Denouement

Woke up at 4:05am. Met MacK.  This will be the last time I will be able to drive to run on MWF, I will need to hit the treadmill next week to save time, then in future weeks I will likely start dropping these runs altogether :(  I am going to go through some bad withdrawls.

Sore throat, lack of energy in the run, icy snow flakes in the eyes.

8:44 pace

My throat will likely be sore for the next 11 weeks :(

So I hit 70 miles this week, which is my important statement to myself - that this year is a different year.

I met up with the SF group and Josse came down.  Hal, Dan, Josse and I ran together to Bishop's, then it was just Josse and I for the rest of the run.  I was so glad she came out.  I had times I felt good and times I felt crummy.  I just have to run no matter how I feel.

8:15 ave pace. (Josse, you were right, I showed we had four total mile splits under 8 min pace).

Goal next week: 60 miles, ave 6 hours of sleep during the week.

Still have sore throat.  I will be taking more Zicam and going to Good Earth to look for that Dr. Christopher's medicine Sasha suggested before.

Sweet nap!  Problem is long naps tend to make falling asleep hard afterward.

Woke up at 3:55am.  Had a hard time getting to sleep because of getting too much sleep on Sunday.  I just can't win!

I wanted to do a tempo run on the treadmill.  Was tired but felt ok starting.  Warmed up for 2 miles at 8:00 pace then started.  After the first mile at 6:22 needed to hit the toilet.  Then hopped back on the treadmill, warmed up for .25 then went down to 6:15 pace.  I felt like I had little juice so wimped out and turned the workout into mile repeats.  So rested .25 mile between mile 2 and mile 3, did mile 3 at 6:15 pace but had to hit the toilet again at .9 into the mile, just couldn't wait any longer.  I made reduced fat chocolate cookies and I think I ate 20 of them between Saturday and Sunday and they were coming back to get their revenge.  Hopped back on and warmed up for .25 then back to 6:15 for a mile.  At the end of this mile I was close to tears and wiped out and called it a day as far as the fast miles went.  I am disappointed I couldn't do more, but between the lack of sleep and the GI issues I couldn't pull out the workout I wanted to.

Mile 1 6:22, potty break plus .25 run rest (@ 8:00 pace)

Mile 2 6:15, .25 run rest (@ 8:00 pace)

.9 Mile, 6:15 pace, potty break plus .25 run rest (@ 8:00 pace)

Mile 4, 6:15, dead at the end

4.6 miles cool down, it took me 2 miles of rest after the last fast mile before I could go under 8:00 pace, it took four miles to feel comfortable at 7:30.

Asics.

I took Endurox R4 after.

Weigh in 121, no weight gain yet :)

Evening - ab workout.

Great sleep last night.  Slept in until 4:35am!  I felt some stomach or feminine cramping before the run, or maybe I was just hungry, who knows?  I feel good now after the run. I relied on MacK's gps since I forgot to start mine (I didn't notice that I had forgotten to start it until mile 9 so that shows I am not always checking my splits or obsessing about my pace, eh?).

So I did not get the ave pace but my guess is 8:15. 

I am feeling positive about this week. Work isn't too bad yet.

10 miles on the treadmill. 1:14:43, or 7:28 ave pace.  Felt ok.  Sore throat is returning a little.  My hip/groin pain was there a little again.  I iced and heated it and one glut yesterday which was also sore.

Mizuno

Woke up 3:25am to say goodby to hubby who is going on a business trip.  Then stayed up and worked.  I ran while JJ was in preschool just now.  It was nice for two miles then started snowing. I ran from Salem to the SF ballpark and back, and of course the snow was coming down sideways with a chilly wind in SF.  It was calmer in Salem, just snowflakes floating down.  I had some horses neighing but tried to hold them back since I will be doing a hard run Saturday and I don't want to over train.  Several miles were under 7:30, fastest was 7:15.

ave pace 7:40.

Woke up at 5:02am!  What a sleep in!  And I went to bed earlier too.

Felt good on the treadmill.  One thing I didn't mention yesterday is that when I was running on the road yesterday my legs felt out of sync for the first several miles, like they were trying to run with their treadmill form and it wasn't working too well since the road didn't move below me (well, I guess technically it does with the rotation of the earth) like the treadmill belt does.

1.5 grade, 7:30 pace

Another great night of sleep.  I will be going into work tonight for my date night (when Paul is out of town I go out without him.  Tonight I planned on working some, which helped me be ok with sleeping more the last two nights). 

Was so happy to see a great group of ladies this morning: Alli, Josse, Jamie, and MacK.  We kept the miles under 8 min pace, after the first mile.  I was concerned about the pace for our pregnant contingency, but Jamie still has some spring to her step and she doesn't look preggie at all (yet). 

Plan for workout: a Little Big Workout (the format of a big workout but without enough total hard mileage to make it a true big workout - I would say that 8 miles or more of hard qualifies).  This was my first time doing a tempo/ VO2 max combo workout.  The plan was a 4 mile tempo at 6:20-6:30 (CV pace?), a one mile or more rest, and then 4 800's at VO2Max and .25 mile rest in between.

We warmed up for 4.97 and I tried to convince the ladies to do a tempo workout with me.  The plan was that I would go out 2 miles then turn around and they would do 1.5 then turn around and I would try to catch them. 

Mile 1 - 6:11, not shabby, a little fast though

Mile 2 - 6:20, just right,

Mile 3 - 6:26, this mile really stunk, felt like the fifth or sixth mile,

Mile 4 - 6:17, much better.

I was not sure how their tempo went, but toward the end of mile 4 I saw what looked like an adult tying his/her shoe, and a child standing right next to the crouched person.  Turns out MacK had some strain in her muscle, and they stopped a couple of times for stretching and Josse was doing an impromptu massage on the side of the road for her.  I finished the 4th mile and then didn't turn around back to them because a portapotty was right ahead of me, so I went into it.  I figured they would understand when they saw me go inside.  I was finishing up in the pot when Josse asked, "How'd it go?"  I am thinking, "Is she talking to me?  Is she asking about my bathroom experience?"  She qualified "The tempo." Funny. 

The four mile tempo felt like a six or seven mile tempo.  I tried to not think about the 800's.

We hit the first recovery mile at 8:09, then another mile at 7:38 (there was a stop for gatorade in this mile, by this time it was Jamie, MacK and Josse and I, I think Ally had to get home by some specific time).  Noone else was game for the 800's so I started each one and looped back to the group.

1 - 3:03, this stunk so bad, the second half was so hard to keep pace, 2:38 rest (.26)

2 - 2:57, much better, but the second half was much harder than the first half, 2:52 rest (.28)

3 - 2:58, 3:35 rest (.34)  A longer rest to get to the right starting point, then a false start,

4 - 2:54, Josse started this one with me and hung with me for quite a bit of it, I was very happy to be down to the times I should have run all of them in

All had positive splits.  I think doing VO2max after a tempo is absolutely killer, and it is probably really good for marathon training.  This workout kicked my butt, but I want to do this type of format in my spring/summer training, adding miles to the tempo and more VO2max too.

Finished up with Josse, I was surprised to see so many miles on my watch.

Yeah!  Smashed my goal of doing 60 miles this week!

I drank Endurox R4 after I got home, and now I have used it several times, and I do think that it is a good recovery drink.

Goals for this week:  run 60 miles and go to the temple.  Get 5.5 hours of sleep or more a night, work 40 hours, play with my kids each day (some of these goals conflict).

Had a hard time falling asleep again because of the Sunday nap.  I might have to cut out the nap. . .

Shorter run on the treadmill this morning to make time for more important things. 

7:30 ave pace.

Had my radio tuned to KBear on accident so listened to some good songs but some funny glam rock type stuff and was subjected to a couple of monster truck commercials.

Woke up at 3:10 am.  The cr*p is really hitting the fan with work.  I ate two pieces of bread and a banana right away, worked for a little over an hour then met MacK for a run.  I definitely ate too much.  Between not enough sleep, working before running, and eating too much before running, I wasn't feeling hot in the run.  I did start to feel better at about 7.5 miles, then I decided I could do more than 10 miles.

Ave pace 8:22

woke up at 3:10am.  too much work to run 10 miles.  Eight will do.

7:30 pace on treadmill

Sucky day at work, then my daycare, a wonderful mom and a situation I can't replace, told me she needs me to find someone else.  She is giving me time to look, but it's like a punch in the stomachs.  Is it the Chuck E Cheese commercial where the kid says, "I just can't win!".  I need some adult version of Chuck E Cheese right now, but don't have time for it.

I was supposed to meet Josse, but a stranded car at the end of our culdesac in the 14 inches of snow prevented me from getting out of WH so I changed clothes, hopped on the treadmill and did a marathon pace tempo.  Warmed up for a mile, then 6:40 first mile, 6:35 for the rest.  I felt like I could have gone faster if I had sleep, but that was the fastest I could go without risking failure (quitting the workout).

 HUGE project I have to finish today.  Will I get any sleep tonight?

I worked 16 hours yesterday, got just a bit of sleep last night then woke up early for more work.  The good news is I got my most pressing job done today so I can run tomorrow.  The bad news is I missed my first run this tax season because of my work, and I won't make the 60 mile mark either :(  I also have a week worth of other tax returns/accounting I need to attend to, so the season has really begun.

Met with the SF group. MacK and Josse and I started out together, and Kevin joined us for a while. I felt good at the start. MacK peeled off after 6 miles with us (she did a couple before I came) because she is feeling pain in her leg still. Injuries stink, and they stink worse the more serious you are about running.

Josse and I went down Zephyr road and met up with Kent Wing, and he joined us on the pretty little road loop and back to SF. We picked up the pace on the downhill portion of the pretty line road, and that was fine, but Josse and Kent kept the fast pace going and I just faded more and more. I met up with them at Osbornes and was able to keep up only somewhat after that too. My GPS is BROKEN!!!! so I don't know the pace and the distance is approximate (thanks to Josse for letting me bum off hers), I would guess my overall pace was about 8:10, but that is faster in the middle and beginning, slower at the end. Josse kicked my butt up Zephyr hill and Heartbreak hill. Sigh. The lack of sleep is catching up to me.

Weigh in 121, no weight gain yet!!! 8.5 weeks until the end of tax season.

Only goals I reached last week were to play with my kids each day and go to the temple, but I guess those are the ones to meet if I have to give a couple up.  I worked more hours last week than I ran miles, and that is just not right.

Goals this week:  Play with my kids each day, run 6 days, run 60 miles, sleep 5.5 hours during the week, enjoy elements of each day. 

Easy boring run on treadmill.  I did have my new mp3 player so that made it a little more fun.  I counted my foot strike for one minute twice.  The first time was 184, and I thought that I must have been trying to do it faster to hit the magic 180, so I measured again trying to not mess with my stride and hit 184 again.

Worked last night so I could wake up later: 4am.  I tend to run better if I just wake up and do it.  Met with MacK.  I had the "brilliant" idea of running through the Salem farm land to SF and back.  That is a cold section of land!  Where we started it was 16F but I bet it dipped below 10F in the flat lands.  Boy.  My gps watch is dead so I relied on MacK's.  She is so funny, at the end I asked for my average pace but she didn't know how to get it, so I showed her the history screen and it showed us as having run 1 lap, so she doesn't have mile laps set.  

 8:30 ave pace. 

Woke up at 3:19, hopped on treadmill, listening to new Foo Fighters cd.  At 2.5 miles a song I really like comes on with a fast pace so I decide to up the pace to 6:44 (was a marathon effort because of sleep issues) and held that pace for 2 miles then backed off again.  Got to save some juice for Josse tomorrow :)

With .5 to go I started to get a sour stomach but the song I kept trying to find finally came on Erase/Replace on the new Foo Fighters CD.  I was so happy to have the song I forgot about my stomach.

Now at work and my stomach is still feeling yucky, but only mildly so. 

Felt way worn down yesterday so "slept in" until 4:25am.  Paul is out of town so my weekday outside running will be in the mid-morning while my youngest is in preschool.

Josie was kind enough to arrange to meet me in SF.  We were supposed to do speed, but I woke up with a sore throat and generally feel lethargic, and she has a race on Sat. so we decided just to do a bunch of strides.  We had some not so nice dogs approach us barking, and I was like, "Josse, seriously stay right by my side, I am scared!"  They didn't bite.  Then when we were doing strides a nicer dog joined us and was more energetic than us, I would taunt the dog with competitive rhetoric then he would smoke me during the stride.  I tried to focus on my form.  The dog smoked us on number 10, hurting my pride :)

 Thanks for bending over backwards for my crazy schedule Josse!  You make my running so much more enjoyable.

 I mailed off my Garmin for repair/replacement after the run.  I will likely get it back in 3-4 weeks.  I guess that's ok since I am getting slower and don't especially care to know it every mile and I am doing lots of treadmill anyway.

pace thanks to Josse's garmin:

ave pace 8:07.

 

I got more sleep last night because I am fighting a cold.  It hasn't become full blown yet and I felt better this morning than yesterday, so I am hoping my increased sleep will keep it at bay.  I went on the treadmill and planned to do 7 miles, but the dang thing started to trip our electrical switch (what are those things called, they are in a big grid in your basement or laundry room?).  Oh, yeah, circuit breaker.  Its wierd, we have been using the treadmill in that location for a dozen or more runs without problems but today it is suddenly an issue.  Any ideas on what the problem might be?

Now I have to run extra long on Saturday to get my 60 :(

I overslept.  I heard my alarm but wasn't rational enough to get out of bed.  So I rushed when I finally woke up.  I had to get gas on the way to meeting the SF group.  So I drove to tree line road and saw some runners but didn't recognize anyone so just parked and started to look for running buddies.  I saw Kim and Tom, then a guy I recognized came along and I finally put a face to a name: Clay!  It was so nice to meet you.  Tom said Ally and MacK were somewhere behind, so I tried to find them, by running back on tree line road.  I found the running group proper but no MacK or Alli (I am so sorry ladies that I flaked on you.  I will do better next time!).  Steve King was with the SF group and we started to chat and he found out I just started and wouldn't let me stop for gatorade--he was right I didn't need any, I was just into the run about 1.5-2 miles (no GPS!).  Steve asked if I was game for Harry's hill, and I said sure.  The hill is like Veyo and it stinks, but I survived through it.  We ran comfortably hard (probably 7:30ish) but some miles were harder and we did a couple of pick ups.  I generally ran much harder than I would of on my own.  It's so nice to be pushed, but it kind of stinks too.

I sure hope Josse does well today in her race.  I was thinking of her during my run.

Follow up:  My legs and whole body was so tired in the afternoon.  I am not sure if I ran harder than I thought, I am more out of shape than I am thinking, it is the sickness that hadn't gone away completely, or if I just am still suffering from inadequate sleep and/or excessive stress.

No run.  treadmill is busted and Paul is on the way to Singapore.

Ran 10.2 miles in 1:17 and change.  The effort was out of whack with pace because I had a hard time breathing.  I have somewhat of a sore throat, but that doesn't usually cause me having a hard time breathing.  Sometimes I felt like I was being suffocated, sometimes I was able to control it with a 3-3 or 2-2 breathing pattern, and sometimes I was fine without focusing on my breathing.  There was some high effort portions that's why I am putting in two miles at marathon pace.  I did the SF golf course loop two times, and then added some at the end.  I then measured the loop with my car.  Exactly 5 miles a loop.

Not enough sleep.  Nothing diet cherry pepsi can't cure :)  My treadmill is still broken so I met with Josse and we ran from her home before I went into work.  

 My stomach was way upset, like gas bubbles in the high part of my abdomen.  I think it is soda/caffeine/lack of sleep related. 

 It was great to run with Josse and catch up with her. (Thanks for letting me use your shower and for working your schedule around me!!!!!!)

 I have a trip to CA, driving out to Salinas Sunday, back on Tuesday due to my grandmother's death.  So I am more busy crunched for time than ever.  Paul is still in Singapore.  Life is crazy!

Happy Birthday to me!

I gave myself a treat and slept 5 hours and slept in until 3:30am.

I met Josse in Provo for a nice longish run. It was really enjoyable. In retrospect I could have worn shorts but I didn't.  We went from Home Depot to the lake and back on the river trail. I had some stomach cramping but nothing like yesterday.

Thanks for meeting me Josse!

 Thanks to all for your supportive words regarding my grandmother's passing.  She was ready to move on so I don't see it as being that sad.  I am excited to see all of my family at the funeral, but the prospect of the drive there and back is overwhelming.
 

ave pace 7:55 (courtesy of Josse's gps).

Treadmill broken, so had the option of running up and down my cul de sac a gazillion times to get in a couple of miles or sleep in a half hour and I chose the latter.  My throat is sore.