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
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