where have i been?

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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...