THOU SHALT BE A COMEBACK

Giant confidence boost today!  Met up with Mike for a long run, the intention was 18 easy, but about 11 miles in Mike started to feel bad.  I told him I would go get the car and come back for him.  At mile 12 I struck out at a brisk pace.  I told myself to run smooth and steady, but stay well within my aerobic range, no straining, nothing so hard as tempo pace, just a strong steady pace that I would not be afraid of if today was marathon day, and no peaking at the watch to keep myself honest.  Checked splits after, and was pleased to see that a smooth and unstrained pace was 6:40, 6:36, 6:42, 6:48, 6:49, 6:44.  Give me good conditions on race day and I believe I am currently in sub-3 shape--this happened in 80 degrees, 61% humidity, but there was cloud cover which helps immensely..  Drove back and found Mike, he was cruising along, had found his second wind.  We were both happy!  Off to bed, one more night at work before a few days off!  Totally stoked!!

Backed the ol' ambulance up to an unnamed track at 4:30am, hopped the 7 foot fence, and made it 3 miles before we got a call.  The second time over the fence is the fastest I have ever hopped one, with a radio in my hand and keys in my mouth.  Got off and went home and made it 9 ez on the home treadmill before Mini-me was up and roaring and ready for my undivided attention!  Everyone have a great Labor Day!

am: 6:51 ap.   5 while vanessa was at her appointment, 4 minute warm-up then 15 x 1 min on/off, coud not get it going on with speed, legs were dead, "on" minutes were all over from 5;34 to 6:17.

pm: 8 ez on the East Y treadmill

I knew this was a little soon after Sunday's 18, but wanted to get some miles in before leaving for Houston tomorrow to visit my sister.  I won't run tomorrow and suspect there will be a reduction in running for a few days so I decided to go ahead and start a workout, with the full understanding that I would jog it in as soon as my body gave the signal and not push it.  It was after 9:15 when I started and temps were in the 80s by the time I hit the 5 mle mark.  2 mile warm up, 3 at mp 6:51, 6:43, 6:49, 1 mile jog, then started hmp mile repeats with two minute jogs and knew right away as the timed diminished that I was on borrowed time.  I did 4 6:30, 6:24, 6:36, 6:38 and then jogged it in to 16 from there.  I want to be careful not to put myself into an overtraining hole.  This was good enough for today, off to pack for my trip!

7:38 ap. Nice early morning trot through my sister's giant subdivision in Sugarlad. Very humid, but nice to start a run before sunrise for a change.

Got up at 5 and jogged 10 ez through the Houston humidity, then went with my brother in law to the nearby park for an easy 5k, ran the last mile in 6:36. To stretch my legs, then joined his hour long bootcamp class to get my buns kicked. Fun!

am:  6.12 very slow.  I slept in, last day in Houston, and when I got started it was pretty  humid and toasty.  I had to get off all that Houston concrete, so I scrambed up onto the dyke I had been eyeballing.  At some point I lost the dyke and was running cross-country next to some ditch and across some sort of field.  I eventually turned around and made my way back.  It was definitely nice to be off the roads.  Travel this afternoon, about a 50/50 shot of a small evening run on the home treadmill.  It has been a nice mini-vacation, and as a bonus, it didn't involve worker's comp.

7:15 AP.  Between my little vacation and some emotional eating, I have put on a few pound.  It is nothing that can't be taken care of between now and the marathon October 13th if I am disciplined, but discipline when I am having emotional stress is not my strong point.  It was good to get some speed in to prove to myself that at least I still could.  I did this on the treadmill, didn't want to mess with 100 degrees today.

20 minute warm up

4x90 seconds on/off at 5:27 pace

2 x 1 mile at 6:00, 5:56 with .25 jog in between

3 minute jog

4 x 45 secs on/75 secs off at 5:13 pace

3 minute jog

10 minutes 6:22 pace

cooldown to 11 miles.

ez in the heat, no watch.  pressed for time but squeezed 30 minutes of core

treadmill.  ez but threw in 3 random miles at 6:40 because I forgot my ipod and was bored and needed to get it over with

7:16 AP.  I felt kind tired and sore, but it was in the low 70s with cloud cover and I didn't want to waste a day with good conditions, so I did a long run.  started brisk and felt decent so hit a 5 mile MP tempo for miles 6-11 and then slowed back down to brisk because my legs were basically just fried,  Splits were all over depending on how I felt at the time.  Confidence for sub-3 is not good, it will have to hit on a day I feel good and conditions are decent or it isn't gonna happen.

For fun, splits:  7:56, 7:28, 7:24, 7:20, 7:29, 7:02, 6:49, 6:55, 6:49, 6:48, 6:47, 6:49, 7:48, 7:42, 7:28, 7:17, 7:25, 7:20, 7:12.  All around a wishy-washy run.

Am. 6 ez with Nancy and her girls in the stroller. Got some good weights and core in after

Afternoon. 6 ez around Vanessa's school

Signed up for Boston!

I can't believe I am saying this, but looking forward to taper time. Will back down slightly this week in hopes of a pr half marathon next weekend, then about ten days of slogging after that and then, the taper!

am:  6.7 Easy with Marcus.  Need to rest up to pace the 1:45 group at Johnston's half tomorrow.  should be fun!

pm.  home alone, lonely, weird, got on the treadmill really slow for 3.7 then my friend Jess called.  phew.  I really did need to be saved from this run

Paced the 1:45 group today at the Johnston's half, a total blast,  Me and my pacing partner Lacy had a pretty huge group, about 10 miles in a few broke out ahead, a few stayed with us, and a few fell back.  When we hit the final mile Lacy stayed on pace and I went back for  few stragglers that were in striking distance, was able to push one back up and she made it, highlight of my day!  Did a 5 mile mp tempo afterward 6:43, 6:45, 6:45, 6:40, 6:42 and felt decent.  still waiting to hear back about the Boston marathon...

10 recovery.  I am going to try and back it down some this week, enough to get my listless tired legs back under me for a decent half on Sunday.

After cleaning house and doing laundry, meandered out about noon.  Was just mindlessly running around the East side of town when I spotted Nancy with the stroller... ran over and finished her last few miles with her then jogged my way down to the East Y, did an hour of core and weights, then jogged home.  Legs still feel dead and I feel fat, really hope to shake all that off by Sunday, since I am officially registered for the half-marathon.  The course should be pretty flat and  mostly pavement so should run fast if I can just get my head in the right place!  Excited for Boston in April, if I blow it this fall then Boston is my second chance.

ez through my neigborhodd in the heat and wind, watching the thunderheads build in the distance.  felt better today.

Easy on the treadmill with a few surges at 6:18 pace to see how it felt.  It feels alright when I relax. I am feeling better, have been eating vegetables and not getting on the scale.  I am looking forward to running  hard on Sunday!

I didn't feel that great from the get go.   I was okay the first 9 miles then hit the wind and felt worse and sorta gave up and cruised in.  There was nobody close enough to push me so I kinda just made sure I stayed in the lead and ahead of the 1:30 pace group.   This wasn't a good race, 1:30 slower than a much harder course last month.  I know some of this is bad choices I have made in the last few weeks.  I do best when running with joy, and there has been very little of that lately.  So the next 3 weeks will be more about pulling myself together and getting my head and heart in the right place.  That will do me more good than any training.  I will probably train hard for 14 days, then taper way down for a week.  I'm going to eat right, let go of the toxic people and situations that have me in knots right now, breathe deep, pray for the peace that surpasses all understanding.

easy, no watch, it has been retired along with the scale for the next 3 weeks.  :)  I will still do some speedwork and tempo and stuff, just watchless!!

8.5 easy in the afternoon around Vanessa's school, estimate on mileage, no watch, ran easy except for about 1.5 miles when I had a fun tailwind and picked it up.  Dropped her off then did 6 ez on the treadmill before work.  Felt pretty good.  Deactivated my facebook for now and had cable turned off, actually feels good to detox a bit from social media and I need to save money if I am going to buy a plane ticket to Boston.

easy through the east side.  mileage estimate.  felt good.  enjoyed the warm sun.

Track!  A little weird to do speedwork with no watch but I feel like the effort was there.  It was a nice blustery 18mph wind on the homestretch each lap.  The second half of the workout I had to run around the massive marching band each lap but it was cool, didn't bother me and didn't bother them.

2 mile warm up, 4 x 200 with 200 recovery, quarter mile jog, then 10 x 800 with 400 recovery, then 1.5 mile cooldown.  I tried to keep it close to 5k effort for the 800s and sprinted like a madman for the 200s.  Anything to make marathon pace feel like a walk in the park.

My thoughts are that sub-3 is possible, within my capability right now, but it straight up has to hit on a cool day with no wind and on a day where I have my mojo...so if the stars align in my favor.  Regardless, I will don the watch again for the marathon and run off of feel, no looking until the halfway mark.  If I try to force a pace in the first half of a marathon I will blow up, so I will run it by feel the first half and then go to the well the second half and see what happens.  This worked for St. George, and the conservative first half payed off, although it was a little scary to know that I would HAVE to negative split to reach my goal.  Prairie Fire is very very flat, especially in the second half, so a good setup to put it at cruising speed and hang on.

8 easy.  wore my new new balance minimus that I won in the half, was a little concerned about the zero drop but turns out they felt great and were a nice ride.  I may have found my marathon race shoe.  We will see how they feel on my last long run Sunday.

easy in the afternoon.  I really love how these zero drop shoes feel when I run, will test them in a long run tomorrow.  I keep waiting for some kind of calf soreness or something to start but none so far, have probably run in Nike Frees enough that this is not a huge transition.  Ran the last half mile fast because I felt good!

Needed this!  Met up with Marcus and Jared and headed west to run the Kingman Hills.  8 miles out and 8 miles back on dirt with lots of rollers, some long, some short, some steep, some not so steep.  Went out 8 fairly easy but brisk, then turned around and dropped the hammer.  The last 8 were all in the 6:30's and 6:40's, and we could still talk so very pleased.  The point was to make 6:40-6:50 pace on a flat course feel easy, and after this it should.  Good confidence boost, feeling a little more hopeful for sub-3 in two weeks.

Had a really hard time getting out of bed today, my throat is sore, definitely coming down with the usual pre-marathon cold.  Parked at Vanessa's school and went around 6.5 ez. Spent some quality time in the weight room at the Y afterward.