Here I go again!

Second weekend in a row without a long run... I was so stressed about my paper today that I had to work on it all day till I felt better about it - finished around 8 pm and went out to the Lincoln Memorial and back, 10 minute miles, exactly 1 hr 20 min. A hot and humid night, but the worst part were the little tiny bugs everywhere that get in your eyes... so annoying! Felt pretty good throughout, though left heel hurts a little - icing now... maybe it's time for new shoes, it can't hurt to try... 

Hottttt! Biked to the office in the morning and ran home the long way in the HOT afternoon. 10 min mines, feeling sluggish. 

I don't think I'll be able to qualify for Boston in 2 months. I just haven't had consistent training or done the work and don't have the base.  And that is ok.  Better to do things right.  I'm probably going to do a couple of Yasso workouts on Thursday to see where I stand, what my predicted marathon time is, and if it's too far from my goal I'll keep building my base and qualify on a different marathon.

On other news, Bart Yasso is coming to a DC running store so I'll get to meet him tomorrow, and run with him!!! I am psyched!!! 

A fabulous little running event by Runner's World and Saucony - went down to the Saucony van, only 5-6 blocks away from my office, after work - they were doing short stride analysis (and of course recommending a Saucony shoe for you), then if you tried the shoe they recommended you got free socks! Woohoo! We also got a free copy of Bart Yasso's book, and of course I asked him to sign mine. Pictures coming! He seems like a cool dude, really.  He told me he had ran in Buenos Aires and climbed the Aconcagua, and that it was so hard to follow a vegetarian diet when he was down there - don't I know it! He would ask for a piece of pizza with no meat and they would give him a slice with ham - that's not meat! haha... It's like my mom when I tell her mom, remember I don't eat meat, and she says "this is not meat, it's chicken!"

He talked a bit about his experience in Badwater 146 in 1989, when less than 20 people were into ultrarunning... he said now it's acceptable to walk, but back then they thought they had to run the entire time! Too funny. 

Ran with the group, 5 miles, made it in 40 minutes, felt pretty good. Biked home.

Ran to the office from my house, feeling OK but my backpack is rubbing against my neck a lot... My co-worker needs to give me my Nathan backpack back, she's had it for over a month now!  May run at lunch, we'll see...

A very loose attempt to a Yasso workout... I read some stuff online about it and the fabulous Bonnie gave me some tips too. I tried to set it up on my garmin so I wouldn't have to go to a track because I don't like the idea of running in circles... so I went to the C&O canal, warmed up for 20 minutes (may be too long?) - my right calf felt super tight, but I didn't want it to stop me. My stomach felt queezy but I didn't want to let that stop me either. I had to go to the bathroom too... but I figured I could wait.  So, I have to do it again when my calf feels better, when my tummy doesn't hurt, and when I don't have to go to the bathroom...

I set the garmin to beep after 20 minutes and start the 6 repeats, 0.5 mile, then 4 minute rest, etc.  I should've done what Bonnie said and do 0.5 mile instead, but I have a feeling that would've been more... the actual Yasso I think is supposed to be a rest time equal to the time it took you to run the 800.  Anyway, I rested 4 minutes in between repeats - results (drumroll please)

3:54:06

3:26:29

3:28:58

3:27:21

3:34:33

3:58:00

Average: 3:38:14

The stuff I read says you're supposed to do 10 repeats.... I don't think I could've done 10 of them - but this was also my first time and it seems I went out a little too fast on some of them - maybe if I slowed down a little bit, once I know my rhythm, I can do 10 at that pace.

So, for those of you not familiar with the Yasso 800, they're supposed to predict your marathon time.  If you can run sets of 800 meters at an average of 2 min 30 seconds, your marathon time translates into 2 hours 30 minutes.  So, if Yasso is correct (and apparently it's quite accurate), I am in shape for a 3 hour 38 min marathon.  This is quite encouraging... so maybe if I do some good workouts in the next 2 months and if I'm consistent with my training, I can qualify for Boston, or at least be close.  Next Wednesday is my last class this semester, then I have a couple of weeks off and the new semester starts after Labor Day... Classes next semester should be easier, but I am taking 2...

After the workout I ran back to the office, picked up my backpack and ran a couple more miles to the metro and metroed back - I didn't want to run too much since in the last 2 weeks I haven't been very consistent, I don't want to risk injury. 

As always I welcome your suggestions and thoughts!

Oh - here's my pic with Bart Yasso!

Lunchtime run, not too hot outside, nice! Did my Bonnie route, a bit past Fletcher's and back to the office, average pace 9:08 min/mile - I was aiming for 9:30 so I'll take it! Felt great the whole time. Don't you love those days?

Biked to the office and will bike home after our make-up class.

Very nice morning = 87 degrees, sunny. Warmed up with my neighbor's dog who I am taking care of this weekend - he's a hound so he wants to sniff everything... not really too fond of running, but a very cute dog nevertheless.  Then I ran from home to the office, feeling good. I felt like I could run a little faster than 10 min/miles for about 16-18 miles... but fate had different plans... After a pit stop at the office and refill of G2 with ice, I left for the C&O Canal, and from there to the Capitol Crescent Trail - the plan was to go past Bethesda and then come back on the metro.  But at about mile 11 I started feeling fainty - a very strange feeling. I kept hydrated, I thought, the entire time.  I didn't feel hungry... it wasn't lack of energy - not sure what it was. I was going a little faster than usual, but 9:30 miles vs. 10:00 miles couldn't make that much of a difference, especially in such flat trails.  Anyway - I took some walking breaks and made it to the metro - I had to sit on the yucky metro station floor because I couldn't stay up... I got some newspapers so I could get a seat on the metro, hoping it wouldn't be too crowded that other riders had to smell me...  Vision blurry and feeling queezy the entire ride home.  Now I'm feeling better, but not sure what happened there... I hate those days!