Auntie Em Goes Running

I knew I would miss my scheduled group track workout, so I did mine on my own in the morning.  It was so hard to do it without the group!  Did the circuit thing, where I run 5K paced 600s, interspersed with push ups, abs, lunges, etc.  I managed 4 sets.  I was running my 600s much faster than 5K pace for some reason, more like an all out sprint on the last two!  

Two easy warm up miles and two easy cool down miles, then some planks and stretching on the infield.  

Hot but not too hot.  The first miles felt easy, hard to keep at my easy 9:15 pace.  Last few miles felt harder.    Tried a different course just because, ran through the park, out onto the street, knowing there was a Starbucks with a bathroom at about mile 4.  Finished with a few miles uphill grade on trail again, back to home.

Hot and humid!  92 degrees, which is hot for us.  Did my easy miles today on a somewhat technical trail with lots of ups and downs at about 1000 feet elevation.  I was tired, even walked a bit.  I think it was just the weather.  Anyway, my average mile was just under 10 minutes, which is slow, but probably OK for technical trail.  I also was a little dehydrated afterwards.  On the positive side, I got to wear my "new" trail shoes, the Pearl Izumis, and they are fantastic!  Not a hot spot anywhere.  I'm excited to try them out on some longer trail runs soon.

This morning was track workout!  Got there at 5:00, to get in the warm up miles.  We're still doing circuit work, but the running bits are now 800m, instead of 600m.  So, 2 miles warm up, a few strides, then 800m five times, interspersed with strengthening exercises, then 2 more miles cool down and some stretching and plank.  Then, coffee and crossword puzzle!  Glad to get it done early, because it will be hot today.  Must nap this afternoon; been getting by on way too little sleep, and I'm starting to feel it.

I'm actually liking the track workouts!  This is a big surprise to me, since I dreaded it, and procrastinated doing it for about a year.  I just thought that I was slow and lazy. 

Scheduled day off from running.  Had a really good stretching/yoga session, but didn't get the bike riding in.  

 Except for lack of sleep, I feel really ready for tomorrow's longer run, with some challenging marathon paced miles sandwiched in.

The long run was OK, average pace of 8:49, which is fine.  I used the asthma inhaler just before we started the marathon paced miles, which are supposed to be at around 8:30.  I got through those miles with no wheezing, and maintained marathon pace/effort throughout.  But near the end I had some strange reaction to the meds and was feeling pretty terrible by the end of the run.  I can only compare it to the uncomfortable "adrenaline charged" feeling that I have experienced from a epinepherine shot.  It took several hours to recover from that experience.  I guess its good to know about that type of reaction before I use the inhaler during a race, but I don't really know what to do about it from here.  Will talk to Dr. on Monday.

 On the positive side, legs felt very strong, no soreness, in spite of the fact that I haven't run this far in about six weeks.  And, the marathon paced miles went well.  I was able to keep the pace in the first miles slow, and could really feel the difference picking up to faster miles.  At the end of the 7 marathon paced miles, the slower pace felt so restful!

Wow!  I just saw my total for the week when I posted this, and that's a lot of miles!  I haven't been counting miles, since I've just done every day what the program tells me to.   

Ran 5 "easy" miles this morning.  I tried not to constantly check my Garmin for pace, rather tried to feel the correct effort and pacing for an "easy" run.  Concentrated on correcting my left arm position, and thought about form a lot.  Also worked on slow, steady, relaxed breathing and keeping my upper body relaxed.  So it was truly a working run, but at an easy effort.   When I got back just now, Garmin showed an average mile pace of exactly 9 minutes!  Perfect.  I feel like I really did a recovery run after yesterday's long run.  Also got lots of sleep for the first time in forever, which feels great.

Did a different kind of track workout this evening.  We did warm up, which I chose to do on a trail out behind the track, just to slightly reduce the number of times I have to go around the track.  I always prefer a trail.  Anyway, we followed that with fartleks, which none of us had ever done before, so it was hilarious!  We split up into several pace groups, then did a two mile period of fartleks, the came back in different groups to do two more miles.  I have a real problem leading; I bolt out so quickly that the others in my group said they were in dread of my turn to lead!  Obviously I have some work to do.  We got better the second two mile period, at least our average pace was slower, so that was good. 

The miles went by quickly anyway, and I definitely feel like I got a good workout.  I think tomorrow is some easy miles, which I will do at easy effort on some hills. 

 Forgot to say, I logged 12 miles toodling around on my bike doing errands.  Whoops!  I just noticed that if I put biking miles in crosstraining miles, they get totaled into my weekly total, and I don't want that.  

I felt really tired in my legs after last night's workout, and I had to run early this morning, so I cut it short by about a mile, and included a mile of WALKING at the end!  I think I will do more walking, as its good practice relaxing my left shoulder.  

I ran along the lake for a ways; its so calm and pretty this morning!  Saw lots of tiny baby bunnies out along the road and watched the eagles fishing (for fresh water mussels?).   

Pace felt good and steady, just didn't feel like I could go longer.  Maybe a few more miles tonight after my group bike ride.   I'm insanely hungry.

I had to split up my run today.  First section was from home to work at Red Cross, 4.21 easy miles.  Pace was a little fast for easy miles (8.20), so I'm not very happy with that, but there actually was a bit of downhill.  I worked for a few hours, and ran home by a shorter route, 2.86 miles.  This time, my pace was slower (9.21), which is better, but of course this was the uphill part.  

I hope that it was not too late in the day for the mileage, as I have my tough track workout tomorrow at 5:00am, and we will be inserting 1200m 5K paced runs into the circuit this week.  I have scheduled some free time tomorrow morning and am going to force myself to nap.  

 I had some extra bike miles this morning, about 7, back and forth to the chiropractor.   I've never been to this guy before, and he really helped my neck/upper back tension alot!  Hope it sticks.  He's also a runner, so he gave me some running, strengthening tips that should be great.

Hardest track workout yet!  We did the regular circuit with strength building stuff, but more of everything, and ran 1200m at 5K pace in between.   My legs were kinda shaky after, and I'm so hungry!  Just ate eggs, veggies, and toast, and I'm still hungry.  Wow.

 Mileage ended up at 7.5 for this morning.  It never seems like that much when its all broken up into these 1200m and 800m segments, so I'm always a little shocked to see that many miles.  

Its much cooler this morning, and a bit overcast.  Where is summer? 

Friday is a day off.  I won't make it, can't do it.  Antsy, antsy.  Maybe just a little walk around the lake, with my running shoes on, maybe if I run really slow.  

Very satisfying run this morning!  We ran out along the bay and a bit into the woods and then back, total of 8.3 miles, mostly easy, with 3 miles of faster running inserted in there.  My smaller group was going for about 9 minutes on the easy miles and 8 minutes on the faster ones.  Our average was 8:36, though, so we exceeded our speed goal a bit.  Bad runners!

 Anyway, I felt really good, and could not resist the urge to pass others on the trail heading back in.  Again, Bad Runner!  Totally forgetting that this is not a race.  The two miles at the end did feel like easy effort, as planned.  

Hmmm, sounds like I didn't exactly train by the plan, but I really enjoyed myself.  I think I should go ahead and get the Good Runner reward - good thing noone else has to vote on this.  Some coffee, I think. 

A cool and overcast morning here.  Also quite humid once I got into the woods.  My right heel felt tender near the back, as if a blister was forming.  I felt sluggish, but talked myself into the run.  Was supposed to do 3 easy miles, which seems attainable on the worst of days.

I kept the miles slow and easy, and spent 100% of my mental energy focusing on relaxing my left shoulder.  This is easier than yesterday, as the pain and stiffness from Thursday's chiropractic treatment are gone.   

Also practiced positive thoughts about running and life in general.  I'm finally getting that my thoughts really do create my future.  If I can apply this successfully to running, I will be able to apply it to the rest of my life.  

Group running coach promised that this week we would start "special strength building".  I'm totally curious about what this could mean, since I thought that is what we had been doing already!  Whatever it is, I'm looking forward to it, but I will miss the workouts we've been doing. 

Yeah!  After several tries, I got my picture up!  Its not the one I wanted, I wanted the RUNNING one, but there it is.  

 Don't get to run until this evening, when we'll have a new exciting track workout.  I can't wait; I love new workouts.

Update:  Track workout was pretty good.  Basically it consisted of some warm up running, then a bunch of exercises intended to fatigue the muscles in our legs, followed by 4 more miles of running, on tired legs!  I did feel tired when it was over, but I think partly because it was 8 at night and I hadn't eaten yet!  I'm glad at least that we got 6 miles of running; I just feel that I'm not running enough.  Maybe the pre race jitters are starting already for Seattle's R&R.   

I have a lot of stiffness and tightness in my neck this morning; it makes it hard to relax my arms as I run.  The schedule called for 4 easy miles, which felt just about right after last night's workout.  For once, I really felt like just jogging along.  Usually I start out fast and only relax into my easy pace after a mile or so.  This morning, I was able to go slow right from the beginning.  And I used the auto lap feature on Garmin to get mile splits!  Here they are:     9:15, 9:00, 9:22, 9:15.  Pretty perfect for easy miles.

The weather has gone a bit cooler, with no sun, sort of a typical NW summer day that has me wishing I lived somewhere else.  

 I have a rolfing session scheduled later today, and I'm really hoping for some help with my sore neck and also some work on my shoulders.  After that, I have my Tuesday group bike ride!  I've missed the last few weeks, so I'm really ready to get back to riding.  We usually have enough people for two speed groups, sometimes three.  I'll ride 25 miles, either with the 17 pace group or the 20, depending on how energetic I feel.

Argh!  Short run, lots to talk about.  First, I am going absolutely bonkers! with this reduced mileage.  I am trying so hard to trust this training, but it drives me crazy.  I cheated a bit this morning and threw in some faster miles.  I will cheat again this evening if I feel like it and do a three mile loop around the pond.  I will also ride my bike to work this morning and see if that takes the edge off.  Kinda Grumpy ):  Its making me feel better to write in all these colors though.

On the positive side (and there ALWAYS is one), the rolfing session yesterday was great!  I feel like my whole rib cage has expanded, and the left arm was literally hanging loosely at my side while I ran.  I don't even think I remember the last time that shoulder completely relaxed.  There is now some tightness in the RIGHT shoulder. LOL.  I think I need more rolfing to continue this stuff, but have to wait until after the Seattle R&R on 6/27.  Then I'll schedule some sessions.   

It rained here this morning!  It felt so weird to run in the rain, it has been so long!  All the green stuff and flowers just looked brilliant; I was so distracted by looking at some peonies that I ran by I missed my trail and didn't even realize it until I had gone about 1/4 mile of course.  This happens to me more and more often.  Who knows where I could end up?  I really should wear one of those wrist IDs.  I have one somewhere, if only I could remember.... 

 Rode to work and back, just under 9 miles total.  The rain has stopped and its humid.

BONUS MILES!  - Yeah, I did get a second run today.  Pretty fast too, although the effort felt easy.  First two miles were around 8:10, last one 8:50.   

A tough workout this morning.  Regular 2 miles warm up on track at about 9 minute miles. Then usual runner's warmup, followed by 200m strides.  My times on my strides were 43 and 44 seconds.  Then we did the series of 10 exercises designed to fatigue the legs.   They tired me out more this time because:  1)  I was doing them properly, and 2) my legs were still tired from Monday's workout, and 3) I did a bonus run last night at a fast pace.  

Following the exercises we run three miles, supposedly easy, but involves some big hills.   This is hard on tired legs.  I guess it makes us strong.  As we run we talk about many things, like "why do many runners have so many shoes?", and stuff like that.  So the time goes fast, and not unpleasantly, but I'm tired at the end.  Its only 5.5 miles of running!

Came home craving food with FAT in it!  Sometimes just can't get enough fat.  So egg and cheese and veggie breakfast, then a short catnap. 

My real "taper" begins tomorrow.  I'm certain I've not done this right before (if at all), because I get very antsy, but this time I'm detemined.  I will run about 25 easy miles from Friday to Friday, and develop an actual plan for my race next Saturday.  I am going to get out my big black sharpie on race morning and write "Slow Down" on my arm.  That's the beginning of my plan.  More on that later.

Its supposed to be my day off, and I really feel like I need it.  I did a yoga session already, and will do another this afternoon, plus ab/core strengthening, and maybe a walk.  Going to the chiropractor - what is wrong with my neck?

I've been doing the math on 13.1 miles, to make my goal of 1:50.  I think it goes something like this:

Miles 1-2:  GO SLOW.  Keep it at 9:00. 18 minutes.

Miles 3-10:  Gradually picking it up to achieve an average of 8:20/mile.  My calculated marathon pace is 8:30; my 10K pace is around 8-8:10.   Also, by mile 5, I'll be ready for an inhaler puff, if needed.  Probably will go ahead and do it even if I don't feel its needed (ie, wheezing), just to keep ahead of things.  I'm a bit concerned about the weird reaction I've had to the stuff in the past, so maybe just one puff.  66 minutes, 40 sec.

Miles 11-13:   OK, I'm at 84 minutes, 40 secs.  Three more miles at 9 minutes puts me at 111 minutes, 40 secs.  Finish time 51:40.  Not good enough.  So, where do I pick up the 1:40?  Will I be feeling good enough at the end to maintain 8:30?  That would do it.  Or should I try to get some even faster miles in the middle?  

So, the end is really where my plan falls apart.  I blame this on coaching, since he kept saying I didn't need to do the longer runs, just work on speed over distances of UP TO 12 miles.  Aha, that's it.  Garmin Connect shows my 12 mile training run at 1:46, an average of 8:51.  This run incorporated only 6 miles at marathon pace.  Could I have pushed harder.  Yep!  So, to achieve 1:50, my average miles needs to be just under 8:30.  I guess I'd better push for SLIGHTLY faster miles in the middle AND somewhat faster at the end.  Maybe ending miles being either 8:45s or 8:00s, depending on how I feel.

Comments?  This is making me anxious. 

EDITED:  On the off chance that my coach reads this blog, (UNLIKELY) I don't really blame coaching, just feeling anxious. 

Easy miles today.  I worked at a local race in the morning; I was one of the water stations on a turn around loop for miles 9 and 11.  It was a small race, fast course, great running weather.  This was a fund raiser for our high school XC team, so I drove a bunch of XCers to the race and set them up at water stations for their shifts.  I thought about running the 10K at the race, just to get my miles, but it sort of seemed like they needed me to help, so that was OK.

I chose a trail at the end of our lake, a 6 mile drive from my house.  This particular trail got severely damaged in last winter's mud slides and floods, with many large trees down and huge slide areas.  It was good to see it in such nice shape again.  Nice out and back, averaged 8.43.  A little fast for easy miles, but felt nice.  

Feeling pretty good about next Saturdays race.  I'm trying to focus my thoughts on finishing strong, since that is really what I think all this work is going to do for me.  Today I'm inclined to throw yesterday's elaborate plans out the window and just aim for a 8:30 mile pace.  I think this works out fine.   

The schedule called for easy miles, but as hard as I tried, I couldn't do that!  So, I've entered 5 as marathon pace miles.  Splits were:  8:20, 8:07, 8:34, 9:03, 8:14.  I followed with a mile of walk/jog, just to make sure that my shoulder was relaxed.

I'm still feeling pain in the shoulder and have to concentrate every minute to relax my neck, back, and shoulder.  I'm a little concerned about Saturday's race with this much pain, but, then again, I feel it the least when I run, and I do feel that I'm using the arm effectively while I run.  So maybe nothing to worry about.  I'll just do what I can to keep it happy this week. 

If I can begin my race Saturday with two truly easy miles, then settle into this marathon pace for 8 miles, I'll be happy!  The last few miles should be optional; either stick with marathon pace or speed up!

Weather here has become cold!  Fine for running, but chilly and no sun. 

Nice, easy run!  I succeeded in actual easy miles.  Splits were 9:35, 9:56, 9:33, 9:27, 9:34, and 10:43.  Maybe too easy.  I am pleased.

Walked a mile after and picked up trash around the pond.  Talked to a couple of kids who were out fishing early.  Saw a ton of baby things:  ducks, geese, rabbits, and spotted deer! 

Camping with family on the Hood Canal!  Eating great seafood, enjoying low tide.  Terrible place to run.  Did my miles on the highway, which thankfully had a really wide shoulder.  Easy miles were hard to pull off today; I kept it at an average of 8:45 though, which is not too bad.

Still camping.  Still a terrible place to run.  Did the three easy miles with my daughter; her job was to tell me to slow down all the time.  It worked well, and our average was 9:54!  Looking forward to getting back to my trails; I'm really appreciating the beautiful running venues that I have at home!

Last run before Saturday's race!  Its good to be back home on familiar trails; I appreciate it so much more.  I ran about the first 1/2 of the run on pavement, to be ready for 13.1 on pavement on Saturday.  It was challenging to keep an easy pace, but the effort felt like easy effort, so I guess that counts too.  Splits were 8:37, 8:07, 8:34, 10:37 and 8:40.  Mile 4 is slow because I stopped to talk to a friend I haven't seen in a long time.

Did some more thinking whilst I ran about my "plan" for the race.  I truly think it will be impossible for me to start out slower than 9 minute miles.  So, 9 minute miles it is for AT LEAST TWO MILES!  Then, a gradual speed up to 8:45 for another 3, 8:30 for 4, 8:10 for 3.  That gives me only 7:15 to finish the last mile.1.  But its flat then, so I'll do that.   

No running, just resting up for tomorrow's race in Seattle.  I drove down to Seattle early am and hung around, meeting up with friends at the expo.  Had a relaxing evening with Snoqualmie and went to bed early.

This is the least jittery and nervous I've felt before any race.  I have had a bit of a sore throat the last few days, but feel pretty good otherwise.  

I had a really tight left IT band this morning, so when I got to my husband's office in Seattle, I lay down on the large foam roller thingy to roll it out.  When the roller touched my upper leg, it hurt so badly I almost yelled.  Left a huge bruise! 

I was staying with Snoqualmie overnight, and we decided to get up just before 3:00am and get down to the first shuttles by 4:00am.  The shuttles were leaving from downtown Seattle near the finish line between 4 and 6am and would take us down to the starting line in Tukwila.  I think we might have been on the first one!  We got down to the start line with a longish wait ahead of us, but just kind of sat/stood around watching other runners show up.  It was cool, but clear, so obviously it was going to be a really pretty day once the sun came up.  We were talking to this couple from Texas who were pinning their bib numbers to the outside of their thick sweatshirts!  They were so cold from the climate shock of Seattle, they were going to run the whole thing in sweatshirts.  I wish I knew how that worked out for them; not very well, I think.

My stomach didn't feel quite right, sort of like heartburn.  I drank quite a bit more water than usual to try to feel a bit better, so visited the porta potties many times.  There were, amazingly, plenty of them. About 6:20, I left Sno and went out on the empty road behind the porta potties and did a mile of jogging, followed by special warm up exercises and a few strides.  I felt quite happy with myself for doing this by myself.  Everything felt really pretty good.  I was warm by then and the sun had arrived, so I took off my sweatpants and jacket and stashed them in my bag, took it to the trucks that would carry it to the finish and headed off to find my corral.  I have never before run in a really big race, and had no idea about these corrals at all!  On the way over to the corrals, I found a friend from my running group in Bellingham!  She was in corral 7 and I was in 5, so we found our spots together.  The rolling start went so smoothly!  As soon as the gun went off, we all started moving forward, and were actually running at pace before we crossed the timing mat.  Even though there were thousands of people, it didn't feel like I was slowed up at all.  

The first few miles according to my plan were supposed to be 9:00 or more pace, but OF COURSE I didn't do that.  My first couple of splits were 8:26 and 8:06.  But it felt easy.  There were bands every mile, and the first few I noticed, and even waved cheerfully.  After that, I'm not even sure I noticed them at all, except one about mile 6, where the band was playing Sade's "Smooth Operator".  For some reason I found that a funny running song.  

I realized by about mile 5 that I was going to need to use a porta potty during the race!  Never did this before, but I just drank too much water.  I spotted one at the top of a longish hill, and figured I'd dive in, go fast, and then make up lost time flying down the hill.  That's exactly what I did!  I used probably less than a minute, and flew down the hill after.  It seemed as if the entire 13.1 miles was water stations, with cytomax and water, so there was no problem getting hydrated.  I didn't stop, just grabbed a cup if I wanted one, took a small sip and chucked the cup over.  Miles 4-6 were faster splits, as planned, with the fastest being 7:50.  

At one hour into the race, I used my inhaler as I had planned.  I didn't want to wait for the asthma to kick in, because I thought it might take longer to recover if my breathing was already compromised.  Right choice here, and my breathing never became wheezy.

Another big hill and we turned left and headed down I90 towards downtown Seattle.  The full marathoners went right and ran out the floating bridge and back, which looked really pretty!  There is a really long tunnel on I90, I think between miles 10 and 11.  Here's where things started to go not so well for me.  As soon as I got into the tunnel, I recognized some lightheadedness which is the negative reaction to the asthma medication. Being in the tunnel seemed to exacerbate the feeling, and I consciously tried to just slow down and get through the tunnel.  Even though I felt I was slowing down, my split here does not reflect that.  I ran that mile in 8:21.  Near the end of the tunnel, the "light at the end of the tunnel", I realized that some idiot had put a really loud, terrible band at the end of the tunnel.  I will never again run a race with a band in a tunnel.  The only way out was to run right through it.  Horrible.

With just a few miles left to go, I could not tame the lightheaded feeling; it just kept getting worse.  But I was really determined to stay as strong as possible to the end, and knew my legs could work just fine.  I reminded myself constantly of where I was and what my goal was to stay aware, because I have heard stories of runners who forget where they are.  So I was OK, but wondering if I shouldn't have used the inhaler at this point.  Anyway, last few miles were pretty rough, a few short walk breaks, which brought my split times down to 9:03.  In the last 1/2 mile, my friend Karen came up behind, catching up to me and said "you OK?"  As soon as I heard her, I said "yeah, I'm good" and picked up the pace a bit.  Crossed the line I don't know how; and started walking crooked as soon as I stopped running.  Funny, I felt like I was running in a straight line, but couldn't walk in one to save my life.  Remembered to push the stop on my Garmin timer, and guessed that I'd come close to my goal time of 1:50.  Karen was there, and medics were trying to wrestle me into a medical tent.  They kept asking me where I was and what I was doing, which was easy because I'd been practicing the answers to these questions while I ran!  So I passed that test, but there was a general feeling that I should lie down for a minute, so I went along with it.  Didn't feel too bad really.  My coach from my running group was apparently there as well, but I don't remember that.  Kind of embarrassed about finishing so dramatically.

After maybe five minutes, I wanted to sit up and get out of there, so they let me.  I kept saying:  "Look, I know this looks bad, but I'm really strong, and I recover FAST".  And of course I did recover fast.  Felt perfectly well, and walked around eating bagels and oranges for awhile.  Then went out and found my husband in the nightmarish crowds, and wandered around for an hour or so trying to figure out where exactly the car was.  Was going to wait for Sno to finish, but our car was at risk of being towed, so we left and stopped near Queen Anne Hill in Seattle and walked around for awhile shopping, which felt really great on the legs.  Legs felt pretty fresh, and not tired, but a wanted to stretch a lot.  

Got home, went out to a party and celebrated by birthday!  Dropped into bed at 11:00.  Slept a long time. 

Edit:  I forgot to say, I'm happy with my time, even though I didn't quite achieve my goal.  Its still a big PR, I placed 24 out of 794 women in my age group!  So this stuff is all good, and I think I have so much room to improve still.  I'll be working on other solutions to the asthma nonsense right away!  Its holding me back. 

Nice recovery day.  Just a few easy, easy, easy miles.  Had a nap and have been puttering around in the yard.  The weather is perfect!  Mid to high 70s with a little breeze and clear skies.  I am going to go over and flop in the lake soon.  

 My left IT band is really sore/tight after yesterday.  It was already before the race and is worse now.  I've been icing it and gently stretching and will probably have to get a massage tomorrow or the next day.  

Just starting to get the post race let down sadness.  I just have to blow through this, but its kinda hard.  Don't know why it happens.  I started out today feeling happy about my race, my time, my place, etc.  Now I wish I had done better, run faster, not used my inhaler, not run in a tunnel with a band, etc. etc.  Its a bit ridiculous.  

Tomorrow is back to regular training, I think.  We've got yet another new track workout and it sounds pretty fun - fast bursts with short bursts mixed in.  I don't believe I'll ever get tired of these fun workouts!   

Haven't even run yet today; track workout is this evening.  Which is great, because that means I can ride my bike a bit more this morning.  I just have to blog out some of my jumbled thoughts about Saturday's race so that I can stop carrying them around in my head.  

Here's what I did right:

Rested, relaxed, slept well and ate well the day before

Did a good warm up before the race

Kept my left arm and shoulder relaxed the whole time!  This is big.

Used focus and relaxation to control any difficult asthma related breathing glitches.

Kept positive thoughts going the entire time.  Never felt defeated.

Had negative splits in the middle of the race.  This is a first.

Used the inhaler before any wheezing started.

Didn't yell obscenities at the band in the tunnel.

Ran in my skirt and loved it. 

Here's what I did wrong:

MAYBE went out just a bit too fast.  Splits could have been :15 sec slower at the very start.

Got messed up with the asthma meds.  I absolutely need to figure this thing out, so that it doesn't wreck any more races.  

Did not finish strong enough!  My splits in the last three miles went way down, and cost me my goal.  Got to find a way to push harder at the end.  This is especially disappointing since the end of this course is pretty easy, with lots of downhills.   

Here's what I need to do to fix it:

Talk to Dr. immediately and figure out the meds.

Find the cause of the asthma and deal with that.

Spend more time visualizing the mentally rehearsing the end of the race.  Maybe even "practice" this on some runs, where I progressively get faster in small (:15 second) increments.  

OK, that's enough obsessing about that one!  Time to move on and  run some more. 

 PM - this evening's workout was hard on still tired legs!  Felt great though to run a bit.  I didn't time my strides, but they were very slow.  My mile splits were:  9:23 (warm up), 9:30, 9:22, 9:36, 9:45.  Last 1/2 mile was 4:50.

I didn't run today at all!  Totally broke training and had TWO bike rides instead.  It was really fun, and my biking totalled 55 miles.  Averaged about 16 mph on the morning ride and 19 on the evening ride.  No time to squeeze in a run in between the bike rides.

The weather was beautiful all day; high around 75, slight breeze.  I rode in the morning with my girlfriend, good biking buddy, who is leaving for a few weeks.  Rode in the evening with my regular Tuesday bike group.  There were at least 60 people this week!  I didn't even know everybody.  Rode with a guy who I didn't know and we talked about climbing in the Pickett Range, a place I've never done any climbing.  He made me want to get up into the mountains soon.