| Location: Wichita,KS, Member Since: Sep 14, 2008 Gender: Female Goal Type: Local Elite Running Accomplishments: marathon pr: 2:59:49. Saint George 2011
Praire Spirit 50 mile winner 7:36:30 2013
I accidentally ran 100 miles in November 2013. it was hard. I threw up a lot. decided to do a better job next time
I did it again on purpose October 2014--Heartland 100 winner and CR 17:38:37
Heartland 50 winner May 2014
Psycho Wyco 50k winner February 2012
Short-Term Running Goals: Run enough to hold off the middle-age spread
Long-Term Running Goals:
Sub 3 hour marathon--SOMEDAY! Done!
New long term goal: ....run enough to feel kinda like I did when I was fit
Personal: I was a single mom. Two times over. We all survived, despite the fact that I make atrocious decisions. Then, I met a man I didn't deserve. And he loves me so much. And I love him. We lived in sin and bought a house for two years then hired a judge and officially got married(to our great delight and also the delight of our mothers), then a month later he was diagnosed with cancer. Well we survived all that and he's 100% fine now. But, we're really out of shape and really busy with kids and jobs and running just isn't my priority and there's so many other layers to all of it, but I'm running anyway. This is my failure blog now. Just to log that one run a week if I snag it.
Somehow that matters and I want that run recorded. Favorite Blogs: |
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| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 287.06 | Blue/gold Asics Miles: 111.38 | Mizuno Waverider 12 Miles: 75.97 | Pink Pegs Miles: 585.55 | Crappy Asics Miles: 146.72 | Pink Nike Avant Miles: 592.73 | Adidas Adizero Mana Miles: 97.32 | Blue Avants Miles: 618.73 | Crocs Miles: 18.08 | Lunarfly Miles: 406.70 |
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Frosty 5k (3.1 Miles) 00:20:22, Place overall: 4, Place in age division: 2 | |
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Not sure if this is my official time yet--still waiting for the results on the internet--I saw the clock coming through so this is within a few seconds anyways. I forgot to stop my Garmin until I was at the end of the finish chute and by then the time was 21:00. Update: official time 20:22. Anyways, this race was no PR but considering that it was 12 degrees and I think the course was a little long(my Garmin measured 3.16),I am okay with that. Update: the course is certified I just checked so Garmin is wrong, it is an accurate 5k. I also know that this is the best I have ever felt in a 5k--I never really felt that super aerobic distress so I'm sure I could have ran it harder--but I didn't, and that's okay because it was worth feeling this good and strong in a 5k. I decided to just run, have fun, and get a speed workout before the half in a few weeks. I would've liked sub-20, but there will be some of those this year--I will get to them! I got there, jogged 3 miles to warm up, then stripped down to tights and under armour shirt and did a few strides. We were all sort of milling around trying to figure out exactly where the starting line was because it wasn't marked when someone started telling the front row where to stand. I got a few rows behind the front and had actually turned around and was looking to see if anyone I knew was there when BANG the gun went off a minute early and with no warning, so everybody sort of jumps and turns and starts running. I think we were all startled. I just went out at what felt fast but smooth. 1. 6:20--cruising, feeling good 2. 6:34--settling into a pace that feels very smooth. I feel strong and breathing is fairly easy; this puts my two-mile time at 12:54 which is an unofficial PR--I never broke 13:00 in high school.
3. 6:34--wow my body must really like the pace--still feeling good, shouldn't feel this good in a 5k but it feels good to feel good at this speed. I never visited the puke zone in this race. 3 mile time is 19:29.
last bit--looking around for the finish, it is around the corner which is not how I understood it on the map. Oh well--sped up and finished but no eyeball-bulging sprint I'm afraid. Alright, will fix the time when I know it for sure. Race analysis: Bad: 1. I don't seem to be pushing it in races lately. I'm sure my competitive desire that pushes me into the super pain zone will return eventually. 2. I need to lose 5-10 pounds. No excuses. It will shave my times, I am sure of it. I'm the shortest and thickest girl out there as far as the local front-of-the-pack crowd. My arms are twice as big around as the rest of the gals and we won't talk about my tummy. I think it is time to give up starches and sweets for a while and really concentrate on fruit, veggies, and some protein. I know I am not built like a Barbie or a stick, but I can pinch and inch and it's not muscle--so it can go! Good: 1. 6:34 pace rocks and feels good, very manageable. Aerobically I have improved a lot 2. I just felt good today so there!
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| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 7.22 |
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| | Nice and easy. I believe it was 7 degrees with wind chill -4. Me and Gary were the only ones who made it to the 7am run. He is young, 21, super nice guy and actually his race times are close to mine but a little faster. We were stiff in the cold and were going about 9:30ish pace picking our way over loads of ice until about mile 10, at which point Gary was plagued with stomach cramps and we slowed down and at one point he had to walk. He told me to go ahead but in the cold and ice I didn't think he should be alone so I stayed with him. I am in no rush today anyway! He made it to a pit stop at mile 13 and after taking care of business was good to go again. We got back up to speed and finished the super cold run. Only fuel was water, and the piece of cheese I ate for breakfast. I can feel that I have run two days in a row on asphalt and concrete in my joints. One of my ankles is a little twingey too. Glad tomorrow is a day off and I will be hitting the dirt roads for the next week. 10:02 average pace over all. |
| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 16.62 |
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8:06 average pace. 12 degrees- quite nice compared to Saturday. Started to feel really good after a while and picked up the pace. Ran mostly over packed snow on the dirt roads. Slowest mile 8:59, fastest 7:21.
one circuit of strength drills. Right knee is a little IT band buggy. Will keep an eye on it. The sore foot and ankle from Saturday have faded away.
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| Blue/gold Asics Miles: 108.00 |
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| | 8:24 average pace. The plan was to take it super easy so first mile was 9:17, did the last few miles at 7:40 pace--for some reason running in the winter with the snow is just uplifitng to my spirit and after a while I can't help but pick up the pace and smile when I am running. Super cheesy, I know. | |
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| | 8:57 average pace. Nice and easy, went a little extra because tomorrow is going to be -5 and I may get up early and drive into town to hit a treadmill. |
| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 11.63 |
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| | 7:53 overall average pace. Treadmill day! Temps -10 outside with howling wind. Drove to building 1 to the treadmill I can use for free. Felt weird to run in shorts and a T-shirt and boy 67 degrees feels downright HOT. Sweated a ridiculous amount. Set incline to 0.5% since I am taking it easy on my knee still. 2 miles at 8:41 pace 4 miles at 7:30 pace(brisk but fairly comfortable--marathon pace in April?)
2 miles at 6:58 pace(now this just felt much harder than it does outside-half-marathon pace?) 1 mile cool down 9:13--10:00 pace. Once again, hats off to the folks who run on the dreadmill often because it kicks my tail. Although, I think I may start running on it once a week for tempo-type runs like this to build up stamina--the treadmill belt doesn't slow down!
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| Mizuno Waverider 12 Miles: 9.00 |
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8:23 average. Treadmill again. Woke up to -18 with wind chill this morning. A little scary cold for me. Took it easy, starting at 8:41 pace and then going to 8:20 pace for the majority of the run. Back on the road with the group tomorrow--it is supposed to get up to 6 degrees at noon so that's when we're going for an easy 10!
And, in other news, I took my nursing boards(NCLEX) this morning. The computer shut down at 75 questions, which is the minimum possible, which means I either ACED it, or, totally and completely BOMBED. I will probably not know until Monday, since it takees 48 hours to pay money with a credit card online to get your "unofficial" results. Thinking about it just makes me want to vomit. Failure is really not an option at this point. |
| Mizuno Waverider 12 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Nice and easy with the group. It was cold but bearable. We had to stop a lot for traffic and to pick our way over ice everywhere so that made pace slower. 10:48 average! :) My legs are greatful and I got to have a really good talk with a super nice girl named Wendy. Next weekend I am traveling with the group to do the wickedly hilly Topeka to Auburn half marathon. This is no PR course but it should be a heckuva workout!
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| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 10.54 |
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| | I passed the NCLEX and now I am an RN! | |
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| | 8:20 average pace. Felt lousy when I got up. Felt lousy when I started the run. I did what I always do and run until it feels good, which was about at mile 6. Last mile in 7:19 felt easy. That may be a good pace to shoot for on the 1/2 marathon on Saturday. Some of my running group have run it and say it is nothing but hills, one after another, plus 4 miles of gravel, and that one incline in particular toward the middle is so steep and long that a lot of people end up walking. Sounds challenging, I am going to use it as a hard hill training run and to make flat races seem easy, no plans to PR. | |
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| | 8:49 average pace. Nice and easy. It was foggy and frosty, so I had white eyebrows and eyelashes when I was done. I have always thought that look worked for me. Taking it easy all week to be rested for Saturday. |
| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 8.18 |
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| | 8:53 average pace. Prescription for a slow pace: Eat 3 wheat pancakes with peanut butter and sugar-free syrup, drink a glass of milk, then immediately go for a run. Started out at a pedestrian 9:30 pace and sped up at the end to beat the 9:00 girl. Found a marathon training schedule from a 2004 Runner's World article. I like it. I think I will start it on Monday. Mileage will be 52-70 per week. This schedule addresses my weaknesses. It focuses on two key workouts each week with the rest of the mileage filled in with easy running. My tentative goal is a 3:15 marathon in April. What do you guys think?
Paces: Tempo 6:52--Marathon Pace 7:25, steady pace 8:09 | week | % weekly mileage | key workout 1 | key workout 2 | | one | 75 | 3x1.5 miles at tempo pace, with a steady half-mile recovery between repeats | Steady long run of 13 miles (at 10% slower than MP) | | two | 85 | 2x2 miles at tempo pace, with a steady half-mile recovery between repeats | Progression long run of 16 miles | | three | 95 | 4-mile tempo run | Steady long run of 15 miles (at 10% slower than MP) | | four | 75 | 3x2 miles at MP, with a steady half-mile recovery between repeats | 5-K or 10-K race or time trial | | five | 100 | 3x2 miles at MP, with a steady half-mile recovery between repeats | Progression long run of 18 miles | | six | 75 | 3x2 miles at MP, with a steady half-mile recovery between repeats | 15-K or half-marathon race | | seven | 90 | 3x2 miles at tempo pace, with a steady half-mile recovery between repeats | Progression long run of 20 miles | | eight | 100 | 5x2 miles at MP, with a steady half-mile recovery between repeats | Steady long run of 16 miles (at 10% slower than MP) | | nine | 75 | 3x3 miles at MP, with a steady half-mile recovery between repeats | Progression long run of 22 miles | | ten | 100 | 2x4 miles at MP, with a steady half-mile recovery between repeats | Steady long run of 18 miles (at 10% slower than MP) | | eleven | 85 | 2x3 miles at tempo pace, with a steady half-mile recovery between repeats | 15 miles, with last 8 to 10 miles at MP. Note: Do this run early in week 11. | | twelve | 50 (not counting the marathon) | 8 miles, with last 3 miles at MP | M |
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| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 8.00 |
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| | 8:38 average pace. It was 39 degrees today, so to celebrate I wore shorts and it was GREAT! I have been eating more lately and let me tell you my energy levels have risen and today I felt really good. did the last little bit at 7:16 pace and it felt like I was jogging. Hope I feel that way on Saturday for the last 5k of the 1/2 after 10 miles of hills in my legs.., |
| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 8.27 |
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| | 9:04 average pace. Very very easy with a few bursts of target race pace in which I was all over the place ranging from 6:48 to 7:45 pace. Haha I also varied the terrain between uphill, downhill, dirt, mud, and asphalt. "The Tribe" leaves together in a rental van tomorrow morning for the drive up--race doesn't start until 11:00. I am just going to relax and have fun and if the race comes to me and am ready to push it then so be it but if I get going and just want to get a hard workout that is fine too--no pressures. |
| Blue/gold Asics Miles: 3.38 |
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Topeka to Auburn half marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:36:36, Place overall: 3, Place in age division: 1 | |
I felt awesome during this race. I rode up with "The Tribe"--6 runners plus a photographer(Kurt's girlfriend). We did a lot of laughing on the way up, got there with little time to spare. Ten minutes before gun time I was pinning on my number. Had time to jog around the start line a few minutes, do a few strides, and then we were off. 30 degrees and foggy. It was kind of cool how people would disappear and reappear in the fog. mile 1 6:55 gently downhill. When the dust settles I am in 6th place mile 2 7:10 down then up, feeling very strong and rocking steady mile 3 7:22 still climbing, up, up, and then a steep down at the end mile 4 7:23 up up up, about 150 feet, and then down down down and I am flying. mile 5 7:13 down then up then flat. I pass two gals and move into 4th mile 6 7:30 The infamous Urish Hill begins, about 170 foot ascent. I remember what Wendy at the running group had talked about and my mantra is "short choppy steps" while I try not to break the imaginary pringles in my hands. mile 7 7:36 Reach the crest of Urish Hill while a photographer records. I hoop and holler and start going down mile 8 6:52 Down is cool! I like down! mile 9 7:24 As we move off the asphalt and onto country roads I pass another gal and move into 3rd. It is foggy and I don't see the other two gals. The road is icy in places, muddy in others, but not too bad. I am used to this terrain at home. Up, then down, then up, then down but nothing steep or long in this mile. Still feeling fantastic. mile 10 7:00 a little up and then down down. I cross the 10 mile marker and a guy yells my split it is 1:13 something, way better than I was expecting on this course. mile 11 7:53 up up up, about 100 foot climb this mile. Legs suddenly start to feel a little rubbery but fortunately the feeling passes. mile 12 7:22 the uphill gets only very slight at this point and then the crest, over the crest, and crazy down. I feel like I am going to catapult down this one too. I can't believe I am already at the 12 mile mark this is going fast and no crash, no tiredness, I feel as strong as I did when I started.\ mile 13 and the finish 7:19 and as always forgot to stop my watch. The course moves back onto asphalt goes up, down, up, and then down into the finish. can't see the finish line in the fog but hear it well before I get there. The crowd support at this little half is incredible. Very happy with a 1:36, I knew I wouldn't PR but was surprised to get this close. New realization, I LIKE hills. This is new. The constant changing of gears througout the race is actually mentally engaging and time goes fast. It was great fun. It makes flatness feel like flying too. The damage: The knee that was sore all week didn't even hiccup. Still hasn't today. The top of my foot that has been sore since I tied my shoes to tight a few weeks ago didn't bother me during the race, but I felt it this morning. This evening it is almost gone--barefoot around the house is good. Usually after a long race my quads are trashed, but not this time. I have soreness in my calves, glutes, and hamstrings, but not as severe as I was expecting. I will probably be mostly recovered by tomorrow. I won some sweet Mizuno running pants and shirt, another nice wicking shirt, some nice running socks, a mug, and a medal. Ate pizza with the Tribe and we drove home--took a while in the fog. Spirits were high, Steph and Tex got age group awards, Kurt and Carlos smashed their times from last year, and Stace made a decisive comeback from her stress fractures. It's gonna be a good year
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| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 13.50 |
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| | A most unimpressive 9:28 average. Still sore so plodded gently along, ran out of time because I had to get Nick to the dentist. Marathon training starts this week. A little slow of a start today haha but I will kick it into gear later this week when all systems are ready to go. Knee and foot feel great. My calves are where the soreness still lingers. | |
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| | 8:32 average. Legs still lingering sore but after a few miles warm up felt good as new, kept it easy but did a test sprint the last .1 and everything felt good. I think I will do some tempo work tomorrow per my new marathon training schedule but will probably due it on a treadmill to minimize the impact on my foot which is still a little sore on top. The treadmill also serves to keep me from falling off pace. hopefully by next week by foot will be 100% and I will do the tempo work on the road. |
| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 10.02 |
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| | Workout 1 today. The target was 3x1.5 at tempo(6:52) pace with .5 recovery at steady(8:09) pace. Was too tired to get up early and drive to the treadmill so I did it on dirt roads with rolling hills. A bit of a speed killer but gotta keep the impact to a minimum still. 2 mile warmup 10:00, 9:19(anticipatory slowness?) 1.51 in 10:42(7:05 pace), had to do a 180 halfway through
.49 recovery in 3:55(8:01 pace) 1.52 in 10:34(6:57 pace, getting closer), another 180 halfway through
.48 recovery in 3:53(8:03 pace) 1.51 in 10:12(6:45 pace) no hairpin turns this time
1 mile cooldown in 8:49 overall average for tempo miles 6:55 pace so close to target. Tough workout and I got a blister under my big toe--haven't had a blister in a while--probably from tying my shoes so loose across the top to make my foot feel better. Foot is doing good but is not 100% yet.
one circuit of strength drills.
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| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 8.50 |
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| | 9:08 average pace. Nice and easy recovery run from yesterday. Tomorrow is a "steady" pace 13-miler which equates to target marathon pace +10%, which is 8:09 pace. I am looking forward to it--that doesn't kick my tail near as much as the tempo stuff does. | |
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| | Key workout 2 this week. Target was to run steady for 13 miles at target marathon pace + 10%, which for me translates to 8:09 pace. First mile can be used as a warm up before hitting the pace. Warmed up at 8:36 and then spent the rest of the run trying to slow to 8:09 pace. I felt good and it was hard. Splits were 8:36-8:09-8:03-7:50-7:51-7:52-7:57-8:00-8:04-8:09-7:55-7:54-7:49----8:01 overall average so close enough. Tomorrow is a relaxed 10-miler with the Tribe.
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| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 13.00 |
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| | 9:01 average pace. Ran with the Tribe. It was a good time as always. I have a serious blister under the ball of my big toes and this red tender area around it that goes in between my toes. I can't hardly stand to walk on it so I hope it gets better this weekend. |
| Mizuno Waverider 12 Miles: 10.07 |
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| | OUCH! My infected blister hurts between my big toes and the toe next to it and on the ball of my foot. I can't walk without limping. At least I'm on antibiotics and this should be resolved in a few short days. To comfort myself I made 3 different kinds of muffins(with whole wheat flour, brown sugar, and olive oil of course)--oatmeal peach, cinnamon raisin, and chocolate chip. | |
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| | 8:20 average pace. Broke in some new shoes. I felt stiff and heavy when I was running, but the infected blister is a lot better and it was runnable once I painted some second skin over it. I think the antibiotics are making me tired. May push tomorrow's tempo workout to Wednesday if I still feel this wiped out. | |
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| | Another workout today. Target was 2x2 miles at 6:52 pace with a .5 mile recovery in between at 8:09. Went better than that. Went and ran in Paul's Valley which is more or less flat. 2 mile warmup 8:55, 8:54 2 mile tempo 6:52, 6:47 .5 recovery in 4:05(8:10 pace) 2 mile tempo 6:38, 6:42 2 mile cooldown 8:34, 8:19 7:45 overall average pace. Felt strong the whole time, although the last mile of the second tempo I was definitely feeling it and got ever so slightly nauseated in the last quarter mile. One circuit of strength drills. So, two weeks of eating as much as I want as long as it is healthy, which equated to a lot more food and a lot more energy, and the verdict on the scale is.... no change whatsoever. Haven't gained, haven't lost, but definitely have been feeling better. I will stick to eating this way. I'm not hungry and honestly am not missing the junk much.
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| | 8:25 average pace. Pressed for time--had to take Vanessa to my mom's and go to work. One of the places I applied for called and offered me a job, but the pay increase is marginal and the benefits cost way more than where I work now, so looks like I will be turning that down and holding out for something better. | |
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| | My progressive long run was not supposed to be until tomorrow, but since we are supposed to have 6 inches of snow by tomorrow morning, I decided that despite my tired legs I was going to do it today. The way my training program describes it, I am supposed to run at a regular training pace until last 40 minutes or so, and at that time progressively accelerate , so 20 minutes at MP+20 seconds, then MP+10 seconds for 10, and then the last10 minutes at least are at target MP. Once again, I overshot it, with my last 3 miles all at faster than target marathon pace, which is 7:25/mile. I was in no hurry the first 11 miles, as you can tell by my splits, but was surprised at how well my tired legs responded when it was hammer time. Last mile I was tired and struggled a little. Glad it is done, I am wiped out. 25 degrees and a little wind. Splits 9:12, 9:00, 8:58, 8:50, 8:27, 8:22, 8:37, 8:36, 8:54, 8:37, 8:13, 7:43,7:35, 7:24, 7:17, 7:10
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| | Had to get up early after working late last night and plow my way to work to staff an extra truck for the snow. We worked 4 hours to get through morning traffic and then tapped out. It really wasn't too bad. Came home, ate, cuddled with the kids, took a nap, and when I got up there was a lot of snow. I turned into a wimp and drove to building 1 for 8 miserable miles on the treadmill. 8:20 average pace. Have to run 11.5 tomorrow to meet my mileage goal this week of 63.5. Will be getting up early to run with the tribe so it should be fun and relaxed. | |
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| | 9:31 average pace. Ran with the tribe. Got ahead of the group a little bit with Eddy and then we got lost and jogged circles. Finally found the group again and then I peeled off down central because they were doing 18 and I am not. Central stunk for about 3 miles because it was too busy to run in the street but the sidewalks were covered in snow and it was deep so I did a lot of bunny hopping. Good ankle stabilizeer workout that is for sure. Totally exhausted today, Vanessa was coughing and having some problems breathing all night and me and David didn't sleep hardly at all--she couldn't sleep because she was absolutely miserable. She is doing okay today but we are having to do breathing treatments every two hours. Hopefully this is the worst of it and she gets better now. |
| Mizuno Waverider 12 Miles: 11.28 |
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| | 8:36 average pace. Ran mostly on packed snow and frozen dirt so traction was decent. Have a nasty cold but no coughing fits until after the run. | |
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| | When it comes to bad runs, this one ranked right up there in the top 10 for me. Sometime this week I needed a 4 mile tempo with 6:52 being the target pace. When I saw that snow was coming in tomorrow, I decided to do it today. I still have a nasty cold, haven't slept well, and was tired, but stupid me decided to attempt it anyway. Big mistake. Warmed up 2.2, 9:32, 9:00, .2 at 8:59 pace, then started the tempo. I knew I was in trouble in the first mile. My legs were stiff and unresponsive, my form felt jerky and strained, and I was tired of it already. By the second mile my calves were burning. Lactic acid already? Really? Third mile I was falling apart, I knew I wasn't anywhere near target pace, and almost abandoned the tempo completely, but then decided that although it wasn't going to be what I wanted, I could at least get a sub-marathon pace tempo out of it. Fourth mile my legs were so stiff and acidy, it was hard to push. It couldn't be over soon enough. 6:59, 6:57, 7:01, 7:06. I slowed to a pathetic shuffle, and almost walked. Although my breathing had recovered within 1/2 mile, my stiff, sad legs really didn't recover at all. It was hard to run 9:00 pace. I kept jogging and jogging trying to loosen them up but it didn't work. Cooled down 2 and some change 9:19,8:57, .47 at 8:46 pace. Came in and did lots of gentle stretching. Awful run. The rest of my runs this week will be restful and easy until I am over this cold, a little more rested, and my legs get over this icky tight acid feeling. |
| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 8.67 |
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| | 8:42 pace. Still tired and achy. Ran very slow and just listened to music. It started to feel good around mile 6 finally and I picked it up a little but not much. Just getting the miles in and zoning out for today. I guess the snow isn't coming until tonight. | |
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| | 8:43 average pace. Feeling better today but still taking it easy. It is snowing, so it was quiet and serene but it is not cold enough so my dirt roads are squooshy and sloshy. Got my feet a little wet but it was an okay run. Did a few pickups just to marathon pace and they felt pretty easy. | |
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| | 7:44 average pace. Yeah, and it felt good! Target was 8:09 pace, which is comfortable for me. I drove to Sedgwick County Park to run today because my roads are straight mud,and ran around the park on the blacktop bike path, which is nice because it is not cambered at all. I think all the dirt road running really alters my sense of speed when I get on the blacktop, because I kept trying to slow down to what I though was 8ish pace but my legs kept insisting on 7:45 pace. It felt comfortable, breathing was easy the whole time. At the last mile my right knee did something weird where it felt like it was made of jello and was going to give out. No pain whatsoever with this though. At the end I was able to walk and stretch it off. Weird. My IT band on that side acts up from time to time so I wonder if that is just a weird symptom of it. Splits 8:12, 7:51, 7:41, 7:46, 7:57, 7:50, 7:44, 7:38, 7:46, 7:51, 7:39, 7:21, 7:31, 7:39, 7:31 Oh, and a side note, Vanessa has been wearing big girl panties all day for 3 days now, with only once accident a day and that is when she really tries to make it but doesn't quite get to the bathroom on time. I'm so excited! I was wondering if she would ever potty train--she will be 3 at the end of April so it is time.
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| | 9:09 average pace. Ran with Kurt, Eddy, and Casey from the tribe. Right off the bat I had that weird jello knee feeling and an occasional twinge in my right IT band, so I am sure the numbness yesterday is IT band related. Hoping a day off tomorrow and some stretching fixes it. If it still feels funky on Monday then I will be ditching tempo work and my scheduled 5k time trial and just running super easy all week--I am driving to Texas Friday to pace my sister for her first half-marathon--the Austin half, and I need to make sure the knee stays runnable. |
| Mizuno Waverider 12 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | 8:52 average pace. A cautious test run in the snow. My knee/IT band held up fine, it just didn't seem to like going downhill. I did a lot of bunny hopping through deep snow so I would run like an exaggerated sprinter with high knees and good buttkick, and landed on the balls of my feet--which was nice and soft in the deep snow. Slow going but a good workout and probably good for my form, plus my knee liked it. I called in sick to work today because Vanessa is having major breathing problems and I am worried and need to hover. |
| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 8.00 |
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| | 7:58 overall average pace. Decided to keep playing it safe with the knee and run on the dreadmill since there is no road camber or downhills on the treadmill. I did do some marathon pace work though. 2 mile warm-up, 9:13, 8:49, then 3x2 miles at 7:24 pace with .5 miles at 8:06 pace in between, then 1 mile cooldown. This felt harder than it should have on the treadmill, but I was expecting that so not a surprise. Why oh why does 7:24 pace feel like 6:40 pace on a treadmill? Dunno. Legs were actually tired from the bunny hopping yesterday, plus I did strength drills and 10 minutes of ab fry with Denise Austin yesterday too. Vanessa is much better today--almost back to normal so I am going to drag myself to work. Can't wait for my Texas trip this weekend! I get to see my sister, Aunts, Uncles, and my cousins and their newborn babies! | |
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| | 8:25 average pace. now off to begin a day of rushing around and then off to work | |
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| | According to my schedule today should be a 5k or 10k race or time trial, but I had already decided earlier in the week to bag it considering I still am hacking up a lung and the troubles with my knee. We had parent-teacher conferences this morning so after that I just had my husband drop me off at the track so I could entertain the idea of some faster work. Warmed up 2 miles and then launched into a brisk quarter to see how it felt, came through in 1:43 and decided that was fast enough, did 2 miles in 13:42(6:51 pace), then jogged a quarter and headed home--after about 3 miles I hit my dirt roads and decided what the hey I'll do another fast one and then ran a 6:39 mile. Funny that a fast mile on a hilly dirt road is unbelievably more comfortable and easier(and faster) for me than on a track. Slowed down and then ran almost 2 miles and getting close to him decided a few vo2 max intervals on the dirt wouldn't hurt. Ran .19 at 5:52 pace, jogged a few minutes, then .12 at 5:58 pace. Jogged down the driveway and called it good. Not exactly a killer workout but at least I got a few fast miles in and the whole point is to run at paces that make marathon pace feel slow. Off to work tonight and then tomorrow morning I leave for the long drive to San Antonio--I'm going to meet my sister there and we will go to Austin on Saturday. It will be strange going somewhere without my husband and children, but I think it may also be rejuvenating and good for me. | |
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| | 11 hour drive all by myself. But I got to see lots of family at the end. | |
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| | More driving, checked into the hotel, ate pizza. Ran with my sister one pre-race mile because she is super nervous about the race tomorrow. | |
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| | 9:49 average pace. Ran with my sister in the Austin half-marathon. It was moderately hilly. She did a great job, and fought really hard through the last mile when she was ready to quit-she didn't--and even mustered up a quarter-mile kick at the end when I told her to empty the tank because it was almost over! Great job for only 4 months of training! I really enjoyed it. The course was beautiful--it was nice to run a race without racing. Ate lunch, and then 8 1/2 hour drive home. Nice weekend but hard traveling. Not sure if I'll run or not tomorrow. | |
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| | 8:22 average pace. Lotsa wind. Off to a work week. Yuck! The weekend was so tiring already...Oh yeah, my cheat day yesterday :) I had a butterfinger blizzard in the car on the way home. Helped ease the pain of the long trip! | |
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| | 7:50 average pace. Good workout today. Target was 3x2 at target marathon pace(7:25)with brisk .5 mile recoveries. Went well. I felt comfortable during the marathon pace miles. 2 mile warmup 9:17, 9:00 2 at MP 7:22, 7:20 .5 in 4:07(8:14 pace) 2 at MP in 7:15, 7:15 .5 in 3:54(7:48 pace) 2 at MP in 7:07, 7:12 2 mile cooldown in 8:27,7:52(sped up a little at the end to make sure my average was under 8:00 because I am a dork) one circuit of strength drills with some new leg lifts to strengthen my hips
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| | 8:50 average pace. Nice and easy, listening to music. They have laid a bunch of rock on the road by my house and it is irritating to run on--too much big rocks. I can't wait until it snows or rains and washes some off. |
| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 9.00 |
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| | Let the long runs begin! This run was bad at times, good at others, first real long run in many months, but I am getting into the meat of marathon training now. The target was a progressive long run with 12 easy, and then the last 6 progressing into marathon pace with 2 at 7:45, 2 at 7:35, and 2 at 7:25. Well the first 12 went REALLY easy, as I was not feeling it, but surprisingly at go time in the last 6 I exceeded my goal. I didn't have any gatorade so I got this brilliant idea that I would run into town, get a gatorade at the gas station, and then run it to my house and stick it in the mailbox at the end of the drive so I could circle back to it. Didn't work. I ran 4.7 to the gas station, got the gatorade, started running, and quickly realized that my hand was too small to carry it comfortably. I tried, but it threw my gait off and so I had to ditch it a mile later, and so ran the rest of the run with no fuel or water or anything. This made me feel a little paranoid that I would bonk, and in mile 16 I felt bad as if I was going to, but the feeling passed. Mile 18 I was nauseated, but felt light on my feet and legs were loose, so the finish was nice and strong, although I was feeling VERY fatigued.. Quit running as soon as I hit the 18 mile mark, let out some kind of loud battle cry(don't know why it just happened) and walked the quarter mile home to cool down. Splits 9:35. 9:28, 9:19, 8:46, 8:44, 8:27, 8:46, 8:32, 8:28, 8:39, 8:14, 8:14, 7:40, 7:38, 7:15, 7:23, 7:10, 6:59 8:18 average pace thanks to unmotivated shuffling at the beginning
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| | Top of my foot where I have been battling some extensor tendonitis was angry today. It is fine as long as I don't put shoes on! Doesn't hurt to bear weight or run or anything it is just the shoe pressing on it that drives me crazy. Decided to let my foot breath and skip the run today since I already have almost 60 miles for the week, and 10 with the tribe tomorrow will put me at 70. | |
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| | 8:41 average pace. 10 easy with the tribe,started to sleet just as we were finishing up. Just in time! Foot feels almost as good as new-only noticed it on the downhills, and only a tiny bit. I slept with cottonballs spreading my toes last night and it is the miracle cure for tendonitis on top of the foot! Did 10 minutes of abs with Denise Austin after. Now I am off for a busy day of housecleaning and getting ready for Nick's 10th birthday part this evening. | |
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| | 8:10 average pace on the rolling dirt hills. I skipped the laces over the sore spot on the top of my foot and it worked great, I ran with no foot pain. This confirms for me that the problem is extensor tendonitis and not the dreaded metatarsal stress fracture. Right IT band was a little buggy on downhill portions but aside from that was okay. According to my schedule I only run 52 miles this week(cutback week) which is fine, considering I am fighting off these little injuries. Hopefully they continue to improve. | |
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| | 7:37 average pace. 3x2 at marathon pace with .5 brisk recovery. I really like this workout--am probably running it faster than my actual marathon pace but at least this will make my marathon pace seem all the more doable for 26.2 miles. This workout makes me feel confident but doesn't destroy me or push me into the uncomfortable zone, but it still gets the legs and lungs going. 2 mile warm up 8:49, 8:35 2 at MP 7:08, 7:09 .5 in 4:00(8:00 pace) 2 at MP 7:12, 7:06 .5 in 3:55(7:50 pace) 2 at MP 7:09, 7:05 1 mile cool down in 7:55 Foot is doing great today, skipping the laces over the hot spot makes all the difference, and some of the redness is starting to dissipate. Right IT band whined a little at the slower paces, but I don't feel it at marathon pace--it seems to like the faster speeds better. I think the IT band strengthening exercises are helping.
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| | 8:46 average pace. Nice and easy. One circuit of strength drills afterward. Foot is doing great. Right It band is still a little buggy on hills, but I am working on it. |
| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 8.00 |
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| | 8:51 average pace. Mostly very easy but between miles 6 and 7 I felt the need for speed so I did 6 VO2 max strides with almost full recovery between. My ITB was buggy on the easy jogging but feels great during fast running. I found a flat stretch of road and ran my strides there--was pleased that I still have some zip in my legs, sometimes I feel so slow. 1. 322 feet 21.05 seconds(5:45, max 5:36) 45 second jog 2. 316 feet 19.92 seconds(5:33, max 5:15) 43 second jog 3. 302 feet 19.23 seconds(5:36, max 5:08) 58 second jog 4. 337 feet 19.48 seconds(5:05, max 4:20) 68 second jog 5. 316 feet 19.28 seconds(5:22, max 5:00) 60 second jog 6. 322 feet 18.37 seconds(5:02, max 4:47) I am on the fence about tomorrow's workout. My schedule says a 1/2 marathon or 15k race, which there isn't one around, and I don't think I can do a solo time trial of that length and hit anywhere near race pace, plus this is really supposed to be a cutback week. I am tossing around several options. I could try out the one minute on, one minute off speed workout, or I could do a marathon pace tempo of 6-10 miles(plus a warm up and cool down, of course), or I could just run easy and call it good. I thought about going to the track and doing a one mile time trial but the snow and wind is supposed to be coming tonight so I would be setting myself up for a lousy performance. Maybe I should just do a long, slow run. Any suggestions?
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| | Julie's idea about a big workout got me thinking, so I decided to do both tempo and one minute intervals in the: Junior Big Workout 2 mile warm up 8:56, 8:26 4 mile tempo at MP 7:12, 7:15, 7:14, 7:05 .95 mile recovery at 8:32 pace 10 repeats of one minute on, one minute off--tried to do 5k pace when I was "on", paces per Garmin were 6:27, 8:06, 6:31, 8:05, 6:14, 8:12, 6:28, 8:20, 6:03, 8:41, 6:36, 8:50, 6:14, 8:58, 6:25, 8:50, 6:15, 9:15, 6:05, 8:46 one mile recovery 8:49 now let's see how MP feels, 2 mile MP tempo 7:07, 7:11 and DONE. 7:40 average pace. Pretty tough workout but it goes quick and I feel great now! I was definitely feeling more fatigued in the second tempo but feel like I could have kept going at that pace. Foot was fine, ITB buggy only when I am going slower than MP, at MP and faster it is fine--weird? Had whole wheat blueberry pecan pancakes and emergen-C two hours before, did not fuel during the run. Gatorade after and a post-run recovery meal of a homemade hamburger on wheat toast with mozzerella cheese and some grapes. Yum!
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| | 8:39 average pace. Legs aren't sore from yesterday, so that's good. I'm getting a sports massage today to see if it will help with my stinking ITB. I've never had one--heard they were wonderfully terrible, but I will soon find out! | |
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| | 8:31 average pace. They dropped a lot of big rock all over my road and the neighboring road in the direction I run. I despise running on it, and end up running in the ditch and through yards to stay off the rocks--almost 3 miles today were cross-country or on the rocks. Not the greatest thing for my ITB! It actually held up better than it usually does on the hills so perhaps the massage helped--it is hard to say. I will see how it does tomorrow when I go to my housing addition loops which are mostly flat and run some fast long tempo intervals(kinda nervous about those). Today I have to go "credential" for work which means I have to run several scenarios and perform all the skills while my administration watches and grades me. The whole service has to do it and I think it is a complete waste of time. If I do not know how to run an ambulance call after doing this for almost 8 years then I should be fired. If they want to know what my skill level is then they are welcome to come ride on my unit with me and watch rather than waste my time with their silly scenarios and their mannequins and their clipboards. Okay enough venting for now. Hope everyone has a great day! |
| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 8.69 |
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| | 7:40 average pace. Not the greatest workout in the world, but not bad. I was preoccupied because: (drumroll)....DAVID GOT A JOB AND HE STARTS ON MONDAY!!!! He found out this morning and I was all thinking about it when I started my run so my heart wasn't really in the run but I gave it some effort anyway. Target was 3x2 at 6:52 pace with brisk recoveries. I didn't quite hit the pace but I'm not too worried about it. ITB felt fine(yeah!) but running fast felt weird--as if I was suddenly 6 inches taller and my torso was disconnected from my legs. When I got the sports massage Saturday the therapist told me it would mess with my proprioception so I wonder if this is what she was talking about--I only noticed it during the fast miles. 2 mile warm-up 9:47, 9:04(wow not feeling it)
2 mile tempo 6:59, 6:47 .5 at 4:00(8:00 pace) 2 mile tempo 6:57, 6:57(ummm at least it's consistent) .5 in 4:05(8:10 pace) 2 mile tempo 7:01, 7:00(lame-o) 1 mile cool down 8:03 one circuit of strengthening drills, including some ITB exercises Now I am off to eat ice cream with my husband to CELEBRATE!
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| | 8:46 average pace. It was an all-terrain run today. It included 2 miles of cross-country including my neighbor's yards, pastures, rocks, forrested area, grass, leaves, and around the pond. I also ran about 5 miles on the hilliest local dirt roads and 3 on asphalt. I could feel the presence of my ITB but it wasn't "bugging" so an improvement. I have another job interview on Friday for a great 8-5 M-F clinic job. That would be AWESOME! No more nights, evenings, holidays, or weekends. | |
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8:16 average pace. Felt great today! The sun was out, I was running in SHORTS, ITB wasn't bothering me, just an all around nice feeling. I hope I feel this way for my 20-mile fast finish run tomorrow! Did some abs and some ITB and hip strengthening exercises afterward.
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| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 8.06 |
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| | First 20-miler in a long run! It was supposed to be a progressive long run with the last 6 miles progressing 7:45x2,7:35x2,7:25x2. I didn't finish quite as strong as I would have liked but the wind was causing me to struggle with the pace. There was quite a strong headwind from the south that I would loop into for about half the run and I would really have to fight to keep a faster pace. I would break out of the wind and try to make up for lost time but the last 4 miles fatigue was definitely messing with my head a bit. Drank about 40oz of gatorade throughout the run for fuel but I am starting to think that may have been insufficient-especially since my last gatorade stop was at mile 14, I really could've used another one later on. The sun was out and it was 67 degrees! I wore shorts and a tank top and sunscreen! I haven't been this hot on a run in a long time! :) After my 20 miles was finished I wasn't home yet and I was beat so I stopped and walked a quarter mile and then realized my head was getting foggy and if I wanted a drink anytime soon I better at least jog so I staggered another .5 home at about 9:30 pace. Splits: 8:51, 8:47, 8:45, 8:31, 8:30, 8:13, 8:20, 8:03, 7:51, 8:10, 8:14, 8:19, 8:29, 8:22, 7:45, 7:49, 7:28, 7:40, 7:31, 7:20 --8:09 average pace. Goal for my 22 mile progressive run in two weeks is to beat the 8:00 girl. Oh yeah and my ITB didn't bug me at all!:)
And, in other news, my interview went GREAT and I am scheduled for a second one on Tuesday!!!
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| | 8:37 average pace. Lovely morning run with the tribe,almost everyone was there! Did a few faster 7:30 miles with Gary and Eddy and then fell back and ran with the rest of the group. My legs weren't sore from yesterday's 20-miler so I guess that is a good sign that I am getting more fit. I do have a new black toenail though. My feet are getting grosser and grosser. |
| Mizuno Waverider 12 Miles: 10.03 |
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| | Now that David is back to work I have to be a little more creative to get my miles in. That's cool. 5 am--6.2 bleary-eyed pre-coffee straight out of bed miles. Started at a rickety 9:30 pace and ended at 7:41 pace. 8:37 average. Home in time to kiss David off to his first day at his new job. Rousted the kids out of bed and got them all off to the bus stop for school. Next fed and dressed Vanessa after a little Bible-reading and we drove into town. 8 am--5.62 miles in the dreary drizzle with Vanessa in the stroller, but it was fifty degrees and Vanessa happily played with the flashlight and ate her granola bar while I ran around town. Slowed down at mile 5 and ran a mile with two ladies, both named Wendy. I rarely see other runners so this was a treat. Back to the car to drive our soaking wet selves home for a warm shower. 8:34 average pace.
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| | 7:42 average pace. Was supposed to do 5x2 at MP but only had time for 4x2 because I had to sandwich my run between getting the kids to school and going to my interview(which went well). warm up 2, 9:17, 8:27 2 at MP 7:23, 7:22 .5 recovery at 8:02 pace 2 at MP 7:25, 7:23 .5 recovery at 8:02 pace 2 at MP 7:05, 7:12 .5 recovery at 8:10 pace 2 at MP 7:14, 7:12 .5 cooldown at 8:10 pace 20 minutes to transform into a polished professional in a business suit and heels and into the car. Felt pretty good today, wish I had time for the 5th interval, I don't think I would have had a hard time with it.
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| | Drove into town and did another stroller run today. 8:29 average pace. It wouldn't have been too chilly except for the wind and Vanessa was getting tired of the stroller so the third time we ran by Sonic I called it quits and got her some tater tots and then walked the two blocks to my car. Came home and did two circuits of strength drills and some abs. Hopefully tomorrow is a little warmer or at least not so windy so Vanessa will tolerate more stroller riding if I punctuate it with playground stops where she plays and I run laps. There are 3 different playgrounds I can hit on my route in town. Off to drop her off at my mom's and go to work.
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| | 5am--came awful early after getting off work at midnight. 6.2 semi-conscious miles in the dark at a sputtering 9:01 pace. Got the kids off to school, waited for Vanessa to wake up and eat breakfast, and then 4.5 in the stroller at 8:57 pace. It was chilly and windy but I bundled her up and she was a trooper. She requested some tater tots from Sonic at the end and I was happy to oblige. Tater tots from Sonic a few days a week are much cheaper than a babysitter or a gym membership, and I like my little running partner anyways! stroller+28 pound child+uphill+headwind=who needs speedwork that was enough! | |
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Won't be running until David gets home from work this evening, and the plan is just a super-easy 10. I have the "fight for air stair climb" race tomorrow morning. I am on a team with the Sedgwick county Paramedics and there are like 20 of us. It's chip timed and basicially you climb stairs, run a lap around the arena, climb to the next floor, run a lap, go back down, run a lap, and go to the bottom--repeat this circuit 3x for a total of 9 arena laps and 400+ stairs up. I will do my best for my team although I am not much of a sprinter! I figure I will take it easy on the stairs for a breather and then burn the laps as fast as I can. Total course distance is 1.98 miles. Should be interesting! I will call it my speedwork for the week! So far we are the biggest team and have raised the most money so it's kinda cool. It benefits the American Lung Association and having smoked the majority of my adult life I am cool with helping that organization out. Was tempted to weigh myself today out of curiousity and then decided NO it was pointless and right now I feel good and fit in my clothes so that stupid number does not matter and I do not need to know. Update: pm 10 at 8:24 pace, last mile at MP 7:24. Fierce headwind from the north.
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| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Race: |
Fight for Air Stair Climb (1.98 Miles) 00:14:24, Place in age division: 2 | |
Did the stair climb today with my co-workers on the Sedgwick County EMS Paramedics team. Almost 20 of us came out to do it. It was a benefit for the American Lung Association and our team raised the most money. Don't know my time or place--just took a wild guess--it was chip-timed with staggered starts so no results will be posted until Monday. It was at the arena so you climbed stairs to the second floor, ran around, climbed to the third, ran around, went down to the second again, ran around, and then down to the bottom. repeatx2 for a total of 3 circuits. A lot of people were getting confused and cutting out laps or running extra laps so the finishing times will be messed up but oh well. People that I had lapped several times over were finishing right behind me so I know they didn't do all the laps. It wasn't an all out effort for me but definitely a good hard one as my calves and chest were burning a bit at the end. .5 mile warm-up with strides. 1.98 mile race. Drove home, and then out for my scheduled 16 mile training run--the real work today. Coming back in the headwind was tough and I must've been fatigued from the morning race because around mile 13 my legs turned to rubber and I felt like I was bonking. The headwind was beating me up. I thought about calling it a day and then thought about how going North in my April marathon I am likely to hit this same headwind. So, I decided I would beat the run, the run would not beat me, and was pleasantly surprised that I was able to force my rubbery legs to hold steady. 7:43 average pace for the 16, splits 8:00, 7:48, 7:25, 7:24, 7:24, 7:50, 8:02, 7:58, 7:50, 7:40, 7:36, 7:35, 7:38, 7:51, 7:40, 7:40. Ran this all on dirt roads to give my joints a break. Stopped and walked half a mile, wanted to get home faster, so finally mustered up the will to break into a jog. 1.08 at 9:18 pace for a cool down. Update: 14:24 well I guess with the stairs that is alright. Supposedly I got second in my age group but who really knows haha
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| | Walked a loop in my boots starting by the barn, down through the pasture and along the barbed wire fence and tree line and back up by the barn, turn and run around the neighbor's pond, across the property line and around our "yard" and back down the drive. Came out to .57 mile. There were too many sticks and sharp objects around the pond, but decided I would give the rest of it an experimental go. Kicked of my boots and minced barefoot, barely at a jog, back down the pasture. My husband has cleared as much of this as he could but there were still sharp stumps of shrubs and rocks and branches, especially by the fence. Came up out of the pasture and hit the soft grass by the property lines and was able to pick it up to a real run, about 7:45 pace. It definitely felt free and light and there is definitely a form change when running barefoot. .35 mile for this loop after cutting out the pond. The bottoms of my feet were stinging from the pasture, but no open wounds. I am a tenderfoot, but I hear feet toughen up quick. We shall see. More experiments to follow. I just finished reading "Born to Run" and enjoyed it! | |
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| | Really, I should re-title this blog "how a desperate mother fits her runs in" because the lengths I am going to seem almost absurd. 5am--6.24 at 8:43 pace so I can make it home before David goes to work. So David is off to work and it is spring break but older kids are off to camps and stuff and I can't really leave a 10,8, and 2 year old home alone and go very far. Vanessa had issues with her asthma this weekend so outdoor stroller running is out. The solution? I will call it the "Gochenour property trail loop". Start at the back door, run down to the end of the pasture, turn along the barbed-wire fence, run back up the pasture, turn and go around the neighbor's pond, cut across both our property lines, cruises across the north side of the yard, past the back door, and repeat. It is about .5 mile per loop, and entails grass of various lengths, tree stumps, mud, and a little rolling up and down. It is also within eyesight and shouting distance of the house. 8am. loopx6, reversed directions halfway through. 3 miles at 8:32 pace. Gotta work late tonight, will not get up at 5 tomorrow. I wonder if I will be able to stomach 20 loops tomorrow? | |
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| | Bribed our oldest Brandon into coming over this morning and sitting with the younger kids in exchange for a massive homemade breakfast when I finished. Today's workout was 3x3 at MP with 1/2 mile brisk recoveries. Went south into town, around town, and back north to my house. The last set was rolling hills(nothing steep though) into the headwind on dirt and it felt a lot harder than what MP should feel like. In fact, while this workout was not extremely difficult it was not easy either. Is MP supposed to feel easy at this point? Will it feel easier on fresh legs after a taper? 2 mile warm up 9:32, 8:59 man I am creaky like an old woman at the beginning of my runs 3 at MP 7:25, 7:13, 7:09
.5 recovery in 3:56(7:52 pace) 3 at MP 7:19, 7:18, 7:20 .5 recovery at 4:06(8:12 pace) 3 at MP 7:26, 7:26, 7:22 7:45 overall average pace
.71 cooldown at 8:09 pace and I am at the back door so good enough. I need to make good on breakfast and I bet the kids are getting hungry--I know I am absolutely starving and thirsty. We had whole wheat pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, and sunny delight and I am STUFFED!
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| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 12.71 |
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| | 8:27 average pace for 6.54 miles of pasture-pond trail loops at home. 14 of them. Ugh. The boredom is definitely a factor. These feel like hard work today. Some of that is because the ground is uneven and I have to pick my feet up more than my usual low-to-the-ground shuffle or I will trip. Then I went barefoot for a quarter mile of strides and jogs. The grass was cold and pokey and I am a huge tenderfooted wimp. It will be a loooong time for me to build to even just a mile barefoot. After the marathon in April when it warms up I will look more into the barefoot thing as a training tool. Came in and did two circuits of strength drills and a little bit of abs. | |
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| | It was sunny today so I took Nick, Ian, and Vanessa to the track and roared 33 laps for an honest 8 miles at 7:26 average pace. Whoops! Impromptu near-marathon pace tempo. I figured the kids would get bored and make me cut it short so I was booking along to get in as many miles as I could but then they discovered the sand. Ha! Now the long jump pit is full of sandcastles and holes and roads and when I finished up the kids did NOT want to leave--they wanted to build more sand castles. Off to work. |
| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 8.00 |
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| | The run that wasn't. Thought I would be slick and take the kids to the track again today. It was windy, and the sand blew into Vanessa's eyes twice and she had a complete meltdown. So much for that. I may try to run a little bit again this evening when my husband gets home but may not--we have a lot to do. I have a 22 miler tomorrow morning I may just give up for today. Blah. |
| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 2.50 |
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| | BLIZZARD! The wind was howling and the snow was blowing when I got up today. I wondered if anyone from the tribe would even show up, and figured I would cut the run short today. Well, Eddy showed up, and the two of us disappeared into the blowing snow. The north wind was brutal, but when it was at our backs the world was almost silent. Eddy got me through almost 13 miles and my first ever gu in my life at mile 9(gross), and then we were back at our cars. We took a quick picture to prove to the rest of the tribe that we were out there today. I figured I had gone this far, why not 8 more? So, I went down central on my own toward my mom's apartment 3.5 miles away. The footing was okay as long as I stayed where there was some snow for traction. There were a few icy spots and little slips but I never fell. I bagged the idea of keeping a certain pace and just tried to rock steady and not fall on my face. Made it to mom's and surprised her by knocking on the door and asking for a cup of water. She thought I had lost my mind as I did gu number two, drank some water, and took back off into the snow. She checked her weather application and informed me it was 27 degrees with 20-40mph winds and I was crazy. I felt great when I made it back to my car and had enough gas in the tank I could have easily kept going. Conclusion: gu is nasty but it is better fuel than gatorade and it doesn't upset my stomach, so I will be using it from now on. I am thinking 3 them for my marathon at miles 7,14, and 21. Average pace 7:58(YEAH I beat the 8:00 girl today) Splits: 8:54, 8:18, 8:06, 7:59, 8:10, 8:04, 7:52, 7:58, 7:53, 7:51, 7:24, 8:00, 7:49, 7:44, 7:48, 7:54, 7:46, 7:54, 7:47, 7:59
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| | 5am. Another pre-coffee blurry run. 8:20 pace. This is all I have time for today since I have a job interview and I have to go to work. Hopefully I can bribe Brandon with breakfast again tomorrow so I can get a good workout in. | |
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| | 7:33 average pace. The Brandon-breakfast-bribe worked and he showed up at 8 to watch Vanessa and I took off. Objective was 2x4 at marathon pace. 2 mile warm up 8:25, 8:27 4 at MP 7:28(umm still warming up), 7:17, 7:17, 7:08 .5 mile at 3:56(7:52 pace) 4 at MP 7:16, 7:14, 7:12, 7:10 1 mile cool down 7:47 At first MP felt hard but once my body warmed up to the pace I was actually quite comfortable. Today's workout makes me feel really really good about a 3:15 here in a few weeks! Came home and cooked Brandon chocolate chip wheat pancakes and over-easy eggs. I had a few too, more like a lot. Yummm
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| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 11.50 |
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| | My toddler is one tolerant little gal. Got up, got the kids off to school, drove into town, did 6.5 in the stroller, stopped at sonic, got tater tots, spent 20 minutes eating them down the block at Grandmas, then ran a few more in the stroller. 8:11 pace for the whole thing. Came home, one circuit of strength drills and now I need to get to work. | |
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| | Drove to my best friend Kim's house out west--she has a treadmill. Vanessa and Lexi(my goddaughter) played and I ran. Started out at 7.1mph whatever that means for .67, then the cord thing fell off and the treadmill shut down. Got it all figured out a few minutes later and ran 9.5 more at 8:05 average pace. Whew neither the basement nor the treadmill had a fan, and my sweat levels were approaching Burt caliber. Kim's mom was there and she graciously brought me a towel so I could mop myself off every once in a while. Treadmill running stinks but at least I got to run.
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| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 10.17 |
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| | a.m. got the kids off to school, drove to Sedgwick County Park and did 4 miles with Vanessa in the stroller. The wind is vicious today and Vanessa was getting upset and saying it hurt her eyes so we didn't do more. 7:51average pace for these. We went and got some ice cream and had girl talk afterward p.m. Family pizza. Went out on a very full stomach for 6 more. Felt like being weird and so did a mile that felt fast but controlled just to see how it felt on such a full stomach. 6:16 for this mile. It actually felt pretty easy, although I was burping the taste of pizza the rest of the run I didn't feel sick. 8:01 average pace. Long, relaxed run in the 20-mile range with the tribe tomorrow.
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| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 10.00 |
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| | 7:54 average pace. Ode to Eddy, a.k.a. "Flash"--we started out with the rest of the Tribe and then took off a little faster. My goal was to hang with Eddy as best as I could. We mutually agreed to pick it up at the turnaround and then really pick it up to the low 7's for the last 6 miles. Eddy is an animal! In the last 6 we would take turns surging to keep the pace strong, up until the last .5 when Eddy unleashed a killer kick and dropped me like a hot coal for the finish. My not-so-valiant effort to stay with him did net me a sub-7:00 final mile--a good way to finish a long run. I practiced gu-ing while running and ended up taking 3 gu's. My stomach held up fine. Two weeks! I guess now it is time to taper. Splits: 9:40, 8:26, 8:00, 8:02, 8:16, 8:12, 8:19, 8:12, 8:08, 7:59, 7:57, 7:52, 7:48, 7:58, 7:45, 7:38, 7:32, 7:13, 7:19, 7:20, 7:12, 6:59, .07 at 6:57 pace.
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| | Feeling good today! I don't seem to have any damage from yesterday's long run--maybe the slightest bit of stiffness if I have been sitting for a while but no soreness. That to me is a good sign. So I am tossing about in my head what to do for the next 14 days, and how much to taper. Considering that I am not injured and feel pretty good, I am thinking I don't need too drastic of a taper. So I was thinking of something like this: M--6 easy T--14-15 easy W--6 in the stroller easy TH--6 stroller easy F--workout! 2x3 fast(6:52 pace) Sat--10 easy with the tribe =52 total miles Race week M--6 easy T--8 with last 3 at MP W--4 stroller easy TH off!! F--2 easy Sat--RACE Overtapering, undertapering, does it look about right? Any suggestions are welcome. I may throw this on the discussion forum as well.
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| | 5 am, 8:57 pace. Not much zip in my legs at this hour. | |
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| | A leisurely 8:24 pace. The Brandon breakfast bribe worked again! I enjoyed running longish without thinking about any particular pace. I just listened to music and enjoyed the sun. I did note the strong south wind, and looking at the extended forecast with no small dismay, I am quite certain my marathon will involve some significant time-killing headwinds. Hopefully they don't tear me up too bad and the finish is a tailwind. Breakfast was whole wheat french toast, bacon, and eggs. Shamefully delicious! |
| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 14.38 |
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| | 8:43 pace on zero incline on Kim's treadmill. I was exhausted from yesterday's events. I was at work when my husband called and said he had gotten a call from our 15 year old saying the house was on fire. He told Jesse to get Nick and Ian and get out of the house. He was stuck in traffic and couldn't get there and for a while we didn't know if the kids were okay or not. My partner drove me in the ambulance to my house. We all got there about the same time. Turns out him and Ian had been sitting in the living room when he looked up and couldn't see out the window because of thick smoke. He called David and then him and Ian ran out of the house and found Nick by the attached garage which had flames wrapped around it. Nick and Ian ran to the neighbors and Jesse got the hose and started watering the fire. The fire department told us that with the wind howling the way it was yesterday, we would have lost the house if Jesse hadn't acted so quickly. Nick was playing with matches he got out of an old MRE he found in the garage and had started the fire. He had some singed eyelashes and hair but no burns and was okay. He is in soooo much trouble but at least everyone is alive and well and I am very grateful. We lost a few garage walls but that is nothing, it could have been a lot worse. |
| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 6.00 |
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So far nothing. I'm totally exhausted. Got home from work at midnight, and within 30 minutes Vanessa was coughing and crying and our long night began. I squeezed a few hours of sleep in sometime before 6 when I had to get the boys up and get them out the door for school. This morning Vanessa is tethered to a nebulizer and I am cursing that my poor girl just can't even get a few months break from these breathing issues. I have to work tonight, so the plan is 6 miles easy on the treadmill after work. If I can get motivated I will do some core work and strength drills before work but so far I am sitting on the couch staring at the tv with Vanessa and my motivation is non-existent. We look like little blonde twins with messy bedheads and matching dark circles under our eyes.
Update: 2 sets of strength drills before work--it was good to get the blood flowing. After work went to building 1 and cranked the treadmill up to 8:34 pace, ran for 45 minutes
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| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 5.30 |
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| | 7:32 average pace. Goal was 2x3 at fast tempo(6:52ish pace) with .5 brisk recovery. It was over 70 degrees today and windy--I am not used to the heat. Night 2 of up-all-night with Vanessa is under my belt. I got home at 1am from work and run and was up until 2am with her, and then up at again at 6:20am to get the boys off to school. I did take a nap today, though. Anyways, I went out way too fast for the first set of 3, and payed dearly in the second set, which started uphill into the wind. I spent the whole first mile of the second set contemplating abandoning the workout, using my exhausting week as an excuse, but then I thought of MichelleL's recent blog and decided I would at least put forth the effort, even if the result was sub-optimal. The last mile I even found a little gumption to run in the low 6's and get it back under 7 minutes. Not my best workout, but I am glad I hung on and did it anyway. 2 mile warm up 8:57, 8:34 3 mile tempo 6:51, 6:29, 6:44 (6:41 average too fast)
.5 recovery in 4:10(8:20 pace) 3 mile tempo 7:20, 7:16, 6:56 (7:10 average...ugly) 1 mile cooldown 8:11 If you put all the splits for the tempo miles together I averaged 6:56, so I'll take that as close enought to hitting my target and call it good.
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| | 8:34 average pace. Nice morning run with the tribe! Afterwards I drove to the Easter Sun Run 10k and cheered for a tribe member and my sister-in-law. They did really good. The guy who won it ran it in 29 something. Wow! That is amazing, especially considering that course is not particularly fast with all the corners it turns. The girl won in 35 something. Wow! 7 days to the marathon. Deep breath. Now I really need to just rest. | |
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| | Happy Easter! Mine has been wonderful! We went to a great sunrise service and then breakfast, gave the kids easter baskets at home, then went to Grandma's for cabbage rolls, and for dinner are heading to firehouse 11 for spaghetti with the tribe--my marathon send-off. 6 days. I am excited and a little nervous. This taper week may very nearly kill me. I want that 3:15 so bad I can taste it. Oh how I hope the wind is not blowing. I have a plan B though for a windy day--if I can't make the time, I am going for place. After looking at winning times over the past years I have a shot at top 3 and some money, so I am going for it regardless of time. Maybe I am fooling myself but I feel good about my training. So, I just need everything else to fall in place. | |
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| | Ran for about 36 minutes easy--Garmin was dead so just checked the time coming in and going out and did mapmyrun. This makes 7:39 pace. Whoops. Really I was trying to take it easy. The tribe spaghetti dinner was pretty crazy last night. Everyone had signed a good luck card for me and they gave me a goody bag with gu, motrin, and other miscellaneous runner items and a pair of nice black sleeves. I'm quite touched and a little embarassed. Seems like too much fuss over me. Wow! They are too nice! 5 days. |
| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 4.87 |
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| | 8:17 average pace. Dress rehearsal day! 2 mile warm-up, 3 at marathon effort, 1.5 cooldown. I had to majorly adjust expectations since today was officially NIGHTMARE marathon conditions. According to weather.com, the conditions for my run were 82 degrees, with a 36mph south wind gusting at 43mph. I have nothing good to say about running straight into a 36mph headwind. I ran on the rolling dirt hills by my house. warm up 8:56, 8:56 then start my tempo straight into the headwind 8:10(GEEEEEZ), turn out into 3/4 tail, 1/4 side(7:26), then uphill side wind, then down, then up(7:32). cool down 8:27, 8:39 pace for .51. I stayed relaxed and just tried to maintain marathon EFFORT, but not necessarily target pace. I felt like a freaking leaf blowing all over the place and I was HOT. It's okay, this let me practice my contingency plan for the marathon come Saturday. If the wind is there to kill us, then I am going to go out conservative and relaxed and let the jackrabbits go kill themselves in the wind, then once we hit the turnaround and they have worn themselves out I will move in for the kill. Grrrr
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It's official, I have a cold. I felt a little soreness in my throat yesterday and tried to be in denial but here it is. My options today were get up at 5am to run 4 miles, or sleep in until it was time to get the kids to school. I opted to sleep in. Maybe I will run a few after work tonight to keep from getting too stale. Maybe I will not. Yesterday's windy run was discouraging. Weather forecast shows a 17mph south wind for Saturday, but overnight Friday night is 9mph so I am hoping that at 7am for the first half of the marathon it won't be quiet 17mph yet. I hope. I hope. Excuse me while I go blow my nose, pound the Emergen-C, and look for my mojo. Update: midnight after work, 4 miles on the treadmill. ran at 8:34 pace except for several brief accelerations to 7:25, then 6:40, then 6;00 pace to stretch the legs a little.
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| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 4.00 |
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Alright here I am--48 hours before showtime. No run today! All that stands between me and the big M is a dinky little two miler tomorrow sometime. I still have a cold, but it is not a bad one. Nothing but positive thoughts from here out! I'm just going to get out there and have a good time, and run like I'm free! I'm going to break this race up mentally the same way I did last time--into 5 sections--4x5-mile sections followed by a 10k.
Update: In an attempt to calm my nerves I have gone back and carefully reviewed my training. I noticed that while my long runs and MP runs were very strong throughout, my speedwork has not been spectacular. This tells me that I have to be very very careful not to run too close to my threshold. In other words, if I want my 3:15 then it is IMPERATIVE that I run fairly even splits and do not go out too fast. If I go out too fast then my second half has big disaster potential. So I am thinking I should go out ultra conservative, maybe 7:30/miles for the first 5 mile chunk, move to target 7:25 pace for the next 15 miles, and then hammer down in the last 10k. No trying to put minutes in the bank! If I shave off time it needs to be in the last 10k while I buckle down. Regardless, if I don't have the steam to hammer it in the last 10k, I should at least have the steam to maintain and get a 3:15--if I play it safe in the first half.
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| | My cold got worse and worse at work last night. I can't breathe through my nose, my throat is on fire, and I am hacking up green snot. I don't have a fever, though. So, this is just a virus. I took half a dose of nyquil and 400mg of motrin at bedtime, then washed it down with a cup of chamomile tea, rendering me unconscious for almost 6 hours. Now me and Vanessa are on the couch again and my plan is to spend most of my day on this couch hydrating. I believe this is the peak so I should be feeling a ton better tomorrow(I hope). When David gets home from work we will be heading up to Abilene to stay the night and the kids are going to Grandma's. Maybe I will have moved enough by then to pack. This is just a hiccup. I keep telling myself that I am strong and healthy and I will have this kicked by tomorrow. If I rest all day and eat and drink well I shouldn't be in any kind of weakened state either. Right? | |
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Eisenhower Marathon (26.2 Miles) 03:18:37, Place overall: 1, Place in age division: 1 | | Man I am happy! Really really happy! As bad as I felt last night I just didn't know how this was going to go. I didn't make the time that I trained for, but last night I was questioning if I would even start or finish. I had finally come to the conclusion that I was going to go out very conservative--slower then planned, and then pick it up at the halfway point if I felt okay. I don't know if the slow start hurt me or saved me! Either way it worked out and I have $500 in my pocket that I didn't have before and I finally got to break the tape! Pre-race: As we drove to the hotel I was miserable--hacking, congested, sore throat. Ugh. Didn't take any cold medicine because I knew it would stay in my system too long and make me groggy. I did take 2 motrin to ease the sore throat, drank a cup of chamomile tea, and crawled into bed. at 9:30. Nighttime: Bad. We would have been better off sleeping in the car. The bed sagged in the middle, the pillows were really flat, I couldn't breathe through my nose, and our neighbor upstairs sure did a lot of walking around. We tossed and turned all night, and gave up at 3:30 am. We turned on the television and watched the news and brewed some coffee. At 5:30 we left for the starting line. We were there by 6am. I choked down a few cups of water, a banana, and half a bagle. I could breathe better through my nose when upright, so I was a little hopeful. 10 minutes before the race, last year's winner asked if I wanted to warm up with her and we jogged around a little and then got on the line. Just as the sun came up, the gun went off. I pulled my sunglasses over my eyes, and we were off. 1-4: 7:09, 7:33, 7:25, 7:31 Lezlee takes off. I am holding back--I am going to stay conservative and run the first half holding back and see how this is going to go. Right at around mile 4 I catch up to Lezlee again and we run about the next 8 miles together and chat. She is really nice! 5-12: 7:35, 7:31, 7:36, 7:36, 7:38, 7:30, 7:42, 7:31 Lezlee has a hamstring injury that is starting to bother her and she starts to slow down. I decide to open up a little bit and pull ahead. I hit the turn around feeling decent in 1:39 something so I try to pick it up. 13-20: 7:25, 7:33, 7:44, 7:29, 7:21, 7:21, 7:14, 7:20 I run miles 13 and 14 alone but can hear a loud group of men coming up behind me. I decide when they get to me I am going to latch on and hang for the ride. They catch me at 14. Most of them are going for sub 3:20--sounds good to me! I chat with Greg who is drying to BQ, and Hawk from iceland. As we reach mile 20 fatigue is setting in and nobody is talking much. One guy announces that the second half of the marathon has begun. So true! I wonder how far behind me the other women are. 21-22: 7:21, 7:29 Our group splinters. Greg and one other guy pull ahead, two guys fall back. Me and Hawk from iceland stay together. We are not talking much anymore but I am glad to not be running alone. I feel the sense of impending crash. At mile 22 I suck down a gu, hoping it saves me. 23-24: 7:45, 7:59 Nosing up against the wall and fading now. This was the worst part. My legs hurt, my mental stamina is suffering, the air is thick and I feel like I am swimming instead of running. Me and Hawk share the water bottle he is carrying--such a nice guy! As we turn down the home straightaway the radio station guy asks me how to pronounce my last name, tells me I am the lead lady, and wishes me luck. 25-26: 7:44, 7:43 Maybe the gu is kicking in but mentally I begin to feel better. I can win this, and that is what I am thinking about right now. I try to rally and push my stiff legs as fast as they will go. I can win this. I can win this. Somewhere in mile 26 Hawk fades back, but he yells at me "you go girl!". The radio station guy is driving in a truck next to me. .2 I forgot to stop my watch and the Garmin is measuring a little long anyway. All I know is I see the finish banner. I try to do some kind of pathetic sprint and then I am running through red tape and it is over! I threw my arms up and whooped. They cut my chip off, put a medal around my neck,put the blanket on my shoulders, and I walk over to my husband. He hugs me and my legs seize up a little bit so I lean on him but after a few minutes I can walk again. Aftermath: Got interviewed by the local radio station and a couple local papers. So crazy! After a while I am hacking up a lung but I only coughed once during the race. I got $500 and two medals and an Eisenhower head statue thing and a sweet shirt. 2nd and 3rd were 9 and 10 minutes behind me. The second place woman this was her first marathon and she had to do all her training on a treadmill! wow! Our friend Amy finally BQed with five minutes to spare! It was a good day! I am ready to take some cold medicine and collapse now!
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| | Pretty sore! I'm still doing the post-marathon hobble, groaning when I have to get up after sitting down, and going backwards down stairs. I think soreness really does peak the second day after--so I should be feeling good tomorrow. I started my vacation week yesterday with lots of housecleaning and a barbecue with friends--great fun! Their two youngest boys and our two youngest boys got completely covered in mud in the creek and our friend Tyson hosed them off before they could come in the house and run to the tub and they were running around and shrieking in the cold water--it was pretty hilarious. My husband video taped it and they got to re-live the moment watching themselves on video. Good times! | |
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| | 9:18 average pace. I am still stiff and sore but decided to dust my legs off and warm them up a bit so I could get some good stretching in. 50 crunches, some planks, and some tea stands afterward. It actually felt good to get things moving. Yesterday I went to the running store and 30 minutes later walked out with a pair of racing flats--adidas adizero mana-- I am going to start some experimenting, maybe in a 5k in a few weeks, although I doubt I will have recovered much in the way of speed by then.
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| | 9:17 average pace. Don't have my legs back yet. I totally enjoyed plodding along on my soft dirt roads, though. Did a little core work and some push-ups afterward and stretched. Me and Vanessa and my mother did lots of walking at the zoo earlier today. Unfortunately a bird in the aviary dropped a huge bomb on my mother's hair--she was NOT amused. Out of all the exotic and exciting animals we saw today, Vanessa's favorite was....drumroll...goats! I could've showed her all the goats she ever wanted in walking distance from home.... |
| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 6.27 |
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a.m. Me and Vanessa are at Kim's watching Lexi. Did 4.5 at 8:30 pace on the treadmill. I think I'm starting to get my legs back. Planning on more this p.m. Job interview at 2! p.m. 4 at 7:57 average pace in my new nike avants. I am in love with those shoes! They are light yet have just enough cushion to protect my feet! Oh they feel great! I got the job! I will be working home health, mostly setting my own hours, starting in two weeks. Monday I put my two weeks notice in to EMS, but I am going to stay on part time because I am just not quite ready to give up my beloved ambulance. I have worked on one for 8 years and I am afraid to stop cold turkey.
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| | 8:18 average pace. Felt pretty good, but I am really bloated and a little nauseous, I am thinking it is from the food I ate today at lunch with my friend Sarah. I turned in my two weeks notice today to the director and almost cried. He told me I could still work part time and could come back full time if I ever decided to and I always had a home there. Sniff. :( It will be a good thing for my family for sure but this job and the people I have worked with are like family, we have been through a lot together. Looks like the next few weeks will be emotional and my last day is April 29th. Then I will have to hand over my Lieutenant bars and the keys. April 29th is also my daughters 3rd birthday so we will have a celebration also! My how life changes! | |
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| | 8:42 average pace with the tribe. They are gearing up for the OKC marathon next weekend. I hope they meet their goals! Went and ate breakfast with Wendy afterwards. We did a lot of talking and it was good to bond with another woman who is trying to be a better Christian/mother/friend. We even got emotional and sniffled a little bit. She is an awesome person and I am so excited that she is my friend! It was really a breath of fresh air. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 10.00 |
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5 am: 6.21 at 7:55 average pace. Back to the grind again. Legs are no longer sore but I'm not sure about having decent 5k speed this weekend. I will try some strides tomorrow to wake up the fast twitchers. Planning on a few with Vanessa in the stroller later. Thinking about all you Boston runners today! Best wishes! 8 am: 4.07 at 8:22 pace with Vanessa after getting the boys off to school. We of course did the obligatory Sonic tater tot stop.
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 4.07 | Crappy Asics Miles: 6.21 |
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| | 7:53 average pace. It was a gorgeous morning so I decided to touch base with 5k pace a little bit. 7.14 miles first 8:28, 7:55, 7:54, 8:00, 8:04, 7:55, 7:37, .14 at 8:05 pace than popped into the sienna ranch addition and did about a mile loop with random accelerations of 5k pace, usually from mailbox to mailbox, with jogging to full recovery between. 33 seconds at 6:14 pace, 28 @ 6:06, 24 @ 6:07, 22 @ 5:53, 39 @ 6:03, 40 @ 5:20, 20 @ 5:47. then cooled down 1.45 7:59, .46 at 7:33 pace. Not much stretching afterward because I was in a hurry--had to shower me and bathe Vanessa, take Jesse to the doctor, pick up Lexi while Kim went to her job interview, drop Jesse off at school, take Lexi and Vanessa over to Kim's and then off to work. It always feels like I have a full day before I ever even get to work. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 10.00 |
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| | 8:33 AP with Vanessa in the stroller. We ran 5 then stopped at the playground and I did a circuit of strength drills while she ate her dinosaur snack and played. Then we played a little more, and then ran some more, passing sonic, so I dished out my $1.07 for the obligatory tator tots. Dinosaur gummies and tater tots, the breakfast of champions. | |
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| | 8:31 AP stroller miles with my plucky little running partner. Ran 5, stopped at the playground and worked on abs while she played, then ran 2 more and got our tater tots. She sang a lot of songs for me today--totally awesome! It is a lot easier than me gasping out songs for her mid-run! |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 7.00 |
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| | 8:18 AP. Busy day--orientation at my new job in home health. Although learning all the paperwork is a bit daunting, I think I am going to really like this job. I get to work pretty much independently, work around my schedule with my family, and I will really enjoy working with my clients to get them healthier and keep them out of the hospital and out of nursing homes. There is a lot of teaching involved with patients but I like to do that. There are a few procedures that I do not have much experience with but they seem willing to teach so I am not too worried about those. This job is definitely right up my alley. Anyways busy day and not much time for a run. Did 5 surges of practice 5k race pace during the run. No pressure for the 5k tomorrow I am just going to break in those new racing flats and run however I feel like at the moment. | |
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Emma Creek womens classic (3.1 Miles) 00:20:23, Place overall: 2, Place in age division: 1 | |
I am clearly not the type who can recover from a marathon and run a 5k well two weeks later. That is my excuse and I am sticking to it. Big underperformance. First mile in 6:23, came through the two mile mark in 12:59, then rolled over and died. I am hoping that this is more like my 10k speed in two weeks at the river run. Perhaps I will have my mojo back by then. I am still glad I went--it was free entry since I was second last year and I got second again. It is a really awesome all women's 5k and the atmosphere is very cool! My sister-in-law Sasha got first in her age group and a pr so she was happy! The racing flats seemed to be okay, my feet don't hurt, but they sure didn't make me any faster, at least not today. I will try them again at the 10k in a few weeks! The course is pancake flat and is a good PR course so I would really like to be sub-41. I would love even more to be sub-40 but if I can't even break 20 today in a 5k then that ain't going to happen! I am thinking about going and running some more miles in a little bit since it is naptime. updated: 5.57 mile shakout run at 8:15 AP.
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 5.57 | Adidas Adizero Mana Miles: 6.50 |
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| | 5 am. 7:43 average pace. Started slow at a 9 minute mile and felt terrible and tired, and my calves were really tight, but after 3 miles suddenly snapped out of it and ran the rest of the way in the low 7's. Now I feel pretty good. This week is going to be a nightmare with my last week at my old job, more orientation at my new job, and all the shuttling with the kids plus my husband is working mandatory overtime. It will be hard to get much running in. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 6.67 |
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7:40 AP. Ugly, ugly attempt at speedwork today. I want to become friends with 6:00 pace and perhaps build a relationship, and I want to try out these racing flats more, and the kids didn't have school today so despite a little wind we all headed to the track. I strapped on the go-fasters and warmed up a mile, then started. I was going for a dirty dozen--12x400 in 90 seconds with 200 meter recovery. First one was slow because my hair fell out and I had to put it back in a ponytail while I was running.
91, 90, 90, 91(calves are already burning), 91, 92(oh my calves, 200 meters is not enough to recover anymore), 93(walked part of the 200 recovery after this to shake my calves out), 89. Vanessa needed a pody break, bless her heart. It helped to take a break! 88, 89, 90, had to stop and yell at a kid so extra break here, 86. Then I jogged about 2.5 to cool down with some veering to chase kids. The wind on the back stretch made this harder then it had to be I think, and I definitely need to strengthen my calves to adjust to running in these kinds of shoes. Next the high school football coach and a player showed up and he asked me to video tape the kid doing some sprints while he drilled him on his technique. That was pretty fun. The coach was wearing 5 fingers shoes and the kid was wearing Nike frees. Interesting. After watching that the kids wanted me to time them doing sprints so we did that for a while. Nick ran 100 meters in 17 seconds in socks--wow that is 4:32 pace for a 10-year-old!
I may do some treadmill miles after work just to enjoy running some uninterrupted miles. update: did 4 on the treadmilll after work at 8:34 pace
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 4.00 | Adidas Adizero Mana Miles: 7.89 |
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| | 8:52 AP. Vanessa-stroller-lots of wind-park-strength drills-stroller-sonic-tater tots-home-shower-work | |
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Today my baby turns 3(but no party 'til Saturday). Today is also my last day as a Lieutenant paramedic for Sedgwick County EMS. Beginnings and endings. It is a bittersweet kind of day. I may try to run after work. Update: towards the end of my shift, with all the paperwork caught up and the west side quiet, my partner drove me 1/4 mile to a middle school track. I got my jumpsuit ready, changed into shorts and a t-shirt, and knocked out 20 laps in the dark while my partner listened to the radio with the promise to light it up if we got a call. We didn't get get a call while I was running. Then we drove to post and time was up and we logged off. So that was it. I got to my car and surprised myself by bursting into tears. Now I am emotional and up late blogging and drinking chamomile tea. It's cool that I got to run myself into the next chapter of life. SCEMS is family to me. I first stepped onto one of their ambulances 9 years ago as a student. Wow. Since then I've been married, birthed a child, adopted children, and done a lot of growing up(well not too much). Time goes so, so fast. Okay enough of being dramatic on my blog, I'm just going to sit here and think about the thousands upon thousands of memories I have and be thankful that I had the experiences I had. I've seen a lot, all over the spectrum from horror to miraculous. Alright I'm done for real now. good night!
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 5.00 |
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| | 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. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 10.63 |
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| | 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. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 8.72 |
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| | 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.
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 5.41 | Crappy Asics Miles: 2.69 |
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| | 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. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 11.26 |
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| | 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. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 6.50 |
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| | 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. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 3.06 |
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| | Race: |
River Run (6.2 Miles) 00:41:43, Place overall: 12, Place in age division: 4 | |
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.
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 8.50 |
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| | 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. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 6.00 |
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| | 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.
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 9.85 |
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| | 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!
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 9.91 |
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| | 7:54 AP. Pleasant evening run with temps in the tolerable 70's and mild wind. Listened to music and relaxed. A great run! |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 10.00 |
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| | 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.... | |
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| | 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!
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| | 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. | |
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| | 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! | |
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| | 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. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 10.00 |
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| | 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! | |
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| | 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. | |
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| | 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. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 19.92 |
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| | 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. |
| Crappy Asics Miles: 11.01 |
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| | 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. | |
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| | 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! | |
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| | 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!
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| | 7:36 AP. Humid evening miles running through the camp loops. | |
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| | 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! |
| Crappy Asics Miles: 10.84 |
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| | 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! |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 10.00 |
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| | 8:13 AP. I got my treadmill today, finally, and....since they didn't have the one I ordered in stock, they gave me the upgraded version with the bigger motor! SWEET! So, I got the treadmill I couldn't afford haha! I forgot how hard treadmill running was. I broke it in using various paces to see how they felt. 8:30 pace was alright but felt faster, 7:30 pace felt harder than it should, 6:40 pace was downright exruciating, 6:00 pace felt like a dead sprint. Doing speedwork on it will definitely challenge me but I am up for the challenge! If it will make me fitter and faster than so be it! | |
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| | 8:25 AP. Decided to try out some heat running tips I read about online. I wore: loose orange shorts, long-sleeved loose white technical t-shirt(the long sleeves seem very counter-intuitive). pink hat, sunglasses, and red bandanna with ice cubes in it tied around my neck. Off into the heat of the day at 1:00 I went at 88 degrees and 49% humidity. I am sure my get-up turned some heads. Ran 5.42 at 8:26 AP. While I would not call this run comfortable, I was surprisingly not as miserable as I have been in the heat. I ran straight into the house, stripping down to top and shorts as I went, and stopped to chug some water before hopping onto the treadmill in my cool basement for 4.4 at 8:24 AP. Geez treadmill running is mentally taxing. Sprinted the last bit at 6:00 pace imagining myself crossing the finish line of a marathon in 2:59. I am a total dork. | |
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8:16 AP. Only 72 degrees this am, but a stifling 80% humidity. I decided to do a little tempo and speed anyway, since it is still better than 88 degrees at noon. I went based off effort and tried to be concerned about the less-than-optimal pace results. Within 10 minutes of starting the sweat was pouring off of me and it felt like there was a layer of syrup on my skin. I will probably whimper and whine in my blog all summer long about heat and humidity. 2 miles warm-up 9:19, 8:49 nope it's not going to be a fast day 2 miles fantasy Houston marathon pace effort 6:59, 7:01 2 miles easy 8:45, 9:03 .26 at 6:01 pace .23 recovery 9:43 pace .29 at 6:00 pace Alright had enough need water bad
1.22 cool down sloooow I am thinking of structuring my weeks something like this for a while: MWF easy miles, more or less 10 a day; Tuesdays hills or speed, speed is my week point, time to smell the roses and make myself do it, Thursdays FHP(fantasy houston pace) or some other form of tempo or steady state running, Saturday is long run day. I figure as time goes on and I at some point get close to January I will start a more focused and rigorous marathon training plan pm--5 miles easy on the treadmill at 8:44 pace. I just had to know if speedwork would throw me off the back though. I did a few .1 to .2 sprints at 6:00 pace, then got brave and did a brief run at 5:27 pace and stayed on, so then, I finally cranked it up all the way to 5:00 pace and did not get thrown. Good to know.
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| Pink Pegs Miles: 8.00 | Adidas Adizero Mana Miles: 5.00 |
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| | 8:56 AP on the treadmill. Nice and easy shake out jog before the trail race tomorrow while I watched my husband and a few kids do a military workout video. It looked pretty tough. The course tomorrow has supposedly gotten really muddy and buggy and it is supposed to reach 96 degrees, although it should only hit about 80 during the race, but the humidity will be thick all morning. Glad it is only 13.1 miles--thinking of Julie doing 50 tomorrow! |
| Adidas Adizero Mana Miles: 5.00 |
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| | Race: |
Storm the Dam Trail Half-Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:49:43, Place overall: 5, Place in age division: 2 | | Yowza! A tough course but I knew it would be, so planned accordingly to just have fun with it and enjoy nature. In the spirit of it all I ran without watch or mp3 player. I started way in the back of the pack. It started right on the trail so I had to run slowly for about a quarter mile before we hit the dam, and stormed it--right up the side, steep! After what felt like a near-vertical climb we hit the top of the dam and I was able to reach comfortable cruising speed and pass some folks. This didn't last long. We hit the horse trail--just a swathe through the praire out in the baking heat and humidity and the holes, oh the holes. A girl biffed right in front of me. I stopped and made sure she was okay and got up before moving on. Not too much later somebody fell and was crying pretty far behind me--rumor has it she broke her ankle but I don't know. Anyways we all struggled in the holes; whenever I passed someone I wished them happy ankles--we were all in the same boat here. There where places where the trail would smooth out a bit and I would try to make up some time. At each aid station I stopped, dumped water over my head, drank a cup of gatorade, thanked the volunteers, and then moved on. It was super hot but I didn't get crampy or nauseous so I was happy. Finally, toward the end, we hit concrete for a while. I saw it and thought it would feel good to get on the smoothness, but oh no! It hurt. My legs and feet were pulverized and the concrete was too hard. Finally we turned into the last wooded portion with shade(ahhh) and soft trail, real trail, not horse trail. Now this I liked! It was very narrow and it ricocheted up and down but no horse holes and I got to jump over some logs. Then we came out of the woods, ran through a campsite, and then down a track of grass to the finish. Good workout! Ran a personal worse as far as a half-marathon time but totally acceptable with the nature of the course. I will be sore from this one! I'm totally glad I ran it without pressure or need to race or place and just enjoyed it! I am thinking about a 50k, a real trail run, pycho wycho, in July--this is kinda fun! | |
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7:25 AP. Cloudy, raining, and only 69 glorious, cool, breezy, degrees. It felt wonderful. Last 2.08 at 6:56 pace--cruising nicely, felt easy. Still sore from the trail race in a weird place--on the outsides of my calves down by my ankles. I used some kind of muscle down there during that race that I don't normally use--clearly I wasn't using them today because it didnt hurt to run. I am thinking some kind of stabilizer muscles on those ankle-twisting holes.
pm. 45 minute military workout video with my husband. good for my lunchlady arms and jelly belly
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 9.08 |
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| | Hills with the tribe! We ran 1.38 warm up to "The Hill". I don't know the grade, but my Garmin shows it .2 to .21 miles long and anywhere from 65 feet up to 99 feet up so who knows. It doesn't seem bad at first but the top is where it gets steep. Did 8 charges up the hill trying to keep the splits consistent with jog down for recovery. We jogged slooow to maximize this recovery. Splits 1:24, 1:27, 1:25, 1:25, 1:25, 1:22, 1:23, 1:24. 1.36 recovery jog back. Drove home and ran 2 at 8:37 pace on the treadmill. The Hill was tough--my legs felt a little rubbery at the end.
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 8.00 |
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| | 5.28 on the treadmill at 8:30 AP while my husband did the military workout video. Then we dashed up the stairs and out the door and I ran 3 more at 8:17, 7:37, 7:05 while he rode his bike. My butt and abs are still sore from the workout video Monday and the hills yesterday. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 8.28 |
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about 8:27 pace on the treadmill while the kids watched a movie--I hung out at 7.1mph most of the time but started out slower and finished faster. Anyways plan on doing more later today.
Later: 4.59 on the treadmill at 8:34 AP while my husband did a workout video. I was then going to do some barefoot running on the treadmill but as soon as I started it was making my left achilles hurt so I stopped. No barefoot running for me--don't want an injury! I have always run in shoes and fear I always will, no Kenyan here.
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| Mizuno Waverider 12 Miles: 4.59 | Pink Nike Avant Miles: 8.41 |
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| | 8:07 AP. Chisholm creek nature trails. Mostly a bike path but little short trails branched off. I kept veering off onto these on gravel, some grass, and lots of mud. Did a few creek crossings and had to pull myself up the slippery enbankments with tree branches. The little trails were short(less than a quarter mile I would guess) and then I would end up on bike path again but it was still fun. About 7 miles in the heat, but especially the humidity took its tole and I just stayed on the bike path and struggled a bit to finish. Oh will I ever acclimate to this? |
| Crappy Asics Miles: 10.23 |
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| | 8:46 AP. Tribal run! It was 79 degrees, 76% humidity. Could be worse! Ran the last .31 at 6:11 pace. Now I'm going to go eat that delicious breakfast my husband is cooking. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 13.31 |
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| | 7:44 AP. Up at 4:45, half a cup of coffee, and on the road by 5am. Long warm-up as I slowly gained consciousness 8:28, 8:31, 8:21, .5 at 8:35 pace 3 miles at FHP 6:50, 6:46, 6:51. Got nice and wet in here because it had rained all night and Ididn't realize the pond had flooded my route in the dark until I was shin deep running through it. Recovery mile and then brisk cool down 8:09, 7:39, 7:39, .51 at 7:25 pace. Our 15 year old got arrested friday for shoplifting. We are worried, disappointed, and stressed.
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 10.00 |
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7:34 AP. Up at 5, out the door with coffee 5 minutes later, in Derby running by 5:30. Derby has lots of rolling hills and is well-lit; it is a good place for early morning running. I saw 6 or 7 other runners out, which was pretty cool.
evening: 5 easy on the treadmill while the kids exercised. 8:32 AP. After a while my legs felt surprisingly refreshed. I am wondering if there is something to be said about a second daily run in terms of recovery.
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| Pink Pegs Miles: 5.00 | Pink Nike Avant Miles: 10.19 |
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| | Rough day followed by a rough workout. I couldn't get a sitter so missed the tribal hill run. I decided to to hill repeats on the treadmill at home. My randomly chosen interval was 6x.2 mile repeats on a 6% grade at 6:40 pace. I warmed up 1.5 and started. After the first one my thought was "what am I trying to do here?" It was pretty intense. It was so intense that I took long .3 recoveries at 10:00 pace. The second one I was near death. After the third one my daughter had to go potty YEAH jumped off the treadmill and got my spleen out of my throat while I helped her. Number 4 and I am done with a capital D. Number 5 is scary, I may get thrown off this treadmill. Number 6 I survived only because I knew it was the last one but I don't know if I could've taken .0001 mile more of it. I may be imagining things but I think the treadmill starts to go faster on the incline. Maybe it's psychological, but wow, that was HARD, way harder than any hill I have ever run on outside. I have a lot of respect for people that train a lot on the treadmill because I am whimp.Cooled down enough sloooow miles to get me to 8. 8:39 AP. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 8.00 |
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| | 5:30am--met Tonya and Tex in Derby and did a very relaxed 9:12 pace. Tonya hasn't gone 8 in a while, coming back from a knee injury, but she did really well and didn't seem strained. Tex is fast--his last marathon was 3:02 and he is looking to break 3 this fall. We talked about him pacing me through some tempo runs since 6:45 is a fairly comfy pace for him. I look forward to putting myself through some tough workouts with a pacer---perhaps when I really start serious marathon training and am out of the base phase. pm: 5 at 8:25 pace on the treadmill--gently inching my mileage up. I do well at 60-70mpw as long as I don't get too crazy about pace and make sure I have lots of easy days. I want to start training for my next marathon with a solid 60-70mpw base that I have been maintaining for a while.
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| Pink Pegs Miles: 5.00 | Pink Nike Avant Miles: 8.08 |
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| | 8:29 AP 5am. I don't seem to have much energy today and had a hard time getting going--and I even drank some coffee first or I wouldn't have gone at all. My legs are tired. I will probably skip the evening run and go long tomorrow. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 7.02 |
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| | 8:16 AP. Great run with the tribe this morning! We started at 5:45 to beat the heat--it is supposed to get to 99 degrees today! Ran easy most of the time but stepped it up a little at the end because I really needed to get home--slipped in one mile under 7 minutes. It was hot and humid but with company I seem to tolerate it better. We took advantage of every sprinkler we came across! |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 15.18 |
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| | 7:50 AP treadmill. I was supposed to run this morning at dark thirty. I had a vivid nightmare about coyotes attacking me during my run and starting to rip me apart and kill me on the dirt road by my house and woke up in a cold sweat with my heart pounding to my morning alarm--to go run on the dirt road by my house. So, I didn't; all because of a bad dream. I am being silly I know but it was a pretty awful dream. Anyways I ran on the treadmill this evening while David did his military workout video. Tribal hill workout tomorrow! |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 8.00 |
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| | 94 degrees. 6 pm. Tribal hill workout. 1.36 warm-up slow. Steady up and down the hill at good aerobic effort--came out to 5.74 miles at 7:52 pace and I was hurting pretty good at the end. I lost count but I believe we went up that hill 12 times, give or take one. I stayed with Eddy until the last trip up the hill when he charged and dropped me like a hot potato. When we were coming back down I kicked and came back up on him so he had to kick it into gear fast and finished about a second ahead of me. Good times and a good sprint at the end. 1.36 mile cool down, by now it had cooled to 89 refreshing degrees. We paused 3 times during the hill repeats to quickly swig some water, and stopped at the water fountain while cooling down on the way back. I did something I have never in all my 31.5 years have ever ever done, and ditched my shirt, running in a sportsbra and shorts. Desperate times call for desperate measures and I needed some breeze on my torso to help cool off. Good thing my fellow tribe member Wendy also ditched the shirt for the first time, so we broke it in together. Turns out it was no big deal. I'm over it now and will probably run shirtless more often. | |
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| | 6 treadmill at 8:22 AP before I picked up the kids 6 treadmill at 8:29 AP after dinner while my husband did his workout My legs aren't sore from the hill workout but they are definitely tired. I could have run outside for the first set of miles today but it was 97 degrees at the time and my dirt roads have zero shade, so I opted out and tolerated the boredom of the treadmill instead.
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| | 7:34 AP. Treadmill. Started at 8:34 pace and gradually picked up speed. Last 4 miles at 7:19 pace. On the treadmill I found this rather grueling but it is better than no run at all. | |
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| | 8:33 AP. 95 degrees, heat index 100, humidity 44%. No shade. Dirt roads. But, I just couldn't bear another day on the treadmill. I opted for the long sleeve approach today to save my white tender skin. I plodded along slowly and listened to my tunes. Really, all in all, it wasn't as terrible as I imagined it might be. | |
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| | 7:33 AP. It was pretty humid but we started at 5:45 am so temps were in the seventies for the run. Yes! I started off the first 10.24 with Eddy before he split off and had to go. I then took a gu and ran to the fire station and back and kept the momentum. I felt strong the whole time. I'm pretty surprised that I ran 17 miles at slightly faster than my PR marathon pace. This makes me feel pretty good about a big PR at my next marathon. I have concluded that 60-70mpw really is my optimal training range. | |
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| | 5 a.m. 6.2 at 8:00 AP. Then off to a rather bad day at work. p.m. 5.2 at 7:16 AP. I meant to take this one easier but that is hard to do when I am chasing my kids on bikes or they are chasing me. Happily, I had enough wind at this pace to yell at my kids throughout to keep them in line. I should use them as pacers for a tempo run.
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 11.40 |
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| | Tribal hill workout. 1.37 mile warm up slow to the hill. Started at halfway up the hill and did 8 hill sprints up the steep part, jogging down for recovery. My average was 5:47 to 6:03 pace going up, maxing at 4:46 pace. It was short and sweet. Jogged a few miles with Eddy to cool down. I can tell these hill workouts are making a difference in leg strength--something I really need! | |
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| | 8:13 AP on the treadmill. Nice and easy. I am doing the prescribed tribal speed workout tomorrow on the track by myself at 5am since I can't go in the evening. "Coach Jeff" is going to ease us into it. Tomorrow's prescription is 10x400 with 400 recovery. I like the large amount of recovery--hopefully I can deliver some quality speed. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Speedwork success! "Coach Jeff" is easing the tribe into the concept of speedwork. This morning's assignment: 10x400 meters with 400 meter recovery. Up at 4:15 am, had a bagel and a cup of coffee and drove to the track. I wore a headlamp and listened to the owl hooting. The long recovery made me feel in control of the workout and I was able to crank out the 400's faster than I ever imagined. The more I did the faster they got. Pace was between 5:32 and 5:52 per mile for the 400s. Two mile warm up 1:28, 1:28, 1:25, 1:25, 1:25, 1:24, 1:23, 1:23, 1:23, 1:23 Two mile cool down Yeah I spent 2.5 miles today under 6:00 pace! I feel awesome right now and not tired or worn out at all. I wasn't completely spent after the workout at all. I feel like I could go do it again. I imagine as we start cutting the recoveries it won't always feel like that but this way is nice, I don't feel quite as intimidated by the track.
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 9.00 |
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| | 7:34 AP. In Derby on the hills pushing Vanessa in the stroller while chasing the boys and my husband on their bikes. It was nice going downhill but I really had to dig in getting that stroller up the hills without losing sight of the boys. It was 82 degrees but overcast so it didn't seem too hot. | |
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| | 7:54 AP. Treadmill. I really had to squeeze this one in between work and family fireworks festivities. | |
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5:30 am. 7:51 AP. It was very rainy and sloshy, but the birds were singing and it was pretty pleasant. My hamstrings are a bit tight and my legs seem heavy. Hopefully I can get them all stretched out and feeling better today. I signed up for the Psycho Wyco run Toto run 15 mile trail run on Saturday! I am pretty excited. It is supposed to be single track trail with lots of water crossings and 6,000 feet of elevation change. Me and my husband are leaving at 4am Saturday to get there and then afterward are going to go on an anniversary date in Kansas City. Can't wait!
pm: treadmill, 5 easy 8:32 AP. Hamstrings feel a little looser
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| Mizuno Waverider 12 Miles: 5.00 | Crappy Asics Miles: 10.00 |
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mid-morning: 6 at 8:01 AP with the stroller. I decided to go to Sedgwick County Park and let the boys ride their bikes while I pushed Vanessa in the stroller. Problem is, David was at work and I didn't know how to put the bike rack on my car. I puzzled over it for a while, even tried looking on the internet, and finally wrestled it on. It didn't look right--there was this big middle piece with grooves and notches and padding that looked important, but it just hung loose. Hmmm. Feeling brave, I loaded the two bikes on the contraption and we were off. Whatever I did, it held! Phew! I'm sure my husband will get a good laugh out of it when he gets home. We ran/rode 5 and then stopped at this huge playground with sandboxes and water and all kinds of cool stuff and the kids played there for a quite a while, then we ran/rode the mile back to the car. I'll do a few more this evening on the treadmill while David does the yoga video I rented him. His back has been hurting so he wants to try some yoga. pm: 6 on the treadmill at 8:28 AP. Then I did yoga with my husband and it felt really good. Hopefully I am all loosened up and ready to charge at the tribal speed workout tomorrow.
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| Mizuno Waverider 12 Miles: 6.00 | Pink Nike Avant Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Speedwork with the tribe. It was tough today; I struggled. It was 80-something degrees and humidity was 70%. The humidity was the kicker. Today's assignment: 6x800's with 400 recovery. Warmed up with the tribe, and then the fun started. Splits were 2:58, 3:05, 3:06, 3:07, 3:02, 3:03--so pace as 5:56 to 6:14 per mile. All over the place! I wish I would have clamped down in those middle ones and not let myself slip off pace so much. I had a hard time relaxing today and my legs were tired. Still, I am glad that it is done and determined to run them all at 6:00 pace or better next time. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 6.50 |
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| | 7:55 AP on the dreadmill in my basement during naptime. Started at 7mph, worked into 7.6mph, and then drifted up to 7.8 in the last two miles, and then finished at a 10mph charge. My power music CD ended at 9.5 miles so I had to hurry up and get it over with because I was quite bored with staring at the brick in my dark basement. I didn't bother turning the lights on so it would stay cooler and I wouldn't waste electricity. I probably won't do much tomorrow so I can rest up for Psycho Wyco Saturday. http://www.psychowyco.com/id75.html
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Race: |
Psycho Wyco Summer Trail race (15.46 Miles) 02:41:33, Place overall: 1, Place in age division: 1 | |
That was HARD! A total full-body workout and thrashing. The race was out at Lake Wyandotte, with relentless 300-400 foot steep hills one after another, and the mud, oh the MUD! One hill was so steep they kindly strung a rope down to pull ourselves up or it would have been very difficult to get up it. There were two races--if you were in the 50k you could run the loop twice. I can't really give a precise mile by mile account because there were no markers but I can sorta remember things. I have never been more proud of 11 minute miles in my life! My legs, arms, abs, it all hurts today! I had been warned that this was a very difficult trail race and a bit of a doozy by my experienced trail-runner friend Tex.
Morning: Up at 3:39, at the quik trip by 4:00am to meet Eddy, and then he followed us for the three hour drive. We arrived over and hour early, and watched the 50Kers take off(and chew the trail up for us). Warm up was some light jogging with Tex and Eddy and getting used to the handheld water bottle, which was a requirement or you got disqualified. It was a hot and muggy day, but with much of the trail being shaded I was never aware of being terrible hot during the race. Finally, 30 minutes after the 50Ker, us one-loopers lined up at the starting line and then we were off. A pack of 10 guys sprang to the lead up the single-track trail and into the woods and I took off after them. The hills and climbs started immediately, followed by treacherous rocky descents where even with the brakes fully engaged it was hard to move at a speed in which you did not roll down head first and break your limbs. I fell twice in the first two miles before I got a little better at this. The hills were incredibly steep and I quickly adopted the power-hike. I would lower my head, swing my arms like crazy for momentum and sweep my legs up the slope as hard as I could. I grabbed onto any tree branch that looked like it would hold me to help pull me up the slopes. At the top I told myself to keep moving and would shuffle slowly for a minute to catch my wind and then would open up my stride as soon as the burning in my legs would let me, but then of course I would be back to another crazy descent or punishing hill. It was beautiful and a I saw deer and birds but it was intensely exhausting. I knew I was the leading lady and didn't want to lose my lead. After 5 or 6 miles or so the trail flattened out a little for a few miles and just gently rolled up and down and around through the woods. I was able to get the pace going again and get a little leg recovery here before getting back to business. Somewhere in here the mud started. It was shin deep and there was no going around it. I adopted the mud power-shuffle using a lot of forward motion rather than up and down as up and down got your shoe sucked off. Twice I stood in shin-deep mud trying to shove my foot back into my mud-filled shoe; afraid to move for fear I would never find the shoe again. The last two miles were the muddiest. Whenever the trail went up a bit and I could get out of the mud I would shuffle-run up as best I could. Sometimes power hiking was faster when going up, but if it wasn't too steep my uphill shuffle run was quicker. I never looked back, especially at the end when I envisioned a female on my shoulder poised to take the lead. My motto was "keep moving as fast as possible". I passed a lot of people who were very polite and would step off to the side and let me through. I'm sure I sounded like a freight train as I spent much of this race panting like a dog. Then there was grass, and I could hear the cheers at the finish line, and then I could see it. I came over the bridge and sprinted and it was done. I felt great! Turns out the second place female was 15 minutes behind me--we were the only two to break 3 hours on the loop. The first 50k lady ran it in 6:27 which is awesome--two 3:13's on that loop would be tough! Next year I want to run the 50k--two loops--although I would have to run at much lower intensity to do it twice. There were a lot of DNF's--191 out of 214 finished in the 15 mile(25k) and only 66 out of 112 finished the 50k! Wow! I'm sure the second round in the 50k was tough with the trail even muddier and the sun even hotter. As intensely fatigued as I was I never hit a wall so I was glad about that. I am also impressed at how well my stomach held up. Whenever I hit an aid station I just grabbed a handful of the first thing I touched and shoved it in my mouth while the totally awesome volunteers filled my water bottle. I had an interesting mix of bananas, watermelon, and chocolate gu. I was in and out of the stations in about 10-20 seconds I would guess. This was a fun experience and I will definitely be back! Oh, and trail runners are incredible athletes--I have a lot of respect for them!
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| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 15.46 |
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| | 8:59 AP--treadmill while the kids danced to the power pump CD. I am very very sore. I am just as sore as I am after a marathon. I hobbled around all day and groaned on stairs and wasn't planning to run but decided a slow trot to warm things up might help. It did. After I got past the initial jarring sensations to my quads I began to feel better. Started at 10:00 pace and slowly sped up, eventually booking it at the end to get under a 9:00 average because I am a dork like that. Tribal hill workout is out tomorrow, I am too sore and do not want to flirt with injury. I wasn't planning on being this thrashed after the race but it is what it is so I am going to have to run easy and recover this week so I don't get hurt. Hopefully I have my legs back by next week and can get back to hard training. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 6.00 |
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naptime: dreadmill in the basement, 6 at 8:33 pace. Still sore but moving and feeling better. I just need to get these stones out of my quads! Will jog some more easy this evening with the family while they ride bikes. I got new shoes--same nike avants, different color. My husband bought them for me since I won the race and the mileage is racking up on my other avants. I pretty much don't want to wear anything else now because my asics feel like heavy bricks so they are just back-up shoes. I am retiring the pink pegs, now saturated in mud. They were a good pair of shoes and carried me to two wins.
evening: 4.09 at 7:54 AP while the family rode their bikes. It is stinkin' hot. Then I got on my bike and rode 3.3 miles with the family. Legs are sore but runnable.
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 6.00 |
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| | At 7:30 pm it is still 93 degrees and 61% humidity. Geeeeez! 5 at 8:20 pace on the treadmill while my husband worked out then dashed up the stairs and outside for 3 more at 8:03, 8:07, 7:53. I have a cold and while my legs aren't really sore anymore, they are heavy. Felt terrible the whole time. I seem to always get sick after cashing in my chips on a long, hard race. | |
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| | 4:30 pm. 6.34 in Derby in the hot miserable heat while Jesse was at his appointment. Yuck. Drove Jesse home and David was at the bank with the kids so I hopped on the treadmill and did 3 more at 7:30 pace. My Garmin died so don't know the pace for the 6.34 but am guessing in the low 8's. | |
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| | 7:47 AP. Treadmill. Started at 7.6mph, then started outrunning the treadmill and bumped it up to 7.7mph, then 10mph for the last quarter mile. I think I'm starting to get my legs back. | |
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| | 8:11 AP. Showed up early and ran 8.56 by myself at 7:50 pace. Then I hooked in with the tribe and ran 10 more. It was good to see everybody. The heat and humidity are not as oppressive with company! Legs felt pretty good. | |
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| | 7:47 AP. Dreadmill. I had a brief opportunity to run between visits today so drove home, threw on my running clothes and hopped on. David's zune wasn't charged so I was stuck with the powerpump CD. Again. It ran out at 9.5 miles. Started at 7.6mph but kept upping it bit by bit to get it over with--I was feeling super bored today. Now I better get back to work.
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| | Tribal hill! According to weather.com it was 97 degrees at 6pm when we started. Mercifully, some clouds crept in during the workout and offered some relief from the sun, although the temps stayed in the 90s. It didn't seem terribly brutal, so maybe I am getting somewhat used to the heat. The workout was a warm up, up and down the hill steady pace until 7pm, and then cool down. It was a good workout but I don't feel wasted or beat up. warm up 1.36 8:54 pace steady hills(12 times up and down) 5.35 miles 7:51 pace cool down 1.36 8:17 pace I'll probably do easy doubles tomorrow so legs are fairly fresh for speedwork Thursday
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| | 8:34 AP. Nice and easy on the treadmill, offering moral support as David did Yoga X. Hopefully I have fresh legs so I can really throw down on speedwork bright and early in the morningl. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 8.10 |
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Speedwork day! Up at 4am, coffee, generic nutri-grain bar, in the car and off to the high school track. My owl did not show up today. There was a pretty stout south wind--I tried not to let it get to me too much on the backstretch. 2 mile warm up slow on the track. 400--1:31 400 recovery 800--3:06 400 recovery 1200--4:35 400 recovery and a drink of water 1200--4:32 400 recovery 800--3:00 400 recovery 400--1:22 400 recovery Then jogged through town 3.5 miles at 7:57 AP pm: one measly mile at 8:34 pace on the treadmill to warm up before doing the p90x fit test with David, Brandon, and Jesse. They took "before" pictures. I will probably have sore quads and biceps tomorrow from doing the wall sit and the curls and the pushups to failure but it was something cool and different to do. pullups: Ahem, 1, and I struggled mightily for it
girly push-ups: 52 in and outs: 55 curls: 40 wall sit: 4 minutes 15 seconds 2 minutes of jumping jacks to measure maximum heart rate--didn't even get to marathon pace heart rate I don't think vertical jump: 14 inches--I'm thinking we didn't do this right with the step forward--it gave to much helpful momentum
touched my toes, but nothing further
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 1.00 | Blue Avants Miles: 10.00 |
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| | 8:12 AP treadmill while I watched David and Brandon do ab ripper x. They did a lot of grunting. I did 8 at 7.3mph and the last one at 7.4mph. Keeping it easy since I am getting up at 4am to do my long run. Ab ripper x was only 16 minutes long so then I was on my own with the brick but the zune was charged so I listened to some tunes. | |
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| | 7:39 AP. UP at 4, on the road in Derby at 4:30. I don't have many nice things to say about this run. My legs were tired and started to hurt early in the run. My mental stamina was non-existent and I almost quit and walked on the last uphill mile to finish. I'll just call this run a character-builder. I was going to go 16 but was running 7 mile loops and when I got back to my car at 14 decided it was time to throw in the towel. | |
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| | Hills and heat! Ran at 6pm with the tribe. 10 hard repeats up the hill, jogging down for recovery. My splits were better than the last time we did this workout, and last time we only did 8 repeats so maybe I am getting stronger. 1.39 warm up slow 1:13, 1:19, 1:21, 1:19, 1:20, 1:21, 1:18, 1:19, 1:19, 1:19 2.47 cool down, including two more jogs up the hill.
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7:46 AP. Impromptu threshold workout. First, eat a heavy lunch at Red Robin with my mom. Next, put the kids down for a nap. Then, search wildly for any music besides the Powerpump CD again and find....Totally Hits 2002. I leap on the treadmill. 2 mile warm up at 8:34 pace 2 miles FHP at 6:49 pace 1 mile recovery 8:34 pace 2 miles FHP at 6:49 pace 2 mile cool down starting at 8:34 pace and eventually speeding up to get it over with. Done. 6:49 pace was a little hard because my legs were tired from last night's hill workout but aerobically it was very manageable. I think I could do a tempo run at this pace on fresh legs without totally dying. Will do a few more easy this pm while watching David do Plyometrics X(evil laugh) pm: 6 ez at 8:34 pace. watched David and Brandon have a near death experience with Ploymetrics
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 9.00 | Blue Avants Miles: 6.00 |
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| | 8:13 AP. Dreadmill while Brandon and David did p90x. I'm really proud of them! David is so sore but he is keeping at it and is determined. I kept it easy but was pretty much sick of the treadmill. Hoping to have a good speed workout tomorrow. | |
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| | Speedwork with the tribe. I struggled a bit in the humidity and legs were a little tired. I was glad I was there with the group so I didn't give in to any temptation to throw in the towel. Warm up, 12x400 with 400 recovery, cool down in sock feet on the fake grass. Splits were similar to last time I did 400's so I guess I can't complain. Averaged 5:37 pace for the 400s. 1:22, 1:26, 1:24, 1:26, 1:25, 1:26, 1:26, 1:23, 1:22, 1:25, 1:25, 1:22
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| | 8:34 AP nice and easy on the treadmill. I am getting serious about my recovery days now. Only had time to run for an hour and now I have things to do. Long run tomorrow, early in the morning. Me and my sister are officially in the Houston lotto! |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 7.00 |
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| | 7:32 AP. Started at 5:30 am with Eddy. He was on a mission, and I hung on for 11.5 miles, at which time I had to back off the pace a little and let him go. Still a good run, although I was worn out and kinda death marched the last two miles. I definitely do better starting out conservative and speeding up at the end, rather than killing myself in the first half of the run! Still, managed an overall average pace for 19 that is a slightly faster than my PR marathon pace. I find this slightly encouraging. Splits so you can see my rough finish: 7:50, 7:50, 7:50, 7:23, 7:17, 7:09, 7:10, 7:07, 7:08, 7:19, 7:20, 7:25, 7:38, 7:37, 7:42, 7:38, 7:53, 8:00(ouch), 7:37, last 75 feet at 5:28 pace! | |
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| | It was 107 degrees according to the bank sign. Wow. Supposed to be this hot tomorrow too. Started the treadmill at 7.6mph, but my calves felt acid-y and tight so I slowed down to 7mph, then that felt uncomfortably slow so I sped up to 7.1mph, did that for a while then sped up to 7.2mph. 8:19 AP for 7 miles. Then I dashed out the door and ran a mile in the heat to see what it was like. Not bad. Came in and did .5 more on the treadmill while David finished his cool down and then the kids were whining and misbehaving so I had to call it a day and go deal with business. | |
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| | 7:39 AP. 102 degrees. Who's coming with me? Tex and Eddy, of course. We ran in the scorching heat for all to question our sanity. I actually did a lot of chasing because the fellas are fast! The heat didn't feel terrible--must've been the company and the chase. | |
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| | 8:30 AP. started at 7 and moved up to 7.1mph. Nice and easy--just what the doctor ordered for my legs, no acid-yuck feeling in my calves today. Good. Hopefully they will be nice and zippy for speedwork in the morning. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 8.00 |
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Got up at 4, drank coffee, ate a nutri-grain bar, got all pumped up, and drove the to track. There was a lightning storm in the distance. By the time I finished my 2 mile warm up it was no longer in the distance and the cloud-to-ground lightning was impressive indeed. Went home and went back to bed--not interested in getting electrocuted today. 8am. Attempt 2. Not feeling nearly as motivated now. Took the boys to the track and they played in the sand. Vanessa stayed home with Jesse and watched cartoons. Assignment was 16x200 with 200 recovery. Somehow this was harder than I thought it would be. The headwind was a pain. Two mile warm up. Did the first 8 into the headwind 44, 44, 43, 42, 42, 41, 41, 41. Then I switched to the opposite corner of the track for some tailwind action 39, 39, 39, 40, 39, 39, 39, 36. Average pace for first 8 was 5:38 and for second 8 was 5:10. I was really hoping to have all 16 under 40 seconds. Blah. Two mile cool down. I will probably run a recovery run this evening. pm: 5 easy on the treadmill 8:34 AP
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 5.00 | Blue Avants Miles: 10.00 |
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| | 8:13 AP. Treadmill. Started at 7mph and eventually made it to 8mph. My Great Aunt died and I am scrambling to cover my work so I can drive to Oklahoma City Monday for the funeral. | |
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| | 7:36 AP. Got up early and ran with the tribe. Ran with Eddy for the first 5, then he decided to hammer it but I am taking it easy on my legs today. Saw Carlos and Stacy on the course with headlamps--they started even earlier. Good end to the week. | |
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| | 7:55 AP. Up at 4:30 and trotting through the streets of Rose Hill. Already 82 degrees and soupy humidity. I am heading to Oklahoma City with my mother shortly--it will be a tiring day. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 8.28 |
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Tribal hills. It was...humid. 1.37 mile warm up. We did short hill charges up the steep part of the hill. 10 vomit-in-your-throat killer charges; in the neighborhood of 30 seconds each. No splits, we decided to run "pure". Once we had gotten our stomachs and lungs back into their rightful places we ran a few to cool down. I am a little tired from spending the morning in front of you tube learning the Jai Ho breakout dance done in the cafeteria at 'ol Miss. Plans for a surprise breakout dance with my mom, sister, and cousins at a family function are in the works...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSOgVgM7CDc
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| | 8:34 AP. 103 degrees. no shade. Got home and got a phone call that my grandfather took a turn for the worse. They had to do CPR but got him back. Things are not looking good. My poor Grandma--her sister and husband less than one week apart is just too much. I am hoping to hear some miraculous good news soon. | |
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| | Dear Poppie, We miss you terribly. It is beautiful here in Santa Maria. I thought a lot about you while I ran. I know you liked to walk these streets. We went to your favorite store, Trader Joe's, today. We couldn't stay long because we were breaking down. They gave Grammy some flowers in honor of you since you shopped there so much. I found some chocolate seashells, not the ones we loved, but the closest thing they now carry. Thanks for coming to see me in Kansas so much--my wedding, my first marathon, to meet your great-grandchildren. I wish I would have come here sooner. We can't stop thinking about you. I love you. April |
| Adidas Adizero Mana Miles: 12.08 |
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| | 10:31 AP with my sister in the morning through Santa Maria. I coerced her into a long run and we actually had a good time. | |
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| | Watch was dead, measured later. Took about 64 minutes using the hotel room clock so about 7:42 pace. | |
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| | 8:18 AP. Back home and exhausted. Ran 4.75 pushing Vanessa in the stroller, then ran the last 1.25 at what felt like it might be marathon pace--6:52 pace for this part. Slow for the rest of my run. I am thinking Saturday I will do a 20 miler with 10 easy and 10 marathon pace tempo--no peaking at the watch, to see what pace I end up running when it is all said and done. This will help me decide on a time goal for the Wichita marathon in October, which I intend to run as well as Houston in January. | |
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| | Ouch. I will line up my excuses now: tired, emotionally exhausted, hot(90+ degrees), headwind on the homestretch. I knew right from the start it was going to be a crappy speedwork session but decided to see it through to at least knock the cobwebs off and get my legs going again. 1.37 mile warm up 13x400 with 400 recovery 1:26, 1:29, 1:30, 1:30, 1:29, 1:31, 1:34, 1:34(stop for water here and to pull myself together before this downward spiral continues), 1:27, 1:29, 1:30, 1:30, 1:26 1 mile cool down. At least it wasn't just me, Eddy said his splits were pretty far off today too. Just glad to get it done.
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 9.00 |
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| | 8:34 AP on the treadmill, nice and easy, since I am less than 12 hours away from my 20 mile marathon predictor run and am hoping to have semi-fresh legs. I don't want them to feel what they felt like during speedwork yesterday. | |
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| | 7:42 overall AP. Started at 6am after coffee, a banana, and a nutri-grain bar. Gued at miles 7.5, 14, and 17.5. Ran the first 10 easy with Eddy, had to really restrain ourselves. We averaged 8:14 pace for the first 10 miles. Then we hit the turnaround and it was hammer time. I died pretty bad the last 3 miles of the tempo but the way I have been feeling this week I am still pretty happy about the pace. I averaged 7:14 pace for the second 10 miles, which predicts me for a 3:09:38 marathon. So, my marathon goal for October is 3:09! I would like to repeat this workout in 2 or 3 weeks. I am thinking if I slow down my recovery runs and save some gas for the workouts, plus get back to my routine and with better eating and less emotional stress I can stick the last 3 miles a little better next time. Splits 8:47, 8:21, 8:02, 7:54, 8:14, 8:07, 8:06, 8:00, 8:10, 7:50, start tempo 7:08, 6:58, 7:02, 7:11, 7:24, 7:09, 7:16, 7:20, 7:34(dying), 7:24, .21 at 7:02 pace. Course was flat with some gentle rolling but nothing major, typical Kansas and what the course will be like in October.
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 20.21 |
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early early early am. 7.1 at 8:42 AP. Plan on some more this evening.
pm. 8:34 pace on the treadmill except for the last .1 at 6:00 pace. I was looking at the Prairie Fire(wichita) marathon course map today and counted 68 FREAKING 90 DEGREE TURNS AND TWO HAIRPINS! Is that ridiculous or is it just me? How many minutes is that worth off a time? Not happy. Not happy at all.
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| Crappy Asics Miles: 7.10 | Blue Avants Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Tribal hill workout. It rained all morning and cooled the temps way down and it gave me wings. I felt great and had better than ever splits on the hill. 1.37 mile warm up slow. 12 charges up the hill 1:15, 1:20, 1:19, 1:18, 1:19 1:16, 1:17, 1:15, 1:16, 1:16, 1:12, 1:10. Strangely, oxygen debt is much more tolerable and comfortable in cooler temps. Although I was breathing like a freight train I felt okay with it. Did a 13th climb up the hill with Stacy while she finished and then we all jogged 1.37 back to our cars.
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4:30 am. 7.12 at 8:52 AP. I don't seem to be having any trouble taking my easier runs easier. More this pm.
7:30 pm 5.22 at 7:51 AP. I meant to go slower, especially since I ran right after eating roast, carrots, potatoes, corn, and jello. The cooler temps just feel so glorious though that I keep accelerating without realizing it. It just feels so good. It feels good to run again. I love it! I must be developing a true ultra stomach.
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| Crappy Asics Miles: 12.34 |
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| | late morning: 5.75 slow pushing Vanessa in the stroller with a stop at mile 5 for an awesome playground. No watch. pm: 7.12 at 8:28 AP on the treadmill while David did P90x Went to shoe carnival today and they had crocs, but the smallest was a womens 6 and it was too big. Will keep looking!
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 7.12 | Blue Avants Miles: 5.75 |
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| | 2:00 pm. 86 degrees. I started running and thinking it didn't feel too bad so I did some impromptu threshold work, 1 mile at 6:42, .25 recovery, another at 6:40, and then I was hot and miserable and desperate for shade and water and managed to stagger my way home 8.28 total at 7:59 AP, then chugged a cup of water and did two on the treadmill at 8:34 pace. Maybe I will redeem myself with a little marathon pace work tomorrow. | |
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| | Nice medium-length run today and over 70 for the week. Started out with the tribe chatting for 7.18 mile warm up 9:45, 8:49, 8:26, 8:56, 9:16, 8:58, 9:14, .18 @ 8:42 pace. Gobbled down a Vanilla gu and some water then started my 4 mile marathon pace tempo 6:56, 6:55, 6:44, 6:40--ummm probably not really MP but felt decently comfortable so went with it. Cooled down brisk 7:46, 7:21, last .91 at 7:06 pace. Felt great today! Maybe I am just on a runner's high but that sub-3 in Houston; today I believe it. | |
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4:00 am. 10.08 at 8:57 AP. The earlier it is the slower I am. Calves were super tight and took 5 plodding miles to loosen up--in fact I didn't crack 9:00 until mile 7. Altogether it was a pleasant, slow run. There were a lot of sprinklers on and they looked like ghosts snaking in the dark--it was pretty cool! I didn't hear a single yip from the coyotes, they have definitely moved on so I am much less tense on my early morning runs.
pm: 5 at 8:32 AP. I got home early from work so figured why not and jumped on the treadmill. I started at 7 mph but bumped up to 7.1 when I outran the treadmill and accidentally slammed my hand onto the console when my arm was swinging.
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 5.00 | Crappy Asics Miles: 10.08 |
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| | 8:11 AP. Hill workout. 1.34 mile warm up slow. Steady pace up and down the hill staying in the 7:50 neighborhood for miles 1.34 to 6.77, then cool down for a total of 8.13. Good strength workout for the legs but not a thrashing of a workout. Found some crocs finally in size XS at Sports Authority--will try them out tomorrow! | |
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| | 7:39 AP. Tried out the crocs! I wore my favorite pink running socks with black crocs. They were deliciously light and comfortable and the run felt fantastic. I was running very comfortably but yet the pace was quicker. My feet felt light and free and so did my legs. Only downfall, a hot spot and small blister in the crease of each big toe. I believe it is because there is sort of a bump there in the bed of the shoe as part of the inner pattern. What to do? Put in inserts? I don't know what kind of inserts I could stick in there. I also thought about just fileing the bump down. Any suggestions? They feel fantastic and I want to run in them more! Nothing hurts, not my calves, achilles, nothing. That silly bump just rubs my toes the wrong way. | |
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| | Easy breezy on the treadmill while Vanessa napped. Ran mostly at 8:34 pace except for the last .l6 at 6:00 pace to stretch my legs a little. I am pretty eager for the 5k this weekend. I am itching to race and itching for a PR. | |
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Terrible loooong day at work. Came home and had to deal with a bunch of stuff. No time to run, but I finally just took myself off the radar and ran 3 miles easy with surges of race pace to freshen up a little for the 5k tomorrow morning. I hope I can sleep tonight; I will sure need it if I am going to get that PR. I need it bad.
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 3.00 |
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Dream Big 5k Wichita (3.1 Miles) 00:19:59, Place overall: 2, Place in age division: 1 | | A little discouraged. Once again, I managed to finish one of these short races with way too much left in the tank. It seems like once I really get cooking it's over. I need to learn how to race and push harder in these short races. I started out pretty good, didn't look at my watch but was in second place when the dust settled in the 2nd kilometer. I was trailing the girl who won last year with a 19:30 so I figured if I kept contact with her that would be about right. I stayed in range of her the whole time and then kicked about a quarter mile out and was closing the gap fast but ran out of race before I caught her--beat me by 3 seconds. I could talk in full sentences immediately and knew this was not a good effort or true reflection of my capabilities. I should have picked up the pace, passed her, and gone for it much sooner in the race. I am disappointed-I know I have at least a 19:30 in me! I am eyeballing a redemption 5k next weekend. Bad idea or good idea? I feel like I need the confidence boost of a 5k PR before my next marathon. Warmed up 3.36 miles at 8:46 AP and did 5 strides off the line. Cooled down 4.22 miles with Eddy at 8:35 AP, stopping a few times to field phone calls since I am the on-call nurse through until Monday. I spent the awards ceremony in my car talking to a client and a doctor. Next I ate lunch with my husband and then had to drive my sweat stinky self in running clothes to a client's house and send them to the hospital. It has been a non-stop crazy on-call weekend and shows no sign of letting up. | |
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| | 8:27 AP. 92 degrees, steady wind at 20mph with some killer gusts, not a super fun run. The last two days I have been slammed by patients and am so glad this is the last stinkin day of being on call(day 8). I was busy today but finally decided to go for it and squeeze a run in the late afternoon sun at Sedgwick County Park--two four mile loops. I managed to stuff my big phone into the little key pocket but the real miracle is it didn't ring during the run. Now I am up late wading through a lot of paperwork but am taking a mental break to blog! I am OFF tomorrow and won't be on call again for 6 weeks. Phew. So...I am eyeballing this 5k on the weekend but also at the same time there is a 15k, and I am intrigued. While I would really really really like some 5k redemption, I am 5 weeks out from a marathon, which is the ultimate goal, and a 15k would make a killer threshold workout, especially with a long cool down to make it a long run. I can always find another 5k, in fact there is one on the 25th, so I am leaning more and more towards the 15k. What do you guys think? | |
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With a little less than 5 weeks to go until marathon time, I have decided to ditch speedwork in favor of the longer, more marathon-specific tempo workouts. It is time to get myself used to the feeling of running hard for a long period of time. Today's workout: 3x3 miles at MP with .5 jogging recovery. 2 mile warm up 8:28, 8:36 3 at MP 7:01, 7:02, 6:50 .5 at 8:21 pace 3 at MP 6:56, 6:56, 6:57 .5 at 8:40 pace 3 at MP 7:04, 7:05, 7:04 .76 at 8:51 pace cooldown to get back to my mother's house as she was kind of enough to watch Vanessa My actual marathon pace is probably a tad slower but I will roll with these times. The last set of 3 was hard as there was a lot of uphill and I was getting tired. 6:59 AP for the MP miles and 7:28 overall AP. A solid training run for me. These are the kind of workouts that get me ready to hang on for a marathon and make me feel confident. I'm a windy blogger today. Revamping my training for the next 5 weeks to race day: No speedwork--tempo and MP, long tempo-type intervals (like today) midweek and a long run weekly. This weekend will probably be a 15k race with 10 mile cooldown, next week easy 20, week after that 20 with last 8-10 at MP before two week taper begins. Plan to run super easy the rest of the days while upping the mileage--whatever I have time for, target is 70-75 a week. Strides a few days a week for leg turnover. I have been feeling flat and I think this training approach is better for me and should make me peak right on time. Thoughts?
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 12.76 |
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| | 4:15 AM. 8:47 AP. I just don't move much this time of morning--but it was run early or run never for today. My legs felt pretty good despite yesterday's workout so I was happy about that. My 3 year old daughter is my hero today. She got her poor big toe smashed and it bled a lot and it's hugely swollen, and whenever she walks around more blood comes out and spills over the top of her band-aid. I was changing her band-aid for the third or fourth time and said something along the line of cleaning the blood off when she calmly reassured me that it was not blood, just berry juice, and her toe was not broken. | |
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Got up, laid on the couch, let Vanessa watch television, and fed her a chocolate doughnut. Then we drove and parked at my moms and went on a stroller run for 5.15 mile at a leisurely 8:59 pace. Went back to mom's, drank some coffee, then went with mom with the stroller again for 1.65 miles at 13:39 pace. I wore different socks and didn't get blisters from the crocs. They felt great. Then I hurried and showered and went to the nurse's meeting and now I'm frustrated and burnt out and have a crammed full day tomorrow and don't feel like cooking or cleaning the house. I want a break. Crap. I have to catch up on paperwork before getting more behind but I am seriously shut down and am not going to do anything right now. It's one of those days. pm: after I laid on the couch for an hour and prayed a little I realized what a blessed life I have and am grateful to have. I got up, ate dinner, and spent time with my family. After the kids were in bed I went for a quick jaunt in town and saw another runner ahead in the dark, so of course I sped up. Well, he was really hoofing it and I never caught him but dropped two fast miles 7:04 and 6:54 in the process before giving up. The crocs did pretty good at race pace. Slowed down and finished. I feel better now. 7:41 AP
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| | http://tonystrot.blogspot.com/ I am excited to join Tony in his run tomorrow--he should reach the Wichita area late morning and me and my husband and some tribe members plan on jumping on. I am excited about supporting our soldiers and Tony's wounded warrior project. He started running over 24 hours ago and is still going strong! 8 at 8:26 AP on the treadmill
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| | Me, my husband, and our 3 youngest kids trailed and ran with Tony Clarke from 4pm to 9pm. We went with him through South Wichita all the way until a few miles over the Sumner County line. Our truck ended up being the rear escort so we stayed with his entourage until they had a friend in Sumner County who could take over. It was an honor to run with him and talk a little. Me and David took turns driving and running, and the kids took turns running too, even Vanessa. With 180 miles in him, he was actually doing pretty good. It was lot of walk/jog but the fact that he was still moving was amazing to me. I heard this morning that he crossed the Oklahoma border this morning, completing the 224 journey in 59.5 hours! Go Tony and the Wounded Warrior Project! It was actually pretty tiring and afterward we went and at Taco Bell and then crashed. I'm counting it as 6 although it was probably a few more miles than that on my feet. | |
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Tanganyika Tiger Trot 15k (9.3 Miles) 01:05:21, Place overall: 2, Place in age division: 2 | | I was little tired going into this but decided to go according to plan, longish warm up and solid tempo run. I got up, ate a piece of peanut butter toast, drank some coffee, then drove to Goddard. The race had a way bigger turnout than expected! It was pretty warm and muggy, and the South wind was beginning to pick up. About and hour before the race me and Eddy met up and slowly jogged 4.75 miles. I then choked down half a gu and some water and then went to the starting line. By now the south wind was significant and I knew it would cause troubles with my times but was determined to at least run a good effort and not cross the line with a bunch of gas in the tank. The race ended up starting about 20 minutes late, which was too much time for me to look around and start getting psyched out. Eddy was having the same problem. The first place girl(fastest girl in Wichita) was there with her friends and she looked so amazingly in shape, 6-pack and all. Eddy said he could feel the energy coming off of them. I tried to be brave and told Eddy it was okay, that WE were fast too and could give them a run for their money. Anyways I saw all these skinny, muscular girls that looked serious and ugly thoughts reared in my head about looking like a marshmellow next to them but I finally squelched the thoughts and got my head straight. My Garmin freaked out and didn't split the miles or show my pace or anything, just elapsed time so I don't have splits. I glanced at it at a few of the mile markers. Okay so the race finally starts and I try really hard not to go out too fast and just relax into a good rythm. The first place woman just tears out of there and she is gone. I looked at my watch and first mile was 6:45. Perfect. I just try and keep a good rythm and concentrate. The next two miles I pass a few men but am definitely second place woman. At the 3 mile marker my watch says 20:42 so still clipping off sub 7s. At 3 miles we turn north onto a straightway with the tailwind and a little rolling so I try to relax into my pace and keep a good turnover. Somewhere in here I swallow a little water and dump the rest on my head because I feel hot. As I near the turnaround I see the first place guy, and then not too far behind there is the first place woman.  WOW she is flying and looking to chick the rest of the field(she did). I hit the turnaround heading south and here it is, the evil south wind, and it is stout today. I tried to relax and not struggle with it too much, just keep the same effort and turnover. I could glance at the people coming and got a handle on third place--she looked to be about 1-2 minutes back so I had a fairly comfortable gap. I knew I was losing time in a big way through here, though. The guy that has been running ahead of me about the entire race is losing ground and as I pull up next to him he laughingly says something about me breaking wind for him. I surge past him and he stays on my tail for quite a while. I wonder if my windbreaking was any good. I told myself as soon as we turned east out of the wind I needed to make up some time so we turned and I started to push my pace. At this point I was running all alone. Windbreaker guy had fallen back and I couldn't see anyone ahead of me. There was a lot of curving around through the neighborhood and I ran the entire rest of the race with nobody in sight. A few times I nervously thought I was lost and almost made a wrong turn but was stopped by a lonely volunteer on a corner(thanks!). When I came through the 9 mile mark in 1:03 something I knew I had lost my sub-7 average and pushed the last part of the race to try and get it back but was unsuccessful. Although I had truly hoped for a better time, I felt like my effort was decent today. I don't feel like I dogged it and gave up. I was very tired at the end and had to lean over and catch my breath. I kept my rythm in the wind and did not let it mentally defeat me. I was never passed. It was a solid workout on tired legs. I am not going to call this race a flop. I don't know if it was of certified length or had accurate mile markers, and my dang Garmin didn't measure it(I would have loved to have some better splits). I crossed the finish line, gave Eddy my tag so he could get my medal for me, then jogged to my car, hopped in, drove home and showered quickly, and went to church. I was only a tiny bit late for the worship service in the beginning but didn't miss communion, the offering, or the sermon. Next step, jog easy a few days and then run a stamina workout--probably on Wednesday? I am thinking a 2x4 at MP or a little faster.
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| | 8:28 AP. Treadmill. My DDRR(day after dismal race recovery). I have identified a problem today: I'm not sore! How can I not be sore?!? Not even one little tiny bit. Did I race or did I just do a big 'ol super tempo? Sorry...just thinking out loud. No more racing until marathon day. That way I arrive at the line itching to race, tapered, and hopefully I RACE! I want to feel spent, sore, barely able to walk, too uncomfortable to sleep right,--that's how I should feel after a race that I really tore up. That is my goal--to feel like that after October 10th! |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 8.00 |
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| | Asthma strikes my little girl with a vengeance. no run. | |
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| | Vanessa is better today. I put her down for her nap and went to run on the treadmill but it's not working. Maybe I will get a run in this evening. I hope so. | |
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| | 8:10 AP. I intended to do some tempo/threshold work midweek but I am very tired and stressed, and decided it would just feel nice to go on a longish, relaxing run, so I bribed Brandon with lunch at Red Robin to watch Vanessa for a few hours and about 10:00 took off. It has been a long time since I visited my beloved rolling dirt roads due to always having to run in the dark(I stick to the nearby housing additions) or having a stroller in tow. Oh how I miss them! I had a lovely run, and was joined for a while by one of my favorite dogs(I call him Angel because he is old and white). My treadmill is still broken--I am getting ready to make some phone calls about that. I am not sure about my goal pace for the quickly approaching marathon anymore. I think I have made some training mistakes this round, but you never know unless you experiment. I may be doing good just to PR by a few minutes. We shall see. I don't foresee it being much of a breakthrough. I have decided that for me, speedwork is more or less worthless and threshold work is much more effective and what I really need. Hill work, however, has some benefits and is something I would still like to incorporate somewhat. I ran my "easy" runs too hard, and was not fresh enough to nail some of the harder workouts or long runs. The sad part is that I have pulled off much better performances in training than in any of my recent races, which is a sign of a problem! I think for Houston I am going to get back to the 12-week training schedule I used for the Eisenhower marathon--albeit modified for a faster goal time. I also need to clean up my diet--I started that today. I have really sorta slipped into eating like crap for a while.
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 12.00 |
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| | 8:27 AP after a long day at work. It was a short run to get ready for a long run tomorrow morning! I am going for a 22 mile progressive run with last 6 at marathon pace. Should be the last killer long run before marathon day! In other new, the place I bought my treadmill from with its one year warranty has closed up shop and is out of business. Nice. Fortunately, my husband is quite the handyman and has been downstairs for an hour figuring it out. He said he can fix it and is hard at work! We may have to order some parts from the manufacturer at some point, but he is determined to have it up and running tonight. He is the greatest! Good luck all you top of utahers and all the other folks racing tomorrow!
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 6.05 |
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| | 7:53 AP. This run was a disaster. I started by myself in the dark on the HS course and got hopelessly lost. I spent a significant chunk of time running in circles looking for mile markers and got pretty desperate at one point for some water. I finally found some tribe members coming back and got pointed the right direction but got lost again. It was pathetic and pretty discombobulating. By the time I hit the last 6 miles I was lost again and didn't get much done in the way of marathon pace work. I threw in a few fast miles but was mostly just a lost mess! I will not do this again! Next week I will try 18 with the last 10 at MP on a course I know well! Ugh! Crazy splits: 8:35, 8:32, 8:26, 8:08, 8:21, 8:02, 7:54, 7:43, 7:50, 7:37, 7:42, 7:44, 7:42, 7:43, 7:47, 7:19, 7:28, 7:54, 8:08, 8:03 | |
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8.02 at 8:02 pace. Hah! Nice relaxing run after a super stressful day at work. Did the last mile in 7:17 to stretch my legs a little. Hopefully I can sucker Brandon into watching Vanessa for a few hours tomorrow and put in some marathon pace intervals. So...me and my husband got the course map and tried to drive the course for the Prairie Fire Wichita marathon. We got hopelessly lost and went back and started over and tried again multiple times but there are a lot of turns and the map is clear as mud--at some point we are on sidewalk and down some paths where vehicles can't go and then we tried to pick up on the other side but finally got frustrated and gave up. I hope they have a lot of people out there directing traffic or there is going to be some major confusion. Good thing I have Houston to look forward to if this one is a total flop! 
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| | 7:51 AP. Well, this was suppose to be a 2x4 MP tempo but my plans were foiled once again. It was a 25mph south wind by the time Brandon got to the house and nearing 80 degrees but I figured I would at least put MP effort in. Off I went. Did a nice 2 mile warm up and launched into my MP tempo running south straight into the headwind. First tempo mile 7:35 but I was fine with that with the wind, as I turned off the dirt and into a crosswind I picked it up and was feeling pretty good when a fella driving by in his truck informed me I was being followed by a little dog that almost just got ran over. I turned around and sure enough our miniature schnauzer was in hot pursuit. Well, I am almost 4 miles from home now and he thinks it's a game and I couldn't catch him, so I turned around and started running back towards home so he would follow me. He kept veering off chasing animals and stuff. I finished the 4 mile tempo and didn't see him so I turned around and jogged back a while yelling for him. Nowhere in sight. Crap. I don't want to be the one responsible for losing the dog that the kids love so I jog home and get the car and drive all over looking for him and he is nowhere to be found. Now I am feeling like a terrible human being for not catching him and picking him up and carrying him home, but at least I don't see his body on the side of the road. I drive back home, call my mom to tell her what a horrible person I am, and as I am talking to her open the back door one more time to look out into the pasture and there he is waiting at the back door. PHEW! By now the momentum is lost and allotted running time is over. other 3 miles of the tempo were 7:06, 7:08, 6:58. 1.79 mile cool down yelling for a dog. Maybe I can run some more this evening. Maybe not. My training frustrations are mounting. Maybe this will just leave me lots of energy for the 10 + 10MP tempo Saturday. | |
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| | 8:37 AP. I set my alarm for 4:05am and did not much like it when it went off. However, it is run now or not today. I had to be done and showered by 6am. This is actually a pretty good pace for this time of morning for me! | |
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| | My treadmill is still broken(more on that in a minute). Tis a blustery and windy day(30+mph). There is no way I can stroller run Vanessa in that with her asthma. What's a girl to do? Run figure 8's around the pasture and the house, of course. I put Vanessa down for her nap, made sure she was solidly asleep and then started running loops. The first few were particularly hazardous as I tripped over crabapples in the overgrown grass and cleared multiple spiderwebs with my face. After that it was fairly smooth sailing when my feet figured out where to land. I popped in 3 times to make sure Vanessa was still sleeping. Maybe I will get to squeeze in a few more tonight but I have more or less resigned myself to the constant onslaught of events that has made training quite difficult recently. 8:15 AP My husband has discovered parts of the treadmill that are broken and SUPERGLUED together. Scandalous! The store that sold it to me is out of business and we have as yet been unable to reach the manufacturer. Frustrating!
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 6.22 |
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| | 8:08 AP. Finished my visits early and got to run at 2:00 in the afternoon. It was 84 degrees but the east wind was cool and breezy, unlike the furnace blast I know as the south wind, and I was pretty comfortable. I stuffed my earbuds in and listened to music and had a pleasant jaunt. I ran into town and down to the track to get a drink out of the water fountain and then ran back home. The Nike Lunarfly's did awesome straight out of the box. I like!--will be my marathon shoe. They are voltage cherry color with an electric blue swoosh--should be able to see me coming miles away. Fun! | |
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| | 8:32 AP. Nice and easy--it is evening already and I am getting up early to do my 10 easy +10 at MP with Eddy. Off to hydrate myself and hopefully have an awesome tempo tomorrow before kicking off a slight taper. Well, really, I won't taper much other than the last week since my training really doesn't warrant a taper. | |
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| | YEAH BABY! It's about time I had a good run. Exactly two weeks before the marathon--time for the final tempo. Goal was 10 easy with 10 at MP. Met up with Eddy bright and early at 5:30 after two nutri-grain bars, a cup of coffee, and a few swallows of water. We were off into the dark for 10 easy miles of chatting. I grabbed a swallow of water at mile 3.5 and a gu with a little water at 7.5. Splits for 10 easy were 9:04(not awake yet), 8:46, 8:32, 8:23, 8:25, 8:09, 8:07, 7:53, 7:58, 8:04. Took a quick swallow of water at the turnaround and then dropped the hammer. I felt great, breathing was easy, energy levels were great, temps were wonderfully cool. The only problem was that my legs were stiff and never really loosened up. I figured whatever pace I could hold on unresponsive legs would be easy in a marathon after a taper so I kept plugging away. Took a gu while running in the 3rd mile of the tempo. Splits were 6:50, 7:01, 7:09(water stop and didn't stop my watch, took me a second to get the lid off the bottle), 6:59, 7:01, 7:05, 6:59, 7:15, 7:13, 6:55, last .04 in 16 seconds. Total time for 10.04 1:10:43/7:02 pace. That would be freaking awesome if that is my marathon pace but I'm just going to feel it out in two weeks when the day comes. I don't believe it will be a particularly fast course with all the turns but I will give it my best shot. The pace definitely felt manageable and not overwhelming so I am encouraged. We ran into Raquel afterwards and she is only running the half, so she won't be blowing the field away in the marathon. This honestly puts me in contention for a top 3 finish if I go sub 3:10 unless a bunch of people I don't know about show up from out of state. I hope I have my mojo on race day and can put up a fight. | |
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| | Day after a Sunday 20-miler so I made this my day off. Good thing, because I somehow slept horribly wrong and cricked my neck and between my shoulder blades. I can't turn my head or reach with my arms right. I have done this before so at least I know it only lasts a few days. Note to self: don't sleep wrong the night before a marathon! | |
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Neck is still stiff but much much better, should be runnable. Attempt at a stroller run coming soon.
8:00am 6 miles stroller 8:59 AP. My legs are not sore after Sunday's tempo but they are definitely a little dead. Vanessa felt heavy. We stopped at Sonic afterward and she got her tater tots--it has been a while and she was very excited! Maybe a few more this pm..... 7:00pm 5 miles in the balmy 75 degree air at 8:05. Listened to tunes and totally enjoyed the run. No more 4:30am runs until the marathon. I will run when I can but not that early! Sleep is more important than miles at this point.
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| Blue Avants Miles: 5.00 | Lunarfly Miles: 6.00 |
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| | 7:53 AP. Evening run on a superfull stomach of taco salad. I had hiccups for the first two miles--that was interesting; I think I sounded like a drunken runner. Anyways, I meant to run 8 but the sun went down faster than I realized it would and it was too dark and I didn't carry a light with me so I booked it home and ran in the ditch so the cars wouldn't hit me. Last two miles 7:14, 7:04--a little impromptu MP I guess. My neck is still mildly cricked but runnable and getting better. | |
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7:35 AP. This workout was a disaster in some ways, great in others. Objective was a 2x3 fast tempo with 1/2 mile recovery. Tempo defined as half-marathon pace or so--at least faster than MP. Well, in my usual fashion, I blew through the first set of 3 miles too fast and legs and lungs were feeling fried by the end. In fact, I decided I wouldn't do the second set of 3 but after recovering a mile and mulling things over decided to do another 3 but at a reasonable pace, which turned out to be about MP. This was actually okay since the second set was on rolling dirt hills and I was pretty fried from first set. warm up 8:53, 8:22 3 miles too fast 6:36, 6:40: 6:37 stagger through a mile recovery 8:57 3 on the rolling dirt 7:13, 7:10, 7:13 1.07 cool down 8:04 pace The funny thing is, I did this exact same thing before my last marathon with this exact same workout(killed myself in the first set and staggered through the second set) so I am not too discouraged.
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| | NO watch. Drove into town in the evening with Vanessa in the stroller. After about 2.5 miles she wanted to get out and run, so I let her. She ran a whole mile and I finally stopped her--I figure one mile on her first run is plenty enough! I don't want to overtrain a 3-year-old! She wanted to keep going though. Wow! So anyways I walk-jogged that mile--don't have the time but think it was probably around 13 minutes or so. I had to put her back in the stroller kicking and screaming and finish the run. 10 miles in the morning with the tribe and then out pre-marathon cookout tomorrow night at my house. PARTY! We are roasting dogs and burgers and making s'mores and washing it down with some nice cold beer. | |
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| | 8:30 AP. Ran the first 4.5 with Stacy and Eddy and then Stacy stopped since she was going to run 10 with Carlos tomorrow. He was transferred to another fire station and found out yesterday he could not make the tribal run or BBQ today. After seeing Stacy off me and Eddy ran to Firehouse 1 and visited Carlos for a few minutes and then ran back to our cars. I did an all-out sprint at the end and hit 4:12 pace. Mostly easy miles today but ran the last few 7:20-7:30 pace before the sprint. Feeling good and ready to start taper week. | |
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| | 8:39 AP. Very relaxing. Then I got home. My phone rang and the doctor's nurse told me Vanessa had e-coli, thus the urinary tract infection, thus all the fevers and illness. Then the phone rang again and my husband told me he is laid off effective NOW. This could very well be the taper week from hell. | |
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| | Dress rehearsal. Loved the cool morning temps at 46 degrees! I so NEED those temps for a good marathon Sunday but the forecast has 56 as the overnight low with temps reaching 79 that day. I ran fast and smooth in the coolness. It makes everything easier. 2 mile warm up 8:15, 8:18, 3 at MP no peaking at the watch 7:10, 6:59, 6:55, I tried to run what felt like the conservative end of MP so it's gotta be the temps because these 3 miles were a breeze. Cool down 7:43. Maybe I can pretend it's 40 degrees that day. David is busy today going to a job fair and applying everywhere he can think of. If he doesn't get something quick then I have to find a different job that offers health insurance--my small company does not, although the job pays well. Private insurance and COBRA are sickeningly expensive. | |
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| | 8:45 AP. A very relaxed pace on the rolling dirt roads. I was contacted by a reporter from Wichita Eagle to be interviewed about the upcoming marathon. Haha I had fun with that. So far no phantom taper pains just butterflies in my stomach when I think about it. | |
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Here is the course video of my upcoming marathon. I have it memorized until about mile 5 so far. I am still confused about the rest but it sounds like they are going to have a lot of folks out there pointing us the right way.
http://www.examiner.com/running-in-wichita/prairie-fire-wichita-marathon-course-review-video I have patches of hives in random places--one cheek, my chin, both quads, both ankles, a few patches on my back, and my armpits. I have no idea what caused them but they itch like crazy. I finally broke down and took a wopping 12.5mg of benadryl last night which made me sleep soundly for 8 hours. I still have the hives but this close to the marathon don't dare put anymore of that stuff in my system--benadryl is basically a tranquilizer for me. David's work called him back and have a place for him in another department. It's not much money but we get to keep the insurance so it'll hold us! We are happy. I will run 5 or 6 this evening at a pedestrian pace, then off tomorrow, 2 or 3 miles Satuday to keep the cobwebs off and showtime Sunday! Temps will be a little warm with a low of 56 and a high of 82. 4 pushing the stroller at 8:50 pace, then 1.12 with Vanessa at 18:00
pace. These hives itch like crazy, but I am not taking any more
benadryl this close to the race. Nervous!
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| | http://www.kansas.com/2010/10/08/1532359/some-runners-to-watch-for-on-sunday.html?storylink=fbuser Here is the link for my 2 seconds of fame!
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| | The plan was 2 easy miles. Got up and took the kids to race the 1 mile at our local fall festival, including my 3 year old. She took off at the gun but after seeeing all the other people going the other way(out and back course) she freaked out. We barely made it to the turnaround and she refused to move because she wanted to be on my shoulder. Well, 31 pounds on my shoulders is quite heavy and even at a slow jog I was huffing and puffing but she wouldn't let me walk. We finally made it within view of the finish line and put her down and then David coaxed her across the line. Better luck next year! I figured that was enough exertion for me today. I am so nervous.
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| | Race: |
Prairie Fire Wichita Marathon (26.2 Miles) 03:23:26, Place overall: 3, Place in age division: 1 | |
Okie dokie here it is. The night before went well enough. I ate some lasagna, hydrated, and got a decent night's sleep. David dropped me off at 7 and I met up with Eddy. We were really nervous. We paced around, hit the port-a-pots, jogged around to warm up and then lined up. Sang the national anthem and shortly thereafter we were off.
Miles 1-5 7:19, 7:17, 7:21, 7:15, 7:16. Started off conservative as planned. Legs and breathing felt fine. Hooked up with 3 guys all wanting to run 3:10 so we ran together and talked. Took a gu at mile 5. It was actually pretty crowded and had to some people-dodging. Lots of corners--this course has 68 90 degree turns and a hairpin. I didn't like the patches of cobblestone but at least they were only a block or two long when we hit them. Miles 6-10 7:11, 7:15, 7:11, 7:21, 7:08 veering around corners still but that's okay. Our group is intact. I see my mom and daughter at mile 8 and it is a great boost! Still feel good. Miles 11-15 7:07, 7:17, 7:11, 7:11, 7:20 gu at mile 11 and see my husband. Hi honey! Two of the guys in our group have surged ahead but picking up the pace feels uncomfortable to me so I hang back a little with the other guy Mile 16 7:36. My legs suddenly feel very tired and so do I. This is a little early for that. I figure it is just one of those little bad patches and I will snap out of it. 17-20 7:39, 7:51,7:53, 8:05. My legs go from tired to hurting, and boy do they hurt. They are tight and hurt all over and I can't drive them any harder. I watch my goal time slip away and mentally this really starts to kill me. I see the girls from work at mile 20 and it is so good to have someone yelling for me! 21-24 8:20,8:14, 8:35, 8:48 Not only my goal time but now any chance at a PR slips away. I start to get muscle spasms that hart in my calves and in my hamstring. They are short little spasms like just a second and then they stop and then I'll get another one. Those little buggers sure do hurt though! Mentally I have taken a hit and there is no recovery. This is the closest I have ever been to dropping out of a race. The girls are at mile 22 and 24 cheering for me and they are WONDERFUL! How can I quit with such wonderful friends and family? NO--I owe it to them to cross that finish line. I am in second, amazingly, until mile 22 and then Lacy passes me. I have no fight to put up. I wish her luck and tell her to go get 'em! 25, 26 9:13, 9:10. Death march. Shuffle shuffle. I have nothing. This is really hard. This is a looong 2 miles and I want to cry. A couple of times I actually teared up, mostly with disappointment. I have worked really hard and this is quite miserable. I never even felt this bad in my first marathon. I don't know what the last .2 but I attempted some kind of pick-up at the end. Miraculously, I hang onto 3rd. I cross the line and it is over. My wonderful running tribe, the girls from work, and my family are all there to meet me and give me hugs. They saw me tear up but I got it back under control and didn't cry. Some tribe members had a rough day too. Some had a great day and I am so proud of them! I know I should not be ashamed of 3rd place or my time but the fact of the matter is I worked hard towards a better time and it is disappointing and frustrating when a race that you train hard for does not go well. On the flip side, this is still a far cry from where I started and my life and health are vastly improved. I am not finished yet. Houston is on January 30th and I am already plotting my REVENGE! Time to take a short break, review my training and try to figure out what went so wrong, and then fix it and be bold enough to toe the line again and go for it.
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| | Analysis and reflection today. In order to run a good marathon you have to train right, eat right, and have your mojo. Did I train right? I made some mistakes. Eat right? Umm, no. My mojo? Well, it's been a stressful week. Husband laid off, no wait, just kidding, transfers to another job 2 days later. Work--busy. Kids--busy. Life--overwhelming. Have been squeezing runs in by a hair. In fact, I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off for quite some time. I am TIRED. I have been tired. I cope well and like to think I can handle it all but nothing like a marathon to bring it all home and prove to me that I am secretly terribly fatigued. I'm going to take it easy from now until November 7th when Houston training begins and get things organized with my life and with my family. Gotta find a little balance in my life. | |
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| | Beautiful day. Put Vanessa in the stroller and walked a mile, then shuffled 2 miles, stopped at the playground, then walked a little more to Sonic and she got her tater tots and I had a diet cherry limeade. | |
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| | 8:39 AP. Must not. Gain. Weight. Not too sore anymore. | |
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| | Evening jaunt at 8:01 pace. Legs aren't sore but are dead as doornails. I feel fat and bloated. Must drink more water and eat more veggies I suppose. There is a fun Halloween 5k coming up on the 23rd and I think I would like to make my debut as an avatar. | |
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| | 7:56 AP. I cannot believe it is still 80 plus degrees in freaking October. Bring me some 50 degree running weather! Legs felt good today--ran on my rolling dirt hills. They made me strong before and they will make me strong again. I got my avatar costume today. Can't wait to run a 5k with a tail and make-up!(and perhaps holding a spear) Nick and Ian are ninjas and Vanessa is going to be a little avatar(she is sooo cute in the outfit but was a little freaked out by the tail). | |
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| | 8:07 AP. County line road plus sienna ranch. Windy! Got this Kings of Leon song stuck in my head..."I could really use somebody". Actually they are a pretty awesome band. | |
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| | 8:06 AP. Nice cooler temps. I am so tired and sleep deprived that I figured this run would stink and it first it was very lethargic but enjoyable. My legs and mind seemed to come alive a little at the end though. Mile 7 in 7:20 and last .49 at 6:37 pace. First time my legs have ventured to sub-7 pace since the marathon. | |
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| | 8:13 AP. All dirt roads. county line route plus 143rd. still freaking hot in the afternoons here. | |
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| | 8:00 AP. mostly dirt but 4 miles running into and around town. It is still freaking 82 degrees in October! Bring me some fall weather PLEASE! Felt sluggish and hot but the last few miles began to feel a little better as the sun started to go down and the temps started to cool. | |
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| | 8:08 AP. Windy day! Just jogged around Sienna Ranch. 5k tomorrow. I am not expecting a PR or even a decent time since my legs are still pretty blah but it will be nice to at least get them cranking a little bit. As for the Avatar costume--remains to be seen. I tried it on yesterday and then decided to go running around the yard to see how it felt and my mom took pictures because we both wanted to know what the tail would do. I think it was too tight on my big freaking butt and I tore a seam. So, we will see if it is fixable tonight. Oh yeah, and the tail looks hilarious. | |
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| | Race: |
The Great Pumpkin run (3.14 Miles) 00:21:10, Place overall: 4, Place in age division: 1 | | I debated on even making this a race report but what the hey, may as well. Basically, a good friend of mine's husband just got back from US Marshall school and his coming home party was last night, and I had more beer than is ideal before a morning race. Legs are so freaking stale from the marathon. Wow. So anyways, I could barely drag myself out of bed and I didn't much feel like running but Eddy was going to be there and I really need to drag out of this slump and at least run some sub-7 minute miles. There is a giant hole in the butt of my Avatar costume, so needless to say, I didn't wear it. Temps were lovely at 64 degrees but the 24mph wind with 33mph gusts was not lovely. I decided to truly run this for fun and just keep it sub-7 and be happy. We lined up and were off. About 100 people bolted off the starting line in front of me like it was a 400 meter race. I trotted along and eased into what I felt was a sub-7 pace and by the end of the first mile caught about half the rabbits. After that I mostly held position. The wind sucked and I didn't fight it too much. I never reached oxygen debt and never really pushed. I crossed the finish line with my worst 5k time in a year and a half and didn't care. It did feel good to stretch the legs and it did make me more interested in truly racing again, because I have been flat and burnt out. Oh, and I won a 13 pound turkey out of the whole deal! Two more weeks of kicking back and then Houston training starts. Hopefully after two more weeks of slacking I will have some motivation again, since it is sorely lacking right now. I am still fighting this issue with generalized fatigue and I don't know what the deal is.
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| | 7:38 AP. Watched "Without Limits" for the first time and it made me want to go on a run. So I did. Felt good! |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 10.22 |
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| | 7:54 AP. Dirt roads--county line + 143rd. It was chilly and windy--and it felt awesome! | |
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| | 8:16 AP. 19mph wind out of the West, which is unusual wind direction. I watched Chris Solinsky take down the American 10k Record on youtube again--before running. Ran very easy except for one fast-but-controlled mile in 6:27 south through town. Legs felt good. I am starting to feel really really good running again. I swear my body must love the beating because I feel best under piles of miles. I even like the blustery wind now, it wicks that yucky heat off of me. | |
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| | 8:12 AP. Another blustery day, but I am beginning to really enjoy it. First 4 miles felt sluggish, than I began to feel really good. I concentrated on good strong push-off on my stride but kept the effort very easy. Last mile in 7:27 with no perceivable increase in effort, although I did have a tailwind! | |
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| | 7:48 AP. Yet another windy afternoon run. Mixed route--dirt roads to 170th and back and then two loops in Sienna Ranch. First loop was 1.5 at a comfortably hard pace in 10:04(6:42 pace). I was okay with that. I am just giving my body a heads up for the longer, harder, tempo runs to come. | |
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| | 7:07 AP. Had to work late and had very little time so had to make it short and sweet. | |
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| | 8:03 AP. 7 miles dirt, 3 miles in Sienna Ranch. Started off at a sluggish 9:00 mile but felt good cranking a 7:24 at the end. Looking forward to an 8k next weekend and I am pinning the butt of my avatar costume for my husband's work party tonight! I guess I'll just wear blue underwear. | |
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| | 7:44 AP. Hilly dirt route. Nice and cool--I had to wear gloves. I am now a happy runner! | |
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| | 7:57 AP. 7 on dirt plus 3 on pavement. Felt pretty good. Hoping I will have some kind of fire in my legs for the 8k this weekend. I have had so many crummy races in a row that I don't want to get too pumped up and then be all disappointed so hopefully I can get out there and run a decent race. | |
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| | 7:53 AP. A quick 8 in the beauteous 38 degrees and I am off to work.... | |
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| | 7:53 AP. Too busy and no childcare, so no run yesterday. Stil trying to get my treadmill fixed. Anyways, at least I got to run today and it is nice and chilly in the 30's. I love it! | |
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| | 8:37 AP. Nice and easy with 4 one minute bursts of race pace. On the off chance my racing mojo decides to make an appearance tomorrow I will have, hopefully, fresh legs. | |
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| | Race: |
Inspire 8k (5 Miles) 00:34:25, Place overall: 3 | | Time was lame but I am happy about the race--when I saw the trees bowing in the wind I knew that this was not a fast race kind of day, so decided to try and run a tactical race and maybe, just maybe, make top 3. The race was two loops of the same route which on a non-blustery today was an awesome course and I think potentially very fast. The south wind was 21mph gusting to 30mph and it blew you off the road if you were standing still. Fortunately the finish was with the tailwind! I jogged slow with Eddy 2.5 miles and then we went and hung out at the starting line jogging and place and bouncing around, the usual. I hung back 4 or 5 rows and was immediately intimidated by the large group of skinny women with six packs. I started off comfortable in the first mile and worked my way into a nice rythm going north and then whipped to the south part. I just tried to stay relaxed and comfortable and keep my turnover high rather than try to outstride the wind. I tucked in behind people, even slowing the pace to draft rather than waste energy fighting the wind solo. We turned north again and ran past the start for loop two and I was comfortable and feeling very good with such a conservative start, so while I still had the wind at my back I stepped it up and started passing people. When we turned south into the wind again I had the 3rd place girl in view. I caught up to her, drafted briefly, then surged ahead and caught the next guy. I ended up slowing the pace to draft again and not fight the wind alone and was a little nervous about the girl I had passed so as soon as we popped out of the headwind and ran in the crosswind before turning north I took off. I had lots of gas in the tank and just floored it all the way to the finish. I passed a few people and never got caught by the girl. It was nice to feel that good and ready to crank at the end of a race. In some ways I kind of dogged this race because I felt awesome afterward and still feel good but I ran it purely as a tactical race rather than running for time so it was really a different way of running a race. Second place was only about 45 seconds ahead so I wonder if I had fought the wind and pushed it, maybe I would've caught her but in my experience wind will suck the life out of you. Turkey Trot 10-miler in two weeks and I am eager to run hard and PR!
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| | 7:53 AP. Kansas City. Nice morning run while my friends slept in. Then I did some serious shopping. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 8.00 |
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| | 7:43 AP. Tired, but I attempted the workout anyway. 3x1.5 at tempo pace. I did it on the rolling dirt roads in the wind so my times don't rock, but I am learning to run by feel and listen to my body so I did the tempo effort. two mile warm up 9:05, 9:02(obviously not feeling it today) 1.5 in 10:22 (6:54 pace) .5 in 3:58 1.51 in 10:19(6:49 ace) .5 in 4:03 1.51 in 10:28(6:55 pace) cool down
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| | 7:59 AP--treadmill! It is fixed! Crazy crazy day and crazy week, no time at all--I was lucky to squeeze this in but I didn't want to roll a doughnut today. | |
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am.--6 in 8:30 AP on the treadmill. I was tempted to speed it up to get it over with but I have a 13-miler tomorrow at a rather brisk pace scheduled so I need to keep it easy. I will probably squeeze a few more in this evening. My treadmill got fixed just in the nick of time.
pm-- 4.5 8:34 AP on the treadmill
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| Blue Avants Miles: 4.50 | Lunarfly Miles: 6.00 |
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| | 7:28 AP. It was supposed to be 13 at 7:30 pace but I felt good and didn't want to get lost on the new course so I hung off Eddy's shoulder and ran 15. It was in the 30's and felt freaking fantastic. I love the fall! Started out easy and then steadily dropped the pace and rocked steady. I felt aerobically comfortable the whole time but legs were getting slightly tired at the end. Ran without fuel or water and energy levels were fine. Splits 8:25, 7:45, 7:30, 7:22, 7:18, 7:21, 7:21, 7:22, 7:24, 7:18, 7:27, 7:25, 7:21, 7:11, 7:15 |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 15.00 |
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| | 7:52 AP. Rolling dirt roads. I can still feel my legs a little from Saturday but felt really good by the end of the run. Maybe a few more on the treadmill tonight. I plan to front load this week and hopefully PR in the 10 miler on Saturday. 68 minutes is a sorta goal in my head. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 8.00 |
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am. 6 at 8:11 AP on the treadmill while Vanessa watched cartoons. Will do 6 more at naptime. I ran mostly slow but bumped up to 6:40 and eventually 6:00 pace for the last quarter mile just because.
naptime: 6 at 8:12 AP treadmill. U2 was better running music than Journey was this morning--but still not the greatest.
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| | 7:27 AP. Key workout day. Sheesh. 2x2 tempo with .5 recovery. The first two went okay but the second two my legs felt pretty acid-yuck. Last mile was hard--I was breathing like I was running a 5k or something. 2 mile warm up 8:45, 8:16 2 tempo 6:47, 6:42 .5 @ 7:49 pace 2 tempo 6:50, 6:39 2 cool down 8:02, 7:17 I hope this pace does not feel that hard on Saturday.
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| | depressed. ate a lot and didn't run. | |
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| | 8:24 AP. Still didn't feel like running, but forced myself out anyways. It was a good thing. It was actually cold enough to break out the tights today. | |
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| | Race: |
Wichita Turkey Trot (10 Miles) 01:09:54, Place overall: 8, Place in age division: 3 | | Well, "A" goal was 1:08, "B" Goal was under 1:10, and "C" goal was PR. At least I (barely) made my B goal and PRed by a mere 32 seconds I believe. It hasn't been an awesome week but this was a pretty nice boost. I have a crummy cold. I really didn't know how much I would feel like pushing it today but after getting out there and warming up I decided I would try and hit the halfway mark in less than 35 minutes and go from there. I jogged around a little, ran into Eddy, ran 2.82 nice and easy with him, then we ditched all our gloves and sleeves and shirts and went to the starting line, which was waaaay congested. I'm glad they had chip timing this year because it took a while to cross the mat and start running. I really shouldn't complain but in races with narrow starts like this it is irritating when people...don't position themselves correctly. I'll leave it at that. The gun went off and I slowly eased myself into a groove. Most of the race is on a narrow bikepath and unfortunately is basically out and back which creates problems after the turnaround. I found myself ready to open up and go but trapped--couldn't pass with the oncoming traffic and had to run behind folks that were not going my speed, wait for an opening, and then swerve wildly around them before having a head on collision. The course is more or less flat with a few steep little rollers going up and down to the riverbank from the road. I felt strong at some times and tired at others. It was a very bipolar race for me! I pushed the last two miles and passed a lot of people when I realized that I was riding pretty close to sub 1:10 and better get my behind in gear. The south wind my friend was present but not blustery and not much of a factor. Someone told me I was 8th woman but I haven't seen the official results. My garmin measured this a little long(10.03) but I am sure that is from improper tangents after the turnaround. Splits are per the first 10 miles on Garmin 6:55, 6:50, 6:58, 6:59, 7:01, 6:59, 7:03, 7:06(got a little lazy in these miles I think), 7:01, 6:49. Cheered for fellow tribe members afterward. Had a nice talk with some Rose Hill friends Mickey and her husband, saw one of my old paramedic co-workers Angela(she is doing great with the running thing), saw our friend Amy, also saw some of the GoRun Wichita group and talked with a few of the folks I ran with during the marathon--we all ended up running pretty close to each other this race too! It was great to talk to people and hang out a little--it made me feel better about things and life in general. Anyways it was a marginal PR but it gives me a glimmer of hope that I have some stronger races in me to look forward to.
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 13.30 |
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am--7.25 at 8:18 AP. Treadmill. I have a gnarly cold and feel terrible. Today's music selection was Third Eye Blind. When the CD was over, I was done. Will run more this pm after work.
pm--5 at 8:05 pace. cough. sniffle. hack. wheeze
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| Blue Avants Miles: 7.25 | Lunarfly Miles: 5.00 |
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| | 7:31 AP. Treadmill tempo success! Put my daughter down for a nap and went for it. Today's music selection was Korn:"Issues", which surprisingly was good for concentrating and relaxing into the tempo. Warm up 3 miles ranging from 8:00 to 8:34 pace 4 mile tempo 6:40, 6:40, 6:40, 6:35 --surprised at how in control I felt after 3 miles I picked it up a notch for the 4th mile. It promptly started to hurt, but was survivable. 2 mile cooldown from 7:30 to 8:34 pace I am thinking right at 6:40 pace is my lactate threshold right now
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| | 8:16 AP. Dirt roads. Legs feel good. | |
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| | 7:57 AP. Ran down county line road and into town, ran through town, circled the track a few times, and then ran home. It was 24 degrees but I really enjoyed the cold, even with the 15mph headwind all the way home. David met me about 7 miles in with some hot chocolate. Perfect! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! | |
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| | 8:21 AP. Sluggish this morning, which may have something to do with the champagne last night. 20 degrees and dark(it was early) so I drove into town and ran in the eery silence. | |
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| | 7:32 AP. 16 mile progressive run. Evidently a large thanksgiving dinner with a lot of pie is my optimal day-before-long-run fueling strategy, because I felt great. Didn't look at my watch, no drink or fuel stops--just ran. I was definitely working at the end but felt strong. Splits 8:53, 8:07, 8:06, 7:57, 7:59, 7:48, 7:22, 7:26, 7:18, 7:18, 7:25, 7:15, 6:58, 6:59, 6:57, 6:45 | |
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am. 8 miles at 8:32 AP on dirt roads. More this pm nice and and easy if I get time!
pm. treadmill. 4 at 8:18 AP
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 4.00 | Lunarfly Miles: 8.00 |
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7:22 AP. Treadmill. It was after a long day including a job interview(and job acquisition) at the jail. I will be working in the jail clinic part time. Back to having two jobs--we are in fear of an imminent layoff for my husband so I am getting ready now. I did a home health visit then came home and cleaned house and got the kids squared away with homework and dinner. David was at work late so I finally popped in Wall-E downstairs and ran while the kids watched it. I have never watched the movie and found it's depiction of humans rather disturbing. As for the workout, it was hard. I wasn't feeling it today and it was just plain hard, but now that I stuck it out I am quite satisfied and pleased. 2 mile warm up at 8:34 pace. 3x2 miles at 6:49 pace with .5 at 7:30 pace for recovery(if you want to call that recovery). 1 mile cool down from 8:34 going down to 8:00 pace. I totally deserve to go eat whatever I want now.
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am. 6 at 8:15 AP on dirt roads. Legs actually didn't feel too bad from last night.
pm 5.05 7:44 AP in Derby. It is hard to slow down when it rolls up and down so much because my tendency is to push uphills and let it fly on downhills.
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| Blue Avants Miles: 6.00 | Lunarfly Miles: 5.05 |
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| | 8:27 AP. Treadmill during naptime. Took Vanessa to her first movie theater experience today and watched "Tangled". It was great! | |
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| | 8:24 AP. Dirt roads plus one Sienna Ranch loop. Legs are dead and ran pretty slow except for one .33 mile section at 6:35 pace. I hope my legs are not this dead for the race tomorrow but if they are I will at least force a tempo out of it. | |
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| | I refuse to call this a race. I have bombed another one and seem to be stuck in tempo mode. I woke up to below freezing temps and lovely 22mph north wind. I'll make this brief. I woke up, ate two cookies and a cup of coffee and drove downtown. I warmed up 1.85 miles with Eddy. The four mile race started and immediately I realized my right shoe was untied. It felt loose and not right but my hands were so cold there was no way I could have stopped and tied it so I ran on. Whoever was supposed to point the right way at the trick part crossing the river a few times evidently abandoned his post, because my group got it all wrong and finally crossed a street with no traffic control to get back down on the path. From talking to folks afterward, there were multiple different versions run of the course. I ended up in a disheartened fourth place with a worse time then last year. 4.04 in 27:41(6:51 pace). My legs were tight and tired. I went in, ate a doughnut, drank some water, found my husband and son, and then jogged .85 miles and lined up for the mile. I ran it in 6:23 and was the first woman to cross the line, but that is a terrible time for me. Next I ate a hamburger. Then I picked up a few medals for winning my age group and the mile, and then we went home. I just ate two more cookies. Nick did a good job running the mile! Overall I'm going to call it a good tempo workout and move on. I plan to run more this evening to offset all the crap I'm eating today. I'm going to keep my eyes on the goal--Houston--and I should actually be tapered and rested for that one. |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 8.65 |
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| | 8:04 AP, mostly in Sienna Ranch, mostly just to burn off a few extra calories. | |
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am. 8.04 at 8:12 AP, dirt roads. It was 18 degrees. I though the tights and underarmour with shirt and shorts over would be enough but my skin was angry red, itchy, and mottled afterward on my chest, stomach, and thighs. It is getting very close to time to break out the fleece.
pm. 6 at 8:18 pace on the treadmill. Mostly slow except for the last .35 at 6:40 pace because of the JC Chasez "Blowing me up " song. Very dance-y. Day 2 of cleaning up my diet. I've been in a funk but the cookies and beer have got to go because I am quite sure I have put on a few pounds--my clothes don't lie. 8 weeks until Houston so I've got enough time to get mega-healthy and at a good race weight. Hopefully I feel better too!
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| Adidas Adizero Mana Miles: 6.00 | Lunarfly Miles: 8.04 |
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7:52 AP. Intention was 3x2 but my legs were so very tired that I realized after the first set of two it would be wise to back off and not overstress and get an injury. This was on the treadmill while Vanessa chose to watch Wall-E, again. You know how kids get stuck on a movie and want to watch it over and over?--well, for Vanessa it is Wall-E, which is not exactly good running viewing. Anyways I warmed up slow 2 miles, did 2 at 6:49 pace and realized that between Saturday and heavy mileage yesterday I was just not ready to do this today. Slowed down to 7:30 pace, then slowed down more to 8:34 pace, made it to mile 6 and in a sort of rebellion did one more in 6:49, then slowed down for the last 3 miles. Sweat levels were off the charts today, especially for me. Now it gets funky, when I stepped off the treadmill I felt sick and the room started spinning. I leaned over the stairs for a minute until I felt a little more steady, and then curiousity got the best of me. I stumbled my foggy head out to the car and got my glucometer out of the nursing bag. Is it low blood sugar? Nope, 116--my body is doing a most excellent job of releasing adequate sugar into my bloodstream. I chugged a few glasses of water but by then I was already feeling much better. Made a banana milkshake with frozen banana, milk, and egg and drank it and now I feel perfectly fine. Strange. I am almost wondering if it was motion sickness from the treadmill and watching the movie.
pm. 3.03 miles in 7:48, 7:09, 7:07--just needed to get outside and run and it felt good. squeezed this one in really quick before Nick's concert then took a superfast power shower and went and watched Nick and his classmates sing Christmas songs. Oh the season of kid's Christmas programs has begun.
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 3.00 | Blue Avants Miles: 10.00 |
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| | 8:11 AP. started at 8:34 miles and worked my way down--whenever my knuckle hit the console I knew it was time to speed up. My husband did some p90x and when he was done, so was I! Day 4 of eating right and I feel good. |
| Adidas Adizero Mana Miles: 9.10 |
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am. 8 at 8:34 pace on the treadmill, nice and easy. I have to run really easy until Saturday because my faithful-best-running-buddy-ever Eddy has agreed to run 18 at 5am Saturday with me(since I am on call and have a better chance of running call-free early), and I know he will push the pace and for once I am going to try really hard not to whine and just keep up.
pm. 5.04 at 7:42 pace, mostly in Sienna Ranch
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 8.00 | Lunarfly Miles: 5.04 |
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| | 8:36 AP. dirt roads. Listened to music and concentrated on holding the reigns in. I will eat a lot tonight to prepare for a killer 18 tomorrow. | |
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| | 7:32 AP. Got up at 4:10, drank some coffee, and ate a piece of peanut butter toast. Roaring through the streets with Eddy by a little before 5. Once again, ran straight through with no stops for water or fuel. Eddy is nursing a sore achilles so I actually got a little mercy today. The run is nothing to write home about, but I have just completed my first 80 mile week ever. Day 7 of eating right. Splits 8:41, 8:07, 8:00, 7:36, 7:35, 7:42, 7:25, 7:19, 7:27, 7:27, 7:31, 7:29, 7:25, 7:12, 7:16, 7:14, 7:07, 6:55, last little bit at 6:23 pace. | |
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am. 6 at 8:02 AP. Dirt roads. This was a test run to see how I felt after a nasty stomach bug yesterday. I felt alright--must be because of my husband's invention--jello made with gatorade instead of water--kept me hydrated.
pm. 5.03 at 7:49 AP. Sienna Ranch.
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| | 8:22 AP. treadmill. Up at 4:10, on the gerbil wheel at 4:30. Today is my first day at my new part time job at the jail. Should be interesting. |
| Adidas Adizero Mana Miles: 10.00 |
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| | 7:32 AP. 3x2 at MP, and my goal was to be realistic about it, so I ran the MP miles at a pace that felt smooth and relaxed. The first two sets were in Pauls Valley, and the 3rd was in Sienna Ranch. 2 mile warm up 9:12, 8:33, 2 at mp 7:06, 7:05, .5 at 7:32 pace, 2 at mp 7:04, 7:07, .5 at 7:41 pace, 2 at mp 7:06, 7:03, .3 cooldown at 7:52 pace. I have things to do today, like an interview with Lifeteam as a flight nurse/medic--very interested! |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 9.30 |
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| | 8:19 AP. Treadmill. 4:00am |
| Adidas Adizero Mana Miles: 10.00 |
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am. Dirt roads. 8 at 7:29 AP. Started out shuffling happily along but got to feeling good and the pace escalated, with last 3 in 7:14, 7:12, 6:42.
pm. treadmill. 4 at 7:54 pace.
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| Adidas Adizero Mana Miles: 4.00 | Lunarfly Miles: 8.00 |
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| | Race: |
15K Time Trial (9.31 Miles) 01:02:21 | | Today my schedule called for a 15k time trial. It was such a HUGE breakthrough that I made it a race report! I got out of my job at the jail, changed in the locker room, warmed up 1.06 at 7:34 pace running to the river path, and started. I wore racing flats and listened to music, and ran with reckless abandon, and felt AMAZING the whole time. 6:35, 6:31, 6:35, 6:36(26:17 so far, 4 mile PR) 6:39( 32:56 total, there goes my 8k/5 mile pr!) 6:47(39:43, so shortly after this my 10k pr fell!) 6:52, 6:50, 6:44, last .31 at 6:52 pace 1:02:21--massive 15k PR! stopped, walked, looked at my splits and practically jumped up and down with excitement! 1.03 mile cool down at 7:23 pace. Was it the racing flats? Was it the music? Was it the mileage? Am I down a few pounds from eating better? I dunno, but this was a breakthrough.
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| Adidas Adizero Mana Miles: 11.40 |
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am. 8 on dirt roads at 7:59 AP. Would've been slower except I got chased up a hill by a Beagle around mile 5 and kinda picked it up for the rest of the run. My calves are sore. I am sure they are not accustomed to racing flats and that is the reason. Would it be foolish to try the racing flats out on a long run this weekend? I think they make me faster and am toying with the idea of wearing them for Houston. am planning a few more this pm... pm. 5. treadmill at 8:25 pace
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| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 5.00 | Lunarfly Miles: 8.00 |
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This was a wild impromptu 1 am run! After a suggestion by Lacy on facebook, a group of us decided to run under the lunar eclipse. I met Lacy at 1:00am at HS, and we ran to the downtown square and met up with four other people. The four of us then ran through downtown in the middle of the street to the bridge and the Keeper of the Plains statue for a lovely view and pictures. It was really magical and beautiful. Then we ran back to the downtown square and me and Lacy ran back to HS. It was good to run together and talk with my friendly local race rival Lacy and meet a few new people. I drank extra coffee this morning at work in the jail!
2.69 at 7:36 pace to downtown.
3.11 at 8:28 pace to the bridge and back
2.66 at 7:52 pace back to HS | |
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am. 9.3 at 7:15 AP. Had a hard time getting motivated for faster stuff in 22 degrees in tights, shorts, and two shirts. Going north the wind was cold and I was too cold, going south I was overdressed and too hot. Calves are STILL tight. Felt like my legs were giving out the last tempo mile. 3x2 day.
2 mile warm up 8:34, 8:08
2 miles 6:45, 6:45
.5 at 7:40 pace
2 6:40, 6:55
.5 at 7:42 pace
2 at 6:41, 6:56
.3 cool down
pm. 4 treadmill 8:17 pace |
| Pink Nike Avant Miles: 4.00 | Blue Avants Miles: 9.30 |
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| | 4am. Garmin was dead, so I ran sans technology in the cold moonlight. Big winter storm coming...supposedly. | |
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| | 7:24 AP. No Garmin. Just checked my phone clock at the beginning and end--2:28. I ran without fuel or water and seemed to be okay, just the usual end of 20-miler fatigue. Off to an evening with family. | |
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| | 8:21 AP. Nice and easy recovery on the treadmill. Merry Christmas everyone! | |
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| | 8:05 AP--dirt roads. Too gorgeous not to run today. | |
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am. 8.32 at 8:30 AP. Sluggish moonlit run. Half asleep. Long but great weekend! Can't even type in full sentences.
pm. 5 at 7:49 pace on the treadmill
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| Adidas Adizero Mana Miles: 5.00 | Blue Avants Miles: 8.32 |
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| | 7:41 AP. 4am again, but really beautiful, cold, moonlit morning. No wind to speak of--the one nice thing about the wee hours. I felt pretty decent after a while | |
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| | am. 13.14 at 7:17 AP. It was dark and foggy and I couldn't see my watch which complicated things a bit trying to do 5x2 at MP. 8:50 warm up, sets were 7:08, 7:03--6:55, 6:57--6:52, 7:01--7:03, 7:04--7:00, 6:52
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| | 7:26 AP. Changed after work and went straight along the river path. Can you believe it was over 60 degrees today?! I wore shorts and a tank top. It will be back to 20 degrees tomorrow. Only in Kansas.....felt sluggish and tight at first but loosened up and then felt pretty good. | |
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Resolution run (3.1 Miles) 00:20:07, Place overall: 1, Place in age division: 1 | | Happy New Year! Bear with me if this post gets windy. I am in need of shoes, so decided to try and win the resolution run 5k in El Dorado instead of doing the beer run part. I got off work and barely had time to get my running clothes on, drop the kids off at Grandma's and go to El Dorado. 1.12 mile warm up. It was cold and wicked windy and I knew a PR was pretty much a no go. I scoped out the competition and spotted my biggest threat, Molly, a high school track state champion from El Dorado who usually beats me. Before I knew it the gun was off. Molly took the lead for about the first 1/3rd mile, then I passed her and ran scared. There were a few icy bridges where I had to slow down because I could feel my feet losing traction. At every switchback and corner I could see her and she was right behind me, no more than a few seconds. In the third mile I had visions of her outkicking me on the home stretch with her track speed. The final half mile I decided I better push hard and make a gap or she would get me. It was windy and hard to push but I gave it what I had and was relieved to cross the line first. Time was 20:07, not a PR but I'll take it! I immediately ran to Darcy, grabbed the camera, and ran back down the course to get pictures of my husband and Tyson drinking beer and running. It was great! They did awesome! We drank some beer afterward! 1.13 mile cool down running along the course taking pictures. It was a good time! I talked to Molly a little afterward and she is so sweet and nice! Runners in general tend to be great folks! It's been a wonderful year. There have been a lot of ups and downs, in life, in running, in general. I've made some great friends, and I appreciate the ones who have always been there for me. I have the most incredible husband and kids ever. I've left my beloved job as a paramedic and miss it dearly, but have discovered new opportunities in nursing. I've lost some loved ones, but they have left legacies and I can only hope that I am half the person they were. I've won one marathon, and staggered to a disappointing and painful finish in the other one. I am humbled almost daily by the amazing people in my life. God has blessed me far, far beyond what I deserve. Bring it on 2011! |
| Adidas Adizero Mana Miles: 5.35 |
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| Nike Air Pegasus Miles: 287.06 | Blue/gold Asics Miles: 111.38 | Mizuno Waverider 12 Miles: 75.97 | Pink Pegs Miles: 585.55 | Crappy Asics Miles: 146.72 | Pink Nike Avant Miles: 592.73 | Adidas Adizero Mana Miles: 97.32 | Blue Avants Miles: 618.73 | Crocs Miles: 18.08 | Lunarfly Miles: 406.70 |
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