track fan

1:01:43.  Nice and easy ... little tired.  Need to recover for Sunday's marathon pace work!

AM: easy, albeit hilly, 8 miles.

haircut, little work, some laundry, some cross-country and indoor track watching, and then

PM: easy 4.

Lucy the pitbull ate my cell phone this morning.  It (the phone) is still usable, but the screen has huge crack (from a canine?) in it.  sigh.  I saw our bobcat again -- still did not get to the camera in time!!!

Happy Saturday bloggers! 

2:46:15 with the last 8 miles at MP.  Ran on the Rillito River path - the flattest run since around Christmas (when we were in Gulf Shores, Alabama).  There are many mile markers, but not 20 miles worth.  I did 4 miles out-and-back from my secret parking area (near mile marker 2 1/2 -- almost 400 meters from the 2 1/2 mile marker actually ;-) ) - and then proceeded to head East to ~ 4:30 mins from the 10 mile marker (from 6 1/2 to 8 1/2 is missing, and then from 8 1/2 to 10 is missing) and then turned around.  I know exactly where 7 miles is, and I hit that in 1:01:09 (8:44 pace) going out and 53:35 (7:39 pace) coming back.  The only other pace information I have from the MP portion is miles 8.5 to 5.5 were 22:52 (7:37) and 5.5 to 2.5 were 22:36 (7:32).  I was not actually timing each mile, I was trying to "find" the pace that I thought I could run for 8 miles, and I adjusted and readjusted throughout the run.  Greg calls this "tuning your internal Garmin" ;-).   It is old-school, but it usually gives me a pretty realistic idea what I can run - versus trying to hit a pace that I "want" to run.  Sometimes it is disappointing, but, for me, it is realistic.  The bottom line is that it is possible that can run somewhere "around" 3:20 -- maybe not under 3:20 (which would be 7:36 pace) - as a matter of fact it might be more likely that I run a little slower than 3:20; but I am probably not out of the ball park ;-) -- if I can stay healthy!  I have two trips in the next 4 weeks, so fingers crossed I still juggle training and traveling!  

Anyway -- off to watch Rupp's 3k race and Matt Centro's mile race from last night!

Happiest of Sundays to you all! 

AM: easy 4

PM: easy 10

I had some meetings very early this AM and couldn't get an early AM run in.  So, I switched the two runs.  In both cases I was up against the dark ... ;-)  But, all was good!

Work is very busy, I am doing my best to ensure it doesn't interfere with my running!!!

I hope you are all doing well! 

Easy run - 1:05 (maybe a tiny bit longer than 7).

AM: (13 miles, 1:43:25).  I had to make a choice between workouts today.  15-30 min wu/15-30 min cd  +  either 5-8 miles @ goal pace (7:35-7:40) OR 3 x 2 miles @ 10K +/- 10 secs (6:50-7:05)  w/4 min recovery.  I wasn't sure which one I was going to do until I got to the track.  The GP workout is more my "sweet spot" and likely to be more comfortable, while the faster workout was outside my comfort zone.  Neither would be "easy" ;-).

I decided that the reason the faster workout is outside of my comfort zone is because that is likely the type of workout I need to do -- so, I decided to do it!  As usual, I tried not to focus on the exact pace, but rather work into a groove and hold it to the end. The last 400 was ugly - uggggllllyyyy - and I was surprised to see the pace!

7:07/7:02, 4:00, 7:03/7:00, 4:02, 6:57/6:56 + 27:24wu/26:57cd.

PM: easy 4.

Happy Thursday bloggers! 

1:01:32.  I got up early (for me) and drove across town to run with my friend Merry.  I had a bunch of doctors appointments and took the morning off work.   It was a blast.  Then I had to work until 7 to make up for it ;-).

Happy Friday bloggers!! 

AM: (1:07:43, 8 miles).

PM: easy 4.

Somewhere between 22-24 miles tomorrow.  I am running with Merry again, she is supposed to run 24 and I am supposed to run 22, so depending on how slowly she will run (she is faster than me) I might do an extra 2 with her.  If she needs to go faster, than we will run part of it together, and then I will let her run how she needs.  She was pretty surprised yesterday to see that my "estimate" of our pace was nearly exactly what her Garmin showed ;-)

I hope you are all warm and safe.  Congratulations on all the awesome races!!! 

3:38:06.  3 loops - between 7 and 8 miles each loop (Merry has a Garmin, so I know we ran 22:2x something miles - even though I did not want to know!).   I know, the time looks slow -- but, it was on the trails, and it was a challenging run.  I ran with Merry -- and she took off during the first loop, but she stayed with me the second two, she said she was tired, but since she is a 3:12 marathoner, I am not sure that it is the case, although it might be the case that she is not used to either running on the trails, or on the hills.  Anyway, 1:12:22, 1:13:xx, and 1:13:xx -- for some reason the lap thingy did not work on my watch beween 2nd and 3rd laps, I just remember that the 2nd was 1:13, and that would leave 1:13 for the last one.

All and all, a beautiful day, and fun running with someone for a change!

Happy Sunday bloggers. 

AM:(9.5 miles, 1:20:33).  Abbreviated wu and cd because I was running to catch a flight this morning.  I drove to the track (because I did not have time to run the 4 miles to get there) and ran on the trails for a little while.  I came on the track from this little gate that leads from the trail, and started to do some strides - all the other entrances to the track were roped off!!  I bet you can't guess why?  Well, because there was ice on the track.  It rained (and snowed up at my work) most of the day yesterday, and was well below freezing overnight ... so ... I was in such a hurry this morning Dean scraped off my car when he left (he is so sweet), but it had frosted over again by the time I left ... Anyway, the first 800 was sort of gingerly, as I tried to assess how icy it was.  It wasn't really bad, the sun was up, so although there were still some slick spots, mostly it was puddly.  BUT -- with about 100m to go for my first 800 some guy came on the track and held his arm out into lane 1!!!  I kept going, but I slowed down while I mentally "assessed" the threat level (he he) - I thought for sure they were going to kick me off the track ... but it was just a guy who wanted to know why they had the track roped off.  Between evaluating the slickness, trying to figure out how to run 800 meters (he he) and "the guy" -- my first couple 800s were slow, I know.  

I would not recommend this approach for averaging 3:20s.  It was a hard way to go, maybe not for you speedstars, but I will have you know, I have never done this many sub-3:20s in my life.

3:24, 3:22, 3:19, 3:17, 3:17, 3:17, 3:17, 3:16

Since I only did 8 and not 10 (time constraints coupled with the fact that between traveling, Dean fighting a cold, and switching days for this workout - meaning it was closer to my long run day that Greg had wanted -- I am playing it conservative right now, I don't want to get sick!!!!) it really is not a Yasso 800s predictor workout, but, I guess I will call it a good VO2 max workout.  Especially for a slowpoke like me!

PM: easy 4 from my hotel.

Happy Tuesday bloggers, I hope you are all happy and warm.  I am dreading my all day meeting tomorrow, I have to be sort of "hard" for work in front of a lot of new people.  Our "partners" for one of the projects I am working on are not "playing nice" and I have to show in my presentation what the cost of this type of behavior will be ... yikes.  

Ran around Oyster Bay, South San Francisco ... nice run, very early in the morning.

I am a little tired, and wouldn't you guess it that the woman who sat next to me on the plane last night coughed and sneezed the whole way?  I was holding my breath ;-)

Lot's of zinc and Vit C are on board.

I hope you are all doing well!!

The meeting went well, not too bad, a tiny bit "tense" at times, but overall, much better than any of us anticipated. 

No AM run, super early flight and I am playing it a little conservative right now.  I would rather be a little low in mileage and hit my two remaining workouts, and stay healthy!

PM: 8.5 miles (1:08:50)  12 x 1` w/1` recovery on the hills.  

1:07:35.  Easy run.  My legs felt better than  yesterday afternoon -- probably because I had not been sitting on an airplane for 3/4 hours before the run.  Also, I think that I was able to eat better yesterday, helping me feel a little better.  But, I have to say I am feeling a little worn down right now.  Part of this feeling is just typical for 2 weeks out before a race, sort of confounded by stress and travel.  One more week of travel ... I can do this!!  I am doing the best I can trying to minimize the effects of my schedule ... what I really need to do is take a little time off from work this weekend so I can get caught up on some sleep.  Apparently 4 hours/night is not enough for these old bones ;-).

Happy Friday bloggers -- I hope it is warming up where you are, and that you have a wonderful weekend!

AM: 8 miles, 1:07:43.

PM: easy 4.

What to do, what to do?  I feel like I am getting sick.  I am not sick yet, but I am super tired and my chest feels tight.  I am supposed to do 20 with 8 miles at MP tomorrow.  I am not sure if I should temp fate or not ... I am going to DC on Wednesday.  I could probably get 20 in on Thursday before my meeting, unless I get sick.  I have been taking vit C and zinc for about 4 days now -- noooooo, I can't get sick.  I am pretty sure sick would be worse than missing a run, though I would prefer to do neither.  I AM running this marathon, even if I have to run it with pneumonia.  seriously.  

2:47:29 (8:22 AP).  So, I was supposed to this with the last 8 at marathon pace.  But, I have a cold'. It isn't a bad cold, but it is a cold.  I talked to Greg (in a panic), and we decided to back off today in hopes of letting my immune system do its thing.  I had planned on running 18, and I was supposed to take it easy.  If I started to feel badly at any point then cut it short.  Problem is that I wouldn't really (won't really) know if it was "too much" until tonight or tomorrow :-).   I tried to keep it at 65-75% effort, which apparently is 8:35 pace because that is what every single mile split was on the way out ... every one!  My body started picking up the pace after I turned around, I had to slow myself down ... It wasn't marathon pace (I had a couple 7:59s in there), but it was faster than I had promised myself to go, I was still averaging about 8:10-8:20 on the way back, even while trying to keep it easy.  Bummed that I didn't get some more MP miles, but I still have 2 more "workouts" to go and if I can stay healthy for them then it will be worth it!!

Happy Sunday!! Congrats on the awesome races today (Rachelle rocks!).  The Mill rose Games are on ESPN tonight for any of you that missed the live feeds yesterday!!  T&F! 

AM: 8.5. 10 x 1' w/1' recovery.

PM: easy 4.

Still fighting the good fight on the cold front.  Just so you know ... Snow down at 2800-3000 ft tonight!! Of course, I am flying out in the morning!

Happy day bloggers.  Stay warm and dry! 

yup, 40 mins!!  wow.  

I was in a hurry - rushing to the airport.  I am bummed to be leaving Tucson.  It was cold this morning - and after my plane left it snowed all day -- and actually stuck.  This happens 1 time in every 5-10 years, and I have to miss it ... booo!

And, I am sicker.  double boo.  I am sure 8 hours of travel will help my cold!

Ok, staying up with my friend until wee hours of the morning did not help either!!

I hope you are all doing well!! 

AM: (1:09:45,8.5 miles).  I was supposed to be doing 3 x 2000 w/2:30 tempo interval pace (6:44-6:57 pace) recovery + 3 x 200 w/200 recovery.  I did not have a track, but I did have easy access to the Rock Creek Trail, which has mile markers.  So, I figured I would run miles and then add on 1:40 or so.  It was 23F and windy.  I also woke up at 5:30 AM with a seriously sore throat ... took an ambien (before I saw that it was 5:30, but after I felt my sore throat, dumb me ;-)).  I had a conference call early this morning -- so I sort of overslept when I woke up at 8:30 AM (East Coast time -- 6:30 my time -- which was also oversleeping!).  

Anyway ... my friend Lara (who I am staying with -- and her 3 kids, beautiful petri dishes that they are) - is a pediatrician and when I told her that my throat hurt she said, "you won't feel it after a couple of miles, you are fine" -- ha ha ... so much for sympathy ;-).  She was correct.  My legs feel incredibly good -- though they are looking kind of fat to me, how does that happen?  is it taper-goggles? -- and I did not feel badly.   Since these are on the road, with all the hills, chilly headwind, etc. I was not expecting to hit my target at all, and was actually thinking that I would be happy with 7:30s given my health.  Instead:

7:09 +1:45, 1:56 + 6:53, 2:00 + 6:45.  (the last two I did the "extra 400 meters before the mile marker - the last mile had a goodly amount of downhill - this compensated for the extra meters I was running ;-)).  I was quite surprised with this.  And, I decided, Lara was right, I am fine -- no matter how aweful I seem to be feeling!!  I am hoping to get to my hotel and sleep early tonight ...

PM: easy 3.5 (30 mins).  I usually would rather run in a blizzard than run on the treadmill, but I think today I will do the treadmill because I am actually quite cold.

Happy Thursday!! 

easy run, early early early, cold ...brrr.

48:56. Yesterday I ran the same route (on the Mt. Vernon Trail - from Alexandria VA to near the DC line).  I was wearing two sets of gloves yesterday (because it was so cold), and I somehow hit my watch off at some point - so I wasn't exactly sure how far it was before I turned around.  So, today I had no 'watch malfunction' -- it was 25:01 at my turnaround point!!! wow, that was amazing yesterday!

So, two things, #1 I am sick, pretty darn sick.  So far, it has not moved to my chest, and I don't have a fever, so I am holding it together, though bummed that I am sick 7 days before my race. I don't understand how I got sick (sarcasm inserted here), I have only had two airplane/work/stressful trips in as many weeks, have been running in wintery mix weather for 3 days on little sleep!

Yesterday, I was supposed to fly out at 5PM after my meeting was over - I was flying from DC to Chicago to Tucson.   By 3PM I started getting text messages from the airline telling me that flights were delayed up to 90 mins in Chicago and 45 mins out of Chicago.  I knew there was no way I was going to make my connection in Chicago, and it was the last flight to Tucson of the day.  So, I rebooked my flight to this morning - and luckily was able to get the American Statistical Association to get me another night at the hotel.  I went back to recheck into the hotel and the lobby was FULL (3 bus fulls) of little cheerleader/beauty queen girls. Some of them were wearing huge amounts of make-up, seriously, like movie set amount!  I tried to talk to one of them in the elevator, she was a little snot and treated me like I was gum stuck on the bottom of her shoe (seriously).  I felt like telling her "pretty is as pretty does" - but I figured I wasn't my place, and she wouldn't get it anyway.  I will say that the experience (of just seeing all of these little girls prance around) was an interesting sociologic experience ;-).

Anyway ... it was a good call to change my flight.  I got to sleep in a comfortable bed, sleep in until 6:30AM (4:30 Tucson time), and go out with a friend of mine last night for dinner.  The flight I was supposed to be on was 4 1/2 hours delayed out of DC, I would have arrived in Chicago at midnight, and most certainly been stuck in the airport until about 6AM ;-)  good call!!  Today, I am stuck in DC again -- I already have missed my connection out of Dallas, and have had to rebook 2 flights.  However, I have all day to get some flight home, I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can catch at a minimum the last flight out of Dallas, which would get me in by 9PM.  I do have an Admirals Club pass, so the waiting is tolerable.

It looks like I will miss my 2nd run today -- I won't stress about it, having a cold is a much bigger threat than missing a run at this point.  DRAT. 

Happy Saturday bloggers. 

so.  It is now Saturday, March 2, 2013, and I am sitting in my office, NOT in The Woodlands, Texas, with my friend allie -- like I was supposed to be.

The last you heard, I was sitting in DC, waiting to hopefully make it home that evening (Saturday).  After many flight delays, and two flight changes, I boarded a plane to Dallas, connecting to Tucson.  My throat had been hurting for 3 days, I was feeling really crappy, but still, I thought that I was going to beat this cold.  40 mins before we landed in Dallas we had to make a quick descent to miss some weather -- and, my worst fear was realized, my "cold" was bad.  I lost hearing in my right ear, and it felt like someone stuck an ice pick in my ear.  I spent 40 minutes in pain (tears in my eyes).  I did not get the hearing back in my ear until today.  

Luckily, my primary care doctor is the husband of one of my running friends, Merry.  We were supposed to run our last run before our marathons together on Sunday.  I had to cancel, because I was so sick Sunday I couldn't get out of bed.  I talked to her husband on the phone on Sunday and he called in a prescription for me that afternoon.  I stayed at home from work on Monday, only worked 4 hours, and did not run.  I finally got out of bed on Tuesday and ran 4 miles.  By the time I got home, I knew I wasn't going to be able to run in this marathon.

I had to make a decision ... was I willing to run in the marathon just to run in it (knowing I would not be able to actually race it), or should I wait and run a marathon that I think I am able to run well.  

I cancelled my plane ticket/hotel on Tuesday evening, and signed up for the Eugene marathon (April 28th).  I was way too depressed to blog the rest of the week.  Now that the day is here, and I am waiting patiently to hear from allie -- have already heard from my friend Merry (who ran a 3:12 at 57 years old), and about Jake (who won, yaaahoo!!!).  I am back.

I am still running easy, as I have 2 more days of antibiotics.  But I feel better.  Still sound bad, but feel better -- at least physically.  

I hope you are all doing well. 

AM: 6 miles

PM: 3 miles