Denouement

Met MacK and ran together for 7, then more on my own.  

8:18 ave pace

weight 122

Sasha was kind enough to wheel out a 5k (ok it was 2.5k with a 180 - his favorite as he joked).  We planned a 3x5k workout, with 19:00 as the target.  Conditions were good.  There were only a few icy spots the rest was clear.  Tail wind out, head wind back, but Sasha blocked for me.  Mary Ann and TylerS and Daniel joined, Daniel bowed out of the speed.  Mary Ann was going to do one 5k.  

My splits were very close to Sasha's so I am going off garmin:

5k #1: 18:58 (6:03, 6:06, 6:03), lots of rest between (about .75 mile, but about 10 minutes)

5k #2: 18:49 (6:06, 6:01, 6:01)

5k #3: 18:43 (6:02, 6:01, 6:02) Sasha said our last quarter was a 1:24, and that's when I started to dry heave bent over.

I was pleasantly surprised how comfortable I felt at this pace (though I generally was hurting the last .5 mile, or last .75 mile on the last one).  So hopefully I can continue to improve and this will be closer to marathon pace soon.  Right now it's probably more like 10 Mile - 1/2 marathon pace ish.

I would venture to say with the negative split over the three pieces and the consistency within that this is my strongest workout I have done this year.  Just when I needed it.

TylerS did part of each interval with us and was really strong on the first one until he pulled up in the last mile. I'm sure he'll be hungry to kick my pants again next time.

Mary Ann stuck with us for about a mile of the first interval, and kept up the tempo for the full 5k.  She's easing back into speed I think and it was great to meet up with her and get to know her better.

A special thanks to Sasha for pacing me beautifully (he had me sit behind him and tell him whether to speed up or slow down if needed, and we paced the tempos just right I think) and for Tyler and Mary Ann for helping make the workout happen. 

weight 122

Set alarm for 6:10am but woke up alert at 5:44.  Dang!  A sleep in wasted.

Putzed around at home, then went out.  Boy it was freezing!  My thermometer had the temp at 16F but it felt much colder, it was foggy so perhaps humid, which I hear makes the cold bite more.  Well, my face was pinched and fingers frozen and my arms felt like frozen buffalo wings.  

My first mile I took really slow, both hams sore from yesterday. They warmed up, and at 1.6 miles I hit a gas station restroom and stretched in there rather than in the cold.  As wussy, cheesy move, really, but it staved off frost bite :)

In the last mile I was going slowly, but then I saw a lady on Salem Canal road I thought might be KellieS, so I caught her, but it took some effort, but right as I came up on her I realized it wasn't her so I continued to buzz the chick.  I didn't wave, which is bad sportsmanship, but I was ticked it wasn't Kellie and we both had on mp3 players anyway.  I'll try to be nicer next time.

Confession over.

ave pace 8:06

weight 120

Met Ali and KellieS at 10:30, and ran 8 miles.  Had some pancakes and turkey sausage in my gut and was lucky to not have it come up.  Fun way to start the new year!

 My legs felt heavy but not soreness in the hammies when I started like yesterday.  Our visitors (four adults and 7 kids) just left the house so now I will get a nap? 

ave pace 8:01

Best way to get a sleep in?  Don't set your alarm!  I was supposed to wake up at 4:35, but I didn't set my alarm aparently after choosing my wake up time last night, because MacK texted me to see where the heck I was, and that woke me up.  I am sure I was only half coherent.  It takes a true friend to text you at 5:19 and ask why you're not out on the road :)  We saw Marion on the road doing way geeky calf stretches.  As I passed her I thought, "Those are my favorite calf stretches", then I said hello (total etiquette extra credit since I had a running partner with me).  Then we realize we know each other.  It was great because I have wanted to introduce MacK and Marion.  Two very important blog ladies in my life finally meet! 

So I didn't get in the 11 miles I needed today to get to 80 miles for the week, but I guess that is ok since tomorrow is 15 days from my marathon, and I was going to do 20, but now maybe I'll just do 18.  We'll see.  

 15 days from my marathon!  That means I have to start eating better. 

ave pace 8:21

weight 121

I went skiing with my family, the first time with all the kids.  JJ (4 yrs) did great for his first time skiing.  He and Mickie (6) were in ski school all day except I went down one bunny hill with them after picking them up in the afternoon.  Ben did morning lessons, when Paul and I skiied sans kids, then joined us in the afternoon, which only slowed down the runs slightly, since Paul is already skiing like an old man.  We had a great time.  Weather was great (overcast and warm).  I am not sure skiing all day will be good for my tempo tomorrow, but too late to cry about that.

Had a great group planned for today: MacK, Ali, SteveK, and TylerS, but 11 inches of snow fell overnight, which is too much for my car to wade through, so yet another Saturday run messed with by mother nature.  I was originally thinking to do a 12 mile tempo, but after thinking about being 2 weeks out from my marathon, I decided to cut it to 9 miles.  Mother nature turns it into a solo run on the treadmill.

 I warmed up 4 miles, then started the tempo, with a plan to start at tinman pace (8.9 mph or 6:44) then increase after three miles to marathon pace, then increase again the last three miles.  Well, that turned out to be ambitious.  I settled for maintaining tinman.  So I did 6 miles at tinman (break at 5.25 for potty) then dropped the pace for the last three miles, eventually ending up at 9.4 or 9.5, I don't remember which.  Each time I increased pace it was hard to keep up for .5 mile, then it got better, then it would start over as I increased again.  I am not sure what makes me such a wuss on the treadmill, but this is a good tempo effort, and 18 miles on the treadmill this morning makes running 26.2 in balmy AZ sound REALLY fun.  So I am getting excited! 

I also put the  race in the course tool yesterday to see what my splits could look like.  So a 2:45 marathon is about 6:18 pace, but a couple of the middle miles could be as slow as 6:30 or so with me being on target for 2:45, because there is a grade increase, and its a little chunky.  Still, there's never a mile with even a 1% grade increase, so its pretty flat.  I figure ideal 1/2 marathon splits for 2:45 would be 1:23, 1:22.  I think I will be between 2:45 (very good day) and 2:50 (decent day).  There is an 11 sec/mile difference between the two times, so I need to not panic if some of my splits are 2:50 instead of 2:45 splits.  I do want the first half to feel easier than the first 1/2 of St G, where I felt like I went out too fast for the conditions and for how I felt.  So ideal splits for 2:50 according to the course tool is 1:25:23, 1:24:37.  So I hope I feel chipper and ready to go in two weeks.

weight 117 (all the sweating associated w/treadmill-I even drank 14 oz over the course of the run and lost that much - wow)