THOU SHALT BE A COMEBACK

8:00 AP.  Yesterday was ridiculous and I didn't have time to run.  I was up all night with Vanessa--she has a croupy cough thing going on and she got to where she couldn't stop coughing and then freaked out about it and started  screaming and thrashing and crying and had a huge meltdown.  I tried breathing treatments and everything but finally when I opened the fridge and had her breathe the cold humid air it helped and I was finally able to talk her down. my poor baby.  Today's run started nice and slow but I felt more and more smooth and strong and finally edged up on the 8:00 girl.  Splits 8:42, 8:38, 8:31, 8:02, 8:02, 7:37, 7:43, 7:52, 7:41, 7:46, last .63 at 6:54 pace.

7:33 AP.  Did 3x1 miles at 10k effort at 6:40, 6:54, and 6:44.  I was really hoping 10k effort woud produce faster speeds.  It is not looking real good for a PR on Saturday.  I just can't seem to get it together with running lately.  I am thinking of ditching a fall marathon, and running Houston in January.  My sister lives in Houston and is thinking of doing the marathon, plus this would give me more time to train for and enjoy shorter races for a while before thinking about a marathon again.  Then, hopefully I will be itching for the 26.2 and be ready for a big PR on what is supposedly a flat and fast course.

am  2.69 miles with my mom at 13:00 pace.  I pushed Vanessa in the stroller. Mom is trying to get back into running.  She did pretty awesome today!

pm.  Busy busy.   Got the shopping done, then had Jesse's concert at 7, so I wore my running clothes to the concert and then ran home super brisk, no dilly dallying so I could get home in time to put the kids to bed.  7:27 AP.

8:11 AP.  I made a rarity, hamburger helper, for dinner.  Never, ever, again.  Never, ever, go running on a belly full of that junk.  I felt puketastic the whole time.  Despite the icky belly,  I did enjoy running long and lazy and not hurrying my pace.  I still feel pukey, so I hope that either I just throw up already or the feeling passes.

8:42 average pace.  80+ degrees yuck.  Took it very, very easy and listened to tunes.  Stretched out really good afterward.  I'll take another really easy day tomorrow and hopefully be infused with freshness for Saturday's race.  I've decided to go Joe and run without a watch for the race.  I'm going to go out with Eddy who is gunning for a 38:00.  While I think that is way too fast for me I am at least going to stay on his heels for a while if the feeling is good.

Puttered along at 8:52 pace with 5 accelerations to 10k race pace.  The good news is that my legs feel good today, even during the accelerations.  In fact, 10k pace felt so good that I am actually getting excited about tomorrow!  That's a good sign!  Maybe, perhaps, there is a little hope.

Well, I have mixed feelings about this race!  First, this is not my official time--a close guess by looking at the finishing clock--they posted the race results already and I am not in them!  Annoying!  I wore a bib and they took my tag so it must have gotten lost.  I looked at the other results and was 11th woman I believe based on my estimated time.  Anyways:

The good:  PR!  Aerobically I was not stressed, legs felt pretty good .  I ran sans watch but they called some of the splits and I sorta  heard them--first one was 6:45(slow but I feel good), then 13:26 so 6:41?, missed the 3 mile split, at 4 miles I was 27:09 and sped up, 33:50 something at the 5 mile mark so another 6:41 and then I tried to buck up and finish the last 1.2 fast--around 6:35 pace if I did the math right.

Bad:  Not a very big PR, I think I had too much left in the tank afterward  At least my legs are starting to come back and I am feeling excited about more fast and short races! Afterward I also ran the 2-mile with Vanessa in the stroller and we did it in 14:09--our first mile was 7:30 because we were caught in the crowd so our second mile was 6:39--sweet!(told ya there was too much left in the tank).

I think if I get myself together and quit fearing the fast paces I can go sub-40 this summer.  I think I can I think I can....not sure what to do with my training.  Right now I am really wondering aimlessly.

Update:  I e-mailed the race director, he found me in the timing mess and fixed it.  My official time was 2 seconds faster than I thought!  12th woman, 4th in age group.  Times were faster this year than last year--must be the good weather we had.

Don't know the pace on this one but it was downright brisk.  I got my home health visits done early, took my mom out for a later mother's day lunch, then squeezed my run in because I will not be able to tonight--we are under tornado watch and a few have already popped up in western Kansas so I may get called in to staff an extra ambulance on EMS tonight.  That would be cool though, it has only been a little over a week and I already miss it.  Off to hang out with my family and cook dinner.

A few tornadoes got close but nothing hit us and Kansas got out out mostly unscathed.  Unfortunately Oklahoma was not so lucky.  :(

Vanessa was asking to run--she misses her stroller runs and tater tots so today we made up for lost time.  About a mile into our start we ran into another runner named Shelly.  She was super nice so we ran with her for over 3 miles until she turned off and we went to the park so Vanessa could play.  4.73 at a super duper relaxed 11:44 pace. :)

Then, after Vanessa was done playing we ran 5.12 more at 8:34 pace, then dropped into sonic for Vanessa's tots and a diet cherry limeade for mommy.

Hot, humid, windy, yucky.  Beautific tornado weather, horrific running weather.  I had to go for it right after visits at 2:00 in the afternoon or I wasn't going to get a run in this tornadic evening.  I started a speed workout but abandoned it, sadly, 4 intervals later and opted to just get some miles in.  I was just too stressed and miserable to do it right.

8:23 average pace

warmed up two miles 8:56, 8:42, then started my lame windy humid horrible intervals with .25 recovery(not enough, not today) .5 at 6:14 pace, .5 at 6:08 pace, .51 at 6:29 pace(slipping), .51 at 6:27 pace oh FORGET IT already.  I just ran some more miles after this and looked at the gray lowering clouds.  Went home, everyone made it home from school okay and David is home from work and there is a tornado on the ground in Cheney one county west of us.  I'm really glad that I at least got to get a run in.  Off to an evening glued to the weather channel and I really must go stuff some more peanut butter, oats, honey and water into the basement closet.  I can keep a big family alive on peanut butter and water for days in a disaster!!!  Peanut butter is the wonder food!

7:54 AP.  Pleasant evening run with temps in the tolerable 70's and mild wind.  Listened to music and relaxed.  A great run!

7:18 AP.  Another one of those days where I had to pinch and squeeze the time to get the miles in, so I had to go for quality over quantity.  Kept a relaxed pace on the rolling hills and dirt but pushed it a tad.  Felt good!  I seem to handle 7ish pace well in general but about 6:30 pace and under I really struggle with sustainability.  I hope to change that in the coming year!  Will plugging away at continuing to build my aerobic base get me there?  or do I need speedwork to improve my comfort level at faster paces?  What is my optimal training plan?  I am really trying to decide what my best approach is for this year.  I have decided that I would like to run Houston in January--so a lot of time yet to my next marathon.  I really do want to spend some time getting up to speed(literally) and slashing my PR's in shorter races.  A lotta thinking out loud today on my blog....

Wet run today!  Got there early and ran 5 on my own at 7:56 ap, then hooked in with the tribe and ran 10 at 9:14 ap, overall ap 8:46.  It was raining and we were all soaking wet but it wasn't terribly cold until we stopped moving.  It was a good run and it is always fun to have your pace vary a lot on a long run.  I felt free to eat my giant breakfast!  I have a few visits today and then an EMS shift overnight on the north side so it should be rowdy.  I am excited to work an EMS shift--it has been a few weeks!  If it's going to be crazy, be crazy in my area because I am in the mood for it!

7:35 AP.  Enjoyed the cooler weather and felt perky so this one was on the brisk side but not uncomfortable.  Ran around the neighborhoods by my mom's apartment.   It was a nice change of scenery.  Stroller running plans tomorrow as long as Vanessa's cough doesn't turn into a breathing issue.  I am starting to really hate this time of year for her--we are having a lot of problems with her breathing.

Vanessa struggled all night. We went to the doctor today and we are going to start her on daily pulmicort. Hopefully after a few months of that we get things under control and I don't have to have her all jacked up on albuterol and xopenex all the time. I have a pulse-ox at home and her sats dropped under 90% with any exertion, so we watched a lot of television today! Needless to say, stroller running was out. I'm planning on doing some strength drills and core work later on tonight.

And, in other exciting news, I BOUGHT A TREADMILL! There are a lot of times when I have time to run because the kids are napping or whatever, but there is nobody to watch the kids. So, for the convenience of the whole family and in a selfish desire to get my runs in, I bought the treadmill. Really though, it helps, because now I can time some runs so I can do them when hubby is working and the kids are napping, and then they have my wholehearted attention when they are all home and awake. I'm not going to run on it every day but probably a good 2 or 3 days a week. My husband is happy about it. He has been wanting to do some workout videos, like maybe p90x, and this way we can work out together. It gets delivered next week!

7:45 AP.  Took it easy in the drizzy rain in the neighborhoods by my Mom's apartment.  I was moving faster than I thought!  Good run, felt good, enjoyed the run, even enjoyed the rain!  Wound in and out and all around, and even ran a mile on soft grass when the sidewalk ran out.  Vanessa is much better today.

7:51 AP.  Took it easy out on my old friends the dirt roads.  It was overcast and humid but nice and cool so I felt good.  The roads were a little muddy in places but not bad.  Did the last .58 at 6:29 pace and felt groovy!

7:53 AP.  I got 5 visits done pretty quick this morning, then had an hour and a half of down time before it was time to see my next client, so I did what any other reasonable person would do.  I parked at the park down town, changed into running clothes, ran 8 miles in the heat of the day by the river, then put my scrubs back on and went to see my client.  This client smokes like a chimney and would not notice if I was bit sweaty and stinky.  

Showed up early and ran 8 by myself at 8:05 AP.  Then I hooked in with the tribe and ran 11.92 at 8:47 AP.  It was getting pretty hot and humid today but we drank lots of water and the miles went fast with all the talking.  A good time as always!  Total miles 19.92 at 8:30 AP.  It was definitely a pretty stress-free 20.  I think I will just make this a Saturday routine.  Came home and downed a massive breakfast of eggs, sausage, pancakes, strawberries, and milk.  Burp.

8:35 AP.  I ran in the heat of the day.  The bank sign said 90 degrees.  Hot, humid, and windy.  I took it super easy.  Heat, I have learned, is to be respected, especially since I am not acclimated to it yet.  My objective today was to survive a run in the heat without nausea or cramps. Success!  I drank water at the track fountain, at the sink in the gas station, and from my water bottle that I left by a sign on the dirt roads. Only one sprinkler, but my, it was heavenly!  I got nice and soaked in it and that kept me cool for about 10 minutes.  

7:38 AP.  I caught the tail end of a rainstorm and then it was overcast and much cooler than yesterday!  Amazing how much difference 20 degrees cooler makes!  I ran a much faster pace today yet was much more comfortable and really enjoyed the run.  The pace was brisk but well within my aerobic range.  I ran in Derby which has a lot of good long inclines and declines so I got some hill work in.  I think I will run there once a week.  The hills are not terrible steep but there were some pretty solid mile long inclines and it was good practice to do some up and down running and just practice maintaining steady effort.

8:11 AP.  Had to run in the heat of the day again at 1:00.  Oh how I despise it!  I keep hoping to eventually get used to it.  At least these hot afternoon runs will make early morning race temperatures feel a little cooler, at least I hope!

7:45 AP.  Limited time to run after the afternoon thunderstorm.  It was overcast and hot and muggy, but at least the sun was not beating down on me and that helped.

Warm up 2 miles 8:10, 8:07

2 miles at fantasy Houston marathon pace 6:44, 6:46, didn't feel too bad

2 miles easy 8:36, 8:22

1 mile easy with 3 fast surges, 40 seconds at 5:14 pace, 27 seconds at 5:26 pace, 27 seconds at 5:22 pace

They didn't deliver my treadmill today because of the storm so I will have to wait until tomorrow.  We leave tomorrow evening to camp at the lake for the weekend.  Can't wait!

7:36 AP.  Humid evening miles running through the camp loops.

9:20 AP.  Had my husband drop me off at the trail since this is where the half marathon will be next weekend.  It is a horse trail and you can tell the ground has been wet with horses on it this year.  The trail was overgrown with prairie and the divets and holes where unavoidable.  I had to slow down a lot and really pay attention to how my feet landed--it felt like I had a complete form change.  Nevertheless I rolled my ankles multiple times.  I have thrown all time goals out the window for next weekend--I just hope to survive un-injured.  I lost the trail several times and did some wilderness running finding it again.  It was hot out--I started at 5pm with temps in the 80's, my one piddly water bottle did not seem like enough.  I was quite relieved when I found my way back to where my husband dropped me off and summoned him to come get me and bring water! My legs were actually sort of pulverized after this run and my ankles and feet were sore.  Weird!

8:46 AP.  Early morning run through the campsites so it was nice and cool but I was still creaky and sore from Saturday's run plus all the battering from tubing and it took a while before I even ran any miles underneath 9 minutes.  I'm glad I ran though, my weekend dietary sins were numerous.  Eggs and pancakes from the campfire every morning, grilled meat and chips at lunches and dinners, and a shameful number of smores.  I don't even want to think about how many of those I ate!  The kids and us had a BLAST though and everyone is sunburned and worn out and has lots of stories to tell and adventures to rehash!