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

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...

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...

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!)









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.

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.