track fan

2:45:33 (8:16AP).  I was running running at about 9 min/mile, or even slower, the first 8-9 miles (headwind, my legs are dead, I had a rough night sleep-wise).  I did not have mile markers for all of my miles, but my last 2 with mile markers (about 2 miles from the turn-around, were 8:55 pace).  Then, after 12 miles I picked it up, had a mile marker 6 miles out (14:56 for two miles, 7:28 pace -- no wonder it felt hard!), then the next 4 were 7:35, 7:34, 7:32, 7:16.  It was 81F when I finished -- and 2PM!!!  Talk about carbo depletion ;-). 

So, we went out to dinner with some friends last night -- it was great fun, and we were home by 8:30!  We watched a movie and were in bed by 10:30 (yes, we are old fogies).  Then, around midnight the fireworks started and one of our dogs Jake freaked out.  He can open doors and opened our bedroom door!!  He is just a baby, he is a hound dog (we got him in Tennessee -- he showed up on our door one day) and we have always thought that his old owners kicked him out because he is such a horrible hunting dog (afraid of fireworks, likely guns as well).  Well, I tried to get him to calm down in the living room, but he kept coming into the bedroom, so finally at about 1:30AM we just let him stay in the bedroom.  But, it was a comedy of errors with me blindly trying to get him out into the living room only to have him slink back up the hall, I stepped on a broken dog bone and cut my foot, tried to catch the cat as she also ran into the bedroom ;-) ... so, after all that, I did not get back to sleep until nearly 2-3 AM.   I was tired this morning -- plus, my sinus infection is hanging on for dear life and I swear, the last 8 miles of this run I had snot pouring down my face (I did not care ;-) ).  

Oh well, last 20 miler done ... now I just have to stay healthy ;-) ... and make it to the line.

I am a little freaked out, not just about the race (though there is that too), but I am actually having to make a business trip the Monday/Tuesday before the race -- a trans-continential flight from Tucson to Philadelphia -- very little sleep those two days, the first day of the semester is the Wednesday after the trip (early class) -- also my last workout -- and then a flight out to Houston on Friday ... oh boy there it is going to take a lot of vitamin C not to get sick that week ;-).

Well, the New Year has begun.  I hope you are all enjoying it!  Happy 2012!!!! 

AM: (9 miles, 1:17:40).  28:56wu/29:04cd.  10 x 1`w/1` recovery.  Usually Greg doesn't give me a pace for these -- he just says do a fartek for X mins with Y recovery in between.  Today he specifically said to keep it at slightly faster than 5K pace.  We talked last week about training, and about the race, and he definitely wants me to take it pretty easy the next few days.  I have no choice really, since I am producing twice my body weight in snot every day (TMI, I know).  

PM: easy 4.

Went and saw John Ball yesterday -- saw Lauren Fleshman and Claudia Becque ... Claudia is getting ready for the trials (in 11 days!).   I am doing pretty well (except for my sinuses) -- at least my legs/back and foot are doing better than I could have hoped.  I still feel like I need about 40 hours of sleep ... ;-) ... instead, I have to work many hours this week, to get caught up and get ready for the new semester.  Where does the time go?

I hope you are all doing well ... just a little more on the trials here ... what an exceptional group of guys! And they train year after year in Minnesota winters.  Andrew Carlson was a runner for McMillan Elite/Team USA Arizona for a while, he is a very funny guy. 

41:25 ... I was glad to see 40` on the schedule, I am still sick.  I think I needed a few more days of antibiotics.  Ever since I finished my 10 days I have been getting sicker.  I am going back in to the doctors today to see what they say.  YIKES.  I am a little bummed, I am hoping beyond hope that it doesn't spread to my chest.  And, I am hoping that my two 8 hour travel days (5-6 hours of flying) in row doesn't make it worse (damn work interfering with my training!).

The one thing I forgot to tell you about from my run  yesterday, I almost got hit by a huge buck deer!!  He came FLYING, I mean flying from out of the wash and missed literally hitting me by about 10 ft!!  it was amazing.  I never did see what/who he was running from (it is hunting season here -- bow only, and usually a little further from major trailheads.  I saw a cute little fawn in my yard this morning, it was a little odd because I almost always see them in herds of at least 3 - 4.  

Happy Wednesday bloggers!! 

Update: I am in tears.  The doctors visit was not good, at all.  There is a chance that I can beat this thing, but chances are small.  She basically thinks it is a viral infection (especially since it is on the heels of a 10 day course of antibiotics) that is going around.  If it is the same thing that she has seen (tons of, btw) it will go to the lungs, and I WILL be out of commission for a while.  I did get some more antibiotics -- she said if it doesn't feel much better in two days stop taking them -- and I am trying EVERYTHING else under the sun, but her exact words when I said, "I am running a marathon in 11 days" was, "I am so sorry ..."

I won't cuss because this is a family friendly blog, but there are many words that are on the tip of my tongue that are most definitely not "family friendly".   I am still not giving up yet (without a fight -- an immune fight that is), but I am not sure I am going to waste my time running *in* a marathon if I am sick (though I will still go and watch the trials).  I am sick to my stomach now - just thinking about not running.  

I think I am going to go home and eat worms. 

another 40 min day.  

Greg just nixed my marathon on January 15th.  I am pretty depressed about it right now, maybe by tomorrow I can make up my mind for sure about deferring, changing to the 1/2, and whether to go to Houston at all -- versus use the money, plane tickets, etc. for Napa in March (if I can still get in).

More later.  I hope you all are well. 

48:10.  

I am feeling a little better, both physically and emotionally.  I know it is the right decision not to race in Houston, but it is not an easy one.  I have a coach because I trust his opinions.  He basically said that if this was a 24hr stomach virus or something that was a short duration thing then yes, it might be possible to pull it off.  But, this is something that has been going on for over a month now (since before my 1/2 marathon in Phoenix) .. and it is not a 10K or even a 1/2 marathon -- it is a marathon, and the probability of running a good race at less than 100% is quite small.  Plus, I don't run professionally, I am not running the Saturday race, so it does not carry the same necessity.  I am in the best shape of my life and I really don't want to waste it running a sub-par race just to participate (which maybe I would do if it were Boston or something).  

So ... Napa was already closed, butI have signed up for a new race: The Woodlands Marathon on March 3rd.  I have been in contact with the race director because I was 29 secs off of the time to get elite status for a masters female (based on my 1/2 marathon time) -- unfortunately, he can't make an exception for me because he turned down other people who were off of the qualifying time -- although I am only 6 months off of being in the "senior" category (50+) - and I am a lot faster that time.  So, at the end of the day, he was not able to pay for lodging or waive my entry fee, but he is going to get me an elite start!  I have his cell phone number and I a supposed to call him when I get into town and he will hook me up.  I thought that was pretty nice of him.  This should be a very fast course, it is a two loop 13.1 mile course -- which I think will be good for me, I like loop courses, and train on them all the time, so mentally it is something I actually like.  It is a smaller race, and they have prize money ... If I have a good day, I might be able to get a piece of the masters prize ... depends a lot on who shows up ;-).

So, the biggest challenge now (besides kicking this damn thing) is that Greg wants me to "get a little out of shape" - so I don't peak too early.  So I really really need to take it slow and trust him, even though I am itching to keep up with my training (well, I don't feel well now so it is a bit easier to take it slow).   And, I am the perfect race weight right now, so I also have to figure out a way to eat well enough to help myself heal, and not gain any weight ...  

AM: (little more than 5 miles, 46:25).

PM: easy 4

Well, I am feeling better!  But, I am still feeling it.  I have two mantra's (actually stuck to my bathroom mirror):

Patience today for the greater reward tomorrow

I did not train for Houston, I trained for PR in the marathon -- I will get it in 5 short weeks

I hope all of you preparing for races are getting itchy for a great run!!  Stay focused, stay strong!!

2:02:41.  Easy run around the hood (which means in the mountains, which means very hilly ;-) ).  Felt pretty good today.  I ran especially easy because I am feeling better, but I have a pretty stressful couple of days coming up.  I am leaving for Philadelphia tomorrow morning, have a very long day of grant reviews on Tuesday, then a long trip home very late Tuesday night ... culminating in a very early first day of classes on Wednesday.  The class I teach in the spring is a little easier, in terms of material, but much larger (~50 or more students) and much more variable in their comfort level with mathematics.  It is a tricky class, since there is no way to make everyone happy (e.g., if I teach it too easily the people who need to learn it feel cheated, if I make it too hard then the people who are taking it to fulfill their requirements are overwhelmed).  I am hoping that come next fall I can teach another higher level course, which would make me, and the students, much happier ;-).

Anyway -- I may or may not be blogging over the next few days, I will be continuing to run very easy -- with next Thursday being my first day "back" to retraining for my new marathon target.

Happy Sunday bloggers, have a wonderful week!!! 

61 mins or so ...

up and away to the big blue yonder. 

Happy Monday! 

54:13.   Had to get up pretty early, Tucson time (3:30), although it was late (5:30) Philly time ;-).  

Had a really nice run down to the Schulylkill River Trail, I had to run about 1.5 miles through the city (I am staying smack-dab downtown) -- but only about 1/2 mile of it was super dangerous - wrt cars.   It was pretty awesome.  For a little while I missed living in "the city" ... but then I remembered how easy it is to find dirt roads and trails from my house (and how nice it is to have a yard) and I realized it is maybe better to just travel to large cities than to live in them ;-).

Happy Day bloggers, I must get back to my reviews! 

AM: (7.5 miles, 1:06:53).  Oh man, what a beautiful day, perfect -- cloudy, 45F, my legs were rested and feel oh so good.  I SOOOO wanted to do a workout.  But, Greg said no.  He said I am still down this week ... he wants me a to get a little "out-of-shape" so I don't peak early ... so I am trying to be good.  Even so, I was about 30 seconds/mile faster than my usual "easy" pace.  That is the good thing about running by effort, I don't always know how far I run, but I know what easy effort is ;-).  

PM: easy 4.

I slept really well last night, probably to make up for 2 nights of very little sleep and over 16 hours of flying in 48 hours.  On the way home from Philadelphia I traveled with about 40 UofA students -- everyone was coming back from Christmas break (yesterday was the first day of classes).  It was pretty funny being part of a very very young "cool" crowd that comes back to school on the midnight flight ;-).  It was not that enjoyable yesterday morning though -- when I had to get up after 4 hours of sleep and teach.  Despite all that though, I am feeling oh so much better ... I am still congested, but every day seems to get better ... I can't wait to see if my workouts will improve now that I am not sick!!

I hope you are doing well bloggers!! 

1:02:20 ... another beautiful day.  I ran major hills today - I love living in the Tucson mountains (not to be confused with "mountains in Tucson" ;-) ).  There are 3 major mountain ranges in Tucson, the Tucson mountains are the lowest in elevation, but closest to downtown (a mere 15 mins -- but much less congested than the other foothills).  Saguaro forests, lots of hills, lots of dirt roads/trails, and lots of javelina, bobcats, deer and coyotes (well, and snakes, scorpions and mountain lions ;-) ).    

 Thanks to allie, I couldn't resist having celery and almond butter for breakfast ... hopefully I can make up the calories at lunch or dinner ;-).

I am so excited about the trials tomorrow -- I think Abdi is going to make the team as the "long shot"!  Don't forget to  make  your predictions -- today is the last day, and there is a fastrunningblog team.

Happy Friday bloggers. 

AM: 8 miles, easy pace -- I seem to have misplaced my watch.  I know that I went through my first landmark about 50 secs faster than usual.  Yikes.  I had to remind myself to take it very easy.  It was hard, my legs feel so fresh -- and, of course, I was inspired by watching the trials (well virtually watching, it is not on TV yet).

PM: Easy 4.

 I KNEW Abdi was going to make the team.  I just had no idea that Meb would kill it like that!  And, I am torn because I was so rooting for Ritz, but am seriously happy for Abdi.  Shalane was, as usual, amazing.  

I am also super stoked to see that the McMillan Elite had 2 guys in the top 10 ... seriously awesome for a group that has only been around for 5 years!! SOOO happy for them.  Haven't yet heard what happened to Stephanie.    

Happy Saturday bloggers! 

1:20:48 (40:47/40:01) - it is super uphill on coming back part.  

I have to say, I almost cried when Greg told me to run 80` easy today.  It is so nice out, I am SO sick of eating tiny portions of food ... and, I am getting tired of my legs not being tired all the time ;-).  But, hey, after all his success yesterday, I have to trust he knows what he is doing.

I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday! 

AM: (7.5 miles, 1:05:31).  Nice day today ... it was a rough start, but felt good by the end.  It was a tough start because I was in bed most of yesterday not able to eat ... I got some sort of food poisoning or stomach virus or something.  I felt pretty horrid.  I had a slim fast at about 3PM, and then 2 scrambled eggs at about 8PM, and that is it for the day.  Unfortunately, I couldn't drink either, even water did not stay down (TMI).   I did not sleep well last night, but felt a little better this morning (albeit a little weak).  

PM: easy 4.

I am getting ready for class tomorrow, and then I am off to San Francisco for the GI ASCO (Gastrointestinal section  - American Society for Cancer Oncology)  tomorrow.  I am presenting a poster (hopefully, I haven't actually seen the poster in real life yet!).  Should be a nice little trip, not nearly as stressful as my own professional organization (ASA - American Statistical Association) meetings - since I am not on any committees for this society, and I am really only there to present my poster and meet up with some of my colleagues from Vanderbilt ... I am sure I will be able to run, and no early morning meetings! yea!

Have a great week bloggers! 

time??? who knows, it was so long ago now ;-).  Taught in the morning, caught a flight to San Francisco in the evening ...

The temps are actually colder in Tucson, but it feels colder here!!  My stomach is still upset and I could not really eat dinner ... 

AM: (9 miles, 1:19:34).  30wu/30cd 10 x 1` w/1` recovery.  I wanted to do more, but I just did not have the "umppph".

PM: 4 easy 

So, first of all, did not sleep at all last night, seriously, not a wink.  On top of not being able to eat I felt super bad this morning when the alarm went off.  I got up and got dressed to run, felt like I was going to pass out, so I ate a power bar, drank some water, and promptly went back to bed. Got up 2 hours later and felt much better -- I should be at talks at the conference, but I am not - I looked up the weather on my phone and it said 60F, it looked hazy out so I put on some capri's and a short sleeve shirt.  Can anyone say Brrrrr... the 60F must have been Tucson, because it was not any warmer than 45 out there, and the wind was super cold.  After being out in it for 80 mins it took me 2 hours to warm my hands back up.  Tomorrow, I wear gloves!!

I hope you are all doing well. 

1:03:32.  Busy day ... conferencing everywhere.  I must have been sick yesterday.  I felt better in the afternoon, so I went to Chipolte for a little dinner, and for the first time all week ate a whole meal without wanting to throw up.  But, I was tired.  By the time I got back to my hotel room, I had to call Dean and tell him I was going to bed ... he said, "it is only 8:30 there", I said, "I know, I feel horrible".   I couldn't even talk to him.  The best news?  I slept most of the night, and when I woke up this morning I was STARVING -- yea!  I had a nice easy run ... it rained the whole time, but it was warmer than yesterday. 

I hope you are all doing well! 

1:14:23.  I am 0 for 3 in the "picking the right clothes for running in SF".   Monday, I was in short sleeves and no gloves and I froze, yesterday, I wore long sleeves and a rain vest and although I was wet and cold by the end, I spent most of the run a little warm.  Today, I opted for thin long sleeves, gloves, and an ear band, and I was hot ... mainly because the SUN CAME OUT!  For 60 glorious minutes!  Yippee.  It was windy though, I mean knock you off your feet windy.  Yikes.  Luckily, it was perfect, it was a headwind on the "out" portion of the run, and a nice tailwind on the "back" portion.  Traveling tonight, a late night flight home.  I get to spend 12 hours with Dean (most of them sleeping), before he heads out to a conference tomorrow.   Two ships passing in the night ;-).  Tomorrow I get to do my first long run in 2 weeks!! yea!

Hope you are doing well. 

2:38:53.  Yippee!  It was awesome today.  I deliberated between driving to my hilly looped dirt road or my flat trails.   I decided on flat trails, mainly just because they are closer to  my house.  It was so nice not to be pounding concrete.  I don't mind traveling to San Francisco because at least there are places to run in the city ... but lots of concrete -- not asphalt mind you, but serious hard stuff.  So, being the delicate flower that I am, I much prefer nice soft dirt.  I felt awesome.  Since I had not run longer than 2 hours in two weeks (and much less than that last week) I wasn't sure how I would feel .... but, now that I have gotten rid of the two (or one??) nasty bugs that I have been carrying around for 6 weeks I feel fantastic.  And, my legs were fresh - which they usually aren't for my long run.  

I am excited to get back to work -- training that is ;-).  

I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!! 

So, for my running geek friends.  I was so disappointed (and worried for Greg - thankfully no one has made stupid accusations about him) about Martin Fagan taking EPO.  Martin had been training with the McMillan Elite group for about 3 years, and been coached by Greg, until he left last year.   He was the guy that "set the pace" -- all the other guys counted on Martin to push them through workouts.  I am sure it hit all of them pretty hard, on the one hand, cheaters are cheaters and they are blight on the sport.  On the other hand, I am sure many of the other athletes who have made significant sacrifices to be a professional runner (putting careers on hold while live hand-to-mouth in houses with 5-6 other athletes) can understand the pressure that Martin felt - and he was (is?) their friend.  So, there was a very nice article written about these conflicting feelings. 

AM: (10.5 miles, 1:31:56). ~47 out and 45 and some change back.  

PM: 4 miles easy

Beautiful morning ... had to rush through the run because I had an early morning meeting in the lab on the other side of town.  Then I had a doctors appointment ... and another meeting this afternoon ... yikes what a day.

I hope you are all doing well, running fast and enjoying the winter ;-). 

1:04:59.  A balmy 37F today, a perfect temperature for a run!  Dean comes home tonight!  The animals and I have missed him a lot!

Happy Hump Day bloggers! 

By the way, I know my blog is boring right now ... did you get me confused with Burt?  There are reasons for the boredom ... in time all will be revealed. 

AM:(9 miles, 1:31:24).  26:57wu/28:00cd.  6 x 800 w/equal recoveries.  

3:19, 3:21, 3:22, 3:21, 3:21, 3:23

Yes, I know they are slow, and I also know that my schedule called for 6-8 and I only did 6.  So, I guess I have to explain my reluctance to expound on my runs of late. Things are not going well, health-wise.  I don't know exactly what is wrong, but I am being poked and prodded a lot this week.  About 10 days ago now I got sick.  I thought it was food poisoning or a stomach virus.  I spent Martin Luther King day in bed.  I felt a little better the next day, but I still couldn't eat.  Well, it has been 10 days now and I have only been able to eat for the last day - and that is because I am taking anti-nausea meds.  I did feel good on Sunday, but then on Tuesday I realized that part of the reason I have felt good on runs is that I am about 15-20 sec/mile slower than usual (this is what happens when you run only by feel and don't have a garmin -- you don't know you are running super slow until you hit a "known" run and can gauge how fast you are relative to other times you have run that route).    I don't know if I felt like crap today because of nutrition issues (I have lost about 6 pounds over the past 10 days) or because of whatever is wrong ... but blood tests are in the works and ultrasounds are scheduled for next week.  I can't tell you how frustrating this all is.  And no, it is impossible that I am pregnant.

PM: easy 4.

I hope you are all warm, dry, and running well!!  Sorry for the depressing paragraph, I am pretty frustrated, did I say that already? 

Did not wear a watch.  Ran very very very very (very) slow.  Felt like crap (again).  Almost didn't run, but I felt like if I am going to feel horrible anyway I might as well run.

Have meetings this afternoon, otherwise I would likely try to work from home.  

I hope you are all feeling well -- and if you have ESPN2 at your house there will be some awesome indoor track on Sunday.  I would summarize the Dubai marathon, but JakeK beat me to it ;-) -- highlights: it was FAST!!!!

AM: (8 miles, 1:11:26).  easy 8 ... ran by Big Boy and CoCo, gave them some carrots (CoCo was especially "lovey" today, she kept rubbing against me, I think because she was soaking wet from her "bath").  Man, horses are BIG.  Dover (the draft horse) weights 1600 lbs!  Big Boy is probably in the 900 lb range, and CoCo, probably about 200 less.  

PM: easy 4.  

Excited about watching the track meet tomorrow on TV -- it used to be "The Millrose Games", now it is called "Madison Square Garden US Open" (lame!).  Mo Farah just opened up his indoor season with a 3:39 1500 in Glascow (about equivalent to a 3:36 outdoor -- not great for a miler, but pretty good for a 5 -10K guy!). 

Wanted to run 18-22 ... couldn't do it.  Felt awful ... was happy to get in 10.

Track and Field tonight on TV -- was awesome!!  Next weekend -- THE ARMORY!  

Had CT scans yesterday -- more tests today.  Did not go well.  Have more tests set up for next week.  They still aren't sure what is wrong ... I think a couple of things.  Most pressing right now is gastric ulcer. 

AM: 8 miles -- was just happy to be able to run .... even if it was slow.

PM: trying to stay on "schedule" with an easy 4.