track fan

AM: (5.5 miles).  Ran easy, but on a hard route.  Instead of strides at the end of my run (what Greg suggested) I ran uphill into a headwind ;-).

PM: easy 3.5

Storm is blowing through ... yea!  Be careful out there bloggers!!  Hold on to your beanies!! 

5 or so miles + a detour on a dirt road to do 6 x ~100m strides ... 53:26.  My leg hurt the first 2 miles, but surprisingly feels pretty good now.  Now I am more worried about the cold that I have been fighting all week, and seems to be winning ... more zinc and vit C is required.

Happy Friday bloggers! 

no watch, just an easy jog in the balmy 50F day!!  So lucky and nice.  Now time to hop in the car and drive up to Phoenix.

Have a wonderful weekend bloggers!! 

So very happy to be reporting this race.  I have to admit that I did not have a lot of expectations going into it.  It has been 18 months since I have raced last, it has been an incredibly difficult year for me, personally, and let's face it, I am not getting any younger.  Greg told me that the best case scenario, for him, would be that I would have a great last 5K and wished I had gone out faster.  Dean thought I could come within 1:30 of my PR (~1:36 or so) - and I thought, "that would be good and still leave me 6 weeks of training for Houston".   Besides, whine whine, I am fighting this cold, I have had this darn niggling pain in my leg ... yada yada.

 Last night we had dinner with my friend from Tucson, Merry, and her family, and then sat around and joked with some of her running group friends (they are part of the Tucson Grinders -- they are a very fast group here in town, coached by a woman named Michele Hill, who has run in the Olympic Trials a few times).   It was  a lot of fun.  Actually, one of the women in the group is from Utah, Paula Morrison (she is the #49 notable St. George Legend from her 2:44:50 time from 2002).

This race was really poorly organized, especially for one that had been known to attract some pretty fast runners.  There were a little over 1,000 runners and yet there were 7 -- yes 7 -- porta potties at the start - actually there were more runners than that because there was a 5K too and these 7 pop's were near the 5K start (over 1/4 mile from the 1/2 marathon start).  There were some more bathrooms near the finish line, but that was farther away, and I did not know about them until the finish.  Anyway, this matters because I was in line to use a pop until about 2 mins before the start -- I had to sprint to starting line, and push my way into the crowd.  Consequently, I started back further than I would have liked.  In the end, it didn't matter because of chip timing, but this was going to factor into being a problem later on ... because, the timing mats were wrong from about mile 3 until I don't know when.  

 My first mile was 7:33 by my watch - which felt slower than I was running to me, but I thought, well, I am just not in good shape, it is ok ... hang in there and let the race come to you. For the next 2 miles I just felt like I was passing a bunch of people who were running slower than me, and it did not worry me, but it was weird.  Then, there was a clock, just out there, with no mile marker, no timing mat, no nothing.  It read 21:43 and I had no idea what it was -- weirdest thing was that the 3 mile marker was up another 1/2 mile or so??  And my watch read 24 mins.  I wondered how I could be passing so many people and be running so much slower than I should have?  At mile 4 my split was 6:05????  yea, right!   My next was 7:59 ... and, well, you get the drift, it went like this the whole race.   At the 10K I asked the guy next to me if he could see the pace group sign in front of us (they were about 200 meters ahead).  He couldn't but he said we just went through the 10K at 42:50 or so (which would be a pr for me) and I said, "shoot, I shouldn't be up here".  

Well, eventually, I caught the pace group, and it was the 1:35 group.  I just sort of hung on them until about 12 and then saw Paula who had run (actually she won) the 5K, she started yelling at me to catch the woman in front of me ... and so I did.  I don't know why, but whenever people yell at me to "dig deep" or "catch someone" (when it is someone I know) it really  helps me ... so I passed the pacer, I passed the woman who was with him ... and then held on to the finish.  I was pretty happy.    Too bad I don't have splits  to help guide my last 6 weeks of training -- but, I really can't complain.  It looks like the 10K and 10 mile splits from the website might be correct (5K: 23:40 (7:38 pace), 10K: 44:55 (7:13 pace), 10 mile: 1:12:15 (7:13 pace)) but I really think the 5K split is off; if I assume the "clock in the middle of nowhere" was mile 3, then it would make sense that my first 5K was in the 7:12 range.  I do feel like I was running a little too fast for the first half of the race (up until I joined the 1:35 pace group -- I think I caught them at mile 8-9) -- but I guess since I was able to hang on it wasn't really that fast.  I just found it odd that I was passing people most of the race.  I passed one of the Grinders at mile 2 who ended up running a 1:40 ... and she ran a strong race ... so it wasn't like she went out too fast and died.  

By the way -- it was 35F at the start, about 41F at the finish, basically a perfect day to race.

My friend Merry, who is 56, ran a 1:32:56!!!!  

The ride home was a little painful, my hamstring is very sore right now. 

 I need to go check the CIM results and see how many people qualified today for the trials, I had heard there were over 100 people giving it one last shot (well, besides those running Las Vegas)!!!  

Happy Sunday bloggers! 

45 mins or so ... trying to take it easy for a couple of days so I get back on track by this weekend.  I might try some strides or a fartlek on Thursday if I feel up to it.

 It was 27F today, and believe it or not, there is snow in the mountains -- not my mountains, but the ones on the East side of town.  

I hope you are doing well bloggers!! 

Just in case you haven't heard, there were 25 women and 8 men who obtained Olympic Trials Qualifiers at California International on Sunday!!!! Amazing. 

On Sunday night, I was riveted to the computer watching the Las Vegas 1/2 marathon that also had a bunch of men trying for qualifiers based on the 1/2 marathon time (1:05) and women who were using the race as a tune-up (McGregor and Hastings were the favorites).  This was a seriously fast race with the top guys going through the first 5K in 14:30!!! and the women in 16:45!!  The first 10K for the men still had nearly 11 guys in the 29:40 or faster range ... wow.  Very exciting -- I was seriously hoping to see some 1:01/1:09 times (the projections at 10K), but the uphill near the 15K mark put the kabosh on that.  Regardless, it was an exciting race.

about 1:03 or so ... felt really good the first 40 mins or so, but the uphills home were a little of a stretch.  This morning on the radio, "the temperature is flirting with freezing," and then in 15 mins, "temperatures just fell below freezing."  Apparently, a little flirting can sometimes lead to naughtiness ;-).

I have been going merrily along thinking that the snakes were asleep for the winter, apparently, this is not the case since I came very very close to stepping on a diamondback this morning. Luckily he was too cold to strike ... 

Happy last day of classes bloggers.  I am such a dweeb.  For some reason my syllabus is one week off, and I thought I still had one week of lectures ... much to my surprise one of my colleagues told me last night that TODAY was the last day of classes.  It was 7:30 PM, and I had to write my final ...whoops.

Stay warm and happy!! 

AM: (~ 6 miles but who knows, 56:03)

PM: easy 4.

No snakes today, I got out a little later so it was warmer (~41F) and beautiful in the sun.  So so so lucky.

I have a bunch of friends from Nashville coming into town tomorrow to race the Tucson Marathon!!  It is going to be fun fun fun!! 

1:02:29.  Easy run, again.  My legs are still a little sore, but we have an appointment to see John-of-the-ART next week so hopefully I can torment them a little more until then.  I saw the Diamondback again today, he/she was in a slightly different spot, but very close to where he/she was on Wednesday -- and he/she looked a little more alert today.  I am afraid for it, I don't think it is going to survive - there must be something wrong with it, because it was 27F this morning, likely colder overnight, and all "healthy" snakes must be hybernating by now... sad. 

Today, I met a two new horses, and got a name for a horse that I have been giving treats to!  The one I have been giving carrots to Dover, he is a draft horse (big body - he weights 1400bls!).  Then I met Thunder (a quarter horse) and Nutmeg (a painted pinto) -- yes, I learned all of this when I stopped by and the owner was there.  Actually, I learned a lot more, I just didn't want to write it all down ;-).  When you come and visit me I will show you where these horses live and tell you all about them ;-).  What I will say is that Nutmeg is pretty awesome, and he had a winter coat that was very soft and cuddly, he also sort of acted like a dog ... it was interesting.  I really like my neighborhood, on my way home I ran by a couple of "cowboys" (seriously) who had stopped on the side of the road to talk -- one was carrying a load of fresh hay (for his horses probably).  It reminded me of a couple of months ago when I ran into this couple - they were each riding a horse and they were walking another.  It was pretty funny looking, so I said something about 'walking your horse' ... this couple was 65 if they were a day ... they explained that they had to exercise them every day (and rotate who they rode) because they were actually working horses.  Apparently, this couple were working "cowboys" who spent ~ 1/2 the year actually rounding cattle in Montana!  cool huh?  I thought so.

Anyway -- I have a couple meetings and then am off to find my lost friends from the South (they aren't really lost ;-)).

Have a wonderful weekend bloggers!   For your reading pleasure - and because it has to do with running - here is an awesome interview with Kara Goucher ... Also, if you haven't seen them yet, a series with Greg McMillan's athletes (the scroll at the bottom shows more videos) ... enjoy. 

AM: (1:04:24).  Easy 7 ... I was going to 8, but my leg that was hurting before the race last week is really hurting now.  I want to conserve my strength (and pain threshold) for a long run tomorrow ;-)

PM: easy 4.

Busy day, we were out too late last night catching up with my friends who are in town for the Tucson marathon and 1/2 marathon ... they are all coming over for pasta tonight too -- it should be interesting as our house is pretty small for dinner for 12 ... but we are all friends so it should work out fine!

Have a great day bloggers. 

2:44:34.  I ran a looped course down on the "flatter" trails.  I did multiple loops so I could evaluate how things were feeling -- Greg gave me a wide choice today (16-20 miles depending on how I felt).  I was sort of hoping to get 20, but my leg was so sore pretty much from the get-go, that I thought it was dumb to chase mileage.  I finished strong and, except for the stupid leg, I felt pretty good.  I am hoping John can fix me on Tuesday and I can have a strong 22 miler next weekend.

We had 15 people over last night for a pre-race meal!  I did not think our house would fit that many, but it was a perfect fit.  And FUN.  Maybe too much fun ;-).

So, woweee  Shalane Flanagan ran a 1:09:58 half today in Miami, according to the interview with Kara Goucher, all three of teammates (Shalane, Kara and Lisa Uhl -nee Kohl) trained through this race, with 120 miles last week, horrible flights into Miami, and no rest.  This is boding really well for my prediction that Shalane will win the womens race at the trials (Kara ran a 1:12:59 and Lisa ran a 1:15:24).  The men's winner ran a 1:05:38 (Simon Bairu) with Brent Vaughn a close second 1:05:41 (this is 3 minutes off his PR, btw) and then Tim Nelson rounded out the top three in 1:07:44 -- by the way, all three of these guys are also teammates training with Schumacher in Portland.  

Hope you are all doing well!! 

AM: (7.5 miles, 1:03:49).  12 x 1` w/1` recovery.  I was in a very big hurry this morning, I was on the schedule to give lab meeting, it was pouring (and 40F) ... and I just got a late start.  I would have liked to run 9 or 10, but in the end it was good.

This afternoon Dean and I went up to Phoenix to see John (it rained the whole way, yucky rain too).  It hurt like the dickens, but I think it is going to help a lot!  No fast people sightings, but we did plan our Houston meet-up - John is going out to help Ryan Hall (and all the McMillan folks probably) -- it is going to be so exciting to watch the trials, I can hardly wait (except I am scared witless about my own preparedness for the marathon) ...

PM: Easy 4.  By the time we got home it was way too dark to run outside (and still pouring, though I would have preferred that to the gym), so I went to the Y to run on the dreaded-dreadmill ... man, how can 4 miles feel like soooooo long?

I hope you are all doing ok, I am sure the snow is falling in Utah (or will be soon) - all you skiers are going to have a blast!!  Stay safe, have fun!! 

1:06:41 ... a little sore today, probably from treatment yesterday.  The best part was that I felt like I had full extension of my hip today, it feels better than it has for a long time.  I am going to see John every week from now until the marathon -- even if it does mean a long drive.  Planning on a very very hilly 22 miles this weekend, after fatiguing myself with a tempo run tomorrow ... we'll see how it goes.

It is beautiful here today -- snow on the mountains and drier than it has been in days.

Happy Wednesday bloggers! 

AM: (12 miles, 1:34:05).  28:18wu/30:18cd, 5 mile tempo run (target: 6:55-7:13).  

Splits: 7:10, 7:10, 7:05, 7:05, 6:57

I was VERY surprised with this run.  I was apprehensive of the new target times (based on my 1/2 marathon a couple of weeks ago), they just sounded so fast ... I had told myself that I should probably not be disappointed if I ran in the 7:15 or even the 7:20 range for most of the miles, and that if I could just finish at 7:12 pace it would be good (the last time I had done this particular workout was April 2010 and I had run 7:21, 7:18 7:16, 7:13, 7:08).  When I saw my first mile split I told myself to slow down, but somehow I didn't .. and then, inexplicably I somehow just kept speeding up?  wow.  Even the long 3 mile uphill felt good today.  I really do feel that John working on my hip and adductor has helped with my leg extension ... wow.  Now if I can just find MP and hold it ;-).

PM: easy 4.

I forgot to tell you about the pack of 7 coyotes I saw yesterday!!!  Seriously, a pack of 7 is quite an amazing sight ... I have to admit I was momentarily a little nervous, but then I wasn't ;-).

Happy Thursday bloggers! 

maybe a little longer than 7.5, but not quite 8 miles (1:08:15) ... ran very easy and stopped to feed carrots to Dover the draft horse ....

Happiest of Fridays to you all, bloggers! 

AM: (8.5? miles, 1:19:23).  I have a feeling this was longer than 8.5, but not quite 9, so I will call it 8.5 ... it was a very easy run. I am still trying to recover from Thursday, and I am doing a super hard 22 miles tomorrow (in the mountains).  

PM: 4 miles easy.

Getting ready for Dean's Mom and his son to get here (they will be here on Monday), and we had a work party last night to attend, and another tonight.  Tonight is a white elephant party - they are fun.  I have one "funny" gift (a venom sucker -- seriously) and one more serious, a pretty angel Christmas tree ornament.  

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!!  

3:34:02 - I think this was a little longer than 22, but I am not sure.  I ran 4 very hilly loops in Sagauro National Park -- the Bajada Loop drive dirt road.  Each lap is somewhere between 5.3 and 5.5 miles long, I ran them in 53:17, 52:18, 51:12 and 48:50, I added on nearly 9 mins on the third lap (~ .7 miles out and back on another dirt road that goes down to a trailhead and picnic area) in case the route is 5.3 ;-).  It was cold and raining (~45F), it started raining about 1/2 way into the 2nd lap and rained until about 1/2 way into the 4th.  My legs and arms were bright red, but I had gloves and a band to cover my ears so it was tolerable.  My legs were really sore on the downhill on lap 3, but I felt pretty good by lap 4 --- I guess because I knew it was almost over.

 I am really glad to get this over with, it is my first 20 miler since training for Eugene a year and a half ago.  Not speedy, but I was out there for a long time, and that was what I was shooting for ...

By the time I got this run out of the way, went grocery shopping, and cleaned up the house a little it is nearly 5PM!  what a lost day (unfortunately with no nap!).  But, all is good.

I hope you are all doing well!!  Happy Sunday! 

AM: (10.5, 1:35:27).  Easy run ... the last 45 mins were uphill, and my legs were a little tired at the end.  But, it is a beautiful day and I loved the run!

PM: easy 4.

Dean's Mom just got in ... so I have to go socialize.  Happy day bloggers!! 

1:06:45.  Beautiful day -- 41F and sunny.   I was running back on a dirt road and I heard about 3-4 coyotes howling .. and a couple others returning.  So, as I came down the road I see a pack of 5 coyotes heading over to the first group!  Very cool, I guess they had a meeting scheduled ;-).

Went up to see John today - ouch, he used the shock therapy ;-) machine on my foot, it still hurts.  But, the greatest thing?  I saw Lauren Fleshman there!  She is so awesome.  We have been Facebook friends, I have ordered Picky Bars, and did most of my Christmas shopping at Believe I Am  and now I have met her in person!  So cool.  

I hope you are all doing well.  I am off to Urgent Care so I can try to get this ear infection (3 days now) looked at! 

AM: (14 miles, 1:59:46).  28:51wu/29:47cd.  I was supposed to run 5-8 miles at MP (which, if all goes well should be about 7:37 pace).  Well, last night I learned that the reason my ear has hurt so badly (it has woken me up 3-4 nights now) is because of a sinus infection.  In all likelihood I have had this for a month or so now (since before the 1/2 marathon).  I am on antibiotics and already (after a nights and full days worth) feel so so so much better! Who knew?  Anyway, I told myself to run these miles at about 7:40 pace, it would be close enough to get the correct stimulus without putting too much stress on my body.  Well, I just couldn't find the pace -- I am hoping that my future MP runs will be after I really tire myself out (run 12 and THEN run 8 at MP) ... because otherwise, I seem to just run them too fast: 7:38, 7:36, 7:31, 7:34, 7:30, 7:26, 7:33, 7:20.  Regardless, it felt so good ... even the long 3 miles uphill home was easy ;-).

PM: easy 4.

I hope you are all doing well bloggers!!  My non-running time at night -- Dean and I are 1 for 2 in Euchre against his Mom and son, Sam.  

1:07:37.  Easy run, fed Dover some carrots and enjoyed the 35F degree day!

Happy day-before-Christmas Eve bloggers!! 

AM: (8.5, I don't have a time here -- I did not stop my watch when I finished my run ?? whoops).  Fed Big Boy and CoCo ... enjoyed the beautiful day.  Thought about my Mom, and how much I am missing her this Christmas.  

PM: easy 4.

I feel pretty good, I am not really sure I can run a 3:20 marathon, but I am sure I will run as well as I can, and I am pretty sure I can run under 3:30 right now.  I am just grateful for being able to run.

Merry Christmas bloggers. 

3:11:43 (AP: 8:42) (9:03 out/8:18 back).  Ran on the Rillito trail (nice and flat). Last 3 miles were 7:41 pace.  My legs are/were tired ... I guess it was the 82 miles in 6 days last week  ;-) whose idea was this anyway??

We had to take Dean's Mom and son, Sam to the airport really really early this morning ... I am pretty tired.  We celebrated Christmas last night, ending the evening watching A Christmas Story -- I love that movie.

I so hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas! 

AM: (9.5 miles, 1:22:06).  26:33wu/25:51cd + fartlek workout 15 x 1` w/1` recovery.  My back is killing me ... it is either my SI joint or sciatic nerve ... I have calls in to the massage therapist, John-of-the-ART and my chiropractor ... I hope I get to see all of them, but at this point, one might do ;-).

PM: easy 4.

I have to get a manuscript review done today -- I can't believe it is more than a month overdue ... yikes.

I hope you are all having a wonderful post-Christmas week! 

1:02:55.  Thank goodness, I feel so much better than yesterday. So much so that apparently I ran this route nearly 2 mins faster than usual.  Tomorrow I have my last super hard workout on the track (I still have 2 MP workouts and one "tune-up" the week of the race).  If I can hold it together one more week I will be ready to go! 

I hope you are all having a wonderful post-Christmas week.   

 AM: (15 miles, 2:02:04).  28:38wu/28:03cd.  whew ... my nemesis: VO2 max workout (Yasso 800's).   10 x 800 w/equal recovery.   Target: 3:20s, actual: 3:20.8 average. 

So ...  these are supposed to be a predictor for a marathon -- but Greg says that they generally predict about 5 secs too fast ... in which case, I am looking at a 3:25.  However, my recent 1/2 marathon (probably a better predictor) predicts somewhere between 3:19 and 3:20 (depending on which calculator you use).   SO ... I guess I am realistically somewhere between 3:20 on a good day, and 3:25 on an average day ... which, would be a PR regardless.  I still have to make the 26.2 miles though, whatever the pace!

Oh, by the way, in case you were wondering, the last 5 800s of this workout were very very hard ;-) 

 UPDATE ... whoops, I overestimated my mileage from this morning -- the recovery laps were 600 meters, not 800, so I was just over 15 miles for the run.  Good thing I did not underestimate the 800s, I am sure about those ;-).  UPDATE 2: I feel every one of my 49 years this afternoon.  creak creak. 

PM: easy easy easy 4!

Happy Thursday bloggers! 

1:09:15.  Very slow recovery run.  After the first few minutes my legs loosened up and did not hurt anymore, but they are very tired - especially on the uphill grinds.  

I wish I had more to say ... but I don't ;-).  Well, other than watching the last couple of weeks leading up to the Marathon Olympic Trials is very exciting .... here if an interview with a possible darkhorse.  And here's some more from the Brooks-Hansons team!

Happy Friday Bloggers!! 

AM: (8.5, 1:20:52).  I think this was maybe almost 9 ... but not quite.  I was running really really slowly, even though I felt so much better than yesterday.  

PM: easy 3.5 - I am going to try to get in 4 miles - I DID get in 4 miles!!, but I am not sure I will be able to, we are meeting some friends for a very early new years eve dinner (because we are old, and we all have long runs tomorrow ;-) ) and I have a PT appt that will likely last until 4 or so.

Happiest of New Year Eve's to you all!  I hope you all have a 2012 that is love, blessed times, and happy trails!