Monday, October 24
Rest. Of course.
Tuesday:
Ran 6 miles at lunch in 1 hour. Miracle. (Training schedule called for 8 miles with 5 sets of 600 at 5k pace, 7:26- not bloody likely).
Wednesday:
Ran 7 miles.
10:17/9:59/9:59/10:07/9:56/9:37/9:52
Thursday:
Ran 6 miles in 58:17 at lunch. It's hot again. 75 degrees, 80% humidity.
10:07/9:28/9:18/9:37/9:49/9:55
Friday:
Nothing.
Saturday:
Nothing.
Sunday:
16 miler scheduled.
Nothing. It's hard to run when you are wallowing in self pity. My mojo is nowhere to be found. I can only hope I can at least hold on to my fitness. Why has this happened?!
Friday, November 18, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Athens Half Marathon, October 23, 2011
OK. I decided to look at this as an opportunity. It's not so much that I totally slacked off the last three weeks for no reason; I was tapering. So there.
I wore shorts, a red shirt (in honor of UGA!), my black Zensah calf sleeves, black gloves, and black Adidas shorts. At the last minute I threw on a light windbreaker. I really didn't feel like being cold.
I joined a group of runners (or maybe zombies, it was dark), and walked to the start. We passed a tent for Occupy Athens- about two people in there. I tried to line up with a pace group- unfortunately, some of the pacers didn't show up, including the 1:50 guy. I had been hoping to go out with the 1:50 group. The race organizer asked the group around me if we wanted to carry the sign- we all declined. If I'd had more time to think, I might have volunteered to carry one of the signs for the slower people, but no way I was committing to 1:50!
A few days before the race, the organizers posted a message on facebook asking for someone to sing the National Anthem. To my surprise, a runner volunteered. The runner ended up doing a great job. I thought that was so cool- jump up there, sing the Anthem, hand off the mike, and start your Garmin...
The plan was to start slowly because I'd done absolutely zero speedwork. Yeah, the plan didn't entirely work.
Mile 1: 8:47
Kill me. I forgot my open finger gloves that convert to mittens, so I bought some cheap gloves. I can't use the screen on my iPhone, but these people behind me will run me over if I try to balance my phone and water bottle while taking off a glove. I finally pull over to a sidewalk. Stupid.
Mile 2: 8:03
I think it was here that we ran around the stadium. I'm not a football fan and don't feel strongly about UGA, but the stadium was cool.
Mile 3: 7:57
Uh, way downhill. This is the mile where I realized the hill was so steep my arm flailed out to catch my balance. By all means, blaze down it, cause I won't need to save any energy to get back up later. I am my own worst enemy.
Mile 4: 8:33
Was it around here that I saw a man sitting in a lawnchair in a full tuxedo with a glass of wine or was I already hallucinating?
Mile 5: 8:56
Mile 6: 8:27
Entering a dark, dark place. "Why am I doing this?" "How am I going to run a full in three weeks?!" I high five a little kid and feel so much better. (At the time I thought the kid brought up my spirits, and she probably helped, but looking back at the elevation chart, I'd been going uphill awhile.)
Mile 7: 8:35
Mile 8: 8:34
Mile 9: 8:44
Mile 10: 8:24
Mile 11: 8:27
Somewhere in that long stretch we entered the world's greatest neighborhood. Signs, cheering, banners- the works. One yard had at least 50 balloons filled with helium- awesome. It was almost to the level of the Gate River Run, but this was only it's second year. Cool people! I think a lot of them might have been drinking...
Mile 12: 8:23
One of the volunteers at a water stop yells something like "you need to get prepared for the last hill, pull yourselves together now and get ready." Far cry from the usual, "looking good" or the ubiquitous "you're almost there" lie. I hurried down a hill but tried to heed his warning and conserve some energy. (Turns out he was a coach).
Mile 13: 9:55
Really, Athens? What was that? Volunteer did not lie. There was a horrible hill at the end. Keep in mind that none of this course was flat, but that end was miserable. My knee was a bit achy and I was running as fast as people walking next to me, so I walked a bit. Oh, the horror. Pushed it up to a run for the finish.
Chip time: 1:53:16
AG: 15/126
I wandered back to the room and changed clothes. The race t-shirt was sort of ok, but not great. Good thing I'm not still hung up on bling, cause the medal left a lot to be desired.
Reflections:
I went into this race with unrealistic expectations. I was hoping to break 1:50, but the hills just never ended (so glad I didn't carry the 1:50 pace flag!) I tried to run cautiously (with the exception of the wildly flailing hill) out of fear of getting hurt right before my full. Having run absolutely no fast paces before the race, I was pleased I could maintain roughly an 8:30 the whole way.
I don't know if I could have run faster or not, which ruined any predictions for a relatively flat full... It was a fun race, but not one I need to do again- did I mention Athens is really, really far away? And in the future, I'd probably be better off running my last 20 miler three weeks from my goal marathon rather than a half.
Oh, and I hated wearing the windbreaker. I'll just be cold from now on.
OK. I decided to look at this as an opportunity. It's not so much that I totally slacked off the last three weeks for no reason; I was tapering. So there.
I wore shorts, a red shirt (in honor of UGA!), my black Zensah calf sleeves, black gloves, and black Adidas shorts. At the last minute I threw on a light windbreaker. I really didn't feel like being cold.
I joined a group of runners (or maybe zombies, it was dark), and walked to the start. We passed a tent for Occupy Athens- about two people in there. I tried to line up with a pace group- unfortunately, some of the pacers didn't show up, including the 1:50 guy. I had been hoping to go out with the 1:50 group. The race organizer asked the group around me if we wanted to carry the sign- we all declined. If I'd had more time to think, I might have volunteered to carry one of the signs for the slower people, but no way I was committing to 1:50!
A few days before the race, the organizers posted a message on facebook asking for someone to sing the National Anthem. To my surprise, a runner volunteered. The runner ended up doing a great job. I thought that was so cool- jump up there, sing the Anthem, hand off the mike, and start your Garmin...
The plan was to start slowly because I'd done absolutely zero speedwork. Yeah, the plan didn't entirely work.
Mile 1: 8:47
Kill me. I forgot my open finger gloves that convert to mittens, so I bought some cheap gloves. I can't use the screen on my iPhone, but these people behind me will run me over if I try to balance my phone and water bottle while taking off a glove. I finally pull over to a sidewalk. Stupid.
Mile 2: 8:03
I think it was here that we ran around the stadium. I'm not a football fan and don't feel strongly about UGA, but the stadium was cool.
Mile 3: 7:57
Uh, way downhill. This is the mile where I realized the hill was so steep my arm flailed out to catch my balance. By all means, blaze down it, cause I won't need to save any energy to get back up later. I am my own worst enemy.
Mile 4: 8:33
Was it around here that I saw a man sitting in a lawnchair in a full tuxedo with a glass of wine or was I already hallucinating?
Mile 5: 8:56
Mile 6: 8:27
Entering a dark, dark place. "Why am I doing this?" "How am I going to run a full in three weeks?!" I high five a little kid and feel so much better. (At the time I thought the kid brought up my spirits, and she probably helped, but looking back at the elevation chart, I'd been going uphill awhile.)
Mile 7: 8:35
Mile 8: 8:34
Mile 9: 8:44
Mile 10: 8:24
Mile 11: 8:27
Somewhere in that long stretch we entered the world's greatest neighborhood. Signs, cheering, banners- the works. One yard had at least 50 balloons filled with helium- awesome. It was almost to the level of the Gate River Run, but this was only it's second year. Cool people! I think a lot of them might have been drinking...
Mile 12: 8:23
One of the volunteers at a water stop yells something like "you need to get prepared for the last hill, pull yourselves together now and get ready." Far cry from the usual, "looking good" or the ubiquitous "you're almost there" lie. I hurried down a hill but tried to heed his warning and conserve some energy. (Turns out he was a coach).
Mile 13: 9:55
Really, Athens? What was that? Volunteer did not lie. There was a horrible hill at the end. Keep in mind that none of this course was flat, but that end was miserable. My knee was a bit achy and I was running as fast as people walking next to me, so I walked a bit. Oh, the horror. Pushed it up to a run for the finish.
Chip time: 1:53:16
AG: 15/126
I wandered back to the room and changed clothes. The race t-shirt was sort of ok, but not great. Good thing I'm not still hung up on bling, cause the medal left a lot to be desired.
Reflections:
I went into this race with unrealistic expectations. I was hoping to break 1:50, but the hills just never ended (so glad I didn't carry the 1:50 pace flag!) I tried to run cautiously (with the exception of the wildly flailing hill) out of fear of getting hurt right before my full. Having run absolutely no fast paces before the race, I was pleased I could maintain roughly an 8:30 the whole way.
I don't know if I could have run faster or not, which ruined any predictions for a relatively flat full... It was a fun race, but not one I need to do again- did I mention Athens is really, really far away? And in the future, I'd probably be better off running my last 20 miler three weeks from my goal marathon rather than a half.
Oh, and I hated wearing the windbreaker. I'll just be cold from now on.
Training week 13
The rut continues.
Nothing Monday or Tuesday. Monday was a travel day, Tuesday was probably just blah.
Wednesday:
Ran 9.18 miles at lunch.
9:42/8:57/9:08/9:31/9:35/9:27/8:50/9:08
Friday:
Checked into the Holiday Inn in Athens. Nice fraternity party downstairs. Perhaps Miss Jennifer is too old for this nonsense. We have a "suite." It's a really old hotel, so the suite is a strange shape. I went to turn the heat on in the sort of sitting area and managed to set off the world's loudest fire alarm (which in turn set off the world's loudest children. Conveniently none of this could be heard over the world's loudest fraternity party.)
Saturday:
Drove around Athens with the peeps. We had to walk down an eternal hill to get to the Expo. Great. I was teased by two organizers for being from Waycross- "gonna be hillier here." Thanks, I hadn't noticed. Wheezed all the way back up the hill pushing the stroller- perfect.
Sunday:
The Athens Half Marathon... I'll save that for my next entry.
I'd like to take a moment to point out that I'd run 9 miles for the week prior to the Half. That's not really in any of the training schedules...
Nothing Monday or Tuesday. Monday was a travel day, Tuesday was probably just blah.
Wednesday:
Ran 9.18 miles at lunch.
9:42/8:57/9:08/9:31/9:35/9:27/8:50/9:08
Friday:
Checked into the Holiday Inn in Athens. Nice fraternity party downstairs. Perhaps Miss Jennifer is too old for this nonsense. We have a "suite." It's a really old hotel, so the suite is a strange shape. I went to turn the heat on in the sort of sitting area and managed to set off the world's loudest fire alarm (which in turn set off the world's loudest children. Conveniently none of this could be heard over the world's loudest fraternity party.)
Saturday:
Drove around Athens with the peeps. We had to walk down an eternal hill to get to the Expo. Great. I was teased by two organizers for being from Waycross- "gonna be hillier here." Thanks, I hadn't noticed. Wheezed all the way back up the hill pushing the stroller- perfect.
Sunday:
The Athens Half Marathon... I'll save that for my next entry.
I'd like to take a moment to point out that I'd run 9 miles for the week prior to the Half. That's not really in any of the training schedules...
Training week 12
Trying to get back on track...
Sunday, October 9:
Ran 14 miles in the afternoon in the rain. Found my friend, Mary, out running too. Stuck with her for two miles. I think she was taking pity on me, but I enjoyed having company. I was supposed to do 18, but started too late and lost daylight.
10:33/10:07/10:34/10:43/10:47/10:09/10:10/10:07/10:20/9:58/10:03/10:02/9:46/10:31
Monday: rest
Tuesday:
Ran 2.61 miles at 7 p.m. Granted it was getting dark, but less than 3 miles? I'm in deep trouble.
Wednesday:
Flying to DC. Ran 5.55 miles in the morning before our flight.
Thursday:
It took us all day and 3 airplanes to get to DC the day before. Ever been in an airplane that's been in the air for an hour only to have the pilot say "we're turning around because the door ajar light is on?" Ok, it wasn't exactly in those words, but that was the problem. Terrifying. And then had to spend all day in airports with a 3 year old and 5 year old. They held it together pretty well, but the potential for meltdown was high (from all of us, not just the little people).
Friday:
OK, it's cold outside and I've been to a real running store and have a cool new shirt! That should give me my mojo! I take off at 5:15 a.m. in Alexandria. I ran down King Street, Duke, Washington St. I called it quits at 7.15 miles. I never could find the Mount Vernon Trail, but I did have a fox cross my path. Odd that the closest encounter I've had with wildlife would be in Old Town!
Saturday:
I've seen the Mount Vernon Trail signs; I've seen people actually on it from the Metro. I will not be denied. I did 8 miles at 5:34 a.m. I was always near the trail as best I could tell, and sometimes on a random trail, but alas, the Mount Vernon Trail was elusive. I didn't see any people on the trail I did find- that was a little eerie. I turned around at Crystal City. Stupid trail! Anyway, that was 8 miles in 1:21:xx.
So, yet another week passes without a long run. I'm pleased I ran in DC at all, but freaked out that I've missed or shortened three long runs in a row. Oh, and I ate my weight in pumpkin ice cream and La Madeleine the whole trip- it's all going downhill now.
Sunday, October 9:
Ran 14 miles in the afternoon in the rain. Found my friend, Mary, out running too. Stuck with her for two miles. I think she was taking pity on me, but I enjoyed having company. I was supposed to do 18, but started too late and lost daylight.
10:33/10:07/10:34/10:43/10:47/10:09/10:10/10:07/10:20/9:58/10:03/10:02/9:46/10:31
Monday: rest
Tuesday:
Ran 2.61 miles at 7 p.m. Granted it was getting dark, but less than 3 miles? I'm in deep trouble.
Wednesday:
Flying to DC. Ran 5.55 miles in the morning before our flight.
Thursday:
It took us all day and 3 airplanes to get to DC the day before. Ever been in an airplane that's been in the air for an hour only to have the pilot say "we're turning around because the door ajar light is on?" Ok, it wasn't exactly in those words, but that was the problem. Terrifying. And then had to spend all day in airports with a 3 year old and 5 year old. They held it together pretty well, but the potential for meltdown was high (from all of us, not just the little people).
Friday:
OK, it's cold outside and I've been to a real running store and have a cool new shirt! That should give me my mojo! I take off at 5:15 a.m. in Alexandria. I ran down King Street, Duke, Washington St. I called it quits at 7.15 miles. I never could find the Mount Vernon Trail, but I did have a fox cross my path. Odd that the closest encounter I've had with wildlife would be in Old Town!
Saturday:
I've seen the Mount Vernon Trail signs; I've seen people actually on it from the Metro. I will not be denied. I did 8 miles at 5:34 a.m. I was always near the trail as best I could tell, and sometimes on a random trail, but alas, the Mount Vernon Trail was elusive. I didn't see any people on the trail I did find- that was a little eerie. I turned around at Crystal City. Stupid trail! Anyway, that was 8 miles in 1:21:xx.
So, yet another week passes without a long run. I'm pleased I ran in DC at all, but freaked out that I've missed or shortened three long runs in a row. Oh, and I ate my weight in pumpkin ice cream and La Madeleine the whole trip- it's all going downhill now.
Training week 11
Sunday, October 2
This was a hard one. We were at the hotel in Atlanta- the Taylor Swift concert was that night. I was scheduled to run 17 miles. There was a half marathon in Atlanta that morning. Part of me thought Emma wouldn't even be awake by the time I came back if I snuck off... The practical side of me worried that I'd get lost or I'd have some sort of medical emergency or the fire alarm would go off at the hotel or Emma would somehow get locked out of the room... I decided to harness my OCD and ignore my training schedule.
Instead of running, we went to the Target with the cart escalator (country bumpkins for sure, but really, there's an escalator for your cart! How cool is that?!) We went to Perimeter Mall too. It's strange how you can leave a city for ten years and your internal mall GPS can still kick in. We found a few things at J Crew, ate Chinese food at the food court (see Phipps?), and headed back to get ready for the concert.
Drumroll.... We head over to the CNN Center for the Phipps entrance. We're talking to a bunch of girls going on and on about their seats. Emma and I don't tell them where our seats are. Funny though, she didn't want to tell them because it would be mean, where I was afraid they might beat me up.
We make our way to our seats. Have I mentioned they were front row?? Oh yeah. We take a bunch of pictures of us in front of the stage and chat with our new best friends. My favorite BFFs were the couple behind us- Carla and her boyfriend. Hysterically funny, but not always intentionally. The boyfriend insists on calling me Miss Jennifer cause I'm apparently 110 years old. He did tell Emma to worship me for getting the best seats in the house, which I appreciated. Carla tried to give me her pina colada cause she said if she drank it all, she'd fall down. I'm afraid I declined, but good news! To the best of my knowledge, Carla stayed on her feet.
Here we are waiting for Needtobreathe- who were also good.
This is during Long Live at the end. I'd taken so many pictures I thought I might be crossing the line from "getting my money's worth, damn it" to creepy stalker. I did bond with the guy who was filming for the actual screens- we were tight.
The show was really, really good. I could babble forever, but I'll leave it at that. I will say I have completely peaked in my gift giving for Emma- I'm positive I can never top this one.
And back to reality:
Monday:
Rest (and 5 hour drive).
I don't know what happened to Tuesday and Wednesday...
Thursday:
Ran 5 miles in 50:40.
Friday:
Nothing. Wow. The Taylor Swift concert was costly in both money and runnning mojo.
Saturday:
Yep. Nothing.
This was a hard one. We were at the hotel in Atlanta- the Taylor Swift concert was that night. I was scheduled to run 17 miles. There was a half marathon in Atlanta that morning. Part of me thought Emma wouldn't even be awake by the time I came back if I snuck off... The practical side of me worried that I'd get lost or I'd have some sort of medical emergency or the fire alarm would go off at the hotel or Emma would somehow get locked out of the room... I decided to harness my OCD and ignore my training schedule.
Instead of running, we went to the Target with the cart escalator (country bumpkins for sure, but really, there's an escalator for your cart! How cool is that?!) We went to Perimeter Mall too. It's strange how you can leave a city for ten years and your internal mall GPS can still kick in. We found a few things at J Crew, ate Chinese food at the food court (see Phipps?), and headed back to get ready for the concert.
Drumroll.... We head over to the CNN Center for the Phipps entrance. We're talking to a bunch of girls going on and on about their seats. Emma and I don't tell them where our seats are. Funny though, she didn't want to tell them because it would be mean, where I was afraid they might beat me up.
We make our way to our seats. Have I mentioned they were front row?? Oh yeah. We take a bunch of pictures of us in front of the stage and chat with our new best friends. My favorite BFFs were the couple behind us- Carla and her boyfriend. Hysterically funny, but not always intentionally. The boyfriend insists on calling me Miss Jennifer cause I'm apparently 110 years old. He did tell Emma to worship me for getting the best seats in the house, which I appreciated. Carla tried to give me her pina colada cause she said if she drank it all, she'd fall down. I'm afraid I declined, but good news! To the best of my knowledge, Carla stayed on her feet.
Here we are waiting for Needtobreathe- who were also good.
This is during Long Live at the end. I'd taken so many pictures I thought I might be crossing the line from "getting my money's worth, damn it" to creepy stalker. I did bond with the guy who was filming for the actual screens- we were tight.
The show was really, really good. I could babble forever, but I'll leave it at that. I will say I have completely peaked in my gift giving for Emma- I'm positive I can never top this one.
And back to reality:
Monday:
Rest (and 5 hour drive).
I don't know what happened to Tuesday and Wednesday...
Thursday:
Ran 5 miles in 50:40.
Friday:
Nothing. Wow. The Taylor Swift concert was costly in both money and runnning mojo.
Saturday:
Yep. Nothing.
Training week 10
Ugh.. I lost my running mojo, and subsequently my blogging mojo. So, this is sort of going back in time. I'm making this shorter (much like my running).
Tuesday, Sept. 27
Ran 8 miles at 12:16 pm. in 85 degrees, 80% humidity. Took forever. (1:23:xx)
Wednesday:
Supposed to do 12, did 6 instead. Again, with the heat and humidity. Again slowww...
Thursday:
Ran 11.65 miles in 85 degrees but just 50% humidity. Slightly better (1:54:xx).
Friday:
PACKING!!!
Saturday:
Emma and I drove to Atlanta for the Taylor Swift concert that was re-scheduled in July. We went straight to Phipps Mall for a little shopping, thinking we'd eat at the food court. Hello, Phipps was always snooty, but they've done away with a food court. You know what else they've done away with? Shoppers. Go figure.
We ended up at the little restaurant inside Nordstroms. It's a bit of a hybrid- you order and then get seated. And by seated, I mean you shimmy into your two person booth and desperately try to pretend that there aren't total strangers in their own booths within your personal space. Emma and I were cracking up splitting a pizza as everyone around us ate their salads (and wine- lots of wine). Then they brought our deserts-- I meant to order one but somehow ended up with both a slice of chocolate cake and a bread pudding. The women next to us visibly recoiled at the sight of this caloric madness, which set me off into gales of laughter. RUN!! The chocolate cake might try to stick to your thighs!!! They did laugh when it was obvious I'd busted them and I went through the whole "I didn't really mean to order this" excuse. Crazy place.
So, because Phipps is beautiful but BORING, we headed over to Lenox. Ah... so that's where all the people were. Seriously, hordes of people with bursting shopping bags. Insanity. We bought a couple of things in Urban Outfitters and then fought our way out.
We drove over to the Omni Hotel around 5:00. I got to valet park my lovely 10 year old Sequioa- it's a classy vehicle, with the split leather seats and all. The whole area was swarmed with tweens and teens and moms. Luckily, I'd purchased some nosebleed seats for the concert. Our good seats were for the next night, but what else did we have to do?! Emma put on her homemade Taylor shirt and we hit the top row of Phillips Arena. The show was great as I expected. We spent most of the night poking each other and saying "look at how close she is to our seats for tomorrow!"
Oh, and of course there was no running that day.
Tuesday, Sept. 27
Ran 8 miles at 12:16 pm. in 85 degrees, 80% humidity. Took forever. (1:23:xx)
Wednesday:
Supposed to do 12, did 6 instead. Again, with the heat and humidity. Again slowww...
Thursday:
Ran 11.65 miles in 85 degrees but just 50% humidity. Slightly better (1:54:xx).
Friday:
PACKING!!!
Saturday:
Emma and I drove to Atlanta for the Taylor Swift concert that was re-scheduled in July. We went straight to Phipps Mall for a little shopping, thinking we'd eat at the food court. Hello, Phipps was always snooty, but they've done away with a food court. You know what else they've done away with? Shoppers. Go figure.
We ended up at the little restaurant inside Nordstroms. It's a bit of a hybrid- you order and then get seated. And by seated, I mean you shimmy into your two person booth and desperately try to pretend that there aren't total strangers in their own booths within your personal space. Emma and I were cracking up splitting a pizza as everyone around us ate their salads (and wine- lots of wine). Then they brought our deserts-- I meant to order one but somehow ended up with both a slice of chocolate cake and a bread pudding. The women next to us visibly recoiled at the sight of this caloric madness, which set me off into gales of laughter. RUN!! The chocolate cake might try to stick to your thighs!!! They did laugh when it was obvious I'd busted them and I went through the whole "I didn't really mean to order this" excuse. Crazy place.
So, because Phipps is beautiful but BORING, we headed over to Lenox. Ah... so that's where all the people were. Seriously, hordes of people with bursting shopping bags. Insanity. We bought a couple of things in Urban Outfitters and then fought our way out.
We drove over to the Omni Hotel around 5:00. I got to valet park my lovely 10 year old Sequioa- it's a classy vehicle, with the split leather seats and all. The whole area was swarmed with tweens and teens and moms. Luckily, I'd purchased some nosebleed seats for the concert. Our good seats were for the next night, but what else did we have to do?! Emma put on her homemade Taylor shirt and we hit the top row of Phillips Arena. The show was great as I expected. We spent most of the night poking each other and saying "look at how close she is to our seats for tomorrow!"
Oh, and of course there was no running that day.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Training week 9
Monday, Sept 19
Ran 8 miles at 12:22 p.m. in 1:20:xx. 82 degrees, 65% humidity.
10:26/10:06/9:54/10:03/9:44/9:51/9:57/10:07
Tuesday, Sept. 20
Ran 8 miles at 11:27 a.m. in 1:20:xx. 91 degrees, 80% humidity.
10:13/10:05/9:57/10:02/9:50/10:08/9:38/10:12
Wednesday, Sept. 21
Ran 5 miles at 11:23 a.m., 81 degrees, 98% humidity. Sheer misery.
10:39/10:25/10:03/10:08/10:32
Thursday, Sept. 22
Rest. Planning on running 10k in St. Simons. Got an e-mail pre-race talking about shuttle buses for the start. Not thrilled with the idea of a first time race and shuttles.
Friday, Sept. 23
Rest. I started thinking I could drive to the shuttle bus parking, run 3 miles, run the 10k, run the 3 miles back... thus getting in a bit of a long run. And then I started thinking about how I was going to run with my packet and get more water... And then my family rioted and refused to go to St. Simons, which now added a further complication of driving over an hour each way. And I bailed on the race. Oh well.
Saturday, Sept. 24
Really irritated that I took an extra rest day for a race that didn't happen (for me). So, I ran 5.12 miles at 5:26 p.m. in 90 degrees with 60% humidity. Average pace 10:27 m/mi.
10:58/10:08/10:32/10:12/10:23
Sunday, Sept. 25
Decided I was going to make up for the skipped race by getting in a good long run. Had 14 scheduled, so I did 18 miles. Again, I find myself messing with my schedule. This can only lead to bad things, but I really want to lock in some of the longer runs because the next few weekends are jam packed.
So, 18 miles in 3:07:xx at 4:54 a.m. in 71 degrees and 100% humidity. I kid you not, 100% humidity. I almost turned around in the first couple of miles because I kept seeing the same tan truck circling me- I was getting really freaked out. And then he pulled up next to me. I was about 10 feet into someone's yard with my finger casually resting on my Mace trigger... The guy rolls down his window and says "I don't want to scare you, I'm delivering papers." Oh, I knew that. Ahem. I went over to the hilly neighborhood a little early to get out of that mess- and ran smack into the world's biggest possum. Technically, I didn't run into him (I would have died right there), but he was in someone's yard and scampered straight up a pine tree. At least thoughts of Macing newspaper guys and possums distracted me for awhile...
I took 2 Endurolytes before leaving the house and went through 2 frozen water bottles. I had one Hammer Gel before I left (no breakfast), and then 1 at mile 7 and 1 at mile 13. I switched to frozen Nuun around mile 15. Gels don't upset my stomach so I shouldn't complain, but I'm developing a major aversion to them. I'm sure I should take more Endurolytes too, but I can't bear to bring them with me. I've really got to work on a fueling plan!
11:55/11:18/10:48/10/39/10:28/gel 10:31/10:16/10:38/10:11/10:15/10:15/10:14/9:55/gel 10:18/10:01/10:00/9:44/10:03
Ran 8 miles at 12:22 p.m. in 1:20:xx. 82 degrees, 65% humidity.
10:26/10:06/9:54/10:03/9:44/9:51/9:57/10:07
Tuesday, Sept. 20
Ran 8 miles at 11:27 a.m. in 1:20:xx. 91 degrees, 80% humidity.
10:13/10:05/9:57/10:02/9:50/10:08/9:38/10:12
Wednesday, Sept. 21
Ran 5 miles at 11:23 a.m., 81 degrees, 98% humidity. Sheer misery.
10:39/10:25/10:03/10:08/10:32
Thursday, Sept. 22
Rest. Planning on running 10k in St. Simons. Got an e-mail pre-race talking about shuttle buses for the start. Not thrilled with the idea of a first time race and shuttles.
Friday, Sept. 23
Rest. I started thinking I could drive to the shuttle bus parking, run 3 miles, run the 10k, run the 3 miles back... thus getting in a bit of a long run. And then I started thinking about how I was going to run with my packet and get more water... And then my family rioted and refused to go to St. Simons, which now added a further complication of driving over an hour each way. And I bailed on the race. Oh well.
Saturday, Sept. 24
Really irritated that I took an extra rest day for a race that didn't happen (for me). So, I ran 5.12 miles at 5:26 p.m. in 90 degrees with 60% humidity. Average pace 10:27 m/mi.
10:58/10:08/10:32/10:12/10:23
Sunday, Sept. 25
Decided I was going to make up for the skipped race by getting in a good long run. Had 14 scheduled, so I did 18 miles. Again, I find myself messing with my schedule. This can only lead to bad things, but I really want to lock in some of the longer runs because the next few weekends are jam packed.
So, 18 miles in 3:07:xx at 4:54 a.m. in 71 degrees and 100% humidity. I kid you not, 100% humidity. I almost turned around in the first couple of miles because I kept seeing the same tan truck circling me- I was getting really freaked out. And then he pulled up next to me. I was about 10 feet into someone's yard with my finger casually resting on my Mace trigger... The guy rolls down his window and says "I don't want to scare you, I'm delivering papers." Oh, I knew that. Ahem. I went over to the hilly neighborhood a little early to get out of that mess- and ran smack into the world's biggest possum. Technically, I didn't run into him (I would have died right there), but he was in someone's yard and scampered straight up a pine tree. At least thoughts of Macing newspaper guys and possums distracted me for awhile...
I took 2 Endurolytes before leaving the house and went through 2 frozen water bottles. I had one Hammer Gel before I left (no breakfast), and then 1 at mile 7 and 1 at mile 13. I switched to frozen Nuun around mile 15. Gels don't upset my stomach so I shouldn't complain, but I'm developing a major aversion to them. I'm sure I should take more Endurolytes too, but I can't bear to bring them with me. I've really got to work on a fueling plan!
11:55/11:18/10:48/10/39/10:28/gel 10:31/10:16/10:38/10:11/10:15/10:15/10:14/9:55/gel 10:18/10:01/10:00/9:44/10:03
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Training week 8
Monday, Sept 12:
Rest.
Tuesday, Sept 13:
Ran 8 miles at 4:44 a.m. in 1:26:xx. Ave. pace 10:49. Did ten sets of fast strides- roughly twenty seconds each. Highly technical stuff! Smoky again...
11:41/11:07/10:51/10:37/10:55/10:42/9:40/10:54
Wednesday,Sept 14:
Ran 10 miles at 4:30 a.m. in 1:43:xx. 70 degrees, 80% humidity. Ave. pace 10:20 m/mi. And yet more smoke...
11:34/10:44/10:23/10:02/10:12/10:22/10:08/10:03/10:00/9:46
Thursday, Sept 15:
Ran 4.25 miles in 51:24, ave. pace 12:10. Weird pain in right calf. Not constant, but just shooting pain when I least expected it. Made me very apprehensive.
12:50/11:42/11:47/12:17.
Friday, Sept. 16:
Miles 3rd birthday!! Rest day.
Saturday, Sept. 17
Long run. 15 miles at 4:46 a.m. for 2:27:xx in 66 degrees, 75% humidity. Weather better, no smoke, and best of all, no weird calf pain. Did a gel with a G2 Gatorade- bad idea. Thought I was going to be hit by the gingerbread man, but made it home!
11:40/10:26/9:58/9:54/9:49/9:47/9:26/gel 9:57/9:49/9:23/9:25/9:05/9:13/9:22/10:19
I'm entering in a few weeks all at once- I've been a little overwhelmed thinking that I have trained myself really well to run forever at a snail's pace. But now that I'm entering these manually, I'm realizing that even slight temperature/humidity changes make a huge difference. And of course, I knew that, but seeing it in front of me is reassuring...
Rest.
Tuesday, Sept 13:
Ran 8 miles at 4:44 a.m. in 1:26:xx. Ave. pace 10:49. Did ten sets of fast strides- roughly twenty seconds each. Highly technical stuff! Smoky again...
11:41/11:07/10:51/10:37/10:55/10:42/9:40/10:54
Wednesday,Sept 14:
Ran 10 miles at 4:30 a.m. in 1:43:xx. 70 degrees, 80% humidity. Ave. pace 10:20 m/mi. And yet more smoke...
11:34/10:44/10:23/10:02/10:12/10:22/10:08/10:03/10:00/9:46
Thursday, Sept 15:
Ran 4.25 miles in 51:24, ave. pace 12:10. Weird pain in right calf. Not constant, but just shooting pain when I least expected it. Made me very apprehensive.
12:50/11:42/11:47/12:17.
Friday, Sept. 16:
Miles 3rd birthday!! Rest day.
Saturday, Sept. 17
Long run. 15 miles at 4:46 a.m. for 2:27:xx in 66 degrees, 75% humidity. Weather better, no smoke, and best of all, no weird calf pain. Did a gel with a G2 Gatorade- bad idea. Thought I was going to be hit by the gingerbread man, but made it home!
11:40/10:26/9:58/9:54/9:49/9:47/9:26/gel 9:57/9:49/9:23/9:25/9:05/9:13/9:22/10:19
I'm entering in a few weeks all at once- I've been a little overwhelmed thinking that I have trained myself really well to run forever at a snail's pace. But now that I'm entering these manually, I'm realizing that even slight temperature/humidity changes make a huge difference. And of course, I knew that, but seeing it in front of me is reassuring...
Training week 7
Monday, Labor Day
No running. Did ride my "vintage" mountain bike and play in the pool. Ate a lot of yobe yogurt too.
Tuesday, Sept. 6
Ran 5 miles in 47:20 in the afternoon. 84 degrees, 51% humidity. Ave pace 9:28.
9:38/8:39/9:43/9:31/9:42
Hey, that's kind of speedy! A random dog ran with me on a hilly route...
Wednesday, Sept. 7
Ran 10 miles at 4:30 a.m. in 1:36:xx in 60 degrees, 50% humidity. Sweet!!!
10:29/9:35/9:16/9:45/9:27/9:34/9:44/9:32/9:20/9:40
So excited about the first run, I ran a second that afternoon at 81 degrees, 44% humidity. Did 4 miles in 40:07.
10:24/9:40/9:51/10:09
Everything felt fine, but I'm guessing when I'm eventually injured I can trace the beginnings to this day...
Thursday, Sept. 8
Rest. (The madness of the previous day worried me!)
Friday, Sept. 9:
Ran 9.13 miles at noon, 81 degrees, 53% humidity, after bloodwork and waiting for the cable guy... ave. pace 10:11 m/mi
10:44/9:55/10:06/9:54/9:47/9:50/1-:18/10:04/10:08
Saturday, Sept. 10
Long run. Yes, it was supposed to be Sunday, but it worked better on Saturday.
Did 20 miles in 3:19:xx at 4:30 a.m. in 61 degrees, 93% humidity. Ave. pace 9:57 m/mi. Took a gel at 7 and 13, had water. Really, really smoky. Amazed that didn't come back to haunt me.
11:07/10:32/10:31/10:19/10:16/10:07/10:07/9:49/10:22/9:43/9:45/9:49/10:16/9:21/9:20/9:27/9:22/9:15/9:39/9:42
Sunday, Sept. 11
Rest.
No running. Did ride my "vintage" mountain bike and play in the pool. Ate a lot of yobe yogurt too.
Tuesday, Sept. 6
Ran 5 miles in 47:20 in the afternoon. 84 degrees, 51% humidity. Ave pace 9:28.
9:38/8:39/9:43/9:31/9:42
Hey, that's kind of speedy! A random dog ran with me on a hilly route...
Wednesday, Sept. 7
Ran 10 miles at 4:30 a.m. in 1:36:xx in 60 degrees, 50% humidity. Sweet!!!
10:29/9:35/9:16/9:45/9:27/9:34/9:44/9:32/9:20/9:40
So excited about the first run, I ran a second that afternoon at 81 degrees, 44% humidity. Did 4 miles in 40:07.
10:24/9:40/9:51/10:09
Everything felt fine, but I'm guessing when I'm eventually injured I can trace the beginnings to this day...
Thursday, Sept. 8
Rest. (The madness of the previous day worried me!)
Friday, Sept. 9:
Ran 9.13 miles at noon, 81 degrees, 53% humidity, after bloodwork and waiting for the cable guy... ave. pace 10:11 m/mi
10:44/9:55/10:06/9:54/9:47/9:50/1-:18/10:04/10:08
Saturday, Sept. 10
Long run. Yes, it was supposed to be Sunday, but it worked better on Saturday.
Did 20 miles in 3:19:xx at 4:30 a.m. in 61 degrees, 93% humidity. Ave. pace 9:57 m/mi. Took a gel at 7 and 13, had water. Really, really smoky. Amazed that didn't come back to haunt me.
11:07/10:32/10:31/10:19/10:16/10:07/10:07/9:49/10:22/9:43/9:45/9:49/10:16/9:21/9:20/9:27/9:22/9:15/9:39/9:42
Sunday, Sept. 11
Rest.
Training week 6
In the interest of not boring myself to death, I'm eliminating listing the scheduled workouts. I've re-done the schedule to accomodate various weekend activities-- always a good idea to mess with your schedule! (NOT). So anyway, here's week 6:
Monday:
Smoky. Ugh. Did 4 miles in 42:xx in 90 degrees, 60% humidity.
11:00/10:15/10:09/10:57
Tuesday:
Smokier. I refuse to run. (And Harry has an eye appointment).
Wednesday:
Ran 9 miles at 4:30 a.m. in 1:31:xx. 76 degrees, 95% humidity. Ave. pace 10:13 m/m
11:28/10:29/10:00/10:02/10:07/9:43/9:53/10:04
Thursday:
Ran 4 miles in afternoon in 40:30. 91 degrees, 50% humidity.
10:24/9:55/9:50/10:20
Friday:
Ran 9 miles at 4:30 a.m. in 1:28:xx. 66 degrees !!!!!, 95% humidity. Ave. pace 10:13 m/m
11:09/9:57/9:34/9:39/9:28/9:47/9:36/10:01
Saturday:
Rest! Played with kids in pool at SSI. The boys are insane in the pool.
Sunday:
Ran my long run at St. Simons. 12.33 miles in 2:08:xx. 5:30 a.m. I didn't write it down, but I'm going with 80 degrees and about 10000% humidity.
11:31/10:18/10:25/10:24/10:09/11:04/10:45/10:21/10:08/9:58/9:43/10:25
So my mom has been heckling me about running in the morning. I didn't really understand until I ran in St. Simons. It's hot, muggy, DARK, and stinky. The sidewalks wind around and are uneven, the sprinklers are going off everywhere (including across the sidewalks), branches are ridiculously low, the flashlight is necessary the whole time, everything stinks, and you spend most of your time wondering if a creature is going to pop out of the marsh and eat you. Not doing that again...
Monday:
Smoky. Ugh. Did 4 miles in 42:xx in 90 degrees, 60% humidity.
11:00/10:15/10:09/10:57
Tuesday:
Smokier. I refuse to run. (And Harry has an eye appointment).
Wednesday:
Ran 9 miles at 4:30 a.m. in 1:31:xx. 76 degrees, 95% humidity. Ave. pace 10:13 m/m
11:28/10:29/10:00/10:02/10:07/9:43/9:53/10:04
Thursday:
Ran 4 miles in afternoon in 40:30. 91 degrees, 50% humidity.
10:24/9:55/9:50/10:20
Friday:
Ran 9 miles at 4:30 a.m. in 1:28:xx. 66 degrees !!!!!, 95% humidity. Ave. pace 10:13 m/m
11:09/9:57/9:34/9:39/9:28/9:47/9:36/10:01
Saturday:
Rest! Played with kids in pool at SSI. The boys are insane in the pool.
Sunday:
Ran my long run at St. Simons. 12.33 miles in 2:08:xx. 5:30 a.m. I didn't write it down, but I'm going with 80 degrees and about 10000% humidity.
11:31/10:18/10:25/10:24/10:09/11:04/10:45/10:21/10:08/9:58/9:43/10:25
So my mom has been heckling me about running in the morning. I didn't really understand until I ran in St. Simons. It's hot, muggy, DARK, and stinky. The sidewalks wind around and are uneven, the sprinklers are going off everywhere (including across the sidewalks), branches are ridiculously low, the flashlight is necessary the whole time, everything stinks, and you spend most of your time wondering if a creature is going to pop out of the marsh and eat you. Not doing that again...
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Training week 5
Back from the brink...
Monday: rest
Doctor's appointment:
Got the dehydration lecture (perhaps valid), the "do you take any vitamins or anything?" talk, the scheduling of future blood work, and my favorite comment, "is this your normal weight, cause you're a runner, right?" I interpreted that as "seriously, you can't drop the extra 10-20 pounds running?" I recovered and actually liked the doctor, but still...
Tuesday: 7 miles scheduled.
Um, I did 2.11 very slowly. At least it was forward movement.
Wednesday: 12 miles scheduled.
Back to baby steps. I ran 7 miles at noon, ave. pace 10:15 min/mile. It was 95 degrees with 50% humidty.
Thursday: rest.
I've done enough resting, thank you very much. I ran 8 miles at 4:45 a.m. in 1:24:xx. It was 75 degrees, 95% humidity.
11:38/10:42/10:40/10:36/10:14/10:13/10:19/10:09
Friday: 10 miles scheduled.
I'm going back to the "rest" plan. I can pretend I flip-flopped Thursday and Friday.
Saturday: 5 miles recovery scheduled.
I ran 20 miles. Really.
Sunday was looking to be insanely busy, so I decided to do my long run on Saturday. Even though my long runs had been absolutely cursed and I should have dropped my mileage, I decided it was worth the injury risk to run the full 20 miles, just to restore faith in my marathon chances.
So, out the door at 5:15 a.m. (sleeping in!). It was 77 degrees with 85% humidity- wow, cool snap! And I ran, and ran, and ran. I had a frozen bottle of Gatorade from miles 1-8, water from 9-14, and Gatorade from 14-20. I took 2 endurolytes before the run, and 1 during. I had gels at miles 8 and 14. The gel at mile 8 did seem to give me more energy- and I had to keep telling myself that at mile 14 as I gagged down the second one. I left a cooler on my front porch with my frozen bottles and sunglasses- when I swapped out, I tossed my flashlight. I did feel like a hardcore runner! The thing about 20 miles isn't so much that it hurts (although it does, especially the last 2-3 miles), but it's so tedious. I threw in a bit of a fast-finish effort in some of the later miles- not so much for the training effects as to just make the run end faster. Twenty miles is like the world's worst road trip (and sometimes, briefly, it's the world's best road trip- go figure!)
11:37/10:39/10:14/10:05/10:17/10:08/10:04/10:25/9:52/9:46/10:04/9:20/9:31/9:35/9:19/9:08/9:35/10:08/10:07/10:45
So, the long run curse is officially broken!
Sunday: 20 miles scheduled.
Ha! Rest day. I was tired obviously, but not that sore. Plus, the soreness I was feeling was even- I only panic when one part of my body hurts more than another- that would be the sign of injury vs. soreness (learned that the hard way!)
Monday: rest
Doctor's appointment:
Got the dehydration lecture (perhaps valid), the "do you take any vitamins or anything?" talk, the scheduling of future blood work, and my favorite comment, "is this your normal weight, cause you're a runner, right?" I interpreted that as "seriously, you can't drop the extra 10-20 pounds running?" I recovered and actually liked the doctor, but still...
Tuesday: 7 miles scheduled.
Um, I did 2.11 very slowly. At least it was forward movement.
Wednesday: 12 miles scheduled.
Back to baby steps. I ran 7 miles at noon, ave. pace 10:15 min/mile. It was 95 degrees with 50% humidty.
Thursday: rest.
I've done enough resting, thank you very much. I ran 8 miles at 4:45 a.m. in 1:24:xx. It was 75 degrees, 95% humidity.
11:38/10:42/10:40/10:36/10:14/10:13/10:19/10:09
Friday: 10 miles scheduled.
I'm going back to the "rest" plan. I can pretend I flip-flopped Thursday and Friday.
Saturday: 5 miles recovery scheduled.
I ran 20 miles. Really.
Sunday was looking to be insanely busy, so I decided to do my long run on Saturday. Even though my long runs had been absolutely cursed and I should have dropped my mileage, I decided it was worth the injury risk to run the full 20 miles, just to restore faith in my marathon chances.
So, out the door at 5:15 a.m. (sleeping in!). It was 77 degrees with 85% humidity- wow, cool snap! And I ran, and ran, and ran. I had a frozen bottle of Gatorade from miles 1-8, water from 9-14, and Gatorade from 14-20. I took 2 endurolytes before the run, and 1 during. I had gels at miles 8 and 14. The gel at mile 8 did seem to give me more energy- and I had to keep telling myself that at mile 14 as I gagged down the second one. I left a cooler on my front porch with my frozen bottles and sunglasses- when I swapped out, I tossed my flashlight. I did feel like a hardcore runner! The thing about 20 miles isn't so much that it hurts (although it does, especially the last 2-3 miles), but it's so tedious. I threw in a bit of a fast-finish effort in some of the later miles- not so much for the training effects as to just make the run end faster. Twenty miles is like the world's worst road trip (and sometimes, briefly, it's the world's best road trip- go figure!)
11:37/10:39/10:14/10:05/10:17/10:08/10:04/10:25/9:52/9:46/10:04/9:20/9:31/9:35/9:19/9:08/9:35/10:08/10:07/10:45
So, the long run curse is officially broken!
Sunday: 20 miles scheduled.
Ha! Rest day. I was tired obviously, but not that sore. Plus, the soreness I was feeling was even- I only panic when one part of my body hurts more than another- that would be the sign of injury vs. soreness (learned that the hard way!)
Friday, August 26, 2011
Training week 4
Not so good.
Monday: rest scheduled.
Late long run from week before, with the threat of escaped convicts.
Tuesday: 8 miles scheduled.
Ran 4 miles as recovery in 91 degrees, 49% humidity. My notes say "hard to stay slow." Classic foreshadowing.
Wednesday: 5 mile recovery scheduled.
(I flip flopped Tuesday and Wednesday, and then messed with them some more. Oh, hindsight.)
Ran 10 miles in 1:39:xx at 4:30 a.m. 72 degrees, 96% humidity.
10:57/9:49/9:40/9:44/9:26/9:17/9:41/9:43/9:43/10:10
Thursday: 11 mile long run scheduled.
Ran 5 mile recovery at 5:15 a.m. 71 degrees, 100% humidity.
12:01/11:10/10:42/10:30/10:30
Notes say "tired!" Oh, really?
Friday: Rest scheduled. (I planned on doing Thursday's 11 miles- so why did I run 5 on Thursday?)
Impossible to get up. Felt horrible. Perhaps the newly acquired fever (and accompanying heat rash) and stomach cramps are the trouble? Didn't do anything but wallow in self-pity.
Saturday: 7 miles scheduled.
Again, went the self-pity route. Still had a fever and what I thought was a touch of a stomach virus. I started thinking my fever was low enough to run, but the stomach cramping made me nervous.
Sunday: 18 mile long run scheduled.
The curse of the long run strikes again. Fever gone, but still had stomach issues. I spent the entire day wondering if I should just focus on the half distance. I briefly considering changing goal races to one in December, but that would mean more training weeks (and that is unthinkable at this point).
OK, so this is getting ahead, but by a freak coincidence, I had a check up with a new doctor on Monday. She's a runner too so yay! I told her my symptoms and about the whole running in the morning thing, and she said I was probably suffering from dehydration. Hello! That does make more sense than a mild stomach virus (cause who's ever even heard of a stomach virus being mild?) Even though I was drinking water and taking Endurolytes, I think the increased humidity in the mornings (plus the increased exhaustion factor) was doing me in. So, that's that. I bought some Gatorade and will look into buying some more Heed and stuff too- I really hate consuming extra calories while running, but keeling over isn't a better option.
And that's it for a very demoralizing week 4.
Monday: rest scheduled.
Late long run from week before, with the threat of escaped convicts.
Tuesday: 8 miles scheduled.
Ran 4 miles as recovery in 91 degrees, 49% humidity. My notes say "hard to stay slow." Classic foreshadowing.
Wednesday: 5 mile recovery scheduled.
(I flip flopped Tuesday and Wednesday, and then messed with them some more. Oh, hindsight.)
Ran 10 miles in 1:39:xx at 4:30 a.m. 72 degrees, 96% humidity.
10:57/9:49/9:40/9:44/9:26/9:17/9:41/9:43/9:43/10:10
Thursday: 11 mile long run scheduled.
Ran 5 mile recovery at 5:15 a.m. 71 degrees, 100% humidity.
12:01/11:10/10:42/10:30/10:30
Notes say "tired!" Oh, really?
Friday: Rest scheduled. (I planned on doing Thursday's 11 miles- so why did I run 5 on Thursday?)
Impossible to get up. Felt horrible. Perhaps the newly acquired fever (and accompanying heat rash) and stomach cramps are the trouble? Didn't do anything but wallow in self-pity.
Saturday: 7 miles scheduled.
Again, went the self-pity route. Still had a fever and what I thought was a touch of a stomach virus. I started thinking my fever was low enough to run, but the stomach cramping made me nervous.
Sunday: 18 mile long run scheduled.
The curse of the long run strikes again. Fever gone, but still had stomach issues. I spent the entire day wondering if I should just focus on the half distance. I briefly considering changing goal races to one in December, but that would mean more training weeks (and that is unthinkable at this point).
OK, so this is getting ahead, but by a freak coincidence, I had a check up with a new doctor on Monday. She's a runner too so yay! I told her my symptoms and about the whole running in the morning thing, and she said I was probably suffering from dehydration. Hello! That does make more sense than a mild stomach virus (cause who's ever even heard of a stomach virus being mild?) Even though I was drinking water and taking Endurolytes, I think the increased humidity in the mornings (plus the increased exhaustion factor) was doing me in. So, that's that. I bought some Gatorade and will look into buying some more Heed and stuff too- I really hate consuming extra calories while running, but keeling over isn't a better option.
And that's it for a very demoralizing week 4.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Training week 3
Monday: rest.
Did 6 miles at recovery pace, 11:00 a.m., 91 degrees, 76% humidity. Have given up hope for my Garmin. Sad.
Tuesday: 9 miles with 5 at half pace.
Yeah, right. Half pace...
Did the 9 miles in 1:28:xx at 4:30 a.m. 78 degrees, 84% humidity. First mile feels fast, but never is. So they say heat is bad and humidity is bad, but together is more than a doubling effect (really, really bad). I think getting up at 4:00 a.m. and running 9 miles has the same impact...
11:07/9:52/9:31/9:48/9:25/9:23/9:11/9:34/9:42
Wednesday: 5 recovery miles.
Ran 4.81 at noon. 91 degrees, 58% humidity. OK, didn't have to get up at some insane time, but lots o'sun.
Thursday: 10 miles general aerobic pace.
Ran 10.05 miles in 1:40:xx at 4:30 a.m. 78 degrees, 84% humidity. Did a bunch of hills cause I was bored with my immediate neighborhood.
11:29/10:25/9:41/9:55/9:47/9:45/9:50/10:08/9:27/9:37
When debating what to do this weekend, we came up with the brilliant "let's trick the kids and go to Disney for Saturday" plan. Always fun, but not part of training schedule!
Friday: rest
Does driving 4.5 hours to Disney count as rest?
Saturday: 5 mile recovery.
Follow up question: does hitting the Magic Kingdom at 8:20 and finishing the night at Epcot count? What if you throw in dragging a 30 pound irrational kid?
Sunday: 16 mile long run with 10 miles at marathon pace.
Wow. Not realistic. I brought my stuff, but I didn't have the stamina to get up. Drove home in a bit of a panic. And seriously? marathon pace? I don't think so.
Monday: rest.
I included Monday in this week because my OCD kicked in and I had to do the missed long run. After dropping kids off and checking in at the office, I headed out at 9:45. Somewhere around mile 2 I was thinking about how I really need to stick to half marathons (or just stop this nonsense altogether). Somewhere around mile 7 I had a change in attitude and knew I would finish this run...
Mile 9.5? Sirens and blazing cops- I get stopped. Get this: "You need to get inside. There's an escaped convict in the neighborhood." I kid you not. So I raced back home in a frenzy... I went back to work, because what else could I do?
10:18/9:51/11:10/9:58/9:46/9:51/9:49/9:27/9:28 (and mad dash with Garmin turned off...) 81 degrees, 64% humidity.
Monday Long Run, part two:
The 9.5 miles is killing me. It's not long enough to be a long run and stopping was totally out of my control, but I'm freaked out about not hitting the total distance. There's no way I'm going to try to hit 16 all over again the next day...So, I hit the road again at 4:35 p.m. and finished for 15.5 miles. It still wasn't the full 16 miles, but I was pushing the carpooling envelope big time.
I know you aren't really supposed to break up a long run (certainly not by five hours or so) but when three cops stop you in about three blocks telling you to go home, you pretty much go home.
10:10/9:23/9:31/9:14/8:58. 90 degrees, 60% humidity.
Oh, and the escaped convict truly was in my neighborhood (he crashed a stolen car), but he was caught before I went back out in the afternoon.
Did 6 miles at recovery pace, 11:00 a.m., 91 degrees, 76% humidity. Have given up hope for my Garmin. Sad.
Tuesday: 9 miles with 5 at half pace.
Yeah, right. Half pace...
Did the 9 miles in 1:28:xx at 4:30 a.m. 78 degrees, 84% humidity. First mile feels fast, but never is. So they say heat is bad and humidity is bad, but together is more than a doubling effect (really, really bad). I think getting up at 4:00 a.m. and running 9 miles has the same impact...
11:07/9:52/9:31/9:48/9:25/9:23/9:11/9:34/9:42
Wednesday: 5 recovery miles.
Ran 4.81 at noon. 91 degrees, 58% humidity. OK, didn't have to get up at some insane time, but lots o'sun.
Thursday: 10 miles general aerobic pace.
Ran 10.05 miles in 1:40:xx at 4:30 a.m. 78 degrees, 84% humidity. Did a bunch of hills cause I was bored with my immediate neighborhood.
11:29/10:25/9:41/9:55/9:47/9:45/9:50/10:08/9:27/9:37
When debating what to do this weekend, we came up with the brilliant "let's trick the kids and go to Disney for Saturday" plan. Always fun, but not part of training schedule!
Friday: rest
Does driving 4.5 hours to Disney count as rest?
Saturday: 5 mile recovery.
Follow up question: does hitting the Magic Kingdom at 8:20 and finishing the night at Epcot count? What if you throw in dragging a 30 pound irrational kid?
Sunday: 16 mile long run with 10 miles at marathon pace.
Wow. Not realistic. I brought my stuff, but I didn't have the stamina to get up. Drove home in a bit of a panic. And seriously? marathon pace? I don't think so.
Monday: rest.
I included Monday in this week because my OCD kicked in and I had to do the missed long run. After dropping kids off and checking in at the office, I headed out at 9:45. Somewhere around mile 2 I was thinking about how I really need to stick to half marathons (or just stop this nonsense altogether). Somewhere around mile 7 I had a change in attitude and knew I would finish this run...
Mile 9.5? Sirens and blazing cops- I get stopped. Get this: "You need to get inside. There's an escaped convict in the neighborhood." I kid you not. So I raced back home in a frenzy... I went back to work, because what else could I do?
10:18/9:51/11:10/9:58/9:46/9:51/9:49/9:27/9:28 (and mad dash with Garmin turned off...) 81 degrees, 64% humidity.
Monday Long Run, part two:
The 9.5 miles is killing me. It's not long enough to be a long run and stopping was totally out of my control, but I'm freaked out about not hitting the total distance. There's no way I'm going to try to hit 16 all over again the next day...So, I hit the road again at 4:35 p.m. and finished for 15.5 miles. It still wasn't the full 16 miles, but I was pushing the carpooling envelope big time.
I know you aren't really supposed to break up a long run (certainly not by five hours or so) but when three cops stop you in about three blocks telling you to go home, you pretty much go home.
10:10/9:23/9:31/9:14/8:58. 90 degrees, 60% humidity.
Oh, and the escaped convict truly was in my neighborhood (he crashed a stolen car), but he was caught before I went back out in the afternoon.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Training week 2
I could call this Pfitz week 14 but that just confuses me.
Monday: rest day.
Best.day.ever. Well, running wise. It was also the first day of school- middle school for Emma and kindergarten for Harry. The kids seemed better with it than me.
Tuesday: 8 miles with 10 X 100 strides.
Lunch time, 91 degrees, 71% humidity.
First four miles were great- worked the strides in at somewhere around a 7:00ish pace. And then the heat hit me. Stuck my head under a faucet in a park. That helped for the next mile. Ran home, reloaded on water, stuck my head in the kitchen sink, and went back out for another grueling 3 miles to finish my 8 total. In retrospect, probably should have just called it a day when I was trying to crawl inside the kitchen sink.
Wednesday: 5 miles recovery.
Lunch time, 90 degrees, 70% humidity.
Still hot, but not nearly as bad thanks to a frozen water bottle and a slower pace. Hard to stay slow.
Thursday: 10 miles general aerobic.
4:30 a.m., 78 degrees, 91% humidity.
I couldn't bear the thought of a repeat of Tuesday (sure no strides, but an EXTRA two miles?!) so I decided I'd get up early. So there I was, out the door at 4:30 a.m. I had my runner's Mace attached to my hand, my water bottle, my iPhone, and a flashlight. Nothing like traveling light! Running in the dark wasn't that eventful- most of the streets were lit enough to leave the flashlight off, the sun wasn't wilting me (obviously), and there was no real traffic. There were two horrible Chihauhaus by the stadium and a little old lady moving her trashcan at 4:45 almost did me in, but I finished my 10 miles. And as a bonus, I got the kids to school on time with lunch boxes.
Friday: rest.
Noon, 90 degrees, 70% humidity.
To heck with rest. I did 4 miles at a recovery pace today to free up Saturday!
Sunday: scheduled 15 miles.
4:37 a.m., 78 degrees, 94% humidity.
Again, with the early stuff. 4:37 a.m. out the door with all my junk. The two Chihauhaus by the stadium have friends- another little one and a big boxer looking monster. The big one charged me (with his little friends following)- I yelled "NO" and kept backing out of the way. They charged a few times- never closer than 15 feet but close enough. Note to self: practice using Mace. I had my finger on the spray thing, but realized I didn't know the range. Second note to self: surrender stadium route.
So at least I was awake. Nothing else exciting happened except my Garmin died at 8 miles. I pushed on for a little over an hour. I had told Ted I'd be home around 6:45, so I called it quits. I think I got in about 14 miles. My Garmin was fully charged, but it's almost 5 years old. Next time I'll take Ted's...
That last missed mile made me a little crazy, but I've worked through it and think I can call this week a success (minus one mile... d'oh!)
Monday: rest day.
Best.day.ever. Well, running wise. It was also the first day of school- middle school for Emma and kindergarten for Harry. The kids seemed better with it than me.
Tuesday: 8 miles with 10 X 100 strides.
Lunch time, 91 degrees, 71% humidity.
First four miles were great- worked the strides in at somewhere around a 7:00ish pace. And then the heat hit me. Stuck my head under a faucet in a park. That helped for the next mile. Ran home, reloaded on water, stuck my head in the kitchen sink, and went back out for another grueling 3 miles to finish my 8 total. In retrospect, probably should have just called it a day when I was trying to crawl inside the kitchen sink.
Wednesday: 5 miles recovery.
Lunch time, 90 degrees, 70% humidity.
Still hot, but not nearly as bad thanks to a frozen water bottle and a slower pace. Hard to stay slow.
Thursday: 10 miles general aerobic.
4:30 a.m., 78 degrees, 91% humidity.
I couldn't bear the thought of a repeat of Tuesday (sure no strides, but an EXTRA two miles?!) so I decided I'd get up early. So there I was, out the door at 4:30 a.m. I had my runner's Mace attached to my hand, my water bottle, my iPhone, and a flashlight. Nothing like traveling light! Running in the dark wasn't that eventful- most of the streets were lit enough to leave the flashlight off, the sun wasn't wilting me (obviously), and there was no real traffic. There were two horrible Chihauhaus by the stadium and a little old lady moving her trashcan at 4:45 almost did me in, but I finished my 10 miles. And as a bonus, I got the kids to school on time with lunch boxes.
Friday: rest.
Noon, 90 degrees, 70% humidity.
To heck with rest. I did 4 miles at a recovery pace today to free up Saturday!
Sunday: scheduled 15 miles.
4:37 a.m., 78 degrees, 94% humidity.
Again, with the early stuff. 4:37 a.m. out the door with all my junk. The two Chihauhaus by the stadium have friends- another little one and a big boxer looking monster. The big one charged me (with his little friends following)- I yelled "NO" and kept backing out of the way. They charged a few times- never closer than 15 feet but close enough. Note to self: practice using Mace. I had my finger on the spray thing, but realized I didn't know the range. Second note to self: surrender stadium route.
So at least I was awake. Nothing else exciting happened except my Garmin died at 8 miles. I pushed on for a little over an hour. I had told Ted I'd be home around 6:45, so I called it quits. I think I got in about 14 miles. My Garmin was fully charged, but it's almost 5 years old. Next time I'll take Ted's...
That last missed mile made me a little crazy, but I've worked through it and think I can call this week a success (minus one mile... d'oh!)
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
PFITZ 18/55
Yeah, so I've been a little negligent. I found myself in a bit of a rut last spring. I can't even remember where I left off, but I did four halfs (halves?) in four months. Let's see- Jacksonville Marine Corps Half, Soldier Half, Jacksonville Bank Half, and finally the Ocala Half. They all went reasonably well. I finished between 1:53 and 1:56 in all of them. I can't even remember my finishing time in Ocala, but I ended up first in my age group and scored a cool horse statue! That, my friends, was a hard race. Never-ending hills. Ouch.
In March, I finished the Gate River Run in Jax and found myself with a Top Ten Percent hat. Awesome! My scorching 8:30ish pace worked for the top ten women, but they weren't giving the hats to the guys around me. Ha. So in the future, 8:30 for women may get you a hat, probably not for guys. (I very rarely wear my hat cause I feel silly, but I still wanted one!)
The spring came- I finally can recognize a pattern to my running. Even though the summer and fall are horrible temperature wise, the rest of my life is more under control (no holidays and the kids' school stuff isn't in full swing)- my running seems better. In the spring, I'm pretty fit, but tired... and then the pollen kicks in. February is not a good month for me. I hung on this year and survived the Gate River Run (although I couldn't talk after the race). March through May is a disaster of school stuff- can you say field trips? And then it's hot again.
I like to gauge my summer fitness by the Fourth of July Sunshine Festival run. It was maybe a little hotter this year and I was ridiculously tired, but all excuses aside, it kind of sucked. I finished in something like 24:3x. It wasn't bad by any means, but was a full minute off last year's time and made it obvious that I'd been slacking. Oh, and gained a few pounds...
SO... I've decided to change things up a bit this year. First, I've accepted that summer through fall is my best training time. As much fun as it was to run the four halfs in four months, I think I'm going to focus on one or two races. Last year's training consisted of running races (the halfs) with a few weekend long runs (maybe 10 miles each) and about 4 weekly runs of 6-7 miles each with an average pace of 9:30 or so. I didn't follow a training plan for the halfs, and it showed. I was consistent, but I wasn't really improving. And I was always a little tired and on the edge of injury (weird tendon/foot swelling thing).
Drum Roll-- I just finished the first week of Pfitzinger's 18/55 plan. (Ok, actually it was more like the 3rd week but I had to jump in there and I'd already built up my base after the humiliation of the Fourth of July race).
I'm signing up for the Soldier Marathon. That's right-- the FULL. I might do a half as a training run along the way, but come November, I'll be running my first real Full (I don't count the Goofy because it was it's own crazy thing.)
So last week looked like this:
PFITZ: 15 weeks before the race:
Monday: rest (not a problem).
Tuesday: 10 miles at average 9:55 pace in the rain. I thought I looked like pretty hard core running in the rain until a little old lady tried to force me on her porch...
Wednesday: 4 miles at recovery pace (10:00ish). Again with the rain. Ugh. Had to avoid old lady's house.
Thursday: scheduled 8 miles with 4 at half pace. Only had time for 7 at lunch:
Mile 1: 9:38
Mile 2: 8:18
Mile 3: 8:26
Mile 4: 8:55
Mile 5: 8:57
Mile 6: 9:40
Mile 7: 9:53
I was supposed to hit a pace around 8:09-8:30 for the fast stuff. Obviously, I didn't. It was 86 degrees with 65% humidity and a dew point of 74 degrees-- I'm hoping these numbers will creep back down when (if??) the weather gets better. It certainly felt like a hard effort.
Friday: rest. Sweet!
Saturday: 4 recovery miles (ave. pace 10:05). This time the dewpoint was 77 degrees. Pleasant. And actually, I mean it. Sure the weather was horrendous, but slowing down the pace made it bearable. I had to keep changing to mellow music to slow myself down.
Sunday: Scheduled 14 miles at 9:06-10:06 pace. This one was rather daunting. I got up early (like dark early!) and ate some Greek yogurt and had a Diet Dr. Pepper. Out the door at 5:30 a.m. with a water bottle filled with Heed, my phone, shiny clothing, and a flash light. The temperature was 81, humidity 83%, and dewpoint 76 degrees. Ran by the stadium where two chihuahuas charged me (WTH?!) Waved to some cops. Really weird to run in the dark. Didn't need my flashlight so I tossed it in a friend's yard. Did the fourteen miles in 2:16:xx. Times were 10:59/10:11/9:58/9:47/9:39/9:23/9:33/9:31/9:17/9:18/9:49/9:30/9:44/9:56. This was a hard run but mostly because I was so worried about the dark that I didn't prepare to run 14 miles. By about mile 10 I was hating the now hot Heed- got a bit of a sidestitch going downhill- only made better by going uphill (but that hurt everything else!). Should have probably had a few more carbs before I left, should have at least brought a gel just in case, and really need to freeze my water ahead of time. I made it home well before 8:00 a.m. to find the boys watching TV and playing on Harry's DS- perfectly happy.
Thoughts on the week: two firsts-- I've never run any major distance in the rain and never in the dark (except at the start of a Disney race!). I found my paces based on times plugged into the McMillan calculator. I can already tell a difference in how I feel- I didn't realize how important it is to really slow down for the recovery runs. I put in a lot of miles this week (39) including my longest run in forever and only had minor soreness on Monday- I recognize it's silly to judge a plan by one week of runs, but I'm feeling optimistic.
In March, I finished the Gate River Run in Jax and found myself with a Top Ten Percent hat. Awesome! My scorching 8:30ish pace worked for the top ten women, but they weren't giving the hats to the guys around me. Ha. So in the future, 8:30 for women may get you a hat, probably not for guys. (I very rarely wear my hat cause I feel silly, but I still wanted one!)
The spring came- I finally can recognize a pattern to my running. Even though the summer and fall are horrible temperature wise, the rest of my life is more under control (no holidays and the kids' school stuff isn't in full swing)- my running seems better. In the spring, I'm pretty fit, but tired... and then the pollen kicks in. February is not a good month for me. I hung on this year and survived the Gate River Run (although I couldn't talk after the race). March through May is a disaster of school stuff- can you say field trips? And then it's hot again.
I like to gauge my summer fitness by the Fourth of July Sunshine Festival run. It was maybe a little hotter this year and I was ridiculously tired, but all excuses aside, it kind of sucked. I finished in something like 24:3x. It wasn't bad by any means, but was a full minute off last year's time and made it obvious that I'd been slacking. Oh, and gained a few pounds...
SO... I've decided to change things up a bit this year. First, I've accepted that summer through fall is my best training time. As much fun as it was to run the four halfs in four months, I think I'm going to focus on one or two races. Last year's training consisted of running races (the halfs) with a few weekend long runs (maybe 10 miles each) and about 4 weekly runs of 6-7 miles each with an average pace of 9:30 or so. I didn't follow a training plan for the halfs, and it showed. I was consistent, but I wasn't really improving. And I was always a little tired and on the edge of injury (weird tendon/foot swelling thing).
Drum Roll-- I just finished the first week of Pfitzinger's 18/55 plan. (Ok, actually it was more like the 3rd week but I had to jump in there and I'd already built up my base after the humiliation of the Fourth of July race).
I'm signing up for the Soldier Marathon. That's right-- the FULL. I might do a half as a training run along the way, but come November, I'll be running my first real Full (I don't count the Goofy because it was it's own crazy thing.)
So last week looked like this:
PFITZ: 15 weeks before the race:
Monday: rest (not a problem).
Tuesday: 10 miles at average 9:55 pace in the rain. I thought I looked like pretty hard core running in the rain until a little old lady tried to force me on her porch...
Wednesday: 4 miles at recovery pace (10:00ish). Again with the rain. Ugh. Had to avoid old lady's house.
Thursday: scheduled 8 miles with 4 at half pace. Only had time for 7 at lunch:
Mile 1: 9:38
Mile 2: 8:18
Mile 3: 8:26
Mile 4: 8:55
Mile 5: 8:57
Mile 6: 9:40
Mile 7: 9:53
I was supposed to hit a pace around 8:09-8:30 for the fast stuff. Obviously, I didn't. It was 86 degrees with 65% humidity and a dew point of 74 degrees-- I'm hoping these numbers will creep back down when (if??) the weather gets better. It certainly felt like a hard effort.
Friday: rest. Sweet!
Saturday: 4 recovery miles (ave. pace 10:05). This time the dewpoint was 77 degrees. Pleasant. And actually, I mean it. Sure the weather was horrendous, but slowing down the pace made it bearable. I had to keep changing to mellow music to slow myself down.
Sunday: Scheduled 14 miles at 9:06-10:06 pace. This one was rather daunting. I got up early (like dark early!) and ate some Greek yogurt and had a Diet Dr. Pepper. Out the door at 5:30 a.m. with a water bottle filled with Heed, my phone, shiny clothing, and a flash light. The temperature was 81, humidity 83%, and dewpoint 76 degrees. Ran by the stadium where two chihuahuas charged me (WTH?!) Waved to some cops. Really weird to run in the dark. Didn't need my flashlight so I tossed it in a friend's yard. Did the fourteen miles in 2:16:xx. Times were 10:59/10:11/9:58/9:47/9:39/9:23/9:33/9:31/9:17/9:18/9:49/9:30/9:44/9:56. This was a hard run but mostly because I was so worried about the dark that I didn't prepare to run 14 miles. By about mile 10 I was hating the now hot Heed- got a bit of a sidestitch going downhill- only made better by going uphill (but that hurt everything else!). Should have probably had a few more carbs before I left, should have at least brought a gel just in case, and really need to freeze my water ahead of time. I made it home well before 8:00 a.m. to find the boys watching TV and playing on Harry's DS- perfectly happy.
Thoughts on the week: two firsts-- I've never run any major distance in the rain and never in the dark (except at the start of a Disney race!). I found my paces based on times plugged into the McMillan calculator. I can already tell a difference in how I feel- I didn't realize how important it is to really slow down for the recovery runs. I put in a lot of miles this week (39) including my longest run in forever and only had minor soreness on Monday- I recognize it's silly to judge a plan by one week of runs, but I'm feeling optimistic.
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