Here I go again!

Biked to the office - got new shoes at the running store during lunch. Did the modified Montelepsy loop, going up on the Glover Park trail then back on the c&o canal.  I felt like I was pushing the pace pretty good and going fast, but it was a trail and gets steep and rocky so you can't go too too fast... Average 9:30, with the last 2.5 miles at 8:30 pace.  To get a 3:40 marathon I need to average a bit better than 8:30 minute miles.  With less than 2 months to go, it's pretty clear that's not going to happen.  I have a 1/2 marathon September 13, it's a bit hilly and on a bike path so not a great indication, but if I don't do 1:45 or better I'm going to forget about getting a BQ at Marine Corps and just run it to see how I do.  Maybe after training for 3-4 months I can try the National Marathon here in February or March.

Biked to the office in the morning, after work warmed up 15 min or so, and did 7x800 with 3:40 min recovery... splits:

1	3:40
2	3:40
3	3:32
4	3:29
5	3:29
6	3:28
7	3:28
	Average: 3:32

Cooled down - now biking back home.

Did I mention I passed my Microeconometrics class, which puts me exactly half way through my master's program? Very happy about that. Happy running everyone!

From home to the office, nice and slow. 65 degrees or something. The past 3-4 days have been amazingly cool, soooo nice! Let's hope it stays that way.

Going camping this weekend so no access to the blog... I'll be eagerly awaiting to see how y'all did on your races this weekend, good luck!

Work, drove to beach, took too long, got there too late, pitched my tent and went to sleep. No running - beautiful weather

Nice barefoot run on the beach, gorgeous day.

Nice long walk on the beach with my friends to see my other friends in the national park of the island (Assageague). Lots of wild horses and deer all around. Gorgeous weather. Should have ran... 

Ummm... LAME!

Woke up at the crack of dawn and it was windy and overcast and rainy - got dressed, put on my running shoes and went out for a run... but then it started raining too hard so I figured my friend probably wanted to leave the campground and head home early. So I went back to the camp, we packed up and left the beautiful beach. Got home around noon... should have ran then... but did not... 

After work, ran towards Fletcher's - about 2 miles in I saw my friend Ileana so I ran with her back a little bit so we could catch up - she was going really slow, so I kept on going after a few minutes. Then came back to the office, picked up my big heavy pack and ran home the 6 miles long way home. Feeling good but going slow.

Ran to the office from home in the morning. I have a 1/2 marathon on Sunday so I don't want to do too much this week. 

I start school today, taking 2 classes... yikes... 

Ran home from the office after work, the long way. Right calf tight.

Ran home from the office the long way, and with my big, heavy backpack. Right calf freaking tight! What's wrong with my calf?

Nada - volunteered with Keen playing with kids in the swimming pool.  I helped another volunteer with a new kid, Michael, who could not walk but could move his legs a little and splash. He seemed to have fun for a while, but then he got too cold.  Thankfully he could speak reasonably well, so we could tell that's what he was feeling.  So we helped him out of the pool and warmed him up and his dad came down and we chatted for a while.  What nice people.  He told us his daughter (Michael's sister) became a physical therapist so that she could teach her brother to walk.  Unfortunately he couldn't despite many efforts, but she still helps him move a bit and helps others, I'm sure.  I think what these kids need the most is human touch; most people don't know that they need to be treated like other kids.  He seemed so happy when we were rubbing his arms to warm him up. Before he left I gave him a big hug and kissed him on the cheek and he gave me the biggest smile I've ever seen. I can't tell you how that made my day.

**Official results** 1:42:50!!!
17th place in age division (30-35), out of 191.  (That means I was on the top 10 percent of females on my age division!!!
Overall: 320th place out of 2,061 runners.

So so so so so so so happy - when the race pics come out I'm going to look so ridiculous, with a huge smile as if I had won the oscar or something... too funny.

Going into the race I did not feel confident that I could reach my goal of 1:45.  My last half marathon, 2 months ago, was 1:48. But, I thought I'd try and keep an 8-min mile pace for as long as I could and see how it went. 

Started out waaaay too fast.  I felt good, so I thought I could hold a sub-8 min pace for a while... so I think the first 6 miles were all close to 7:45. Around mile 8 I started to feel the crash. Oh yea, I should've started slower...  It's hard to pace yourself when you're running in a narrow bike trail the whole time, miles 1-4 were pretty crowded, then it thinned out.

So I was pretty much cruising till mile 8 when I started feeling like I was going to die and thought I was going to have to stop and walk the rest of the way. But I kept pushing. I wanted to cry. I kept looking at the volunteers asking for their mercy. Nothing. Mile 11 was the big hill - I thought I was going to pass out. Miles 12 and 13 were on the Capitol Crescent Trail, where I run all the time. So I knew the end was near. But it didn't make me feel better.  I knew I was ahead of pace, so I could slow down - but I felt like I was running 10-min miles... so I kept pushing... I thought how embarrassing would be to be one of those girls who have to be taken in an ambulance.... the horror... Then the tunnel - I can make it, I can make it, it's almost over... Then the last 200 yards, the finish line is right there!!! And look at the clock, it says 1:44... no freaking way!!! If that was the clock time, my chip time was better than that? Yeah! So I sprinted to the finish.  So excited. So happy. So tired. Had to sit down and keep my head down cause I felt like I was really going to faint. Got food, water, felt better. Saw my friend Brent, he did pretty good, 1:48.  Saw my co-worker Matt, who couldn't run because he was sick, and his wife, then we walked to the finish line to wait for our co-worker Mike. He finished in 2:15, I think, his first half marathon and he hasn't been training that well in the past 2 weeks. He has twin girls, 2.5 years old, and another baby on the way, so he probably doesn't have a lot of time on his hands!

After the race we all went to get brunch. A happy day.

Seven miles at the C&O Canal after work, gorgeous day - went slow. Felt good.

If you've been following my blog for a while, you may remember my house was broken into in March of 08, they came in through a latch on the roof above the bathroom, stole my laptop, two pairs of jeans, some cash, and went out the front door with my car keys, took my car, crashed it someplace and totaled it, and I recovered nothing cause I had only liability insurance and no renters insurance.

Well, dejavu! Last night I came home from work and behold, someone pushed in a window a/c unit from the front ground floor of the house, the entire window went down but didn't break, and they seem to have stolen only my laptop and some jewelry my roommate has.  They took my roommate's car keys but didn't take her car, maybe cause they got scared someone was watching, or maybe they didn't know how to drive a stick...

Fun times.

Thankfully nobody was hurt. Still, it makes me so mad that a bunch of 16 year old kids go around terrorizing the neighborhood breaking into homes and stealing things that people work so hard to get, and even when they get caught the police can't do anything because they're minors. So frustrating!

Happy Monday bloggers!

Check it out - Parks Half Marathon 2006 (my first half marathon, 2:05 vs. 2009, 1:42:50... I still haven't learned to place my arms properly, I always keep them too high up!

I told you my smile was ridiculous!

Check

Biked to the office - legs feel super tired! After work, ran a bit past Fletcher's and back to the office - legs feel sooooo tired! Biked home.

Biked to the office, after work ran on the c&o canal to Glover park and up the trail for a few miles, then back down. Trail running is hard! lots of roots and rocks... miracle I didn't get hurt. Lots of ups and downs, fun. Legs felt tired at first but after they had warmed up they were ok.  Biked home.

Could this day be more beautiful? I don't think so. Absolutely perfect. Studied and cleaned up in the morning and went out around 2 pm - went down the mall to Hains Point, it's not the same now that the awesome sculpture"the awakening" is gone... then back out, over the 14th st. bridge (aka broken jaw bridge), on the Mt. Vernon trail to Rosslyn, cross the bridge and back home the long way.  Felt GREAT. Took some G2 in my little backpack and drank it along the way, and had 2 blocks around mile 10. I was able to sprint the last few miles; the average was 9:30 min/miles, which is what I was shooting for. Now off to my Indian friend's indian foodfest, then to my Turkish friend's birthday. As much as I miss the mountains, it's so cool to have friends from all different cultures and nationalities here! Have a great weekend everyone!

Beautiful hike in Shenandoah, White Oak Canyon/Cedar Run with Will - it was an 8 mile hike so I'm counting it as a 4-mile recovery run... whatever... 

Got busy at work and didn't do any running - stayed in the office till 9:30 pm, not a good day!

Was feeling really sick in the morning so I stayed home - sore throat, post-nasal dripping... later in the day I felt better - so I went for a run on the mall. Beautiful though very humid and overcast day.

Not feeling well still, too busy to run... not good....

Ran one mile to the metro, then one mile to the office from the metro, then 6 miles to Fletcher's boathouse at lunch. Nice not having to do an evening run, but in the mornings I've been feeling tired and sick, sore throat... 

Ran the last 2 miles at marathon pace - I read that it's good to do a few miles at marathon pace when you train so you get used to the breathing and the feeling.  Let me tell you, I didn't feel like I could hold that pace for 26.2 miles... we shall see...

Feeling sick - a weird cold, usually I get sinus congestion and lots of discharge from the nose... this time it started with a sore throat and post-nasal dripping, and it went all straight to the chest, so I'm trying to cough up phlegm but it won't come out! :(

To Fletcher's boathouse and back to the office after work. TGIF!!!

Cold getting worse... wish I could stay home and rest but had to volunteer at one of the exchanges for the Ragnar Relay ... cold and rainy, probably didn't help me get better... a bad week, with only 1 month till marathon day, I should run 20 miles tomorrow but I'm too sick - hopefully I'll feel better during the week - maybe I can take Wednesday off and do the 20 miles... Next weekend is the Army 10-miler. Another option would be to run 10 miles before the ATM, but I was hoping to get a 10-mile PR... though it's hard on a race as big as that one.... what to do, what to do... any suggestions welcome...

Writing this on Sunday, cold is worse, nose stuffed up, chest congested, sinuses hurt... coughing green stuff from my lungs... I usually get head colds so I'm not sure if it means something that it's in the chest this time... I'll probably run but not 20 miles, for sure.

Stupid cold, go away!  Ran 6 miles to the mall and back around.  Feeling ok but nose is runny... not that much cough as when I'm stopped...

Watching PBS's documentary on the national parks... OHHHH HOW I MISS THE MOUNTAINS!!!

Still not feeling well and coughing a lot, so I stayed and worked from home.  Went for a 5-mile run on the Mall and felt ok but not great - maybe a little worse than yesterday. Then I came back home and saw an e-mail from my office saying a colleague was confirmed with a case of H1N1 flu... poor girl! She went to Los Angeles last week to be in Jeopardy! We were all so excited for her - but probably she got it on one of the flights... hopefully she'll recover quickly.

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Tuesday: Since I didn't have a fever I wasn't worried, but then I saw on the center for disease control's website that there have been cases of the flu when fever is not present... so I'm going to see my doctor today just in case - I feel a bit worse today than Monday...

I haven't seen Will since last Wednesday; I don't want to make him sick so I agree that he should'nt come see me, and he's been asking if I need anything... I know he would help me out if I needed something, but even when I don't, I wish he thought of a way to be here for me... bring me juice or leave flowers on my front steps... even an e-card... I guess there's a reason why I'm not married, I've been brainwashed by the romantic comedy industry... sigh...