Auntie Em Goes Running

Skipped the New Year's Day bike ride today, because it was just too windy!  Howling winds from about 3am on, and only got worse as the time for the ride approached.  Darn it.  So I headed over to Lake Padden to run around the lake twice, then jump IN the lake to celebrate New Year's Day with 300 or so other people.  What a fun community event!  So fun to live in a community where so many people participate in such an event.  The run was so funny - anyone from 2 years old to 98 years old, and many younger ones in strollers, plus about 100 dogs, all heading out at the same time.  We ran, then some jumped in the lake.  I dressed in shorts so that all I had to do was strip off an outer shirt and be ready to go swimming without a wardrobe change!  

I spent quite of time afterwards drinking hot chocolate and visiting with many many friends at the Lake.  I even met the Roller Derby girls, local heros to me.  I would love to join them, and they did invite me, but I just don't seem to have enough body piercings to really fit in.  I do love to skate though; maybe I will go work out with them.  

Hope everyone had a great New Years Day! 

No rain today; planned a trail run with friends for 8:30.  Haven't run this far for a long time, and I've run so many pool and X training miles lately, I never know exactly what to expect from a real run.  I felt tired from the start, had a pretty healthy second wind in the middle (miles 4-8), and pushed hard the last few even though I was tired.  Last mile or so is the long steady hill which I always dread but always do great on.  I played a game with my friend Aeron about passing people.  We developed a funny counting system and picked off everyone in front of us.  It helped me get through the last bit.  

I feel happy about pushing a bit on this run even though I was inexplicably tired.  And, even better, my knee feels like its old self today!  Still not sure how I can be ready to race on the 16th, but I'll just take it day to day.

Average pace 9:10, eleven miles. 

Five pool miles this morning; only had time for a 50 minute workout, then spent the rest of the day in the car.  It has been dark and rainy all day, and I just want to fall asleep until spring.  I will get up for track workout tomorrow though.

1.5 hours on the bike this morning, easy effort.  I did it indoors because it looks like rain, and I didn't want to gear up for that.  And because I'm lazy.

Track workout tonight, 5X200 hill reps, plus 4X200 flat reps.  EXACTLY .52 on the 200m.  Why is it so important to be EXACTLY on pace?  I will report my success with this later. 

OK, success with the pace:  Hills (5X200):  .55, .54, .54, .50, .52.  Pretty good.  Flats (4X200):  .42, .45, .46, .48.  This was very, very hard, after just doing the hills.  I just could not hit the same pace.  Disappointing, but it was fun trying.  I really love these types of workouts.   

Yoga this morning!  Finally found a teacher I like.  Good class.

Had to go immediately to the pool and do the easy miles for the day.  Knee too sore to run on trails today.  Tried to keep to an easy effort, but, honestly running in the pool is so boring I have to mix it up a little with some harder efforts thrown in.  But I'll call it easy. 

Terrible workout this morning!  Yoga first (which was not terrible), then I planned to hit the trail right from there, since the trail near the yoga studio is relatively flat and therefore appropriate for the 4X4 minute threshold intervals I was supposed to do.  A few things went wrong with this run:

  1.  No fuel.  Yoga starts at 7, ends at 8:30.  No breakfast, and I should have had a gel or something before I ran.  I'd been up since 4:30, and didn't have anything left by 8:30.

2.  Not enough warm clothes.  Its a rare morning here where I actually needed long tights, gloves, AND an ear warmer.  32 degrees!  That's colder than I'm used to.  I neglected to wear full length tights and didn't bring anything for my head, so I was cold.

3.   I was able to hold my perfect form through warm up and through 2 intervals.  Then my right leg/hip package seemed to just sort of fall out of alignment, and it was harder to just lift the leg from the hip with each stride.  FRUSTRATING!  I feel that this is what results in knee pain eventually, so I decided to stop after the two intervals and cool down back to my car.

4.  Upon examining my Garmin, I found that I wasn't even holding the correct pace!  My threshold pace is 8:14, and my intervals were 7:31 and 7:44.  EVEN MORE FRUSTRATING!   

This whole experience did not even feel like a run.  I mean, I don't even feel like I got any exercise at all.  I'll be back when I have something nice to say.

PM Update:  Nice 5 easy miles in the park in the dark with friends and new shoes.  Better now. 

Unruffled by wind

The lake perfectly mirrors

A whole universe.

 The assignment today was 45 minutes at easy pace.  My knee was at about 80%, but I decided to run outdoors anyway because it has been so long since I got two days in a row outside, and I was absolutely committed to keeping my form perfect so my knee would not hurt.  I ran 4.77 miles, splits 9:23, 9:09, 9:56, 9:28, and 9:36.  That's perfect pace, and without looking at Garmin.  And, even better, my form was perfect the whole way, which takes a lot of mental concentration with my advanced level of ADD.  I did some of the assigned warm up exercises, and some of the assigned drills in the parking lot before and after the run.  

My knee is certainly no worse and possibly better after this run.   

Does anyone know why I can't seem to put a new blog picture up?  I have a new one, but can't seem to make it stick. 

The world is still night

Out of the darkness, a light!

Running buddy's here. 

Kind of lame haiku today, but I'll get better.  This morning's running assignment was 90 minutes or 10 miles, first 75 minutes at EZ pace and last 15 at threshold pace.  Garmin pace information was not working so well, so we ran it by feel, and screwed it up a bit.  We were aiming for 9-9:15 EZ pace and 8:14 threshold.

Overall, too fast, splits of 8:59, 8:38, 9:16, 9:43, 8:35, 8:52, 8:59, 9:19, 8:08, 8:06.  Still, a great run, last two miles felt hard!  I felt great after, and went to work at a local race.  Saw some other people running and having fun.  

HERE'S the funny part:  I washed all my running shoes and in doing so removed all their insides.  This morning, I just shoved a pair on my feet and ran.  My form felt very good on this run and no knee pain in spite of three days running outdoors (a total of four runs).  About an hour after my run, I slipped my shoes off, and noticed that I ran without replacing the insides of my shoes - and I didn't even notice!  A blonde moment for sure. 

Signed up for the Chuckanut 50K this morning too!  Registration opened at 8am and it fills up FAST.  So I timed my run to be done by 7:30 and sitting with friend in front of computer by 8am, sharp.  We're both in!  Excited. 

I looked at my schedule today, and thought it said "lazy day" on there, but I didn't have my glasses on, and it actually said "crosstraining day".  Whoops, I already have a pretty good start on the lazy day.

Seriously, I'm kind of tired.  It is not raining out today and not cold, so if I feel more energetic a bit later, I'll go out and ride, or go to the rink and ice skate.

I did do 1/2 hour or so of mobility and strength exercises, and will post again later if I decide to stop being lazy and actually log some mileage on the bike. 

April:  I'm posting the cookie recipe here, since you asked for it, and they are so good, I hate to not share them with everyone.  I sort of patched this recipe together from several other ones.

CHOCOLATE CHIP/OATMEAL/COCONUT COOKIES

  1 Cup Butter

1/2 Cup brown sugar

1/2 Cup Raw sugar or white sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 Cup Rolled Oats

1 Cup unsweetened coconut

2 1/2 Cups Flour (I use Whole Wheat pastry flour)

16 ounces chocolate chips (Use some white and some dark if you want)

3/4 Cup Cacao Nibs (These are super nutritious little chips of cacao beans - the ones I use are Dagoba brand)

Cream butter and sugars together, add eggs and vanilla.  Mix in flour and then add the oats, coconut, chocolate chips and nibs.  Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes.  These cookies do not spread much while baking, so you can drop them on the sheet fairly close together.

PM update - A lazy paced bike ride.  The weather here today is beautiful, warm and partly clear.  Still needed winter duds for biking, but very pleasant temperature.  Nice hilly ride with very little traffic.  Saw a number of other people out enjoying their bikes. 

Quiet fluttering

Easy to ignore at first,

winds are howling now!

EARLY pool run this morning.  In the pool by 5:45, out the door at 7:00.  I didn't really need to go in the pool today for my knee, but I may want some trail miles this afternoon, and decided not to push it.  

We are back to wind and rain today; glad I had that bike ride yesterday!   

PM update:  Could not pass up the opportunity to get soaked in a warm rain this afternoon on the trails!  So warm today - 57 degrees at 4:00.  Splits were 10:07,9:44, 9:23, 9:27, and 9:26.  Hooray for easy miles.  It was so fun, I wrote another haiku about it:

Delicious warm rain

Mind wandering to spring - Whoops!

Rather large puddle. 

The dead of winter:

Nothing seems dead exactly

We're all just resting. 

Did an early morning (indoor) bike ride for crosstraining.  Will post the running part later after tonight's track workout.  Its been clear and warmish all day; now before track it has begun to rain again. 

PM Track workout:  Miserable and windy at the track!  My hill 200s were supposed to be .52 each; splits were .53, .54,.44,.50,.53,.52.  Not bad.  The track ones were also supposed to be .52 each; they were .47, .49,. 47,.49.  Too fast, but better than last week.  I didn't want to go to the track tonight, so I'm glad its over and a good effort. 

Distracted briefly;

birds are singing outside, then

quieting my mind. 

Five easy, wet miles (9:31, 9:39, 9:16, 9:12, 9:33), then the yoga class.  I need to find something to eat between running and yoga, or I'll faint someday in headstand!

Cold, dark and rainy

this is lasting way too long 

will it ever end? 

The haiku says it all.  I COULD NOT make myself go outside today.  I am rarely a weenie, but today I am.  Did my early am yoga class, then hit the gym this afternoon for the assigned tempo running.  It was OK on the treadmill; at least my pace was right on!

I am absolutely taking tomorrow totally off; its been awhile since I had a "nothing" day.  I am a bit confused about the 5K on Saturday, but I think I'll be fine.  I wish it was a mile, because I could just run fast.  I don't think I can really just run fast for 5K; I'll have to pace myself somewhat.  I am sure it will be very educational. 

Outside is crazy!

Howling winds and driving rains

watching from inside.

Absolutely nuts outside!  I was planning on a day off anyway, as its been awhile since I had one, and I would like to be fresh for tomorrow.  I'll do some stretching and core stabilization stuff, and REST!  And hope for less wind tomorrow! 

Nookachamps 5K!   Brilliant weather, around 35 degrees at start and SUNNY!  Wow.  Imagine 1000 people who haven't seen the sun for weeks receiving all that free vitamin D and lining up for a race together.  Mucho adrenaline and excitement.  They actually start the 1/2 M, 10K and 5K all at the same time at the same start line.  Its a madhouse, with 5Kers trying to start on pace and trying not to trample 1/2 marathoners in the first few minutes.  Takes some focused attention.  Things shook out after the first 3 minutes, though, and the 5K turned off just after the first mile, when things got considerably better.

I kept right on pace the first mile (6:52), and felt super great.  It was mostly flat with an uphill near the end.  Second mile, more uphill, some down, and still on pace (6:58).  In the third mile, the terrain got a lot tougher (more uphill and a squishy trail).  My pace suffered here, and was 7:30 or thereabouts.  Uphill finish, with the course actually ending higher than it started!  I could barely get enough air in the last 400m, and wish I could have sprinted a bit, but NO.  My time was about a minute slower than I wanted, but still a PR over my last 5K (which was a super easy course).  Finished in 22.30 (I don't think this will exactly match the official time, but that's what the clock said as I crossed the line).  I was either first or second in my division, not really sure.

There were lovely hot showers in the gym, after which I ran out to the 10K and 1/2 finish area and handed out medals.  It was a privilege to put a medal around Sno's neck!   

I was in Seattle last night; we went down there to watch Avatar in 3D.  It was really good!  Then we stayed over, so my run was early in the morning downtown.  I didn't run down to the waterfront trail, because I was alone and it was early, so I just ran around downtown, and looped down through the international district before coming back.  I only meant to run 5, but forgot what hotel I was staying at, so I ran up and down 3rd for awhile looking for the hotel, which wasn't there, because it was on 4th.  Whoops.

Spent the night in Glacier last night, so that we could ski today.  I wasn't sure if my knee would be ready to ski yet, but it has been awhile since I tried.  My son was in a snowboard race, a locals race to qualify for the Legendary Banked Slalom.  He rarely rides his snowboard; mostly he teleskis these days.  So, anyway, his board was very tiny for his big size, and it was all duct taped together at the back end, so it looked pretty funny.  He qualified for his race, so now we are looking for another snowboard for him.

It turned into a pretty nice day, with some sun, and the snow wasn't too bad.  I couldn't ski all day, and I stayed on groomed runs, but my knee is not sore today, so that's good!

Hope everyone had a good holiday! 

Strength and stabilizing exercises this morning, then track in the evening.  I felt sick from a potato burrito at lunch, and just didn't feel well even after track.  My new pace for 200s is .48.  The hill 200s were (.48, .46, .47, .47).  Flat track ones were (.40,.43).  Then I was supposed to do a couple of 800s at my new interval pace.  I did the math about 100 times, and got a different mile pace each time.  I settled on 6:30 mile pace for the 800s.  The were 6:30 and 6:28.  I still don't know if this was right; I think my brain was addled by the bad burrito food.  

Got up at 4am thinking that I'd go work out in the pool, but it looked soooo nice outside that I went for a run outside instead and the to yoga class.  For some reason, it just kicks my butt (in a good way) to run and then do the long yoga class.  I think it is because the yoga is so form intensive, and really works on leg strength.  I run back to my car, change quickly into some dry clothes for yoga, stuff a bit of food in me, and then do the yoga.

I just looked ahead at tomorrow's workout.  Its the same as last Thursday, 4X5 minutes at threshold pace.  Only problem is, my threshold pace has been adjusted from 8:12 to 7:38!  This seems like a huge leap to me.  There was a corresponding leap in last night's paces, or course, but it seemed very easy, just a few seconds over 200m.  I'm concerned about this new T pace, but I guess I'll just go do it and see what happens!

Another early morning, as I wanted to be on the track by 5am.  This means up at 4.  I was so worried about the new T pace - it leapt from 8:13 to 7:38, and that scared me a bit.  But, no worries, it was easy!  I was just doing 5 minute intervals at T pace this morning with a 90 second jog in between.  The five minute bits were:  7:38, 7:38, 7:36, and 7:35.  These last two were without looking at the watch, so I think that is as perfect as I can get.  

Went right on to yoga, now my legs are tired!

Maybe some easy miles with some buddies this pm, as its sunny here!

Ski day, no running!  Beautiful sunshine and cold snow.  Snow like dry sugar in fact, very unusual around here.  Fast snow.

No rain again, but colder (39 degrees) and overcast.  Met with a group (many new people I hadn't met before) at 8:30 and started out along the water.  I ran with the group for 7.65 miles (the easy miles), then broke away to complete my run.  I did an additional 20 minutes at marathon pace, which is supposed to be 8:10.  My splits were a bit fast, but there was some downhill, so I'm not entirely to blame here - 7:54, 8:09, 7:56 (.42).  I did better in the final 10 minutes of the run, at tempo pace of 7:38.  I was exactly at 7:38 for 1.26 miles!  Successful overall.

No knee pain in spite of a full day of skiing yesterday.  Might have to ski again tomorrow; we are supposed to get a bit of snow I think!   

Mountain run.  Cold, dry day, overcast.  I didn't want to be outdoors, so I planned a run in my favorite mountain area.  Long, medium steep hills and technical trails.  AP was 11:40!!  Good 50K training.

Pool running this morning!  I've kind of missed it.  Not.  Hopefully the wind will die down a bit here by afternoon.  I've planned a 30 mile bike ride with my friend who is training for an ironman.

I signed up for a couple of races this morning.  

1.  A 5K on Feb. 13 in Seattle.  This one should be fun; takes place at Greenlake Park, one of my old running spots when I lived in Seattle.

2.  A 10K on Feb. 27 in LaConner, WA, just down the road from here.  

3.  The Chilly Hilly Bike Ride on Feb. 28 on Bainbridge Island.  This is a really big, fun event, and can be quite CHILLY and is always hilly.  The LaConner run is on the way, so it will be a fun filled weekend.  I am already hoping for some really good food afterwards. 

33 degrees at 7:49 am.  Forgot my gloves and hat.  Forgot to wear longer pants too.  Had coffee with husband and daughter at a bakery and then ran the interurban.  It was supposed to be 40 minutes easy, then 6X50-100m strides, FAST.  The 40 easy minutes sounded pretty boring, so I took off into the "100 acre woods", a tangled mass of semi-trails and knee deep mud.  Got lost, found the main interurban again at exactly 37 minutes, after being chased by a large and potentially dangerous black dog with large teeth.  I didn't feel like measuring and marking a section of trail, so I just did the strides by feel for distance.  Strangely enough, 4 of them came out at exactly .07 (100m would be .06).  The last two were .05 and .06.  I guess I'm pretty good at guessing distance.  I just started and stopped when I felt like it and jogged about 15 seconds in between, just long enough to stop and restart the watch.

AP on the 40 minute run was 9:51, slowed by debris and mud.  Mile pace times on the strides were:  6:11, 5:38, 5:34, 5:34, 5:58, and 5:16.  They felt like hard effort, but not quite all out.  

Sunny day here; I think I'll head outside and clean up my yard and collect some vitamin D!   PM update:  Yard work done in time to get an hour of biking in!

OH, THIS DAY OF REST IS NO FUN!  Its sunny out, so its that much harder not to go for a run or a bike ride.  The whole week has been a "cut back" week, and I'm trying very hard to believe that it is a good thing, but really wanted to run today.  Worked in the yard instead, made a huge mess of branches and sticks in the driveway.  It was very satisfying.  

Spent some time planning Saturday's mountain training run.  Got many maps and topo maps; the trails look rugged in spots and its hard to guess how long this run will take us to complete; its only about 1/3-1/2 of the mountainous portion of the 50K.  Undoubtedly, we will not be running it at 9 minute miles!  Anyway, I've planned a 13 miler for our group, and then I will do my MP and tempo time afterwards on the (relatively) flat trail. 

Another early morning, track by 5am, yoga by 6:30.  Silly little track workout, fun with drills and easy running.  Nice yoga though, lots of focus on hip openers. 

In the strange journey of healing my knee and ensuring that no more running injuries happen, I'm having my tailbone fixed.  It was broken badly about 10 years ago, and is apparently wreaking havoc now.  Never in my youthful follies did I imagine that my body would still be feeling all the damage inflicted while I was still stupid. 

30 minutes of treadmill.  Ho hum.  Tomorrow back to work and more running.  Did some stretching and weight lifting (upper body only).

Awesome trail run!  Very slow pace on the easy miles (AP 11:26), because the trail is so difficult and muddy and rocky and steep.  There is a whole section that is "unrunnable", but most of the course appears to be  runnable.  I'll explore the rest of it in the next few weeks.  

MP and tempo miles were back on the flattish interurban trail, and went fine, right on pace.   

Thick mist just hanging

far below the mountain tops

like a cloud that fell. 

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

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

Total darkness shifts

to soft colorings and then!

sun explodes the sky 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Back to the mountain now.

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

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

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

I have questioned why;

and cursed and whined and cried, NOW

its time to fix it. 

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

You are a poet

possessing beauty, skill, grace

  And very fleet feet.

I really love that its all about me! 

Happy trails everyone. 

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

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

^{Winter rains are back!}

^{A whisper at first, but soon}

^{the music is loud.} 

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

I just dreamed again

of dirt trail disappearing

beneath muddy shoes. 

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

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

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

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

Had that dream again -

you know the one, where you fly,

but can't get away. 

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

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

22:32@Easy (AP 9:09)

10:43 as drills with strides

15:09@M (AP 8:01)

15:25@Easy (AP 9:23) 

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

Cold, hard rain is fine

when I know that a hot bath

is waiting for me. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The sun is a gift

we don't always appreciate

until it is gone. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Enough rambling!  Off to plant the peas and spinach. 

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

Happy Saturday running! 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Waking a struggle;

its just too early, until

the run has begun. 

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

I really love having two runs a day! 

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

The heavens let loose -

at least that is what they say;

I just call it rain.

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

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

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

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

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

Great day! 

This run just flew by; I don't know where the time went.   That has never happened to me before on a solo long run.  I felt tired when I left the house, had no running plan, and noone to run with.  It took me a good 3 miles to warm up my legs, then I just settled into what felt like an easy pace.  I kept this pace fairly steadily throughout the run, averaging 9:49.  I just went wherever I felt like and ended up at one point down by Civic Field, where I did a few laps on the track before heading back into trail running.  Before I knew it, it was 11:00 and I had to figure out a way home that would take 45 minutes.  Fun run, and I sort of feel like I could run more, but don't think it would be a good idea.  Maybe I'm finally getting over  my distance weakness!

30 minute mobility session, mostly dynamic stretches.  70 minutes on the bike, high cadence, no intervals.  30 minutes strength session, focusing on leg strength (squats, hip strengtheners, glut strengtheners), finishing with some foot/ankle flexibility/strength work.   

I am starting to feel that all the little injuries of the Fall/Winter are past.  I am very very grateful.  

In this moment - a chance

for what can only be done

now, never again. 

This was a really long track workout!  I cannot believe the miles this week.  I also cannot believe how great I feel.  

2.27 miles WU - AP 9:52

2 200m strides with 200m RI (.5 miles)

5X1 mile @ Tempo pace (7:38, 7:38, 7:38, 7:36, 7:35) with 1 1/2 laps RI between

4X200m @ R pace (.46, .44, .44, .44).  

1.75 CD - AP 10:11

I don't know why I can't get those 200m R pace things right; I always do them a few seconds too fast!  But everything else was perfect today, so I'm happy.  Every workout this week, I go just a little beyond what I am comfortable with, since I believe this is what I will need for 50K running!

I have two haikus today:

1. All quiet and soft,

eating all the pretty flowers -

deer are such big pests!

2. So silently strong

pushing up from a grave of soil -

surprise!  Here are peas. 

Have a great day everyone! 

So much activity today there has been no time to blog!  I spent the night at the mountain last night, and did the morning run of 7.42 easy miles around the trails up there.  The woods are beautiful right now; so springlike already!  Not too muddy either, as we've had so little rain compared to usual.  AP on this run was 9:42.

Skied for four hours with my friend from Seattle.  It was sunny, with glorious views of Mt. Shuksan.  I really want to climb Shuksan someday, and I'd better get on it soon.  It was so wonderful to ski with every single body part feeling strong and in working order!!!!

Drove down the mountain, jumped into running gear, and drove a short ways from my house to Stimpson Woods, a trail run that I love.  The assignment this afternoon was 30-45 minutes of hilly running at marathon pace!  This is a slightly technical trail with lots of long uphills and downhills and many switchbacks.  I did not make marathon pace.  AP was 8:47.  I felt very strong.  I usually run this loop twice, but that would have taken too long, and it would have been dark when I finished.

A skiing sandwich

with running bread on each side

makes a perfect day! 

One hour fifteen minutes on the stationary bike, easy spinning.  Followed it up with 30 minutes of static, gentle stretching.  No strengthening.  Probably this is all I will do today.  I'm saving myself for tomorrow's 3.5 hour mountain jog.  Very excited!  Also will try to get some work done this afternoon to make up for yesterday's little "vacation".

Final training run!  I was tired going in to this one; as I just had an incredibly high mileage week (for me).  Yesterday's restful bike ride did not exactly leave me completely fresh.  Still, I think my training partner and I did really well on this run.  We challenged ourselves with not just one huge climb, but circled around and did two huge climbs.  I think this will more closely approximate the actual race, where we will climb up to the top several times, then drop back down again.  In between, many smaller climbs and long downhills.  These mountain climbs really took it out of me today; my butt muscles are just so tired!  But I pushed it, kept going, and was more mentally strong than I've ever been.  When we got back to the flat trail, with 4 miles to go, I said no way can I do the marathon pace miles, but my legs thought different, and just kicked them out anyway!  I couldn't believe it.

17.5 miles, 3 hours, 15 minutes, AP 11:02.

Ready to taper.

Have a great weekend! 

Yesterday was a nothing day; today was a little bike ride, just to warm up the legs.  It has alternated between sunning and lightly SNOWING here all morning, so the ride was interesting.  

I feel pretty well recovered from Saturday's brutal run; kinda surprised, actually.  My schedule for the next few weeks looks like a taper, but not one that will drive me nuts.  I've still got some track workouts in there, and a few two a day run days.  

A very unusual morning here:  sunny, cold, and LOW HUMIDITY!  We almost never get low humidity here.  I find that the cold feels so much better when its dry cold, instead of the moldy, wet, damp inside cold that we usually get.  Its glorious!

I got to run this morning, too.  3.26 miles at an AP of 9:41 (splits 9:01, 9:39, 10:23, and 9:36).  Not as slow as I would have liked, but it just felt great to run again - I have missed it. And, I wrote a couple of haikus while I ran (I don't write haikus when I don't run):

A great color scheme;

redwinged blackbirds without doubt

win the prize on this.

Marsh grass is disturbed,

horrible honking ensues;

a pair of loud geese.

Another run this afternoon, probably in Seattle, since I'll be down there with my mother looking at some galleries.   Its a marathon pace run, so I'll probably go to the Burke Gilman Trail, nice and flattish.

Evening in the pitch dark:  4.89 miles at AP 8.48.  This was supposed to be a run with some marathon paced parts in it, totalling about 30 minutes of MP running.  It was really hard to tell if I achieved this because it was sooo dark out by the time I made it outdoors (we have few streetlights and NO lights once I'm on the trails), so I just did my best.

The croaking of frogs!

most certainly to anyone

this means spring is here. 

Yup, that's it!

Cold.

Rainy.

Windy.

Unpleasant.

wu

strides

2X1600 (one at marathon and one at tempo)

2X1200 (one at marathon and one at tempo) 

cd

There was no rest interval between these intervals; the marathon pace work was the rest interval between the tempo bits, I guess.  How clever. 

Early morning yoga class, then 90 minutes recovery bike ride.  Too rainy and windy to ride outdoors, so I did it indoors, while watching Forrest Gump, my favorite running movie.  

Beautiful, sunny morning, but cold.  The car said it was 41, but it felt about 35.  I waited around for Brad for about five minutes, then started out on my own.  Ran out from Fairhaven to Larrabee Park, along the Interurban Trail.  This will be the out and back sections at the beginning and end of next week's 50K.  I did no extra hills; I will save that for next week.  Of course I got way to warm after a mile or so, and wished for shorts.  This happens every time I wear longer pants.  I have these knicker length tights that are supposed to squeeze your muscles or something and provide support, but all they do is make my legs feel hot and constricted.  Unless it is in the low 30s, I should always wear shorts.  

I reached Larrabee and turned around and met Brad coming up the trail!  He had thought that we were meeting at the Farmer's Market in Bellingham.  Anyway, nice place for some company, so we finished the run back to Fairhaven together.  I tried really hard not to speed up as we approached the actual finishing place for next week's race; I'll save that for next week too.  There is a four switchback hill that will be at about mile 29.5; I wonder if I'll be running that hill next week!

13.27 miles, AP 9:07.  The rest of the day will be spent cooking a nice dinner for my daughter and 15 of her friends.  Its prom night, and I offered to make them a "fancy" dinner.  Off to make the pasta!

I hope you all have a great weekend! 

The schedule called for 45-60 minutes of biking at "recovery" pace, fast cadence.  Usually there is no flexibility at all, so I was SO excited to get a 15 minute "choice".  What to do?  I rode 60 minutes, exactly, 15.2 miles, with fast cadence, on moderate terrain.  So I guess my recovery biking pace is about 15 miles per hour.  

3.3 easy running miles, around the pond 2X, then back home.  Ducks are out, in pairs, getting ready to nest I guess.  So cute how they each have their partner, and they stick close together.  Tomorrow I'll have to walk over with some bread and feed them.

BTW, since you all thought I'm such a great mom for fixing dinner for the prom juniors, here's what we had:  homemade fettucine with parmesan, chicken breasts stuffed with sun dried tomatos, parmesan cheese, sage and prosciutto, sugar snap peas.  For dessert, I made tiramisu cheesecake with dark chocolate crumb crust.  The kids were all beautiful in their prom clothes - and so well behaved.  I think the girls are more into the prom experience with each other and view the guys as handsome and necessary accessories!  The guys don't seem to mind being accessories and are very obliging with good manners and flowers, etc.  There is some cheesecake left and I'm going to go have some right now! 

I hate the darkness.  I hate tapering.

Mini tapering track workout.   It was insanely windy on the track tonight!  Probably a difference of several seconds between one straight away and the other side.  All my intervals were too fast; I just have so much pent up energy its ridiculous.

WU 1.98 miles @8:56 

1200@7:04 (should be 7:38)

1000@7:40 (should be 8:10)

800@7:17 (should be 7:38)

400@7:51 (should be 8:10) 

CD 1.98 miles @9:21

1 lap jogging between intervals.

Also did some drills on the track before doing the cool down jog; dynamic stretches and running drills.   

Easy miles, AP 8:46.  Wish it were 10:46.  I'm worried that I can't slow down this week, and I need to run much slower than 8:46 in the beginning of the 50K.  There is a six mile flattish trail at the beginning before we head up into the Chuckanuts.  This should be SLOW, I think, saving up for the mountain climbs.  First climb takes us up to 1600 feet in almost 2 miles, then we drop back to 400, and immediately up again to 1600.  Then a long stretch of up and down for about 7 miles, and another climb up to 2000  feet.  Then a really long down, back to the six mile flattish finish.  This flattish section has one switchback section into a small canyon and back out, so that will happen twice.  I have run up and down this canyon so many times that I can do it in my sleep.  On the way back, after the little canyon, its about 1.5 miles to the finish, slightly downhill or flat the whole way.  I hope I can let it rip then.  

Sunny and absolutely beautiful here today; the forecast calls for similar through the weekend!   

I did nothing today.  Used the extra time to plant some (more) flowers and throw rocks at the deer in the front yard.  I have all but given up on the deer really, but they still expect me to throw rocks and yell, so I do it.  Trying to train the cats to chase them, but they want to make friends with them instead.  They eat everything except for penstamon and daffodils.  

An easy jog 'round the pond, with 6X100m strides.  

Not a good race.  Let's just call it a great day for a jog in the forrest, never mind the 300 other people on the trail!  The first 6 miles felt great; I was successful at keeping the pace slow (around 9 minute miles).  This is a first for me in a distance event.  I am very pleased with this.  We started the first mountain climb, Fragrance Lake, at mile 6.4, and as soon as the trail began climbing, my breath started asthmatic wheezing.  This has happened to me on one other occasion, after which I briefly experimented with inhalers.  Inhalers never seemed to help.  Anyway, on this day, for whatever reason, the wheezing got quite bad, and I was actually walking from about the middle of the climb on, ON THE FIRST CLIMB OF THE RACE.  Not looking good.  At the top of the climb, the trail begins gently rolling for a mile or so around Fragrance Lake, then descends steeply for another mile to Cleator Road, where the second climb begins.  Aid station 2 is here, and its a short walk from here back down and out to the road.   I knew that I had to make a decision about the asthma thing at this point, since committing to the second climb would put me into 9 or so miles with no exit.  I decided that if my breathing was not normal after the flatter and downhill section approaching aid station 2, I would have to pull.  I was not getting nearly enough oxygen and was pretty lightheaded, but I ran this section slowly, just trying to take deep breaths.  I just could not get full breaths; I felt pain in my lungs and a raw feeling in my throat.  Even after the steep descent, I could barely breathe.  My husband and coach were waiting at the bottom, where they had planned to be, and I rested for about 20 minutes, until I was able to walk down the hill to the car.  

During the rest of the afternoon, I coughed quite a bit, and had some pain in my lungs, but gradually was able to breathe better.  In spite of the way the "race" turned out, it is really just a small part of the training leading up to it, and the training has been so spectacular!  I will not ever give up running in these mountains, and will make it part of my regular running routine.  Having to drop out of the race is a disappointment, but I actually don't really feel it as a HUGE disappointment.  Maybe that is yet to come!  I am sad, and I think I had better do something really soon to boost my mental confidence a bit.  In the meantime, my legs feel like they've still got 20 miles left to run!  As soon as the lungs are up to it,  I will.

Some easy and marathon paced miles in the misty rain.  Splits:  9:44, 9:13, 8:20, 8:10, 8:16, 8:12, 9:13, 8:46, 9:25.  

Was going to ride the bike immediately after, but the rain got harder, so I got on the stationary bike immediately after instead.  90 minutes.  Easy with a little ladder workout in the middle 30 minutes.   

I just wanted to thank everyone for your very kind words about Saturday's race.  Made me a little teary to read your comments.  I'm really not that upset about not finishing the race, its just a disappointment and that's all.  I'll do it again next year!  The great time that I had training for it was time well spent, and I am definitely stronger for it.  And, of course, its wonderful to not have to recover right now!  

I am kind of upset about the asthma thing, and I guess that I have to deal with it now.   I'm seeing a specialist later this week; I might as well understand the problem as well as I can and decide what to do about it.  I used an inhaler for yesterday's run, just one puff, and again for this morning's run.  I didn't notice anything negative or positive from it, but that's not real surprising since this is not a problem I usually have!  Hate to think I have to use something all the time when its not even necessary but once a year.  I will probably do some kind of track workout later today, and we'll see what happens then.  

Thanks again! 

PM Update:  Easy miles with 6X strides.  AP was 8:46.  I had a very hard time keeping slow miles today.  I think I have done enough running now. 

Beautiful sunny morning!  45 minutes on the road bike, then track.  

wu - 2 miles

4X200 hill repeats (.52, .51, .49, .50)  90 second RI

2X200 flat repeats (.48, .48) 90 second RI

3X800 (3:27, 3:19, 3:30) 1 lap RI

cd - 2 miles 

I've been researching exercise induced asthma and I don't think that is what I have!  Sounds more like a vocal cord dysfunction, which does not respond to asthma medicine.  I don't respond to asthma medication. VCD has many of the same symptoms as exercise induced asthma, but the airway difficulty is only in the vocal apparatus, which is why my throat feels so raw and my voice is still hoarse.  Seeing the real dr. on Thursday, but playing internet dr. is fun too!

No running today; hamstring felt dangerously tight after last night's hills and track workout. Nice bike ride with a nice group of ladies.  Country roads, no traffic, lots of cows.  Fun times.

Slicing through water

paddles perfectly balanced 

kayakers are cool. 

Had to get the run in early this morning, then head up to the mountain for the day.  It was not a fun trip; I had to clean our cabin so that someone could use it for the weekend.  This morning was supposed to be a tempo run, but the tempo intervals were 4X4 with 1 minute easy pace in between.  This is very hard to keep track of.  

wu 1.82 AP 10:04

tempo intervals AP 7:37, 7:18, 7:46, and 7:35

cd 2.61 AP 9:46

I still think maybe I'll ride the bike this evening, but it will have to be stationary, since its already a bit dark out and its been raining all day.   

Just a few easy miles on the bay trail.  I went to work at a fund raising event at 5:30am and it was freezng cold and raining.  It got sunny and warm later, and that is when I ran!

Day off.

Off. Day off.  Off day.  

OK, so it was supposed to be a day off, but it turned into a bike ride day.  SOoo windy!  And, in the end, quite rainy as well.  It was fun coming back against the headwind, up the hills.  Back barely in time to greet the dinner guests as they pulled into the driveway.  Luckily I was in my nice bike clothes!

Dark clouds are looming

from every side it seems:

how wet will we get? 

Yoga class.

one hour and 50 minutes on the bike today, high cadence with standing climb on the hills.

Yoga class this morning.  This was a lovely class; 1 1/2 hours, as usual, but the whole class was "restorative poses".  What this means is that we get ourselves situated in a pose that involved many blocks, blankets, bolsters, chairs and belts, and just hang out there for awhile.  The poses are not "active", but are very restful while still releasing key tension spots.  It was perfect for me for today. 

Early yoga and bike ride.  3 1/2 hours of exercise, and its only 9:30 now!  Biking certainly takes more time than running.  Glad I did it when I did though, because now it is raining!  I've been so lucky lately to get beautiful rides outside.  I got a bit wet this morning near the end, but its not so bad.  

UGH!  I'm supposed to do 50 miles (about 3 hours on the bike today, and its just not fit biking weather outdoors.  I managed an hour and a  half this morning before I fell off of the bike from boredom.  Can I actually ride for another 1 1/2 hours this evening?  

PM update:  I only made it another hour, late last night.  Ugh!   

Day off!  Getting ready to fly to Maui tomorrow, and just too busy!  I'm doing something really scary - I'm not packing running shoes.  And no bike either.

See y'all when I get back!