Auntie Em Goes Running

Training group run this morning.  We jogged a bit, did a few strides, then warmed up and did a few easy miles.  Then it was into 10K pace for 4 miles!  This sounded scary, since I think my 10K pace seems fast (8:00), but it was actually fine.  I had some asthma issues near the end, which is usual for an increase in speed for me, but it was better than last time.  I really think that as I get used to the faster speed, the asthma will sort of take care of itself.  In the meantime, must REMEMBER THE INHALER!  

Had to cut it short after the 10K pace miles and drive down south for High School State Track Meet.  Had some time there to finish the cool down miles.  I ran 3 miles, and here's what's funny:  they felt really easy, but pace was dead on 8:00/mile!  I'm not sure I understand why that felt so easy.  But I didn't fight it, I figured that as long as the effort was easy, they counted as easy miles.

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.

Delightful easy miles!  Splits were 8:27, 8:26, 8:42, 8:45, 9:00, 10:17, 9:40, and a 9:37 average for the .6 mile at the end.  Legs are a bit tired from yesterday's biking adventures, so somewhat fatigued at the end.  Good preparation for tomorrow's strength workout.

 I ran at 11:30, and it was already 75 degrees, and very humid in the woods.  I really do not like humidity very much!  Ran right through a huge flock (herd, covy, pod) of geese on the road on the way back to my house.  Last month's cute babies are growing up and blocking traffic, crapping on everything, and chasing the occasional runner.  Something will have to be done someday to all these geese.  I have also just learned that their excrement is a terrible source of phosphorous in our watershed and needs to be reduced.  

It was really hard to get to the track by 5:00 this morning!  Barely made it.  For some reason, the legs are really, really tired.  We warmed up, did strides, then did the leg exhausting workout, then ran 4 more miles on tired legs.  We got to run that last 4 on trails, but the 3/4 of a mile at the end getting back to the track is uphill!  A pretty good hill too.  I made it running all the way up the hill, yeah!  Then I took my time with ab work and stretching in the early morning sun on the fake grass infield.  Treated myself to a good breakfast at the food coop on the way home.

Rest day tomorrow will feel pretty good.  If I do anything, it will be in water.

This was group run morning!  We met downtown at 7:00am and no public restrooms were open.  I couldn't believe that.  Our group ran a couple of miles up the hill to Western's track, where we did a warm up, then did 1 mile intervals at 5K pace, followed by 4 minutes of rest jogging in between.  We did four intervals.  I was in a group of two other people; we all have the same 5K pace of 7:30.  We took turns leading and practiced keeping our pace consistent and drafting.  It went really well.  Then we did some easy miles down the hill, out the interurban trail, and eventually back to the green where we began.  It was a fairly tiring workout.

Up in the mountains today.  Ran 3 easy miles in the morning, as per schedule.  We then did a hike up to check out the huckleberry fields.  They are coming on really nicely!  I think we'll have a really good season for huckleberries in a month or so.  Still quite a bit of snow up high; no black bears sightings.  It was a huge amount of elevation gain on the way up, plus the road was washed out 1 mile before the trail head.  So I walked briskly up; best mile was around 18 minutes; slowest mile was around 24.  

I ran all the way down, trying out my new trail shoes.  It was fun!  I entered the running down as  easy miles and the hiking up as crosstraining.

Legs were tired, so I took a nap, then I remembered that I wanted to try out the aqua belt thing and job in the swimming pool.  So, 3 more easy miles in the pool!  What is wrong with me.  The aqua belt is kind of fun, kind of boring though, because you don't really go anywhere.

All I did was run, hike, and sleep.  Oh, yeah, and eat.

Its so hard to wait until 6:00pm to go running!  That's when our Monday track workout is, though, and I don't like to wreck it by running earlier in the day.  It rained most of the day, so I ran to the track along trails for warm up, hoping for some mud.  Didn't find much.  This was our last strength workout; we have a 7 mile race on Saturday, then start hill training next week!  

Rainy morning, but not cold.  Still looking for a good mudfest trail!  Five easy miles this morning.  We have a somewhat light running schedule this week, as we race on Saturday, so I'm trying to stick with the schedule.  Maybe can bike ride more?

Saturday's footrace sounds fun.  Its the oldest race in the state of Washington, and is mostly trail out along Chuckanut Bay in the woods.  Seven miles out to the finish.  Then our group will run back "easy".  There is some grade, although must be net flat because it begins and ends on the water.  There is one nasty hill - truly nasty hill.  My plan is to run up this hill very slowly.  My time goal is around 57-58 minutes.  That's basically my 10K pace. 

Five easy miles today, as per schedule.  I tried out the new shoes, New Balance Orange lightweight shoes.  Like them a whole lot!  I didn't even mind the rain this morning, and kept my pace pretty well for the first mile, then things got a bit frustrating.  Splits are:  9:26, 8:49, 8:34, 8:53, and 10:49 (this last one is slow because I stopped to adjust a toe discomfort on the new shoe).  I had to work really hard to slow miles 3 and 4 down to easy pace.  Why is easy pace so hard to achieve?   Why is easy pace not easy to do?  My easy pace should be 9:20 or 9:30.  It seems that I often am just not willing to work hard enough at going easy and sacrifice my easy miles for a fun run.  Clearly I am not disciplined or motivated enough.  

OK, all done bashing myself about.

The picture is my right bicep.  Its a nice picture, but I'm pumping more iron now because I'm not happy with the muscle.  I do like the anterior deltoid though.   I am sorry I cannot make the picture a bit bigger, but I'm sort of stupid at things like that.   

Beautiful morning!  The rain and grey skies are gone, and although cool, it promises to be sunny, with lazy clouds.  I'm happy to see the sun again!

5.9 easy miles, splits were 9:40, 9:21, 9:53, 9:21, 9:23, and 9:28.  These are perfect easy miles.  I rewarded myself by meeting my son at a local bakery afterwards that shows Tour De France each morning.  Watched stage 6 into Barcelona.  Those guys are awesome; I want to be a bike racer!  Some of the falls are nasty though.

Race Day!  This footrace is the oldest running race in the state of Washington, and is 95% trail.  It begins on Bellingham Bay, goes up into the forest, and travels along Chuckanut Drive to Larabee Park, also on the Bay.  Our group ran the race, then ran easy miles back to the beginning.  

Start time was 9am, which was really wierd, because I didn't really know what to eat for such a late start.  I was up at 5:00am, to watch Tour De France for a bit.  What an exciting day!  They were riding through the Pyranees, and it was absolutely beautiful!  I love watching it.  Anyway, I had coffee, then made a bagel and ate like two bites.  Met my group at the race start at 8:15, had a Gu, and did our warm up.  

Because the trail funnels onto a narrow trail about 1/2 mile in, they limit it to 1000 people. And it actually wasn't bad.  There was a brief bottleneck for maybe 2 seconds, then it was back to running.  My Garmin wasn't showing me my pace!  I kept hitting the bezel, trying to get to a different training screen, but it just wasn't happening.  So, I didn't really know my pace until mile 1, when I got a split.  It was 7:13!  Way, way too fast.  My plan was 8:30-8:45 for the first mile or so.  So I slowed down.  Next splits were 8:09, 9:06, 8:27, 8:34, 9:09 and 7:34 (nice downhill finish).  The 9s are big hills.  I walked the first one; its really steep and kind of long, and I needed to be able to run at the top.

I did really well just reminding myself of what I had to do to make my goal for this race, which was to get between 58:00 and 59:00, and have a strong finish!  A friend (in my age group) passed me at about 5, and it was soooo hard not to try and catch her.  But I didn't!  I held back and did my own thing.  I saw about a million people I knew, in the race, watching, passing out water, etc.  It was actually pretty hot (mid 70s).  My doctor was trying to catch me at the end, and he kept shouting at me from behind  "Can I borrow your inhaler".  So goofy, we just talked about my medications mishaps yesterday, and agreed that I shouldn't even carry the darned thing.  It was too funny.

I sprinted the finish, remembered to stop my  watch, and my son and his friend were there. The finish is at a beautiful park, with music, food, etc.  Our group hung around for about 30 minutes, then headed back down the trail.  I felt great, and expected to have a great, easy jog back to Fairhaven, but I was SO TIRED!  I've never raced hard before, then run 7 more miles.  It was a challenge.  My average mile on the way back was about 10 minutes.

Happy Day, successful race.  Finish time was 58:02, pretty much what I wanted.  And, if I compare this to my previous 10K pace, its quite an improvement too. 

Just 4 easy, easy miles today after yesterday's run.  Feel pretty good.  The right hamstring feels a bit tight; I'll do more stretching and possible a bath later today.  Like an idiot, I didn't go out this morning when in was beautiful and clear, I waited until it was very windy and cold and looks like rain.  

Packed my daughter off to XC camp this morning.  They get to train for a week up in the mountains!  She took all of my socks, so I will have to wash socks every day if I want to run.

We start hill training tomorrow!  Sounds fun, doesn't it? 

Got eight whole hours of sleep last night because of the rain.  I want to go back to bed and wait until its all over.  No run scheduled until 6:00pm!  Cannot, cannot wait that long.  I dreamed I was running an ultra marathon in some desert place, really hot and dry, and I felt great, like flying.  Running dreams are the new flying dreams!

So, I'm pondering something.  If we naturally get slower as we get older (and I'm not saying that we for sure do), but we are at the same time training to get faster, what will happen?  Will the training to get faster just balance the tendency to get slower with age (SWA), or what?   I'm just curious, since I never trained to get faster until I was this age (51).   So maybe I'll get faster more slowly than I would have in my 20s?  Or, maybe I'm an anomoly, and I'll never get SWA, just keep getting faster.  

Enough.  Rain and not running are a bad combination.

PM:  Hill training was a tough workout!  After the usual warm up, jogging and strides, we did 90 second intervals uphill, going from slow pace (on toes, with high knees), medium pace (exaggerating arm swings), and fast pace (high knees and hard arms).  Did twelve intervals, with jogging in between, then some cool down running. 

I biked to and from the workout for some extra crosstraining miles, and because the rain is stopped.  

Did a upper body weight workout midday as well; my abdominals and arms need work. 

Hamstrings are tired! 

No rain.  Very very humid and overcast, but warm.  Did 6.5 easy miles on the trails, with an average pace of 8:45.  I thought hamstrings would be very sore from yesterday's workout, but legs felt great.  The running felt effortless; I love when that happens.  I didn't quite keep it down to an easy pace, but the effort truly felt easy, and that's what counts, right?

Came home, changed to bike gear, and went for a ride - 25 miles.  I just cleaned and tuned the bike and it was shifting like butter.  My average pace was 18 miles per hour, which is medium fast.  No wind.  No hills.  

Didn't feel like running at all this morning.  Got involved in watching the tour instead, then had to work for awhile.  Finally got out at 1:30 or so.  Ran a couple of miles at the track in my new flat nike shoes; really just wanted to see how they felt.  It feels somewhat tiring on my front shin, but the feet are very comfortable.  Impossible to go slowly in these shoes, especially on the track.  Splits were 8:03 and 8:23.

I switched shoes and hit the trails behind the stadium for 3.5 more miles, attempting to keep them slow.  Splits were 9:23, 8:42, 9:06, and 9:21 (for the half).  

Didn't feel any more like running when I was done than I did in the first place!   

Clear, sunny, and calm this morning.  62 degrees at 5:00am.  It will be hot later.  Did hill workouts again, on the trail by the bay.  Enjoyed seeing the early sun on boats and calm water along the trail.  The hard intervals felt hard, but on the last one, I pushed really hard.  Actually felt like I might be sick.  

After working out, I drove the car to the shop and dropped it off for servicing, then jogged down to the bakery where they show Tour De France every morning.  I made this a really easy jog.  Had a really good breakfast while watching TDF.

I have to drive up to Mt. Ranier tomorrow to pick up my daughter from XC camp; its a day off running anyway, so I'll try to get there early enough for a little hike.

Early group run.  Beautiful weather, 67 degrees at 6:30am.  Warm up, then 3 easy miles, 6 maratthon pace miles, 2 easy.  Kept the easy miles easy (splits 9:30-9:45), and the marathon pace miles not too fast (8:20-8:40).  Had a good kick the last 300 yards.  Felt really good.  The last mile and a half of marathon miles were a gradual uphill and I felt strong and still on pace, which is really good.  Probably my last longish run before August 1 half marathon in Tacoma.  

So far today, just a nice bike ride.  I worked at a bike race yesterday, driving the lead car for some of the racing groups.  The course looked fun, and was a good hill workout, so I went back there this morning and rode.   I was inspired by the TDF, and stood up on my pedals and sprinted the hills.  They were long hills.  I felt good until I realized that my hill sprints, although they felt strong, were only about 10 mph uphill, and Contador's are probably like, what, 16-20?  Oh, well.  I was impressed with myself anyway.

My IT band was really tight and sore last night, so I iced it a lot and used the roller a lot.  I'm not sure yet if I'll run today.  I suppose easy miles won't hurt it.  I do have a massage scheduled for tomorrow, so that should help.  Biking does not even seem to use the IT band, so that was good.

PM - 5 easy miles.  IT band felt pretty good, no pain, just tightness.  Finished off with 1/2 mile of walking and then a really good stretch.  Looking forward to that massage tomorrow. 

No running for me today!  I am missing my hill workout right now, and I LOVE my hill workout.  It makes me want to hurl, but I love it.  Had a massage for my IT band, and my therapist did not recommend running afterwards.  I'm not convinced that this is good advice, but I'm willing to try, as long as I can run tomorrow.  Dang it!

I've got a long bike ride planned for am tomorrow very pretty ride, with hills.  40 miles.  Biking is very good for IT bands.  It stretches them.  Then the schedule calls for 7 miles of easy running, so I'll do that in the evening.

Did the bike riding first this morning.  After yesterday's day off, it felt great to ride with totally fresh legs.  I was really able to take advantage of the opportunity to ride hard up the hills.  Rode a beautiful loop for 39 miles; it was 82 degrees at the end.  That's a little warmer than it has been I think.

I decided to just run right away, instead of waiting until this evening.  I found it sort of hard to get right off the bike and run, but it relaxed my legs to do it.  Felt good.   I really didn't want to stop in 4 miles, so went an extra 1/2.  I feel as though I lost about 2 gallons of sweat just running though!

I might have to skip my bike group tonight! 

Seven easy miles along the Whatcom Creek Trail.  I ran out the paved road for a mile or so, so that the first three miles were pavement miles, then into the trails.  I find that adding pavement miles in the week or so before a race is helpful.  Next 1/2 Marathon is august 1!  

Splits this morning were in the 9s, just as they should have been.  Only the first miles was a little too fast.

Hill workout this morning.  Fun, fun, fun.  

Edited to add 8 miles of biking to and from work this afternoon.  Lots of gnats.   

2 easy miles on track shoes.  8 miles to work and back on the bike.  Busy day.  

Early morning hill workout along the bay trail.  Weather was 75 degrees at 5:30am, a little dark(!), and absolutely still - humid.

Workout was tough.  I noticed a big difference from not staying hydrated enough yesterday.  I worked all day in a hot kitchen, preparing food for the RAGNAR relay teams and driving it back and forth to the serving area.  Didn't drink enough water, then stayed up too late, with a bit of red wine as well.  All those factors contributed to some dehydration this morning, and made me feel tired.  It got easier by the last interval; and the fast hill part on that last interval was my fastest.

Had a class for the rest of this day and did too much sitting! 

Out at noon, 82 degrees, sunny and beautifully clear.  A little less humidity I think!  I tried out my new hand held water bottle, and I loved it.  Holds 22 oz, and just slides right onto your hand.  I can't get my splits for this run because I will not have my own computer back for about a week, so can't download my runs.  But I know from the reported splits while I was running that they were all "easy" miles.  

Went up to Glacier today, where it was even hotter than in Bellingham!  It was 94 when I arrived about noon, so I waited until 7:00pm to run.  Still 94, plus about 100 percent humidity once I got into the woods.  I tried to duplicate the workout that I was supposed to do in town, which was 4X1600 at 5K pace, interspersed with 4 minute jogs.  I turned into more of a free for all fartlek session, which speedy portions being 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile.  Narrow trails, a few technical bits, overgrown forrest on both sides, humidity, and HORSEFLIES!  Horseflies are carnivorous flies, approximately as big as a small airplane, and persistent.  They will follow you for miles, circling in case any body part stops moving long enough, then they will sink their teeth into you.  The bites swell up terribly and last a long time.  It was a really fun run.

Not much sleep, on account of the heat.  It really didn't cool down until early morning.  I got out a bit earlier in the day, at 6am, when it was only 70!  Still humid in the woods, so I did about 3 miles on the pavement on the roads around our little community up here, then tackled the woods for the second half.  Had a nice hilly run down along the river and back up again.  The woods are so dry!  That's very unusual here, but we've had an unusually dry summer. 

Our community also has a pool, so in the afternoon, with 102 degrees still, I took the water belt down to the pool and "jogged" for about 1/2 hour.  I'm not even counting it as miles, since I really don't feel that I'm working hard.  I am not breathing very hard when done, although my leg muscles are working. Maybe I am doing it wrong. Anyway, it was cool and nice to be in water.  

I slept better, because I think that it cooled off a bit and I moved my bed to a back room on the lower floor of the cabin.  Did my easy miles early; it was 65.  Nice.  Was too afraid to go into the woods at all because of horseflies, so I just ran around the roads.  I kept imagining that one would bite me in the leg and I would swell up and not be able to race on Saturday!

My friend Rebecca made me some coffee after, and it was yummy.  Then I drove up the mountain on an old logging road to check out the huckleberries.  I found a whole bunch!  Its a very technical place to pick, meaning its steep, brambly, thick bushes, and many red ant hills, which must be avoided.  Luckily I wore long pants.  I was so excited to be getting so many nice berries that I stayed way too long, and realized it was hot, hot, hot up there.  Then the flies drove me reallly nuts and I bolted to my car.  

Back home now in Bellingham, still hot.   

Not so hot this morning, but even more humid!  3.5 easy miles, with actual easy splits - 9:00, 9:27, 9:28, 9:15.  It is supposed to be a bit cooler today, and I'm going to spend some time in the lake, staying rested and cool for tomorrow.  I'm going to put some work and my cell phone in the kayak and paddle out to the floating boat and work!

Also have some chiropractic work scheduled, and a massage.  Why am I falling apart like this?  Hopefully I can get patched together well enough to run Saturday's race.  I'm considering carrying my handheld water bottle for the race, just to make sure I'm hydrated enough.  I would think that if the heat keeps up, they would have extra water stations, but you never know. 

Update:  Chiropractic work is done!  The hip thing was not painful to fix, and he was able to give me some exercises to help keep it in place.  The IT band, which he insisted on attacking, even though I explained that a massage therapist would be dealing with it later, was excruciating.  Imaging a really sweet faced, gentle, altogether likeable guy hurting you to the point of yelping!  Yes, I yelped!  He promised that my leg will be horribly bruised on Saturday, but I'll be running well.   

Day of rest!  Rest from running anyway.  The is a 7" X 2" bruise down my left IT band; I'll look; I'll look really colorful tomorrow.  It feels better though, and that's what counts.  I've spent some time working out some stretches for it, so should keep it in shape. 

I think I figured out what caused the IT band flare up in the first place too.  Was talking to the chiropractor, who, in addition to being an expert at torture, is a very smart running coach/trainer guy.  I've been doing some hill repeats on a hill near my house that is quite steep and seriously canted to the right (when I run on the right shoulder).  The combination of running hard up a hill and running on the canted surface is not so good for the opposite IT band, especially when its already feeling stressed.   

Race Day!  So exciting.  My friend Erin and I had a completely disasterous afternoon yesterday traveling to the race.  It was a drive of a few hours that turned into an absolute nightmare of traffic, missed exits, you get the picture.  We arrived in Tacoma around 6:00, too late to pick up our packets in the evening, so we set our alarms for 5:00am to get on the first shuttle so we could pick stuff up in the morning.  Hotel was very comfortable, but couldn't really take advantage, since I don't sleep so well under usual conditions anyway, and this particular pre race had me a little amped up.  

Our shuttle bus driver got lost!  We were supposed to start at a small airplane hangar across the river from Tacoma, in Gig Harbor.  He took two wrong turns but some woman on the bus told him where to go and we finally made it.  The woman who knew the way looked to about in my age division, so I was kind of scoping her out.  I thought she looked very strong and like a good runner.

We got off of the bus, picked up our packets, found SNO!, chatted awhile, then realized that it was freezing cold!  For me anyway.  Sno was happy because it was foggy, and I was happy for her while freezing my little butt off.  Funny, because last week was such a record breaking heat wave, I was prepared to run in a sports bra and the lightest possible shorts I could find, and here I was on race day wishing I'd thrown in a sweatshirt.  The air was also somewhat dense, not good for my asthma condition.  I just stayed positive about the air quality and chanted soothing mantras to myself.  Warm up felt great, because I needed warming up, and we finished about 10 minutes before start time.  Perfect.

I had sworn to go 9 minute miles the first few.  Did I do that?  Nope.  But my effort was very easy for the first four, and the first two had a lot of downhill in them.  So the first splits were 8:00ish.  Anyway, things felt great.  My IT band, while looking horribly bruised, was not tight, and I could only feel impact discomfort from the bruising.  The first hill was at (?) about mile 4, and it was much much longer than I expected.  I slowed and went steady, stopped just after the crest and had water at the station, walking through so that I could actually get the water.  We have a strange phenomenon here where the marine air, which creates the freezy fog, burns off and abruptly changes the weather to HOT, so I was expecting that and wanted to stay especially hydrated.  I felt great after the hill.

It was a fairly hilly course, lots of smaller ups and downs and one more somewhat longer hill.  There was a side trip into Cheney Stadium for a loop around the interior of the stadium, and the course workers were not pointing people in the right direction.  People were sort of bottling up, saying "where do we go?", and finally we got some direction! By mile 10, the air got to me, and I decided to walk 12 breathes, while relaxing the airways.  This worked, and I did it three times between 10 and 11.5.  Then there was a lot of downhill in the last mile and a half, and I mean some big, haul on down downhills.  My last two splits (haven't seen them yet) will be fast, which was one of my goals.  I came to the top of a final hill, saw a longish downhill stretch to the finish, ran down, and SPRINTED hard to the finish (200m sprint)?  That sprint made people whoop for me which I really liked.  I was in some oxygen debt, and was concerned that it would be like Seattle's race, where I couldn't walk straight once I finished running.  But that did not happen! I could walk perfectly well.  A waited a short while for Erin, then for Sno!  Erin and I hung around for awards, and unbelievably, I got a first place plaque for my division!  I was beyond surprised and excited.  Still am. 

A hot muggy morning.  Legs felt tired after yesterday's race, and I was inclined to sit around.  Thank goodness for two friends, who showed up and drug me out on an early run.  We ran easy pace up Galbraith Mountain.  Lots of elevation gain, then lots of elevation loss.  I felt great and was glad to have it done early in the day, as it is going to be over 80 today and very humid.

Going to a running birthday party tonight.  I don't know if that means more running or not (I hope not, actually).  We are wearing running clothes.   

No running today until 6pm.  This will be tough, because I'm in the post race sad place right now.  I am so afraid that I'll sign up for a marathon today.  Probably Portland.  I like Portland.  Its not far from home.  I don't have to fly.  I know a lot of people running in Portland.  Registration is still open.  Its interesting, but not too hilly.  I really NEED a new race shirt anyway.  I did say I'd sign up after I got my 1/2 goal.

But... I've never run one before.  I'm scared.  What if I can't.  What if I'm a sprinter.  What if I break a shoelace during the marathon.  What if it snows?  

I don't really like days like this, but I do realize they are necessary.

5 easy miles was the assignment.  Since we were running as a group, we ended up doing about 1/2 of those miles at marathon pace.  Fun run.

Rode home from the run for a little bike ride.  Had to ride the clunker, though, because I lost my road bike shoes!  This is pretty serious. 

I'm not going to run today!  Going to spend the equivalent amount of time rolling out my stubborn IT band.  I did it last night, and it hurt really really bad, but felt better when I went to sleep.  I want to get this thing cleared up before it gets bad.  Kind of made a mistake on last night's run.  There were seven of us from my group, but coach could not make it.  And here is why we need a coach.  We ran out Chuckanut, because someone wanted to see "the big hill".  At the bottom of the big hill, I ducked into a porta potty, and said I'd catch up.  Well, I was in there all of 3 seconds, then headed up the hill.  I saw Erins bright blue just ahead, but when I got to the intersection, noone was there.  I had a choice of straight, left or right, left and right being trails.  After a bit of consideration, I chose left, down through the switchbacks to the creek and back up the other side.  So, 3/4 of a mile later, I pop out on the road, and there is part of my group (the men).  The women had all run back up the big hill to look for me in case a bad guy was in the woods waiting to attack me (be attacked BY me is more like it).  So anyway, we all circled back around to catch everyone up, and ended up adding like a mile to the five we were supposed to do.  Then, on the way back, three of us (myself included I'm ashamed to admit), took of flying back down the trail.  Every so often someone would say "this doesn't seem like easy pace", and then we would speed up.  It was the worst example of completely undisciplined running I've ever been involved in.  I am sure that our coach has NO IDEA how much his tiny bit of neglect was squashed our training to bits!

Anyway, I will go for a nice bike ride today if I can find my shoes. 

OH, I almost forgot to say that I signed up for the Portland Marathon.  Now I'm really really scared! 

Got a little bike ride in this evening.  Wow, did I ever feel fast without a run before the bike ride to tire my legs out!  I led much more than my share and felt like I was flying up the hills.   

Its really cold this morning!  Couldn't get out at 5:30 as planned, because it was just too cold and dark!  I'm not ready for winter.  Ran 5 actual easy miles:  9:47, 9:26, 9:37, 10:05 and 10:00.  This is progress on keeping it slow, for sure.  I've adjusted my marathon expectation based on Saturday's race, and my easy pace should be 10 minutes per mile.  I am determine that on easy days I will hit that pace.

See how seriously I take this now that I am going to run a marathon? 

I went to my early morning group workout for hill workout, but I couldn't do the faster intervals on the hills; IT band still somewhat tight.  I will save the hard work for next week.  I did a few easy and a few MP miles instead.  Its a beautiful morning to be out early.

Since running is so light this week, I'm going for a longish bike ride this afternoon.

Nice 25 miles on the bike.  Felt really strong on the hills, no pain in the IT.  Its really cloudy here now, like its about to rain, so I feel like I better run outside and do yard work now before it hits. 

I got a lot of sleep last night.  Woke up not knowing WHAT was up, with the cats sprawled all over me.  Something conked us all out like a light.  NICE.  

No running today, but three long stretching/strengthening sessions planned.  I've been neglecting the upper body weights lately, and need to get back to that.  The IT band feels really good, but I'll do many stretches anyway.  

I'm also beginning to take this marathon thing VERY SERIOUSLY!  After about 10 seconds of consideration, I made a goal of a top ten finish (AG, of course!).  I think this is reasonable.  BUT, I think that I will really need to hit the hip/core strengthening routine hard.  I believe that this is what will keep my legs strong and form reasonable to the end.  

Any of you experienced marathoners out there have any other tips?  Besides running, of course!   

Group run this morning; warm up run for a mile, then strides, then warm up exercises, then 2 miles easy (9:30ish), 2 miles marathon (8:30ish), 2 more miles easy.  Not many miles, as we are saving ourselves for some big mystery strength training next week.  

Its been nice to have a lower mileage, easier week while my IT is getting better.  Got a lot of bike rides in also.

Will run a few more miles this afternoon or ride my bike, depending on whether it rains.

Got up to the mountain by 5:00; time for an easy run with daughter and cousin in the woods.  It was fun to run with people I don't usually run with, especially with my cousin, since its good to see her back running again after bout with breast cancer!  She looks and feels great.  Yeah!  Got to try out the new Vroom! shoes.  Loved them.

A few easy miles near the cabin in my trail shoes.  Rode up the mountain later with my husband.  Biking felt great, and I think I was much steadier on the LOOONG climb than in the past.  21 miles up.  Its funny, but I don't get out of breath so much as my legs just cannot go any faster on the steady climb.  

Nice track workout this evening.  It was raining and kinda cold!  I ran first with my chiropractor who worked with me on my mechanics.  That was good, because by the time I got to the track, I had new stuff to work on while I ran the 1600s.  My splits on the 1600s were 7:42, 7:41 (about right), and 7:21 (way too fast, but experimenting with not looking at Garmin).  Garmin seemed to go wonky with the rain anyway, and by the cool down miles, all that showed on my screen was a compass looking thingy.  The whole workout I practiced my new form and enjoyed my new shoes.  

Afterwards, I was freezing cold, starving, and had no hot water in my house for a bath.  Had to eat carry out food and huddle up under a comforter all evening.  Life is so harsh sometimes.   But I did my arm workout on the weights anyway.

BTW - I had not a speck of tiredness from yesterday's killer bike ride.  And, believe me, its pretty killer.  Why is that?  It seems like a run of that intensity would have made me rather tired the next day.  

Had to split today's run into two bits:  4.5 miles in the morning and 4 miles in the morning.  I didn't like doing to shorter runs in one day.  I would prefer a two a day to include one longer run.  But this is all I could manage.  Felt really tired in the morning anyway, and felt like I slogged through the morning run.  I didn't have Garmin, but I'm sure those miles were all 9:30s.  Ran most of the evening run at a quicker pace, using trails in the woods.  No Garmin here either, but I think the miles were about 8:30.

Still tired though. 

No Garmin again, but I was going for four easy miles.  Once again on the trails by the cabin.  It was a little nippy this morning, and I was out so early that I was especially alert for wildlife on the trails.  I don't know why, but I always think somehow that the cougars will be out in the early morning.  I have no evidence for this, and have never seen a cougar in these woods.  I have seen tracks, and heard what I thought was a cougar once.  Anyway, no cougars, but thinking about what I would do if I encountered one occupied most of the run.  Silly me.  

I'm not doing any more running, or biking today.  I'm just kind of strangely tired, and feel that I should save myself for tomorrow's track work. 

Only five miles this morning, and a relatively short workout, but HARD!  Instead of mile repeats at a relatively sane 5K pace, we did 200m repeats (10) at 90% effort or so.  I actually felt great while doing them, but right now I'm very tired.  

I'm working out my diet for the remainder of time until the marathon.  My biggest challenge at this point is to not lose any more fat.  I think if I get any leaner it will compromise my strength.  Any tips from experience marathoners out there?  I've got about seven weeks to go and mileage will probably go up for a few more weeks, and some long runs thrown in there.  I am already putting the snack plan into action:  two snacks per day.

HaHa.  I just read my post from yesterday, and its clear that I'm getting freaked out about all the things that could go wrong with the marathon!  Its good to get the anxiety out of the way early I guess.  Here are some of my positive mantras:

  1.  I am getting good training from experienced people, who have helped many people successfully compelete marathons.  I am fortunate in this.

2.  I am a capable runner, and have proved myself to be competent at many distances.

3.  I have set reasonable, attainable goals for myself.

4.  I have ample mental resources to succeed in a marathon.

I know that I'll feel better after tomorrow's long run:  5 miles easy, 10 at MP, 5 easy.  It will give me some confidence.

As per Carolyn's advice, I enjoyed hot chocolate before bed, and look how much sleep I got!  Yes, its cold enough here for hot chocolate. 

Have a great running weekend everyone! 

20 mile run is done.  I'm not really jumping up and down impressed with myself, but I rarely am anyway, and I'm trying to keep it positive.  On the good side:

1.  I ran farther than I ever ran.

2.  My feet and legs feel great!

3.  My MP miles were all on pace, all 10 of 'em.

4.  Its done.

5.  I can wear my toe ring with no ill effect. 

6.  Ice baths don't kill you; they kinda feel good. 

One the other side (the side that could use improvement - the side with potential!):

1.  At mile 17, I just had no oxygen left.  Asthma/shmasma, or whatever.  Last three splits were bad.

2.   Orange Gatorade looks really good, but makes you throw up.

3.  My overall time was nothin' special; don't really see how I can run a marathon like this.

Going for a really pretty bike ride tomorrow- one of my favorites!  Down to Edison and pop in at a favorite gallery, hopefully eat something yummy, and home 'round the big loop through Alger (site of the famous Alger shooting spree!)  The "running" assignment is 4 easy, so the bike ride fits into my Sunday. 

Recovery day, only 4 easy running miles required.  So I decided to go for a bike ride first.  The weather is absolutely perfect today for riding!  Its warm, sunny, and a little breeze.  There is a lovely fall smell in the air, and people are picking blackberries along all of the roads.  I rode with my friend Julie around a hilly loop here near my house, partly along the lake and partly along some hilly country roads.  If I ever live out of town, I want to live up there, and have llamas.  Anyway, when we got back to my house, I was inspired to just stuff a bit of food in, change into my running gear, and do the four easy miles right away.  I was thinking that later in the day I would be tired and it would be harder to get out and do it.  So that's what I did.  Wow, did my legs feel funny.  I felt like I was moving through water and going about 12 minute miles.  But when I looked at Garmin, my first two splits were 9:09 and 9:12!  This kind of cracked me up for some reason, because I really felt like I was not even moving.  In fact, I even wondered if people passing me in cars on the road part of the run were looking at me funny, wondering why I was moving so slowly!  Third split was 9:23, and last split was 9:22.  

So, a strange workout, but good recovery jog.  Now I'm tired and will sit around reading.  I love being outdoors in this weather, the breeze is nice. 

9:00am, sunny and 72 degrees!  This is perfection.  Splits for 6 miles were:  8:48, 9:01, 9:09, 9:14, 9:27, 9:54, with .89 miles at the end of walking at 15:18.  These are more or less perfect easy miles.  I wore the Vroom shoes (Lunaracers).  The run was about 1/2 street and 1/2 trail, with a short section of more technical trail, so I could see how the Vrooms did on more rocky, rooted terrain.  I loved them everywhere; now that I've got somewhat used to them, it is easy to go slowly in them.  

I felt like this run was truly effortless, and should become the template for all of my runs.  I was talking with my chiropractor/coach/personal motivator yesterday about what muscles are required for just lifting the foot off the ground for each step, in Chi running form.  He said just think about the foot, not the muscles.  While I ran, I just observed what my body did, and sure enough, its just the foot.  The leg feels pretty relaxed with each step.  I want to have this feeling for the first 10 miles or so of the marathon.

I came home and did my core work, arm weights, hip strengtheners, and stretches, and found that all this stuff takes me over an hour!  It  has really added up over the last few weeks,  but I didn't realize how much time I was spending on the support stuff.  It is all important; there is not anything that I would cut out, so I guess I'll just have to carve out the time each day.  Sometimes I do it in two pieces.

Another perfect morning!  I got out around 5:30 and watched two young men fishing along the lake, pulling in quite large trout.  That was the first mile.  Then my run took me into the woods, where I was able to see a small coyote lurking around one of the ponds, probably looking for frogs.  It was so small I thought it might have been a partially grown pup.  So cute!  I ran down past the fish hatchery and went up and down a hill a couple of times, trying to feel that effortless stride going up the hill.  Finished my run as the sun was coming up, blood red, over the duck pond.  The ducks are all back in the pond now, back from wherever they have raised their babies; I wish I had brought something to give them to eat.  It was a beautiful morning to get out early, and I think its going to be a sunny day, yippee!  My splits were:  9:27, 9:37, 8:20 (too fast, because I wanted to get to the bathroom by the playground), 9:03, 9:54, and a walking .7 of a mile at 15:19.  

As I got back to my driveway, I was greeted by Jesus (my cat, pronounced HeyZeus), who presented me with another blue stellar Jay!  This is the second one in two days.  They are lovely birds, and it makes me sad to se him kill them, but he obviously wants me to enjoy the gift, so, as his pack leader, I try to graciously accept them.  Maybe I can use the feathers somehow.  Little cat Pirate is insanely jealous, both of Jesus' hunting prowess and the attention that Jesus gets for said prowess.  

On to the stretching and butt strengthening exercises. 

Track workout!  Some warm up running, exercises, 2X200 strides, then 5X800M at 5K pace.  My splits were 3:30, 3:41, 3:42, 3:38, and 3:42.  The first one was way too fast, but it was really fun!  I knew after the first 400 that I was going too fast, but it was too much fun to stop, so I just went for it and resolved to make the next one slower.  I am very undisciplined at 5am.

Anyway, super fun workout, and another beautiful morning.  

On Saturday, we have a 1 mile time trial!  What?   

Day off, so I just ran a bit to check out something with my stride I've been curious about.  Call it a bodywork session.  Supposed to be "resting up" for the one mile time trial tomorrow.  The whole thing is making me so angry that I might just run it really fast because I'm mad.  I'm angry because I don't see what it has to do with marathon training, and I don't want to waste my time.  I want to run a long run tomorrow.

When I got back into my car after my run, there were wasps inside my car.  At least three of them!  They were just sitting there looking at me, but not saying much.  I am allergic to most wasps, so I asked them to get out, then opened the doors.  They just sat there.  I finally had to take off my shoe, hold it out, and let them get onto it, one at a time.  I then flicked them outside on my shoe.  I hope I didn't wreck their day, but I just didn't want to drive them around. 

We did our 1 mile time trial today.  Started at 7:00; weather was perfect; 60 degrees, clear skies.  I had my goal, which was to run it in 6:40, based on my earlier season 5K pace of 7:30/mile.  Coach said to wait until 3rd lap to increase speed.  I had been thinking to wait until lap 4, because I know that I can always kick at the end.  Anyway, my first lap was way too fast (1:25), so I ended up not speeding up at all until the final stretch.  Final time was 6:10!  

As much as I complained about this run, it really was an incredible confidence booster.  Everyone in my group has improved fitness dramatically throughout the training, and it showed.  Best of all, for me, was that there was NO ASTHMA whatsoever.  I was breathing hard, and my lungs were burning after, but no wheezing.   

Easy miles, nothing special.  First two were too fast, as usual, (8:43, 8:38), the rest were all in the 9:15-9:40 range.  I noticed lots of ripe blackberries all along the trail; I could even smell them!  I will go out on my bike in the morning and collect them for jam.  Yumm!

I was up on Mt. Baker this morning picking huckleberries.  It is so peaceful and quite and actually quite Fall-like, lots of colors turning already, and a crispness in the air.  Many signs of bear in the huckleberry fields!  I guess they are trying to fill up.   

Had a nice but short bike ride this morning.  16 miles.

Track workout tonight.  Warm up, strides, then many exercises to strengthen and tire out the legs, then a run on tired legs.  The theory is that making the legs tired first, then running will strengthen them and "teach" them to do that in the marathon.  I think I get it.   

Nice easy run; I threw some long hills in for fun.  Looks like rain today; but if it doesn't rain, I will go on my group bike ride tonight.

Los of work today. 

An easy run that turned into M miles.  Super fun, though.  Splits were 9:00, 8:38, 8:48, 8:42, 8:35, 8:36 (for last little bit).  I felt the effort by the end because I was completely out of fuel - my body does that sometimes.   

I ran on a trail I don't usually go on, and explored a spur that I have NEVER been on!  It was a steady climb up from the lake for about a mile, than levels out and climbs again.  I went way too fast on the uphill bits, but somehow that felt good this morning.  Then, by the time I was back down on the flat lake trail, with just 1/2 mile back to my car, I started feeling so hungry that I was weak.  I must find something that I like to eat for breakfast.  I was going to stop and pick some blackberries there at the end, but didn't want to ruin my nice marathon pace splits. 

Whew!  Busy day, so I'm just now getting a chance to post this mornings workout.  I've organized a huge fundraiser for the high school XC team, starts Saturday and runs through Sunday afternoon.  Its a 30 hour relay, with nightime hours run at the high school track, and daytime hours run in front of a local grocery on a treadmill.  Trying to get 60 runners and 100 or so parents stuck into time slots is crazy.  Then I have to keep bugging the runners to see if they've got the pledges they need, and trying to get food donated so that the runners don't starve to death, find tents and lights for the nightime (some parents want two tents, in case any boys and girls get mixed up!).  Craziness.  But fun.

This morning's workout was new and quite interesting!  Some jogging, warming up, as usual.  Then, many many hopping and jumping exercises for explosive strength, plus some cadence drills and counts.  Then, four all out strides of 100m.  Then 2000m of 5K pace, then cool down.   It was exhausting, with all the jumping and hopping.  It should get my legs in really good shape for skiing I guess.

PM:  3 easy miles, just because the sun is out and tomorrow is a rest day anyway. 

Day of rest, just a tiny bike ride, before the rain happens.  I love my bike.  

Group run this morning.  It was supposed to be 2 easy miles, 4 marathon miles, and 2 more easy.  But, our coach wasn't there, so, as usual in his absence, we ran amok and completed the miles at marathon pace.  We did do a warm up though, and stretched after.  

The hill in mile 6, which used to frequently kill us now feels like a breeze; we just MP right on up that hill.  Definitely stronger than 4 months ago.  

Enjoy your weekend! 

Easy miles, splits 9:17, 9:08, 8:51, 9:18, 9:08, and 9:03.  Nice slow motion easy effort all the way.  

Whew! Eight whole hours of sleep last night, and I'm feeling really recovered from the weekend of the 30 hour relay! The event was fun, and we made some money for the team. Its fun to hang around all that teen energy for awhile. By 5am at the track, where they ran during the night, I arrived to make waffles for the gang, and there was a group of kids sleeping on the tennis courts, another group sleeping in the tent, and a third group doing laps around the course that I set up.  Parents were sitting in chairs encouraging the runners and playing some strange form of twenty questions with the kids as they ran by.  A very peaceful scene.  Its a good thing they have another week to rest up before school starts!

Anyway, I am a bit grumpy because I will miss my track workout tonight.  Parent sports meeting.  I'm feeling a little beat up today anyhow, so I might just do some easy miles, and do the track work on my own early tomorrow morning.

PM - I never got over that beat up feeling, so I just took an "off" day, and did 3.7 easy miles, just focusing on picking up my feet and leaning from the ankles.  Call it a form intensive.   

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.