One foot... in front of the other.

18 miles today--- and it felt ok!    I am thrilled that it felt ok.   I am not ridiculously tired, like usual.  I actually feel pretty pumped.   Hoping this will be a good week, in preparation for the Leesburg 20k.  I registered for this race, although I will miss the 20 mile run with my group, I want to conquor this race mentally.. need to get riley's rumble out of my mind and have a good run. 

Happy sunday!  It is a beautiful day here! 83 sunny and not too humid.   Talk soon.   Jill

Thank God we are starting to do some "speed" work.   The word speed is laughable since our "speed" work is supposed to be 10:20 pace, but tonight we did 9:45 min/ miles on the fast miles, and 10:20 on the slow ones.  I got home at about 9pm, and Jason and I stopped for pizza-   Ate too much!  Darn it!  20 minutes after I finished, I though I was going to keel over and die...  not too many of these kinds of nights, but I really hate when I do this to myself.  Yukk.... 

Anyway, I felt good- maybe still a little tired from doing the 18 on Sunday - but I think tomorrow I will feel really good.   I plan to run again Friday and then take off on saturday in order to rest a bit more for the 20k on Sunday. 

Thinking about Lucia- the argentine rocket-- hoping she is doing ok- and is resting and not beating herself up over the stress fracture!  Sending you good vibes, and happy thoughts!   

Talk soon my friends.... 

Just wanted to use the leggers before Sunday's "race."

OK, I accomplished what I set out to do.  I erased my last 1/2 marathon time from my mind, and can now focus on this, a much better time!     The first 7 miles of this 20K were uphill- more like a false flat - very gradual, but you could tell the second was going to be a lot faster.  

I had fun  -- just tucked in behind a couple people that were keeping a steady pace, and then at the turn around I refilled my water, which caused me to stop for a minute, then I picked it up again, and it felt good.   Then I started feeling great at mile 7.5 and was passing people one by one until mile 11.5.    I felt really, really good!   At mile 11.5, I my last little cup of water, and gave myself permission to walk a couple steps (BAD MOVE- and never give yourself permission to do anything but run when you have less than 2 miles to go!!!)   I think this stop was mentally not a good thing, and it got my body out of rhythm (did I spell this wrong?), and yeah, mentally, it felt bad seeing the people that were a step ahead of  me, now 30 seconds up the road. 

Anyway, there was a little uphill finish, which I enjoyed, and passed 2 more people on my way up to the finish.   Overall a very enjoyable experience.   Makes me think that I can actually improve if I keep it up.   Good job, Jill!  

Just a couple of miles to get my legs feeling good again.

Ran capital crescent trail with a non-running friend. We ran these miles at 10 min/mi pace.

Last night was speed training night on the track.   we did 4 x 1600 at 1 minute faster than 1sd pace.   So, our fastest time was still pretty slow... only a 10:10 mile....     So slow.  I wish I could run faster...  How do I get faster?   

Anyway, I was also pretty tired- but extra vitamins before I went to bed to restock my ssystem with the good stuff- b complex, calcium etc..  so tonight is a rest night, and tomorrow will be long run, before we do 17 m. on sunday.      Happy Thursday y'all !!

ran home from work this afternoon.... it felt really great and i ran fast miles, except for the .5 mile I walked up the huge hill on east west highway.   I like running home.  

What a beautiful day it is today!   17 awesome miles... they felt good- really good.  I really like feeling strong enough to break away from my group and run 3 or 4 minutes ahead of them.  I am thinking that I could easily move up a group or 2, but I like the people in my group- been running with them since May, so I dont feel right leaving them now.   So as long as they dont mind if I charge ahead of them and just wait to regroup at water stops, I think its ok. 

right now I am icing my leggers.... can feel my ankles.  and when I got home I took an ice bath!   I thought I would really hate it, but heck, I am from Boston, and go in the cold New Hampshire ocean  every summer... I can handle an ice bath once in a while!!!   Loved it!

Ok, going to watch some olympics.   Gotta spend some time figuring out what the marathoners are sniffing, and what happened to Deena. 

Later ... Talk soon!

No shortcuts for me, baby! Not tonight!  I got some catching up to do!  I got home and jumped into our jacuzzi tub - the really deep one- and "chilled" in the ice bath for 10 minutes.   It was very hot out....   But it was a good run.   I do have a little annoying somethign or other around my right ankle - the one i shattered in 7th grade when i went on a snow tube off a massive ramp somone built- crushed the little balls on my ankle... and I feel it a tad on the inside.  Se la vie... it won't stop me!  

Lunched with the lovely Lucia today- this blog is a wonderful thing.  I guess Sasha gets a huge thanks for bringing all of us together.

Talk soon cuties-   Jill 

Walter and fans, my tibia malleous is swollen...  Walter had suggested the cryo cuff contraption...   no chance.   The thing is bizarre looking.   So instead, I took yesterday off, and today ran part of the way home, and then went to see the massage therapist who fixed my knee problems.   Terrell is awesome....I think the best in our area.  Its  not a relaxing massage - rather he spent 1 full hour on my ankle alone.   I know it will feel great by morning.   I can't wait to see him again, even if it does break the bank.      

I hope you all are doing well!   Talk soon.  

I thought I was runing a lot faster.... I felt OK, but not great.     I am picking up on a couple of things:  1.) I get hot quickly, and hate baking in the sun.   2.) I am great with short little power hills, but need to get better on the long winding hills. 

I ran 10:40s- not great - but I will take it.  My ankle is pretty inflamed - the tibia malleolus and I am trying to ice it as much as possible.  It just gets stiff- and I could feel it a little out there. (Not making any excuses, just laying out the facts).  I think I need to concentrate on doing some intervals, to help increase my speed.  And, I need to drop like 5-6-7-8 lbs before the marathon... which feels nearly impossible, but it is true. and i think a 6 lb. reduction would help greatly.  

I checked out the times of those in my slow running group...  I think my time was the best... but I was only about 7 minutes faster than the heftiest gal in my running group.  What makes someone fast vs. slow?   Am I destined to be a slow runner?    

Anyway, I am off to the beach for a week, where I can ponder my future as a mediocre runner.  But, a runner nonetheless.    I have my ipod, 2 pairs of sneakers and lots of running clothes.   Right now, I am icing my ankle. I also bought this miracle creram called IB-Relief.. which has arnica, and ibuprophen in it.   I really like it- dulls the pain. 

Lucia, how did your friends do that ran this?  Were their times slower becuase of the hills?  

I guess the good news is that my PR is still awaiting me... I will get you eventually!    have a good week everyone!   I think I will actually really miss you while I am away!    :o)