Auntie Em Goes Running

7 easy miles in the pool early!  Time flies when you have someone to talk to.  

I want to do a double run today and hit the trails about 2:00.  Meanwhile, busy morning, and want to fit in some strength training.

Total darkness shifts

to soft colorings and then!

sun explodes the sky 

PM update:  6 easy miles in the park, some rain. 

Track workout.  Track always starts at 5:30 on Tuesdays; a group of us meets and jogs for 2-3 miles on the way to the track, then we all do our workouts and return to our cars.  This is the first evening that it has still been light at 5:30!  Spring is coming.

My assignment was to do 4X200m hill repeats at .48, 2X200m track repeats at .48, and 3X800m track repeats at 3:30.  Hills were:  .51, .48, .48, .50.  Flat 200s were:  .47, .46.  800s were:  3:25, 3:26, 3:35.

This morning I did 45 minutes on the bike, inside as it was still pitch dark out when I had to workout. 

Not enough sleep after yesterday's harder workout.  Had to do the five easy miles alone, in the dark this morning.  They were REAL easy, in the low 10s.  My legs felt especially dead until about the third mile.  By the end, I had some energy back and did running drills in front of my house for another 20 minutes.

All my shoes are so muddy that I can't even tell which ones I'm putting on.  I am going to wash a whole load of shoes today - 3 pair for me and 2 pair for my daughter.  

I'm driving down to Seattle today to take a friend to the Dr.  Stopping at a spa on the way back and having a body scrub - HUGE TREAT!  When I get home, my son will be here from his university.  He is racing his snowboard race this weekend at Mt. Baker, and wanted to get up here a day early.  I'll be up at the mountain Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so hopefully will get a lot of skiing in.  I'm coming back to town on Saturday am to do my Chuckanut 50K training run though.  

Ouch!  Not enough sleep and a damp and cold early morning.  Somehow the dampness makes it seem soooo much colder outside.  Needed to hit the track by 5:15 to get to yoga by 7:00.  WU, then tempo intervals of five minutes.  Tempo pace is 7:38; intervals were 7:36, 7:25, 7:44, and 7:38.  This is perfect enough for me.  Except for the third one, where I was whining in my head and pretending that I couldn't do it.  I am such a baby sometimes.  It was great to finish and get to yoga.  

Now its sunny out and I want to go for a bike ride, but must do some work and wait for the fuel to kick in, as I'm EXTREMELY tired. 

PM update:  Luckily, the fuel kicked in and I got my work done, and it was still SUNNY!  Nice longish bike ride, man was I trashed by the end! 

Oh, I forgot to mention earlier that I signed up for the Chicago Marathon on 10/10/10.   

Sucky run.  My crazy day on Thursday and skiing all day on Friday definitely affected the quality of this run.  When will I ever learn.  First few miles were easy trail, easy pace (9:08, 9:21, 9:00).  Then the climbing to Fragrance Lake and around the ridge (13:59, 12:33, 11:39, 11:03).  Descent to interurban trail (9:10).  Here I started my MP 20 minutes.  This amounted to 2.54 miles at an average pace of 8:12.  I was very tired today, so this pace felt like my tempo pace!  My Garmin was recording wildly stupid pace data here, so I only had "feel" to go on for pace.  I am quite pleased about this, actually, because I got the exact pace for MP miles without having the Garmin.  Sadly, after running easy for about 10 minutes, I had no energy left for tempo miles, and I knew it.  So, I drove my car back down the road a ways to meet my friend who had done a second hill loop.  I just thought she might be tired.  I jogged up the steep road to the trail and jogged up the trail for about another 1/3 of a mile, met her, and jogged back to the car.  

On the positive side, it was a 2 1/2 hour trail run, with challenging hills, somewhat sunny skies, and some faster miles randomly thrown in there.

Back to the mountain now.

I didn't run this morning.  Last night when I got back down the mountain and took off my ski boot, my ankle was swollen, a lot.  I decided to wait until morning because nothing really hurt.  By the time I went to bed it hurt.  During the night it hurt a lot.  This morning the swelling had gone down into my foot.  I checked for spider bites, then called my Dr.  Still not panicking.  But by this point, I pretty much figured that I had somehow broken my leg.  I began planning marathon training on the bike and in the pool.  Not panicking, just dealing with it.  

Dr. says its not broken, he worked on it a bit, and the pain is better.  I've been alternately icing and heating all afternoon, keeping it up, and hoping it is better tomorrow.  Still not panicking. 

Jogged in the pool, for the therapeutic benefits of water and so I didn't run mad.  Ankle felt stiff, after a while the whole leg felt stiff.  By evening, though, I could see some ankle bones and veins in my foot.  Good news.  Went to yoga with my daughter.  I did most things, the ankle flexibility limited me a bit.  When I couldn't do the pose, I just lay on my mat defeated and crippled.  

I have questioned why;

and cursed and whined and cried, NOW

its time to fix it. 

A day of no running; the ankle continues to unswell itself.  More bones showing all the time. I am to do running drills tomorrow and a bike ride.  Here is a haiku that my husband wrote (I think its a nice valentine for me):

You are a poet

possessing beauty, skill, grace

  And very fleet feet.

I really love that its all about me! 

Happy trails everyone. 

^{No running.  A strength and flexibility session; lots of lunges!  Ab work.  1/2 hour of running drills in the street in front of my house.  Very difficult to do without breaking into a run, particularly as some of the drills involve jogging at the end.  Ankle is still too swollen to run, and since I've already scrapped the idea of the 5K this Saturday, I see no reason to push it.}  

^{Rode my blue bike for 12 miles; about 40 minutes.  Easy.}

^{Winter rains are back!}

^{A whisper at first, but soon}

^{the music is loud.} 

Seven easy pool miles - 65 minutes!  Felt great, and afterwards I could actually see my ankle bones sticking out, almost normal.  I am listening to a good book, "The Lacuna" by Barbara Kingsolver, and I didn't want to quit listening this morning, so I put the ipod on top of my head, put the swim cap on, threaded the ear cords through a hole on top of the cap, and listened for the whole workout!  

I just dreamed again

of dirt trail disappearing

beneath muddy shoes. 

Heading up to Vancouver today; hopefully we'll be back for some yoga class this evening.

Didn't make it to yoga, BUT got to see the Olympic Torch in Vancouver, AND got to run 3 miles on the trail when I got home.  Everything was AOK. 

Skipped my 5K this morning, but last night's short run didn't have any ill effects, so I'm doing two runs today.  This morning's run was just an easy jog with some strides thrown in at the end.  Total mileage was 3.71; average pace for the easy miles was 9:25.  Average pace on the short strides was 5:48.  I felt fine, but the fast muscles didn't seem really eager to kick in.  I suppose that is from a whole week off of speedy running.

This evening's run will be a bit longer and will start easy, then alternate between some MP and some tempo work.  Must finish in time to watch the men's downhill and some speed skating.  We get at least two channels that have the Canadian coverage, and it is WAY better.

Had that dream again -

you know the one, where you fly,

but can't get away. 

Second run:  15:12 minutes at AP 9:22; 10:01 minutes at AP 8:07, 5:53 minutes at AP 9:20; 5:14 minutes at AP 8:31, and 10:10 minutes at AP 7:48.  Add the 1/2 mile jog home for a total of 5.89.  Everything felt good, except that I have a very bruised feeling in the lower shin, from the Dr. treatment, I hope.  No extra swelling in the ankle, though. 

Workout today was a little bit different.  I ran for 60 some minutes as:

22:32@Easy (AP 9:09)

10:43 as drills with strides

15:09@M (AP 8:01)

15:25@Easy (AP 9:23) 

Ran straight to my house, and got right on the stationary bike for 52 minutes, easy.  That way I kept my legs moving longer without major stress to my leg.  It was raining hard and cold when I left, but now that I'm back and indoors its sunny!  I hate that.

Cold, hard rain is fine

when I know that a hot bath

is waiting for me. 

7 miles in the pool.  Beautiful sunrise just now; the lake is glowing orange.  

I forgot my own flotation belt this morning, and used one of the pool's instead.  It was seriously less effective!  I had a really hard time staying afloat with just the belt on.  It was sort of funny; I felt like I had to run at a faster pace the whole time just to keep my head above water.  

I may be able to get a few mountain miles in later this afternoon.  There is a short (6 mile) loop that is part of the upcoming 50K that I can do. 

PM update:  No run today; I thought maybe I should stay off the leg and save it for tomorrow.  Got a 1 hour spin in though; it was sunny here, no winds, beautiful. 

Track workout only today.  Track is always at 5:30pm on Tuesday.  Last week it was little bit light outside; this week it was really light outside when we started!  Yippee - spring is coming.

Hill 200s:  .48, .48, .52, .48 (goal is .48).

Track 200s:  .44, .47, .46, .48  (goal is .48).

I think I'm getting pretty good at these, and I don't want to do them anymore.  I am sooo tired of 200m repeats.  Give me some miles! 

Here is a bit of weirdness:  My ankle/foot has till been a bit swollen and has stayed about the same since Friday.  Running doesn't aggravate, so I've been running since Saturday.  I had acupuncture on it yesterday midday, then went to track later.  I've been lacing up my shoe pretty loose on that foot, since the swelling is across the instep, but I had to stop TWICE and tighten my shoe DURING RUNNING!  When I got home, the foot looked almost normal.  Go figure.   

Easy miles on the trail this morning before yoga.  It was very cold (shorts and gloves), but the SUN felt warm, like summer sun!  Glorious morning all 'round.  There was a woman in yoga who kept adjusting the shades so that sun did not come into the room.  I wanted to scream at her, but that is really not in keeping with the atmosphere in yoga class, so I thought quietly to myself "how fortunate you are to live in this grey and dismal place".   Here is a haiku I will leave under her mat when she is not looking next week.  I am such a child sometimes.

The sun is a gift

we don't always appreciate

until it is gone. 

Early am run:   5 miles at easy pace.  I didn't wear a watch, just ran 48 minutes at an easy effort.  

Later am run:  2 miles easy, then 2.3 at Marathon pace and 1.4 at tempo pace, then .5 at easy.

The mile repeats that I was so looking forward to were canceled by my coach, who is much smarter than I am, and still wants me to go easy on my foot.  Hopefully there will be another time in my life when I get to do mile repeats, but maybe not. 

Lovely dinner last night with friends, still feeling the endorphin charge of yesterday's second run!  Today is a day of rest, and my mind is already wandering to activities that I can do.  I need some reminding of "restful" activities.  I will spend some time writing, and working on my new "job".  I am the race director for a local race here; the oldest footrace in Washington state, as a matter of fact, and its time to start with the organizing.  The event is in July.

I've been reading George Sheehan, because I find his perspectives on aging and running particularly meaningful.  Not sayin' I'm aging or anything, but I will someday, so any perspective I gain now will be put to good use, right ; )?  

"What I have lost I can afford to lose.  What I have gained is something I cannot do without."  Sheehan on aging and running.

"The mind's first step to self awareness must be through the body".  Don't know if this is true for everyone, but it kind of says it all for me.   No matter how many times I've tried to practice "seated meditation", it never clicks like the insights I gain while running, cycling, backcountry skiing, climbing, or otherwise pushing the physical limits.  

Enough rambling!  Off to plant the peas and spinach. 

50K training run.  We couldn't have asked for a better day for this run!  Beautiful clear skies and sunshine.  Makes climbing up, up, and up for those viewpoints so worth it!  Some of the ladies in our group met at 8:00 and ran flat trail for 6 miles to warm up, but I wanted more miles in the hills and fewer flat ones, so I met them at 9:00 and had a couple of flat miles before we headed up Raptor Ridge.  This is a long steep climb (parts are non runnable), then we headed down and traversed across to the Ridge Trail and down Fragrance Lake and back to the interurban, finishing with about 4 flat miles.  That was 15, and I had to run 2 miles on flat paved roads near my car just to see if I could.  The first 15 averaged 11:02/mile.  That gives you an idea of how tough the course is.  My last two averaged 8:45.  We ate PayDay bar, since that is what they give you in the race at the aid stations.  All agreed that they were delicious, perfect combination of sweet and salty.  

Happy Saturday running! 

Recovery run day.  My swollen foot looks very near normal this morning; that's pretty good news considering the workout yesterday.  Ran 7 recovery miles today, occasionally sneaking up to under 9 minutes/mile, but bringing it right back down to easy.  Rewarded myself with a few 200m strides at the end.  I feel tired, but my foot feels good.

I ran along the North Lake Whatcom trail this morning.  This is a great place for a recovery run; its a trail that skirts the lakefront 3.25 miles each way, and is flat and gentle the entire way.  Running along the water is always so peaceful.  The other great thing about this trail is that it is a popular place for dog walking, and I get to see a lot of dogs!  This morning they were all jumping into the lake.  I am glad that I got to enjoy their happy play without having the wet dog smell in my car. 

I thought it was supposed to go back to rainy weather today, but I guess we got a bonus day.  I don't know how warm it is, but I was just outside working in the yard, wearing shorts, and I had to take off my sweatshirt!  Daffodils blooming.

Did a strength and stretching session this morning for 40 minutes, then ran 5.73 miles, trying for "easy" pace by feel.  My feel was all off, though, and AP was 8:23.  So I called it Marathon Pace miles!  

That's all for today, unless maybe a bike ride later. 

Oops, forgot to post this yesterday.  I chose not to do track last night, because my foot was sort of not right, and I had some acupuncture to take care of it.  I rode the stationary bike for 90 minutes instead.

I went out this morning and made up the track workout that I missed last night.  Its sooo hard now because we are back to our normal winter weather -- rain!  Not cold though.  Because it is now lighter in the morning, I was able to go to a track nearer to my house, where there are no lights.  And, truthfully, once I was out in it, the rain felt kind of nice and soothing.  

I did 4 800s, 3 600s, and 4 200s, all at 7 minute mile pace.  This is slower than my VO2Max pace, but much faster than my marathon pace, so I counted it as threshold miles, even though it is also faster than my threshold pace!  Confusing.  So,  while I warmed up, I did the mental math for how long each interval should take me at 7 minute mile pace, and then realized it didn't matter; all I had to do was turn on my Garmin and keep the PACE number at 7.  Anyway, the 800s were at 6:32, 6:58, 6:52, and 6:52 mile pace, a bit fast.  The 600s were at 6:51, 6:48, and 6:49, still a bit too fast.  The 200s got really bad, I think I just wanted to be done, so I ran them faster.  I knew that when I finished my workout, I got to go and get my massage, and I really wanted to get there!  200s were at 6:35, 6:18, 6:19, and 6:22.  Some days I just can't get it right.  Did a few cool down miles.

When I put my shoes on to go to the track, my foot/ankle was, as usual, swollen.  But, as I ran, I kept tightening my right shoe as it loosened.  When I got to my massage, I took off my shoes to show him my foot, and it looked normal!  He worked a lot on it, which was very painful, and when he was done with my foot, it was smaller than the other one!  This whole thing with my foot is just too weird, but clearly running is good for it.  Then he worked on my neck which has been stiff for weeks.  I really wish that I would get a massage every month, but I don't like to spend the time.  I feel great, and the best part is that there are freshly baked cookies in the front of the building where I get my massage!  I got two today because the foot treatment hurt, and I deserved it.  One was this dark chocolate chip thing with some apricot jam on top - heavenly!

Sorry for talking so much today, I'm getting a bit rambling here.   

Easy miles this morning before yoga.  AP 9:59!  Funny, but I kept thinking that I was going too fast, and kept slowing down, but my AP is great.  Maybe its because it was still so dark out for most of the run.  Yoga was great, really helpful in stretching out my foot, which is a little sore from the harsh massage yesterday - but not swollen!  

I've got another run this afternoon, marathon miles and tempo miles.  Will post later!

Waking a struggle;

its just too early, until

the run has begun. 

2nd run update:  This was supposed to be a 45 minute run, 15 at easy, then 30 at marathon pace, with 6 strides at the end.  AP for the whole thing was 8:28.  Wasn't too picky about pace, and I know that we both went a bit too fast on the marathon bit.  Fun run, our day turned out really beautiful here.  I actually had to take off my winter running shirt and run in sports bra top!  It felt like it was 50 degrees.  

I really love having two runs a day! 

Day off of running to rest for tomorrow's 10K.  Just trotted up and down my street and kicked up a few strides.  I am very excited for tomorrow's race, and then onwards to Bainbridge with my friend for a road bike ride on Sunday.  This is the kick off bike ride for the Cascade Bicycle Club, and has 5,000 riders!  I will be riding with a slower group and saving myself for long running on Monday.  

The heavens let loose -

at least that is what they say;

I just call it rain.

Yep, you guessed it; back to rain.  Plus the winds are howling!  I'll go downtown and do some yoga this evening.   

10K day!  I had myself way too worked up over this race, because I just knew that I couldn't do the 7:33 pace.  I just determined to give it my best shot, stay on pace, and hold it as long as I could.  I'm VERY unfamiliar with this distance; I've only run one 10K before, and I sort of don't get this distance.  A 5K I get, just run fast and short; a 10K seems too long for that, so you are constantly holding back a bit.  

Anyway, I started out a wee bit fast, from excitement, but brought it under control in the first 1/2 mile  First two miles were just a touch under pace, but that worked out fine, since the middle 2.5 miles were out on the open flats through fields and the head winds were strong enough to knock me over.  So I slowed a bit in these miles.  A man began drafting off of me here, which is OK, except that he refused to switch leads and give me a break.  If I pulled back, he slowed WAY down and dropped behind me.  I didn't say anything, just ran and pulled him along through the last 4 miles of the race.  I saw him afterwards in the gym and I said "nice race, did you have fun?"  He goes:  "yeah, nice pace".  No thank you or anything.  I forgave him later when I realized he was probably a new runner and I just helped him a bit is all.  

Anyhow, I DID KEEP MY PACE all the way to the end!  Surprise, surprise.  And a nice little sprint the last 200m as well.  Finish time was 47:14; only second in AG, but I'm really pleased with how I ran this race.  I saw the woman in my AG ahead of me, and I didn't try to catch her; just stayed on pace.  I'm happy with the consistent splits in spite of the headwinds, and very pleased to have conquered my fear of the pace.  I was so afraid that I almost ran the 5K instead!  I don't know if I'll ever really like this distance, but I think I learned a little how to run it. 

Rode the Chilly Hilly bike ride today on Bainbridge Island.  This turned out to be really fun, and we rode really slowly, so it was a good "rest" day.  The course was chilly for the first 20 miles, and I was a bit underdressed, so I was freezing, but after that the sun came out and it was perfect.  Beautiful, clear day, with views from the island in all directions.  It was quite hilly, though, so I had to pull out the Lance Armstrong muscles and use.  Hard at first,  because I wasn't too sure where I had put them!  

Great day!