track fan

YIPPEE.  It was a very hilly course (I actually kind of knew this going into it, but man it was hilly) -- When I called Dean to tell him how did he said he was a little worried because some of the hills were much steeper than he had thought.  It was a perfectly executed race though, and the hills (or the cross-wind along the ocean) did not affect my performace because I ran pretty much by feel and did not really pay attention to my splits except at the very beginning to make sure I was not running too fast.  I am so happy.

This my watch time - the "clock time" is a little different but I figured this is the way my splits worked out so it is how I am breaking down my race (for future training):

mile 1 - 7:58 (this is wrong)

mile 2 - 6:41 (downhill, but this is wrong too -- the average of 1 and 2 is 7:19 and much more believable - I was not feeling "peppy" just trying to ease into it)

mile 3 - 7:36 (big hill, as we crested it we were running along the ocean I think it was pretty - but I did not really pay attention)

mile 4 - 7:17 (still along the ocean, finding pace was hard because of the rolling hills)

mile 5 - 7:27 (more of the same - you could see the marathon leaders here coming down the hill as we were heading up - man, they looked good for 21 miles!)

mile 6 - 7:16 (harder portion as we headed away from the ocean)

mile 7/8 - 7:27 (missed the mile 7 marker because there was a water stop there and I was taking a gu.  This was a hard part of the race - steady uphill over about a mile)

mile 9 - 7:23 (I am starting to focus on passing people now, I don't feel good, but I know from my fast finish runs I can finish!)

mile 10 - 7:27 (water, shorter hill)

mile 11 - 7:23 (yea baby)

mile 12 - 7:21 (passing lots of people now - LAST HILL)

mile 13 - 7:08 (downhill - can hear the finish!!!)

mile 13.1 - :40 (holy cow - I could not believe the clock as I was running into the finish!!)

I really expected to PR today, and I pretty much knew a 1:38 was in reach, but I seriously did not expect to break 1:37 - especially after I realized how hilly it was.  I am very happy.

No watch today -- number one I don't have my watch because Southwest managed to lose my baggage yesterday (one hour non-stop flight!) and it was in my bag.  And, it was a recovery jog and I don't really care how long it took ;-). 

I have an appointment with the surgeon today - hopefully we can get this done while I am in "recovery" mode so I can get to training for my first marathon!! And, hopefully it won't mean much actual downtime from running.

I hope all you bloggers are safe and warm!

39:11 -- yes, I have my watch back!!

Another easy day here in Tucson. It was cold enough for tights - the 3rd time I have worn them this "winter". My legs were "dead" but no pains anywhere, the recovery is going well! I was thinking about it on my run and this week is the most important week in my next cycle of training. I need to rejuvenate my mind and body. I realized yesterday at work just how hard it is to fit in running with my work-life, it is really nice to be able to just go to work and get lots of work done during the day and not have to work until 8 - 9PM every night because I had to take 1-2 hours during the day to do a run ...

So, I decided yesterday to take the least invasive action regarding my lesions. I had it "scraped and cauterized" rather than surgically excised. This way carries a higher rate of recurrence -- but the surgery takes so much healthy tissue and it takes much longer to recover (and I couldn't run for a few days afterward because of stitches). This way, the scar is going to be much worse, but it is not as invasive. Right now it looks really gross (I have to change the bandages twice a day - it is really gross) but it doesn't hurt much. If I can make it through my 6 and 12 month follow-up without recurrence then I will know I made the right decision! Unfortunately, since I had two lesions and I am relatively young (under 50) it is really likely that I will have more, hopefully they all will be non-aggressive subtypes. I know I will be using sunscreen more than ever.

Happy Day bloggers.

50:32 ... ok, today was an optional day off, but my legs felt good so I decided to run.  I was getting bored with my little 4.5 mile route and tried a new route -- it was supposed to be 4 miles (Greg told me to jog 30-40 mins today).  Well I sort of got lost and ran a little longer than I had planned ... luckily it was slow!!

38:26. Tried the "new route" again, this time I did not get lost!  It was longer than 4 miles, but I figured it would be since Dean *always* underestimates mileage!

35:53 ... ok, I got a little tired of jogging so I picked up a little today (though I did not mean to pick it up 3 1/2 minutes worth!)  same run as Tuesday and Wednesday.  Whoops.  But, my legs did not fall off so I am pretty sure it was ok.  Tomorrow I get to run longer again! yea.  

SO -- I did have a story from Thursday I forgot to write about (I worked really hard this week).  I was running and kind of had to use the bathroom. There was a construction site that had a porta-potty but when I ran past there was a huge truck pulling out so I thought "I am almost at the turn-around anyway so I will just stop by here on my way back."  I ran up the hill, touched the pole (because you have to touch it or it doesn't count, does anyone else do this on out-and-backs?) and headed back.  When I got to the porta-potty site there was a tractor nearby that I did not remember when I ran past -- when I got to the porta-potty it was in-use!!! The tractor had come from who knows where, pulled right up and the driver was in MY porta-potty.  I thought it was pretty funny, except that I really really needed to use it - it was not easy finding a VPB bloggers I will leave it at that.  Maybe you had to be there ;-).

Happy weekend!