaing pace - but i stopped every mile - which defeats the purpose i think. So - I was a little nervous about my 20 miler the next day. Steve was nice enough to offer to ride on the towpath with me. So we set out saturday morning - and i decided to just run at a nice pace - and to ignore the garmin (thank goodness i did - it ended up being 2.75 miles short by the end of the run -- i want a new one so bad!!) I ended up running most of the towpath marathon course - and I am starting to get to know where the mile markers are and where the water stops are. It was great having steve out there - i didn't have to worry about carrying enough water or gu and fortunately the odometer on his bike is a lot more accurate than my old school garmin. So - i ended up keeping a steady 9:10 pace - just what the old chart says i should... i'm getting worried about how this is going to translate to a 8:24 overall pace for the marathon... well that's all for now... gotta run.

track workouts

2008-07-23T09:59:00.000-07:00

So here's a question - if one runs a track workout on a cinder track that is half grown over with grass and weeds - is that kind of like a trail track workout? ok i know - not funny. Anywho - couldn't make it out to solon yesterday - and my usual track was occupied so i settled for the local cinder track. It was actually kind of nice - i thought the cinders might slow me down a lot - but really it was just nicer on my body - not so jarring - didn't hurt my shins and my back. I wasn't sure if the track was a full 400 or not - so i checked it on the gmaps pedometer thingy - and it said it was .23 miles - so i thought - well that could just be my error in tracing around the track - you can only zoom in so far. Well i did my warmup - that was suprisingly quick - so i thought - well maybe it is a little short. So the plan 3 x 1 mile - goal between 7:00 and 7:25 Ran the first one at a suprisingly easy 6:30. Um yeah - track was definately short. So I got the old Garmin out ran the next "mile" in 6:33 - and then kept running til the Garmin said one mile - so my second real mile was a 6:56 - which i'm thinking made my firt mile the equivalent of 6:53. I was pretty excited about this - that and the fact that there were no weirdos riding bikes or walking dogs on this track - when lo and behold 1 lady and 2 girls came down to the track to start walking across the entire track. So I started my mile and yelled "i'm passing on your left" i've never seen 3 people jump like that - I said "i've got 4 quick ones to do" So they stayed out of my way the entire time. But i felt like after making them move out of my way like that - that I better keep my pace up - final mile 6:46.... hmmm maybe a 21 minute 5k or sub 21 (well let's not get crazy) is in my future soon. So I apologized to the ladies - didn't mean to be a track beotch - but I'm so tired of dodging people when trying to do timed stuff on the track!!! All in all - another pretty good workout under my belt.

where to start

2008-07-21T09:08:00.000-07:00

I guess I will start by saying -- great job to everyone that ran the buckeye 50k on saturday. I am so impressed by all of you - what a hard race - what a HOT HOT day. So Steve and I worked the mile 26 aid station. That was soooo much fun. Working a waterstop on a road race isn't all that fun - you stand there with a cup in your hand while someone grabs it from you. In an ultra- you are somewhere between an annoying cars salesman and an annoying mother hen. It's funny - these people would kind of pop out of the woods - and you would say what can we get you - and some people were so tired and hot - that they would just kind of look at you. You'd say - ice? and they'd so oooh ice - yeah that would be good - and you'd say how bout a peanut butter and jelly - ooh peanut butter and jelly that would be nice - i swear you could offer these people tuna fish and they would be grateful. It's really fun helping out - when you know the people really truly appreciate it. One guy went blowing by us - and we tried to stop him - being that we were the last stop - but he kept going - well some how one of the guys talked him into coming back and at least letting us fill up his camelback and we got some food in him. Good thing - or else he would have run out of water long before he reached the end. So - don't know if i am inspired to do the summer 50k - but perhaps the winter one. we'll see-- i really need to get out on the trails.

I had to get my 20 miler in on sunday - the plan was to get up at 5 and run loops around the neighborhood at a 9:20 pace - so if i did my math correctly.. 3hrs 7min. Well i didn't get up til 6 - and by the time i got the water and gu and everything layed out on the front porch - it was almost 6:30 - but - still better than starting at 8. The plan was to run 4 x 5 mile loops - but i knew that that would drive me crazy - so i extended the first loop to 10 miles - which took some creative weaving through the streets. finished the first 10.2 in 1:32 - so about a 9:05 pace - cooled off for a few minutes took some e caps and headed back out for a 6 mile loop... from my crazy math i think those 6 were at a 9:30 pace - but the garmin was having trouble - so i think i ran more than 6 - which would put me a little close to the 9:20 goal. Came back to the house - woke steve up and told him to get his bike out to come with me for the last 3.8 miles. I'm so glad he did - by this point it was getting hot! Finished with a total time of 3:05 -- but I think the garmin was about .25-.5 mile short when i actually mappped out my route. But - in typical me fashion - as hot as i was i had to run back and forth in front of my house until the garmin flipped to 20!
As for this upcoming week - I was planning on doing 18 with solar on the towpath - but we're doing the sweet corn hellish hill challenge on sunday - and steve's signed up for the 2 mile open swim race on saturday - and i want to go see him swim - i think it will be fun. So... that means a nice 18 miler on friday night... anyone interested??? :) let me know!

props to the hubbie

2008-07-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

I just have to say that i have the best husband in the world. Not only does he put up with my ridiculousness on a daily basis, and get out of bed every morning to help iron my pants and make my lunch so i can get out the door on time. But last night I still had yet to get my weekly track workout in. And b/c it's been hot - i've become a baby about running in the heat. Well Steve was patient enough to run up to the track with me at 9:20 last night - and since his legs aren't up to the pounding of a track workout just quite yet - last night - he walked the track while i did my 5 x 1000 m repeats in the pitch black dark - and then ran each of the recovery 400's with me and then ran me home the two mile cool down. It ended up being a pretty good workout - 1000's needed to be between 4:16 and 4:32 - i ran the following:

4:23
4:24
4:26
4:21
4:17

I think it's interesting that i always get faster towards the end of a workout - does that mean i'm holding back during the work out - or just excited to be done???
We didn't get home til 10:45 - and I know steve would have liked to have been in bed by about 9:30. I wouldn't have gotten the workout in - if he hadn't gone with me - I really appreciate it - and I know that most people wouldn't have done that!

I swam in a lake and i didn't die.

2008-07-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

I would just like to inform the blogging world that i swam about 1200 yards in a lake with out a wetsuit - and not only did i not die- i didn't hate it either. Ok - so it wasn't lake erie - and there were places where i could touch - but it was dirty water and it was ok - and i'm going to go back next week i think.
So i mentioned in my last post that i think my body is handling hot weather better than i use to. Well knock on wood. Went for a run a lunch today it was about 84-85 degrees. This was the workout
1 mile warm up
4 miles at 7:47 pace
1 mile cool down

This is what happened.

1 mile warm up 9:47 - breathing really hard and very tired.
1st mile 7:37 - stopped to drink some water
2nd mile 7:48 - stopped in the middle of the mile though so as not to pass out
3rd mile - told myself to suck it up - and that i was being dramatic. I think it was around a 7:40 - not sure if it was a whole mile b/c i was feeling pretty delerious and couldn't quite remember where the mile mark was. Stopped and hid under a tree for awhile to try and cool down. Decided it would be ok - to forgo the 4th mile at pace - and ran/walked the last two miles back to the gym.

It took me so long to get through those last two miles that i took an extra half hour at lunch. I was planning on an hour and a half - by the time i walk to the gym and shower afterwards etc etc - but i was gone for two hours! i almost called my boss to come pick me up. It was HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT. I think i finally have enough water in me that i'm finally not feeling so sick. We'll see how this evenings swim goes - maybe i'll forgo the swim and just watch the synchro swimming competition....

i'm either getting crazier or tougher - or both

2008-07-14T06:33:00.000-07:00

whew what a week! Finally had a break through day on the swimming. The big pool is closed at CSU for the synchronized swimming championships - but the small 25 yard one was open on friday. Apprently the short distance pool is what i need to give me that boost to go further. I usually swimm 100 meters straight - or maybe 200 meters straight and then i stop. why - i don't know - i guess because tackeling another 50 meters seems daunting. Well with only 25 yards between walls in a pool where i could stand up at any point i felt ok going just 25 yards more and then just 25 yards more. well before i knew it i did 400 yards straight - again i know that's not getting me through a mile in open water - but it was a break through - i felt like i could keep going. So... i'm hoping that there is a chance that i will someday be able to actually get over the issues in my head and just swim.
Back on the running front -i didn't get my second key workout in til friday night. 1 mile warm up 5 miles at an 8:05 pace and then 1 mile cool down. Well it was HOT out - so I was a little nervous - i know how my body reacts pretty well to cold weather - but hot weather is still a bit of a new frontier - I always assumed that if i did much more than go for a walk on a 90 degree day that i would get sick - i guess that's because at one point in time that was true. So - i tend to baby myself a little in the heat - b/c i don't want to get sick. Well i ran my warm up mile at about a 9:30-9:40 pace. Well the mile ended right at the local ball field. Well this guy comes blowing past me in front of this whole crowd of parents and kids. And i'm thinking ok - buddy well just wait til i start my actual workout - i'll show you. Well I waited for about 30 seconds - go some water - and then like a dog chasing a bone i went after him. i don't know why i do this - it's I feel the need to race when ever an older guys paces me - why - i have no idea. well about 3/4 of a mile later he turns left i turn right - for the next 2-3 minutes i slow waaaaay down. my mile time - under eight minutes - so apprently i went out waaaaay to fast - great thing to do when it's a million degrees out - so i keep running into my second 8 minute mile - and my shins are on fire- and i am on fire - b/c it is soooo hot. so i call steve to come get me. No need to push myself in these heat i say - especially with 17 miles on the forcast for the next morning. Well i call steve 4 times - no answer - so i took it as a sign to stop being such a baby and get out there and finish my workout. It took my 38:10 to do my 5 miles - which is a 7:45 pace i think - when i mapped it out i was probably about a .10 of a mile short of five - but either way - under the goal of 8:05 - with a cool down uphill mile of 9:14 --
Fast forward - saturday morning. plan - run 10 mile trail race followed by 7 miles for total of 17 miles - figured this would be a fun way to break up the 17 miles. ha! i had no idea what i was in for. Trail running is a whole different world. i have muscles on my legs that are still hurting - that i didn't know could actually hurt! Got almost a mile warm up in with the serc peeps before the race. I started off a little fast - even though i said - i'm not racing this - i'm going to run this nice and easy b/c i still have 6+ miles to run afterwards. Holy cow was this course hilly - and I had probably more trouble running down the hills than up them - especially the stairs - i can not run down stairs - especially if they are uneven. At one point i just started laughing thinking about how ridiculous i probably looked tippy toeing down the stairs. Well around mile 3.5 i was soo hot - that i my short were actually dripping. The only sport drink they had was heed. aka. poop. So again i started worrying about my pale self in the heat. i started thinking that maybe i would just do the 5 mile loop and call it a quits - after all it was early in my training plan -and i should be careful in the heat. Well I got past the finish for the five mile and managed to steer myself towards the second loop. I told myself - just take it easy and finish it. finish it in under two hours - that will be slow - but it will be a finish. So my feet started blistering like crazy - guess that's what you get for wearing a pair of shoes that you've only worn twice. Well i actually enjoyed being out there by myself on the second loop - i walked up the hills and ran through the inbetween sections and just enjoyed the views - all why telling myself - just finish this - toughen up and finish it. So i did. Final time 1:53 something which is waaaay slow. But - this was my first trail race and only my third trail run ever - and it was hotter than hell - so i can't be disappointed. Espeed got second and amie and janet and todd all got age group awards - so that was fun to watch. I changed my shoes to do a warm down with Barb and Espeed - but my blisters hurt so bad I passed. I went home got some food a bottle of gatorade and a ton of water and a nap. Woke up waited for the storm to pass and went out to complete my remaining 6+ miles. I stopped every mile to drink water - b/c again i'm afraid of the heat. but i managed to maintain a 9:10 pace - goal was 9:05 - but i'm ok with a 9:10. Now - i don't know if there was any point to finishing my 17 miles 3 hours later or not - but it proved to me that i am getting both tougher and crazier. i never would have done 17 miles in any sort of heat. I never would have started the second loop of that course and i sure as hell would not have gone back out to finish 6 more miles. I also wouldn't have finished my friday night workout - and actually had it be a good work out. So i am either crazy - crazy obsessed and i can't let me workouts slide - or i'm a lot tougher and i won't let myself quit when i know i'm capable of more!
So all in all it was a good weekend. Tell me though - how does one do this - not go drinking like normal and actually cook at home rather than eating out - and gain 4 pounds. maybe beer=weight loss! ha! i don't know but I don't like it!!!

track twilightzone.

2008-07-09T06:22:00.000-07:00

I have a question - how many of you - if you were not doing a track workout - would go to a track? ok - so I can maybe understand people walking at a track - not really - b/c i think half the fun of going for a walk is looking at neighborhoods and streets etc... but ok - i'll concede and say i can understand walking at a track. However, why do people bring children in wagons to a track? Why do they think that the long jump pit is a place to bring shovels and sandbuckets? I know the track that i go to - does not have anyone using the long jump pit - however go to home depot depot and buy your kid a bag of play sand! Oh and the people with dogs- why why why do you insist on walking your dogs in a lane one? First off - what happens when your dog poops on lane one? Are you going to clean that up - or leave that as a special suprise for my final lap of my timed mile? Now i don't mean to be a track snob - but i don't get it - take your dogs for a walk - give them something to look at - they can't honestly enjoy walking around circles. then there is the guy that likes to bring his two dogs and let them run without leashes all over the track... seriously? Nothing against dogs - but it's a track - not a dog park - i shouldn't have to dodge wrestling dogs while i'm trying to get a workout in. Oh and my newest favorite - have you ever gotten on your bike and said "gee i think i'll go up to the track and get a nice bike ride in?" There was a woman last night wearing a purple cardigan sweater with a green and purple skirt (no not a running skirt - a wear to a nice brunch skirt on) who was riding her bike in circles on the track. I've never seen anything like it. But - i guess it's good the community uses the track - i just wish more people would use it - just to run...

Back in the Game

2008-07-07T07:09:00.000-07:00

I missed a key workout last week. Yup - and I'm not going to worry about it. I got a good track workout in - a 5 mile glorious tour of downtown canton ohio and a thrilling 15 miler on the towpath. The 15 miler was tough - first of all I went out the night before and had two weeks of eating and drinking crap prior so needless to say my stomach was not happy - so... i didn't get started til after 12 - so yes it was hot... but i had to get it in. I'm also trying to see how i react to long runs on the towpath by myself. If I'm going to run this towpath marathon - i need to be mentally able to do it myself - and we all know how not exciting that path can be. I'm hoping i'll be able to keep pace with others when i run the towpath - but you can never count on that - what if the girls are havign a great day - and go out for a 3:30 pace? then i need to be able to get through it on my own. So - I think i did alright - goal 9:05 pace - ran the first 7 out in 8:46 took a break at peninsula b/c the stomach was still pretty funky. headed back north - stopped at boston store and basically took a shower in the water fountain because i was so hot - Not counting the two "breaks" i took I did the second 7 in 8:53 pace. followed by mile number 15 - that i did at a 9:40 pace... yeah i know dropped off the pace a bit - just wanted to get that last mile in though...
So now what? now - I'm starting this week fresh - no missed "key" workouts - and back to the bike and the swim. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that work stays calm for a bit. Oh - so i was reading espeed's blog - and saw she got the new 405 garmin... oh i'm so jealous - i have the old school garmin that won't work in cities or trails... great for around the neighborhood - but oh how i want that 405... so then it hit me - duh that's what i'll save all my quarters for - so hopefully by the end of this marathon training i'll have enough to buy the 405 -- guess i better really work at getting my miles in.

bridget and the terrible, horrible, no good very bad day (well days)

2008-07-01T08:59:00.001-07:00

I don't talk about work on my blog - because i don't ever want anything to get back to someone etc. etc. but i have to say that last week and this week so far have been the most awful terrible days in recent memory. And I know i'll get through it - I will - but I am so tired, stressed, burned out etc... that at times i doubt that I will even have a job by week's end - because i won't be able to get through this stuff. And the worst part of this is the toll it's taking on my training - I managed to get all of my running in last week - but i biked 0 and swam 800 meters - before barely pulling myself out of the pool b/c i was so tired. i know that that happens - and i'll have more weeks like this - but it sure doesn't help motivate me to want to do a track workout by myself tonight in the dark after I finally get out of work. well bitching about it doesn't help - i'm just taking a ten minute break here to feel sorry for myself.
let's see what else is new here... i have raised $90 of my $250 for ms - so that's a positive light... oh and my training run down for last week.

Mon - 3 miles easy - 1 hr flag football (rushed the quarterback the whole time so i'll count that as some speed work!)

Tues - drank beer with boss after late night of work

Wed - a.m. track workout
1 mile warm up
400 strides
3x miles with 400 ri (7:26, 7:16, 7:17)
1 mile recovery

Took the first mile a little slowly - b/c i haven't done mile repeats in about ... oh ... ten years - would like to have all three closer to 7 flat

Thursday - work function at night - drank beer

Friday a.m.
2 slow (18:10)
2 short tempo (7:05, 7:26 -- second mile all uphill)
2 slow (18:00)

Saturday - worked in yard

Sunday - Ran columbia station half marathon. Goal - run 8:50 pace - ran a 1:56:00 so a pace of 8:55 - know i should be able to run a half marathon faster than that - but the training plan said 13 miles at a 9:20 pace - so I figure that was good. That and it was a p.r. by about 8 minutes for an actual half marathon race... Won my age group - not as fun when there is only one other person in your division though...

oh and get this - got to the race and signed in - kind of milled around for a bit - warmed up a little bit - about 5 minutes before the race starts - the race director says - oh the start line is .6 miles down this road. You're telling me they couldn't figure out a 13.1 mile route that started and stopped a little closer together than .6 miles? not that i minde walking .6 miles - but it just seemed silly to me! but no one asked me!

scattered showers update

2008-06-28T13:43:00.000-07:00

I finally got some examples of our invitations up on my scattered showers blog. If anyone is looking for help planning a shower - or a party let me know - and check out my blog...

http://scatteredshowersonline.blogspot.com/

Bad Idea Bears

2008-06-23T09:32:00.001-07:00

Steve and I often joke about the "bad idea bears" they're the little guys that tell you to turn off the alarm and go back to sleep rather than going to the gym - or the ones that say on a tuesday night - don't eat that grilled chicken - go to bw3's and get some wings and some beer. I'm sure you all know those guys. Well I must say i am very proud of myself this week - because i defeated the bad ideas several times - which is hard for me to do on a normal basis - let alone a week like last one where i got my schedule all out of whack.

Monday - rest day - dropped bike off for tuneup - ordered new running shoes and bought a wetsuit.

Tuesday - awful first open water swim - was upset - didn't do track workout afterwards

Wednesday - headed up to the local track (not a very nice track considering there were broken bottles and grass growing through cracks on the track -but hey it works.) I've never done a track workout by myself - b/c well they are hard and usually i don't push myself that hard by myself - i usually need the motivation of others - I got up there and did the same workout e speed had us do a couple of weeks ago -
1 mile warm up
800 meters strides
1 x 1600 6:59
2 x 800 3:28 and 3:27
2 x 400 1:38 and 1:39
with 1/2 distance recovery in between and 1600 cool down

oh and swam 1200 meters at lunch

Thursday - really wanted to just go for a run at lunch - stuck to the training plan of 2 easy 2 short tempo speed and 2 easy so...
i did
2 (17:00)
2 (7:12 and 7:03)
2 (17:00)

everything was a little faster than what it was suppose to be - but i'm just getting a hang of this pacing thing.

Swam 1200 meters at night - finally started to link a few more laps together - my endurances still stinks!

Friday - rest

Saturday - "easy" 3 mile run - had to work really hard a running a 9 minute pace - and not going too fast.

Sunday - was not free to run until around 3:00 when it started thundering and lightening - then had to go to dinner with the father in law - got back still raining. so the bad idea bears told me that my training doesn't technically start til today that i should not go out in the rain - that i should sit and relax - then i decided to go to the grocery store. Finally around nine o'clock - i said to myself - this is ridiculous - get out there and at least do something! So a little after nine - i headed out in to the rain to get a run in. I was suppose to do 11 miles at a 9:05 pace. I decided just to run and see what happened - it felt great! I was able to get 10 miles in at a 8:40 pace - too fast i know - but it was a great run. I cut it a mile short - b/c it was almost 10:30 - and i was starving and sleepy! but i got it in. I know it wasn't necessary to get it in - but i was proud of myself for at least sticking to my 3 key workout days this week! Also - really proud of pushing myself on my runs - this is the first time i am following a training plan that is more specific than "run 5 miles" I've never followed something that says "run 5 miles at mid-tempo pace" So - this is new for me - and hard - but i'm discovering that i am capable of a lot more thant i thought.... sixteen weeks and counting til towpath!!!
Hopefully this week will be a little better for getting all of my workouts in swimming, biking and running - but it will be tough - it's a rough week at work - so wish me luck!

Motiviation

2008-06-17T12:28:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure if any of you read the lastest edition of runners world or not - but there is an article about two women who train to do the nike women's marathon. As a source of motivation the one woman gives herself a dollar for every mile she runs. I thought that was a really cool idea until I realized that if i stuck with my schedule that could add up to $40 or more a week - which is $120 a month - and that as motivating as it would be - is not going to happen - not unless someone would like to donate that to me. So I decided that maybe $.25 a mile would be more appropriate - well then i decided to have a little contest with steve. It started Sunday June 8th - and ends the day after the greater cleveland half ironman. Well we needed to make it fair so we've decided to count biking and swimming too.
Here's the deal - if a half ironman is approximately 1.2 miles swim, 13.1 miles run and 56 mile bike - we decided that if each running mile was worth 1 quarter and 56bike=1.2swim=13.1 run - then for every 4 miles bike you get a quarter and about every 200m swimming you get a quarter. I think the 200m is a little low. But that's ok. Steve is currently up but quite a bit - guess that's what happens when he can swim almost twice as fast as me!
We're not sure what the winner gets besides bragging rights - but i'll keep you posted!
oh - we got our wetsuits- if the weather holds - tonight will be my first ow swim and wetsuit swim!

Vegas

2008-06-16T09:57:00.000-07:00

Ok - so last week was officialy 18 weeks til the towpath marathon - aka my first attempt at a bq. which means - i have a ton of work to do in the next 18 - scratch that 17 weeks. I know i can do it - if i put the time and work into it - which means going above and beyond just getting enough long runs in to just complete a marathon. So i followed amie's lead and decided to go with a modified version of the FIRST program for "those who have completed their first marathon but want to finish faster" Keep in mind i'm also still toying with the idea of greater cleveland half im - as long as training for that doesn't take away from running. So far it's been ok - and i've been able to squeeze both in.
So last week - was week 18 - official first week of training. Also the week that I was going to Vegas for four days. I should have just waited for today to start. But oh well - between monday and wednesday I was able to get in a couple of runs, two swims and a shortened awful bike ride. Why awful you ask?
Well here was my idea - fleet feet was having a wetsuit demo day out in westlake - so I thought - i'll have steve meet me down near edgewater - we'll ride out to westlake - it's about 13 miles - try on the wetsuits and head back. Good idea in theory - bad idea when played out. First of all Lake road near downtown is in pretty bad shape - which is a problem for two reasons - i don't know about you - but i'm not riding at 18 mph over potholes, manhole covers, potholes and more potholes - so you end up going really slow - in certain stretches which makes the ride take a really long time. Number 2 - you end up riding further into the street to avoid the really rough part - which you know makes cars angry - which in turn makes me quite upset and nervous - and then you add on to it my fear of my new clip shoes still - and it was not a very pleasant experience thus far. Well bad idea number 2 - don't go for a ride if you don't know how to get to the place you are going to. I thought we had gone too far - and we ended up spending a half an hour or so turning around and then turning around the other way. Well we finally stopped to ask directions again and I popped out my left foot and decided to lean to the right instead so i fell flat over on to someone's lawn in bay village. I layed there for awhile - I was upset and the grass was very soft. As steve said - i picked a great place for my first clip related crash!
Well eventually we find our way to the five seasons. Jody tries to give me a small wet suit to try on - and after my last experience i opted for the medium. This went much better than the last time - and it was awesome having that on in the pool - i can't wait to get my suit and try it out in the lake. So Jody says that suit is big on you - you have too much room in it still. So i say fine - i'll try on the small. I think it probably took jody and heather a half an hour to get this suit on me - and quite awhile to get it off - i couldn't even get my hands out of it - let alone my big old feet - so i guess i need a small and a half. which isn't going to happen. Meanwhile while i was wrestling with the wetsuits - steve had tried his on - and was calling his mom to come pick us up. It took us so long to get there and to try on the suits that we didn't have enough day light to get back. So... my mother in law dropped us off at our cars and we went home - it was 10:30 by the time we got home! So we finished packing for vegas and had a couple of beers to celebrate being on vacation. I'll leave my vegas stories for another post - but we were able to get out for one run while we were there - we ran from our hotel to the las vegas sign which was about four miles - we added another mile to that and called it a day - because by that time in the morning it was already pushing 100 degrees -- which is just too hot!!
So where does that leave me? I guess today is my official first week of training (which is good since i'm actually falling a 16 week plan!)

A week's worth of thoughts...

2008-06-02T07:10:00.000-07:00

Training Recap:

Swimming and running doing well. Ran my first track workout in forever on tuesday - and my first trail run ever on wednesday. Currently running about 3 days a week with a 8-10 miler on the weekends. Going to keep doing that for a little while here - I think I am 18 weeks out from the Towpath marathon - so i need to decide what program to follow. i've done some research on the phitzinger, first, and hal higdon. Not sure what to follow - phitzinger (however you spell it) seems a bit intense, first seems not quite intense enough - any thoughts and what you guys think has worked best for you? Swimming is getting there - getting in the water 2-3 days a week - yardage is not quite what it should be yet - but i am getting better - i'm anxious to get in the open water - but am having some wetsuit issues...

A thought on wet suits

Per the sizing chart on the wet suits at 128lbs 5'6.5" I should be a medium - or maybe even a small. Well let me tell you - that is not that case - b/c apparently wet suits were not made for bodies shaped like mine! Went to bike authority to try on some of the sales rack wetsuits. I made steve come into the dressing room with me - b/c i knew i was going to need help. didn't really think the small would fit - but for 30% off - who knows it's worth a try. At the point where steve was grabbing the wetsuit to try and pull it up over my butt - but was only succeeding on picking me and the wet suit up off the ground i figured we better get the small off before i got stuck. well - onto the medium - went on much easier - steve zipped me up - and i said i'm choking - and he said no you're alright - well i turned around to look at him - and he was like oh my god - you are choking and unzipped it. I don't know what was wrong with me or the suit - but it was litterally choking me! so we got that off and tried on a large with no sleeves - which wasn't what i really wanted - and seemed like it might be a bit big. So i left the store - a bit defeated - really hot and kind of worn out. I think i can actually say that i've found something worse than trying on bathing suits... wet suits!!!

Race recaps:

I ran the eagle 5 mile race on May 24th and the Aetna Race for the kids 5k on this past sunday. I've had run the eagle run a few years ago - and the course is now in a different place - same sort of course though - winds through some pretty neighborhoods and is flat. They also do a nice job of giving you a wicking hat and long sleve tech tees. Well i knew going into the race that if i ran a decent race (sub 40 - which i've only done once before) I had a good shot at an age group award. And as age group awards are still very new to me - i get very excited at the prospect of winning one. I ran the race with my garmin for once so that i could keep track of my pace a little better - i needed to make sure that i kept my pace under 8:00 at all times. Tried to take it easy on the first two miles. mile one 7:30, mile 2 15:01 - perfect. Mile 3 23: something Mile 4 - don't remember - but i knew it was under 32 - pushed it in for a fnal time of 38:05. I almost threw up in the shute and the guy from hermes was like are you alright? i said oh i'm fine - just have a banana that wants to get out - and said oh ok - can you tear off your own number then? ha! I said it's not a good race unless you almost puke at the end! Got to the end of the shute - and they handed me 2nd place in my age group!!! yeah! It was a star shapped paper weight - one can never have too many of those! I looked up my time from the last time i ran this race - it was a 48:00 - so 10 minutes better!! woo hoo -- oh and I ran back out on the course to go get steve - he had said his legs were hurting and he was hoping to break 50.... well i came around the corner and there he was finishing in 43:59!!! that's his best time ever! So all in all it was a great day.

ok this is the longest post ever -- i'll tell you about sunday's race a day or so... i know i know - you are all very exctied - but contain yourself - you'll be ok...

a blast from the past....

2008-05-23T18:51:00.000-07:00

found these pictures on my parents computer of the first duathlon that steve and i did in 2005... i'm not sure if you can tell from the attire, the hybrid bicycle, or the fact that there is no one left in the transition with us - that we had no idea what we were doing!!! It's funny to look back at how far we've come! I bet some of you were out there at hinckley zooming around me on my hybrid!!! and the best part -- i got 1st in my age group! (i was the only one ha ha!!)

deep thoughts on flag football

2008-05-21T07:27:00.000-07:00

I've been playing flag football off and on now for about the last five years. During that time period our team has not gotten any better - well maybe we play a little better - but we still lose most games. When I first started playing - I enjoyed football for the exercise - but as I started training for the marathons I found that I didn't enjoy football as much. It became an obligation that got in the way of my training - playing flag football for 40 minutes is sooo not the same as getting a run in. Then I found that running the short sprints during the game in a pair of spikes was starting to hurt my shins - so i would center the ball and just go out for short passes. Well lately i've decided to make football more of an actual workout - run longer patterns - see who i can beat off the line, oh and volunteer to rush the quaterback on defense. Not a good idea. Especially this week. On monday I had a good 5.5 mile run at lunch followed by 1300 meters in the pool after work followed by some ab and back work in the weight room... followed by football.
Now the only reason i volunteered to rush is b/c the girl who has been rushing - is really short and not any faster than i am - so i thought at least my height could cause some distraction. I find that rushing is sooooo frustrating. In flag football you have to wait a 5 count before you can cross the line of scrimmage - well i know not to run diretly at the qb - to approach him from the side and try to force him to one side, get his flags or block the pass. I also know that if I am running right - he's going to cut left - but there is a clog in the system that runs that message from my brain to my feet - i swear i look like an elephant in slow motion trying to chase this guy down. I did not get his flags ... not once!!! And to make matters worse - my quads hurt so bad still (2 days later) even though i made yesterday a rest day ... that i am sort of picking my legs up and moving them to get out of the car! unbelievable! how can i not be this sore after running 20 miles - but make me run a bunch of little sprints for 40 minutes and I feel like my legs are going to explode!

buckeye 50K????

2008-05-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

I've been intrigued for awhile by the buckeye 50k. I've been told a lot of good things about this race. I've been thinking that I would really like to give trail running a try and that I would like to do the buckeye 50k at some point ( i even went and bought trail shoes). But here is my question - how does one train for a 50k? I just completed a marathon 2 weeks ago - so obviously I've got a decent base - but can i go from that to running a 50k in 2.5 months? and what kind of training schedule does one follow for that? Anyone have any advice for me? (besides get out there and start doing some trail runs of course!) Any input would be helpful - can i do this or no?

congratulations

2008-05-19T11:04:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to every who ran yesterday in the cleveland marathon! This was the first time in a couple of years that I haven't run one of the events... so it was kind of weird. I must say i was glad to not be running when I was laying in bed at 7:30 and it was pouring rain! I had told brian that I would come and run miles 16-26 with him - and fortunately for me - the sun came out just as I arrived at mile 16. I saw my friend Dave go by at mile 16 - and i ran with him for a bit - turns out - he made a wrong turn and turned with the half marathons - so he ended up running an extra 2 miles - i told him to think of it as training for an ultra marathon. He didn't find that amusing... I saw him after the race - and he had stopped his garmin at 26.2 - if it hadn't been for the extra distance he ran - he would have qualified for boston. Hopefully he won't get frustrated - and he'll qualify in the fall.... we'll see.
So - i picked up Brian and at mile 16 - he had a great race - and looked really good all the way til the end. I just hope that i was more motivating than aggervating -- b/c i know i can be a pain to run with. So I ended up getting a little over 11 miles in yesterday - not too shabby.

Oh - i've started a 1/2 ironman training program. Obviously i'll need to get a couple of sprints and open water swims under my belt before i attempt that - but I like to have a goal and a training schedule. First week was a little short on the swimming and running and waaaay short on the biking - but it was the second week after my marathon - so i can't be too unhappy with my totals. Here they are for last week..

Swim - 2600 meters
Bike - 20 miles
Run - 16.4 miles

Goal for this week

Swim - 4500 meters
Bike - 100 miles
Run - 20 miles

Not sure - if i'll get there this week - but i've got pretty good odds - especially with the holiday weekend and half a day on friday - if the weather holds out - hopefully i can get a nice afternoon ride in!

Oh - went for a run at lunch today and boy is it W-I-N-D-Y!!! i know the run down marginal yesterday was not exactly wind free - -but i am so glad that it wasn't as windy as today - i thought i was going to get blown away today!

no south bend and mom's day 5k

2008-05-14T05:25:00.000-07:00

I've been going back and forth on weather or not i should do this marathon in south bend on the 31st. so i finally did the old list of pros and cons - and it looks like the cons have it. Running another marathon now - is not going to make me run a better marathon next fall - and the $3.89 sign on I saw at the gas pump is another reason - not to drive all the way to south bend.
So now what? time to focus on my first triathlon and columbus marathon in the fall.
I ran a 5k on sunday - the first one i've run since december - so i have to say - my body wasn't quite sure how to react to the distance/pace. The race felt a lot faster than it was - my hamstrings were still very tight from the pig - but I finished in 23:39 - which is not the greatest - but is still what i call a "post high school p.r." (high school p.r. is a 20:50 -- i'll get there soon) It was good to get out there and do a 5k again - i look forward to doing more this summer. I warmed up with the serc group - and that was a lot of fun - they are really nice people - and usually I go to races by myself.
I had been toying with running either the zoo race or the 5k in strongsville that weekend instead... but chose the mom's day for it's location...looks like i would have probably been able to get an age group award at one of those races... i didn't realize that the this was the race for the crazy elites! The winning female time was 16:43!!!! that is crazy!!! Well the results are finally posted - and it says i got 4th in my age group. it also says i'm from chester maryland and that some other girl named elizabeth got third - and apprently amie who actually got third - didn't run the race at all - since i can't seem to find her name anywhere on the results! how weird is that?

in other news - i finally got bike shoes and speedplay pedals - haven't gotten to use them on the road yet - i'll be sure and post pictures of the bruises i'll get when i fall the first time out! and it's back to the pool - swam 1300 meters at lunch yesterday and felt like my head was going to explode... i keep telling myself that the swimming will come together eventually if i just keep at... as dori from finding nemo would say "keep on swimming ... keep on swimming" ok i'm done.

Confessions

2008-05-09T05:43:00.000-07:00

I don't know how to change a tire. on my car or on my bike. and so far i have gotten through life ok with this secret confession. Thanks to triple A and some good luck... But - it's finally catching up with me. I got my new bike shoes this week. Used them on the trainer last night to try and get a feel for them before i take them on the road and break my neck. Well i decided that maybe it would be nice to get out on sunday (weather depending) and go for a nice ride. well i realize that i always ride with steve - (and he can't ride with me this sunday) which made me realize that I don't know how to change a flat tire... which made me realize that going for a ride on my own would not be a good idea - b/c what do you do if you are alone with a flat and don't know how to change it? I've decided that this situation is ridiculous and I need to learn how to change a tire asap!

going the extra distance

2008-05-07T11:51:00.000-07:00

From the flying pig website...

"The Flying Pig Marathon has always prided itself in taking the event one step above the others. This year, unfortunately, due to a race morning fire emergency on the course, we have literally gone beyond 26.2 miles. The last minute re-route added .2514 miles to the original course.

The time that was recorded at the finish line is your OFFICIAL 2008 Flying Pig Marathon time. To obtain a comparable 26.2 mile time to your 2008 Flying Pig time, please use this online calculator"

So I guess according to the calculator - my actual time would have been 4:22:30. Do you know this is the second time this has happened to me? i ran a half marathon in dc last year - and they told us a few days after the race -that the 1/2 route was really longer than it should be. ha! i think that is funny. well a 4:22:30 looks better than a 4:25:01 - so i'll take it! That's a 25 minute and 40 second p.r!

Piggy Bonk

2008-05-06T05:21:00.000-07:00

As brian said in a recent blog - the marathon is a distance that is intimidating and should be resepcted -- well at least he said something to that effect... and he is right. Going into the pig I didn't quite have my head on right. I went in there knowing that I had improved by great strides and that i was capable of doing big things - but i went in there also underestimating the marathon. In the one year and eight months since i completed my second marathon I seemed to gloss over the fact that a marathon is a mental challenge and that you have to be mentally tough. I need to work on my mental toughness - this race was the first race where I bonked and I was alone - i didn't have anyone there to pick me up an take me the rest of the way in. I was spoiled on my other two marathons to have that - but the experience of bonking when alone has taught me much more. I know that i will probably bonk at some point on my next marathon - but I know that i can get through it now - even by myself.
So quick run down....
Got down the race - stood in line for the bathrooms - got done with just enough time to run towards the start to try and find the pace team. The start was so packed and so tight that I sure there was no way we are going to find the pace team. Well the 3:50 and 4:00 pace teams were right at the front. I'm talking my chip time was only a minute off the clock time close to the front - which is ridiculous - but i wanted to make sure i was near the pace team - b/c i knew that was the only way i would maintain even pace. Well I get into the starting line and i can see the 3:50 pace team on the other side of the start - and there is no way i'm getting over there. ok - i'll just find them once i start running. Well the race director gets on the microphone and says we are going to be delayed by about 15 minutes -there is a fire around mile 20 and we are going to have to detour the course. The bad news is the course will be a little long - the good news is it will at least be as long as a marathon. everyone laughed b/c we thought he was joking. Nope - the course was some like a quarter mile too long -- they are apparently going to adjust everyone's times once they figure it out.
Well the gun finally goes off and my friend clare and I are off. It was 39 degrees when we got up that morning - and yet by 6:45 when the race finally started - it was warm enough to ditch my throw away shirt and mismatching pair of one red and one teal gloves. My plan was to follow my pace chart and go with the 3:50 team as they came up on me - b/c i was a little ahead of them at the start. First mile 8:45, perfect. second mile I was about a minute ahead of 3:50 pace, 3rd mile about 1.5 ahead of pace - figured that was ok- i had the hills coming up around mile 5 - so i figured it would be ok to have a little time in the bank. Lost clare around mile 6 in the middle of one of the hills. i have to say i was very happy with my hill training - I barely noticed the hills - and i felt great even as a i reached the top around mile 8.5. I saw my parents and my mother in law right before mile 7 - it was great to see them - and I felt really good - my mother in law took this picture at mile 7 - this is the top of one of the hills.

look pretty good i think. Well kept about a minute ahead of pace through the half. my official 13.1 time was 1:54 -- that's a personal best. Well around mile 14 i had to stop at the port o pot - and things got kind of ugly after that - never got back into my rythem. The 3:50 pace team caught up with me finally at mile 15 - and i was excited to see them - b/c i was needing someone to run with -- but they blew by me like i was standing still. That's when I think i became a head case. My stomach starting getting upset and I felt like i was going to throw up if i put another gatorade or gu in my face - so i started just rinising my mouth with water. Looking back i think I actually started to be dehydrated at that point. Training through the winter - i know i did not train to properly rehydrate myself - and although i felt i was putting too much in me - i wasn't putting in enough. Well around mile 16 i walked for a bit b/c i was tightening up big time - and i was getting upset at how far off pace i was falling. Well funny thing is - up until mile 19 or so I was still on pace to break 4 hrs. But things go worse - my hamstrings tightened up so badly that my back and calves locked up too. Walking hurt worse than running and the only thing i wanted to do was to lay flat on back and make the tightening spasming pain stop... which wasn't an option. I have never hurt that bad while running - ever and I don't know what caused things to tighten up that badly. Well i never saw the four hour group go by - heard the 4:15 group go by - maybe i would have had the energy to go with them - but the pacer was the loudest person i have ever heard in my life. She's is yammering on at the top of her lungs how we only have a 5k left - and although we are hurting and our muscles are in pain and we feel terrible, and we feel like we are not going to finish... it is only a 5k. Then she says i'll tell you my mile 23 pep talk.... when i was 13 my mother died of cancer - and as much as we hurt right now - this doesn't hurt as bad as she hurt when she was dying of cancer.

I couldn't take it anymore -- i was hurting so bad and feeling so sorry for myself that i couldn't speed up to get away from this women - so i started walking again. I made sure to finish my last mile strong - no walking no matter what. Steve literally caught me after i crossed the finish line. I cried. I was so upset at how dumb of a race i had run. how do you go into a race with hopes of breaking four hours - and end up walking as much as i did? but i learned a lot and finished in 4:25 -- well maybe 4:23 depending on how long the course actually was. But - I learned a lot - and even though i bonked bad - it was still over a 20 minute pr! can't beat that right?
So - what's next? I know i have better than a 4:25 in me right now - and i don't want to wait til fall. So - found a marathon in south bend indiana in four weeks. You finish in the notre dame stadium. So I will be yelling "Rudy Rudy Rudy" when i cross the finish line. The course is flat - but it will be hot. But here is the plan - suck it up bridget - it's going to hurt - you are going to probably bonk. I'm going to shoot for a more reasonable goal - like 4:00 - 4:10 - you know another p.r. by twenty minutes. Maybe i'm capable of more right now - but I think i'll ease into. Get a race in under my belt - were i actually pace myself and run smart... - and i'll revamp my training for a fall marathon - need to up my weekly mileage and my speedwork. eventually i'll get there - some things just take more time then you would like!

Going out of my mind

2008-04-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

I am going out of my mind. It doesn't help that everyday the pig sends an email telling you exactly how many days are left til the race -- like i'm not already aware!! Things are really quiet at work - which isn't exactly helping the days fly by... I think i'm more excited than nervous - but sheesh this is the longest taper ever!! i just want to get there and run that race! It's been so long since i've run a marathon it will be so nice to see where i'm actually at. ugh 4 days to go...

starting a business...

2008-04-29T11:46:00.000-07:00

having finished with all of the preparations for my wedding and several of our friends weddings and baby shoewers - my sister and I are at a bit of a loss with what to do with our craftier sides.... so we're starting a little home side business. We'll probably never make any money at it - but at least it is something we'll enjoy doing. So what is this business you may ask? Well - my family really enjoys planning parties and showers. We like to make the invitations and favors and figure out unique ways to carry the theme throughout.
So - if any of you are tasked with planning a shower or party of some sort and need help with the details - let me know!
I'm having some difficulties with getting our website up and running - so in the meantime i've created a blog for the company....
http://scatteredshowersonline.blogspot.com/

check it out! Hopefully i'll get some pictures of our work up there soon!

mind tricks

2008-04-29T07:05:00.000-07:00

Do you think that our minds play tricks on us when it gets close to a significant event? By this I mean - how much is our brain able to control what is physically going on with our bodies? For example - 18 days before my wedding I came down with a horrible stomach flu... Would I have gotten sick even if I had not been getting married in 18 days? Did the stress of planning the wedding weaken my immune system? Did the worry of the possibility of getting sick actually make me sick?
Ok now - 5 days before the pig... i have been coughing non-stop and my head is killing me. But the weird thing is - it's a dry cough - a tickle in the back of my throat - there isn't any signs of chest congestion.... So what is it? I wonder - am i fighting off some sort of bug? or is my nervousness making me sick? or... is my brain creating a safety net - something i can fall back on.... well you know i didn't make my goal - but i was coughing the entire week before the race... so considering that -- i did really well... guess it just amazes me how much of a mental sport this really is? So my plan for now -- positive think my goofy cough away before race day! and if it doesn't go away - consider it a good luck charm! ha! I really should seek therapy i think...

6 days til pigs fly!!!!

2008-04-28T13:38:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's almost here. There is such a huge amount of time that passes between "i'm going to run a spring marathon" to actually signing up for said marathon - to actually arriving at the week before the marathon. And.. I am actually for the first time ever - more excited than nervous. Nervous yes - don't get me wrong. But when you are going into a race - knowing that even if you have a lousy lousy walk up the hills kind of day - you're going to have a p.r. - it makes things easier. Ok - so here is the strategy for race day. Going to head out with the 3:50 pace group - if around mile 5 or so I feel this is too fast - i'll slow it down. My goal is to break 4 hrs - but i'm not going to start crying if I don't . This is the first marathon i have done in almost two years - and the first one where i have trained with a goal that was more lofty than just finish. I know i can go out there and run the distance no problem. i just need to make sure i stick with the pace team.
I am just so excited to be running a marathon again - it just seems like it has been so long since my last one - and i am such a ham - i can't wait for the expo and finisher's medal and the feeling of accomplishment. Even if I don't break 4 hrs - it's still an awesome feeling everytime you can cross that finish line! Wish me luck! I can't wait!

pacingly challenged

2008-04-22T06:55:00.000-07:00

If i do not learn to pace myself during my runs - i am either going to make it to the olympics -- or more realistically - hurt myself. Ok - race is less than two weeks away - so yes i am in taper mode. I decide this morning to run for an easy 40 minutes. figure i'll go about 4.5 miles. Well i get to work today and map out the route i ran - yeah 5.3 miles at a 7:46 pace. For me - a 7:46 pace is not an easy pace - tempo run maybe - but not easy! how do i have no idea that i am running that much off the pace? I keep doing this - why do I keep trying to run faster than I am suppose? i know that really isn't a bad problem - but i'm afraid i'm going to burn out or something... or am i just capable of more than i think? ugh. i don't know.
Oh - i wanted to run the hermes 10 miler this weekend as a supported training run where you get a nice wicking t-shirt. Now i'm thinking there is no way I should do it - b/c i'll end up racing it - unknowingly and that would not be a good thing to do a week before the marathon!!! help me! how do i learn to reign myself back in?

20 miles, mr. hero and an early bed time

2008-04-14T06:08:00.000-07:00

so i did my last (and actually only 20 miler since my first one was a bit of a fiasco) on Sunday. Forcast called for rain/snow mix - which did not help add to my apprehension. I was up most the night worrying that I would over sleep and that the 20 miles would be awful. Well I met Brian and Boris at 7 a.m. for our run. It rained on us lightly - but no snow - and was overall pretty nice conditions to run in. The run went really well.. thank goodness brian was there to reign me in. he kept us at a 9:30 pace - b/c as he kept saying "if your goal is to break for hours - we don't need to be running at an 8 something pace on a training run!" I have a tendancy to run like a puppy ... i get all excited and run way faster than I should. By the end of the run i couldn't wait to see the parking lot again - but i didn't feel horrible - i even joked that maybe we should have just done the whole 26. So that was good. My lower back and my shins seem to be the only items that are not happy with me. Oh - I ran into a girl while we were running that I went to college with. She is trying to break 3hrs in her next marathon - so i'm trying to get her to come out and join some of the running groups. It was good to see her again!

After the run I was STARVING - so i knew i was going to go through a drive through of some sort to get something in me quickly - also knew that this was the last day i could really splurge on my diet since i'm going into taper mode (I can not gain ten pounds during my taper again!!) Anyway I wanted to make my splurdge really worth it - didn't want to waste it on a crappy cheeseburger - so I got on the highway and headed straight towards mr hero for my all time favorite - mushroom cheesesteak! I know most people think that is gross - but i drool over their billboards that have pictures of cheesesteaks. I honestly shoveled half of the sandwhich into my mouth as I was pulling out of the parking lot. Overall felt pretty good - tried to take a nap and couldn't fall asleep - so come around 9:30 I went to bed and slept like a baby straight thru the night! Thanks brian for running with me and keeping me on pace!

big baby

2008-04-08T05:42:00.000-07:00

I am such a big baby sometimes!!! Especially in the morning. If you were to see me in the mornings (especially on the days the alarms goes off for me to get down to the gym) - you would be embarrassed for me. I spend more time whining and moaning and trying to rationalize why I shouldn't actually get out of bed. I probably waste a good half an hour of exerecise time because i'm laying there feeling sorry for myself. And then the best is when i get up to swim - you would think someone is asking me to take a dip in arctic waters filled with man eating sharks. If I don't get so whiney that i actually change out of my swimsuit once i'm at the gym and do something else - I walk so slowly out to the pool and then sit on the edge of the pool like i'm walking the plank. I am seriously ridiculous. And everytime after I am done with my workout I say "oh i'm so glad i got up and went to the gym today - i think i'll do it again tomorrow" then comes tomorrow morning - and i'm back to walking the plank! new goal: stop being so whiney and dramatic in the mornings!!! (see that loophole allowes me to be whiney and dramatic at other points during the day!)

hill research

2008-04-07T09:52:00.000-07:00

I went for a very nice 10.5 mile run on saturday. Kept a very even overall pace of 8:39 - with the last mile being an 8:25... Got to wear shorts and get some sun on my face. Well when i got home I decided to take a look at the elevation changes that I run around my house. The 10.5 mile run I had just completed included a hill that was about 350 or more over about 2.5 miles. I run that hill all the time - it's a good workout - but it doesn't intimidate me - i just run up and over the darn thing. Well...
After doing some research - I learned that the largest hill on the pig is 280 feet over a 2.5-3 mile stretch. I can do that. Everyone keeps telling me how hilly cincinatti is - and looking at the elevation chart - it is indeed hilly - but I realize now - that it is nothing i can't do - or haven't done before. Will i be prepared for the hills - i think so - could I have prepared more or better?? sure - i'm sure I could have. But I guess what i've learned is - why am I spending some much time worrying about these infamous hills with out finding out what i was really up against? moral of the story - don't freak out about something - with out doing your research first!! 26 more days til the pig - and one more 20+ mile run!!!

time to stop and smell the flowers

2008-04-01T07:44:00.001-07:00

Last week - i thought about/worried about my 20 miler all week long - to the point on making myself sick. So - i figured it wasn't going to go very well. In retrospect - there is a reason why people do runs in the morning. Waiting until after noon to do a 20 mile run on half a ham sandwhich is not go a good idea. Nor is picking a 20 mile route through cities with names such as "seven hills" or broadview "heights." ugh -- let me just tell you - if i am not ready for the hills in cinci after this workout... i will never be ready!!! so the run was not my best 20 mile run - especially mentally. Around mile 14 - i wanted to just quit - i was so stinking hungry that i was going to be sick. Well i went on to mile 17 - where i decided there is a point where you need to push yourself - and there is a point where you need to listen to your body. So - i stopped - called steve to pick me up - we headed directly to the arby's drive thru where i proceeded to cram a large sandwhich into my face. i wanted to go finish the run after that but steve wouldn't let me. It was a really tough run - and more valuable than had I done the full 20 on a flat course. Still i was a little disappointed and on monday morning decided i need to shake out some of my running demons. I only had about 30 minutes to get a run in- so i booked it - ran a little over 2 miles out and then booked it uphill for a negative split and about 4.25 miles in 33 minutes! nice. I guess a bad run is just that - a bad run - it is not necessarily some evil omen that is dooming you to run poorly for the rest of your life. it's just a bad run. I'm going to go run cinci - it will be my first marathon in a year and seven months - hopefully i'll break four hours - but if i don't - who cares - anything will be faster than my first two marathons! I need to stop pressuring myself - and remember i do this for enjoyment. Sometimes we get so bogged down with times and schedules and paces and workouts - that i think we forgot the most important measurement -- enjoyment. I need to set a new goal of truly enjoying each time i am able to get out there and pound the pavement!
oh - in non running news - i finally got all of my wedding proofs!! woo hoo!!

random thoughts for the day

2008-03-26T06:52:00.000-07:00

One random thought and really one random question...

1.) i promise promise promise that if/when i have kids that i will make them take swim lessons and I will not let them quit in 3rd grade because they don't like it - but mostly because they are afraid of the 180 year old swim instructor - who use to scream at kids "I don't swim in your toilet - so you better not pee in my pool." I promise this so that my children will not be as lowsey of a swimmer as i am... let's hope they get their father's genes when it comes to swimming...

2.) If you could quit your job and do anything in the world and get paid for it - what would you do?

A glimpse of Summer, new shoes and another smack in the face of winter

2008-03-23T17:11:00.001-07:00

Ok the glimpse of summer - was in Cincinnati for work on Thursday and Friday. I was able to meet up with a friend of mine who lives there for a nice 6 mile run and a fun dinner out. Did I mention I was wearing shorts? shorts! it was beautiful out - shorts and a long sleeve t. that's it. no gloves, no tights, no hats -- I felt like I was running naked - it was wonderful. it was the perfect run - put me in a good mood for days. Well until Saturday that is.

That's when the smack of winter part comes in. Saturday was one of those snowy days when I just did not want to leave the house - or the couch for that matter. Well I promised myself I would sleep in on Saturday - so I did. Then spent the day cleaning the house for the in laws who were coming over for dinner that night. Still no desire to run. I put my brand new running shoes on display in the middle of the dining room table as motiviation - still no desire to run.

So... finally 3 o'clock rolls around. The inlaws are coming at 6. - so if i'm going to do a 12-15 mile run I better get my butt out the door. Steve didn't have to push me this time - i knew I had to go - but I didn't want to. .. I was so angry with the fact that it was cold and too snowy to run on the sidewalks. Well I get outside and my garmin is not working. It won't turn off it won't reset and it won't find a signal. Great. Now i have to run 12-15 miles in circles around the neighborhood and I'll have no idea how far I've gone. So that made me even crabbier.
I started off doing what Elizabeth refers to as a "comb" run on the streets behind my house - since that would not require running through any snow -and I figured I would run for 2 hrs since it was 3:30 by the time I actually got out the door. I went up and down the one street twice and I got even angrier - and decided to explore for awhile. Long story short I was able to get a little further from home b/c some cities actually plow their sidewalks - unlike the fine city I live in. Well it seemed like forever before an hour went by - and I some how managed to run for 1 hr and 54 minutes. I did not have the heart to back track for 6 more minutes. Sometimes when you don't want to go out there - you need to push yourself - other times you should listen and just stay in. I felt like I was running through a wet paper bag that entire time. I can't remember ever enjoying a run so little. I think it's just a sign that I'm done with winter. I quit winter.
But on the positive side - the neighborhoods I ran in are really hilly - so I got some great hill work in... especially the last three miles uphill home. I got home and mapped out what i had run. 13 miles - that's about an 8:45 pace. So good to know - that although the run felt horrible - it was still a good run - and worth getting out there after all.

Now - next week is my 20 miler. Any one know where I can run 20 miles on Saturday at an 8:30- 8:45 pace - not by myself? (We're celebrating steve's b-day on saturday night - so i'm not going to be stupid and try to plan the 20 miler on sunday!) Thinking about running the "just a short race 30k" that monica is running - but just don't know if i can get moving that early to drive that far...

Perceived Exeretion Levels

2008-03-19T05:31:00.000-07:00

Steve and I took advantage of our passes for one free spinning class yesterday. This was a first for both of us - and so we weren't sure what to expect. Overall it was a great work out - followed it up with an easy four mile (cramp filled run - note to self do not drink so much water during spin class)
Here is my problem with the whole spinning class. All you have is a red knob and in the instructor would say "turn your knob to add more road" ok - well how much road is enough road? i have no idea. On the wall is a chart of perceived exertion levels. It reminded me of the 1-10 pain chart they have in emergency rooms (another concept i think is silly) So she says ok - you should put on enough road so that you are at a "5" or "ok you should be at an 8 now" Now i was pretty tired - especially since i kept cranking up the road - but having trained for several marathons (i can't even imagine had i done an ultra or an ironman) I feel I've had my moments were I was in a high 8 range. Level 10 is "So tired i can't go on" Maybe i was there after my first marathon?? maybe? so how do you translate that to a one hour spinning class. There is nothing i can do in one hour that is going to make me feel like i did after that first marathon. So - I just kept cranking up the "road" and tried to not sweat on anyone. Think i'll give it another shot - just think the whole thing is a funny concept. Anybody out there have an opinion on spinning classes -- and their value or lack of value?

what a running weekend!

2008-03-18T07:39:00.000-07:00

I had one of the best weekends for running in a long time. Started off on Friday morning with a good solid paced run with elizabeth in the morning. Woke up on Saturday morning - and felt just terrible. I don't know if it was nerves or what. I use to get really nervous before races - and lately I've learned just to go out there and whatever happens happens - you are going to have good days and you are going to have bad days. But now that I am seriously working towards getting fast enough to run boston in the next couple of years - i find myself faced with the old pre-race nerves again. I guess it's becuase I've put it out there for people to see - I WANT TO QUALIFY FOR BOSTON. there i've put it out there again.... so what happens if I go out there and run and i'm back to my old 10:30 pace again. What if one day I stop getting faster and just start getting slower again? Will i be the slow fool who thought she could ever be fastest enough for Boston? I know i have issues. Anywho - I got my nerves under control enough to stop my stomach from hurting and to stop gagging - and we set off to St. Malachi.

Steve and I started at the back of the pack - so fortunately I had my watch on - b/c we were about a minute behind gun time. I tried to take it easy on the first mile - didn't want to burn myself out like I usually do - but at the same time that race is so packed in those first couple of turns that I tried my best just to keep trying to get around people. Mile 1 7:33 - nice! especially since i felt like i had not gone out too hard. Mile 2 - just under an 8 minute mile - some where around there I saw Elizabeth while I trying to strip off a layer of clothing - that's what the picture is from. I always seem to over dress! Do you like the sweet all black spandex outfit I was wearing underneath? I need to learn to dress in layers that are more flattering when you lose the outer lays. Mile 3 was uphill - but i was watching all the faster runners fly down the hill in the opposite directions - so i knew if i could keep mile 3 under 8 minutes I would be good. I was starting to believe that i could make the goal i set at the turkey trot of breaking 40 on my next 5 mile race. Got to mile 3 23:48 or something like that - I was so excited to still be under 8 minute miles that I flew down the mile hill 4. Hit mile 4 somwhere around 30-31 something so i knew I really could break 40. I started to uphill finish and was pushing as hard as i could - almost threw up like i do every year on that hill - and i could see the clock about to hit 40. Fortunately i had my watch so I knew I was ok. Final chip time 39:16! 8th in my age group out of 93. I was so excited you would think i had just won the chicago marathon or something! Oh and steve also ran his best race ever - it was a good day all around!

So next day met with SERC to do 15 miles. There were six of us that ran the first 12 together. My goal was to keep my pace under 9 minutes the whole time. We ran the first 12 loop - and then four of us set out again to do another 6 miles. I felt really good til about mile 17 - at which point my feet and back were just done. but the good news - according to elizabeth - we ran at about an 8:50 pace overall!! whoo hoo!! What a great 18 mile run - now if i can just keep this up for the rest of my long runs - I'll be in great shape!!!

friday morning runs

2008-03-14T06:54:00.000-07:00

Decided yesterday that I needed a day off - was beginning to feel a little burned out. So the hubby and I made dinner and drank some wine while watching tv - with ...get this... our windows open - yes it was actually that warm that we had the windows open for most of the early evening...woo hoo.

For the 2nd friday in a row i've run with espeed before work. I think it is clear that i am not a morning person - however I love running on friday mornings for some reason. It just seems like a great start to the weekend. Maybe it's because when I leave work - I can just relax - and not try and squeeze a run in. Plus I just like running with espeed on her easier days b/c they really push me - and I think running with someone who pushes me is the only way I seem to get out of my pace rut. I just always hope i don't slow her down too much!
Anway last week - we had a minor injury to report during the run - a parking lot sign reached out and bit me in the arm last week - scared me more than hurt me - still I learned to watch out for those darn signs (especially when it is windy out!) However today was a more significant injury report - poor espeed found a nice piece of ice and took a nasty spill. Being the trooper that she is - she brushed herself off and kept going. It wasn't til we got a few miles further down the road that she discovered the real damage she did to her hip... Do you remember the scene in the movie A League of Their Own where the girl's hip is all bruised and scrapped from sliding on the bases? I think e speed might have a bruise to rival this! Anyway that's all for now - happy weekend to all of you!

shamrock 15k

2008-03-10T18:56:00.000-07:00

It doesn't take much to make me happy. Have a race where you give out long sleeve tech shirts and have bobbleheads for the age group awards and I am as happy as a clam!

Well as the day started off I wasn't certain what to expect at the shamrock 15k - as we headed out that morning i expected to see a snow covered mess - and was expecting to just have a fun run. Well when we got there I was suprised to see the roads down to bare pavement. I had originally planned on getting an 18 miler in - by running the course twice. But that morning I assumed that would be a bit ambitious on a snow covered hilly course - so I didn't bring my water belt or ipod or garmin - or any of the things I deem esential for an 18 mile jaunt. So I decided to just go for the 9.3.

The race started off downhill for about 3 miles or so and then took a steep steep turn up hill. (it was more of a staircase than a hill) I ran the first couple of miles with Monica and then ended up running with a very nice man for a few miles. He was running a bit faster than I could handle on all those hills - so I lost him eventually. But between the two of them - it made the run fly by quicker. Well as I was running I was amazed at how much longer we spent coming up the hill then we did going down - didn't seem quite right. I was invisioning us having to jump down off a cliff to get back to the finish. Anyway - once i realized that the uphills weren't going to stop anytime soon - I realized that this was a great training run for the pig. So i tried to pass a few more old men before the end of the race - and I ended up finishing in 1:20:27 - about a 8:36 pace I believe. I was pretty excited about that - and I ended up 3rd in my age group. Oh and as a special bonus - steve got an age group award in the 5k - so our m antel now has a his and hers matching set of running bobbleheads! gotta love it!

what a weekend!

2008-03-10T08:19:00.001-07:00

Here's some snowy pictures from the blizzard of 08!

too much too soon and brand new towels.

2008-03-05T05:14:00.000-08:00

why do I always do this? i start something and I go waaay overboard. This going to the gym in the morning thing. good idea right? well for a person that does not easily fall asleep before midnight most nights - this is a tough transition - so one would think this would be something said person would kind of ease into. I don't know - start off with a couple times a week -- not every morning since you joined the gym. I couldn't fall asleep last night and so slept through the alarm. Was suppose to meet espeed for a swim - and didn't make it -- and i don't want to be that person. that person that says they'll be somewhere and doesn't show. sorry espeed. but i guess i learned my lesson. maybe for now i'll focus on going to the gym in the morning 2-3 mornings a week - not 5. that will certainly make it easier to guarantee that i will be there on the days i plan. on an upside though - since i got to shower at home this morning - i finally got to use the brand new towels we got as wedding gifts... it was like showering at a spa!

put your money where your mouth is.

2008-03-03T09:48:00.000-08:00

Alright i finally bit the bullet and registered for the pig. I know i know - i've been saying for months now that i was going to run the pig - so I should have been signed up by now. I don't know - i guess there was a small part of me that was afraid I wouldn't actually be able to do it - training in the winter is hard enough - let alone with everything else i had going on. But - i realized last night enough is enough - stop making excuses - and put your money where your mouth is. I guess i'm just afraid that all the progress i've made in the last year is going to be for nothing - and i'm going to go out there and run a 4:45 marathon again. I know i am capable of a 4 hr marathon - i think the only thing that is standing in my way is my brain. ugh. so positive thoughts only.

I hit snooze one time too many on sunday and didn't make the to catch a leprechaun race - guess i'm glad i didn't pre-register. So instead i did my 12 miles by myself that afternoon. Overall pace 8:35 -- not too shabby! especially since I picked up my pace on the second half of the run. So - schedule says 18 miles next week. Can't stand to do that one alone. I found a 15k race - the Shamrock run in cuyahoga falls that is at noon on sunday (I wish all races started at noon!) I might just run that course twice. We'll see though. Oh - and I swam a mile this morning... i stopped every 50 yards - but I swam a mile - baby steps here people... baby steps!

back to the pool!

2008-02-28T10:27:00.001-08:00

I joined a new rec center last night - so no more excuses for not getting in the pool anymore! I took it slowly last night and just swam 550 yards. Just wanted to get the feel of being in the pool again. I think it has been almost a year since the pool at our rec center was shut down and I haven't swam anywhere else. So needless to say that wasn't helping any of my triathlon plans! But now i have no excuses - My plan for tomorrow a.m. is to swim 1000 yards. We'll see how that goes -- oh and did you notice i said a.m.? And... I actually mean that. Me - the night owl actually went to the gym this morning to run and lift. And.... I have to go tomorrow -b/c the hubby is going to go there to swim and he is my ride to work tomorrow! So that will be two days in one week!! go me! miracles never cease.

sticking to the schedule

2008-02-25T08:54:00.000-08:00

The last month has been really hard to stick to my pig training schedule. With everything that was going on - I was lucky to get in what i could get in - - but for the most part - i stuck with my scheduled weekend long run - which is good.

Now that I'm back to reality - it's still tough to get the runs in - even though I don't have the time - my winter motivation is pretty low. I have to tell you - if it wasn't for Steve almost literally pushing me out the door most nights - I don't know that I would get my runs in at all - especially the long ones!

Yesterday I was due for a 16 miler. I have not run anything longer than 13.1 miles since a year ago october (that's what happens when you stop training for a specific race!) So - needless to say the mileage seemed a little daunting. So good old steve - shoved me out the door to cover a portion of the neighborhood that was an eight mile route. He said "can you do 8 today?" I said yes - so he shoved me out the door - and told me to come back in after 8 and reassess. So that's exactly what i did - came back in the house - switched into some dry clothes had some gatorade grabbed my now charged garmon and ran in random circles around the neighborhood til I got 8 more miles in. The run was slower than what I have been doing - about a 9:20 pace. I would like to run the pig at a 9:10 pace - so this worries me a bit - but then again it is the middle of winter - and I was taking it easy -- so maybe i'll be ok. Now i'm debating about whether to do the 15k or the 30k at the to catch a leprechaun race on sunday... hmmm decisions decisions...

survey

2008-02-20T06:15:00.000-08:00

ok - so i have the hardest time in the world getting morning workouts in. So my question - is am i just lazy/too unmotivated to face the cold darkness of a pre-dawn winter run - or am i just going to bed too late? or what is it? how do other people do it? I don't have children - just me - and I still can't seem to get it done. So here is my survey for those of you who do morning workouts.

1.) what time do you go to bed at night?

2.) what time do you need to leave to go to work?

3.) what time do you get up to get your workout in?

4.) where do you work out - gym, around house, by work?

Just curious - what your routines are - maybe i can get some advice/motivation from you motivating early birds!

Back to life

2008-02-18T10:13:00.000-08:00

So - i'm back - back to so called normal life. Don't think it's really set in just yet- i'm still a little jet-lagged to realize that i'm back at my old desk again and not in Hawaii. I am excited that although work is still going to be crazy - my evenings are no longer filled with wedding appointments - so that is a nice feeling. Now all i have to do is unearth our house from all the wedding/honeymoon piles that have taken over.

The trip to Hawaii was amazing - it's hard to believe that such a beautiful place exists - and that the whole world doesn't just pick up and move there! I got a couple of nice runs in while i was there - my body is definately not ready for running in 85 degrees in sun through lava fields - but I did all right. Oh - i have to tell you about the half marathon. Well - it was described as a scenic rolling hills course with timing chips. Well - not quite - don't get me wrong - I'm so glad i did it - but it was a rough a course - and it was a small field of about 100 runners - . Well since i wasn't planning on running a race - i didn't bring a watch with me - but i thought that's ok - i'll just get my times at the mile markers - or at the very least i'll get my chip times afterwards. ha! there were no chips to speak of - and i thought ok - there will be someone somewhere with a stop watch. Well i passed the first mile, then the second, then the third, then the fourth - -still no stop watch. so i thought - alright just go with - you're on your honeymoon - just run to run in this beautiful place. Well i made friends with a surgeon from british columbia around the 7 mile mark. We ran together for about a mile - and he had a watch - so i learned that i was on pace to pretty easily run about a 1:55 - sweet - a random half marathon and I would finally break two hours. Well - as i mentioned - for a pale girl from ohio - 85 degrees can be a bit of a shock. I very quickly started feeling really bad. I just tried to keep going to the next water stop where i was hoping there would be gatorade. no such luck - no gatorade on the course. I started to walk and was really worried about even finishing. I took a gu which helped for awhile - but i found myself on the last few miles just hoping to finish. by the time i got near the end - i saw steve waiting for me - and i said this in my worst race ever - how long has it been? 3 hrs? he's like what are you talking about? so i finished and guess what - no clocks! steve was pretty sure it was just over two hours - but I didn't know for sure. It took me til yesterday to track down the results on the internet. my 'official time' 2:04:16. It was a rough race - but that is actually still a personal best. I should have broken 2 hrs that day - but oh well - there is always the next race right?

save the whales

2008-02-08T22:38:00.000-08:00

ok - so Steve and I are on our honeymoon - and i know that i shouldn't even be looking at my blog... but steve and I just got online real quick to send some photos home from hawaii - and I thought I'd take a second to share with you running geeks some exciting news... so steve and i decided to go on a whale watching tour while we are in Maui - well when we went to check out the details of the trip - i noticed a flyer for the "Save the whales" 1/2 marathon and 5k. So... steve and I signed up -- who does a half marathon on their honeymoon?? I do I'm so excited - i'll let you guys know how it goes -it's a pretty small race - only about 100 people did the half last year - but it should be fun-- and hopefully i'll get a t-shirt with a whale on it!

11 miles and i'm down for the count...

2008-01-17T05:36:00.000-08:00

I've been trying really hard to make sure that with all the craziness that is my life and the wedding and work right now - that i make sure that i make time to get my long runs in on the weekends. The weekly mileage isn't quite where i want - but at least i've been able to keep building my long runs. I even went as far as to take a half day vacation the friday of my bachlorette party so i could get my long run in! So this past saturday I set out to do my 11 mile run - hoping to maintain an overall 8:35 pace. Well I started off really well - running closer to 8:10's. It was a great day for running and I was happy with my run. Well on my way out I saw a girl running towards me - i gave her the runner nod hello and kept going in oppposite directions. Well I went about 1.5 miles more out before turning around. Well not too long after i turned around i caught up to this girl. I'm no speed demon - but it was clear to me that i was running faster than this girl since I caught up with her fairly easily. Well as i'm running next to her i realize that she is holding her cell phone in her hand and running while talking on speaker phone. I couldn't handle being by that for more than a few moments so i passed her and moved on. Well as luck would have it i get stopped at the next light - and here comes old cell phone talker. well that's fine i'll just speed up -- well as i speed up - she speeds up - like she's trying to race me - well she starts huffing and puffing b/c she's talking on the phone - and i pick it up a little more and I get away from her. Well i look down and notice my shoe is untied. Stop to tie my shoe and the next light and here she comes again! She tries to stay with me again - so i just kicked it in and got the hell away from her. why would you want to try and stay next to someone and make them listen to your phone conversation about people at work?
So the rest of the run went well til about mile 9. I started to get a little dizzy - but realized that i could really slow down the last two miles and get the time i wanted. well i got to the point where i was barely picking up my feet - and yes the last half mile was straight up hill - but still. Well i got in the car and was happy with my time 1hr 36 min for a little over 11 miles -
Well i rushed home shoved a little food in me even though i was starving during the run. long story short - met my friends at the mall to help me pick out an outfit for the rehearsal dinner. we didn't eat dinner til 9 o'clock - by that time i was so sick i had to go home - i couldn't stay out to help my friend celebrate her birthday. Well by the time i got home - things got way worse - i spent the next three days throwing up with a fever and all sorts of body aches. Ended up going to the doctor. stomach flu. just what a girl needs 2 and half weeks before her wedding! i ended up missing two days of work - i don't think i've ever missed two days of work in a row for being sick! Anyway finally feeling better today - don't think my body is quite ready for a run yet though - so i may not reach my goal of keeping with my long runs.

dreams

2008-01-08T07:22:00.000-08:00

I was going to write about some of the runs i have done lately, or the fact that we are now at 24 days from the wedding, or perhaps share some stories about my bachlorette ski trip last weekend. Instead I let you all into the weird world of my dream land.
Well i woke up this morning in a cold sweat - well apparently my dream i was having was very upsetting to me. In my dream i was running a marathon - and things were going well - except for the fact that we had to keep stopping at detours and stopping to complete different tasks. Well at a certain point in the race a man came out and was handing out yellow pieces of paper that said a number on it. He was shouting out that we were on pace to finish in four hours sixteen minutes and two seconds (why two seconds i'm not sure) well steve got one and I grabbed the last paper - because anyone who didn't grab a paper wasn't allowed to finish the race. Well it turns out that steve's good friend jeff who hates running - and will never run a marathon - was up ahead of us and he came back to check on us and didn't get a yellow paper. Well in my dream i started sobbing b/c it was my dream to finish a race in 4 hours 16 minutes and 2 seconds - and although i knew jeff should have my yellow paper instead of me - i knew he hadn't even trained for the race. So we decided to say screw the system and we all kept running. Well at this point the race turned into a version of tackle the tower and I was leading all of the people at the back of the pack up these stairs and ladders only to find when we go to the top that it was a dead end. So we all had to climb back down and go into this big room where we discovered that to make it to the next part of the race we had to do some sort of science experiment. Well other groups were finishing up their task - and steve and jeff would not tell me what we were suppose to do -- all i knew was that it involved sottering something - but that was it - well in the meantime steve was telling stories about his old cell phone at his job ten years ago - and not working the task. So i started sobbing again b/c now there was no way we were going to finish in 4 hours 16 minutes and 2 seconds. Then i woke up drenched in sweat. Not sure what that means -- maybe that i should see a doctor! ok - that's the end of your secret special glimpse into my scary world!

first annual xmas run

2008-01-07T12:26:00.000-08:00

so - i've been waiting to blog til steve uploaded the pictures from our first annual christmas day fun run! Well - he hasn't done it, hasn't done it - well today i checked his blog -- not sure why since he hasn't updated it since september... well the little stinker uploaded the picture on his blog!!! check out steve's link - http://irontri-steve.blogspot.com/ to see the picture. I wore a santa hat and steve wore an elf hat - I think we made at least a few people in the neighborhood smile that morning. My plan is to keep doing the same 3 mile route every year til we get people to start joinging us. It will probably not happen - but i'll keep running it - just in case! hope you all had a great christmas and new year's.

rest day!

2007-12-23T11:55:00.000-08:00

just woke up from an hour and a half long nap!! it's the perfect day outside to curl up and take a nice long cat nap! I had two good runs these last couple of days bringing my weekly mileage up to 23 miles - not quite where i want it - but higher than it has been - so that's good. Friday night I set out for a nice 5-6 mile run around the nieghborhood. Lesson learned - although the portion of the street you are living on has clean sidewalks - does not mean all of the neighboring streets have clean sidewalks! I ran down my street and turned down a street that doesn't have sidewalks - first mile eight minutes flat - nice! then i hit the slush ... my next miles drop down to nine minutes flat b/c i couldn't get up the hills with the snowy slushish mess under my feet! I decided to name this run the "first annual bridget's five mile snowcone fun run and snowbank steeple chase"! (I'm working on the t-shirts now!) No i seriuosly got back some of my old high school hurdling form jumping over all the snowbanks the plows made at the end of people's driveways. Well it ended up being a decent run - i found a new neighborhood to explore - and some good christmas lights. i went back the next day to take a picture of this one house that has lights that are fake tulips in their flower bed - they're kind of hard to see in this picture.

So yesterday I DID NOT want to run. As i've told a lot of you - for months now i've been running 5-6 miles pretty much everytime I run. I haven't done a long run for months. However, now that i have decided to do the pig - i have no excuse to not start ramping up the long miles. So - i decided start off small - just do an eight miler on saturday - not exactly a long run - but bumping up the mileag a bit. all i can say - is thank god for steve - who literally forced me to go running. he said "just go - i'll see you when you are happy when you get back" i yelled that it was windy and cold and I was tired and he couldn't make me run. Well i got out there and quickly realized that one part of my tantrum was completely wrong - i twas not cold - windy yes - but not cold so i was a bit overdressed. but short of taking of my tights and running in my drawers there wasn't much i could do about it - and if i went back home i knew i was going out again. Well as i was still grumbling to myself about running and how heavy my legs felt when i stepped in not one but two puddles and got sprayed by a bus driving by. During my run i saw a huge hawk - i took a picture of that too. i'll have to get a phone with a better camera to document my runs. Well i ended up running a little over eight miles at a 8:35 pace. I'm really happy with that.

On a sad note - as i was writing this steve just got a call that a good friend from his work passed away yesterday. This guy battled leukemia, graph versus host disease and whole bunch of other things that i don't know if i would be strong enough to battle. In the end his body couldn't take anymore. Please say a prayer for him - he will be missed.

Pig 2008

2007-12-20T05:47:00.000-08:00

Wow - i can not believe it is December 20th already!!! I am never going to get all of my work done by the end of the month!!!! aggghhhh!!
Anywho - I took some time yesterday to work out my training schedule in order to get me ready for the Pig in 2008. So - it's official - i'll sign up for the pig next pay check! I know that i'll need to fine tune the schedule - but at least it's an outline of what my long runs need to be. And...I have an idea of where I need to be right now - which will be a lot better than the random running i'm doing right now. Plus - I always do better when i have a schedule where I can cross off things as I do them.
I don't really have much else to say right now -- but guess what? I think that tomorrow is the shortest day of the year... which means... the days are getting longer - which means - before you know it we can stop being vampires and start running in the daylight again!!! woo hoo!! ok - back to work...wish me luck!

i'm so tired...

2007-12-12T06:02:00.001-08:00

Well I cracked open a red bull at 8:30 this morning. Not a good sign. I'm not sure what's wrong with me. I thought i was rested from this weekend - we literally slept all day long on saturday - i can't remember ever doing that - but we got up at about 3:30 in the afternoon... who does that? well regardless i felt great come monday. We were able to get a ton of wedding stuff done the last couple of days -- and although not enough - i got a ton of work stuff done too. But i am just dragging. I really want to ramp up my workouts - get back in the pool - take a spinning class - something - but it seems all i can do is be happy if i get a workout of some sort in 3-4 times a week. I guess i need to just deal with it over the next 51 days. there is only so much time in a day right? I guess planning a wedding right after the holidays, redoing the house and working an insane job all while trying to train is a bit more than i thought it would be. all i know is 53 days til hawaii.... ahhh!!!

"There's a lot of people who would run in this shit, but i believe i am not one of them" Steve S.

2007-12-09T18:44:00.001-08:00

Well I think Steve's quote sums it up. I was having the "to gym or not to gym" dilema today. I hate going to the gym - I know that strength training is necessary - but I just get no satisfaction out of lifting a heavy metal object repeatedly. What is the point - at least if you go for a run or for a ride - you get to go somewhere and see something. Guess that's part of the reason I loathe treadmills. (That and it's tough to run on one of those when you are the type of person who has trouble running in a straight line as it is!)
So anyway - i was having the internal diliema of to run outside in the cold or go to the gym and lift some rocks for awhile. Well i checked the weather channel. 32 degrees -- perfect! Still didn't want to get out there. So I stuck my head outside and realized it was pouring rain! So i decided to be a wuss and go to the gym. Maybe it was nature's way of telling me to get back to strength training. I was hoping that the temperature would drop the half of a degree necessary to turn the nasty rain into snow - but no such luck. So i went to the gym, got a good lift in and ran for about 30 minutes on the dreaded treadmill. I did some messed up version of an interval training workout. Not sure if it did much for me -- but at least it made the time go by faster. (mental note - look up some good treadmill workouts)
Oh and good news. Ever since I got my new shoes I have been having horrible arch and heel pain. And my toes have been falling asleep midrun. Well i was using a pair of less agressive arch supports - put the old more agressive ones in (even though they are worn down) and my feet did not fall asleep and my arches do not hurt. good thing - b/c i wasn't looking forward to taking any time off.

holly cow!

2007-12-05T06:01:00.001-08:00

58 days til we get married. agghh!!! just needed to share the fact that i am overwhelmed with life at the moment... why can't my work just pay me to plan my wedding and let someone else do my work?? maybe i should see if they'll let me have a co-op - then i can make the co-op do all of my wedding planning. how funny would that be? I just can't believe we are down to 58 days -- that means we can actually apply for our marriage liscense. I remember telling steve after we set the date that it seemed as though we were never going to get married b/c it was so far away -- now here it is creeping up quickly!!
I think i am losing my mind... My boss told me that i need to see a doctor after I showed up to work an hour and half late because I
1.) i overslept
2.) i had to return to the house to check if the iron was plugged in
3.) had to return to check if my straightner was plugged in
4.) had to return to the house to look for my cell phone that was in pocket.
5.) got to work and said i thought i might need to go home to see if the stove was turned on
6.) told him about how i managed to get cheese all over my floor and sock that morning which delayed me as well.

Now in addition to that my cell phone is playing games with me. i have spent probably a good hour and a half this week alone looking for the darned thing. my favorite was yesterday when i finally pulled into a wallmart parking lot to try and track the bugger down in my car -- well i found it under the drivers seat -but i couldn't get it or my hand out from under the seat for a good five minutes...

ok that's it -going crazy and thought i'd let you all in on it.

666

2007-12-02T19:00:00.000-08:00

666! What kind of omen is it when you are waiting in line to pick up your race number and you are handed a 666? Well for most normal people it's not an omen at all - rather it's just a number that enables you to get your correct time at end of said race. Well for an over analyzer like me I thought - well maybe I'll run like the devil -- or maybe it's going to be a bad day. Well, since my running ephinany of a few weeks ago - i'm starting to become a little psycho about analyzing my times. For instance i had looked at the past i don't know how many years of results at the reindeer run and decided that i was going to finish in the top 10 of my age group, i looked at the course map and decided that although the my fasted 5k in oh approximately 10 years was a 24:55 at the pig skin classic a few weeks ago - i decided that i should be able to bust out a 22 minute run.

Well I woke up that morning and thought - well i better go out there and run in the 22's or at the very least get in the 23's or this whole running ephiphany of mine will be farse. Well then i got the 666 number at which point i decided i hated my new shoes and that my running jacket i bought last year was nothing more than a large parachute and that today was not going to be a good day. How does one psych themselves out that bad?
Anywho... as usual we didn't get there in time to have any sort of warm up -- unless of course you count jogging from the car to the pavillion - so when the bell went off I was stiff and cold - but i thought - well just go out there and run the three miles. Usually when i run in a race i try to pick someone and mentally reel them in - as a way of keeping myself from slowing down. Well i was having a really hard time reeling in these two old guys and I thought sheesh today is just not my day -- i'm barely moving - all these people are passing me -- i knew today was going to be bad. Oh - and have you ever been running and gotten a stick or something stuck to the bottom of your shoe? That's what my shoe felt like -- so i spent a few minutes trying to drag my left foot along the road to scrape the offending object off my shoe -- only there didn't seem to be anything on the bottom of my shoe. I must have looked like I had a stroke or something - running along dragging my left foot behind me! Not so sure about the new shoes by the way - love the color - but i think maybe with this particular model of shoe, they've finally altered it enough that i may have to switch my alligence to another shoe. Ok - back to the race...

Well after what seemed like at least 20 minutes (i had forgotten my watch at home) i finally get to the mile marker and my time is 7:28 -- obviously i was not slugging along like i had thought! well then my brain kicked in - and said well dummy you lined up closer to the start line than you normally do - so you were up with faster people - that's why you couldn't reel them in - which made me feel better - but at the same time I was feeling pretty crappy and was worried that my pace was going to drop way off. Well then I got stuck next to a couple of people with jingle bells on their shoes, a loud breather, a grunter, and kid that sounded like he was running in clown shoes with each step. I knew I couldn't stay with that pack for the rest of the race or I would go mad! I saw i girl up ahead that had her shoe untied so i decided to catch up to her to let her know about her shoe. She was grateful to me and the next ten zillion people that told her about her shoe i'm sure! Anyway - I thought - just stick with this girl to the end. Well we pass the mile two mark and i'm at 15:20 or 15:30 something I don't remember -- but i remember thinking holy cow - yes my pace dropped off a bit - but I'm still running under and 8 minute mile -- maybe a 23 is in the cards today. As I turned the corner after the 3 mile mark I tried to kick it in - but it was one of those days that i was trying not to show the finish line my breakfast - so i just kept it strong and as i crossed the line I saw 24:09 -- which i was initially disappointed in. But... official time...23:58!!! Woo hoo -- i broke 24 for the first time in 10 years -- and I ended up #10 - out of 44 in my age group -- so mission accomplished for the day. Maybe if i stop being such a head case and start expending all of the effort i put into over-analyzing into training - maybe I'll be able to break 21 early on in the new year! Maybe i'll make my new year's resolution to stop over analysing and self doubting!!! Think i'll get a jump on it a little early though... sheesh this is a long post for such a short race!!