TexasLindsey

Weather=65 degrees, 27% humidity, 40 dew point, 18 mph wind gusting to 25 mph, sunny. Average pace=7:41/m (according to my garmin).

mile 1- 7:07

mile 2- 7:35

mile 3- 7:49

mile 4- 7:50

mile 5- 7:43

mile 6- 7:47

mile 7- 7:49

mile 8- 7:57

mile 9- 7:40

final .3 pace- 7:40

I didn't do as well as I thought I could. I think I ran too much and too hard on Saturday. My legs felt dead the whole race. I just didn't have that extra gear. I felt ok aerobically though. I started out with the 7:10 people and slowed down to the 7:40's so therefore, I got passed the whole race. This sucks so much. It's so much better to start out slower and run negative splits passing other people the whole race. Even if your overall time is slower it's just psychologically better to pass people than to be passed.

Oh and my ipod stopped working at mile 7!!! I blame mile 8's time completely on my being so pissed about my ipod!! Grrrrr! I fiddled with that stupid thing trying to get it to turn back on. Then I took out my ear buds and my right ear drum popped or something so not only did I have to hear myself breathing the rest of the way but I heard it as an echo! LOL It really was distracting.

Anyways, one good thing I'm thinking is that I felt like I was sputtering the whole race and I maintained 7:40's for the most part... which is my goal pace for my marathon. So if I can have an off-day with dead legs and all this wind and still do 7:40's, then I think by December if I have fresh legs and good weather I should be able to meet my 3:25 marathon goal. (This may be overly optimistic of me to say but that's the story I'm telling myself!!)

6.2 miles at noon.  Weather=85 degrees, 17% humidity, 36 dew point, 5 mph wind, sunny.  Average pace=9:30/m.

 9:56, 9:01, 9:40, 9:40, 9:37, 9:05

My husband had to go into work at an unusual time today so I was unable to meet Tim at our scheduled 4:45 am.  Noon was my only chance to run. 

As soon as I started running my left quad started hurting.  Usually it feels better after it warms up so I decided to keep going but go slow.  It finally started feeling better around mile 4. 

The quad wasn't my only issue though.  My right big toe has a blood blister from the race.  It is deep under callus and I haven't been able to pop it.  It started hurting around mile 2 and it got worse and worse.  So I was pretty much  miserable the entire run.  I thought about cutting the run short.  I felt like crying because I am tired of these pains messing up my running plans.  Every step felt like a needle was driving into my big toe. 

Eventually, I started listening to the music and I got myself into a trance.  I started thinking of the pain as something that was trying to stop me and I would NOT let the pain win. 

I'm glad it's over with and I perservered.  Now I have to figure out what to do about this blister before I run with Tim tomorrow.

9.4 miles at 4:45 am.  Weather=69 degrees, 39% humidity, 43 dew point, 8 mph wind, dark.  Average pace=9:18/m.

mile 1- 10:31

mile 2- 9:25

mile 3- 8:57

mile 4- 8:39

mile 5- 9:23

mile 6- 9:03

mile 7- 9:16

mile 8- 9:07

mile 9- 9:09

final .4 pace- 9:41

Ran with Tim.  The weather was absolutely heavenly.  My blister hurt at first but then I didn't feel it after the second mile.  My minor surgery last night was a success I guess.  Woo Hoo!  My left quad hurt in the first 2-3 miles but then I didn't notice it after that.  I wonder what this quad thing is... maybe just a minor strain?  Fascia injury?  I don't know but it's annoying.  It does seem to be better than it was 2 weeks ago.  The roller thing helps alot. 

So tonight I am going to the track with the group!  I'm so excited because I bought my first pair of spikes since HS.  It's going to be fun!  Then tomorrow Tim and I are doing easy 6.  Then on Saturday the group run is 15 I think.  

Tim won 1st place in the 40-45 age bracket in the 5K on Labor Day.  He's been doing track workouts and racing 5K's all summer.  I think I need to start doing more 5K's to work on speed.  I feel slow right now. 

6.4 miles at 5 am.  Weather=65 degrees, 50% humidity, 46 dew point, 5 mph wind, dark.  Average pace=9:13/m.

10:21, 9:34, 9:12, 9:06, 8:59, 8:50, 8:45

Ran with Tim today and went easy.  I felt pretty good today.  The weather was once again perfect!!!  Also, I did the roller thing on my quad before I stepped out the door and for the first time in a long time it didn't hurt at all the entire run.  My blister foot hurt at the beginning but then it stopped by the end of the first mile.  Man, that foot is looking pretty beat up. 

I ended up missing the track workout last night.  I decided I didn't have time.  I've got too much going on.  First, I'm getting ready for my son's 4 year birthday party or, rather, parties.  We're having a little party for him today with the neighborhood kids AND we're having a party at Chuck E Cheese with family on Saturday.   Second, 18 month old is sick with a fever.  And third, my in-laws are coming in town for the Saturday party and they are staying with us so I've got to get ready for them. 

So between all that's going on right now, I got 5 hours sleep... but in blocks:  slept 3 hours, got up for an hour to take care of baby, slept 2 hours, got up to run.  

Now it's on to a really busy day today.  I should feel more overwhelmed but I think running has put me in a good mood and I feel determined to get it all done. 

Tomorrow it's 15 miles with the group.  If I make it through this weekend in one piece, I can do ANYTHING!   Woo hoo!

15 miles at 6:45 am with my running group.  Weather=65 degrees at start rising to 72 degrees at finish, 47% humidity, 50 dew point, 4 mph wind, dark then sunny.  Average pace=7:34/m.

mile 1- 7:57

mile 2- 7:28

mile 3- 7:29

mile 4- 7:23

mile 5- 7:30

mile 6- 7:37

mile 7- 7:35

mile 8- 7:28

mile 9- 7:24

mile 10- 7:23

mile 11- 7:37

mile 12- 7:26

mile 13- 7:44

mile 14- 7:30

mile 15- 7:55

Great run this morning.  I can't believe I did it!  The entire first half of the run my left quad was hurting me and I thought that I might injure it if I continued at this pace but then I decided to just risk it.  I focused on my form because I figured that the biggest danger for injury would be if I got sloppy.  I was in a great rythem.   The weather was perfect.  I have a new ipod and it did not malfunction which was nice considering most of recent long runs I had ipod issues. 

The first two miles it was Tim, myself, a girl whose name I forget, and 4 guys who run sub-7:00's.  After the water stop the sub-7:00's took off.  Around mile 5 the other girl said she was heading back because she only wanted to do 10.  So I ran with Tim the rest of the way.  We were the only people doing 15.  The guys in front of us turned around at 6.5 miles. 

I seriously was a little worried about how long I could keep up 7:30's and I was worried about my quad... But amazingly at the turn around, the pain in the quad completely went away.   Hmmmm.... weird.  Miles 7 through 11 felt awesome.  I did have a burning feeling in both quads during this time, similar to what I feel when I do weights.  I'll probably be really sore tomorrow. 

Miles 11-15 were a sufferfest.  Mile 11 had 3 short steep hills. The sun was starting to heat up the temp fast.  It felt so much hotter than when we started.  I told Tim I couldn't maintain and he should go on if he felt like he wanted to speed up.  He told me he wasn't going to leave and I wasn't going to slow down.  Um, ok.  So I didn't.  Actually, it was really motivating.  Mile 12 had 1 steep hill which zapped me even further.  At mile 13 my watch had us at 1:38:00.  2 miles left.  Let's do this!!  I don't know how, but let's do it.

I was hanging in there fairly well until the final mile when I looked at my watch and saw current pace was 7:20.  I shouldn't have done that because I think mentally I thought I couldn't do it anymore.  I started to give up and the average pace slowed to 8:03 for the last mile when were at 14.5 miles.  Then Tim said, "You have 1/2 mile left.  Dig Deep.  Speed up.  Let's get it under 8."  I said ok.  I mustered everything I had.  We had a final steep hill up the leeve and then a downward slope to the store.  I finished the mile at 7:55.  Average pace =7:34/m.

Awesome.  I'm really happy with myself today.  I feel completely wasted now of course.  I did do a shot of protein when we finished and I drank a protein shake when I got home.  I am trying to take it easy but my son's Chuck E Cheese birthday party is at 2:30 pm.  Whew!  By the time I'm done with this day, it will feel like I ran a full marathon!