All it takes is all you've got

7 miles in 7:25 pace

6X50 stride pick-ups.  My stomach has been giving me intestinal discomfort for about three days now.  I thought at first it was a mild stomach bug, but now I'm not sure what it is.  Its getting old though. 

9:00 A.M. 4 miles at the gym in 7:40ish pace.  Had a banana with peanut butter at 7:30 a.m. and my stomach felt okay by 9:00 a.m. after doing lots of dynamic stretching and a little lifting to warm up.

5:00 P.M. Met my team in Niwot for hills/tempo workout

20 minute warm up, stretching, strides 

2 minutes hard up hill, turn, 2 minutes steady down (5:47 pace)

1 min jog

4X3 minutes steady controlled with 90 seconds jog between each.  Wasn't hilly, just slightly rolling trail.  This part of the workout was miserable for me.  My stomach really started hurting badly and I had to visit the bushes twice during the jogging sections.  My paces were 5:57, 6:01, 6:01, 5:50 (I finally started feeling a little better on the last one after my second pit stop). 

Then we jogged for a minute, drank water for another minute, and started some more hill work.

4X75 seconds hard uphill with 60 second jog down between each.  My stomach was still in pain but I just tried to disregard it and push hard.  Paces were 5:52, 5:37, 5:46, 5:54

1 minute jog 

2 minutes steady downhill in 5:21 pace

1 minute jog

5 minutes at half marathon effort on the flat (5:52 pace)

10 minute cool down

The workout was hot and hilly.  My stomach felt as if it was about to implode. But at least it was an honest effort.

10 miles in 7:14 pace

My babysitter is out of town and since Aaron had service this morning I waited until this afternoon to run.  Left Ali home with Aaron, took the older two kids to a birthday party at Jungle Quest in Thornton and drove to the nearby Platte River trail to run while the kids were partying.  Started my run around 4:30 p.m.  It was pretty hot but at least there was a slight breeze and the occasional passing cloud.  My tummy felt okay for the first couple of miles then started hurting again but not quite as severely as it was hurting yesterday and I only had to take a pit stop once instead of twice like yesterday.  Seems to be getting slightly better.  I avoided dairy products today but it didn't help as much as I'd hoped it would.  I'll keep avoiding the dairy for a few more days and see if that helps. Aside from the tummy discomfort my legs felt pretty good today.  I was a little tight and tired this morning but the day of walking around and getting the blood flowing seemed to loosen things up.

18 miles in 7:35 pace

Stomach felt okay  since I didn't eat before my run.  And it seemed to handle the  Gu, honey stick, and cup of EFS pretty well, but I really hope my intestines settle down too because four mandatory pit stops in 18 miles is not good training practice for the marathon.  

Instead of the usual long run out and back on Big Dry Creek, I just did my Monday 9 mile loop twice which was nice because there is a recreation center I was able to stop in for water and potty twice and I had some EFS electrolyte drink at my house half way through.

I was spooked when I looked in the mirror in the rec center bathroom.  I thought I was alone in there, but there was this creepy looking sweaty girl with a black eye staring back at me.  She looked oddly familiar but more like a boxer than a runner.  Then I realized it was me.  The other day my two year old decided to flip her head back really hard while I was reading to her and she gave me a good smack in the face with the back of her head.  It hurt like the dickens and I had to go collect myself in the other room.  She then proceeded to apologize 8 million times over and over "Hawwy Mommy, Hawwy"  (She can't say her "S's" so she uses H).  At least I know she is sympathetic.   

7 miles in 7:55 pace

Nice and easy early morning run before Aaron left for Leadville.  He decided last week he is doing the Leadville 100 bike race since our friend, Eric is shooting photos at the race and the race director gave him a half price entry for a friend to use.  So Aaron left this morning to get there in time for the 10 a.m. weigh-in.  The race is tomorrow; Aaron is hoping to finish in 10 hours or so.  I hope he gets through without too much misery since he hasn't really been mountain biking much lately.  He is in good shape and I have no doubt he has the strength to ride the entire 100 miles, but biking muscles are a little different than running muscles.  One thing for sure: It will be Epic! 

In the interest of time I opted to do my workout alone in my neighborhood this morning.  The kids had a party to get to by 10 a.m. and with picking up and dropping off the babysitter, showering, eating, dressing kids ect. ect. I didn't have time to commute to Boulder and back.  Even without commuting to North Boulder to run with my team we were still late to the party.  It was a fun party at a roller skating rink.  I pretty much just slapped some skates on my 4yo and 6yo and let 'em have at it.  I couldn't help much because my 2yo was being needy, so we watched as they held on to the wall and skate walked around the perimeter of the rink.  Haha.

So for my workout I did a 3 mile warm-up, stretching, strides

4X45 seconds in 5:30 pace with 45 second jog between each

2 minute jog

5 X Mile with 90 seconds jog between each (Coach had put on the schedule to do 5 X 6 minutes at marathon/half marathon effort with 2 minutes jog between each. I altered it a little because 5 X Mile sounded more fun; that way I would be rewarded with a little shorter interval if I pushed the pace faster.) 

My mile splits were 6:05, 5:43, 6:05, 5:44, 5:35.  There were rolling hills throughout and a bit of headwind (thus the disparity paces on each one).  So I guess I did two of them at marathon pace and the other three closer to half marathon pace.  Can't complain.  And the rolling hills throughout are very similar to how the Baltimore course will be. 

The weather was awesome this morning.  About 60 degrees and sunny.  Perfect.  Its starting to feel a little bit fall-ish which makes me happy since Fall is by far my favorite season.  If it were my choice I'd pick Fall for 9 months of the year and then just spend a month each in the other three seasons.  

The best news of the day though is that MY STOMACH FELT GOOD TODAY!!!!!  FINALLY!  After an entire week of tummy issues, I think I'm finally getting over it.  Wahoo!