Hills for breakfast, hold the gnats

Objective: 5-6-7 progression, endurance: 5 miles @ MP + 2 min, 6 mi @ MP + 1 min, 7 mi @ MP  -- all + or - for hills and wind.  2 weeks until CIM.

Weather: Sunny with some cirrus clouds & a sliver of moon. During course of run it went from 38F to 42F, and from calm to breezy to very windy (Beaufort 7). 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... and it's beginning to look like a PR. Dare I say it?  I had so many awesome runs in August and September and then Portland was a disaster.  So maybe I'm foolish to count on anything right now.  But today's run was fabulous. This is essentially the same workout I tried to do on 11/8. I couldn't quite hold my pace through the last segment on that day. Today I couldn't quite hold it -- when going uphill and into the 20 mph wind!  [Insert crazy happy dance here.]  It was pretty tough at times, but it was doable, enjoyable, and I had LOTS of energy left when I came inside. 

As a harpist, I know of a little saying: "bad dress rehearsal, good concert -- and vice versa."  I've often seen that come true.  In light of my unexpectedly horrible Portland race in October, I'm sticking with my CIM goals of 1) having a good time, 2) getting a negative split, and 3) going for a PR only if I feel good by the half way point.  But after the good runs of the past month, I have this tiny little hope for much more that won't go away.  I'll have to gag it; I really don't want to be disappointed again.

This week I will start to taper my volume and run some MP miles every other day or so.  Next week will be more of a cut back but still do some faster running and hopefully keep what I've got.  I am so glad I did not taper much this week. Everything feels great.

Objective: Easy/recovery (tapering)

Weather: 43F, partly cloudy, windy (Bf.4), another gorgeous crescent moon.

20 min. core & weights

I had no muscle soreness but my legs feel pretty dead. Still, it felt good to get out and work them a little. 

I've enjoyed seeing some stars these past few mornings.  My DH and I were discussing this rarity; we concluded that in summer we are normally in bed before it gets dark enough at this latitude to see a lot of stars, and the rest of the year we so frequently have a cloud cover.  Venus and Jupiter were very near each other last night and very bright.  Our DD became very interested in how we could identify them, and we subsequently found this software for her on the internet.  I know a lot of other people on this blog homeschool, so I thought I'd pass this on.  But it's pretty cool for us grown ups too! Excellent graphics. 

Objective: General aerobic + 3 miles @ MP + cool down. (tapering)

Weather: ~40 F, cloudy. Mostly calm but breezy in open spaces.

15 min core & weights

I am delighted  to have bounced back from Sunday's 18 miler so quickly.  The second mile of my MP segment was actually much closer to a tempo pace, 9:01! I really should have slowed down, but I'm excited that I was able to do it so soon after Sunday. I think I saw Sean out there this morning too, though it's very hard to tell in the dark; we're just two passing headlamps.

Pardon me if I've asked about this before... I still don't understand peaking.  Maybe someone out there can clarify it for me.  Let's say "Billy" took a job splitting wood one winter.  In November, he is weak and feels sore muscles all the time from his labor.  By December, he is feeling more comfortable.  In January, he is able to really get through a woodpile quickly and without undue stress.  Does it make any sense that he would "peak" at this point and be unable to perform his job as well in February?   There must be something here I am missing. 

Objective: Easy. (Tapering)

Weather: Mid 30s F, very starry w/ patches of fog. Frost on cars and grass, icy roads! :o

20 min. core & weights

I was very glad to have a slow day scheduled -- it's slippery out there today.  Very chilly too.  A lot of people get cold ears; I get a cold chin. Like, really cold, hurting cold.  It might be time for me to break out the merino neck gator soon.

Objective: meditative reflection. :)

Weather: Mid 40s F, breezy (the wind storm of last night died down just in time), mostly cloudy.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my blog friends!  I am so glad to have this support in my life!

I may have to go on and on a bit here, so feel free to just change the channel right now if you have better things to do.  I spent my run enjoying the daylight (an actual sunbeam landed on me once) and reflecting on the many joys of my life. These range from the mundane (such as, it's great that my running is more than just The Price of Eating Pie) to the deeper issues: my good health, my wonderful husband and daughter, our home and our beautiful Northwest.

As I have done many times before, I thought about my grandparents. Both my father and his father were "old" parents, so I have to look only two generations back to see my ancestors crossing the Atlantic, dreaming down in steerage of a better life.  They had very little money, almost no English, and they were not "young and strong."  On my mother's side, I come from pioneers and cowboys.  My mother's family was so poor that one year she received only an orange for Christmas, and was delighted to get it.  

They are all dead now, both my parents and grandparents.  How they would be amazed to see what a change in circumstances has taken place.  I live in what they would have considered a palace.  I have every toy and gadget I could want.  My cats eat human-grade meat.  I could be wrong, but I believe that what would have made them happiest is that I have a loving family and a good education.  And they would be incredulous that, at my age, I am healthy and strong enough to run marathons!

One thing my grandparents had, however, that is almost completely absent in these times is a Bottom Rung on the ladder of success.  My grandfather was a cobbler and could step off that ship with his tools and go to any street corner to begin his new life. 

I believe we are facing the kind of future in which conditions will approach those that prompted my grandparents' emmigration.  I do hope I am wrong.  But when the feds are "giving out billions of dollars" that they don't have (all they have is a printing press), I see a domino falling, and it is landing awfully close to the one next to it. The domino at the end of the line is not just a Depression, it is Fascism. 

Objective: Easy progression: 2 mi easy, 2 mi moderate, 2 mi @ MP.  These were effort levels, a little off the actual pace (pie on board).  Tapering.

Weather: mid 40s F, occasional light rain.

Core & pushups.

I was reminded this morning of why I never run the Seattle Marathon, held just 45 minutes from here every Thanksgiving weekend Sunday.   Even with a little over a week to go before my CIM,  I tried hard to restrain myself at dinner yesterday.  I was not successful.  I begin to wonder whether pie has some supernatural powers.