Auntie Em Goes Running

I made up the track workout that I missed last night.  Had to do it on my own, but it wasn't too bad.  Here's what it is:  2 mile warm up jog, following by the special warm up exercises I always do.  Then, a series of 10 drills, all forms of explosive hopping or jumping, following by an easy lap around the track.  Then 4 all out 100M sprints (I did these barefoot down the infield!).  A couple of minute cool down, then 1.5 miles at 5K pace.  Usually I struggle to keep this right on 5K pace and to keep it consistent at 1:48 per lap, but this morning I was great!  A few of my laps were dead on 1:48!  Maybe its the lack of distraction from other people.  After the 5K laps, just a couple of miles cool down. Then some stretching, home to write my blog.  

Now the stretching/strength workout on the floor. 

Ordinary run; a few MP miles in the middle.  My focus was on form and breathing.  I tried to keep the easy miles at a two breath in two breath out effort; the MP miles 3 and 3.  

I forgot to mention yesterday that I ran 1200m  barefoot during my track workout.  It felt great, and I really felt like I could have done all the track miles with no shoes.  I'll have to add a bare shoe to my blog; the miles are adding up!  It is really striking how natural the stride feels when barefoot.  Its actually effortless without trying to be effortless.

I've been drinking coconut water after my runs; it seems to be getting a lot of attention as a serious recovery beverage, and I thought I'd give it a try.  It is loaded with pottasium, magnesium and calcium, as well a many other nutrients, antioxidants, aminoacids, and enzymes.   

Same workout as Tuesday, except that the 5K pace mileage is increased to 2400.  I really dread these 5K miles, I think just because my legs are tired from the hopping and jumping exercises, followed by the 100M all-outs.  I managed 10:40 for the 2400, though.  

I really want to time the 100M all-outs next time, because they are really super fun and I feel pretty fast.  I think I accelerate up to all out speed pretty efficiently.  I will time them on Monday.

Its rainy today; first time in 4 ever!  Pretty windy too.  Temperature at 5:30am was 55 degrees, though, so definitely not cold yet.

Nice windy run today.  The rain stopped and it was warmish; just a stiff breeze coming off of the bay.  I don't like wind, but it was just for a few miles until we got into the woods.  The run was supposed to be 11 or so easy miles, then 1 mile at 5K and the rest easy.  Obviously, it didn't turn out that way.  Splits:  8:49, 6:06  (this was actually the .67 mile, mostly strides for warmup; that's why it was so fast), 9:19, 8:49, 8:42, 9:16, 9:10, 8:55, 9:25, 8:46, 9:06, 8:31, 8:17, 8:04.  A nice run all in all, even though it did not fulfill the training requirements!  I was pleased to have my fastest miles at the end, since I was aiming for mental toughness and I was tired!  At the end my toes were all bloody due to a shoe issue. Why does that have to happen.   

Not sure if I can run today or not.  Its so windy right now that I'm afraid I'd blow away or get hit by a catapulting object or something.  I'll wait awhile, since its a totally "free" day and I can run whenever.

There is a house next door to us (separated by a small orchard), and the owner rented it to a bunch of college students, who had a big noisy party last night!  That is so inappropriate in this neighborhood!  I was out in the middle of the night, telling kids not to park in my yard!  Millions of cars coming down the street late in the night, etc, etc.  I will go over this morning and talk to the renters, and tell them that they will not get a second chance; next time its law enforcement immediately!  Unbelievable.  The home owner must be a complete idiot to rent her nice home to these trashy hooligans.   

PM:  Running, sort of.  3 easy miles, splits of 10:10, 10:30, 10:12.  Something is not right.  Tomorrow is another day.  The wind never let up all day, and is so strong now that there are whitecaps of several feet in height on the lake.  Our dock is underwater. 

Nice run this morning.  I ran a mile to the meeting place for our group.  Our track workout was cancelled because of the holiday, so we had decided to meet anyway just to run.  We ran 6 miles together, then I ran back home.  Splits were 9:14, 9:09, 8:44, 8:33, 8:47, 8:46, 9:16, 9:17, plus 9:20 (for the last little bit).  

Weather is still cool, but the wind and rain of yesterday are gone, thank goodness.  It looks like rain is a possibility later today, though.

Enjoy the holiday, fast runners! 

4 miles.

I have come to the conclusion that I have messed up all my training by my complete inability to run easy miles.   I believe that I will take up rowing.

Treadmill run!  Nice and easy.  Trying to rest my totally fatiqued legs with easy running.  Its a pretty good place to work on form and cadence.

I have not disappeared, just on a little bummer this week.  I'll post tomorrow after 22 miler and update the week's events.  

Mantra:  I am strong, confident, and capable (of anything!). 

OK, I'm back.  Just had a sad week, with very little running, due to extremely fatigued legs.  Fatigued means HURTING.  Muscles just feeling so tired, weak, and hurt, I wasn't sure about anything.  And not exercising much makes me feel sad, and desperate.  My leg mechanic assured me that I was just tired, not hurt, and could still make my marathon.  This session ended with lots of whining on my part, crying while my legs were worked on (it hurt).  I left with some tape on the left leg.  Took Thursday and Friday completely off, just trying to make it to the 22 mile run today.  Hung out in the lake (the water is cool), used a lot of ice, gentle stretching, some strength work, and even about 10 seconds of meditation.  Worked a lot on positive mental attitude and mental strength.  I really had no idea that marathon training would become so absorbing and emotional.  I really should take up a sport that complements me better.  

This morning my legs felt pretty good, not what I would call fresh by any means, but better.  I decided to do the run, and felt positive and strong in my head about it.  We were supposed to run the first eight easy, and this felt truly easy and fine (splits are high 8s to mid 9s).   I told my partner that I might just run the 12 MP miles easy, but we kicked right into them and the effort felt good!  My left leg spent most of the run asleep, but no real twinges of pain.  My Garmin crapped out at mile 18, with two MP miles to go.  But I know I achieved them.  This run required more mental strength than I have ever had to use before, and I was very happy with my effort.  Huge deposit in my mental strength bank account today.  Splits on the MP miles were in the low 8s to high 8s, with one longer one where we stopped to refill our water.  The last two miles we were supposed to slow back to easy, and I tried, but not sure if I did because Garmin was done.

So, its over, and I'm pretty pleased with the result, both in MP miles and being strong mentally.  Clearly, my legs are still very tired, but I didn't hurt them today.  I'll need a plan to get through the next few weeks to let them rest.  I know today would have gone even better on fresh legs.  

Just had an ice bath!

Thanks everyone, for your support while I was being a baby. 

Worked for my bike club at the Mt. Baker Hill Climb (best bike race in the world).  Helped people with bike troubles before the race.  Once everyone was headed up, we took down our tent, and I met a nice sports massage guy waiting around to do massage on finishers of the bike race.  I got a GREAT massage, which worked out a few sore spots from yesterday's run.  Then I got on my own bike and biked back toward Bellingham.  Just part way, a short recovery spin.  Spinning feels great on the running machine; a nice way to recover.

Wow, this tapering is really stupid!  Ran 3 miles, didn't breathe hard, didn't sweat, didn't even shower.  That was the assignment.  On the positive side, we still get 2 track workouts, mostly 5K pace stuff in each of the next two weeks.  That's great, because I really LOVE track workouts.  

I'm thinking the taper is also a nice time to EAT and  gain a couple of lbs.

Crosstraining day; did a bike ride.  It was beautiful out.  We ride out on county roads, where berry fields and corn fields line the highway.  It smelled and looked like Fall, but warm still.  We start at 5:45, and in summer, finish while it is still fully light.  Tonight it was getting darker already!  The spinning felt relaxing and easy on the legs.  I made no attempt to ride with the "fast" group.  They ride at 20-22, and on fresh legs, that speed is fun for me, but I stuck with the 17-19 group tonight, and it felt perfect.  

Went out early this morning, because it was clear and warm, and I thought it might get hot later.  Nice easy miles.  I just ran, not even looking at Garmin, letting the pace feel "easy".  As on othe runs like this, I noticed that I start right out at 8:40 and speed up a bit by mile three.  Makes me think that going out right on pace for the marathon might be the best strategy.

This morning's workout was supposed to be a couple of miles warm up, special warm exercises, strides, then 5X3 minutes at mile pace, followed by several more cool down miles.  I had no intention of doing my actual mile pace for these intervals, just because my legs are still feeling somewhat stressed and I don't want to take any chances at this point.  So I adjusted the pace to 6:40, which is somewhere in between my mile and 5K paces.  Even so, I completed 3 intervals and felt a slight twinge in the left adductor.  I hope I made the right decision to stop and jog instead.  I am worried about giving up any valuable training, but I'm also worried about pushing too hard right now.  Making mature decisions about my training is so new to me.

Beautiful morning after yesterday's rains.  Cool, with a light mist hanging over the infield.  The sun was rising just as we finished about 7am.  We are working out at WWUs track, and I keep wondering where the cross country team is.  Shouldn't they be practicing?

I have been so faithfully doing my strength training, core workouts, and stretches (2X/day) that I feel differences, particularly in ab and glut strength.  It does seem to be helping my form over distance; the hips stay in place better because there is more hip flexor and glut strength, I guess.

 Happy day, everyone!

Day off.  I feel like I might explode.  But not in the house; too messy.

Finished all my work in time to run downtown and pick up my new marathon shoes.  During the 22 mile run last week, I seriously damaged four toenails!  Apparently, my feet really do swell up enough to warrant a bigger shoe.  This is my marathon shoe, apparently.  Seems so silly, since I will never wear it for shorter runs, and I may not ever run another marathon.  

I tried them on, went for a jog which felt so good that it lasted for two miles.  Cheating, I know, on a day off, but it did keep me from exploding.   

Early am track workout this morning, in pouring rain!  Yikes.  4X1600s at 5K pace.  It was terribly windy, so the three of us ran in a line, taking turns to break the wind.  Splits were 7:22, 7:23, 7:19, and 7:28.  That third one is my fault; my turn to lead, and I'm really bad at being chased, and I can't pace.  Anyway, a pretty good effort overall, with 2 miles warm up 2 miles CD, strides, and special warm up exercises.

 Finished wet, wet, wet.  Ran home to shower, hop in the car, and drive Son#1 off to college in Olympia!  Spent that day getting him organized in his new place, hugging a lot and crying a bit.

Easy miles to try out the new marathon shoes.  They do feel big, but it doesn't matter.  Splits were 8:41, 8:14, 8:47, 8:36, 9:02, and 8:40.  

This workout was tough.  So tough that I didn't even blog it last night, just ate my soup and fell down.  Partly it was tough because it is really hard for me to workout at 6pm and finish at 8pm.  I'm just more of a morning person.  

It was warm up (2 miles), warm up exercise, strides, then 5X3minute at mile pace, with 3 minute recoveries in between and then 2 miles CD.  I kept thinking I just didn't have mile pace miles in me (I'm afraid of my mile pace, lol!).  Also, too much math.  45 seconds for the 800m, 1:30 for the lap, etc.  At least it keeps the brain busy wile running.  Anyway, pace was too fast for first interval (2:50, instead of 3:04).  Then intervals 2,3 and 4 were perfect!  The last one was very slow (about 3:40).  The CD miles felt like such a treat, just jogging along on tired little legs!

Its now Tuesday am when I'm writing this down, and surprisingly, the legs feel good!  Must go run 5 easy now.

Its a good day to be a runner!  Happy day everyone! 

Not quite 5 easy miles, but at least they were easy.  Legs somewhat tired from last night's workout, but I wanted to run at 7am, since that's marathon time.

Riding to work and back!  Beautiful sunny day, unbelievable Fall weather.  Once in a blue moon we have falls like this in the PNW, and its like nothing else on earth.   

Edit:  My splits were 9:11, 8:59, 9:40, 9:27, and 9:11.  That is about the best "easy" I've ever done! 

Assignment was "very easy" miles.  What the heck is that?  My splits were 9:44, 9:07, 10:26 (stopped to stretch calf muscle), 9:24, 9:58, and 9:59.  That seems good enough.  

The newspaper this morning predicted a dry, warm fall.  That's nice for right now, but what about the snow?  Will we get to ski?  Maybe a good year to ski Utah.... 

Something not good happened at this morning's run.  I was so psyched for this workout, because it was to be a repeat of the 800m repeats at mile pace that we did on Monday.  I felt that Monday went well and felt great, and I was excited to do it again.  Went to bed last night with a tight adductor/hamstring in the left leg.  Just couldn't relax it.  Felt ok this morning, and felt fine during the warm up, but in the first stride, I felt it clench up and tighten.  Sort of like a charlie horse in the adductor muscle.  I tried to go back to just jogging, but couldn't work it out.  Hobbled to my car and drove home to ice it.  

After the initial frustration with the thing (where I sort of cried driving home), I'm feeling OK about it.  Stuff happens, and tomorrow's a rest day anyway.  I'm sure by Saturday I'll be back on track (pun!)  Gonna try to see the leg mechanic this afternoon and coax the leg back into cooperation.   Its not a torn anything, just feels kind of seized up.  I'm icing.

Some 10K pace stuff on Saturday, another mile pace workout on Monday, then the rest of the week is easy stuff.  Marathon next Sunday.  Yippee. 

Finally, a really good night's sleep!  Felt almost too rested this morning.  I've got a rest day planned, letting this stubborn hamstring muscle get itself back together.  A gentle spin on the bike will help.  After my little mishap at the track yesterday morning, I spent HOURS driving, first up to the mountain to retrieve some shoes my college boy needed, then down to the airport in Seattle to drop of some XC athletes for their flight to Stanford.  I sat on some ice part of the time, saw the leg mechanic late in the pm when I got home.

Here's my theory about the hamstring hurt:  Its from acceleration.  I seem to like speed and acceleration, but lets face facts:  I actually have a very limited experience doing it.  Up until six months ago, all my runs were the same:  tempo runs.  I didn't even know they were called tempo runs.  Anyway, I think that I can assume that any speed muscles that have developed are BRAND NEW, and maybe not fully assimilated into my legs yet, so they have growing pains.  To corroborate this theory, I have noticed a HUGE muscle in the back of my leg (my hamstring), that was never there before.  I mean, its freakin' HUGE!  It makes total sense to me that all this new training results in changes that take a while to adjust to.  Can you tell I'm not a medical person?  

Anyway, no more intense speed work before the marathon!   

5 easy miles with a 10K pace mile thrown in the middle.  The leg felt fine, even with the acceleration to 10K pace.  Well, it was supposed to be 10K, but was actually 7:20ish.  I wish that was my 10K pace!  No seizing up, not even a twinge in the leg.  Hooray!  

I am rocket-ready to go to this marathon!  Schedule this week calls for easy running, with 200m pick ups during the runs.  Sounds good to me.

This crazy energy that I feel in my body is not nervousness, it is stored power, and it means that I am feeling rested and ready. 

Spent the night in Seattle after seeing "Wicked".  Great fun!

4.5 easy miles in downtown Seattle early, cheerful good mornings to all those sleeping in doorways.  Kind of nice to be in the busy city.  

Easy miles, group run.  Ran four with the group, then rejoined the other part of our group at the track and ran .75 more so I could catch up on some gossip.  Its cold and raining rather hard.  Came home soaking wet and feeling great.

I had a pre marathon massage today that lasted for two hours!  I honestly don't know how I stayed still that long.  Well, really I didn't, I wiggled a lot.  It felt good after, though!  And, I had some very nice coffee afterwards.  

Another drenching run!  It was patchy clouds with some sun all day, EXCEPT when I decided to go running.  Within 2/10 of a mile, it just opened up and poured.  Sheets of rain.  Drenching rain.  Splashy puddle rain.  Soaking shoes rain.  For 45 minutes.  As I got to my driveway it stopped.  Tell me that wasn't planned.

Fun run, splits were 8:55, 8:39, 8:37, 9:01 and 9:07.  It is absolutely absurd that after six months of training and just days away from my marathon, I still can't run an easy mile!  That just cracks me up.  

Happy running everyone. 

5am, 48 degrees, slight rain, no wind.  Wore complete marathon outfit, minus the shoes, since they are wet from yesterday.  Stuffed two gels into my shorts, two in each side of my bra.  I think this will work.  Only logistical problem is retrieving them from my bra gracefully.  I'll practice some more.

Spllits:  9:39, 8:41, 8:35, 9:20.  This was as planned, to use Sno's analogy, easy bread, marathon filler.

I'm ready.  Can't wait for the train ride to Portland so I can sleep.