| 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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| | sick and wheezing from bronchitis and the hives are back, so I shouldn't have, but I did, right there on the treadmill decorating my apartment dining room that I haven't sold yet. Haven't weighed in a long time but pretty sure i am at an alltime low. Hoping to get well and get strenght back for a half on the 19th. | |
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| | dining room mill again because me and Nessa are still sick and I am stubborn. half mile warm up then 3 x .5 up 4% at 7:30 pace with .5 rest which on my treadmill is significantly more gut wrenching than the ones at the Y. then I did 3 one minute at 6:00 pace, which I swear is 5:00 pace on my mill, then my tired body said enough and I jogged the rest. Hoping for a long run tomorrow. | |
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| | estimate on distance. 24 degrees. no watch. felt good. | |
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| | ez. legs felt good. warm enough for shorts! | |
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| | bittersweet. ran with the honey badgers. 10 ez then last two at 6:44. | |
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| | ez on the mill at post 11 | |
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| | my poor daughter is still home sick. so. dining room dreadmill again. 4 mile warm up ez. two miles 6:40, 6:35. 5 minute jog then 5 x 2 minutes at 6:27 pace with one minute rests. cooldown to 9 miles. these paces on my mill are pretty gut wrenching, had to fight for that last 2 minutes. did core afterward. musing on what sort of time i can run my half on the 19th. the course is a hilly beast. | |
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| | ez on the hs reverse route. today ez was ahead of the 8:00 girl, which i think is a good sign | |
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| | one hour fight club, then super easy pace on the run. rainy, 43 degrees--shorts and t-shirt today! | |
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| | one hour fight club. super ez run after. these workouts at fight club, they just flat scare me.I have experienced new heights of muscle fatige. I never thought I could jump over stuff, do burpees, pushups, crunches, punch bags, do lunges and squats and hurl medicine balls until my muscles just give out and collapse. It's got to be making me stronger. | |
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6:45 AP. dreadmill, downtown Y.
.5 warmup 8:34. 2 miles up 4% 7:30. 5.5 down -2% 6:18.
clinging to this notion of breaking 1:30 next weekend although it is quite a stretch. | |
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| | ez in -3 with windchill. legs feel surprisingly good despite all the mileage. | |
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| | one hour of a particularly brutal fight club, lots of bagwork(love), jumping jacks, and jumping over and around stuff. nice plod on the run. easy miles this week, will probably skip fight club thursday and friday so all systems are somewhat fresh on Saturday. | |
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| | one hour fight club. very little sleep. drained. actually taking a running day off. | |
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| | Indoor track at downtown Y. 2 mile warm-up. 3 miles hard in 18:45. 3 mile cooldown including 4 sprints. So my hope is 6:15 pace today makes 6:50 pace on Saturday feel easy. | |
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| | oh so slow. butterflies in my stomach and tingling in my legs, about the right way to feel the day before the race. a whopping 5 weeks of training. I am putting my faith in the fact that the body remembers how to run, it always remembers. Urish hill, here I come! | |
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| | Race: |
Topeka to Auburn half marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:33:44, Place overall: 1, Place in age division: 1 | | Not the time I wanted, definitely forgot how wicked and up, up, uphill this course was. Upside, I felt strong the whole time, just told myself to keep it under control and run. Think I kept it too under control because next thing I knew it was over and I felt way too good. Legs were burning from all the climbing but aerobically felt awesome, could've talked the whole time. I feel like if I keep plugging away and get back to trained up this could be a really great year. Rode up with the honey badger team and we cleaned up awards, was pretty fun. Didn't wear a watch, but knew from running near my team mate most of the first half that splits when not climbing were right around 6:45 so really, a 1:29 in a few months is likely. maybe sub-3 this fall. feeling good! | |
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| | nice and slow. not sore, so figured I would put big miles on tired legs--getting ready for the battering of the Psycho Wyco 50k in 3 weeks, want to best my performance from last year. | |
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| | No school today, headed to the downtown Y so Vanessa could go to kidzone. 8 miles on the indoor track then 40 minutes core and plyo. Legs feel good. | |
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| | one hour fight club. then out for the run, I knew my legs were fatigued but short on time so threw in a little tempo. .62 warm up then 2 at 6:30, 6:45. These just felt hard. ugh. Then I just went to jog it out and on a whim did the last two 6:41, 6:49. I concentrated on just staying relaxed and cruising and these felt much, much easier and were in control. weird. I think a few days of recovery jogging are in order because my legs are pretty fatigued. | |
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| | one hour fight club. 8.25 at a gentle plod. | |
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| | so tired after work this morning, skipped fight club and went to bed. squeezed this little run in and off to work. | |
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| | one hour fight club and then my run. I wanted to go 12, but I was just too tired from working all night. I may do a second run after some sleep. | |
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| | downtown Y. dreadmill first: .5 warm up 8:34, 2.5 miles up 4% 7:30, then 5 down -2% 6:27, 6:22, 6:22, 6:22, 6:18. 4 mile cooldown easy. haven't been able to muster up this workout in a long time, so feels good to be able to do it. | |
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| | work ran late, I was there from 6pm to 7:30am this morning, then not much sleep. My body just feels tired. I decided to take a running day off so I can nail the fast finish long run tomorrow. will at least get some abs in before bed. | |
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| | 60 degrees! 7:41 AP. felt really good, last 4 6:51, 7:01, 7:06, 7:09. These were good enough for me considering most of them were into a 20mph south wind, so I just kept a solid effort. | |
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| | after work, squeezed in 4.4 while Vanessa was at her appointment, got chased down by a fire engine, one hour fight club, sleep, 6.5 more and off to work. | |
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| | one hour fight club after work. a little sleep. 8 ez on the indoor track at the y. | |
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a.m. one hour fight club
p.m. stuck on the mill. meant to do 10 ez then two hard but just couldn't take it on the dreadmill today so did 8ez then 2 more 6:31, 6:27. felt decent. | |
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| | one hour fight club. ez recovery run, got cut short because i witnessed a car accident, called it in, checked every one out, gave report to the first incoming unit then had to split and shortcut it home to get Vanessa from school. | |
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| | nice n easy with Prefontaine. might jump into a little 4 mile race tomorrow. The big bad 50k is only a week away! | |
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| | Race: |
Sunday super bowl run (4 Miles) 00:26:30, Place overall: 2 | | meh | |
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am. one hour fight club. brutal.
pm. 6 miles. meant to go 8 but got this sharp stitch in my ribs, tried to stretch it out, walk it off, tried everything but it was a painful little sucker and made running unbearable. | |
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| | one hour fight club. It was tough, and my legs were trashed, so it was more of plod than a run. The competition for the Psycho Wyco 50K is intense, Abraham Kogo, a 2:19 marathoner will debut the trail, Andy Henshaw, National 100k champ and course record holder will be present, as well as more of a stacked field. On the women's side, one and only sub-5 woman and course record holder, as well as 2:40 marathoner returns, and there is rumor of another unknown very fast woman. It will be exciting on the trails Saturday! I stood in front of the mirror today and looked at my abs. I know, it's vain and weird, but thanks to fight club I have a six-pack, and I suddenly realized it today. | |
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| | ez. trail conditions will be muddy, so its not gonna be a fast day for anyone out there saturday. Its gonna be tough! | |
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| | Race: |
Run Toto Run Winter Psycho Wyco (31 Miles) 05:05:53, Place overall: 1, Place in age division: 1 | |
This is, effort wise and in performance comparison, probably the biggest win of my running career. This is the race I have been training for, and it went better than I ever dreamed. It is 50K/31 miles, consisting of 3 loops.
prerace: It rained this week. Rain is bad. It means mud, which means none of the fast and frozen terrain we had last year. I drove up the night before, had my customary night-before-race beer(one Corona light), and dropped into bed for 7 solid hours. Bling and Glen drove us to the line. I didn't bother to warm up.
Loop 1: I lined up with the Shadow, Bling, and Prefontaine right at the front, and we were off. I went out fast on purpose, since I knew this was the only loop with opportunity for speed before the trail was chewed up and the mudslogging began. I felt strong. My mantra going down was "no fear" and I am amazed I didn't break my face but I took a few falls. A little gatorade, but mostly coca-cola, and one S-cap. Came through in 1:32, which is ridiculously way too fast of a start for this course. At the end of the loop I shed my hat, gloves, and long-sleeve shirt and it was shorts and trusty green tank from then out.
Loop 2: And now the mudslog begins. There were ropes strung on some hills but not enough, not enough. I wiped out half a dozen times. I have blisters on my toe tips from curling them in a desperate attempt to keep my shoes from being sucked off. I went mud-skiing down hills. Several times I was reduced to hands and knees scrabbling up hills(needed some ropes here). I would smear the mud off my hands onto my shirt and then force myself to run whenever possible. I choked a gu down in here, and swallowed another S-cap. I still stuck to coca-cola(only in traile races!). Came through in 3:15. Still not another woman in sight and I was not looking back.
Loop 3: Ah. The agony begins. The beginning of this loop is pretty muddy and sloppy, and I became acutely aware of my screaming muscles and fatigue. I felt a little disheartened the first few miles, felt like things were just shutting down. From here on out, I alternated wildly between fatigue and a little despair and feeling good, knowing I was in the lead, and telling myself to slog on. I wiped out and scrambled a few more times. The last mile was hard, a massive, muddy climb. The very last little bit is downhill though, and I sprinted like a madwoman across the line!
Very exciting. Second fastest time in history of the race for a woman. Almost a sub-5(dang!) prizes: $325, beer mug, water bottle, drop bag, free entries to two events, coffee mug, shirt, hat
A shout out to the experienced volunteers, the amazing aid stations, the incredible support, and my awesome running group, the River City Honey Badgers.
My. Body. Hurts. I'm sure I did some major muscle damage, but no true "injuries" and should be recovered in a week so I can polish up for a half in March. Today was a real breakthrough, I feel the fitness is beginning to really, really come back. I bested my time from last year by 40 minutes in much, much less favorable conditions so I am pumped!! | |
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| | one hour fight club. 8 ez. legs are a little stale, but no more soreness. feet are intact...no blisters or black toenails. surprise. | |
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| | one hour fight club. my arms, ouch. 8 on indoor track at Y in the eve. was feeling pretty chipper at the end | |
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| | am. one hour fight club afternoon: 12 easy. legs are not ready for fast stuff yet but they feel pretty good off to surprise a little girl with flowers | |
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| | one hour fight club. finally bought my own boxing gloves. 8 on the dining room dreadmill while doing laundry, threw in 6 x 1min on/1 min off at 6:00 pace at the end. | |
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| | with the group after work. not totally slack, kinda brisk but still conversational. I was underdressed for 18 degrees | |
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| | 7:50 ap. last 4 in a comfortable 6:52, 6:57, 6:43, 6:40. improvement spurt coming on. | |
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| | no school today, so 8 ez on the track at the Y plus 20 minutes intense core. | |
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all ez on the dreadful home dreadmill. Mini me cheered me on, no school today.
am-5
pm-6
now I am going to officially register for the Ardmore half marathon. I am sniffing around for a pr. | |
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snowstorm run! last two comfortably hard in 7:02, 7:08, which is acceptable for snow plow miles.
one hour fight club. I am burpeed and boxed out. | |
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| | checked out Snowmageddon. some bunny hopping action. helped push out a car. the thundersnow last night was incredible. beatiful! | |
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6:48 AP. dreadmill hills.
.5 warm up 8:34 pace
2.5 up 4% 7:30 pace
5 down -2% 6:22, 6:18, 6:15, 6:11, 6:07
felt decent the whole time, almost easy. encouraging. | |
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| | circles at the y nice and easy | |
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| | I have realized that a long run is not happening this week, since snopocalypse 2 is supposed to move in tomorrow, so I doubt there is school for a few days. It is just not worth it to do it on the home mill, so I guess I will just be that much more rested for the Ardomre half in a week. On to today. Me and Vanessa went to the East Y, I am low on laundry and had to wear some old short. mistake. I rolled them 3 times but they still kept threatening to fall off, so there was a lot of self-conscious, uncomfortable hitching. Ran easy but the last mile up 2% at 6:40 pace, which didn't feel particularly comfortable. My conclusion: The last 4 uphill miles at Ardmore will stink no matter what, so I might as well be downright suicidal in the beginning downhill miles and bank as much time as possible. I would not recommend this approach for a full marathon, but for a half, might as well. | |
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| | No school. snowpocalypse is supposed to start...so dreadmill in my dining room. ugh. want to run outside sooo bad. at work now, core workout has been shoveling. and shoveling. and shoveling. so my ambulance can get out of the garage all night. | |
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| | another school cancelled and everything closed day so home dreadmill again. 6 with 10x1 minute 6:00 pace. mini core workout. all I could take. So ready to run outside tomorrow!! | |
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long night at work. one hour fight club. serious, serious, grunting and sweating today. Legs were trashed, staggered 8 miles. | |
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am. one hour fight club
afternoon: 8 ez | |
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| | pressed for time. puny little easy run. | |
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| | Race: |
Ardmore to Arbuckles (13.1 Miles) 01:34:41, Place overall: 1, Place in age division: 1 | |
ummm. headwind. 16-22mph. First 8 it wasn't so bad and then after that it was just comically hard. Uphill starts about mile 9 and I'm glad I wasn't wearing a watch, because I bet I was rolling over 8 minute miles. I thought it was a tailwind, until about 5 minutes before gun time Joe(slowjoe), burst my bubble and pointed the right way. headwind. oh. so I will just call this one effort based haha! 7th overall, looks like the wind slowed down most from 5-7 minutes than a normal time...so maybe I am secretly in sub 1:30 shape. It was awesome to see Joe again.
But, the real story of the day, somewhere in the second half I heard someone yell my name, loud, "Go April!!"...no idea who it could have been. When I finished and got to my phone, I had an excited message from my dear cousin Adam who I have not seen in over 5 years, we were very close, and have talked on the phone in the last few months, both of us having recently gone through a difficult time. So he's like, "April! you are running A2A and you just ran by my AID station!! call!" What an amazing coincidence. Long story short, but I got to have lunch and great conversation with Adam, and we were both just thrilled to pieces that I "ran" into him!! Amazing!! He was sitting at the aid station, someone said first female was coming through, and he looked up, and was stunned and started yelling, that's my COUSIN!!
Next confession. Tomorrow I will go to fight club and run 20--cumulative fatigue training, since I signed up for a 50 mile race on March 23rd. The ultra bug is eating me alive, and it is my niche, I know this. So I have a few ultras planned, but after summer Psycho in July I will revert squarely to marathon training, in hopes for a sub-3 in October, but I must scratch this itch. 100K in April. | |
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| | one hour fight club, immediately followed by a no-fuel 20. could tell I was running in a tired and depleted state(but that was the point). 8:48 AP | |
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am. one hour fight club
pm. 7 ez, a quick 10 minutes of abs | |
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| | one hour fight club then 8 brisk but ez. legs felt good today. | |
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| | 66 degrees and sunny. glad I dragged outo of bed despite only 4 hours of sleep. ran happily along, no watch. | |
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| | one hour fight club, and, having gone 24 hours with no sleep, went to be, so no run today but my mind and body were too tired | |
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was supposed to hit a good hill workout on the dreadmill but modified a lot due to being emotionally and physcially exhausted.
half mile warm up 8:34, 1.5 up 4% 7:30, one down 6:31, .5 jog at 8:34, .5 up 4% 7:30, 1 down 6:27, half mile jog, then 6 x 1 minute at 5:52 pace, cooldown.
big 30 miler tomorrow morn | |
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| | Just under 9:00 average pace, started off slow, with Fernando and Ron Micah, and then Ron Micah got this brilliant idea to pick it up at the end, so the last two were 7:30, 7:06. Cold and very windy on the rails to trails. All in all not a bad run but I was definitely tired at the end. | |
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| | Not the least bit sore from yesterday's 30. Legs feel great. Decided to take the day off anyway because it just seemed like the right thing to do. | |
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| | long night at work, crammed morning. one hour fight club then quick 4.64, will do more if I can't back to sleep, should really sleep more. Will do better mileage the next few days | |
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| | 60 circles at the Y, no watch, with 4 strides. tiny bit of abs afterward. sooo tired this morning after work i skipped fight club but will be there tomorrow | |
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am. spring break is here, so no fight club for a while, will have to make my own replication. sooo, downtown Y, 45 minutes intense plyo and core, then 6 ez.
pm. 6 home dreadmill | |
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| | 75 degrees. wow. nice, but hoping it is a bit cooler next weekend. | |
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| | 8:07 pace with Prefontaine. was gonna hammer the last 4 but i was tired after work all night and 24 hours with no sleep i decided it was utterly pointless to push it one week away from a 50 mile race | |
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| | easy. it will be a pretty chilled out week--taper time. I have it in my head to show up rested and run this 50 hard. | |
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| | home dreadmill. tapering. already feeling ready to go!! | |
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| | Tuesday night track with GoRun and company. did 3 x 1200, kept the pace dialed back, 4:52, 4:38, 4:45. felt comfortable at that pace. eager for this weekend! looks like it may be windy and snowy. | |
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| | very easy, a little light core afterwards. I guess I'm supposed to do total rest from here until the big day. I will try, but may have to go jog a few for the sake of my sanity. | |
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| | Race: |
Prairie Spirit 50 (51 Miles) 07:36:20, Place overall: 1, Place in age division: 1 | |
Okay, here is the long version, so read on if you dare. Drove up the night before, was a little worried about the weather, the rain and snow was supposed to start coming down by noon. I had talked strategy with my friend Fernando, and we decided we would start aggressively around 8:00 pace with the tailwind and good conditions before turning around and dealing with the headwind and impending snow, sleet, and rain. I had a cup of coffee and a muffin and next thing you know we where all lined up. It was about 30 degrees but pretty still at this point. The trail is basically a rails to trails, mostly flat, like running on dirt road, so pretty easy for a first timer.
Miles 1-9 were pretty relaxed. two guys shot ahead, me and Fernando stayed together as numbers 3 and 4, stayed right on pace. I carried my bottle the whole way, switching hands and started with water. Took a gel at mile 5, hit the first manned station at mile 9 and took down an s-cap and 1/4 of pb and j.
miles 9-25 still fairly relaxed, hit another aid station at about 16.5, took another gel, another 1/4 pb and j, bathroom, refilled my water. halfway point and turnaround was right at 3:31, (longer than 25 miles though grrr!!). miles 16.5 to the turnaround have a slight incline so it was a mild climb into Garnett. I had been wearing Nike frees but one of my ankles was barking so I changed shoes here into something more substantial, very glad I did! took another s-cap, salted potato, 1/4 pb and j, and a gel
miles 25-34 we started to get tired in here. marathon at 3:41, 50k at 4/22, and then things started to hurt. my legs were starting to bark. there was a slow down starting, Fernando felt the same, was pretty relieved to see the aid station. a few warning flakes started to fall. Jason filled my bottle with Gatorade, a good thing he did, I took a gel, and we were off.
miles 34-41. In uncharted mileage territory now, and my legs are barking. We took off at a plod, I couldn't seem to muster up more because my legs just flat HURT. My hip flexors, my hamstrings, my back, my shoulders from the water bottle, I was just flat out in pain. Fernando and I forced ourselves to talk about anything, anything at all to get our minds off the pain. These were definitely the worst miles for me, I felt like I was completely falling apart and had doubts about finishing because I was in pain like I have never been in before, the flakes and sleet were starting to swirl and come down as we hit the final manned station at 41, such a good sight it was. I immediately went to the bathroom, downed a cup of chicken ramen broth, s-cap, gel, potato chips, had my Gatorade bottle filled again. I was still first female at this point and didn't know how far back number two was. I told Fernando I felt like I was being chased, and told him I was going out now. He waved me off, he was having some cramping issues, and I took out into the storm on my own.
miles 41-50. at this point it was all out blizzard, sleet and snow pelting down, but something had recharged me, and I took off at a strong pace. I felt 100 times better. The bad patch was over, thank goodness! My legs still hurt, but it had become much more tolerable and I felt so much better I was pretty happy at this point! I downed another gel in mile 45 and pushed on to the finish. I was third out of the entire field, first female. next female came in an hour later, next finisher 19 minutes later. My friends the Prefontaine family stopped in on their way back from KC and were at the finish! What an awesome surprise!
Post race was rough, weather conditions rough. Got a shower at the local fire station, and headed for home in the storm, eventually was able to drive out of it as I headed south. Wish I wasn't driving a stick shift, had to use my left hand to help my left leg off and on the clutch. getting out of the car was a sick joke.
Today I am so, so sore. new soreness territory! took some Tylenol. I learned a lot from this experience, have a lot of respect for ultra running. Gotta thank Fernando's wife Karlee and friend Jason for helping at the stations, they really kept me going and filled my bottle and handed me s-caps when my brain and hands quit functioning. Feel very sorry for the 100 milers who were out there all night in the blizzard, there is a 30 hour time limit and at my last check, as we approach the cutoff, only 6 had managed to finish. :( heard they can't see the trail anymore and continue.
update: just got word from my friend with a Garmin: lenght for the 100 mile as actually about 103 and 51.5 for the 50. I'm just gonna count it as 51. | |
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| | all soreness is gone! 2.5 easy, all systems a go! one hour fight club. | |
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| | at the Y. 2 ez on the track, than 6 ez on the mill but was getting desperately bored so mixed on 10 x 1min on/1 min off at 6:00 pace. 30 minutes core afterward | |
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am: one hour fight club
afternoon: 58 degrees and sunny! 9.2 easy
came to grips with old way of thinking: abuse is better than being ignored
new way: anything is better. there is better out there
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am. fight club
afternoon: 8 in a gorgeous 70 degrees. legs feel really good. | |
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ez zombie run between night shifts. hate these 3 day weekends, 3 12 hour shifts in a row yuck. But. Happy Easter. and. GO SHOCKERS YEAH BABEEEE!! | |
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| | with the shadow. no watch. pretty slow. | |
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| | squeezed in a brisk 4 while Vanessa was at her appointment, than one hour fight club. Legs felt snappy for the first time since the 50. My body wants a little break so passing on the evening run, hoping to run something a little faster tomorrow. | |
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am: one hour fight club
afternoon: 3 miles warm-up, 4 at half-marathon effort 6:44, 6:37, 6:43, 6:33, 3 mile cool down. Very happy with how comfortable the HMP miles were! | |
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| | nice to run in the sun in shorts and tank! | |
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| | am. one hour fight club, killer circuits today example: this is with boxing gloves on, do in rapid succession again and again until time is called, usually just prior to point of collapse 10 burpees, 20 punches straddling bag, 30 jump lunges, 40 sit ups, all the way up, 50 step jumps, 60 mountain climbers, 70 hook punches on the bag, 80 squats, 90 jab crosses on the bag, 100 jumping jacks, sprint a lap around the gym and start over. pm. 8 at the Y, last 2 miles alternated between hard and easy laps because i was bored | |
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7:22 AP. all ups at 4% 7:30 pace, all downs at -2% 6:18 pace. I wanted to do hills today but was tired so made the workout a workout, but did not go to the well. This was on the mill at the Y.
.5 warmup, 1 up, .5 ez, .5 up, 3 down, .5 ez, .5 up, 1 down, 1 ez, .5 up, 1 down, 2 ez
went home and did 20 minutes of drills for abs and arms.
and now, the day Wichita stood still, I will be in front of the tv screaming starting at 5:09 pm just like the rest of the city.
We will we will SHOCK you! | |
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am: got smoked in fight club
afternoon: no motivation, wasn't feeling it, but fell back on trusty ol' "I don't want to get fat" and ran anyway | |
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| | ez with the shadow. good conversation about running and motivation | |
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am: one hour fight club
pm: 48 circles ez around the downtown Y track | |
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| | very very ez with a few surges at hmp | |
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| | Race: |
Eisenhower half marathon (13.23 Miles) 01:29:14, Place overall: 1, Place in age division: 1 | |
I am okay with this. Anything under 1:30 was acceptable. The pace never felt good, felt forced the whole time, so it was a grind, but a sustainable grind nonetheless. My poor ultra legs are not used to this pace, and I haven't strung together this many sub - 7s in a long time so I am okay with it. Conditions were perfect, 30s and still, course rolls gently and is out and back, so very honest, although I measured it a bit long, most did.
Splits: 6:39, 6:44, 6:45, 6:33, 6:37, 6:56, 6:44, 6:35, 6:42, 7:01(grrr), 6:42,6:54, 6:52, last .23 in 1:27 so 6:30ish pace.
I think once marathon specific training starts in summer this can be my marathon pace come fall. | |
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am. one hour fight club
afternoon: ez run | |
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| | no run today, Nessa is sick and I am tired. been looking at way too much boston footage, photos, and stories. You couldn't target a more peaceful group of people--runners. totally heinous crime. I am glad that our FRB friends and my local friends are safe, but not everyone was so lucky. Maybe it is rebellion, but, I still want the detailed race reports from my running friends. It is sick and tragic what happened in Boston, but there were some great races ran and I for one am still going to celebrate the stories and journeys of the races ran despite the tragedy. I also am touched and driven to tears seeing how bystanders, runners, everyone leaped to the aid of the injured. The tragedy is horrible but before the smoke ever cleared the evidence of the good in humanity shows. There were a lot of heroes in Boston too. | |
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| | one hour fight club, then straight to my run. this is the only day this week a long run was possible, so did 18 very wet and drizzly miles. All ez except 15 and 16 were at 6:45 pace, but then I backed down because my body is not yet ready for any more fast stuff, need a few more days easy. hoping to sharpen up for a 1:27ish half on May 5. I hope. | |
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| | circles at the Y, ez except the last 3 were prett brisk--pressed for time | |
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| | slow and tired on the dreadmill | |
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hills on the mill
.5 warm up. 2.5 up 4% 7:30 pace, 5 down -2% 6:22, 6:18, 6:18, 6:15, 6:15
felt decent | |
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| | one hour fight club, banana, 10.4 along the river in the blustery wind | |
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| | I will not be running for a while, but am grateful to be alive. I was at work last night with my partner and some firefighters at a car wreck strapping a pt to the cot when a car skidded into us at about 70mph and hit us. I flew about 30 feet. It tore my knee open and I have some road rash on my head but no broken bones. They sewed me up and sent me home, will know more about the extent of the damage when I see the doc tomorrow. I can bear partial weight and hobble with crutches so that is a good sign. Might be better when the swelling goes down my leg is huge. We all suffered only extremity injuries which is amazing. We are all very lucky to be alive, that kind of impact is fatal more often than not! I am just happy to be alive, had a fleeting thought for a sec that I was about to die, but hit the ground and my leg hurt so knew I was very much alive. | |
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| | good ol DOMS. much sorer today than yesterday. every little thing aches, but, it is a good happy reminder that I am alive to ache. appointment is actually tomorrow morning, not today. Once the aching subsides I am going to start working out, core, upper body, abs, whatever I can do, and will hit the pool as soon as the stitches are out and I have the go-ahead. Never thought I would look forward to swimming but the thought of the water supporting my body and floating and moving sounds very appealing and I cannot wait. One of the wpd officers said we looked like popcorn in our yellow safety vests flying into the air, and the poor original patient strapped to a yellow spineboard twirled through the air like a helicopter blade...and landed with no additional injuries. Now THAT is a bad day, getting in a car wreck and then getting hit by a car before you can even get put into an ambulance! | |
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| | Doctor day. Scheduled for an MRI. Have to stay on crutches, no weighbearing allowed. I have not been a good patient but I am being good now, sitting in a recliner and doing lots of ice so that hopefully the swelling goes down. I hope it's just the swelling and infammation causing pain and that nothing is seriously torn. I overdid it yesterday and paid this morning with a massively huge knee, thought it might explode. Doing much better this eve, the lazy life is kinda boring. Watching the news--Texas, Boston, all the tragedies--that nips feeling sorry for myself in the bud right away. | |
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| | I did a lot of crutching around, hard work. Then I did 40 minutes of abs and arms at home, modified. my MRI is Monday so will find out if surgery is needed or not. Swelling is way down today. | |
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| | 25 minutes abs. will focus on arms tomorrow | |
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| | MRI shows a transverse fracture to the neck of the fibula, a few bone contusions, and some sprains and strains in the knee and ankle. This is good news, nothing surgical. I have a nasty infected wound on my calf, but they are watching that. with the swollen bruised calf they did a venous doppar but all was well--no clots. I will be referred to ortho tomorrow when they recheck and culture the wound. | |
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| | I 'm borrowing a minivan I can get in and out of and drive. yay! Went to the downtown Y and had a nice 60 minute core workout. The Shadow helped me out with handing me medicine balls, weights, etc...I see ortho tomorrow. The wound on my calf is ummm aggressive they are going to have to do something about that soon. Cultured it today. | |
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good solid hour of core at the Y
Then I went to see the orthopaedist. The fracture is stable. He said weightbearing as tolerated, start with some partial weighbearing and add from there. So I got up and walked and it startled him. It is a slow, limpy, ugly walk but I am done with crutches!! | |
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| | 30 minutes of core at the Y, learning a new routine courtesy of the Shadow. Ortho says I can ride an exercise bike when my knee bends enough and if there is absolutely no pain. My knee doesn't bend enough yet..but I am working on that. Better every day. I even limp faster already today. | |
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| | solid hour of core and arms at the Y, probably longer. laid on my back and lifted my legs up and down and flexed my calves. Every day is getting better, limp is better, faster and not as bad today. | |
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| | Went down in the cold drizzle to watch the Prairie Fire half-marathon. It was quite a bit of walking and my leg is done for the day. Good to see my friends out there. Taking a day off to rest the leg and a few sore core muscles and than tomorrow shall be back at it. | |
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| | 40 minutes at the downtown Y. tried to go rapidly between sets of one-legged pushups and abs to get my heart rate up at least a little, than did sets of weights with more abs in between. tried to bend my knee more last night and it felt like something was gonna rip so I stopped. will have to be patient to do cardio, stationary bike if the knee bends first or pool of the calf wound heals first. I'm still placing bets on the knee | |
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| | My exercise plans got de-railed when me and my daughter got rear-ended after I picked her up from school. It was minor, and we are fine, but the rest of the evening was spent getting her checked out because she said her head hurt, calling insurance, etc... I am getting a complex about this getting hit by cars thing. | |
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| | Went to the downtown Y and made attempt 1 to get on a bicycle. No go, not even close, the knee doesn't bend that far. I hopped off, dejected, when I spotted a lonely little machine I have never noticed before. I went over to investigate, and quickly learned I had found a gem! The seated stepper! You sit on it and extend your legs and put your feet on the pedals, and then the arm things move like an elliptical so you can generate most of the force with your arms and you can make the steps little so your knee doesn't bend too far. I did 30 minutes, wanted to do more, but decided I would wait and make sure there are no repercussions with the knee before I do a longer session tomorrow. It's not running, but it does get my heart rate up at least some! After that did about 45 minutes of abs, arm weights, and push ups | |
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| | 30 minutes on the seated stepper and then got called away. a close friend of mine was found code blue in the morning, he was resuscitated but won't know for several days if/when he will wake up. praying, they have a one year old baby and he is only 30. | |
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am: attempt 3 bicycle. nope. 45 minutes seated stepper, and then the knee began to bark so went and did weights and abs for 40 minutes
afternoon: so there is a barely noticeable hitch in my gait when I walk, and when going uphill it disappears. My ortho DID say weightbearing as tolerated....so, I got on my home mill and set a conservative 4mph, 5 minutes flat, than 5 minutes each at 8%, 9%, 10%, 11%, and 12%. kept my steps light and quick to minimize impact--no pain. I feel like I was being a bad patient but there was no pain!! If there are no repercussions from the knee tomorrow then you betcha I will do more of that!!!
my friend pulled through the night, they are warming him up from a medically induced hypothermia all day today and then we wait for him to wake up. they said don't expect anything until Monday.
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| | treadmill: 4mph, 5 minutes flat, 10 minutes each 8,9,10,11 percent, 5 minutes 12 percent, 5 more at 8%, 5 flat to cool down. 30 minutes easy cybex bike. 40 minutes weights and abs. | |
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endless stairs. the stairmill, did one hour and climbed 493 floors and sweat more than I have ever sweat in my life. 35 minutes after on the cybex bike then had to call it quits because my knee didn't really like the bike today. with that much sweat, I decided to weigh myself. pleasantly surprised, not nearly as bad as I imagined because without running I feel like a shapeless slug
To my longtime buddy, partner in crime from paramedic school, loyal friend who always had my back, loving father and husband to his beautiful family, I will miss you Scott. See you on the other side, you are loved. | |
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| | another gym rat day. one hour on the endless stairs, tapping out at 522 floors. next treadmill walking: 4 minutes 4mph flat, 10 x 1 minute on off between 8% and 14% grade, 5 minutes at 4.8mph 2%. then 40 minutes of abs, arms, and weights. | |
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| | uphill walking. 10 minutes warm up 8%, then 5 x (5 min 10%, 5@12%, 5@14%). first set at 4mph, remaining 4 sets at 4.5 mph. 5 minute cooldown 8%. I think this treadmill was calibrated wrong because this should have been harder | |
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| | not feeling it today. climbing muscles were tired and I bailed at 45 minutes on the endless stairs, went to finish out some cardio on the cybex but it kept slipping off resistance suddenly and jarred my leg hard several times. it hurt. disconcerted, I got off and went to the recumbent bike. after 15 minutes I realized it did almost nothing for my heart rate and now I was just grumpy with an aching leg so I got Vanessa out of kidzone and as we were walking to where I parked on 3rd street a car came blowing by close and fast. we both screamed and I about puked. so we shall spend the rest of our anxious day at home eating pancakes and doing laundry. some days | |
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| | 30 minutes cybex bike. 40 minutes weights and abs. | |
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We buried Scott today. SCEMS Honor Guard did honors and I was grateful, Scott was a founding member and glad he was honored. They were able to use all his organs, so his heart is beating somewhere. Godspeed my friend.
65 minutes endless stairs. 657 floors. | |
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| | one hour rowing, 45 minutes adaptive motion elliptical, errands, then 15 minute warm up on bicycle before 40 minutes of core and weighs. I do NOT give up on sub-3 this fall. | |
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Oh Lord. Thank you for letting me live to run again! I went to the Orthopod
today, he says everything looks great! Still some swelling and tenderness over
the kneecap and medial side preventing me from squatting and kneeling without
pain, but gonna do physical therapy this week, with the intention of being
released back to work on the streets next week!! And then, I asked the million
dollar question, when can I run?? He said I can start easing back into it TODAY!
So I drove straight to the downtown Y with my daughter. 3 easy miles on the
indoor track, felt strange and herky jerky and tuggy at first but the feeling
dissipated. Then I walked a little then hopped on the treadmill for 3 more nice
and easy. No pain, just the odd feeling you get when you haven't ran in a while.
30 minutes of abs after. Hoping the PT can work their magic and I get on my
ambulance next week!! | |
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| | First run in the great outdoors since the accident. 4.5 miles with Jennifer. no watch. it was slow. running feels awkward and herky jerky. leg is holding up fine, but I can tell my body is just not used to impact at all. afterwards hit the Y for 20 minutes on the stepmill and a quick 25 minute core and weight workout. | |
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| | Pretty sure my doctor would put me in a cast if he knew of my antics today. Met some of the badgers at HS and jogged 6 easy, than drove to GoRun East intending to walk the Oklahoma fundraiser 5k but ended up jogging it with and having some good conversation. No injury pain(I would've stopped), just mildly sore muscles that are not used to impact. It was a great morning(humid but not too hot)! | |
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| | Nice n easy with Bling, aerobically I seem to have not lost much at all but there is nothing smooth about my running and my legs still feel like stiff tree trunks. Did an hour of core and weights afterward. I am back on the sub-3 diet so did some grocery shopping to keep good choices nearby. Very motivated. During June I will lose the 10 pounds I managed to gain and rebuild fitness. Then the marathon training starts, and I am very, very serious. | |
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| | 6 miserable miles on the home treadmill. It needs to be recalibrated, badly. 10:00 pace feels like 8:30 pace, 8:30 pace is bordering on a tempo run, and 6:00 pace is absolutely suicidal. | |
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| | Stopped in the Y in the afternoon and did 40 minutes core and weight. Evening track workout with the GoRun group. Showed up early and plodded 3.25 miles to warm up, then did a little ladder 200-300-400-300-200. Times were 38, 59, 1:21, 59, 35. plodded a few miles to cool down. felt weird but good to move a little faster. | |
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| | 8 easy on the mill. 20 minutes abs after. keeping an eye on the weather. | |
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| | 8 ez on the indoor track with a few surges at what I think is 10k pace. mini core workout after for 20 minutes. That's it until the 10k race Saturday. That is going to be my baseline fitness test to see where I am. | |
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| | Race: |
River Run 10k (6.2 Miles) 00:42:50, Place in age division: 3 | | Tested the waters today. Went way better than expected! I didn't wear a watch, just ran. Warmed up a half mile slow jog with the rest of the Badgers, then did two strides. The plan was to run 2 miles relaxed, ease into tempo pace the middle two, and go for it if I gelt good the last 2. Leg held up fine, was just a little tight at the end. I felt great and mostly comfortable the whole time. Much more optimistic about how much fitness I have maintained!! | |
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| | 8 ez on the mill except for one in the middle at 6:40 because of a good song. 20 minutes weights after then came home and did 20 minutes abs. Need to start deciding how to go about serious marathon training in July. I want that sub-3 bad and I believe it is possible. | |
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| | Sad little trot between shifts while my daughter was at her appointment. So tired, have gotten unused to night shift and having a hard time sleeping. Meant to get up for a second little run but opted for another hour of sleep. Recovery is still important, no need to push. Looking forward to a longer, more leisurely run tomorrow. So tempting to launch into tempos and stuff but reminding myself that June is to build, build, build and regain strength. Patience!!! | |
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| | 91% humidity. 71 degrees. overcast, breezy. Actually quite a pleasant jaunt. First double digits since the accident!! 45 minutes weights/abs after | |
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| | Treadmill at the Y. 5 ez, 2 fast increasing speed every half mile 6:40, 6:35, 6:31, 6:27 jogged a little cooldown then 1 more mile on the indoor track with strides. feeling smooth today! | |
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| | 3 on the outdoor track, kiddo got bored, so off to kidzone at the Y, 5 more on the indoor track then 45 minutes of core and weights. | |
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| | 7:51 pace with the HS gang. felt great and lightfooted today. Beautiful weather! | |
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| | First post-accident long run. Nice n easy with Pre on the HS course. Was tired after the long night at work but legs felt fine. just fatigued. yawn. 'night | |
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| | It was only 47% humidity but it was 91 sunny degrees. Ran a slow 8, no watch, not yet acclimated, had to grab a bottle of water at mile 7 to finish the run. 40 minutes weights and abs after. | |
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am: 5 ez shakeout on the indoor track
pm: GoRun track workout. 3/4 mile warm up, then 10 seconds on/10 off, 20 on/20 off....you get the picture...all the way to 90 on/off, a few minutes rest, and then back down the ladder. Lost track of laps so I'm just gonna count the whole thing as 5 but it was probably more. 10 minutes of abs after. | |
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| | 8 ez on the home dreadmill while Vanessa watched tv. Then off to the Y for 50 minutes of weights and core, then swimming pool fun! | |
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| | Dreadmill. 4 mile warm up, 3 mile tempo increasing speed every half mile 6:40, 6:35, 6:31, 6:27, 6:22, 6:18. 3 mile cooldown. Tempo felt surprisingly decent and controlled until the last half mile, that one was a bit difficult, definitely cross some kinda threshold at sub 6:20 pace. still, this is progress. | |
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| | afternoon slog. bank sign said 100 degrees. started with a frozen solid water bottle and it was thawed and warm by halfway through. ran slow enough the heat didn't get me too much. 55 minutes core and weights after. | |
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| | Very slow on the track at the downtown Y. I got roped into a little 4 mile race tomorrow. | |
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Couples Classic (4.06 Miles) 00:26:13, Place overall: 4, Place in age division: 2 | | Pretty fun race today, you ran with a partner and they combined your times and average age to determine place. My similarly aged partner Ron knocked down a 23:30! wow! very sticky and humid but only in the 70s and it was overcast so that helped. Warmed up a very slow .5 miles. Felt pretty solid throughout the whole race, I once again need to learn to push these short races, I definitely had more gas in the tank when it was done, because I was able to kick and pass two gals in the final quarter mile, which felt good. Splits were 6:24, 6:23, 6:35, 6:34, and then like 5:30 pace for the change at the end. This is about 20 seconds per mile faster than the River Run 10k two weeks ago, and I feel that fitness is progressing nicely and coming back. Honestly I aerobically felt really strong, wish I would have pushed that back half harder. Ran a 12 mile cooldown after. | |
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| | recovery circles at downtown Y, followed by a brief 20 minute core session. not sore from yesterday | |
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8am: tired after a long 12 hour night at work, haven't slept since my last run, but needed to kill a little time while Vanessa was at her appointment. 5 minute warm up, then 15 x 1 minute on/1 minute off. Minutes "on" were nothing to write home about--6:05 to 6:50 pace but staggering on no sleep through gnarly heat and humidity I wasn't expecting much, just getting some leg turnover. Cooled down 3 minutes or so and then Vanessa was done and I could go home and sleep a little. 5.2 miles, 7:28 AP
afternoon--stumbled out of bed for a very toasty 5.1 mile shakeout before heading for another night at work | |
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| | 84 degree afternoon run at a nice recovery pace, actually felt quite comfortable. 50 minutes weights and core. | |
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ez on the mill. was supposed to do a tempo today but my legs were so heavy and dead I pushed the workout to tomorrow in hopes of getting more quality out of it. I went and got some new shoes, and allowed a little video gait analysis. Mistake!! Any visions I have of being a somewhat graceful runner are shattered. That is the ugliest, most horrific gait I have ever seen. The shoe story guy, my teammate, was quite silent watching the video, and then handily tried to blame the accident as a possible culprit. Anywho, one foot turns in and supinates, the other one turns out and overpronates, and I am all heelstrike. Bah! I don't care, it gets me from point A to point B and it is going to get me there faster than ever in October! And I love my knew kicks, bright yellow Kinvaras. | |
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8:04 AP. Big change of plans, my friend needed to do his long run today and for me it was nice to get it done before I start my first of 3 x 12 hour shifts for the weekend so I went for it. It was a bit of a late start, and the temps were in the 90's with the sun beating down for the back half of the run. We had planted some water and got a drink at mile 9 but were hurting again soon after, finally found a row of sprinklers around mile 13.5 and crawled on our bellies in the grass with our faces in the spiggots, pretty desperate for a drink and some cooling. It was enough to make it to the finish. Not exactly pretty, but it was a solid enough long run in the heat. Now I have a day to rest and toss around the idea of a 5k Sunday for speedwork.
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Head for the cure (3.1 Miles) 00:19:55, Place overall: 1, Place in age division: 1 | | Pretty happy about this. I worked all night then had a monster zero-carb energy drink(gross, I know) and warmed up for the 5k. It was 80+ degrees, muggy, and a gnarly 21 mph headwind in miles 2 and 3, so I was thrilled to roll in under 20 minutes. Now I'm going to bed, hopefully will get up and get a shakeout in before work. Splits reflect the wind, 6:09(tailwind, felt great), 6:30, 6:39, 5:36 pace for the final .1. 6:09 would have been sustainable without the headwind I think. Will work toward getting my 5k under 19 minutes, hopefully within a month. | |
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| | 8:24 AP, not bad for my roll-out-of-bed 90 degree afternoon slog. It was overcast and windy so that made it feel fairly comfortable. 45 minutes weights and core after. | |
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80 degrees and a rocking 20mph wind--quick morning trot while Vanessa was at her appointment. 5 at 6:58 AP. That surprised me, knew the pace was brisk but didn't know it was THAT brisk. I am feeling stronger and stronger. Track workout tonight with team GoRun so I will have a few more miles later. I passed by non-waving running lady twice. I saw her last Tuesday too. I wave, she glares, weird!
pm. 5.5 at the Gorun track workout. 1.5 warmup, 2x200 in 37 seconds, 4x400 with 400 recovery, 3x400 as part of a relay team. Not sure on my splits--messed up on my Garmin, but with the 20+mph headwind this was an effort based deal more than anything--and I worked!! .75 cooldown and a few planks | |
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8 recovery on the home dreadmill
40 minutes weights/core later at the Y | |
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| | Glad to get this workout done since I totally bailed on it last week--was too tired and knew I couldn't make it happen. Today was a different story. I was pretty bleary-eyed to start the warm-up, rolled out of bed and drank coffee on the way to the Y. It was 105 degrees outside, so I was actually pretty happy to hit the mill. 15 minutes from bed to on the belt. 3 mile warmup 8:34 pace, then 4 mile tempo increasing speed every half mile 6:40,6:35,6:31,6:27,6:22,6:18,6:15,6:11, felt very solid, wasn't teribbly aerobically challenged until the last mile. I tried to work on a more open, powerful stride to relax into at these paces, as I hope this is someday marathon pace and I need to become comfortable with this kind of stride, definitely need to do more box jumps and power-type drills to make my legs stronger. cooled down 3 miles | |
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| | only 93 degrees. ez recovery pace | |
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| | indoor track ez cruise then 30 minutes weights and core. long run tomorrow | |
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| | 7:26 ap. Hit the roads at 5am, and enjoyed a glorious 64 degrees. It was a beautiful morning. Felt strong and sturdy, sped up a little at the end. | |
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| | 8 recovery miles on the home dreadmill while attemptin to entertain my munchkin. later in the afternoon did an hour of weights and core and got a good workout in. | |
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am. 5 at 6:59 ap. this is my every other Tuesday routine--fartlek after being up 24 hours while Vanessa is at her appointment. temps were decently cool and conditions were good, so although my legs felt like spaghetti, this was quite a drastic improvement from 2 weeks ago. 4 minute warm up, then 15 x one minute on/one minute off. minutes "on" were much improved, 7 at 6:10ish pace, 5 at 5:45ish pace, and 3 at 6:30ish pace*(taking a break?). only about one minute cooldown since this brought me to 5 miles and back to the office to get my daughter. it is questionable as to whether or not I will roll out of bed in 5 hours and squeeze a recovery jaunt in before work.
5pm. 5 through the southside recovery pace before work | |
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| | ez afternoon jaunt, only 84 degrees, felt good. no watch. 4 mile race tomorrow. | |
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| | Race: |
Derby Firecracker 4 (4.05 Miles) 00:25:45, Place overall: 3, Place in age division: 1 | |
This went pretty well I think. I measured the course a little long per Garmin, which is neither here nor there. Either way, this is a 27 second improvement from 3 weeks ago on a not-so-flat course, so the improvement continues slowly but surely. splits 6:09(downish), 6:31(uppish), 6:25, 6:24, last .05 in 16 seconds(5:38 pace). jogged 1.5 to warm up and 2.5 to cool down. This needs to be my hmp in about 6 weeks, which judging from two years ago at this very same race, it did become my hmp 6 weeks later so I can dream. I am feeling kinda emotional and greatful today, 10 weeks ago I was laying in a ditch with a broken leg and lucky to be alive. Seems almost like it never happened. God has been good to me.
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The usual work weekend grind. worked my shift, met the morning group. I was tired but felt good during the run. Off to sleep so I can work and run long tomorrow!!
s
30 minutes core--basically consisted of 15 minutes abs/pushups and 16 minutes of Tabata-like stuff--burpees, squats, mountain climbers, triceps dips, planks, mason twists, situps, and one-legged squats | |
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| | 7:48 pace. gross. Got off work, tired, and started. It was 70s and humid and windy. As puny as I was feeling the first 14 I had a feeling that a tempo the last 4 would be an epic fail but I decided to at least try. Miles 15 and 16 were 6:42, 6:58, and then I backed down and jogged it in. My legs were shot and I felt like a zombie. I will try this again next week when I have slept the night before. | |
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| | Nice ez run at Miller's Meadow, a nice little singletrack trail outside town with Zach from the Gorun team. First time on the trail, enjoyed it, felt good on my legs. no watch. yay a few days off and time to catch up on a little sleep! | |
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| | It was 104 nasty humid degrees at the GoRun track workout tonight, so although the workout was toned down bigtime, I am feeling beat up by the heat. Ran 3 miles to "warm" up, then did sets of 400 meters--300 relaxed with the last 100 hard. we did these in sets of 4,3,2,1 with decreasing rest between sets. cooled down 2.25 to make a round 8 miles. At this point I had a headache and needed to barf so made it to the gas station for a big purple Gatorade and drank it on the way home and now that I am laying on the couch in air conditioning am starting to feel a little better. | |
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| | 8:21 ap. Recovery run. With the shady tree-lined course and breeze, this was the most comfortable I could ever hope for in 90 degrees. Hit the Y afterward for 50 minutes weights and core plus 15 minutes rowing. | |
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| | 7:27 AP. 800s on the mill. Usually this is a tempo day but with a possible 10k race Saturday morning I did a workout I've always wanted to do, Yasso 800s, modified a bit for the treadmill. warm up 2 miles, then 8x800 with 400 recovery in between, 2.25 mile cooldown. The pace for the first 6 was 5:56 then the last two at 5:52, 5:49. Recovery jogs at 8:49 pace. I felt pretty strong during these! The plan is to repeat this workout about a month down the road, hopefully 10 at somewhat faster paces. | |
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| | I slept the extra hour instead of running. I am a tired, tired girl, and I have this bright idea that I'm gonna work all night tonight and try to get off on time to run a tired 10k in the morning. remains to be seen. | |
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Southside Scorcher (6.27 Miles) 00:42:23, Place overall: 2, Place in age division: 1 | | Well. This was horrible. :( We had a busy night at work, but I got off on time to make it down to the race. It was in the high 70s and gross sticky humid. I warmed up around a mile with two strides and my legs felt very heavy. First mile I felt okay, second mile I felt terribly fatigued, third mile I completely blew up. I was toast from then out. Done. My legs were logs, I was breathing like a freight train, and I struggled mightily just to keep my miles under 7 minutes. I ran beautiful reverse progressive splits. I was in third but the second place girl apparently dropped out somewhere in the fifth mile so I got second, barely, third was only 3 seconds behind. This was a confidence killer. That said, I am very tired, and I noticed the leaders from last year consistently ran around two minutes slower this year. The course was very flat, so for all intents and purposes a fast course. Came home and shook my legs out with a very slow 3 mile jog. Now off to bed, and I will be seeking out a revenge race to make this one a distant memory!! | |
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It was raining!! Felt great to be in the cool rain, ran 16 easy then last two in 6:40, 6:28, which felt gloriously easy. Something about that 14 hours of sleep I just got....
later in the afternoon hit the Y for 65 minutes of weights and core | |
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morning: 9.75 at 8:34 pace. As far as I got today before the motor on the home treddy had enough for the day. Hopefully it's just being cranky and still works later.
noon: 6.25 in circles at the downtown Y, no watch. started at a plod but ended pretty fast because the songs kept getting better and better | |
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| | Best speedwork ever! Headed for the GoRun track workout. Temps were in the 80s and it was so humid we were glistening just standing around, but wow I felt good. I came home from work and slept 8 hours, and I felt rested, and good. 3 mile warm up. Then the 800s started. I took out with the lead guys and hung on for all 7 of the 800s. we were so humid sweat our sweat was sloshing on each other gross! 800s were 2:56, 2:53, 2:49, 2:47, 2:45, 2:52, 2:54. 1.5 mile cooldown. I didn't even know I could run 800s this fast. It dawned on me, I can run faster than I think. I just need rest. I didn't even feel strained, the first 3 felt easy, then it started to be work, but not an all-out strain. I think I am on some kind of runner's high. | |
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am. 7 easy on the home dreadmill early in the morning when I couldn't get back to sleep. one hour core and weights
pm: 2 mile warm up, 8 hill repeats at the soapbox hill, cool down to a total of 7. met up with Shelby, was nice to have company to that's why I jumped in on the hill repeats | |
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| | another early morning on the home hamster wheel. dunno what has gotten into me this week but my legs feel great and so do I. ran super slow so as not to be a total fool. | |
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| | This has to be a record for the home treddy, but the more I use it the more I realize this is the way to go to get miles in on my limited time while my daughter is sleeping. 20 minute warm up, 12 x 1 minute on/off with "on" minutes at 5:27 pace, 5 minute jog, 10 minutes at 6:27 pace(which feels like a jog after the 5:27 minutes), cooldown 20 minutes. | |
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| | ez with the HS group. no watch. long run tomorrow! legs felt tired at first and then after a while they grew springs and felt great. my body loves to run right now. off to bed | |
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| | Work wasn't too bad, it had rained all night so although it was ridiculously humid this morning it was overcast and cooler than usual. Started out nice n easy with Pre, Betsy, and John, picked it up a bit at the 6 mile mark, did a transitional mile at 14 with a 7:14, then hit the tempo for the last 4 6:36, 6:37, 6:37, 6:27. Last 4 felt under control but still working like half-marathon pace. I feel good about this run! I feel so strong right now! I hope it lasts, off to bed I go! | |
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| | 8:11 average pace. Had to force myself to hold the reigns in because my body wanted to go faster. The voice that tells me to run run run these days is still very loud and happy. 55 minutes weights and core afterward. Weight is lowest it has been in years. This is awesome, because I love my current diet. I live off of ugali, cabbage stew, sushi, hummus, dehydrated vegetables, fruit, and beer. sometimes I have a clif bar or eggs. | |
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am. 5 at 6:38 pace. I needed to be brisk to squeeze this in during Vanessa's appointment. I probably should have held the reigns in a wee bit more since I have track tonight but it felt good so I just went with it.
pm. 3 mile warmup easy, 4x200 around 37/38 seconds, 1 mile in 5:45 and then a severe thunderstorm rolled in and we had to cut it short. bummer. :( The mile felt like 5k pace, I think I can run 18 on a good day. | |
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| | Up early to give Shelby his 330am wake up and run call, then slept a few more hours before trotting at my happy slow recovery pace on the home mill while Mini-me slept and I rocked out to tons of great tunes. I am considering some races this weekend--a 10k at 7am followed by a 5k at 8:30am. If nothing else, a lot of good threshold work? | |
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| | easy afternoon 8 in mugginess, but only in the 80s and overcast so not bad. I am racing a 10k at 7am followed by a 5k at 830 am on Saturday. Plan is to PR the 10k and hope there is some juice later for a decent 5k. Should be a painfully fantastic workout! | |
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| | 8 easy with a few surges of 10k race pace. ready to get tomorrow done! | |
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Chisholm Trail Charge, 10k and 5k (6.2 Miles) 00:39:29, Place overall: 3, Place in age division: 2 | |
Today was a big experiment doubling on races. Woke up at 4:30am after 8 hours of sleep(yay!). had a cup of coffee, ate a clif bar, then rousted up my little one. Dropped her and two dozen doughnuts off at the Martinez household, then off to Park City.
Warm up one: 1.36 miles, very slow with two strides.
10k: total time 39:29(huge pr!!). this is two loops of the 5k, first mile has a lot of uphill, my garmin lost satellite so I didn't get it started until about 30 seconds into the race so splits are a little off but still pretty reflective--6:28(up), 6:06, 6:14, 6:32(back up), 6:21, 6:19, and then some change to the finish. I feel like I kept a pretty even effort, didn't feel too bad at the end at all! I got third and won $150!
between-races: I had about 45 minutes before the 5k. I walked to my car, drank some Gatorade, pinned on the next bib, and then basically just walked around and tried to stay loose. When it got closer to go-time I jogged 1 mile with some strides, then put music on( I never race with music) but this was an experiment and I was hoping it would distract me from fatigue.
5k: 19:39. yep, I was fatigued. I didn't feel terrible but I just couldn't seem to get into another gear, so this was basically run at the same pace as my 10k. Splits 6:15, 6:21, 6:15, 5:44 pace for the .14 to the finish. Fourth place.
cooldown: 2.67 mile jog. Good workout today! | |
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| | Despite a busy night at work on a shift exchange, I felt pretty energetic this morning and my daughter was at a slumber party, so I took advantage of the opportunity to run outside. 18 soaking wet easy miles in a cool and steady 60 degree rain, lots of puddle running. no watch--felt great and it was fun! legs aren't sore from yesterday but I skipped the end-of-long-run-tempo this week since I had all the faster stuff yesterday. | |
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| | am: 8 ez home mill afternoon: 70 minutes core and weights at the Y pm: 5 ez around the post before walking in the door at work. busy with my girl in between all of that. everyone have a great night! | |
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78 degrees. 87% humidity. muggy, but tolerable since it was overcast. speed combo workout today, I think these are incredibly beneficial to me at this point. Legs were a little heavy at first from yesterday's core workout so I wondered how this would go, but it wasn't too bad.
20 minute warm up
8 x (50 seconds hard, 90 seconds easy). hard paces were 6:05, 5:37, 5:29, 5:18, 5:34, 5:15, 5:29, 5:33
5 minute jog
2 mile tempo 6:22, 6:25
cooldown to a total of 10 | |
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| | Hills in the heat. Why not? Shelby invited, and I went for it. Vanessa was awesome, she sat at the base of the hill in her chair and played with her toys and my phone, so she was of course rewarded with a trip to the frozen yogurt shop after. 2 mile warm-up, then 14 repeats up the hill, jogging down for recovery. The hill is .2 miles long. 2 mile cooldown afterward. Ran the repeats at a moderate pace, around 6:20-6:30, not bad for uphill, it starts out about 2% grade and gets steeper and steeper as you go up, probably 8-10% grade if I had to guess. It was only 86 degrees, not bad for July in Kansas! Legs felt pretty good. | |
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am. Copied Jake K's 3-2-1 workout today to pass time on the treadmill. I slept for 9, uninterrupted hours last night so I felt AMAZING today. Warmed up 2 miles ez, then 3 miles at 6:31 pace, .5 jog, 2 miles at 6:15, 6:11, .5 jog, 1 mile at 5:56, .5 cooldown--then blasted through as many weights as possible in 25 minutes while Vanessa finished up Funfit. I felt awesome, in fact this workout felt way too easy, I think I dogged it a little but I set the paces at what I estimated would be reasonable for hmp, 10k, and 5k pace. Looking forward to a shakeout jog tonight--laps around the track with strollers while our kids play with my Mommy running friends! My weight is at an all-time low but I feel really great!
pm. met up with April R at the Collegiate track. We settled her 10 month old into the stroller, got our little girls together playing in the bleachers, and took out in 90 degrees to run circles. The kids were great, we got away with 7 easy miles and took them all out for frozen yogurt afterward. I got to re-live the glory days pushing the stroller. | |
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am. 8 ez on the mill and 25 minutes of core while Vanessa did funfit. May squeeze in 5 by the post before work tonight, time for the long work weekend. yuck.
pm. 5 through the 217, nice and slow, 91 degrees with 77 dewpoint. pretty warm and sticky! | |
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| | Got some easy miles in here and there while watching my comrades race. Off to bed, Kingman hills after work tomorrow morning! | |
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I don't mind rain, but lighting is a no-go, so my long run today was gonna have to be on the mill. I settled on a Tinman Big Workout that involved lots of button pushing to get me through this. I had came home after work and slept and then did this in the afternoon so I was actually rested and felt pretty awesome throughout the workout.
2 miles warmup
2 mile tempo 6:27, 6:27
1 mile easy
8 x 1200 with 400 recovery. First 4 6:15 pace, second 4 at 6:11 pace
1 mile easy
2 mile tempo 6:27, 6:22
1.25 cooldown
Felt spectacular and had a little extra time before needing to hit the shower for work so did 40 minutes of upper body weights and abs. | |
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| | Indoor track at the Y, no watch. Stopped a few times briefly to chat because I kept running into folks I knew. Good recovery from the monster workout yesterday, legs felt fine. I am officially signed up for the Run for Your Momma half marathon Saturday. This will be the third time I have run this hot hilly brute, but for some reason I keep going back for more! | |
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| | What a hodgepodge. early morning slipped in 3.8 on the home treddy then ran 5 while Vanessa was at her appointment with 15 x 1 minute on/off. "on" paces were wildly all over the place from 5:15 to 6:24. It was pretty hot and sticky out. pm: 7.2 with Shelby on the indoor track at the Y, good conversation, he wanted to shake off some cobwebs so last mile was 6:33. Nothing but easy miles the rest of this week, I'm not tapering but I do want to be sorta fresh for the half on Saturday. | |
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am: 8 ez on the East Y mill while Vanessa did funfit
pm: prework very ez 5 through the 217 | |
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| | Sleep won. This is all I had time to squeeze in before walking in the door to work. 7:45 AP, had to really, really hold the reigns in because it was overcast and only 78 degrees and my legs were itching to GO. The race is Saturday, not today...so hope they feel that way early Saturday morning! | |
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I meant to run 6 to 8 very easy as a prerace shakeout but two miles in at the downtown track I ran into the first paramedic student I ever precepted. He now works for Eaglemed, who just suffered the loss of Darren Haynes, 38, found dead in his bunkroom on duty on Wednesday. I am close friends with Darren's brother, who used to be my partner. We spent the next hour walking around the track and musing and talking about all the fatalities and accidents local EMS has suffered this year, talked about our lost friends, re-lived some of the old days, and caught up on the new ones. I needed to have this conversation. Going to bed early and hoping for a good race tomorrow--we have been bombarded with rain and they sent out an email saying be prepared for mud(this course is mostly on dirt roads). Sounds fun to me! I just wanna cut loose and run! | |
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| | Race: |
Run For Your Momma Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:27:23, Place overall: 1, Place in age division: 1 | |
Great day and a PR on a difficult course so I am pretty thrilled right now! Weather was great this morning, super soupy humid but temps only in the 60s, so a decent set-up for me. Got up at 4:00am, drank coffee and Gatorade during the drive, and ate half a Clif Bar. Felt pretty good pre-race. Jogged a super slow mile and did a few strides, one last pit stop, and to the starting line! This course is hilly and just rolls and rolls so my splits are all over the place and definitely reflect the hills. We ran on just about everything--asphalt, dirt, gravel, rocks, cobblestones, and even splashed in a little water. The last few miles are the rollingest of all, and my legs got super rubbery and I just freight-train-breathing-charged the ups and then tried to stay upright on my angry rubber legs on the downs. Next goal: sub 1:25, the further under the better, in a fast and flat half in September!!
splits per Garmin: 6:32, 6:44, 6:50, 6:25, 6:42, 6:32, 6:33, 6:44, 6:51, 6:52, 6:32, 6:47, 6:51, then a 27 second sprint to the finish down the last straight!
oh, and the fun part, I won it outright. I''ve never chicked a field like that before, that was fun! | |
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| | Staggered around a lot last night with my sick feverish kiddo but when she got settled into a movie this afternoon I slipped onto the home treddy and ran slow, very slow. It felt good to shake junk out of my legs. Actually it gave me some energy, so now I have the gumption to wash barf-covered blankets and clean the kitchen. As a single working Mom I cannot express adequately the priceless value of a home treadmill. | |
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am: home treddy, kiddo still sick.
20 minute warm-up
4 x 90 seconds on/off at 5:27 pace
4 x 60 seconds on/off at 5:24 pace for first two and 5:21 pace for second two
4 minute jog
10 minutes 6:22 pace(although I had a pause 8 minutes in because Vanessa had a coughing fit and needed my attention and while I was at it I had an emergency BM)
3 minute jog
4 x 45 seconds on/75 seconds off 5:18 pace
cooldown to 10 miles. might be able to squeeze a shake-out jog in later at naptime. but really I should nap, I work all night. pm. 5 ez. 40 minutes weights and core
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| | So tired, Vanessa let me sleep 5 hours mostly straight through, then I had to tend to matters of the day and pack everything up. The deluge of rain continued, and my little Saturn miraculously made it through a lot of deep water, inching past stranded vehicles, to drop her off before work. I made it to post with a 45 minute window to run and made it 6 miles, being careful to keep it still "easy" but not necessarily recovery pace, since I really did want more than 5. I felt good in the pouring rain and it was just enough to re-energize me before the long night at work. | |
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| | At 2pm I dragged out of bed, cup of coffee, a few goldfish crackers, and ventured out into the sun for a a slow 10 listening to some tunes. After picking Mini-me up from school and having a good talk about her first day of first grade, I hit the treddy for 5 more stupid slow while she ate dinneer and told me more about her day. Now we will have Candyland and reading time and off to bed! | |
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Big Workout. 7:19 AP. 70 degrees, 87% humidity, partially cloudy, cool south breeze. I ran this on the HS route which is flat to gently rolling.
3 miles easy warm-up
3 miles at MP 6:40, 6:50, 6:47(felt easy)
1 mile easy
6 x 1 mile at HMP with 2 minute jogs in between 6:39, 6:30, 6:23, 6:26, 6:34, 6:28
.84 easy to get me to the 15 mile mark
2 miles at MP 6:53, 6:53(not so easy just relaxed and tried to be realistic about it)
1 mile easy cooldown
Definitely a good workout, I tried to be realistic about my current fitness level and ran by feel at what I truly felt was my current hmp and mp. While this is no superhero workout I do feel cautiously optimistic about a sub-3 in October based on the results.
pm: 50 minutes core and upper body before pickingVanessa up from school. Then she fell off a chair and broke her arm in two place, so I wrapped it in ice and took her in. :( She is doing good, splint and sling and went right to sleep when we got back, she will get her cast tomorrow. She is an incredibly stoic child, puts most adults to shame.
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am: After Vanessa's follow-up appointment this morning after her arm-breaking incident last night, I got her settled into school then took out for a very slow 10, pausing at mile 3 to switch laundry. She sees an Ortho on Monday but doc says everything should heal quickly without problems. naptime before work now!
pm: ez 5 by the post before walking in the door. | |
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| | no watch, felt nice in the afternoon. first 90 mile week ever | |
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| | Slept 5.5 hours after work then got up, it was 85 degrees instead of the promised 80. Did miles 13 and 14 in 6:48, 6:44, felt fatigued and didn't want to go into an overtraining hole so shut it down, then felt good again and ran mile16 in 6:48 then shut it down again. Good enough long run, I've had enough good workouts this past week, off to finish this busy work weekend and hopefully catch up on sleep the next few days. | |
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| | After work had to stay up and get my tough little gal to the Ortho, so anyway i only netted 3 hours of sleep. 7 very slow miles on the home mill was enough forthis weary body, although i always feel energized after a run. Looking forward to a full nights sleep tonight! I must brag on my daughter, other than when it first happened she has not cried, and when she broke it i just wrapped it in ice and took her in, this child has not had a single dose of pain medication ad has been playing happily and saying it doesnt hurt much and she is fine. | |
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am: 5 pretty brisk at 6:41 AP while Vanessa was at her appointment, legs felt good. Then I hit the gym for a great 70 minutes of core and weights. Looking forward to a nap and then track tonight!
pm: 6. no track--after looking at my week's schedule, the only real reasonable time for a long run this week is tomorrow morning, so me and Mini went to the downtown Y and I ran a 6 mile shakeout. I will touch base with speed when I am stuck on the treadmill this weekend | |
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75 degrees. 70% humidity. not terrible, but not great. Ran 12 easy then 5 mile tempo 6:49, 6:35, 6:49, 6:33, 6:49, 1.1 mile cooldown. The tempo did not feel as good as I was hoping for...might have helped if I had planned for some fluid or fuel during this run but I didn't, and it wasn't terrible. pm: 5 mile shakeout by my work post. legs actually felt fine, but I waxs hungry!
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| | ez in the afternoon heat. 45 minutes weights and core with lots of lunges and squats. | |
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| | Nothing like a balmy 95 degrees for a recovery run. Really though, as long as I am not trying to do tempo or speed, the heat does not seem to bother me much. Rolled out of bed, parked at Vanessa's school, and trotted as many as I could before time was up and school was out. I am stuck on the treadmill tomorrow and really need to touch base with speed, I was thinking of 800s...any suggestions? | |
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Yasso-ish 800s on the treadmill. I really needed this workout, I have been feeling very blah about my speed lately and so it was a bit of a confidence boost to have this workout feel so easy and not too stressful, and to be able to do it at faster paces and more reps than last time. 2 mile warm up, then 10 x 800 with 400 jogging recovery. Recovery pace was 8:49. 6 reps at 5:52 pace, 2 reps at 5:49 pace, 1 at 5:46 and 1 at 5:42. 1.75 mile cooldown. | |
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| | The last time I took a day off from running was July 12. I had to work last night, and don't get to sleep today, so I am going to be gentle to my tired and sleep-deprived body, watch movies with my daughter, and go to bed early.
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| | Wanted to get a long run in today, but knew I would be unable to start until after 9am when Vanessa was in school. By then, the temps had climbed into the 80s, the sun was beating down, and there was a south wind. I wanted to touch base with MP in the context of a long run, and know a tempo in the heat was setting myself up for failure, yet I didn't want to run indoors. I finally settled on an oddball run where I ran every other mile at HMP to MP effort, trying to stay more along MP. I did this for 16 miles, then cooled down slow the last two, as in the final tempo mile by body indicated that it had done enough in the heat. Tempo miles were 6:50, 6:40, 6:39, 6:45, 6:41, 6:35, 6:34, 6:44. My body seems to find a nice groove around 6:40ish pace, which I hope is where it decides to coast for the marathon in 8 weeks. The last week or two I have really fallen off the bus with my eating habits, back at it today, must keep my weight down and clean it up for the final training push before the marathon.
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| | 6 recovery on the home treddy after work before rousting Mini-me up and ready for school, then parked at the school this afternoon and ran 8 recovery in the toaasty 95 degrees before picking up my sunshine. | |
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| | Same doubler routine as yesterday. Need to decide on some kind of tempo/speedwork for the treadmill tomorrow. Any ideas??? If nothing else I will probably do Jakes 3hmp, 2 at 10k, 1 at 5k workout again with slightly faster paces than last time.
So now I'm sitting here having a quiet and contemplative evening, and sometimes this blog gets a little diary-ish, I must admit. But...I'm glad I have it to look back through, 5 years worth now of a lifetime of ups and downs, both in life and running. I have now hit the 5 year mark from the day where I ran a 12 minute mile, thought I was gonna die, and smoked a cigarette afterward. Since then, a lot has changed. The running has phased up and down along with my most painful life experiences EVER. This last year has been the worse, the absolute worse, many personal losses, nasty divorce, grievous loss of the stepchildren I raised and loved and who called me Mom, scary hit-by-the-car-broken-leg-vacation, the list goes on. Within the last 12 months I have gave up and quit running and smoked a pack a day, gave up and quit eating for a while(December,that was rough), gave up. I can never thank my Mom, my rock, enough, or my best friends in the world Kim and Jess who held my head above water when I was done living. Most of all I have a beautfiul daughter who is my number one reason to get out of bed every day, and I have been spared by my Creator from death(not to be dramatic, but in 11 years as a paramedic I have only seen one pedestrian survive a hit like that....me)...and relatively minor injury to boot. I run right now because I feel JOY. Even when I am plodding slowly, the road beneath my feet, even the treadmill beneath my feet, it feels so wonderful and the high mileage is easy right now because I am Born to Run( laugh all you want but i love that book) and as my feet pound away I become healthier and healthier, not only phsycially but mentally and spiritually as well. Alright I'm done with my touchy-feely bloggy stuff!
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| | 6:56 AP. I needed a good 'ol strong tempo run as a confidence boost for a sub-3 attempt in October. I take this with a grain of salt because it was in air conditioning on a treadmill, but I wanted to get out of the heat and just throw down a solid tempo, getting my legs practice turning the way I'm gonna need them to. I felt totally awesome and pretty comfortable throughout, so it was definitely a confidence booster.
1 mile warm-up
4 x 60 seconds on/off at 5:27 pace
3 minute jog
8 mile tempo 6:40,6:40,6:40,6:40,6:35,6:35,6:31,6:27
1.5 mile brisk cooldown
Felt like a million bucks and went and did some core and weights afterward
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| | am: 10 ez, no watch, paused 3 miles in to cycle the laundry.
pm. 5 ez, no watch. 102 degrees
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| | After work with the HS group, ran easy, no watch, floated around and socialized a little.
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| | Giant confidence boost today! Met up with Mike for a long run, the intention was 18 easy, but about 11 miles in Mike started to feel bad. I told him I would go get the car and come back for him. At mile 12 I struck out at a brisk pace. I told myself to run smooth and steady, but stay well within my aerobic range, no straining, nothing so hard as tempo pace, just a strong steady pace that I would not be afraid of if today was marathon day, and no peaking at the watch to keep myself honest. Checked splits after, and was pleased to see that a smooth and unstrained pace was 6:40, 6:36, 6:42, 6:48, 6:49, 6:44. Give me good conditions on race day and I believe I am currently in sub-3 shape--this happened in 80 degrees, 61% humidity, but there was cloud cover which helps immensely.. Drove back and found Mike, he was cruising along, had found his second wind. We were both happy! Off to bed, one more night at work before a few days off! Totally stoked!!
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| | Backed the ol' ambulance up to an unnamed track at 4:30am, hopped the 7 foot fence, and made it 3 miles before we got a call. The second time over the fence is the fastest I have ever hopped one, with a radio in my hand and keys in my mouth. Got off and went home and made it 9 ez on the home treadmill before Mini-me was up and roaring and ready for my undivided attention! Everyone have a great Labor Day!
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| | am: 6:51 ap. 5 while vanessa was at her appointment, 4 minute warm-up then 15 x 1 min on/off, coud not get it going on with speed, legs were dead, "on" minutes were all over from 5;34 to 6:17.
pm: 8 ez on the East Y treadmill
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| | I knew this was a little soon after Sunday's 18, but wanted to get some miles in before leaving for Houston tomorrow to visit my sister. I won't run tomorrow and suspect there will be a reduction in running for a few days so I decided to go ahead and start a workout, with the full understanding that I would jog it in as soon as my body gave the signal and not push it. It was after 9:15 when I started and temps were in the 80s by the time I hit the 5 mle mark. 2 mile warm up, 3 at mp 6:51, 6:43, 6:49, 1 mile jog, then started hmp mile repeats with two minute jogs and knew right away as the timed diminished that I was on borrowed time. I did 4 6:30, 6:24, 6:36, 6:38 and then jogged it in to 16 from there. I want to be careful not to put myself into an overtraining hole. This was good enough for today, off to pack for my trip!
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| | 7:38 ap. Nice early morning trot through my sister's giant subdivision in Sugarlad. Very humid, but nice to start a run before sunrise for a change. | |
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| | Got up at 5 and jogged 10 ez through the Houston humidity, then went with my brother in law to the nearby park for an easy 5k, ran the last mile in 6:36. To stretch my legs, then joined his hour long bootcamp class to get my buns kicked. Fun! | |
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| | am: 6.12 very slow. I slept in, last day in Houston, and when I got started it was pretty humid and toasty. I had to get off all that Houston concrete, so I scrambed up onto the dyke I had been eyeballing. At some point I lost the dyke and was running cross-country next to some ditch and across some sort of field. I eventually turned around and made my way back. It was definitely nice to be off the roads. Travel this afternoon, about a 50/50 shot of a small evening run on the home treadmill. It has been a nice mini-vacation, and as a bonus, it didn't involve worker's comp.
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| | 7:15 AP. Between my little vacation and some emotional eating, I have put on a few pound. It is nothing that can't be taken care of between now and the marathon October 13th if I am disciplined, but discipline when I am having emotional stress is not my strong point. It was good to get some speed in to prove to myself that at least I still could. I did this on the treadmill, didn't want to mess with 100 degrees today.
20 minute warm up
4x90 seconds on/off at 5:27 pace
2 x 1 mile at 6:00, 5:56 with .25 jog in between
3 minute jog
4 x 45 secs on/75 secs off at 5:13 pace
3 minute jog
10 minutes 6:22 pace
cooldown to 11 miles.
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| | ez in the heat, no watch. pressed for time but squeezed 30 minutes of core
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| | treadmill. ez but threw in 3 random miles at 6:40 because I forgot my ipod and was bored and needed to get it over with
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| | 7:16 AP. I felt kind tired and sore, but it was in the low 70s with cloud cover and I didn't want to waste a day with good conditions, so I did a long run. started brisk and felt decent so hit a 5 mile MP tempo for miles 6-11 and then slowed back down to brisk because my legs were basically just fried, Splits were all over depending on how I felt at the time. Confidence for sub-3 is not good, it will have to hit on a day I feel good and conditions are decent or it isn't gonna happen.
For fun, splits: 7:56, 7:28, 7:24, 7:20, 7:29, 7:02, 6:49, 6:55, 6:49, 6:48, 6:47, 6:49, 7:48, 7:42, 7:28, 7:17, 7:25, 7:20, 7:12. All around a wishy-washy run.
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| | Am. 6 ez with Nancy and her girls in the stroller. Got some good weights and core in after Afternoon. 6 ez around Vanessa's school Signed up for Boston! I can't believe I am saying this, but looking forward to taper time. Will back down slightly this week in hopes of a pr half marathon next weekend, then about ten days of slogging after that and then, the taper! | |
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| | am: 6.7 Easy with Marcus. Need to rest up to pace the 1:45 group at Johnston's half tomorrow. should be fun!
pm. home alone, lonely, weird, got on the treadmill really slow for 3.7 then my friend Jess called. phew. I really did need to be saved from this run
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| | Paced the 1:45 group today at the Johnston's half, a total blast, Me and my pacing partner Lacy had a pretty huge group, about 10 miles in a few broke out ahead, a few stayed with us, and a few fell back. When we hit the final mile Lacy stayed on pace and I went back for few stragglers that were in striking distance, was able to push one back up and she made it, highlight of my day! Did a 5 mile mp tempo afterward 6:43, 6:45, 6:45, 6:40, 6:42 and felt decent. still waiting to hear back about the Boston marathon...
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| | 10 recovery. I am going to try and back it down some this week, enough to get my listless tired legs back under me for a decent half on Sunday.
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| | After cleaning house and doing laundry, meandered out about noon. Was just mindlessly running around the East side of town when I spotted Nancy with the stroller... ran over and finished her last few miles with her then jogged my way down to the East Y, did an hour of core and weights, then jogged home. Legs still feel dead and I feel fat, really hope to shake all that off by Sunday, since I am officially registered for the half-marathon. The course should be pretty flat and mostly pavement so should run fast if I can just get my head in the right place! Excited for Boston in April, if I blow it this fall then Boston is my second chance.
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| | ez through my neigborhodd in the heat and wind, watching the thunderheads build in the distance. felt better today.
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| | Easy on the treadmill with a few surges at 6:18 pace to see how it felt. It feels alright when I relax. I am feeling better, have been eating vegetables and not getting on the scale. I am looking forward to running hard on Sunday!
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Run for the Rocks half marathon (13.17 Miles) 01:28:58, Place overall: 1, Place in age division: 1 | | I didn't feel that great from the get go. I was okay the first 9 miles then hit the wind and felt worse and sorta gave up and cruised in. There was nobody close enough to push me so I kinda just made sure I stayed in the lead and ahead of the 1:30 pace group. This wasn't a good race, 1:30 slower than a much harder course last month. I know some of this is bad choices I have made in the last few weeks. I do best when running with joy, and there has been very little of that lately. So the next 3 weeks will be more about pulling myself together and getting my head and heart in the right place. That will do me more good than any training. I will probably train hard for 14 days, then taper way down for a week. I'm going to eat right, let go of the toxic people and situations that have me in knots right now, breathe deep, pray for the peace that surpasses all understanding.
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| | easy, no watch, it has been retired along with the scale for the next 3 weeks. :) I will still do some speedwork and tempo and stuff, just watchless!!
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| | 8.5 easy in the afternoon around Vanessa's school, estimate on mileage, no watch, ran easy except for about 1.5 miles when I had a fun tailwind and picked it up. Dropped her off then did 6 ez on the treadmill before work. Felt pretty good. Deactivated my facebook for now and had cable turned off, actually feels good to detox a bit from social media and I need to save money if I am going to buy a plane ticket to Boston.
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| | easy through the east side. mileage estimate. felt good. enjoyed the warm sun.
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| | Track! A little weird to do speedwork with no watch but I feel like the effort was there. It was a nice blustery 18mph wind on the homestretch each lap. The second half of the workout I had to run around the massive marching band each lap but it was cool, didn't bother me and didn't bother them.
2 mile warm up, 4 x 200 with 200 recovery, quarter mile jog, then 10 x 800 with 400 recovery, then 1.5 mile cooldown. I tried to keep it close to 5k effort for the 800s and sprinted like a madman for the 200s. Anything to make marathon pace feel like a walk in the park.
My thoughts are that sub-3 is possible, within my capability right now, but it straight up has to hit on a cool day with no wind and on a day where I have my mojo...so if the stars align in my favor. Regardless, I will don the watch again for the marathon and run off of feel, no looking until the halfway mark. If I try to force a pace in the first half of a marathon I will blow up, so I will run it by feel the first half and then go to the well the second half and see what happens. This worked for St. George, and the conservative first half payed off, although it was a little scary to know that I would HAVE to negative split to reach my goal. Prairie Fire is very very flat, especially in the second half, so a good setup to put it at cruising speed and hang on.
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| | 8 easy. wore my new new balance minimus that I won in the half, was a little concerned about the zero drop but turns out they felt great and were a nice ride. I may have found my marathon race shoe. We will see how they feel on my last long run Sunday.
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| | easy in the afternoon. I really love how these zero drop shoes feel when I run, will test them in a long run tomorrow. I keep waiting for some kind of calf soreness or something to start but none so far, have probably run in Nike Frees enough that this is not a huge transition. Ran the last half mile fast because I felt good!
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| | Needed this! Met up with Marcus and Jared and headed west to run the Kingman Hills. 8 miles out and 8 miles back on dirt with lots of rollers, some long, some short, some steep, some not so steep. Went out 8 fairly easy but brisk, then turned around and dropped the hammer. The last 8 were all in the 6:30's and 6:40's, and we could still talk so very pleased. The point was to make 6:40-6:50 pace on a flat course feel easy, and after this it should. Good confidence boost, feeling a little more hopeful for sub-3 in two weeks.
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| | Had a really hard time getting out of bed today, my throat is sore, definitely coming down with the usual pre-marathon cold. Parked at Vanessa's school and went around 6.5 ez. Spent some quality time in the weight room at the Y afterward.
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I have officially come down with a little upper respiratory bug, the one I always get before a marathon, at least it is now and not next week. Felt pretty exhausted yesterday so took the day off. Still tired today but met up with Marcus for a nice evening 9 miler. We didn't wear watces but ran the last mile at what I thought was my marathon pace. Felt good while running, back to hacking when it was over. I am definitely in taper mode a little prematurely, but this is probably the first time I have ever had something to truly taper from, definitely my heaviest training cyle ever the last 3 months. In retrospect it has been a lot to ask from a single working Mom, so if my body wants to rest now, I am going to let it!!
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| | Treadmill. 2 mile warm-up, then 4 sets of 4 x 1 min on/off at 5:27 pace, 2 minute jogs between sets. 1 mile cooldown. Core and weights after.
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| | 24 hours without sleep, came home exhausted from work with a sick daughter, so she didnt go to school. I caught a few naps here and there. did a little bitty run in the heat while she was at her appointment. that is all. too tired to care about running today.
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| | Easy on the home treddy. Body feels light and good. I am starting to feel good. Sub-3, a win, and $2000 would feel really good.
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| | Treadmill at the Y. 2 mile warm-up. 4 x 1min on/off at 5:27 pace, jogged a few minutes, then 4 miles 6:35, 6:31, 6:27, 6:22. half mile cooldown. While I regrettably report that I felt fat rather than light and deer-like, I also felt rather strong and tireless, and the tempo miles were easy breezy, I could've been singing. That will be an acceptable way to feel in one week!! Taper winds down even more this week, into the downright lazy category! Must get busy reading all these Saint George race reports for inspiration!!
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| | Mostly easy around Vanessa's school. I did pick it up though just the last quarter mile or so to MP. Really debating hard on the watch, really, my only use for it in a marathon is for inspiration to run harder at the end if I am cutting it close. Otherwise, I run a marathon by feel, I would be a fool to force a pace in the first half. I am afraid that with a watch I will be tempted to push an inappropriate pace in the first hald, and I'm not sure I have the discipline to not look! There is one golden rule I have learned, the hard way, about me and marathons...never ever ever go out beyond your fitness level the first half, you will not get away with it. Now pushing beyond your limits the second half is another matter entirely, but doing it in the first half is a mistake from which there is no recovery. | |
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| | 5 ez through the 217 before work. It is still 80 degrees in the afternoons here. I felt good, I felt bad, I felt like dropping out of the race Sunday, and then I got the number 2:57 in my head. I really need Sunday to get here so I can get this over with!! | |
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| | http://www.kansas.com/2013/10/09/3050325/bring-it-on-a-wichita-father-runs.html
Took yesterday off, I was sleep deprived, so the point in running was....there wasn't one. Dress rehearsal today! Vanessa didn't have school today, so we went to the downtown Y where I could run on the big indoor track, just didn't want to do the treadmill. Put on the whole get-up, socks, shoes, shirt, short, ponytail, everything, then ran 2 warm up, 2 at MP, and 2 cooldown. No watch. Still feel heavy but feel strong and ready to go. I walked right by the scale. no go. it doesn't matter what I weigh. Just gonna run! I will be at the starting line with my loyal Honey Badgers, Elaine(momma bear), Mike(Prefontaine), and Marcus(Bling). We've all really been praying and rallying for Mike--news article above.
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| | ez with Marcus through the icky sidewalk part of the course where there are way too many turns...tried to memorize it to get my tangents straight. We are going to the expo in morning(I got paid so I can finally sign up haha).
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| | Little shakeout with Marcus then went to the expo, got my packet, and got out.
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Prairie Fire Marathon (26.57 Miles) 03:16:10, Place in age division: 5 | | Well, this is something I will keep forever, so a long write-up, and many confessions, so read on if you are ready to see some ugliness as well as goodness.
I have to start by saying my marathons tend to be metaphors for life, and this was one was no exception. So I have to tell the story of the year as background. One year ago my nasty devastating divorce was complete. On December 3rd, I lost custody of the stepsons I had loved and raised from diapers, my sons, and my heart....broke. I have never been the same. I didn't eat for 9 days, and I smoked like a chimney(old additions always come back). I drank too much. Thanks to a mom who always holds my head above water, a daughter who needed me, and wonderful friends, I slowly pulled out of the mud and started running again. By March I had won a 50 miler, won a few half-marathons, and was on top of my game, and handing my new life. In April, disaster struck, I was nailed by a car, thrown 60 feet into a ditch, and my left knee was torn open and my fibula was broken. My left calf was missing a chunk. I was lucky to be alive. I spent 6 weeks sitting at home on disabilty comtemplating "Why?" I had been spared. I should not have lived. I was mosty, on a whole, grateful to be alive. At the same time, I struggled in another relationship.
In June I was back running, a fast recovery that was nothing short of miraculous. I was doing well, and began to rack up the miles to the highest ever, and my fitness came back with a vengeance. I PRd in the half in August, and all was going well. In September, things turned. I began to struggle again, as birthdays passed and my relationship failed, I began to miss my boys and my life, and a sort of delayed emotional reaction set in. Although I knew I should be grateful I was taken over by a depression that I could not shake, and I began to sink like a ship. I was even smoking here and there, drinking a little too often, and I began to gain weight. I fought and I fough to keep it together but I was like a time bomb that was exploding. my estranged father began to call after many years which threw another wicked emotional loop at me. I fell apart. I tried to hide it, but those close to me were on to me. 3 weeks ago I decided to start an antidepressant in a wild attempt to get myself back together. It seemed to help, and when I arrived at the starting line today I was calm, enough bandaids were in place to get me through.
The race started perfectly. I felt great, energy was great, slept well the night before. I held back and ran well within myself the first half, coming through in 1:31:xx or so. My new shoes that I had run a 16 miler in 2 weeks prior and seemed fine were giving me a little problem. I was blistered under my big toes and every step was starting to hurt. The outside of my left foot was burning with each step. I thought this was something I could ignore and picked it up as planned at 13, plenty of gas in the tank, not laboring at all. By mile 16, despite my best efforts, I think I was curling my toes around the blisters, and my calves started to get tight and knot. I clung to the hope that this would pass,but it was not to be. By mile 17 I knew I was in big trouble,and the pace bleeding began. By mile 18, every step was excruciating from the thighs down, and I began to mince along rather than run. It stunk, because my energy was good and there was plenty of gas in the tank, but my calves and feet were fiery knots, and all I could manage was a short, jerky, painful stride. I had brought my ipod just in case, something I have never done before. I fleeted through DNF thoughts, but decided to put the music on and buckle down for a looooong 8 mile death march.
And then I death marched. Occasionally I entertained the DNF, but dismissed it. I quit looking at my watch, knew it was bad and didn't want to know how bad. At mile 22 I stopped, sat on the curb, pulled my shoes off, pulled my socks up tight, tied my shoes tight, thinking it might help a little. The 3:10 pace group passed me. I got up, minced along, and watched them go. A friend of mine came by on a bike and offered an S-cap, I declined, because I knew sodium wasn't the issue, it was my knotted calves and biomechanics. Occasionally I would try to be tough and open it up but it was a no-go, the knots just got tighter and the fire in my feet took over. I would limp on one side, and then the other.
At mile 25 my friend Nancy jumped in. I told her I was toast and cramped and she ran me to mile 26 at the bridge. So glad. I needed a boost.
And then it was over. I saw my mom and bawled into her chest over the barricades separating us. Then I went and found my Badger friends. Marcus ran a 2:47!! Wow! We are proud indeed! Many great accomplishments out there today, I cannot even begin to speak of all the incredible stories from my running friends today.
What is next? I feel like a broken record, I have been up and down so much the last few years that it has reached the point of ridiculous. That said, I don't think fitness was the problem today, it was a new-shoe-biomechanical issue. I think. Although I am not entirely sure of my next plan, I think it will involve a few weeks off and some counseling to work on the issues in my heart and mind, which can no longer be ignored or fought through without help, and then perhaps go to a local running coach, Nathan Wadsworth, who has reasonable prices, like 50 a month, to analyze biomechanical issues and get some solutions, some of which are lingering from the accident(like running on the outside of my left foot completely and then toeing off, I still cannot dorsiflex that foot much), and to get a solid running plan, and work towards Boston hopefully with my head, heart, and body in a better place.
I am a bipolar runner, although we all are to a point--do great, do crummy,do great, do crummy lol. I am still very grateful for tons of increbile support and family, and for this blog that I have hung on to for 5 years and is more or less a diary. I am going to have to allow myself a little cry-laughing for a few days and then make the next plan.
Good day bloggers! I promise I'm not done yet and I will do better!! :)
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| | Well well, whatever I did to my calves, I did it good, they are like steel rods from heel to the back of my knee. The left one is particularly bad, and it makes me limp. Part of me says I should have DNF'd because I just damaged them more, and part of me knows I couldn't have lived with myself over that, and that the damage was probably already done. I had very tight calves like this once a few years ago over some new shoes, and ended up with bilatarel posterior tibial stress fractures. So, the moral of the story is, no running until they are completely 100% healed. Nothing but gentle massage and stretching, and some core work later this week. I think my plan is no running until the November 1, although I will get into a gym and do something. This should be ample time for my calves to heal all the muscle damage(I do think it is completely muscular). And as me and Julie C discussed, no serious training until we have finished out the year--we are going to enjoy our holidays, run when without watches and for health reasons, and then train for Boston as January descends upon us, refreshed and ready to roar.
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| | Ants in my pants. Needed to move, so headed to the East Y. 20 minutes on the endless stairs which warmed my calf up a lot, walked by the treadmills and could not resist temptation. could not....so ran two miles at a very pedestrian pace....and liked it. Next I went and did about 30 minutes of core, mostly left the weights alone. It felt nice. I am looking forward to a slightly longer run tomorrow in the cool fall weather. I was surprised when I hit the scale for a reality check, not nearly as bad as I thought!
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| | 20 minutes endless stairs than treadmill, ran last 3 at 6:40 pace because I felt like it | |
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| | I'm not doing a good job of taking time off--but, i am only running when i want to and as fast as I want--which it seems I want to run. Today I was bored, so I got on the home dreadmill. After 20 minutes of jogging, my legs were itchy, so did 20 x 45secs on/75 secs off, starting at 6:00 pace and ending at 5:27 pace. Scratched the itch and made me sweat but wasn't stressful! I might do something fun, like the turkey trot, in a month.
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| | East Y. Set the treadmill at 6:40 pace and ran for an hour until it shut down. Afterwards did about 20 minutes of weights and then needed to get Vanessa out of kidzone. I am looking forward to running outside tomorrow!
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| | Easy in the cool autumn air, and a little Kansas wind, no watch. Afterwards I took my Mom to the Y so she could check it out, walked 20 minutes uphill on the treadmill while she walked, and then we went and puttered around with some weights for a while... and then she got a membership. Your welcome YMCA for the recruitment.
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| | No watch, mileage estimate, in the nieghborhood around my daughter's school before picking her up. Ran easy except for when I was going south and had a fun tailwind then I ran hard, so about 1.5 miles of the run were fast.
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| | mmm well something is better than nothing, right? Nice little run, I enjoyed it. It was nice to sleep for 5 hours instead of 4. It was nice to sit still and drink coffee and wake up instead of stumble out the door into the afternoon sunlight to run. It was nice to take my daughter out for pizza and play and read and skip the whole Y/kidzone thing. Tomorrow I plan to run longish and hit the weight room for a solid all-over workout--after a full night's sleep!! Looking forward to that too.
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| | This is the first run of the year where I had to wear gloves and cover my ears. I tried out a new loop and got thirsty so stopped at Mom's and got a drink. Then I convinced her to go to the Y so we went and I got some good core and weights in. I was really planning to run a little longer but oh well-no watch but I was clipping along pretty fast, just a bit slower than marathon pace effort. Tomrrow me and Mom are going to go to a zumba class; I am terribly clumsy so that should be interesting.
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| | My car broke. Grrrr. Mom brought Mini me to school and then we went to the Y. I ran 3 on the treadmill at 6:40 pace and then we attempted zumba. It was fun, and I only had rythm about half the time, but I shook my booty, and everything else, and broke a sweat. So glad nobody I knew was watching. We will go back! Meant to run more but the rest of the day involved laundry and arguing about car repairs and freaking out about money and now I'm heading to work. Looking forward to a relaxing run in the morning with Pre. my legs are feeling the weights from yesterday. | |
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| | I am beat up and tired from work last night, lost my voice to some upper respiratory crud, but glad I came out and ran a few with the crew, it was good to have a little company! Good night/day! zzzz
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| | Mostly easy in the afternoon with Marcus. I was pretty tired, but it was good to catch up.
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| | I took yesterday off to try and get some rest and get over this horrid cold, and was definitely feeling better today. I parked at the downtown Y and jogged down to the river path about 3/4 mile, then hit the gas to the turnaround at 3.5, then backed down a mile or so, then ran brisk the rest of the way back. It was fun to run fast in the fall air. I didnt wear a watch but I'm pretty sure it was a sub-7 overall pace because I was done with those 7 miles awfully fast. Afterwards met up with April(there's another one) and we did about 50 minutes of weights--she used to be a body builder and showed me lots of new exercises. We are gonna get together tonight and I will probably run some on her treadmill while she does stationary bike(she's injured) and our little girls can play together. Then dinner. Looking forward to the Aprils hanging out with our daughters.
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| | easy through the pouring rain, no watch
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| | Today was crazy, but I ended up with a teeny little 45 minute window to run. I hit the treadmill so I could use the Y shower before work. Warmed up half a mile then one mile in 6:00, half mile easy, 2 miles at 6:40 pace, half mile easy, half mile at 6:00 pace, 3/4 easy the last 1/4 at 6:00 pace. I don't know if I was tired or this treadmill was calibrated crazy but the paces were way harder than usual, felt like I was at a dead sprint at 6:00 pace.
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| | I can hardly explain work last night. I was on my ambulance, at post, a call came out about 1.5 miles a way for somebody hit by a car on their bicycle, but another unit was closer and took the call. I got called a few minutes later. It was one of my former stepsons, the 18 year old. he is mostly okay, banged and bruised up and got knocked out, but okay. He got hit by an SUV at 40mph. Demolished his bike. Didn't know what to do with the bike, so finally the other unit threw it into their ambulance and drove it to our fleet building, where it was dumped, ironically, right next to the demolished stretcher from my accident. Anyways, talked to a few people I hadn't seen in a while up at the hospital, then finished out the night at work. It was all a little unsettling and I feel strange today.
So anywho, I was stuck on the home treadmill, so I did some button pushing to pass time. It seems like I'm doing a lot of speedwork lately, but my volume is so low and I am enjoying the lack of pressure, so maybe I am building my 5k engine.
Warmed up 10 minutes, then 5 x 45 secs on/75 off at 5:27 pace, 5 minute jog, 10 x 1 min on/off at 6:00 pace, than cooldown to 7. Did a little bit of core afterward. These paces on my home treddy are always a bit frightening...and loud.
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| | I did an hour of weights at the Y with my Mom while Vanessa is in kidzone. And now I have spent the last few hours looking at my treadmill. I don't want to run on it. I want to run outside. I am so tired of the stupid treadmill. My running options are: run on a treadmill, or, be sleep deprived and run outside when Vanessa is in school, when I should be sleeping, because I work at night. I am being a big baby today. I think it is just because I am so so tired. Oh how I long for the day when I can have a normal sleeping schedule. It is definitely one of those days where I want to be defiant and "quit" running. I ran so much high mileage and missed so much sleep training for this last marathon, it was a huge effort, and it didn't work out. I honestly don't know if I can handle that kind of exhaustion again. Burning the candle at both ends is literally killing me. A body can only take so much. But now that I have wrote all of this and am feeling sorry for myself I probably will do some easy miles on the treadmill this evening. I really hate working at night, and I am stuck with it for at least another 5 years. ugh!
evening: 6. on the mill. hated every minute, but was quite happy that I did it. no regrets
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| | I truly was being lazy and wasn't going to do anything today, but Mom called and wanted to go to the gym, so she picked me and Mini up. I set the treadmill to 6:40 pace and made it 7 miles before she was ready to go. I'm actually glad I went and did something.
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| | Today I dropped Vanessa off at school then meandered easily for 5 miles, ending up at Nancy's house. She loaded her kids up in the double stroller and I ran 6 with her, then ran 2 more miles back home. Beautiful day outside!
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| | very brisk in the rain by my daughter's school! I am contemplating a 24 hour race on the 16th. it sounds fun, I don't know why. crazy??
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| | I got off work late and had to sleep as soon as I got Vanessa to school. I didn't get up when the alarm went off to run, I just needed a little more sleep. I picked my princess up and we cleaned house, I didn't want to dump her in kidzone and run on the treddy and i didn't want to semi-ignore her while I ran on the home treddy. My single-working-Mom guilt is in full force today.
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| | Nice and brisk in a cool 40 degrees. I actually did wear a watch today. 6:59 AP. When I got home I was at 13 miles so I sprinted the last .1 to make it a half. :)
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| | 5 easy miles around my daughter's school, then as many weights as I could do in 30 minutes. I also signed up for th 24 hour race next Saturday.
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| | Got off work late, hurried and changed, then booked it up Rock Road and turned East on rails-to-trails, very pretty today with the autumn colors. I intercepted Marcus and Jarrod as planned about 6 miles out and turned around with them. Nice birthday run. :)
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| | I bought a new car. no choice. Drove my friend's car home then ran to the dealership to pick up the new car. Really not under the gun to run much this week with the 24 hour race looming on Saturday.
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| | I havent been running--very busy, sick daughter, and with this 24 hour gig on Saturday, I really didn't see any purpose! I am now finally starting to get a wee bit nervous about what I gave gotten myself into. Hoping to run for most of the first 12 hours during daylight and then switch to run/walking, although I am well aware the run/walking could start much sooner. Hoping to make it 100 miles but no pressure. Should be kinda fun!
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| | Race: |
Kansas Ultrarunners Society 6/12/12 (100.86 Miles) 21:20:00, Place overall: 1, Place in age division: 1 | | I will definitely never forget about this! I do plan to write a full race report late tonight! This is the most incredibly difficult thing I have ever done running wise! Very fun and I spent a day and night hanging out with the most awesome people ever, and meeting new people, but there was a fair degree of misery involved, the hours of puking and pain were a tough ending! I got my Buckle!!
I hardly know where to start, this was a looong experience and a lot happened. The race was a USATF certified 1.23 mile loop that winds through a local park on dirt and grass. Person who gets the furthest wins--so there was a man who made it 107 miles, he is the winner really. Only one other guy and myself made it to 100. I was the first person through the 100 mile mark at 21:20 and tapped out there--good enough to get my buckle and only female to make it, plus I was in pretty bad shape as you will read on to see!
The challenge was 100 miles to get the buckle, and I thought it was doable but didn't know what I was getting into and didn't really have any expectations. The race started casually at 7am and I was good to go for the first 31 miles or so, trotting loops and talking to people. After that the sun had risen, the wind was battering at over 20mph, and it was an uncomfortable 73 degrees but not terrible. I was doing good with water and some coke, snacking on pb and j and potato chips, taking my sodium pills, etc...
I don't know precisely when the first crash happend, but it was somewhere between miles 40 and 45, suddenly my back and legs started to hurt and I was incorporating walking intervals. I really wanted something besides water but the Gu brew being served was nasty. Right at the 50 mile mark I was starting to feel pretty rough and already considering tapping out at 50 and calling it good. However, about this time a few friends showed up to cheer for a few loops, and Marcus went and got me some gatorade to put in my bottle, and I took two ibuprofen.
The ibuprofen was like cocaine or something. 10 minutes later I was no longer walking and was running through loops without difficulty and felt like a million bucks!
This didn't last long. Around mile 60 or so the ibuprofen high wore off and I was having sever lower back, knee, and hip pain. My legs hurt sooo bad. I was undertrained and definitely feeling every bit of it. I was also in the lead by several loops, and well on track to get 100. It was bad, the pain was pretty intense, I popped two Aleve and had to walk a few laps and then it kicked in, and like the motrin, was a miracle drug and soon I was back at it cranking the loops out again at a run. Night had fallen and it was eery in the dark with my headlamp, and I kept stubbing my toes on roots and almost biting the dust, but miraculously never actually fell.
This was where we all go to really know each other, I had great conversations in passing and sometimes running side by side with the few of us that were still out there struggling along. The wind had died down and the temps had dropped. I had changed shoes and socks at mile 50 and threw a long sleeve shirt over my short sleeve one.
Around mile 75 or 80, I don't know for sure, the ball dropped and the wheels completely fell off. I got nauseated, and this ended up being the driving problem for the entire rest of the run. I was so sick. I came into the aid station, terribly nauseated, fortunately by now my friend Jason had arrived and he was a miracle worker. He calmed me down, and got me some ginger ale and crackers and told me to get going. It got pretty tortuous, a few loops later the vomiting started.
For the next 4 hours, I threw up everything that went down. Jason worked overtime to keep me sipping at calories and eating saltines when I couldn't bear the thought, but obviously a little something was absorbing from time to time because I kept on peeing. The physical misery reached it's peak. My legs and back hurt so bad I could barely stand to be upright. I was still managing run/walk intervals, not sure how, but knew the faster I covered ground the sooner I could get to 100 and stop. Jason and crew put biofreeze and aspercreme on my legs and back and somehow convinced me to just keep going. It turned into run/puke intervals, I would walk, pull of to the side of the trail and barf, and then run while I could enjoy the brief nausea-free existence after puking.
Finally at mile 90 the miracle happened, I had a huge vomiting session and then afterward jogged into the aid station and Barry had brought Sprite at my request. What a great friend! The sprite was amazing, and suddenly, for the first time in hours, I was nausea free. I began to run through laps again and knocked out a few bottles of sprite, my body was desperately in need of the calories. Of course, the pain in my legs and back became unbearable, and the last two laps I was reduced to nothing but a painful, slow walk, but it was almost done. And then I crossed at 100.86 miles and was soooo happy!! I did not consider continuing, if I had I probably could have won outright with the most laps and beat John, who ended up running the full 24 hours and put in 107 miles, but I was more than thrilled to be first person through 100 miles and get the buckle, and my body. was. done.
I was given my buckle, the race director was very nice, and then Jason and Barry helped me to my car and I drove to my best friend's house where my daughter was and took the long-awaited hot shower. Going to be didn't go so well, everything basically hurt too much to sleep, and my stomach was queasy so didn't sleep much.
The volunteers and my great ultrarunning expert friends were amazing at this race. They all worked overtime to take care of me as well as the other runners, fixing up feet, doling out pepto, working with everyone to get them through. as I sat by the heater for a few minutes after finishing and watched as the few others came through, it was so strange to see them hunched over and in just as much pain as me, and still moving. What a beastly group of people. The last 4 hours of the night, passing each other was usually a "how are you doing?" with various answers. I remember dry-heaving Colleen being jealous because I had actually vomited.
That was freakin' hard. I have never hurt like that, never, nor have I combined that much puking and running before. Will I do it again! Heck Yeah!! But this time with adequate training and a nutrition plan my stomach can handle. Today I walk funny and appetite is still not quite there, I went to Old Chicaga and ordered this giant Calzone and could hardly eat any of it. Seems I should be much hungrier but probably in the days to follow it wil catch up with me. I walk funny, but am still getting around. Still absorbing the whole experience!
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| | Well, now I have had a few days to reflect on Saturday's surreal run. The soreness is dissipating, although not completely gone, and my stomach has finally returned to normal--I ate a full meal for the first time last night. I didn't really expect to go out and run 100 miles, so the whole thing really is surreal, and I couldnt be more thrilled. That race broke me to my core, both mentally and physically. But, it was running broken down to its elements, the real reasons I run, the reason I suspect many people run. It was not just me, but a band of us, all in pain, all struggling, all fighting their way through the night to cover this monstrous distance. Then there was the volunteers, our crews and friends, the people who wouldn't let us quit. The atmosphere and community feeling at this race was like nothing I have ever experienced, and I can say, without a doubt, that ultrarunning is my niche, and it is where running is happy for me. I have struggled this year with expectations and doubts about myself, a lot of crisis, just a lot of crap. Saturday it wasn't about that, it was about fighting the good fight along side friends, and pushing myself to a new level. It wasn't like other races, which I do alone, this race I did not do alone at all, I was assisted and carried by friends who understood even more than myself why I had to finish it out. I remember flopping onto a chair at the aid station, almost in tears, when the pain and nausea had really set in fiercely. Jason had squatted by me, looked me in the eye, and said, "I'm not gonna lie to you, it's gonna get worse. But you're gonna get to 100, and you're gonna win, and me and Barry are gonna be with you." And they were. Not just them, everybody! All those crazy volunteers and runners, they were all with me, all night! and I was with them! So, basically, when I strolled to the starting line of this race, I really had absolutely no clue what was going to happen. I had not trained, I had no plan, I just showed up for the ride, and what a ride it was. I feel rejuvenated and peaceful, like this was a hardcore re-set. I am excited to run purely for the joy of it, because it is a joyful activity and part of who I am. So maybe in a few days I can jog a few miles, when my body has decided it is ready, legs aren't quite there yet. I'm excited for what the future will bring!
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| | Went for a nice jog in the cold by Vanessa's school. Legs are not particularly perky, but all systems a go! Today I had to bust it all out, tights, hat, gloves, underarmour, everything. Apparently there is a big storm moving on. I am done racing for the year, for sure, but eager to get back to daily joyful running and the gym. Oh the gym. I feel like a blob. I am eyeballing Rocky Raccoon 100 in February, and Praire Spirit 100 in March. Apparently I have caught ultra disease.There is Boston in April, but some financial miracles better start happening soon to afford that trip!
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| | 23 degrees and windy. brrrr! Beautiful run on the k96/rails to trails loop.
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| | Ran a 1:37:19 half with Kyle as his last pre-marathon training run. felt decent in the cold temps.
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| | Went to the Y with Mini and ran at 6:40 pace for an hour on the treadmill
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| | Easy in the cold wind with Nancy. Maybe I will get around to some core work tonight!
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| | 5.5 through the 217 with Jarrod before work. Great company. It was cold and windy....my brother-in-law is dragging me to a crossfit gym in the morning...should be interesting, I haven't done anything with strength or core for a few weeks, maybe this will get me rolling with that stuff again. I am hoping to get a run in afterward and cheer downtown for my Thanksgiving 5k running friends if work isn't too crazy and I'm not exhausted!!
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| | Got off work and went to crossfit with brother-in-law, boy my shoulders are angry lol! Next I drove downtown to hold stuff and cheer for my running buddies at the Thanksgiving 5k, and warm up with them a little bit. I finally made my way home and into bed a little before noon, but then at 1:30 someone was persistently ringing my doorbell. I finally got up and answered and it was the little Iraq family from the apartment across from mine, I drive their daughter to school with mine since she doesn't drive. They were all smiling and presented me with an entire roasted turkey. Wow! I don't speak Arabic and they don't speak English but I know they understood thank-you. It was a very humbling gesture. soooo, I had to stay up a while and carve the turkey and put it away before I got a few more hours of sleep and now I am at work. We will do our family thing tomorrow! Happy Thanksgiving!
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| | 8 in the early 29 degrees after work. It was still and crisp, dark, very nice run. 7:30 pace, felt pretty groovy. I am sore from the crossfit adventure yesterday.
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| | Between family obligations and time with my daughter I had a little time on the home treddy while she watched My Little Pony. Warmed up 10 minutes slow, then 5 x 45secs on/75 off at 5:27 pace, immediately followed by 10 x 1min on/off at 6:00 pace, then cooldown to 6 miles. I am STILL sore from my crossfit experience, which I clearly overdid in my attempt to do what all the other experienced crossfitters did.
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| | I sort of pieced this run together. Started a load of laundry, ran 25 minutes, cycled laundry, ran 35 minutes, cycled laundry, drove to Nancy's and ran 6 miles with or so miles with her and her kids in a stroller. 50 degrees outside today!!
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| | nice and easy. 14 degrees with a balmy 3 degrees 20mph windchill.
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| | I weighed today. Yikes! Went to the downtown Y with Mom, 6 miles at 6:40 pace then 20 minutes of core. I am ready to get back on the eating-right train....
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| | I got on the home treddy and made it happen. I did not want to, tired, no motivation, but once I got going I felt much better. I turned into a little mini workout to make the time pass. 15 minute warm up slow, then 5x 1 min on/0ff at 6:00 pace, 5 minutes at 6:18 pace, 3 minute jog, 5 x 1on/off again, cooldown to 6. Now I'm going to a party, without a kid, a rare thing in my world. I rarely have adult time--will be nice!
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| | Beautiful winter wonderland run on the rails to trails with a great group. We had coffee and Panera afterward. Another one of those days when I am struck by the fact that I have the best friends this world could offer.
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| | Throught the streets of Wichita in the chilly sunshine in shorts. Pure joy!
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| | 30 degrees and a little breezy, not too bad--out into the sunshine again. Ran 3 fast then was over it and jogged the rest. feeling good despite being a bit sluggish and fat from all the fudge.... Not too stressed about it--enjoying the holiday month! I am out of the abyss baby!
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| | Tired and sluggish between shifts, but as always, felt much better as the run went on. | |
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| | And so, hibernation is over. The new training push returns. I feel rested and have had my full satisfaction of laziness and junk food and holiday enjoyment, and I enjoyed every bit of it, but am ready to throw myself back into the pursuit of being a lean, mean, running machine. Ran 8 by the river than 30 minutes of core at the Y, planning on 5 more easy this evening. Life is good y'all!!
pre-work: 5 more ez through the 217
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| | Tired between shifts but had errands to run. Had enough time for 11 before getting Mini, was super zombie running at first but sailing and on top of the world as always at the end. Another glorious day in which I have chosen to to believe the Lies of the Deceiver. | |
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| | Group Christmas light run. Fun!
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| | Yowza. I partied too hard last night. Slid into the indoor track with vanessa in kidzone, but it is 6 laps to a mile, not bad. Launched straight into 1.5 miles in 9:40, half mile jog, 1 mile in 6:20, half mile jog, then 8 x 1 lap on/off around 5:30 pace, cooled down to make 7 miles then did a little core. | |
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| | 8 slippery and brisk with Kyle at SCP
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| | am. 5.5 ez on the snowy rails to trails with Nancy before her kids woke up
11:30. picked Jarrod up, off to SCP, hooked up with Kyle for some more Merry Christmas running! 10 miles.
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| | Ran SCP from the West Y in between shifts with Jarrod.
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| | Core work and some 7ish minute miles on the indoor track at the Y with Jarrod. I'm gonna run a half marathon on Wednesday, the "Hangover Half", after working all night. Will be a good fitness ruler and starting point, although I know it won't be particularly fast because I have been slaaaacking, but slacking has been good, and my mind is good, and my spriits are high.
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| | Tried to get a little sleep before work tonight but mostly failed. Hit the treadmill for speedwork, I had a tiny window of time before work. Warmed up 1/2 mile then did 4 x 800 at 5:56 pace with 400 recovery followed by 4x400 at 5:56 pace with 400 recovery and cooldown to 6 miles. Not much, just hoping to create the illusion that 6:45 pace is easy in case this delusion that I have clung to enough fitness to run a sub 1:30 half on Wednesday holds any water. Doubtful, truly, but I'm gonna at least try. Nothing wrong with a little reality check, I know I've been lazy. It does feel good to feel myself getting back into the training mode mindset. 5:56 really didn't feel hard aerobically but my legs are weak.
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