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.

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.

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

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...

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.

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...

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!)