| Location: Rantoul,IL, Member Since: May 12, 2008 Gender: Female Goal Type: Marathon Finish Running Accomplishments: 1/2 marathon 1:43:09--Illinois Marathon, April 2013
10K: 46:50--Safe Kids Run in Crystal Lake Park, April 2010
5K: 22:07--Jingle Bell Run, December 2009 Short-Term Running Goals: Do another marathon AFTER GOOD TRAINING
1/2 marathon in 1:41 or under
Break Burt's 5K PR by 1 second
10K in 46:00 or under
Long-Term Running Goals: Keep encouraging my family in their development of a healthy lifestyle
God willing, I will run until the end. Personal: I run with God. I use my running time to contemplate, to pray and to listen for His call. I'm married to a non-runner, but a supportive one, and we have four children. |
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| Miles: | This week: | 0.00 |
Month: | 0.00 |
Year: | 0.00 | | Iso Lifetime Miles: | 133.20 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 1228.10 | 89.78 | 1317.88 |
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| Omni 8 #2 Miles: 482.32 | Omni 8 #3 Miles: 468.16 | Red Saucony Miles: 299.05 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.12 | 0.00 | 7.12 |
| Just easy miles (avg. 9:20). It was very, very cold. I'm not looking forward to running tomorrow. I'm doing a trail race, but it probably won't be much of a race. We'll see what conditions are like... | |
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| | Race: |
Siberian Express (7.56 Miles) 01:11:03, Place in age division: 12 | | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.78 | 0.00 | 9.78 |
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It was very cold. I originally planned to go out early and run some miles before, but when I saw that the temp was -17 with the wind chill, I thought I better not. And then I only got there in time to "warm up" a little less than 1/4 mile.
So this was a trail race and it was moderately difficult. I didn't push the first mile because the start narrowed very quickly so it was hard to get around people. Then I started moving a little more. There was only one area that we were all forced to walk--a very narrow steep incline that wound around a bit. Other than that (and I didn't pay attention to how long it was, maybe a little less than .2) it was running all the way. There were some narrow parts and some icy parts, but overall it was a pretty trail. As far as racing goes, I could have done better. My splits were 9:48, 9:01, 8:39, 8:27, 11:16 (this was the uphill part), 9:21 (I got lazy and talkative here. I had a few minutes of conversation with the guy behind me), 9:51 (can't remember what the deal was here, but I think this was a little rougher terrain), and then about 8:53 (but I'll update that when results are posted because I forgot to stop my watch, but I know the finish clock said 1:10 something). The only thing that irritated me was that the whole way there was a woman running behind me and I just wanted to beat her. In the last mile I kept trying to send her a vibe to pass me because I wanted her in front. And then when she did pass me, I wasn't expecting it. The trail was narrow and there were a couple people in front of me and she passed us all at once. By the time I got by the other two in front she was already about 15 paces ahead and I stupidly just gave up with about 1/4 mile to go. That's why I hate racing--because at the time I don't care that much, but it bothers me now that it's all over. I did feel a little better because one of the other two I passed right in the end was a woman, and she tried to out kick me in the end, but I edged her out. Then I was interviewed by the news. I doubt I made it on because I think my response was unintelligible. He asked me if I was cold, and I tried to say, "No. I was dressed perfectly." That's how it sounded in my head, but I was still out of breath and it didn't come out that way. I was happy because I was the 12th woman finisher and my award was a t-shirt and a stocking cap. Hooray! Oh, and I beat crazy Que, the lady that I saw last week running with a chute. I did stop to talk to her afterward. She's been injured, but she might be running Boston this year. She qualified last year at the Illinois Marathon and didn't even realize it until her coworkers told her she had. She's turning 60 this year, I think. And then I cooled down 2 miles. And I really cooled down because I was running around looking for the girls that were holding my jacket (former runners). I finally found them and the jacket and still wanted to run a little more. My last mile was frigid. UPDATE: I updated my time. I swear that when I crossed the line the clock said 1:10 something. Oh well. Maybe I looked at it 5 seconds before I crossed the line.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Instead of running today I just chilled. My heel has been bothering me (another bout of tendinitis) and I'm thinking the gazelle might be partially to blame. I don't want to do too many miles on it, so instead I played Guess Who with my oldest after putting my youngest (and crabbiest) to bed at an astonishing 6:30. Thought about doing some yoga to at least get in a workout, but decided I preferred cuddling. | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| An easy time on the gazelle while watching the Illini annihilate Iowa. Heel feels mostly better. I stopped periodically to stretch because the way I favor it makes my calf tight (I am working on not favoring it, but sometimes when I've been sitting for a while, the first few minutes of walking are pained). I'm wearing dress shoes for the first time this week. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.03 | 0.00 | 8.03 |
| Too much ice on the sidewalks; too little motivation. This was not an inspiring run, but I'm glad I got out and did it. It was cold, but I was warm. I never really got out of a slow pace. Last week's unshoveled sidewalks are now covered in uneven ice, so sometimes I was running over that, sometimes I was running in the snow on the grass, sometimes I was going up and down driveways to run in the roads. Overall my average was 9:59. Even my last mile, when I was running in the clear road, was only 9:21. But on the plus side: I am off school today. I doubt I'll run outside, though. The few inches we got last night are now covering that ice from yesterday--but it's still there and now it's invisible. Plus we're getting more as we speak.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| The first of at least two days indoors. Started watching some depressing History Channel show narrated by a fictional girl born in 2009 from 2100. No more natural resources, crumbling cities, global warming, etc. etc. etc. Whatever. I don't know why the History Channel is full of apocalyptic shows this past week. Boooooooooooo. Then I moved on to 30 Rock. At least that was entertaining.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
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Set my alarm for 4:40 to get in a workout early. Turned on the T.V. to see schools scrolling at the bottom, but not mine. Took my chances anyway and went back to bed. Alarm went off at 5:40. My school was still not on there, so I got in the shower reluctantly. The phone rang while I was in the shower. Snow day. Booooooo (well, as much boo as can be said for a snow day). A wasted shower. Still have not worked out, but I will when I start to feel dirty again... UPDATE: I was reading some stuff about cross-training, and I found an article that said 60 minutes of cross-training (with heart rate at least at 70% of max) = 5 miles. So reluctantly that's the formula I will use when I'm on the gazelle. I'm not going to adjust previous mileage, but will fix from here on out. I hope I can run outside Sat, but it doesn't look promising. Sidewalks are not clear, but neither are streets. Rantoul, for budgetary reasons, of course, does not believe in salt for any but major roads (and even those aren't great).
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| Another boring time on the gazelle. I'm itching to go outside. If I can't get outside I might break down and get a gym membership for 3 months. Although I'm not relishing the thought of a treadmill, I can at least have somewhere to really run when outside running isn't happening. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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I embraced the gazelle today and was happy to be running in shorts and a tank top. I just did an hour and then I did some Power Yoga. I stink at the back bends, but otherwise I rock. I did finally hold my 3rd back bend for a little while.
I hope to be outside by the end of this week. The deep freeze might be over in a few days. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.11 | 0.00 | 8.11 |
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As you can see from the odd mileage--I got outside today! Hooray! I did a weird loop where I ran out of my neighborhood (streets are still snowy and "sidewalk" in some of the areas that I run is actually on the street, sorta like a bike lane, if you will) and then ran east down one road by the church/school and high school, south to the next block, then west and so on. I ran some of the roads which had shoveled sidewalks two or three times. I managed to get quite a few miles that way because my east/west roads were about 1/2 mile sections. AP: 9:14.
It was cold, but not as bad as it has been. It was 24 (17 with the windchill).
I did not feel particularly safe at the times where I was forced to run in the streets (and there were a few times). I should go out and get a reflective vest at least, but I don't know if that will make me feel particularly safe either. I'm considering the gym so I at least have access to a treadmill, but I don't want to run on the treadmill every day. Tomorrow is supposed to be 36 (sorry April, I was wrong on the 46, but it's still above freezing for the first time in a while) so hopefully there will be some more melting! In other news, potty training is going swimmingly. The first couple weeks were terrible because the holidays led to us being inconsistent, but now Eli is doing great. He's down to roughly one accident a day. He's not pooping consistently, but I remember Caleb took a while to get that down, so I'm not worried.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
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I got started really late because I watched an ultra-exciting 6th grade boys' basketball game. The final score? 26-12. It was a nailbiter. And that reminds me: I heard on the news yesterday that some organization was trying to create a new punctuation mark to indicate that you are being sarcastic. http://www.asylum.com/2010/01/12/sarcmark-introduces-punctuation-to-indicate-sarcasm/ Considering the subject matter, I'm not sure if they're serious.
On to other news, I watched 1000 Ways to Die while I was doing the gazelle. That show is...entertaining, for lack of a better word. Then I got bored with it and watched most of an NCIS episode, but I missed the beginning, so I spent the whole episode really trying to catch up. Outside on Thursday, I do believe. It was a balmy 36 Wed, and I think it'll be just as warm Thurs.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.39 | 0.00 | 8.39 |
| A glorious outside run. It was in the mid-30s, with a 6 mph wind that I could only feel when I was going south, and it wasn't bad even then. After school I picked up a reflective vest and a blinking LED light and I felt a little safer, but I still didn't let my guard down when I was running in the street. Snow is melting and most sidewalks were clear, but the unshoveled ones were slushy. Not bad mostly, but on 45 just south of St. Mal, the slush was pretty deep because that was a sheet of ice before the thaw. I ran a minute and 1/2 before I realized that my watch hadn't picked up a satellite, so I stopped until it connected. I figured the distance on the way home (it was .17). So my real splits (not including that 1 1/2 minute .17) were 8:52, 9:04, 8:55, 8:37, 9:04, 8:37, 8:30, 8:07 and then 7:05 for the last .22. The pace felt comfortable, not hard, but not easy. I was working, and only slightly bogged down in some of the slushy areas.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| Woke up at about 1:30 feeling that silly pain in my left heel. I don't know if the cause might be the pace from yesterday or that my heel likes consistency in the surface it is running on and is unhappy that it isn't getting it. Then woke up at 4:30 to get in a run before work. I went for an hour, stopping every 5 minutes to stretch my foot. After I was warm I didn't feel it as much, but I feel it now and am wearing gym shoes to work and trying not to baby it.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.50 | 0.00 | 7.50 |
| I ran on a treadmill today since I was at my sister's. This way I could keep an eye on the kids while my sister slept in a little longer. I did a progression run. Started with 1 mile in 9:30 and increased to 8:57 for the next two miles. Then hit the up button 1 time for the next bunch of miles. Then, for some reason, I decided that I wanted to finish 7 miles in 60 minutes and knew that I had to do more of an increase, so started hitting the up button once every minutes starting at 52 minutes. The last 3 minutes were hard. If I thought about it I could probably figure out exactly what he pace was, but I think in the last 3 minutes I was just above and then just below 7 minute pace. I didn't finish in 60 minutes. I was about 10-15 seconds over. Then I cooled down 1/2 mile. My sis diagnosed my heel as PF. Aggravated by some sort of change in routine, probably. It was a little bothersome in the first few miles, but felt fine as I kept going. So I'll just keep doing what I've been doing, which is stretching calves and my arches. I'm about to also check out the link that Bonnie posted to my blog yesterday (thanks!).
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.11 | 0.00 | 10.11 |
| This run felt great! It was foggy so I wore my vest, but I was happy to get out running in the daylight. Sidewalks were almost all the way clear, but there were a few areas where snow/ice still lingered.
I started at a good pace and then just kept pretty steady until the end, where I tried to push for the last 15 minutes. My splits are odd because I accidentally pressed the lap button when starting the watch after waiting at a light at 1.46 miles, so splits were taken every mile thereafter (at .46).
Avg: 8:38. Splits 9:02, .46 at 8:42, then miles of 8:32, 8:50, 8:52, 8:39, 8:37, 8:44, 8:53, 8:05, and .65 at 7:41.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.60 | 0.00 | 7.60 |
| Didn't really want to go out on this run. When I was out on this run I was contemplating doing 4 miles, then 6, and finally I just figured if I was about 8, I would be satisfied. It was easy and uneventful.
Avg: about 9:35.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| Long time on the gazelle. Freezing rain outside. Watched some NCIS. We're supposed to get thunderstorms Thurs. Weird. But then I hear it is to be 50 on Saturday, which I like. I signed up last week for Chicago's Shamrock Shuffle in March. My only dilemma is the start. I'm in a start corral (the slowest one). All my other people could get into a better start corral, but they are content to be in the open because they don't want to race. Since none of them care, I have to decide if I should just stay put in my slow corral. I could submit 5K results to get a better start corral, but it just seems like a lot of effort...I just don't want to go in the open with them because I do want to race and I know I would allow them to seduce me over to the dark side if I started with them. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| Did yoga when I came home from school. The 3 kids joined me (I pick up my nephew from school. He's almost like one of my kids). Eli got bored after 5 minutes and then wandered around trying to get the other two to stop. Caleb got bored after about 20 minutes. Spencer did pretty much the whole thing with me. He sat out for a few minutes when the poses got hard for him. Then I went out to the KC's for dinner, where I was the hero of the night. They do this monthly drawing. If your number is drawn, you win a certain amount of money. If you aren't there to collect, you only win half. My husband had to work and I really didn't want to go, but I was told I had to. I almost didn't go, but I did, and...we won! $1710. Now, don't get too excited for me. We split it 5 ways (my husband's brothers do everything together. They each get a number and they always split). But still. A bit over $300 If I hadn't gone, it would have been 1/2. Normally my mantra is "I hate the KC's," but today I love it. The love won't last long. And then I came home and did the gazelle for my 7 cross training miles.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| Class tonight. Woke up early to get in an hour of cross training. Hoping tomorrow is going to be warm. After I get out of class tomorrow afternoon I'd like to get in at least 10 miles. It depends on how guilty I feel for spending more time away from the kids, though.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.12 | 0.00 | 10.12 |
| Professor pushed back class start time from 8 until 9, so I was able to get in my run before class. And I rocked it. Did 3 faster miles mid run. I'm thinking that I will be shooting for a 8 min pace (or maybe a little under) for the 1/2 in May. So I tried to hit that pace for the 3 miles, and I was a little under. Avg. pace: 8:45. Splits: 9:23, 9:00, 8:58, 7:41, 7:52 (for 1.03--I accidentally hit the lap button at .82 and then forgot to push it again right at an even mile), 7:52, 10:03 (started this mile with a .1 walk), 9:13, 9:05, 8:35 and then 8:39 pace for the last bit. Did not feel totally awesome at the end of the 3rd fast mile. But felt really good after I was done with the run. (Almost) wished that I had more time to run a little longer. But I was a few minutes late for class because I got off to a later start than I should have.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| 20 mph wind? Light snow? Poor visibility? Dark? NO THANKS!! I watched T.V. in the comfort of my home instead.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| Indoors again. Just couldn't make myself go out. Tomorrow will be outside since I have an evening activity at school. Thursday probably not--I'm moderating for Scholastic Bowl. Friday not--Chuck is supervising a basketball game. On Saturday there is a run out in Mahomet (the closest trails to me, about 40 min. from my house but close to school) that sounds pretty cool. There's a 4 mile loop and you just run however many loops you want. My problem? It starts at 8 and I have to leave for a Chicago b-day party at 10:30 or 11. A colleague will be running 7 loops. I'm still trying to think of a way I can go out there and run a bit of his run with him. We'll see.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
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A nice 8 miles on the streets behind the school (that essentially go nowhere). No cars, not really cold, just windy (7-10mph winds). Going into the wind was obviously worse. There are some retention ponds out there and usually I run around them so that I don't have to do the same loop multiple times. That was a mistake. The first lake I almost fell a few times and I decided that I wouldn't run around the other and then the other side of the lake was less slippery, so I just decided to run around the other lake. Bad idea. That was where I fell. There was a sheet of ice and I thought I could run over it. I slipped, thought I righted myself, and was quite surprised to end up on my butt. No biggie, but I decided after that to just run on the roads. Throughout the rest of the run, I either had the wind in my face or an uphill, or both. Visibility was pretty bad, especially towards the end of the run. But it was still a pretty great run.
Avg pace: 8:43 avg
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| Inside again. Watched some of the Purdue/Wisconsin game. Rooted for Purdue mostly because I hate Wisconsin. Purdue won in an intense game. Probably not good for Illinois in the long run. I have been doing some more ab work lately. I'm trying to add that into the daily routine and so far this week I have been doing it daily.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| 8 cross training miles and some ab work. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.60 | 0.00 | 10.60 |
| A progression run. Felt great. Temp was 16 degrees (2 with 13 mph winds). It honestly didn't feel that cold, but it did feel windy. I tried to make sure that I ran well in the wind, since that's usually the only hurdle I have to overcome in races. Avg: 8:43. Mile splits 9:20, 8:55, 8:55, 8:51, 8:45, 8:43, 8:28, 8:32, 8:24, 8:21 and then .6@8:21 pace. The last mile and a half I had to push myself to keep that pace, but it felt pretty good.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.10 | 0.00 | 8.10 |
| I have really been lovin' running lately. This was another great run. And it was even better because I wasn't sure I was going to get outside to run it. Had a limited amount of time, so I tried to push the pace so that I could get 8 miles in the 1:10 I had. And I finished a little over 8 miles with 3 minutes to spare! Avg. pace: 8:16. It wasn't an easy pace, but it wasn't too difficult either. I feel so bad for my poor husband. He was supposed to get to leave work early, but he didn't end up leaving until WAY later than usual (which is why I wasn't sure I would get to run outside). There was a fight after school and he had to deal with it. It seems like there's always something like this going on. Last Friday he was breaking up a fight, and one of the kids (a girl, mind you) jumped on his back to try to get at the girl she was fighting. And just to give you a visual: my husband is a HUGE guy--former college linebacker, 6'4" and 275 pounds. But some of these kids just don't think when they're fighting. And if you might recall, in the fall some girl punched him in the face... BUT there's a job opening at his old school that he is DYING to get. I'm praying that he gets it. They loved him there, but it seems that small schools (this one is about 400 kids) already have someone in mind for jobs they post. We shall see.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.04 | 0.00 | 8.04 |
| This was a lot slower than yesterday. I just relaxed and went with it. The wind felt more intense than yesterday, even though it wasn't, really. The difference is that this was directly from the west, so I spent more time running directly into it. Avg. 9:31 pace
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| My husband was sick (poor baby) so I decided to combine my two loves: running and Illini basketball. That way I could keep the kids out of his hair. So I just stayed on the gazelle for the whole game (except during half-time, when I put the kids to bed). It was probably a good idea to do this so that I could transition better from cross training miles to regular miles. The last few weeks I've been more days inside than out, and this week I should be outside almost every day. My heel isn't a fan of the gazelle. Hopefully the weather cooperates and I'm almost done using it :)
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.13 | 0.00 | 7.13 |
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I had just a bit over an hour to finish, so I did a progression. I didn't get too fast towards the end, but tried to finish at around 8 min. pace for the last mile. I think I was a little over. I'm too lazy to get my watch.
I never see other runners out. Possibly because of the odd time I run, possibly because all the area runners are on treadmills, possibly because I live in the midwest, where people would rather eat than exercise. But I saw my first runner probably since summer. I startled her when I passed her, so she probably doesn't usually encounter other runners either.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.53 | 0.00 | 6.53 |
| Sometimes I have these dreams where I am running and cannot get into a rhythm. This morning that was a reality. For the first .3 I was all off-kilter and my cadence was just...strange.
I had several factors working against me. One was the early morning (got out at 4:40). Another was the fact that I had finished my Thursday run just 10 hours before and my heel was screaming. But the worst was that there was a nice sheen of ice on the road/sidewalk. I eventually found my rhythm, but I never got out of first gear. North/south roads were just a little slick, but east/west roads were more so. I slid a couple times, but nothing too serious. Throughout the run I had a hot and steamy love affair with 10 minute pace. We're supposed to get some snow on top of this. Tomorrow should be fun. Class tonight, class tomorrow, so I will be morning running again tomorrow.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 15.00 | 0.00 | 15.00 |
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Lots of snow and wind. Last night coming back from class I was only able to drive 40 on the interstate. I decided that before class I'd use the gazelle for a while (enough for 6 cross training miles) and then try to maybe get outside after class--maybe since it's Saturday people will shovel. If it's still messy I'll do some more inside.
Okay, you're all going to laugh at me. Right after class my husband and I did a trade off (he had to go supervise a basketball game) so I didn't get outside. I planned on doing another hour on the Gazelle, and instead I stayed on it for the entire Illini game. This game was so exciting, I seriously don't think I'm going to be able to go to bed. They looked great. Won 78-73 against #5 Michigan State. I was crapping my pants because it was a close one. I was afraid to stop working out because I'm superstitious and I was afraid that they would start playing badly. I know that's lame, but I'm glad they won. And I was working it pretty hard because I was so pumped :)
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| This was the most 1/2 hearted run...cold, starting to snow, getting dark. I cut it short. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
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Okay. I did it. I broke down and went to the gym. We got a lot of snow today and we're supposed to get 4 more inches. So I'm getting a membership for a month, but I forgot that I was supposed to go to the rec center to renew. The lady was nice enough to let me in anyway. Looks like a snow day tomorrow too. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Workout: 2 miles warmup at 9:13 pace. 2 miles at 8 min. pace. 1 mile at 9:13. 2 miles at 8 min. pace. 1 cooldown at 9:13 pace. The 8 min pace felt challenging, but sustainable. I was, though, glad when the second set was done. Watched the first half of the Illini game. Now I'm watching the second and hoping that they win...it's going to be close, whatever the outcome. I L L I N I! They won! They've been having a good week. Two ranked opponents in a row!
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| On the treadmill again. I ran one mile and then I realized that I hadn't set it correctly. So I stopped and then set it to go for one hour. And then I was bound and determined to finish 7 miles so I didn't have to reset it. Treadmills are annoying. So the avg. pace was somewhere around 8:40, which is probably a bit faster than I really needed to go...
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| I started off on the elliptical because all the treadmills were taken. Decided that it wasn't a bad thing, since the treadmill bothers my foot. Did the equivalent of 3 miles on the elliptical and then 5 miles on the treadmill. I am tired. It was slow and easy. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| I woke up a little before my alarm and turned it off. But I'm not sure how many miles I'll do tomorrow, so I knew I couldn't afford to skip a day. SoI guilted myself out of bed. Gazelled 5 cross training miles. I'm exhausted. Running makes my cycle seriously irregular, so I may be getting my period, but I'm not sure. I haven't had it for a while. I hope it's on the way and not just that I'm getting sick. I feel like I've been running myself ragged for the past 6 weeks.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.10 | 0.00 | 10.10 |
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Ahhhhh. Success. I went over to my dear friend Colleen's house and earlier in the week when we were planning, she suggested that we go to her gym together. Well, the thought of another run on the treadmill made me sick, so I packed indoor and outdoor stuff. When we got around to the running part of our day, I successfully convinced her and her crazy sister Mo to run outside. Success #1. I had to lend her sister one of my shirts, but it wasn't ridiculously cold (it was probably near 30). Then I convinced Mo that she could do 6 miles. She is NOT a runner primarily, but she is planning on running the Shamrock Shuffle. She started running in January and this is the first time she's run in 6 years. I was a little worried about the 6 miles given her history--she ran the Chicago Marathon 6 years ago a week after a car accident (and she wasn't really well trained to begin with) and promptly had a heart attack. Literally. She had lacerated her liver in the car accident and was unaware, so the strain led to a heart attack at 35 (well, and she had an enlarged heart because she was a body builder). So anyway, I was nervous, but she's been cleared by her dr. and everything. And she did great. Success #2. Then I knew that I could convince Colleen to run at least a little more, and somehow another loop around her subdivision became 4 more faster miles. Success #3. Avg pace: 9:02. 9:27, 9:21, 9:35, 9:30, 9:39, 9:21, 8:46 (post Mo), 8:35, 8:30, 7:47, and .10 @ 7:03 pace.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.30 | 0.00 | 8.30 |
| A treadmill run. I did 2.5 at 9:13 pace and then just increased the pace by .1 every 10 minutes. In the last 12 minutes I increased the pace by .1 every 2 minutes, just so I fit a little more in. I ended the last 2 minutes at 7:30 pace. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| Just an easy indoors 8 miles.
I watched some of the Olympics.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.50 | 0.00 | 6.50 |
| It was SO HOT inside (at the gym again today). Usually I bring a water bottle, but I didn't today and I really needed one. I stopped after mile 4 to get a quick drink. I warmed up 2 miles, did 1/4 mile fast, 1/4 mile slow for 4 miles, then .5 cool down. I actually cut my workout a little short. The treadmill shut down after an hour, so I figured it was a sign.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.25 | 0.00 | 8.25 |
| I went outside today for a change. I spent the first two miles complaining in my head, thinking I would just try to go for a few miles. Then after that I got less whiny and life was fine. I didn't push the pace. Just ran and tried to enjoy it. We're more than a week past the snowstorm we got last week, and it was slow going in some spots because of ice/packed snow/deep snow. I think that's probably why I was uninterested and unmotivated in the first couple miles. I kept getting annoyed when I would shuffle through snow-covered sidewalks in front of a house--but the driveway was perfectly pristine. There was a stretch of about a mile where this was the case, and I was running in front of some of the biggest houses in town. It probably took those poor people too long to snow blow their hugely long driveways, and they didn't want to work for the extra 3 minutes it would take to clear the sidewalk. Or at least that was what I was thinking during the run. So once I got to about 4 miles, I figured that I should just do my normal 8. As I got close to the house I was still a bit under 8 miles, and rather than run past the house, I just went around the block to add the extra 1/4 mile. Avg pace: 9:44.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| 5 cross training miles in the A.M. Class tonight. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.12 | 0.00 | 14.12 |
| I went to class last night. I was really early, so I sat down to look at assignments and such. Then I realized that I actually have class next weekend. I'm stooopid. But I was glad that I had worked out in the morning because I was exhausted. And then it meant I could get a long run in today!
We got some snow last night, and when we went to breakfast in the morning, I figured it would be a treadmill day. So after lunch I got ready to go to the gym, backed the car out, and rejoiced because it was sunny and the sidewalks were relatively clear. So I went back upstairs and changed into outside running stuff! Yay! This run was pretty good. There were still areas where I was running through snow or on grass, but the snow was rather slushy and not real slippery. Just some areas of slow going. I tried to pick up the pace a little in the last mile, but overall my splits were pretty steady.
Avg: 8:48. 9:07, 8:57, 8:46, 8:52, 8:55, 8:52, 8;43, 8:54, 8:41, 8:54, 8:43, 8:47, 8:49, 8:22, .12@7:53.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.10 | 0.00 | 8.10 |
| This was a treadmill day. It was gray and wet and I didn't have the desire to run that in the dusk. I started at 9:13 pace and then increased the pace every mile. Miles went 9:13, 9:05, 8:57, 8:49, 8:36, 8:06, 7:53. Then after the treadmill shut down after its usual hour, I did 1.2 at 9:13 pace for a cool down.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.02 | 0.00 | 10.02 |
| I got out a little early on this run because my brother-in-law picked up the kids. When I was getting ready to run I had an internal debate: outside or treadmill? I decided on the outside even though I feared the wind...and I'm glad I did. Most of the run was in the sunshine, just until the last 20 minutes or so. But the wind was a factor as I was heading west. I'm pretty sure that I will be windburned until April or so. I started off with the intention of running 8 and then just extended my run because I was feeling pretty good and I had a little extra time. Average pace: 8:49. The last mile I tried to push the pace and that one was 7:44 (I started at a little over 8 for the first .2 and then as soon as I turned out of the wind I just kept pushing harder). Felt good, but I was glad to finish the run.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
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I haven't run yet, but I just wanted to say a special thanks to all organ donors. Our buddy Luke is 9 years old and is getting a bone marrow transplant on Friday thanks to a donor off the registry. If you pray, please remember Luke and his special donor sometime this week!
8 cross training miles on the gazelle. Watched some speed skating (the women's 3000m relay was interesting) and ski jumping.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| Not an ideal morning. Alarm went off. I shut it off. Didn't want to get out of bed to go outside, even though I had everything ready to go. Then my cat jumped up on me and she was soaking wet in the front. I tried to catch her, but she ran and hid. Then I got up and gazelled for 40 minutes. Worried about the cat. Found her afterward. She didn't look good--and had a bunch of saliva running out of her mouth. So I took her to the vet, worrying that she had something caught in her mouth. But she just had a loose tooth that was caught in her jaw, keeping her mouth open. I was relieved. The vet was going to pull it this morning. It's hard to remember that a 6 year old cat is middle aged. All that, and I was still on time for school!
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.14 | 0.00 | 11.14 |
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Class didn't start till 9, so I had time to run in the morning (and got to sleep in till 6!). It was chilly (low 20s) with some wind (approx. 10 mph).
I ran 2 warmup miles (at about 9:20), then 2 fast miles (at approx. 7:40 apiece), one recovery mile (@ 9:10 or so), 2 more fast miles (at approx. 7:55 pace), then about 1/2 mile home.
Honestly the second set of fast miles felt hard. My stomach was sloshing around a little and I don't know why because I hadn't had anything to drink before going. So I was relieved to be done.
Then I ran around 3.6 with my bro, who is visiting. We ran about 9:30 pace, and that felt slow, but necessary. This wasn't a great feeling run, but whatever.
And Luke's bone marrow transplant yesterday went fine. Now he's going to be very susceptible to infection for the next few weeks--I can't remember exactly how long--and will be in isolation for quite some time. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| Just an easy 5 miles. This week will be sorta light because I am starting training in earnest and my training program has me running long on Sundays (and I didn't run yesterday). It's good that this week will be lighter with running because I am definitely stressed about school and classes. This weekend is my last Friday/Saturday class for a month and a half. Thank God. So I've been away from other people's blogs. I will be catching up later this week!
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.80 | 0.00 | 9.80 |
| 2 miles warm up, 4 x 1 mile at 8:00 pace with a 1/2 mile recovery after each (but I made a boo boo--should've done 1/4 mile recovery). Then 6 x 200 at 7:03 pace (or as close to a 200 as I could manage on a treadmill that only kept mileage to the tenth) with 100 jog in between. Really, what I did was set my treadmill for the fast pace and keep it for about 55 seconds, and then I dropped the speed until the treadmill marked the next tenth. Then about a mile cool down. I had to reset the treadmill a couple because it shuts down after an hour and I couldn't figure out after an hour how much more time I needed. Then when it shut down the 3rd time, I didn't want to reset it just so I could come up with an even 10. I have been wearing my glasses for the last few days because I threw away my last pair of contacts and didn't realize that I didn't have another pair. I don't have time to get to the eye doctor right now. But running in glasses is not my cup of tea. I had to keep taking them off because they were all sweaty.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.20 | 0.00 | 5.20 |
| An easy 5.2. It got up to 40 today, which is exciting. But you know what? 40 degrees is still cold :) | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
| It reached 45 degrees today. I contemplated shorts. But my legs were worried about their exposure. And I'm glad I didn't wear them because by the time I got going it was getting dark and it was hovering around 30.
2 miles warmup. Three miles at 1/2 marathon pace (7:54, 7:52, 7:45). Almost a 1/2 mile over to the track for 2 800s. I probably should have planned to end the first 5 miles a little closer. 2 800s at roughly 7:00 pace. I was shooting for 7:20-7:30 pace, but it was too dark to see the watch and the pace felt good. Then 6 x 100 strides. As I was hitting my sprint, which I was supposed to sustain for 5 seconds (and which most of the time was a little above or a little below 5 min pace), I was thinking that there are people who can actually sustain that pace for a loooooong time. Crazy. Then I ran home. I did run in my glasses today. They stayed on a little better because my hat was keeping them on.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.60 | 0.00 | 6.60 |
| I ran 6 miles at about 9 min pace and then did strides during the last .6. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 13.10 | 0.00 | 13.10 |
| This was just a steady long run. Avg. pace 9:08. My heart really wasn't in it. I just wanted to be done. This has been a tiring week. I was working on a big paper and a project, grading research paper, holding my student teacher's hand, dreading class this weekend. But now I'm done with one class for the semester, I'm almost done with my research papers, and spring break is 2 weeks away. I think the rest of the year is downhill from here. Can you believe there are only about 9 weeks left of the school year?
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.08 | 0.00 | 10.08 |
| I did the same workout this Tuesday as I did last Tues (except I did it right). Warm up was 2 miles, then 4 x 1 mile at 1/2 marathon pace (400 recovery), 6 x 200 at a faster pace (100 recovery) and then about a 2 mile cool down. Warm up was at about 9 min pace. Splits on the 4 fast miles were 7:45, 7:41, 7:43, 7:38. My 1/2 marathon goal is 8 min pace, but I was feeling frisky. Then my 200 time goal was 53 seconds and I did all of them either in 47 or 53 seconds. Cool down was slow--right around 9:45 pace. It was almost 60 when I started out and I was way overdressed because I was intimidated by the wind. I had to stop after the first fast mile to take off one of the shirts I was wearing (a cold gear shirt. What was I thinking?). A t-shirt felt good. I did wear warmer pants on the bottom and they were fine. I also kept on my ear band because it helped to keep my glasses in place (and sometimes the wind bothers my ears). I had a dream last night that I was invited to Sasha's house for dinner and when I met him, he was a short, wrinkly old man, and I was incredulous about how he could run so fast. There were also a bunch of other people there, but no one talked to me because they were all mad at me for some reason. Then the house, which was 1/2 normal, but had this impossibly high dome made of bricks on it, fell down on us when a huge gust of wind blew. I have no idea why I dreamed that.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| 5 cross training miles. The past two days I was subbing in the assistant principal's office. It was interesting. I really just basically took notes for him, but it's sometimes comical what happens down there, and other times you just gotta roll your eyes at the goings-on. But while I was downstairs, there was a big mutiny in my 8th period class over how my student teacher graded a quiz. She was really upset, but the kids were out of line--and I'm sure I'll hear from some of them today, but I'm backing her. My students are just seniors who don't want to do anything. One kid walked out of the class saying, "I hate you! I hate life! I hate everything!" This is an 18 year old, mind you. I'm looking forward to today (eyes rolling in sarcasm).
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.50 | 0.00 | 5.50 |
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Honestly, this was the worst run I've had in a long time, and I'm not quite sure I actually understand what happened. When I was getting ready, it started hailing outside, so I headed to the gym. Once I got there my plan was a warm up, 3 miles at 1/2 marathon pace, 2 800s at 10K pace, and 6 200s. But the run was bad from the start. 9:40 pace felt too fast. I warmed up for 2 miles, then sped up the treadmill to 8 min pace. After .28, I just stopped. I tried to talk myself into it, but I just couldn't get going again. I thought maybe if I started slow and then worked my way into 8 min. pace I could do it, but it just wasn't happening. So I just dropped the speed on the treadmill to a tolerable pace, every once in a while I would speed it up a little, and got to 5.5 and then hightailed it out of there. It was really hot in there and my hands were swelling up. I felt thirsty even though I drank an entire water bottle after the failed attempt at going faster. I don't think I drank enough water during the day, and I'm not sure if maybe eating a light dinner before hand was the culprit. I have also recently lost 3 pounds--even though I have been making a concerted effort to eat more because I think my body fat percentage is interfering with my cycle. My percentage isn't ridiculously low (and it was measured electronically, not using calipers), but I've been interested in what I've been reading about body fat and pregnancy.
Now I will just try to forget it happened. Maybe I'll do that workout on Saturday, but maybe not.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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It was a busy day. After school i ran home, got the kids and my nephew, dropped them off at school with a teacher friend so I could go to an eye appointment, picked the kids back up and took them to dinner, and then went back to the school to watch our production of Godspell. It was great--and the kids behaved well, even though Eli got a little restless towards the end.
Then went home and did 6 cross training miles while I waited for Chuck to get home, and stopped when I got bored of waiting for him. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| 6 slow miles and then 6 200s with a jog in between. My watch was charging, so I just had to guess at distances. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.75 | 0.00 | 14.75 |
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On paper, my splits are unimpressive for this run, but miles 8-12.5 were mostly head into the 20 mph wind. I ran around the perimeter of Rantoul, including some of the farmland around (Specchio's farm on the south end and Quinlan's farm--where we have our garden--on the north end). The last 2 ish miles were with the wind.
I'm tired.
Splits: 9:20, 9:23, 9:11, 9:23, 9:24, 9:16, 9:10, 9:26 (the first of many miles into the wind), 9:24, 9:08 (1/2 mile was heading east), 9:21, 9:45 (ugh), 9:14, 8:48, .75 @ 9:11 pace | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.10 | 0.00 | 10.10 |
| I know that everyone else is lamenting Daylight Savings Time, but since I run in the late afternoon, I love it--this is the first weekday run in a long time that was all in the sun. And it was a beautiful day, too: over 60, sunny, a little on the windy side, but only about 5 mph or something. Warmed up 1.75 miles to the track, got to the track and didn't start because instead I ran a couple laps with a guy I used to work with who was finishing his workout. I would actually like to beat him in the 1/2, but I will know whether that is possible based on my race this weekend, which he is also running (which is a bit of a coincidence, I think, considering the race is in Chicago, but I guess maybe it isn't too huge a coincidence). His goal is just slightly faster than mine, but I don't think he's been training that well. After a couple laps I said my goodbyes and started my workout. Run was 2 x (400 at 5K pace (100), 1200 at 10K pace (200), 2000 at 1/2 m pace).
Goal paces: 400--1:48, 1200--5:42, 2000--10:00. Actual paces: 400--1:43, 1200--5:25, 2000--9:57, 400--1:47, 5:40, 2000--9:45. And I wasn't sure what to do as far as recovery between my first 2000 and second 400, so I settled with a 300.
Then I cooled down 2.62 miles to home. I had stupidly worn too many layers on my run because I was sitting outside while the kids were playing after school, and was a little cold then and didn't feel like peeling off my clothes right away. So I was dying on my warm up, took extra layers off during the actual workout, and then wore the extra layers around my waist on the way home, and felt really bogged down. I started off wearing more clothes than I did during winter running.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.50 | 0.00 | 4.50 |
| An easy 4 miles with 6 x 100 at the end. Didn't wear the watch. It's probably mentally better for me to leave it off on easy days.
Another gorgeous day! It was over 60, I think. But of course, I hear it's supposed to snow on Sunday...
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.10 | 0.00 | 8.10 |
| Dear new shoes, Thank you for cushioning my feet during my run. I know you look exactly the same as my last 2 pairs of shoes (and remarkably similar to the two pairs before you), but somehow I've got a feeling that you and I are going places together.
Love, Tracy (Avg pace: 8:36. Splits: 9:11, 9:04, 7:58, 8:07, 8:01, 7:53, 9:25, 8:58, plus running back and forth in front of my house so that I didn't end on a weird # for mileage)
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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5 cross training miles. Nervous about getting in my run today. I'm in Chicago and the weather is less than desirable. I will be taking the train into the city to meet up with a couple of friends who say that they want to run, but I'm nervous that they won't actually want to once I get there.
So if I don't get in my miles today, I am just going to switch my 10 mile run from today to Monday.
Race tomorrow will be in this sloppiness! | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| Went to my friend Mo's gym to get in a few miles on the treadmill. I'm glad I got in a run today, even if it wasn't as long as I had wanted. Mo ran 2 and Colleen ran 6, so when Colleen was done, I felt like I better hurry up and finish too. That and the run was at 6, so I knew I probably shouldn't push it, since my race was at 9 on Sunday. | |
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| | Race: |
Shamrock Shuffle (5 Miles) 00:37:54 | | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 5.00 | 8.00 |
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I stayed at my friend Colleen's sister Mo's place the night before the race and we just hung out. She has a parking spot in the lot right by the start line, so we drove over and came out of the lot and were right by the finish. I was the only one running in the first wave, so Colleen and I warmed up about 1.5 miles and then after coordinating where we were going to meet afterward, I headed over to my corral. I probably warmed up a little too early, but no big deal. It was about 30 degrees, but at least it wasn't raining like the forecast had been warning all week. The national anthem was sung (pretty badly if you ask me) and then the race started. It took about 3 minutes before I got to the line. My first three miles were pretty slow. I just started and wasn't really too concerned about how fast I was going. There were a lot of people running (36,000 or so) and there was a lot of weaving, really throughout the whole race, but most in the first mile. The rest of the race was unremarkable. I just tried to keep a steady pace, anticipate the turns, and pass the people in front of me. My garmin was pretty useless. Not sure why, but it says I ran 5.4 (and I doubt I was weaving that much) and says that my avg. pace was 7:01. Obviously not. According to the results page, my splits were 7:48, 7:51, 7:44, 7:18, 7:14. I wish that I had been able to get moving in those first 3 miles. I don't know if it was me or the crowd, really. Then I cooled down 1.5, waited for Colleen and Mo to finish, and called my brother. It took me a while to find him and his wife, but we finally found each other and we took the el home. I'm actually kind of disappointed. I could have done better, but I'll blame the crowd. My nemesis finished in 35:30 or so--maybe he won't be my target for the 1/2. Or maybe I will just chalk this up to having a so-so race and redouble my efforts for my next race.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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The real reason I am posting is to ask for prayers for our buddy Luke. If you recall, his bone marrow transfusion went well (at the end of Feb), but he's been fighting off infections since. I just found out he has RSV, which is very dangerous for someone in his condition. He's stable, but in the ICU and getting breathing assistance. Cross training: 6 miles, + abs and some lazy pushups.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.60 | 4.50 | 10.10 |
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I haven't been keeping track of fast miles/slow miles lately, but I guess I'll start that up again. My husband got home today and I relinquished control of the kids to him for the time being. I guess I'll have to be helpful for the rest of spring break, but only because of Eli's arm. He went on a fun trip out to AZ and brought me back a turquoise necklace as a peace offering.
wu 2 miles, 3 x 1.5 at 10K pace with .25 recovery, 3.1 miles cd. Avg. pace: 8:20. Pace for fast portions: 7:20, 7:22, 7:35. Darn that 3rd one. Please keep up prayers for Luke. He had a rough night last night. He is now on a breathing tube and is pretty heavily sedated.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| Five miles in old shoes. Big mistake. I stopped a few times to stretch my left arch. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.33 | 4.77 | 10.10 |
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I'm not gonna lie. My garmin told me I had a low battery about 1/2 way through my run and I kept hoping it would just shut down so I wouldn't have to finish my intervals. No such luck... 2 mile wu, 6 miles 3 min fast/1 min recovery, 2.1 miles cd. I did 12 intervals. My paces ranged from 7:21 average to 7:46 average, but I only had 2 in the 7:40s, and those were two into the wind. I took a quick pit stop after the 7th one. I had to give myself a stern talking to before I could convince myself to start up again. Now that I'm done I feel good about the workout. Just FYI: Luke is taking baby steps of improvement. They are trying to wean him off his breathing tube, but slowly, as he is still having respiratory issues. Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts for him! Keep them coming!
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.20 | 0.00 | 7.20 |
| An easy 6 with 6 x approx. 100 m strides and approx. equal recovery jog. I just did the strides along my route and then jogged the rest of the way home. It sure is hard to figure out how to dress for runs lately. When the wind was gusting I was just fine, but when it wasn't (or when I had a tailwind) I was hot. I should have worn shorts and just one long sleeved shirt. I need to remember that for next time. And I guess I should have looked at the temp before going out. It was 55 (with 13 mph winds). When I was out earlier this morning, it was in the low 40s.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 15.00 | 0.00 | 15.00 |
| 15 miles on the dreadmill. I went to the gym because it was pouring when I got home from church and I made the decision that I'd rather be dry (well, sorta) and hot than cold and wet. I was a little worried about using the treadmill since the power in town went out last night and this morning (in the middle of the gospel) but it didn't go out again while I was working out.
I was supposed to do 3 to 6 miles of 1/2 M pace in the middle third of the run. I did 2 at 8 min pace and then slowed down a little for another 2 miles. I did another 2 miles at 8:40 pace, and then called it done. The treadmill shut down twice. The last 2 miles (right after the 2nd shut down) were difficult, but at about mile 11, the guy on the elliptical next to me said something to the effect of "You're quite the runner," and that comment helped me just finish. I did the last 1/2 mile at 8 min. pace, just to cut about 30 seconds off my finish time :) I was mad when I left the gym because it wasn't raining anymore and I drove home thinking I had made the wrong decision. But my husband said it had just stopped raining about 20 minutes before I got home, so I think I made the right choice. No more treadmills for a while, hopefully.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| I have to change up what I was planning this week since I won't be running my long run this Sunday. Running long Saturday will probably be what I do, but it's going to depend on family business. I also was supposed to run an actual workout, but I'll have to do that Wed.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.80 | 5.00 | 9.80 |
| It was a beautifully sunny day, almost 80 degrees. But the wind! My God! The wind!
I warmed up 2.1 miles to the track. Almost my entire warm up was full force into the wind. It seemed strong. I didn't look up any stats when I got home, but the hourly report on the weather channel says the wind was from the south at 26 mph. That seems about right. At the track I did 2 sets of 400 (5K pace--1:48), 1200 (10K pace--5:42), 2400 (1/2MP--12 min). I set myself up so that I never had to finish any of the intervals into the wind, just for mental purposes. I tried to keep myself dead on pace, but I was a little under on the short ones.
Actual run: 400 (1:44), 1200 (5:32), 2400 (12:00), 400 (1:41), 1200 (5:36), 2400 (11:56). Then I ran back home. This time the wind helped me, which is good because I was beat.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.60 | 0.00 | 3.60 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.50 | 0.00 | 8.50 |
| This has been a rough week. Every time I think about putting it in my blog I find better things to do. My husband's aunt passed away suddenly on Monday evening. It was a massive heart attack. Obviously no one was prepared. It has been a rough week. Lots of family coming in. Lots of grieving. Lots of reminiscing about her and about my husband's parents, which is emotionally draining. Just because of timing she is being waked on Sunday night (even though we've really been doing that all week) and the funeral is Monday morning. Under different circumstances the funeral would have taken place already.
We're having Easter today. The entire family (and it's a big one) is here.
I don't really care about running right now. Maybe next week.
Yesterday I started to do my scheduled workout, but walked for 1/2 hour
right after my warm up, then ran 1.5 after that. Today I left my watch
at home and just ran in the rain. That suited my mood. And it was
actually quite nice not to worry about pace or anything. It seems so ridiculous to be worried about running right now. At first I was going to run long on Sunday, but that doesn't feel right, it being Easter and all. So instead I'm going to wake up early on Monday to run before the funeral. If I get to 16 miles, great. If not, big deal. And I'm not depressed or anything. Just sad. I keep hearing her voice (just in my head, though--I'm not crazy) saying my name or arguing loudly (as she was wont to do) about politics. One thing I feel guilty about is fighting with my husband about his trip to Arizona last week. His aunt decided to go out to AZ during the same time. Chuck's cousin Jennie (they grew up pretty much as brother and sister, and this is his aunt's daughter) told me on Thursday that it was nice that they were able to hang out together one last time, since they haven't been able to be together responsibility-free in years. And then of course everyone is still worried about Luke.
And it was hard to call my mom to let her know. They got along well and they were the same age.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 4.25 | 16.25 |
| I have no idea how I managed to accomplish this, but getting out the door at 5 and not having to be anywhere until 8:30 is part of it. When I started my run it was dark, but my outfit (long pants and two long sleeve t-shirts) was too warm. I took off one shirt about 2 miles in. I did a 9 mile loop to start, and the sun gradually came up. My garmin was dead, so I just estimated and gmapped it later, and it was .03 less than 9. I came home, changed into shorts, swapped shirts, got my partially charged garmin and went out again. On the next loop the fog rolled in, the air was moist and the wind picked up slightly. When my watched chimed mile 13 and I looked down to see that it was 8:22 (I like Carolyn's arbitrary designation of anything faster than 8:30 being considered fast), I just pushed the pace, and ended my run with a 7:57, 8:07, 7:41, and then 8:15 for the last 1/4 mile.
Last week, thinking about Jane was emotionally draining. This morning it gave me strength to think of her and pray. I suppose it being Easter time also is uplifting. The funeral was, like all funerals, draining. I couldn't look at Jennie or Becky (two of Jane's kids) without losing it. I did lose it at 4 moments: the beginning of the Mass, we sang "Be Not Afraid" and "Here I am Lord" back to back and those songs remind me of my husband's parents; when they draped the coffin; at the beautifully written intentions read by Chuck's cousin Mike; and when we sang "How Great Thou Art," another song that reminds me of Chuck's parents, and I looked behind me to see Jane's oldest sister with tears streaming down her face. But I sat behind Jane's 5 beautiful grandkids and watched her youngest (2 year old Sophie) and I know Jane's love for life will live on in the family. Jane's burial plot is right next to Chuck's parents. They were neighbors in life--and they are neighbors once more.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| On schedule for today was some speed. I ran to the track, saw that they had a track meet going on, stopped to watch and talk to some people I used to work with, decided to scrap the workout and just ran back home for a total of 4 miles. I was a little stiff from yesterday anyway. I may be running a 10K on Sat. We're doing a benefit for Luke's family on Saturday that doesn't start until the afternoon, but we have some things to do first. If I don't do the 10K, I will do the workout that I was supposed to do today instead.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.20 | 0.00 | 4.20 |
| I got started later than normal because 1) we had some bad weather supposedly about to roll in 2) I had some housework to do. Then when I was folding laundry I looked outside and it was all clear, so I decided to get in a quick run. My almost dying garmin got only an hour's worth of recharging on Monday and I forgot to recharge it, so when I turned it on it gave me the low battery message. I tried it anyway and it died in the first mile. I was planning on running 5, but I almost got hit by a car. I will not lie--it was partly my fault. But only partly. I was crossing a rinky-dink side street and I heard a car, but I assumed that it was going straight. Instead it turned left, but into the incorrect lane (where I was running). It seemed like everything slowed down and I stopped and the driver stopped and a guy who I had just passed (he was walking his dog) said something like "Holy cow!" It was a very near miss. And I realized right after that I was wearing pretty dark clothes and the sun had set. It's been a while since I have run at night and I didn't even think to wear my vest because there was still light when I started. So I took that as my cue to head home instead of running on the street for one more mile. Plus I didn't want to pass the dog-walking guy again. My bad. I'll be a little wiser tomorrow. And I'll be running earlier.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Sat out in the 45 degrees, 30 mph wind for 3 hours as the head timer for a home track meet that I forgot I had signed up to work. Surely that counts for some kind of exercise? I have been so distracted lately. In a perfect world I would have a clean house today, but that obviously didn't happen. I would also have cross trained, but as soon as my butt touched the couch, it was all over for the night. I fell asleep snuggling with my boys. They stayed awake till dad came home at 9:30. It was a late night for him at work, too.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.70 | 0.00 | 5.70 |
| Just nice and easy. Trying to get back in the groove. | |
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| | Race: |
Safe Kids 10K (6.2 Miles) 00:46:50, Place overall: 2 | | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.90 | 6.20 | 10.10 |
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Okay. I really did run a race, but first the more important thing: Luke's benefit is today! We got ready last night by putting together raffle prizes and by putting up pictures that the St. Malachy kids drew for him. We put it up spelling "Luke's Team," cause that's what we are. I'm the team photog and scrapbooker, so I'll try to post some of the pictures that I take on my blog for tomorrow. We'll see if I can figure it out. Maybe at that point I can also find a picture of myself to put up. But those of you who are the family photogs understand: I just don't have that many pictures of me--and none of them are taken BY me, so I am critical :) So just one more plea: please please please pray for Luke and his family. This is the depressing note of today: he is not doing well. He had to be reintubated on Thursday evening and yesterday his heart rate shot up and his oxygen levels plummeted. He is more stable this morning, but still really needs strength. I try to ask in my prayers that God's will be done, but it's hard not to add an addendum. This child has so much to offer this world. For 1/5 of his life he has just been known as the really sick kid. Just in case you are interested in reading his blog: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lukeremington So on to the race: If it was a 7.5K I would have taken first place for the ladies. The first place finisher passed me at about that point. I knew it at the time, but looking back at my splits, I COULD HAVE STAYED WITH HER. I slowed way down in the last lap of the race...
I hate racing. I'm just not good at it. But I'm going to go ahead and blame it on the fact that my "breakfast" was a pop tart. Even though the pop tart wasn't to blame.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Luke needs a miracle. Please keep those prayers coming. | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 5.00 | 10.00 |
| I know I have been nothing but a Debbie Downer lately (and seriously, I have little use for emotion most of the time. I'm an emotion bottler), but if Luke's condition does not improve in the next 24 hours or so, they are going to take him off the respirator. I'm not quite at peace about that yet, but I am getting there. We found out last night, had a restless night, and an overall emotional day today. At church this morning (which was said for Luke), I don't think Father knew the latest news and he asked Luke's grandma to give an update. She didn't know what to do, and so gave a tearful update. I was at least prepared, but I know most of the other people there were not. Eli's baby-sitter (also a relative) took care of Luke from infancy till he went to school and she did not take the news well. I almost left school early to pick up Eli from her, but decided that would be in no one's best interest. She needed someone to hug her and I hope Eli was cuddlier than normal. In running news:
I did most of my workout today, but I skipped 1 400 @ 5K pace and 1 1200 @ 10K pace because it was dark and the 3 other people who had been running on the track were getting ready to leave. I did 1 400, 1 1200, and then 2 x 3200 @ HM pace. I hit my paces on everything but the 400, where I was 4 seconds slow. I'm trying to get my mind back into running just to give it some distraction, but it's hard. I skipped my run on Sunday for no good reason, other than to clean house for Eli's b-day and to spend time with family.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.50 | 3.80 | 7.30 |
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Warmed up. Was planning on 2 warm up miles, but when I looked down at my watch midway through the second one, I saw that I was under 8 min pace, so I went with it. I am counting that .8 as fast, since avg. was 8:23 (thanks Carolyn!). Then 3 miles (7:52, 7:44, 7:41), then cool down back home. All of that was around 9 min. pace. Word on Luke: yesterday was peaceful, but no real change. Today the doctors MAY have seen some sign of encouragement. I don't know yet exactly what that means, except that they are leaving him on the respirator.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| 3 cross training miles | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.80 | 5.00 | 9.80 |
| Out the door at 4:30 to get in these miles. I'm actually pretty proud of myself--I hit my pace on all the miles I needed to. I think that after this HM is over I am going to switch to morning running now that it is getting hot (and because I won't be running as many miles). We'll see if I actually do it :)
2 miles wu. 5 miles at HM pace (7:59, 7:57, 7:57, 7:54, 7:44), 2.8 cool down. No real update on Luke, other than they kept him on the respirator because of a slight increase in his oxygen levels. His little lungs are so battered...I also talked to the principal at St. Mal last night. He was saying that he's not sure exactly what to tell kids, since he has such a range of ages (preschool through 8th grade). But he also said that a 1st grader woke up yesterday morning and asked his dad if Luke was in heaven yet... I'm not so worried about Luke anymore. His condition is in God's hands--and if his fight ends, he will be with God. I'm more worried about his brother (in 8th grade) and his parents because their struggle will continue.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 17.00 | 0.00 | 17.00 |
| Luke's battled ended on Friday night, a little before 9. Even though you are never prepared for the death of a 10 year old, most of us had at least a little time to arrive at acceptance of it. Since then, we have been grieving the only way we know how: together. Thank you for your kind words and your prayers. Please continue to pray for those who love him. In running news: 17 miles is a long time. The last 2 miles was the hardest.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.25 | 3.75 | 9.00 |
| An early morning speed workout on the track. 2 ish mile wu, 2 x 1200 at 5K pace (I was about 10 seconds slow on both), 6 x 200 at 5K pace (I was about 4 seconds fast on each), 2 x 1200 at 5K pace (about 7 seconds slow on both). Recovery (400 after each 1200, 100 after each 200), 2 ish mile cool down. Funeral was this morning. It was both a celebration of his life and a mourning of his death, but it was beautiful. Maybe more details later.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 7.00 | 11.00 |
| I have just concentrated on my key workouts this week and kinda ignored recovery days. If that means I won't reach my goal for next week's race, so be it. Today was 7 miles at HM pace. I actually started out at about HM pace, quite accidentally (my garmin wasn't connecting to a satellite right away). So I just did the 7 miles at HM pace first and then cooled down 4 miles. Splits for HM miles: 8:20, 8:05, 7:51, 7:52, 7:53, 7:47, 7:48. Then cool down was at just over 9 min. pace. Eli got his cast off today. He was actually not a happy camper. The saw scared the crap out of him and then his arm was so stiff that it hurt. At first I was afraid he would have to go back into another cast because he kept crying, but his arm was nicely healed. He just has to get used to using it again.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 6 easy | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
| 9 easy. 8:50 average. It was raining, but I missed the worst of it. Right after I was done a downpour started. I was glad the skies didn't open up on me. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.80 | 1.50 | 6.30 |
| Approx. 2 miles to the track, where I was planning on doing my workout, but there was a track meet, so I just ran my 6 x 1/4 mile on the street. My recovery varied in distance because I tried to make sure that I wasn't running full tilt into busy intersections.
I was fast on my 1/4 miles. They were supposed to be at 10K pace, but they were a little under 5K pace (all between 1:40 and 1:47). I tried to adjust my speed for the first 2, and then just went with what felt good. Then I ran about 2 miles home.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 3.00 | 7.00 |
| I mile at 8:50 pace and then I was warmed up sufficiently to get in 3 miles at HM pace (8:15, 7:42, 7:35). Then I ran another 3 easy--all at about 8:45 pace. I am mentally ready to race on Saturday. I am physically ready to race. My goal is to be between 7:45 and 8 min pace overall. I hope the weather cooperates. Early in the week I heard driving rains and wind for the race, but now the forecast says slight chance of thunderstorms. It is at least supposed to be warm (probably in the 50s at start time, maybe warming up more). I honestly have no idea what to wear. Any suggestions?
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| My plan called for no run yesterday, and even though I didn't really need to take off, I did--mostly so I could finish my last paper for the semester (but my freedom is short-lived. My summer semester starts next weekend). I ran 3 easy this morning and I was either really slow, ran more than I thought, or left later than I thought. I'm betting it was that I was really slow. No garmin today. Debating whether I should bring mine tomorrow.
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| | Race: |
Illinois Half Marathon (13.11 Miles) 01:46:02, Place overall: 92, Place in age division: 15 | | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 13.11 | 13.11 |
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The weather today was pretty nice (even though it was a little on the hot side). No rain, about 10 mph winds, 75 degrees and sunny. The wind was not a factor. The heat might have been a little bit of a factor, but not too much.
My race was solid. I didn't overrely on my garmin, but it does measure a little long (mine said I ran 13.23) so my mile splits are not exactly accurate. According to my garmin, my splits were 8:16, 7:47, 7:51, 7:56, 7:52, 7:54, 8:02, 7:47, 7:54, 8:23 (argh), 8:03, 8:34 (double argh), 8:00 and then the end at 6:47 pace. But of course, that's probably not exactly what my actual splits were, because at one point I hit the lap button at a mile marker (about 30 seconds off at that point, which I didn't put in my splits) just to see if maybe the weaving in and out of traffic added a little distance, but the next mile marker was still about 10-15 seconds after my garmin beeped. And after my 13th mile split, it measured .15 instead of .11.
Mile 10 I stopped for about 30 seconds so that I could actually drink some water instead of just spilling it all over my face and I stopped at mile 12 to do the same, I think for about 30 seconds. And that right there was the difference between meeting my goal and not.
Live and learn.
Not gonna lie. There's a part of me that's a little disappointed in my time.
But I'm pretty happy that my run was consistent. I know that I have to work on my endurance because the end was hard to maintain. And I'm pretty sure that I needed the water, so I can't blame myself for wanting to drink.
And then my TMI for today: as soon as I crossed the finish line, I got a sudden urge to pee. It was a few seconds before I realized that I actually WAS peeing. THAT has never happened to me. I tried standing still and that helped. I got to the bathroom a little too late, but I was able to hold most of it. I just rinsed myself off and then went outside to find my people. Gross.
I feel bad because I dropped my running partner like a hot potato at mile 6, but I'm glad I did. He finished just under 2 hours. My brother also ran through a knee injury. He thought he would run/walk, but ended up running the whole thing, albeit slowly.
But there are some other things that I'm really excited about. I was 15th in my age division. I was in the top 2.7% of women overall (I was 92nd out of 3340). So that's impressive. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| Got out at 4:45 for 5 miles. Nice and easy, about 9:30 avg. This week my goal is to just put in about 5 miles a day and then try to go a little longer on Saturday after I get back from class.
This is why I hate morning running: 1) I wake up a lot because I am paranoid that my alarm is not set correctly. 2) My foot is always howling in the morning. My gait was abnormal for about 1.5 miles. This is why I like morning running: 1) It is pretty and peaceful. 2) Less wind (and this time of the year, much cooler). 3) I will have more time in the evening (tonight it's all about cleaning and organizing)
Now that I have no long races in sight, I am going to try to run in the mornings. I think I am going to just shoot for 30-40 mpw until school is out, so it won't be too tough to get those miles before school. I can do about 6 and still be on time.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.20 | 0.00 | 5.20 |
| I only hobbled for 1/2 mile today, but my foot still didn't feel normal until about 1.5 miles in. Nothing really remarkable at all about this run. Avg. pace: 9:18. About 50 degrees, so a little chillier than yesterday, but still perfect for t-shirt and shorts.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.20 | 0.00 | 5.20 |
| Another morning run. I was up about 1/2 hour before my alarm--couldn't go back to sleep and couldn't get up. We'll see how long this early morning crap lasts :)
Then my garmin for whatever reason will not turn on (it was charging since my run yesterday) so now I have to do some trouble shooting if I have time. I'm pretty sure I was slow, but whatever. I'm in recovery mode anyway. My foot was okay today, no hobbling, but a little sore. You guys are probably right. I should try something for it, as opposed to the nothing that I do right now. I'm going to start by taping it. If I can drag myself to a sporting goods store (Walmart doesn't carry KT tape and nothing else is really that convenient) I'll try that today.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 4.60 | 6.60 |
| Morning running and I decided yesterday that we should not be mutually exclusive. Instead I had a date with some work that was just easier to do when everyone was in bed. I ran a few miles late in the evening, after an earlier failed attempt to run with the kids while they were on their scooters (Eli is not very good on his scooter yet). Morning running and I very nearly parted ways altogether this morning. I woke up in the middle of the night to close the windows because it was raining. When the alarm went off, I said aloud, "I hope it's raining" went to the window, and was loudly disappointed when it wasn't raining. My husband, who was 1/2 asleep, mumbled "Just go back to bed." And I did, but jumped out of bed a minute later when I realized that it was morning running or nothing today. I have class tonight. So I got out there and did a little more than I set out to do, mostly so that I could make my average during the week 5 miles exactly. I was also faster than I intended (8:37 AP. Splits: 9:29, 8:56, 8:29, 8:34, 8:21, 8:10 and .6 @ 8:05). So I'm arbitrarily calling the last 4.6 fast. I'm glad morning running and I made up. 4 days out of 5 ain't bad, especially for me. Next week maybe I'll make it out every morning.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 4.00 | 6.00 |
| I blew off running this weekend. It felt sorta nice. So I had a little extra energy this morning for some faster paces. My avg. was 8:32. I started at 9:19 and my last mile was 7:56. I saw one other runner out this morning. I said a big hello and he ignored me. Then I saw him again about .75 miles later (we must have been running around the same main streets). That time he said hi. I'm pretty sure I covered a little more ground than he did. I saw Erin, Luke's mom, over the weekend. She is going back to work today (and dreading it). She said she cries easily and she is a little tired of people wanting to hug her. Please think about her today. Also, you know how bad things always come in 3s? I found out my 3rd thing a couple days before Luke's funeral but I didn't want to post it because I was, at that point, tired of being so pathetic. Well, my sister-in-law was diagnosed with breast cancer (she's 33). It has spread to a couple lymph nodes, but luckily nowhere else. She will be having surgery on June 2. I don't know yet what the rest of her treatment will be like, but I know it will be a tough time for her. I will be taking at least my nephew (they also have a daughter) for a week or so in June. I'm sure they will need more help, but that's all I know so far.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.10 | 0.00 | 6.10 |
| My class yesterday was in a place in Illinois that I had never been to before. About an hour and a half from home, Pontiac was a long drive through the country. The exit on I-57 that promises access to Pontiac is misleading--the town was still 35 miles from the interstate. I was passing all sorts of towns that I had never even heard of. Luckily we got out early so I got home a little after 9. It was raining on the way home and I thought about the morning. No way I was going to run in a downpour. When I woke up I had to open the window and see if it was raining. It wasn't. I got out and ran at 8:52 AP. I think I always want to run fast at the end of a morning run because I'm worried about running late, so every time I felt myself speeding up, I pulled back. It was drizzling a little bit and it was windy, but overall it was another nice run. My students have been presenting their final projects last week and this. Most of my students are using any medium that they choose to draw attention to any social issue in attempts to sway their classmates. Although I've had a few bad presentations (minimal effort), the majority of the projects have been pretty good. One project yesterday was simply outstanding. I'm thinking about asking the two boys to post it on youtube just so I can post it here. They made a movie of about a boy who, on a normal school day, witnesses a few incidents of his classmates being mean to a few kids. The day ends in tragedy, and the next morning he realizes he's been given the opportunity to live the day again. There's no dialogue. The whole thing is set to a song written and performed by one of the boys who made the video. I'm proud of them. My AP students' projects are a little different. They are using any medium to present their thoughts on what it means to be human. In the past, students have done some amazing work. I've had a few excellent ones there. I love this time of year, and not because it's almost summer (well, not just because). I feel inspired by the depth of many of my students. I'm putting the finishing touches on my project this week so that I can present mine on Friday.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.50 | 0.00 | 6.50 |
| Ran after school. My legs felt heavy for some reason. I stopped after 4.5 miles to stretch for a few minutes and that helped a little bit. I didn't wear my watch, but instead went along a known distance. I went pretty slowly, and I'm glad I didn't have the watch. Sometimes it nags me to go faster than I need to. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.10 | 0.00 | 6.10 |
| An easy run in the a.m. It took me the better part of two miles before that little voice that curses running went away. Average pace was slightly under 9 mm.
It has been raining on and off this week, so it was pretty humid this morning. Luckily it was not ridiculously hot (it was about 60, maybe a little higher), so it was merely annoying. It was also sorta windy, too.
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| | Race: |
Kirby Derby 10K (6.2 Miles) 00:47:03, Place overall: 2, Place in age division: 2 | | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 1.00 | 6.20 | 7.20 |
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I don't have my official time, but this is close enough. Going into this race, I wasn't quite sure I actually wanted to race. I went kinda spur of the moment, after debating on it for about a week after a former student asked me if I was running this race. So I decided last night that I would definitely go, and in the morning, the whole fam decided to come with me. We rushed out of the house because the race was about 40 minutes away and I wanted to get there early enough to register and warm up. I realized part way there that I forgot my watch and then decided that it was probably a good thing.
I got there in plenty of time, but wasn't eager to warm up. Instead I talked for a while with a family of a former student (different one) and then went off to at least warm up a little. It was nice, but the air was a little crisp and I wanted to get warm enough to dump my long sleeved shirt. Then at the start line I saw the woman who beat me in my last 10K about a month ago. I decided that I would tuck in behind her so I could keep an eye on her while I was running. I don't like not knowing who's behind me. The first mile I was right on her tail (it was 7:25, but it felt nice and relaxed, probably because it was downhill) then I kept on her for a while (second mile 7:35), but lost sight of her somewhere around 2.5 miles. My 3rd mile was again at 7:25 and I was still feeling pretty great. At mile 4 (no split. I wasn't wearing a watch and there was no one reading times), I passed one female runner and decided that I would put on a little speed to discourage her from staying with me. While doing that, I passed another female runner and kept up my speed for the same reason. While doing THAT, I passed a male runner. He tried to stick with me for a bit while we were running along a bike path, then dropped back, but for the next 1.5 miles he would creep up and try to pass me and I would keep his speed with him until he dropped back more. That battle helped me to gain a little bit of ground on another female runner. She had a really strange gait and I really wanted to beat her. At mile 5 I determined that miles 4 and 5 averaged 7:40, and I was bound and determined to speed up so that I could pass that lady. When we turned off the bike path, the man directing traffic told me that I was the 3rd woman. I thought about that lady who beat me last month, and thought she must have gotten a lot faster, but knew that I could beat the second place woman.
I didn't pass her until we were turning towards the finish chute. My husband got a 5 second video on his phone (he was trying to take a picture and had it in the wrong setting) and I looked really strong. I wish he would have filmed the whole finish. As is I watched that 5 second clip a bunch of times. [Update: I forgot the first time around to mention that the woman I
was chasing early on, the one who beat me last month, actually only ran the 5K, so it was okay that I
lost her early on] Then the kids ran in the kids' race. I ran with Eli. After the awards were handed out (I got first place in my age division, but since the winner was my age, I feel that I really got second) we drove all around Monticello, just sightseeing. They have a really cool nature park, Allerton, that I always enjoy going to. So, while I am indifferent to my time (didn't PR, but I was only 15 seconds off from last month, and I felt WAY more comfortable today), I am ecstatic about the way I raced. I don't think I've ever felt good about the way I race. Maybe I've had a breakthrough.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| So far I have not been successful in my quest for morning runs. I went to bed late on Sunday and then had a fitful night sleep, so when the alarm went off, I said no thanks. Instead I went for a later run, after dinner. Just an easy 6. It's a little chillier here, but I think it will be warmer for the rest of the week. Now it's Tuesday and I didn't do my morning run again. Hopefully I can get on track for the rest of this week. I don't know, though. Sleep has been bad lately. But, on the plus side, my husband's job is secure for next year. That's a relief from a few solid months of stressing out about it.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.30 | 0.00 | 7.30 |
| An easy 7.3 after school. It wasn't too warm, which was good, but I could have done without the wind :) AP: 8:45 ish. I have not been eating great in the last 3 weeks or so. Every day I vow that I will not eat everything in sight, and every day there is something that contributes to my undoing. Today it was this BIG cookie at lunch. And when I say BIG, I mean BIG. It's the kind of cookie that is good for the first half, and then every bite after that you are sorta disgusted, but you keep hoping that the next bite will taste good. Oh and yeah, then I went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. And I just finished a small cone from Dairy Queen. I can't help it. I love food.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.20 | 0.00 | 5.20 |
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These are my favorite pictures I took of my seniors (but not necessarily my favorite seniors :) ). Another one: 
And another one: 
Thanks to Burt for showing me how to do this. You won't regret it. I promise I won't do it incessantly (other than today). Oh yeah, and I ran today too.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| I just had time for an easy 4 late in the day. I did not wear my watch. I took it excessively easy. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| My husband and I went on a nice date last night (we never do that) to a good Korean sushi restaurant. We didn't do sushi, but we did split some steak lettuce wraps and some shrimp and scallop stir fry. It was delish. It was an early night (the boys were at the movies with their aunt and uncle). I ran afterward. It was slow (once again).
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| It was really hot today. I wish I would have gone earlier, but it wasn't terrible. Just slow. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.20 | 0.00 | 5.20 |
| We went straight from spring into August within the last few days. It was already 70 when I left the house at 4:45 and it was rather humid. It was a mile before I stopped wanting to turn around and go home, and then I started to feel comfortable around mile 3. My avg. pace was around 9 mm. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| It's shaping up to be the same day as yesterday, although it doesn't seem as humid. The run was better than yesterday. I think it's because I slept better. We turned on our air conditioner, which I hate. Because of Caleb's allergies and breathing, once we turn it on, it should really stay on for the summer so the house is sealed against all the crap he's allergic to.
My whole family is not feeling great, including me. But I know mine is allergies so hopefully some claritin will help.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| An easy 5. I'm not real motivated to run lately, so I'm surprised I keep doing it. We'll see if I'm motivated tomorrow morning, since that's really my only window of opportunity tomorrow. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
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Okay. I've been away for a bit. I tried one day to update my blog, but I had to do it with my phone and it was not cooperating. So here's what I've been up to. We arrived in Washington D.C. at about 2 and then took the metro to a station kinda near our hotel and walked a mile and half (we thought it was closer) to our hotel in Georgetown. We were staying at the Ritz-Carleton. Oo-la-la. Then my husband had groomsman duties, so while he did his thing I went for a run. I asked the concierge for a 5 mile run and he handed me a map that did not even have street names on it. I got lost. Then finally I saw this after I was headed over the Potomac (but didn't cross it yet)
:
I then did my little running tour of the mall. Saw a guy on a horse (I don't know the people petting it, though) and Mr. Lincoln. 
Ran across the mall, stopping at the Smithsonian Castle and ending at the Capitol Bldg. 
Then I headed back in the direction of my hotel, but wasn't quite sure where I was going. Found that I was close to the White House, so I decided to take a detour to see it. 
These pictures are quite grainy. I took them on my cell phone, which I carried in my pocket along with some id (Just in case). At the end of the run the corners of my id had created an ouchie on my leg. So the "5 mile run" was quite a bit longer. I got back after 2 hours, but I'll just count it as 10 since I did stop to take pictures. The rehearsal dinner was at the W Hotel on the top floor. Overlooked the White House. It was pretty swanky.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.10 | 0.00 | 4.10 |
| I ran in the morning with the groom. At first he told me that he runs at 8 minute pace and I was a little scared. But then as we got going, I realized that he meant that he races at 8 minute pace. We had a good conversation about running and stuff (he does triathlons and 1/2 marathons. His best 1/2 marathon is just a little slower than my best). When we finished 2 miles, he informed me that this was his first run in about 2 months, since he broke his toe at his bachelor party (he was kicking one of the other groomsmen and got his toe stuck in the guy's cargo shorts). He felt like he needed to sweat off some of the hangover from the night before. I think I was killing him. We walked a bit before turning around and heading home. So we covered more distance, but only 4.1 running. We ran along the C & O canal. It was pretty, but it was also pretty muggy.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Got home in the afternoon, went over to my SIL, got into a fight with my BIL, then went home and ran an easy 3. Feeling very bloated. The progesterone has not worked yet.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| 3 easy miles. Not really motivated. | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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This run was enjoyable. Probably because the temps were a bit lower (mid 70s) and it wasn't as humid. I always have good runs when I am ruminating about something. I read this article that I wish I would have read a long time ago (although maybe it wouldn't have had as much impact on me earlier). In case you're interested, here's a link: http://archive.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/spring99/PraiseSpring99.pdf For a short version, what this article shows is that praise can be a dangerous thing. These researchers took 3 groups of kids and gave each of them a challenging, but doable task. Afterward, they praised the kids in the first group for their intelligence. They praised the second group for their hard work. They praised the third group generally. Then they gave the groups a more challenging task, one that they weren't as successful with. The first group--the "intelligent" ones--HATED the task. The second group--the "hard working" ones--wanted to take the work home they enjoyed the challenge so much. But the groups performed equally not-so-well. Why am I so impacted by this? I realize that we have been misguided with our oldest son. He has ALWAYS been praised as smart by everyone, from the time he was 2. He has always picked up things rather quickly, and of course, as parents we have been proud of everyone thinking he was so smart. We don't really praise him solely for his smarts, but we don't discourage others from doing it. The result? He, even at 5 1/2, gets so frustrated when tasks are challenging. I notice it with reading: as long as the words are easy, he is okay. But throw at him a long word, and his first words are "I give up." We discourage that, always, regardless of the activity--because it happens with other things too--but now I understand more why he is like that. The solution? This is going to be the summer of praising him for what matters: hard work. I think it will make a remarkable difference in his confidence when he goes to kindergarten. And my SIL had her surgery today: double masectomy. She got through it well.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| 3 easy in the p.m. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| I ran in the a.m. Busy weekend did not give me time to blog over the last few days. I had class Friday and Saturday and then a speaking engagement right after class Sat. It was pretty cool. I spoke at the HOBY seminar--a leadership group for high school sophomores.
No run Saturday. It was an early morning anyway and I woke up to some storms before my alarm. I thought about doing it later, but my bro was in town, so when I got back we grilled and played with the kids. Caleb learned to ride his bike.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.40 | 0.00 | 4.40 |
| I had a good run. It is gearing up to storm tonight so the temp wasn't too bad, although the humidity was high. It was in the high 70s. But the wind was nice and it was on the cloudy side.
I took the weekend off running, and got my blood drawn for some tests. Hopefully I will find out soon what I need to do to stay reproductively healthy :) I think this summer I am just going to concentrate on enjoying running, but not getting obsessed. I am also going to work on strength. Tonight I did abs and arms.
I wore my garmin for this one, and it has been a couple weeks since I wore it. Avg. pace was 8:40.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| Just an easy 4. My biggest accomplishment this day was getting all four kids (2 nephews and my two, all boys) to take a nap. It was quite a feat, but I felt quite proud when I got to take an hour nap myself :)
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Miles are a little hard to come by this week, but I managed to squeeze this one in. I'm getting ready for a garage sale this weekend! | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Our garage sale went well. Between Fri and Sat, I made $110, but more importantly, someone can now find use from stuff that I wasn't using. I also sat outside and sweated a marathon worth of sweat over the two days. I didn't feel great because of the heat on Sat, but after dinner I went out for a quick 3. It was hot and humid.
This was not a great running week and it was a horrible blogging week. I'll catch up sometime this week, probably just in time for me to go out of town and get out of touch again.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Ran big circles around the pool while the kids were at swimming lessons. I wanted to make sure I got 3 miles in before they were done. I made it back on deck just as they were getting out. So my average pace was a little fast for easy, but I was glad I completed it. Plus I was only doing 3, so it's not like I needed to sustain the pace (it was 8:19 avg). It was too humid, so it was a little hard to breathe. But at least it was overcast because I started running at 11:05! Tomorrow I'm handing off the reins of "my" cross country team to their new coach. I haven't even met him yet, but we'll meet for a run with some athletes tomorrow morning. I have so many mixed feelings about giving up cross country. It is goodbye to 13 years of coaching (10 of them with runners). It's sad because I know that my chances of coaching ever again are slim
to none. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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We got a tremendous amount of rain in a short time yesterday. So when I was driving to practice, first my on ramp for the interstate was closed (for construction reasons I think), but I was driving through the country and had to keep turning around because the roads were flooded. Finally I made it, but I was about 20 minutes late. I talked to the new coach for a while, and then headed out for a 2.6 mile run. I'm still in my running clothes, thinking about running again while the kids are at swimming lessons, but it is now humid AND sunny. We'll see. I might just stay gross so I can remain motivated to do a least 2 more miles.
Update: I stayed gross but I was only motivated to make it an even 4 for the day. It was sunnier than yesterday. I ran faster than I did this morning, but only because this morning I was running with one of the slower runners.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| I joined the shred crowd. Did level one after a sorta crappy day that culminated in me leaving my purse in Chicago. Hooray. | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| 4 miles on a treadmill after a bunch of driving. We are in Pittsburg. I should have been more adventuresome, but we had just arrived and I went to the hotel gym. We had a nice night of walking around the city. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.50 | 0.00 | 3.50 |
| I'm having trouble remembering what and when I ran. I think this was the only run from our trip that I haven't blogged yet. I ran early at the hotel and then we spent the day walking around D.C. Got to see many of the things I wanted to see when we were there a few weeks ago. Met a really strange lady at our hotel who hinted that she was someone important and then got stranger and stranger the more she had to drink. She claimed that she founded USAToday and had been on Oprah. Then she kept asking me what she could do to make my teaching job easier. I think she might have been hitting on me, but I didn't realize it at the time. One of the craziest conversations. Ever. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| Back at home. Four easy p.m. miles and followed by level 1 of the shred. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| 3 sweaty miles during swimming lessons. 90 degrees. No shade. A little wind. Then I came home and lifted a little.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Went to school in the morning and then spent much of the rest of the day outside. It was a gorgeous day, the humidity wasn't so bad. So why didn't I run? I had every intention to, but kept missing opportunities, and by 9, all I wanted to do was just relax. |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.25 | 0.00 | 2.25 |
| We got to swimming lessons late, although I'm not sure how that happened, and so I had just enough time for this run. It was warm and so I decided to run towards a little more shade. I ran a mile over to the old base buildings and then ran back to the pool. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.15 | 0.00 | 4.15 |
| I went out at 9. It was already over 80*. I tried to create a route that gave me as much shade as possible and was somewhat successful. I carried a water bottle, and when the water bottle was done, so was I. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| A really easy 3 miles with cousin Jennie and Brendan (Luke's bro). Brendan got tired of running with the old ladies after about 1.5 miles, and so he broke free. Our pace was leisurely and the conversation was good. And more important, it was the perfect night for a run (in the 70s with really low humidity). Ahhhhhhh. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.15 | 0.00 | 3.15 |
| My mid-morning swim lessons run was so much more manageable today. It was in the high 70s with much lower humidity. I tried to stay in the shade anyway, but the lower temps felt goooood. I have this run down to a science. I make sure that the kids are in the water with their teachers and then I take off. As I am walking onto the pool deck, the kids are getting wrapped in their towels. It works perfectly.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.25 | 0.00 | 3.25 |
| Another swim lessons run. It is so much cooler this week than last week. There was a nice breeze, which made this run pretty enjoyable. My average pace was about 9 mm, but I did try to push it a little during the last 1/4 mile. There is a 5K here Friday evening. A bunch of people I know are running it, wearing their Luke shirts. I am pretty sure I am going to run it too, but I feel kinda torn. I haven't seen my family in a while and my sister invited me up to Michigan. I want to go (I haven't seen her since April, although my kids have seen her since then) but I don't really want to drive. Plus there are some things going on here that I don't want to miss. Chuck's family is still in ultra-togetherness mode, and although I am getting tired of all the love, I feel bad missing it. On the other hand, my SIL probably needs more support than I have been able to give up till now, so I feel like I should make my family a priority. However, my bros family is not going to be in Mich, so I wouldn't see them till Sunday or Monday. So I'll probably decide at the last minute what I'm doing, but if I do stay and run the 5K, I'm not racing it. Just shooting for somewhere around 26 minutes maybe. I also have another decision to make along the same lines: we are supposed to go to Wisc to see my FIL's brother and sisters (a yearly thing) on the weekend of the 17th. But my SIL is having a joint b-day party for her kids that had to be rescheduled around her impending chemo. I feel that I should go to that. My husband and I are thinking about each taking one kid and splitting up, but he wants to take the kid that I want to take :)
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.40 | 0.00 | 5.40 |
| These were slow miles indeed. I missed my swim lessons run because I had to go in to school in the morning, and since we had plans tonight, I ran at about 2:15. It was sunny, but surprisingly not too terrible. Temps were in the high 70s/low 80s, and I stuck to the shade and carried water. I also went a little longer than I have been lately. Not sure why. Just sorta felt like it. I got one of my yesterday problems solved. My family is not going to Michigan after all, so I am running in the 5K tomorrow and then leaving for Chicago on Saturday. I might do a 5K on Sunday, but only if my brother runs. I don't think I'll race this one either. Then this evening, we went to a gathering at the new principal's house. My husband is the oldest of all the administrators, which surprised me a little. Two of the assistants are younger than me.
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| | Race: |
Rantoul 4th of July 5K (3.1 Miles) 00:23:53, Place in age division: 1 | | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 1.00 | 3.10 | 4.10 |
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We arrived at the race more than an hour before it started. Don't know why. I did a mile warm up out of sheer boredom and to get out of the sun a little. We started on one of the base runways. I'm sure this wasn't planned, but the start of the race was delayed a few minutes while a plane touched down. Then we were off. I gave my watch to Brendan because he was eying it and I thought it
would be more helpful to him. So I was surprised when my first mile was right around 8. I was more shooting for 8:30 or so, because I just wanted to take it easy. At the first mile, I was right behind Sue, the PE teacher at St. Mal. So I've been thinking all this time that I don't have a competitive drive, but I guess I do. I really didn't want Sue to beat me. I ran with her and a 6th grader for a half mile or so and we were trying to get the girl to keep our pace. She stuck it out, but then fell behind. I kept going with Sue just a little behind me. She asked what my goal was and I said "under 26." So she said she'd keep with me. Right after the girl dropped back, one of my former students, Clark (who also mows my lawn) ran by. He had never done a 5K before and I didn't want to be shamed. So Sue and I picked up the pace. Our second mile was 7:40. Pace on the last 1.1 was 7:25. We passed a lot of people together (but we never did catch Clark) and really raced to the end. Normally I probably would have let her go ahead when she surged, but like I said, I didn't want her to beat me. So I got her in the end, but we both got 1st in our age division. That's part of the reason why I didn't want her to beat me. She's at least 15 years older than me and I didn't want to be shamed again :) So that's not bad for what wasn't going to be a race. And I haven't really been putting a lot of effort into running, either, lately. The rest of the night I sat around in my own stink and enjoyed watching the kids play and seeing the fireworks. I forgot how cool fireworks were. They are so much better when you've got a kid oohing and ahing on your lap. Now it's off to Chicago. I hope I can get a run today.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| The kids and I took the el downtown to Millenium park. Even though we didn't wear our suits, I let the kids play in the water sculptures for a bit. Compared to all the other kids, my kids were glowing white (I make them wear swimshirts to protect that blinding white skin).
I liked this one because at first glance Eli looks like he doesn't have a leg.  Then we took some other pictures, including some of our reflections in the bean. I look tired, but I think it's just the shadows.
My dad is the one wearing the Sox hat that he got for free in 1989. I don't know why it's yellow, but you can't see that it says "Vienna Beef" on the side.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| A nice and easy 3 in the mid morning heat. It seems like it is going to be hotter and more humid this week. Boo hoo.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Another morning run at my mom's. It was sweaty, but felt better than yesterday. I ran a little faster too. Then it was off to the zoo for some zoo "fun" with the kids and the neighbor kid. I hate the zoo.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.30 | 0.00 | 4.30 |
| Yesterday I went to visit a dear friend with the kids while my brother and husband celebrated their love for one another and for roller coasters at their annual Great America trip. It was a pretty fun day for everyone. The kids and I swam and played all day. Chuck and Greg enjoyed waiting in huge lines for rides that lasted 1 minute. Then when we got home we ordered the best pizza ever, Dr. Pizza. I didn't go running because there was a surprise party going on for one of my mom's neighbors and I chose to hang out there instead. So I'm back at home for this run. I ran alone for 3.8 miles in a roundabout way to my sister in law's. Then the kids ran with me back while Chuck followed behind. The kids ran the first 1/4 mile, then we all walked for a 1/2 mile, and then we raced the last 1/4 mile home. I let Caleb win.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.60 | 0.00 | 3.60 |
| I ran before a late dinner. Stayed in the neighborhood and ran 3.3 by myself. Then the kids wanted to run with me, so we ran around the block. Caleb's pants kept falling down, so it was basically me running to the corner with Eli following not too far behind, and then a small wait while Caleb caught up. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.20 | 0.00 | 4.20 |
| Today we spent the whole day cleaning and organizing. There is nothing like a clean, neat house. Too bad it will last until approximately 10 tomorrow morning. I give it about an hour after we come home from church before it is destroyed by our little monkeys... This run was uneventful. I went slow and enjoyed the run.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| JURY DUTY! Man was that a long day of nothing! And then I had to drive 1.5 hours to class as soon as that was over. The angel and the devil sat on my shoulder and argued over whether I should run when I got back (at 9 pm). I'm not sure which one won, but I didn't run :)
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| I had to report for jury duty again this morning. Spent the morning in a courtroom--didn't get called for questioning. But I did not have to stay for the afternoon. Have to go in again tomorrow... It rained this morning, so it was a little cooler today, but still in the 80s. I ran slow. It wasn't bad.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| I had to show up to jury duty again, but after 1.5 hours they sent us home, as the case we were called in for was settled. I'm done now with jury duty. And this is in response to Joe's comment from yesterday: call me crazy, but I'd rather do jury duty over the summer. I hate missing work--subs never do lessons the way I want them done, and inevitably I have some "cleaning up" to do when I get back. Plus I can't get grading done at home, so I get behind in my grading if I miss. I was originally summoned last October, but I was able to reschedule because it was the week of sectionals. So I chose the summer. I am glad, though, that I wasn't chosen for a jury. I kept checking the weather in the evening, and it kept saying "Feels like 105." "Feels like 107." So I waited till dark to run.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Treadmill run while the kids played in the hotel pool. I was eager to be done so I could get in and play too! | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Another treadmill run while the kids were in the pool. Worked out with my niece, Courtney. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| I've been away, so now I'm catching up on entries. We were in Wisconsin this weekend visiting family. We had a lot of fun. Sat. I ran outside after 2 days of treadmills. My garmin died on me partway out, but I'm sure I ran at least 3 miles. It was warm. I ran in the a.m., but it was still over 80. The previous two days were almost 100. In the afternoon we had our family reunion at a park in Fon Du Lac. The kids and I had fun doing kid stuff. We went out in a paddle boat on the channels that lead to Lake Winnebago. Since they were no help I had to recruit their Uncle Shannon to go with us. I'm behind on everyone's blogs and I'll catch up just in time to go on vacation again on Friday. We usually travel during the summer, but this summer our traveling has been more than normal. Next week's vacation is the last before Chuck starts work again and I start doing my practicum. Summer's almost over :(
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| It rained, so we experienced a pretty nice temperature drop. Ahhhh... | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| It rained again today on and off. The kids and I played outside forever this morning because it was so wonderfully cool. Usually we don't have that kind of stamina. We even played outside in the rain--it wasn't pouring, just a nice cool rain. I took advantage of the cooler temps and ran in the afternoon. It was still in the high 70s, but it was cloudy so it didn't feel nearly as hot. It started to rain the last 1.5 miles and it felt wonderful.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| I'm here. I'm running in new shoes (yay) and in ungodly heat (boo). I will catch up on blogs when I return on Aug. 1. I feel like a bad blogger. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.10 | 0.00 | 4.10 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.25 | 0.00 | 5.25 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
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As the sun went down it was still 90 with a heat index of 116. This didn't change much in the short time I ran. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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It was much cooler today (80 or so) with low humidity. The run today felt nice. I have had (to use a euphemism) some pesky body cleansing since Saturday. I don't know if it was something I ate or if it was just post-vacation illness, but it finally stopped today. I always hesitate to get personal on the blog, but I've been feeling down lately. I'm still trying to get pregnant, but it hasn't happened yet. May was the first month we resumed our quest and I didn't do anything drastically different with running. After going to the doctor, June was an experiment in running less in duration. July was still low miles and slower speed. Especially this month, that egg didn't stand a chance (gross, sorry), so now I'm assuming that I'm still not ovulating. I had no difficulties getting pregnant with Caleb or Eli. I was running when they were conceived, but not as many miles per week and I think maybe 4-5 days.
This month I'll run less frequently and see, maybe 3-4 days. I have been playing phone tag with my doctor the past few days. Now I'm just worried that there is something wrong, I guess.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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Ran an early morning 4 since the day will be busy. Lots of cleaning because we will be having weekend guests. My hubby turned 40 yesterday! Here's an entertaining blog: http://www.zefrank.com/youngmenowme/blog/
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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An easy 5 with my friend Colleen in the early morning. She humored me by staying with me at about a 9:45 pace and then ran an additional 5 much, much faster. I'm jealous... Then we went to breakfast afterward. Oh and I found out that pretty much everyone in her family had diarrhea after vacation too. Her dad was really sick, I guess. We all ate pizza together on Friday, so that solves the mystery.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| It was a scorcher today. I waited till dark and then went out. It wasn't too bad by then. We are in the process of getting new floors in 3 rooms, the upstairs hallway and the stairs. The two rooms downstairs are done and they look gorgeous!!! I can't wait till it's all finished so we can go back to normal. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.35 | 0.00 | 4.35 |
| We're under a heat advisory, but are supposed to get a cold(er) front moving through Sunday or Monday. I ran when the sun went down.
Ran 4 by myself and then .35 slower with my kids and my nephew. This has been a busy week of getting my classroom ready, working on some projects, and living out of 2 rooms because the floors in our house are not quite done yet. Our guy had the wrong transition pieces, so he finished what he could until they come in today (which is now Friday by the time I'm actually logging this run). Life is almost back to normal!
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.10 | 0.00 | 4.10 |
| Waited till it was getting dark to run again. It was a hot one.
Ran with the kids .43 miles to my ex-SIL's (this was very slow). Then I ran a little over 3 on my own. About a mile into the run as a whole, I looked to the west and noticed some ominous clouds. The temperature dropped and the wind picked up. I just decided that I would keep running, but if I saw lightning, I planned to seek some refuge. It started raining a couple minutes later. When I ran up to the ex-SIL's house, the kids were outside watching the storm roll in. Turns out they were worried, just a little bit. We visited awhile till the rain subsided, then ran slowly back home (by that time it was 9:30).
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| Is it sad that I can't remember if I ran on Saturday or not? This is back to school week, and it has already brought some stress. However, I think it is going to be a good year. It was only slightly cooler (mid 80s) for the run today (I ran before dinner, just so I can get some work done this evening), but not a lot of humidity, so it was not bad. Just an easy 4. Yesterday I was walking into Walmart and made eye contact with a guy walking out the door. When I was getting my cart, I heard him ask me a question, but couldn't hear what he was asking because of the blowers over the entrance doors, so I had to turn around. He asked me if I run, and when I said yes, he said he could tell because of my legs. At least I think that's what he said, because it was loud in that area. Sounds like it was a creepy exchange, but it was really more awkward than anything else. He wasn't trying to flirt or anything. He was very sincere. So I just smiled and walked into the store. But at least I look like a runner, anyway.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Joined the early morning club. Ran really slow... Today was Caleb's first day of kindergarten! Maybe I'll post a picture of him in his uniform if I think about it :)
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Another early morning 3. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.20 | 0.00 | 3.20 |
| Just realized that I started my blogging on Monday when my first run this week was Sunday. I'm so used to leaving that day blank. Anyway, this is really Wed's run. I ran a little over 3 miles and met the fam at Dairy Queen. Nothing like running for ice cream...
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| Witnessed a near collision between a dog and a car. The dog would have lost. Guess who the dog was chasing?
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Easy pm running. Originally planned on am, but I ran Sunday evening, and my body complained when the alarm went off. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.30 | 0.00 | 2.30 |
| I have not missed XC at all. In fact, I have secretly celebrated my decision every day that I have walked out of school and XC is in the throes of practice. BUT I did get a little teary-eyed when a runner came to my room between classes and handed the 1.5 foot high wooden XC sign with my name painted on it. He thought I'd like to have mine before they got ready to paint over last year's athletes with the current crop. He was right.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| They are filming a Jimmy John's commercial at my school today. How random. | |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| 3 easy miles. Nothing remarkable at all. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.10 | 0.00 | 4.10 |
| Ran easy with my bro and his dog. He ran 14 today and I just jumped in on his middle loop. It was nice to visit with him while we were running. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.25 | 0.00 | 3.25 |
| I opted yesterday to go to the first cross country meet. Although I brought clothes to run, by the time I picked up the kids and got to Kickapoo, the meet was beginning. This was an easy run. The first .4 the kids ran with me (and they ran the whole thing) and then I continued on. It was late and raining. I picked up the pace a little bit during the last mile (I accelerated into a sub 8 minute pace though that was in the last 1/2 mile), just to see how it felt. It was pretty good. It's been a while.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.10 | 0.00 | 4.10 |
| An easy 4 ish miles in the pm. It was gearing up for a storm and there was lightning in the distance. Did a nice progression run. Felt good. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.10 | 0.00 | 4.10 |
| The temps this weekend have been awesome. In the 70s! This was a beautiful run. It is so much easier to run in cooler temps! | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| I worked out this week, but I did not run. I am feeling some pain in my lower right side and have been reluctant to run before seeing a doctor. I have been frustrated all week in my quest to get an appointment. The doctor's office and I were playing phone tag. I hate doctors for a lot of reasons...I decided that I would just run and keep it easy until I can get in.
Anyway, I've been doing to shred, so today I did that first and then ran. Pretty unexciting. This week I worked a lot of extra time because I have been teaching an ACT prep class right after school and there were a couple of night activities that I had to attend as well. Now the class is over, so I am back to my normal hours.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| I finally have my dr's appointment set up for next Monday. I will wait then to run, providing there's nothing wrong. Instead I have been doing some strength training, including the shred. I'm on level 2 and probably will stay there for a while (till it gets pretty easy). This week I am painting my kids' room (sponge painting a periwinkle kinda color) and then working out afterward. Eli usually flits in while I am doing the video part of my workout and joins me the best he can. This time Caleb and Eli both joined me. Caleb did the whole thing with me. He was a little shaky on the strength parts, but he insisted on using weights (I have those bowflex weights and some other dumbells, so I gave him the bowflex dumbells set to 2.5 lbs). But he stuck with it till the end and was very excited when we were stretching at the end because he does some of those stretches in gym class. It was very cute. Now if I could only get my husband to join in...I've been wearing him down, I think.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Well. I think I have maybe possibly found the answer to my problems. I have low estrogen levels and poly-cystic ovaries, which leads to a probable diagnosis of something called thin women PCOS (usually women who have PCOS are obese and pre-diabetic. They also tend to have lots of body hair. Not me!). I've probably always had this so it seems miraculous that I was able to conceive two kids with no trouble. I don't know if this is the real diagnosis for that reason, but my dr. did provide a plausible explanation for that. I'm actually crossing my fingers, though, because the other possibility would lead to surgery and possibly a hysterectomy (that my insurance would likely not cover).
So I go on glucophage Monday to try to regulate my hormones. It sounds like it is not going to be particularly pleasant. I am not supposed to eat carbs, which is a problem because I love carbs. The dr. scared me with her description of the possible problems associated with this medication. Carbs will lead to GI issues, which I am prone to anyway.
And then I will be reevaluated in 2 months to see if that helps. If not, I don't know what is the next step. At any rate, I'll be back to running on Monday, but I am going to take it real easy. Real easy. Has anyone been on the South Beach diet? That's what I'm supposed to do. It doesn't sound too bad, but I don't know if I mentioned how much I love carbs. And sugar. I really love sugar. I essentially eat the same thing every day right now anyway (cereal for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly for lunch and some sort of meat with veggies and fruit for dinner), but since cereal and a sandwich are out, I would be okay if I could find 3 things that aren't too carby that I could eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Any suggestions?
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.10 | 0.00 | 3.10 |
| Yay! I finally got out for a run this week! My week went like this: Monday: nauseous, headache Tuesday: a little nauseous Wednesday: HUGE headache. In bed at 6, not really on purpose. Just thought I'd lay down for a minute...slept till the morning. Thursday: Screw this low carb stuff. I ate a breadstick with lunch. I felt fine. I think it took a day to get used to the medicine and then I think the rest of my problems were from not eating enough. I've lost 3 pounds since Sunday, but have been steady since Wed. morning. I don't want to lose any more weight. So I had the kind of run you would expect after not running for a couple weeks. It felt better to be done than it felt to run. I did, though, fall asleep at 7...slept till morning. I'm hoping I have more energy this weekend. Next week I double my dosage, so I don't really know what to expect. Might run Friday. Just depends on time. Definitely will run Saturday.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| I had the most fun run. After Caleb woke me up at a ridiculous hour and after an unsuccessful 1/2 hour of making him lay back down to go to bed, I decided to go for a run. And Caleb decided to go with me on his bike. At first we were going to go around the block a few times, but he decided that we should ride around town. We went to school, to his aunt's house (she wasn't awake yet), to church, to Ott's (for some suckers), past Brendan's house, and then back home. He was pretty energetic the whole time. And he was SOOOO excited to share with everyone where we went!
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| 3 easy miles before dinner. This was the first time I've worn pants to run for a while, but it was really overkill. I wasn't dying of heat or anything, but I would've been fine in shorts. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| This week was just exhausting. Lots of extra time at work. I WILL get back on track. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Went to watch my hubby's cousin in the Chicago marathon. We set up our plan so we could see him a bunch of times and then I went with his wife and son to run with him for a couple miles. He wanted to run @ 11 min pace and was ahead of that pace for the first 1/2. When we were waiting for him at mile 20 we waited....and waited...and waited. He came through way later than expected. Leg cramps. He shuffled along and we shuffled with him for 4 miles (I'm not counting it). It was also really hot (over 80) and he was pretty disappointed.
I probably walked over 10 miles today. But it's always fun to watch the runners. There was a guy who ran the whole race wearing a giant Eiffel Tower. It looked heavy.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.60 | 0.00 | 3.60 |
| I ran with my buddies Caleb and Spencer while they rode their bikes. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.50 | 0.00 | 3.50 |
| 3.5 easy miles. When I get out I love running, but I am struggling with motivation right now. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.40 | 0.00 | 6.40 |
| Ahhhhhh. This is the first week in a long time that I have managed to work out more days than not. And I had a good run. Ran with my good friend Colleen, who is training for her first 1/2. It is next week. We ran 5 together, she went out for another 5 mile loop, and I went for one more mile, taking Caleb and Haley (Colleen's oldest daughter) out for a little over one more mile. Then, of course, I had to take Eli and Caty (Colleen's youngest) for an "adventure." The last bit of running was REALLY slow.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| 4 miles easy. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.25 | 0.00 | 3.25 |
| I woke up early to get in some miles because I have to work late today. The only eventful thing that happened was that I fell right at the end of mile 2. I must have tripped over the curb or a crack or something. It was one of those times where I thought I had saved myself, at least until I found myself sprawled out in the street. I can feel the bruises forming, but at least my clothes saved me from getting too scraped up :) Luckily no one saw.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.10 | 0.00 | 4.10 |
| Wooooo! 3 days in a row! And I stayed upright today!!
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| An easy 5 in the afternoon. I went to the cross country regionals in the morning. The kids did well. Girls took 2nd place (with the top runner in 2nd) and boys took 3rd (with the top runner in 5th). They were all pretty happy because they both advance to sectionals next weekend.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| 5 easy miles. I'm trying. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| Having a hard time keeping up with blogging! Just a few things: Our boys took 4th in sectionals, so will make an appearance in the state meet as a team. I'm ecstatic for them. One of the boys told me that one kid from a nearby high school (top runner there, much hubris) told our top three boys last week that the only way that they would be running at state would be as individuals. The team took their anger and beat their team for the first time ever. Too bad their team was #5, so they get to state too. I also learned an interesting thing yesterday. Last Thursday and Friday during parent/teacher conferences, I was in searing gas pain land. Didn't know why. Forgot about it over the weekend because I felt fine. Then searing gas pain yesterday too. Finally figured it out: I bought some sugar-free candy on Thursday and was eating it Thursday, Friday and yesterday. I didn't think I had too much, but the package CLEARLY says that too much has a laxative effect. No more sugar-free candy!
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.50 | 0.00 | 4.50 |
| 4.5 easy miles. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| 5 easy miles. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.10 | 0.00 | 7.10 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| I'm not ignoring everyone. Life has been busy. I'm happy I'm still running. I will just be posting miles until mid December, when my life will (hopefully) quiet down. Till then: I miss everyone! I hope running is going fantastic for all of you!
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| I will probably start to blog more faithfully now. I probably will not catch up on everyone's blog until this weekend. This is finals week and grades are due at 3 on Friday. I will be grading myself silly during this week. Running hasn't been great, but I've kept relatively consistent. Except for last week. I had a sour tummy and troubles all week. It's hard to run when you're about to have some sort of explosion any minute. I did feel better by Friday, but I had class on Friday and Saturday. By the time I got home Saturday (at 4) I just figured that missing one more day wouldn't make much of a difference. What the heck, right? I am basically starting over as far as running is concerned anyway. BUT I am done with my master's! Hooray! I am happy to be done. Getting all of my work finished has been my #1 stress for the last two months. I never have to go to class ever again. I never have to write another paper ever again! Now I just have to wait till February to see if I might have a new job next year...
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| Running on the frozen tundra. It was slow going, but still fine. My only plans for this year are to run the Illinois 1/2 with my normal running buddy. I'm proud of him--he signed up for the race even though he is just getting off chemo. I know he is going to do this race even if he has to walk it, and this year I will stay with him. So I may be looking for another 1/2 to race, either 3 weeks before or a couple weeks after.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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I decided that I would use a different route so that hopefully sidewalks would be more clear. I didn't have to run in any ankle deep snow, but it was still slow because the sidewalks were spotty at best. I tried to speed up in places where the sidewalks were clear, but it was hard to get anything good going, since clear patches lasted maybe 3 houses. So pace was slow, but that was to be expected. My #2 stress since I stopped blogging was that we have been unable to conceive (still). In the beginning of November I had to learn to accept the fact that it wasn't going to happen. So we did a lot of clearing out of baby stuff. We gave our furniture (crib and dressers) to my brother, who is expecting a girl in March. We are not 100% sure that we will or won't try again...but for now I'm back on the pill because that's my only chance of success, according to my doctor. In theory when I go off of the pill my body will do what it's supposed to for a couple months, until it sputters to a stop again. I wish I had looked into a crystal ball a long time ago. I would have done a number of things differently. But I know what they say about hindsight :)
Oh, and so not to leave this on a pity note: now that I have an open room, I am getting a treadmill :)
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| I always start the week off right, but the week never ends as I hope. This week was a frenzy of grading portfolios. I stayed late at school on Thurs. to grade, went to Caleb's Christmas program, and then went to bed. Woke up early on Friday, was at school by 5:30, graded until quitting at 5. Grades were due at 3 Friday. I didn't finish till noon on Saturday. It was my tactical error--this year I added a speech component to the senior final and that (+ an unproductive snowday on Monday) left me with less time than normal to finish. These miles were halfhearted, but I felt that I needed to do them. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.50 | 0.00 | 4.50 |
| Probably one of the most ridiculous runs I have ever gone on. It was snowing hard, but I thought I'd venture out. The sidewalks were relatively clear for the first mile (and where they weren't I could run in the street). Then it was slow going. Visibility was bad. On one of the busy roads where no one shoveled I walked because the snow was mid-calf deep. At least it wasn't windy. Once I got through that I decided to turn up to meet up with where I had already traveled so I could head back. But it was kinda pretty.
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| We had a little melting today. I went a different route than yesterday and it wasn't terrible. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.50 | 0.00 | 4.50 |
| I finally finished my Christmas shopping! I just cross trained when I came home. | |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
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| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 1228.10 | 89.78 | 1317.88 |
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| Omni 8 #2 Miles: 482.32 | Omni 8 #3 Miles: 468.16 | Red Saucony Miles: 299.05 |
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