With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams...

Walked.  Groin still sore.  Maybe tomorrow. 

Almost got chewed up by another dog this afternoon.  I didn't have my mace, but I had Mike.  He got a good kick in for me.  Stupid owner just wanders over slowly while his dog is in full "I want to bite you" mode.  I do not like it when people can't follow the rules in regards to leash laws.  I'd like the sherrif to deputize me and let me be the "dogs on the loose" ticket writer. I'd generate some revenue for the county.

Walked again.  Groin still sore.  Maybe tomorrow.

Trying to work on core strengthening while I'm KO'd from running.  I found there are some things I can't do because they involve the pelvic floor where the groin muscle is attached.  I need some motivation.  Injuries suck.

Here I am complaining.  I need to keep things in perspective.  Just got an email from my 40-something year old friend who is now under hospice care for her cancer she's been battling for 9 years.  Cancer sucks worse than anything.

Got up and got to walk two miles today! 

I'm still looking for a good stretch for my groin area.  All the stretches I know are targeting the area that isn't sore.  Is it okay to stretch it out when it's still sore, or should I wait for it to stop hurting before I work on stretches?  

I wish I had a personal trainer/sports med/physical therapist that I could keep in my pocket and utilize whenever I needed them.  I saw a man that looked like he had a squirrel in his pocket once, but I'm looking for a professional.

Can't wait to get out of town this week-end for the Marine Corps 1/2.  Probably won't be running it, but Fredricksburg, Virginia is a beautiful place to go and get away for a couple of days. 

Didn't get to run this week-end.  Drove 4.5 hours to Fredricksburg and had a great time at the expo.  We were even given free tickets to the pasta dinner, which was delicious. Got to hear Ryon speak.  Very inspiring!! We were winding down for the night and getting things ready for bed so we'd be 100% ready for our wake up call in the morning.

Then the phone rang.  Someone broke into our home and we had to leave right away so we could drive the 4.5 hours home and assess the damage.  Not really the way I'd planned on spending my get away/race/birthday weekend.

I decided to just keep doing the recovery for my groin instead of running and making it worse.  It would have been worth it for a fun race, but not for daily training.

I've tried RAD's happy baby stretch.  I can actually feel it stretching the right area.  Thank you for the helpful hint!

Did 8.2 walk with a backpack full of  30 lbs of rocks.  It was on a nice paved path that follows the Cape Fear River.  It was gorgeous.  Nice breeze to cool us off in the shade, and everything was green.  We saw big spiders, grasshoppers, frogs, squirrels, and lizards.

By the end, every part of my body was tired.  But it felt good to really work out.  I just couldn't get my HR up above 120, and that was on the steep up-hill part.  How can I get a good cardio workout without running when I can't go to a gym?

It's been almost 3 weeks since my injury.  I tried running a little, but after .5, I could feel the pain.  So I stopped and walked a little, then tried running again.  After another .5, I realized it was really hurting, and I had to remind myself it wasn't worth another 3 week set-back to keep running.

So I guess I'm in this recovery for the long haul.  I'll keep walking and try some short runs along the way.  But I'm not pushing anything beyond my comfort level.  I've got to be ready to run with RAD in July, and I'll need everything to work just right so I can try and keep up with her.....who am I kidding....I'll never keep up with her, but I'll at least need to try and keep going behind her!

She's in great shape now, so at least the view will be good while I follow behind her.  :-)

Ran 1.5 w/o needing to stop.  Did the stretching & ice after.  Felt good the rest of the night.

After my small success yesterday, I was motivated this morning to go out and try it again.

I managed 3.5 miles of straight running.  I could feel it at the end, but I stretched & iced and I'm hoping it will be good the rest of the day.

Still sore from the 3.5 on Wednesday.  Took yesterday off, but I just needed to run today.  So I ran anyway.  I ran 3. It felt so good to run.  My groin is sore, but I stretched and iced it, and I took some pills to manage the pain.

I just need to run.  Too many demons knocking on my door, and running seems to be the only healthy thing I can do to quiet them.  I think Tennessee sour mash would help too, but that would only unlock new demons later down the road.

Ran 6 today.  The first 2 miles were hilly, and my groin was aching like crazy.  I'd stretched and warmed up before hand, but it was still a tough start.

After the first couple miles, the course flattened out and I just felt great.  It was an out and back, so by the last 1/2 mile, I was feeling sore again.  I don't know if it was from the hills, or just the distance.  It sure did feel great to run again.

Did a 1.7 cool down walk.

Still a bit sore from Saturday's run.  I hopped on the elliptical for an hour and it felt great.  Didn't bother my groin at all.

I need to be more diligent about  my stretching in the pm and after a good work out.  Icing too.

Did another hour workout on the elliptical.  Did stretching after.

Thought I might try running in the afternoon, but I'm not ready for 90 degree running in 60% humidity yet.  I've got to work my way up to that kind of torture.

I did 30 on the elliptical, and then thought I'd try my luck at running.  My groin was sore the whole time.  I tried stretching it out, but it's still sore 8 hours later.  It's hard to stretch and ice through out the day when I'm in a classroom with students and teachers.

I'm sure my spaz move of falling down the concrete stairs on my way to lunch in front of 400 teen-agers did as much good for my groin as it did for my self-esteem.  It's really been sore since that "smooth move."

But I firmly believe it's nothing that a little pain medicine and a few more weeks off of running can't cure.  I just hate not running.  I've got to get serious about healing though, or I'll never be able to keep up with RAD for the first 1/4 mile of the race :-)

woke up extra early so I'd have time for my 1 hr elliptical and the errands I had to run before 630 am.

The hour workout was great.  I'm glad the elliptical is fixed.  I stretched a lot, and iced while I sat on the ball and worked my arms.  But by the end of the arms workout, I was ready for some sleep again.  I just leaned over toward the bed, and the ball tipped me gently so my head & shoulders were on the bed, but my pelvis and ice pack were still in place on the ball.  Then I took a very short 10 min nap.  It was glorious.  I wish I could take another one right now!

The ice really helped this morning.  It's just amazing to me how it can make the pain disappear. 

No running this morning, but that's okay.  I do want to heal, and I know running aggrivates it.  Since the elliptical is helping me get my daily workout and keeping my cardio up, I'm just going to stay off the roads a little longer.

I was back on the elliptical this morning.  It took me a while to get up to speed.  The machine kept blinking  "SPEED UP" at me. I did a 45 min workout and then a 20 min workout.  The longest workout is 45 min, so I can't pick a one hour program. 

I stretched afterward, but didn't have time to ice.  I think I'll regret that today.  I'm so glad it's Friday!!  I'm going to the baseball game tomorrow and we're sitting in the $1 hot dog, hamburger & beer section.  Free sodas, popcorn and peanuts.  All for an extra $5 entry fee.  It's only $4 to get in, so it's bargain date night!  I guess I'll be the designated driver.  I'll have to find an extra long and hard workout tomorrow morning so I can pre-burn some of those hot dog calories.  It'll all be worth it!

We went on a 7 mile hike with out backpacks on.  Mine was about 30 lbs.  It was good exercise, but the best part was the water habitat area we found on our journey.  Lilly pads, frogs, turtles, and some kind of otter that's been busy building a dam.  It was beautiful.  I'm so glad we went off the beaten path.  The trail was completly flooded over because of the little dam building critter, so we got to go on a little walk about and follow the train tracks back to the car. 

Over 2 hours of hiking.  Forgot my usual hiking socks & got a blister.  Lesson learned for next time!

Did two 30 min workouts on the elliptical in the am.

Walked the 2 miles after school got out. 

Less pain in the groin area this week.  Hoping to start running next week.

Two 30 min workouts on the elliptical this morning.  Then ball crunches and a few arm exercises w/weights.

Tomorrow is the student's last day at school.  I don't think any of mine are coming, so today is my last day with students.  They're leaving at 12, so one more hour!!!

My blog is starting to sound like a broken record.

two 30 min workouts on the elliptical.  crunches on the ball when I'm done.  It's a rut, but it's a rut I'll take over doing nothing.  At least this way I can get my heart rate up and sweat it out.

I hope the magic running fairy visits me this week-end and I can run w/o any groin pain. 

She's related to the magic ceiling fairy who always thinks I'm smiling when I'm upset.  It's because she's hanging upside down! 

Is school over yet?

Broken record..just a little longer version.

Did 2 45 min on elliptical this morning.  Slightly sore after, but I think better stretching could have helped.

Started elliptical and got somewhere between 10-15 min when the power cord on the back came out.  I just thought it was easier because I was getting so good at it! 

After I realized it was off, I did a 45 min session.  Didn't stretch.  Not really sore, but wish I would have anyway.

I really need a fan for the garage.  Even at 6 am, the garage has turned into a sweaty box.

Planning to hike like crazy tomorrow.  Hopefully I can sneak in a little run too.  I'm feeling like I'm ready to try a baby step for my running.

Got up and did 45 min on the elliptical.  Then did yardwork & housework.

We tried an afternoon hike.  Boy, 90 degrees with mid-day sun was killer.  We drank a lot of water! 

I still haven't weighed my bag, but I'm pretty sure it's around 30 lbs.

We hiked for 2 hrs 20 min.  About 8 miles.  It was good.  No groin pain, but my knee was acting up.  It seems like it's always something.  Next week, I'll use my knee band.

45 min on elliptical

Tried a one mile run after.  Groin was a little tender, knee was a little tender.  I'll wear a knee band next time.  I stretched out the groin after to try and make sure I'll be good the rest of the day.

90 min on elliptical.  Ra coached me through the whole thing, it was great.

However, my cell phone got wet inside the screen from all the sweating going on, and it has a big black blob right in the middle of it.  I put it in a bag of rice (someone said this helps) and we'll see how it works.

Sleeping in is my new favorite past time.  It's only an extra hour, but it's an extra hour I'm loving.

Two 45 min sessions on the elliptical again.  I brought a box fan into the gym (haha) for a breeze.  I might have to turn it up higher tomorrow.  I've got two pair of shoes that are soaked all the way through from the sweat fest.

Ran a mile after the elliptical.  It wasn't very hopeful.  My knee was really bothering me, even with the knee band on. 

I tried some quad strengthening exercises, and did some stretching to help.  I also iced.  Lucky for me I have two ice packs!  One for the groin and one for the knee.  Maybe I'm not so lucky after all if I need two ice packs...hhhmmmm.    I feel lucky if that counts for anything.

Mixed things up a little today and did three 30 min sessions on the elliptical.  Felt good after.

I thought I'd try running before the elliptical today to see if it would feel better.  I ran 2 miles at a pretty good pace.  My knee didn't bother me.  My groin was a little sore at the beginning, but it warmed up and was fine by the end.  I kept it short so I didn't over-do anything.  I walked a little afterward, then came inside to stretch.

I stretched & did some sit ups.  Then I sat on the ice pack & iced my knee while I worked on my arms. 

When I was done, I didn't feel like getting into the sweat box and doing any elliptical.  I think I'm hiking later with Mike, so I just threw in the towel and decided to check email instead. 

Felt good to get those two miles in.  Hope things still feel good tonight. 

last run in SLC

my lungs weren't on fire anymore..I guess that means it's time to go home

3 miles of street running (first 1.5 were slow), then we picked up the pace on the way back. 

In the middle, we did wind sprints up hill, running downhill (very steep), and push ups.  Did 4 sets.  Then switched to running up hill backwards, running down the steep hill, doing lunges, and doing crunches.  Did 3 sets.

The group stopped to do pull ups, dips & squats after 2.5 miles.  I stopped, and did squats and ran in place.  Then we ran the last .5 back to the start. 

My knee hurt all that day and all night long.  No more sprinting up & down steep hills for a while.

Hiked 6.15 miles.  My knee was still sore from the hill runs.  Didn't want to screw around with it and make it worse.  I wore a big knee brace, and we went hiking on the sandy trails.  We found a scary, trashy little back yard area with 3 or 4 sofas strung out along the trail, a door, some columns, and enough tires for all the school busses in the county.  What a ghetto trash dive.  I woudn't want to go there alone!!  I'm surprised we didn't hear the banjos playing.

On the way back, we got stuck on a dead end in the middle of 2 huge horse pastures.  It was either backtrack 1/2 a mile and try to find another way out, or cross the pastures.  Luckily, there were gates that weren't electric fences :-)

Went to do PT again on base.  Ran along sidewalks, through housing, and back onto the trail.  Took walk breaks with Mike after 3 miles.  We would walk/run the rest of the way.  I think our total run was between 4 and 4.5.

Physical Therapy afterwards.

elliptical 45 min

Physical Therapy workout after

I got up early and tried the tempo run.  I need to figure out how to pace myself at the right time.  Maybe I can figure out how to use my watch to help me...I think it can beep when your pace isn't on target...if you can figure out how to tell it what your target is. Today my target was supposed to be 8:50.

worked elliptical for 45 minutes again. 

1	9:34
2	9:34
3	9:52
4	10:12
5	9:41
6	9:30
7	9:46
8	9:49

Went for my 8 mile long run today to finish my first offical week of marathon training.  Thanks to Smooth, I was able to set up my watch to alert me when I went out of my pace zone. 

I set the zone for 9 mm- 10:15 mm.  I ran the first 4 on the trails, then grabbed my hat and ran the second four on the roads.  There were hills the whole time.  The last 2 1/2 miles were a push, but rewarding.  I did a lot of stretching and some of my pt strengthening afterward.  I really felt like all the stretching helped keep the soreness at bay. 

The training plan said to run 4 miles.  I was feeling good, so I ran 5 miles.  I didn't have my knee band on, but my knee felt fine while I was running.

I went to physical therapy afterward and on the stair-master, my knee started hurting.  I'd never had any problems on the stairmaster before.  Seemed strange. 

I iced it that evening.

knee ached all night so I did an easy 30 min on the elliptical.  It didn't bother me while I was on it, or specifically afterward.  I felt some pain when I kneeled down while I was weeding, and it ached again during the night.  I iced it a few times.

Knee ached all night so I didn't run.  Went to PT and took the day off.

tempo run today that I put off from yesterday.  I decided that I needed to run to get my marathon prep schedule on track.  I strapped on my knee brace, and went off.  I was surprised at how I was able to run w/o a lot of knee pain.

10:12, 8:02, 9:57, 8:17, 10:36, 10 (last 1/2 mile).

wonderful easy run in the cool rain...I just hope my shoes will dry by tomorrow morning

9:47 average  9:48, 9:52, 9:42, 9:48 (1/3 mile)

This was supposed to be a 9 mile run.  I don't know why I ran 10.  I must have been confused by the end of the run, so I just kept running.  It was hot, and I was definitely ready to quit.

The training guide said to run a 10:26 pace.  I try to keep my pace between 9 and 10:15. 

My average was 9:48.  9:47, 9:42, 10:01, 9:42, 10:14 (uphill section), 9:49, 9:27, 9:46, 9:55, 9:28, last 1/10th was an 11:06.

I stopped at the kfc for a water refill before the last mile, and somewhere along the refill, I stopped pushing the water button hard enough and ended up with lemonade in my water bottle.  I didn't realize it till I'd ran off.  I think the extra sugar helped me finish. 

easy Monday run.  First day back to work.  Waking up early is hard.

9:33, 9:32, 9:50, 9:30 (last 2/10)

elliptical 45 min today

Tempo run.  Easier than I've ever had for a tempo run.  Felt good!  directions were 5 miles inc. warm up. 3 miles at 8:51.  cool down.

don't have split times right now, but I know I was able to keep my pace at the goal pace, and I didn't feel like I was going to puke or die.  I couldn't believe my watch when it didn't beep to tell me to speed up.  I had to stop and check my watch to make sure it was working properly.  I had to run under the garage lights, and wipe the fog off my glasses and the watch face, but I was actually keeping up and not feeling sick. 

drove to the funeral in MD today.  Had to leave at 4.  Back at midnight. 

slept in since I didn't get home till after midnight last night. 

easy week, easy run  5 miles.  Started slow, but felt amazingly good.  Surprised by the ease of the pace I found comfortable.

elliptical for 30 min

first day of school...morning comes so early

Easy week, easy run.  5 miles.  Started slow, but found a good pace after the first mile.

30 min easy elliptical

slow and easy today.

11:09, 9:37, 9:29, 9:30,

Wait too long and had to run in the heat.  Ran with Mike and tried to keep an easy pace.  Knees hurt like crazy afterward. 

Went to Fleet Feet in Raleigh to get fitted for new shoes.  I didn't realize I was rolling in on my arches.  I didn't realize my ankles were wobbly - but it makes sense.  That was always my weak spot in ballet too.

Found another Whole Foods!!!  Yummy foods.

Sooo tired.

Only did 2 miles this morning.  That's what the schedule said, and that's what I did. 

Wore my new shoes.  My knees aren't feeling too bad, and the shoe arches didn't bother me much at all.  I ran a 9:06 and an 8:38.  The pace felt a little quick for a long distance pace, but it was comfortable for a 2 mile jog.

Worked on my physical therapy stuff the rest of the morning.  It takes so much time.  But I've got to stay strong.

Got up to spend some time on the elliptical.  I went out to the garage, and it seemed really warm and humid in there for how crisp it felt outside.  As I went to plug in the elliptical, I noticed water streaming down the top of the water heater. 

I worked on my physical therapy exercises and tried to find a way to make my hair look okay without showering. 

Did a mile of running up the bleachers for 15-20 minutes after school.  That was new for me.  I could feel some new muscle groups.  That's where my mile came from.  It's good training, and I hope I can do it more often.

Training log said tempo run today

One mile warm up, 4 miles at 8:51 pace, and one mile cool down.  That was my goal.

My warm up mile was slow (on purpose) at 10:41.  Then I just tried running at a pace that was a little bit of a push, but that I could maintain for 4 miles.  My 4 miles tempo were 8:32, 8:36, 8:38, 8:28.  Then my cool down mile was 9:30.  I felt good the whole time.  My knee is a little sore, but I think it's going to get better since I have these new shoes.

And I got a whole body ice bath in the shower with only cold water since the water heater is still broken.  BBbbbrrrrrr.

Did elliptical this morning.  I was so thrilled to go out and not have water streaming down my hot water heater into the garage!

After 30 min of moderate elliptical, I worked on my PT strengthening.  Knee is feeling better.  At this rate, I'll be great for Saturday.  I'm so excited that it's going to be cooler weather.

After school, I ran a couple of laps, did 6 bleacher sets, and then ran some sprints.  

100 sprint, 100 walk, 100 sprint, 100 walk, 200 sprint, 200 walk, 400 sprint, 400 walk.  That last 400 sprint was hard toward the end, but it felt good to feel the burn in my throat and my legs wobbling.

I slept in!!  Then I did my physical therapy stuff with some situps.  Want to let my legs (and knees) rest a little for Saturday's long run.

Finally found the All American Trail I'd heard so much about.  How nice that they had 2 clean port a potties to use.  It took us about 30 min to get there from home, and I always need to use one.

The trail is supposed to be 11 miles long.  We parked at mile 5.5.  There was a group of people all taking off running at the same time when I got there.  It looked like a running group.  After the run, they all sat around and visited in their lawn chairs and had drinks.  I was so curious and wanted to find out more about their running group, but I chickened out and didn't ask.  Maybe if I see them again. 

My new running shoes seemed to give me a great run.  I could feel the arch support, and it felt comfortable.  I did end up scuffing my ankles with my shoes quite a few times.  It's not something I've done before, so I wonder if it's from the way my feet are positioned in the new shoes.  I'll take the scuffed ankles over sore knees & feet any day.  They're my new, cool, battle wounds.  No complaints about my knees.  I was so worried about them, but they're nothing more than just a little achey.

We ran 2.5 miles out in one direction and then headed back.  So by mile 5, we were back at the car.  Took a quick potty break and downed some sports beans.  I left Mr. at the car and I took off for the other 7 miles on the other trail side. 

The run was great.  I felt like I was really getting my stride by mile 8-9.  At mile 10, I stopped & walked while I downed a gu, then I took up the running again.  There was a lot of uphill after that.  The last mile was almost entirely uphill.  Up a big, long hill.  It kicked my butt, but I was happy with the run.  I felt like I could have run a little further at the end (after it leveled out), so I'll be ready next week-end for the 14 miler.  Only next week, I'm going to do the hard hill section first!

Highlights of the run: The wetland section that was all boardwalk.  It was beautiful, and the boards gave a little.  Like running on a floating wood floor.  Also, I saw a wasp that looks like a big red ant.  Very cool.  Lots of neat spider webs with interesting designs in them.  Good shade to keep cool (but makes it hard to see the terrain on some parts), running successfully twice across the bridge that had a big sign on it that said "unsafe bridge."  And of course, no wild dogs. 

I don't have my garmin right now to post my splits, however I do know that for all but one, they were between 9 and 10 mm.  I'm happy with it all.  It was a beautiful day for a great run. 

The chinese food afterwards was wonderful too.  No guilt at all!

The training program said to just do 2 miles today, but I felt like I wanted a little more than that.  I ran with the Mr, and we took it slow and easy.  Other than kicking my heel a couple times, things felt good.

Worked on PT exercises after the run.

The weather was cool with a beautiful wind that blew just right.  Great run.

Did 30 moderate on the elliptical and some strength training after. 

I was planning on doing some running after school (along with bleachers), but the forecast is for rain, and I've been carrying around a box in my car for almost 2 weeks that needs to be mailed.  So I'll probably go visit my friends at the post office instead of after school workout.

Hope it's not raining tomorrow am...I've got 7 miles with tempo runs on the docket.

I love my running headlamp!  It was so nice to be able to see.  I could see the road and my watch.  It was magical while it lasted!

I made a course program last night for my run, but somehow my watch didn't remember this morning that I wanted it to use the program.  It was supposed to beep at 1.5 to tell me to speed up, and it didn't.  At 1.6, I realized it wasn't going to do what I needed, so I set it for the fast tempo run speed I was aiming for.  I'll be playing with my watch a little more today so it knows what I want it to do.  I know it's the 10% rule...I've just got to be 10% smarter than my watch.  

 Despite my watch, I was having a great run. Keeping good speeds and feeling great.  I was even picking up my heels so I didn't kick my ankles.  (I forgot twice, but the pain reminded me to keep on pulling my heels up.)

Just after I started my 3rd tempo mile, I got a huge pain on the back of my leg above my knee.  It felt like a charlie horse.  I couldn't run.  I stopped and stretched right there, but it didn't subside enough to run.  I was really glad I had my headlamp to shine so people driving by could see me there laying on the grass :-)  I ended up walking the road of defeat back home.  I stretched more and iced it.  It eventually went away, and it's not bothering me any more. I was even able to do my physical therapy exercises.

 BUT now I have lots of questions.... like what caused that horrid cramp, and what do I need to do to make sure it never comes back?  Was it the heel pick up thing?  Was it my knee brace?  Was it something else?    Has anyone else experienced this and knows what I can to prevent it?

I brought my gear to run after school today.  Should I do it?  Is it okay to run again on it, or should I rest it?

I never did finish my tempo training run.  Should I just finish it today?  Or should I try and re-do it tomorrow?  I only had 1 tempo mile and 1.5 recovery mile left. 

Advice would be appreciated.  I'm not feeling so defeated anymore, but I sure don't want to irritate that muscle and have that happen again.

 My paces were good.  Warm up 1.5 miles was 9:31 and 9:14.  My tempo runs were 1600 with 800 recovery.  The two 1600 I finished were 7:52 and 7:49.  The 800 recovery runs were 9:32 and 9:53.    My target goal pace, according to the training plan was 8:17, so I am happy with my little bit faster times.

This blog is getting long...I keep adding stuff.  I like how Carolyn in Colorado has the temp & humidity listed on her blogs.  So I did some research and found out that it was 65^o and 90% humidity today.  It was nice weather. 

I went on a very easy and slow jog after school.  Just paddled around the track a few times.  Got 1.5 easy miles...I didn't use the garmin, but it was over 15 minutes, so it was over a 10mm.  I walked the bleachers a few times and then stretched for what seemed forever.  Got some pointers from the local yoga lady, and tried some of her suggestions out. Nothing hurt, things felt fine.  I have renewed hope for Saturday.  Watch out 14...here I come!

Did elliptical this morning.  30 min of one course and 20 min of another.  Did the seminary thing, and then I worked on my stretching and physical therapy.  

Planning on meeting up after school and doing some kind of workout.  I'll be taking it easy, and hopefully getting more yoga stretches in.  

pm workout- walked the track once to warm up, then did some very slow bleachers.  10 sets is a mile.  Things felt good.  I did rub a little icy hot on the back of my leg, but I think it would have been okay w/o it.  Stretched with the varsity football team as my witnesses, and now I'm home and going to take a bath because we're having leftovers for dinner!

I got 8 hours of sleep.  It was awesome!

Got up and did some of my physical therapy to get my day started.  Things felt good, and I'm trying to get my diet and sleep in check for the run on Saturday.

Okay.. Today's run was really difficult for me.  My 12 last week was great, so I was sure my 14 this week would be pretty good, but there was something off, and it didn't go as well as I'd wanted it to.

We started off at 8:30 am after a great, restful night's sleep.  The weather seemed nice.  We were on the All American (wild dog) Trail again.  That was the part of the run that was the same, but almost everything else was different.  I'm not sure if any one, or a combination of all of these differences made the route so difficult.  But I do know that I'll be going back to my good old ways next week.

  Last week I ran the west side (5 miles) of the trail first, then the east side (7 miles).  I thought this week I'd change it up and do the east side first (6 miles) then the west side (8 miles).  Miles 8-11 this week were just a lot of hills.  I wasn't prepared for them, because I hadn't seen them last week since my west side distance was shorter last week.

I also changed my refueling timing.  I've always re-fueled at miles 5, 10.  But I wanted to try and see if I could do re-feuling the same times that will be offered at the marathon, which are 7, 13, 17, 23.  So I waited till 7 miles to "do the gu."  I was okay up until that point, but looking back, I think it would have been better to stay ahead of the energy game rather than waiting until I was depleted and then trying to catch up.  At mile 10, my energy was gone.  All gone.  And then I wanted to eat my beans.  My body was used to getting energy at mile 10, and it didn't get it.  I had to stop and stretch out a persistant side ache around mile 11. It was less than a minute stop, and I gave myself a good pep-talk to channel some positive energy. I couldn't wait until mile 13 to eat my beans.  By mile 12, I took a quick walk break (backtracked so I didn't walk any of the 14) and ate half my beans.  It was only 1/2 a mile later and I did another quick stop and ate the other half.  By then my water was gone.  I called Mr. and had him meet me at mile 13 1/2 with more water and gatorade.

It was the best place in the world for him to be.  He was at the top of the longest, hardest hill on the course.  I was at the bottom and I looked up and saw him waving the magical gatorade bottle at me.  It was the only thing that got me up that silly hill.  I kept running and sloshed gatorade into my mouth while he re-filled my water bottle.  I had pink snot when I got home.  I guess I was trying to inhale it up my nose too! 

Another thing that I think got me off my groove was that at around mile 8, my mp3 went out.  The batteries went out at mile 6, but it was right next to the car, and I had a spare with me.  So I put that "new" battery in at mile 6, and I was very cranky when it went out again at mile 8.  Obviously, it wasn't a new battery.  I spent a good 1/2 a mile trying to get it to work...thinking it couldn't be the battery.  I even tried the raido  (surprise...no radio stations out on wild dog trail).  I think at that point, it was warming up outside, I was listening to the rattle in my waterbottle (mr. accidently poured another waterbottle's lid into it when he filled it at mile 6), and my radio going out kind of messed with my head.  It was the beginning of the end for me.  Little did I know all of those sandhills were still ahead for 2 miles out at 2 more miles back.

I did run the full 14.  I had a potty break at 6, gu at 7, stretch break at 11, beans breaks at 12 and 12 1/2.  My time for the last few miles is really sucky.  But I promise, it's all I had in me.

One fun thing about the run...the end of it!  When we got back to the car, we got to talk to the running group that was there last week-end.  MTC (Magnum Track Club) is the name of their group.  Free club, but in order to be a member, you have to run the 15 mile course from the town of Magnum to ----(can't remember).  If you successfully run it, then you get a t-shirt and you're a lifetime member.  Sounds do-able after a few more weeks of training.  I was a bit intimidated when I saw that a few of the vehicles with the MTC sticker also had Ultra stickers on them.  But the people we talked to were super nice.  They even invited us to come to a 24 hour run next Saturday.  I'll never run for 24 hours, but I do have 16 miles on the docket, and it might be fun to do with a lot of people there.  It's just a 1.5 mile loop around a lake.  I'd need to do 11 loops.  I'm really thinking about it.  It's at least 90 min away and starts at 8 am.  I'm keeping my options open and maybe we'll be there next Saturday.  I won't be logging 24 hours, but I'll get a t-shirt :-)

 Here's my splits: 9:29, 9:55, 10:03, 9:26, 9:45, 10:21, 10:07, 9:44, 10:19, 10:12, 9:53, 10:42, 10:52, 11:05.  Like I said, those last 3 miles were tough....

Oh a happier note:  Greek Festival was awesome!  Baklava, the tasty treats that look like huge shredded wheat, evil eye jewelry, oil paintings, lamb & chicken gyros, grape leaves stuffed with rice, spinach & cheese in flaky pasty.    Goooooood stuff Maynard!

I'm falling in love with sleep.  I find myself thinking about sleep through out the day.  When I'm with sleep, I'm so relaxed and happy.  And after spending plenty of time with sleep, I wake up with such a glow....  I hope my husband isn't jealous.  But I secretly think he's falling in love with sleep too. 

Woke up and went for a beautiful 2 mile walk around the neighborhood.  It was around 8 am, and it was still nice weather outside with a nice cool breeze.    Loving Sunday as a rest day!

I let myself sleep in a little today because I knew I had a short run. The training program said only 2 miles.   How am I going to improve if I only run 2 on Monday and 6 on Wednesday?  In my head it seems like that's not enough running to get me ready for my 16 on Saturday. 

Any opinions on the way the program does this?  I've been doing elliptical on T & Th for cross-training and some bleachers in the afternoons.  But I just don't see how 8 miles total during the week is getting me ready for 16 on Saturday.  I think my Saturday run has put a big dent in my faith in the program.

My run today was really great.  It was cool (under 60) outside and I had my great new headlamp to light the way.  I ran 4 miles and they all felt good.  I just ran at a pace that seemed do-able for 4 miles w/o over exerting myself, but keeping a good tempo. 

My times were somewhere around 9:10, 8:56, 8:55, 8:49.  No mp3 today.  It was nice to just run "natural."  I was glad I had my headlamp on.  There was a wild attack animal in the bushes waiting to prey on me, but when I turned my headlight on it, it changed into a cute little wild rabbit.  Magic headlamp :-)

I did 45 minutes hard workout on the elliptical machine in the morning.  Then my regular physical therapy routine.

After school, I ran 1/4 mile warm up, then I totaled 1.25 miles on the bleachers.  Walked a little for cool-down.  Got to the middle school track meet just in time to see my daughter run across the finish line in first place for her 800!  She ran a 3:06.  That was the best part of the day!  That and her telling me that she was glad I'd come to watch it.  :-)

Today was my Wednesday tempo run.  Last week's ended up being the charlie horse run, so I was a little nervous that speed would be a trigger for me.  But it wasn't, and things went great.

I did a slow warm up mile 10:15.  The slow warm up miles seem to really help me when I'm doing tempos first thing in the morning.

My four miles at tempo were supposed to be 8:51.  I was able to keep it between 8:15 and 8:40 all four miles.  No potty breaks today.  The last tempo mile felt like I was really working.  It felt good because I knew it was helping me in the long run.  I'm just glad it was the last mile.

Slow cool down mile was a 9:30 average.  Then I walked 1/4 of a mile home, stretched & did physical therapy.

Elliptical 30 minutes hard workout.  Some physical therapy after.

I was going to run, but last night as I was looking at my running plan(s), I realized that if I do my bleacher run tonight, I'll already have met my 15% increase in mileage for the week. (After I add in my 16 on Saturday).

15% for me right now is between 2 and 3 miles more a week.  I've felt so good running this week that I really want to keep running more, but I do not want to risk injury.  So I'm going to keep the 15% increase rule and find other cross training to do.

Afternoon work out was supposed to be bleachers, but because of the middle school using the football field for a game, we just ran around the local 'hood for 2 miles.  Easy run. I wore my garmin, but didn't even bother to see what my pace/time was.

30 minutes easy elliptical and physical therapy exercises

Convinced myself I was going to eat healthy today.  Oatmeal & yogurt for breakfast, and then...as soon as I got to work, there was a chocolate glazed donut on my desk from the Friday donut Fairy.  It's gone and it's only 8:30.  My will-power is gone today.

Getting excited about tomorrow's big 16. 

Had a blast getting to play with the "big kids" who were running the whole 24 hours.  What a new goal I have to work towards.

The run was great.  Perfect course with 1.5 mile loop.  It was so nice to have re-fueling so readliy available.

I ran with Mr. for the first 7 or so, then for the next 7 I ran with an awesome lady named Sarah.  The last few I did by myself, and they were great.  I felt so good that when I did finish my 16, I just kept on running.  After I finished that lap, I slowed down, but kept jogging till I met up with Mr.  We ran the rest of that loop together, and then we walked a loop.  My total run distance was 17.7.  I'm not sure what my total distance with the walk was.  I'll post the stats later.

I could have kept running. I wanted to.  But I didn't want to risk the injury of over doing it, so I stopped when I did. 

The course was rather flat compared to what I usually run on Saturdays.  I think that made it easier to run.

Next year, I'm going to work on running & walking and trying to master that 24 hour run.  It will be a long day, but it will be fun.  The energy at the race was awesome.

Each one of these laps is a full mile (pace listed) except for lap 18, which was my last .75 mile, and lap 20 which was only .42 of a mile.

Total pace for the 16 miles was 9:54.  After I slowed down, my pace for 17.75 miles was an average of 10:10. 

1   10:16 2  9:18   3  9:57  4  9:37  5  9:39  6  10:09  7  10:03  8  10:09  9  9:51  10  9:52  11  10:05  12  10:23  13  9:45  14  9:53  15  10:16  16  9:24  17  10:45  18  11:21   19  20:45  20  22:29

2 mile walk at the park and a couple of strengthening exercises

Still tired and hungry from Saturday.

Had a 6 mile easy run on the docket.  I started out slow at a 10:10 pace, then I was keeping around a 9:38 pace until my watch battery went out just before mile 3.  Then I just kept on running until I knew I'd done 6 miles for sure. 

It was a little liberating not having to run to the watch...I just got to run.  I enjoyed it.  Stretched a lot, did some strengthening, and things are good.  So far, no injury after my 16  mile mark.  That's always been the point where I end up broken.  But not this time!!!  Yea for physical therapy :-)

And a big shout out to Carolyn for the head lamp..I am still so excited to wear it in the morning to light my way.

I ran a quick 2 miles.  8:23 and 8:01 pace.  Then I did elliptical for 20 minutes.  It's supposed to be my "easy" week, so I'm trying to build my miles but not over-do my training. 

I thought I felt a little ache in the back of my leg through-out the night, and I was worried about aggrivating it by running.  I had to drive to and from seminary today, so I decided that I'd just sleep in.  I topped off my lazy morning by taking the kids out to McDonald's for a bacon, egg & cheese biscuit breakfast.  I told myself I needed the protein for muscle recovery!  Is that the worst justification excuse in the world?  I washed it down with a diet coke :-)

I did do my PT strengthening exercises.  So the morning wasn't a total wash.

My leg didn't bother me much during the day, so after school I went out and ran as much as I could until I had to pick up kids.  I got in 2.7 miles.  They felt great while I was running, but afterward, I felt that achey-pull in the back of my butt/leg.  I tried stretching out as much as I could in between cooking dinner, mutual, and Walmart.

I laid all my running stuff out last night so I wouldn't have any excuses.  But my achey leg was bothering me during the night, and I'm soooo worried about making it worse and getting sidelined, so I just did an easy 20 elliptical and all of my physical therapy stuff.

My leg isn't bothering me now (4 hours later) so hopefully recovery is on the agenda.

I've brought my running gear to run after school.  Any thoughts on that?  Should I do it easy, or should I not do it at all?  I really want to get running, but even more so, I don't want to push too much and get hurt.  I am thinking easy bleachers with slow jogs for warm up and cool down.  Please advise on your thoughts!!!!

The 24 hour run results are in.  I'm so impressed with those runners who just kept going.  I think the web site link is     www.hinsonlake24hour.com  (I can't access it online at work to double check).  Anyone want to try it next year?

slow and easy 4 miles this morning

so glad it's Friday

Fun easy 5 miles with the Happy Ole' Running Educators.  We started with 2 miles on the trail.  It was misting rain, and Amy pushed her running stroller the whole way in the wet sand.  That woman is awesome.  The last 3 were on the sidewalk/roads.  Total time was 55 minutes, so it was an average 11 mm.  Not my race training speed, but I'm glad it was an easy pace because I was able to run and not irritate my leg/groin.  I'm ready to get back in the saddle on Monday for my regularly scheduled training.

Hopefully my schedule and firefox accessibility will allow me more time to communicate via the blog this week. 

On a really exciting note, Mr was so excited about his long run last week that he's signed up for the OBX half marathon.  So while Terri and I are running the full, he'll be working his way through the half course.  It'll be a family affair!  Exciting!

Nice 2 mile walk around the hood. And cake...lots of cake.

5 miles on the road this morning.  They felt good.  I started out slower at a 9:48, but I was able to run the rest between 8:55 and 9:15.  Stretching and physical therapy exercises afterwards.  I'm guessing because I don't do enough cross training that I'll have to continue to do the physical therapy strengthening exercises every day.  I guess that's okay if it's the price I have to pay so I can run.  They just get tedious.

Usually my morning run will wake me up and get me going for the day.  Today I just feel tired.  Hope I'm not coming down with something.  Maybe it's just a bad case of the Mondays. Probably is because this blog has turned into a whine-fest today.....wish I had some cheese to go with my whine.

Got to sleep in a little today. That was nice. I ran around 8:40.  It was 55 degrees and sunny- not a cloud in the sky.  I hope the weather for the marathon is that nice.  I didn't wear my garmin...it was just a run to get in some easy miles.

Whoops...forgot to change my alarm clock back from yesterday.  I felt so refreshed when I woke up, but it was an hour too late.  I didn't have time for my 7 miles.  I only had 30 minutes, so I did 30 moderate on the elliptical.  I'll get my 7 tempo miles in tonight or tomorrow morning.  

I was looking forward to the run this morning, but I really did enjoy my sleep.  My alarm is fixed now and ready for Thursday.

Tempo run today.

Easy warm up mile, 5 tempo miles, then easy cool down mile. That's what the directions were. After I'd finished my 5 tempo miles, I was feeling good and happy with my times, so I decided to do a 10k tempo run and ran 6.25 tempo with a .75 easy recovery.

The running felt good, no pain problems. I think it was about 50 degrees outside. I put a jacket on before I went out and thought that I'd end up taking it off, but it stayed on the whole time. I really enjoy running when it's cooler and less humid outside.

Warm up mile was a 10:15, and after that the times were an average of 8:30s until my cool down portion...and I don't remember what that pace was.

20 min easy elliptical

Oh boy.  18 on the hilly trail.  Mr. ran the first 8 with me on the "hard" hills first.  Then at mile 8 I took a drink break, got more gum, put on my hat.  The weather was not overcast like I'd seen on the forecast.  It was cooler though, and that was nice.

After the first 8, I went on the easier side of the trail....or so I thought.  I'd never gone the full distance of the 5.5 down & back.  I found that right after the point where I usually turn around, there is a huge hill.  Oh well....it was fun anyway.  I passed some boy scouts doing their 10 mile hike merit badge.  On the way back, one of them told me "you're making me tired just watching you."  I guess I looked pretty squashed by that point.

After mile 13, my legs started feeling tired.  So the last 5 were a push.  I just kept telling them to keep on going, and I wasn't going to stop even if they did hurt.  I finished at the bottom of a hill, and Mr. was waiting a quarter of a mile up the trail for me with some gatorade & a luna bar. So I ran to meet him...very slowly. 

The mile walk back to the car was difficult.  It was uphill, and my legs started cramping...one leg, then other, the fronts, then the backs.  My feel actually cramped up too.  I had to have Mr. hold me up while I tried walking on cramped up rigid feet.  I'm sure we looked ridiculous.  I need to know what is causing the cramps after the long runs so I can put an end to them.

Total time was 3 hrs exactly.  I guess that's over-all a 10mm.  I think that's okay for the trail runs.  I'm just happy I finished. :-)

easy two mile walk. muscles are very sore, so lots of stretching in between sitting through sessions of conference.

Sore muscles made the first half mile very hard.  I'm not sure I can even call it running.  It felt more like gimping along.  And it was slow.  But I'm glad I did it. 

physical therapy stretches & strengthening

60 degrees with light rain.  9:46 first mile, 9:13 second mile. 

Saturday's 20 is looming large.  I'll have a great running partner, so that will make it easier.

Legs were sleepy, but I was happy to be out running in the rain again.  Except for the mist on my glasses, I love the early morning light rain runs.

My goal this morning was to try and run slow and easy.  Trying to get used to the pace I'll need to keep for the marathon.  I over did it on the first mile and got in at a 10:40.  So I tried speeding up a little...that's easier said than done.  I'll just say the 10:40 was my warm up.

I managed to keep around a 9:40 for the next 5 miles.  I guess that's better than a 10:40.  My legs were still a little sore from Friday, but I can feel the pain is going away. Tomorrow is my tempo...I think it's a 7 miler.  I just want to make sure I'm not pushing too much and push into an injury. 

 And how exciting...I forgot to say that I was happy on Saturday when I put my 100th mile on my new shoes.  I love them & can't believe how the miles add up.

Tempo run today.  I don't usually run 8 in the morning, so I woke up early to make sure I'd have time for all of it.  I'm beginning to question my sanity when I wake up at 4 am so I can log extra miles.

Warm up mile, 1600x 8:00 (4 times) with 800 recovery jogs, cool down for 1.5 miles.

Not sure on my pace for the warm up...I kept my tempo paces pretty even.  3 were under 8 and one was just over 8.  The last mile of the cool down was a 9:30.  My legs were tired there at the end. 

Did a quick cold water bath while I ate my warm oatmeal breakfast.  That was weird, but I thought the warm food would off-set the cold water.  And I'm not above weird.

Later, I was trying to do my physical therapy strengthening exercises, but half way through, I saw the comforter hanging off the end of the bed, and I pulled it over me and fell asleep.  I knew I wouldn't sleep long because seminary boy would be home in the next 10 minutes.  So I just laid on the floor and took a nap at 6:30 in the morning.  It was great.

Did a little running after school.  I had my old shoes, and I forgot my knee brace, so it was a very slow and short .75 run.  I transitioned to the bleachers and walked the bleachers for 20 minutes.  It was slow, but I like to feel those glutes engaged on the bleachers.  I can just imagine them getting firmer....  but it's all just in my imagination.

I wanted to run and sleep in this morning.  So I comprimised and slept in a little and ran a little. 

My legs are still a little tired/sore from last Saturday, and I know I'll need them strong for this Saturday.  I don't want to over-do it with training, but I don't want to under-do it either.  If I run a couple more miles today after school, then I'll get around 40 miles in for the week.  That's 5 miles more than last week, so I'm improving my mileage slowly.

warm up mile was 9:40, then the other 1.4 miles were around an 8:55. 

After school, I ran for a couple of miles around the adjacent neighborhood.  Tried to run moderate.  I think both miles were sub 9. 

Didn't have a chance to cool down & stretch afterward.  My groin was sore all night.  I made sure I stretched plenty before going to bed.

I was up late, I knew I needed my sleep, and since my groin was a little sore, I knew I needed to rest it before the 20 miles tomorrow.

So I slept in and worked on only my strength training/stretching.

Why is it that my lazy mornings are always the days I can't get to work on time? Oh yeah, I know. Today I was making the lovely chicken tortilla soup that I'll be enjoying for dinner. Gotta love the crock pot soup in the fall (only in my perfect fall-soup picture, it wouldn't be 86 degrees outside).

Stayed up late Friday night because I was so excited that Terri was in town to run the 20 with me.  I ate my soup and made oatmeal/whole wheat/flax seed cookies.  Good stuff.

Woke up and had my regular breakfast and tried to drink some extra fluids. 

The weather forecast was rainy and a little breezy, so I wasn't worried about being hot. Big mistake.  It was just humid, no rain, and the sun seemed to beat down with a vengeance on us from miles 2-20.  The shade of trees occasionally was a welcome break from the sun.  There wasn't any escaping the humidity.  It seemed to just sap our strength.

We ran a 7 mile loop, so every 7 we were back at the car for more water, gatorade, etc.  I can't remember well enough to break it all down, but we started at a good pace, and ended up with a slower than expected pace.

I did my Gu at miles 5,10, 15.  I think I would have liked to have had another one at mile 19, but I managed okay without.  I did need extra gatorade and water the last 7 miles.  I'm glad they have water & gatorade stops every other mile for the last few miles of the race.  I'm sure I'll need it.  At mile 18, I had some digestive problems.  It wasn't good.

BUT...I did finish all 20 miles, and the great part was that I didn't get leg cramps after I was done.  The increased sodium and the bananas 3 days in a row must have paid off. 

I did have problems with the tops of my shoes feeling like they were too tight after mile 14.  I had to unlace and release the tension on the top of my shoe a couple of different times.  I guess this was due to my feet swelling? 

Went out for steak dinner later Saturday.  I ate too many rolls before my meal came out, and couldn't even finish the steak...but I like leftovers, so it's all good!

I think our overall time for 20 miles was 3:39.  That's an average 11 mm.  I'm blaming the heat and humidity.  It was 87 degrees with 87% humidity.  We ran from 10-2.  It got overcast and cooled off as we were doing our cool down walk at the end.  Go figure!

Easy run today in the am.  BUT it felt better than my easy run last Monday after my 18 mile trail run.  So I see a little improvement. 

The weather was better today than Saturday.  Just around 60 degrees this morning.  Humidity 87%.  No sun...LOL!

May try and run again this afternoon for a couple more easy miles.

Great run this morning.  Nice, cool weather.  57^o with 89% humidity.

First mile was slow for a warm up.  My watch wasn't keeping mileage, so I had to stop after I got to the point where I knew 1 mile was, and then I started my watch over again.  It worked fine the rest of the time.  My pace was around 9:30 for miles 2-5.  It was a 9:17 for mile 6.  I didn't see the average for the last .44, but it was probably around the same speed.

Tomorrow is a tempo run, so I just ran comfortable today.  The top of my foot is still sore when my shoe ties down on it.  I've loosened it up as much as I can.  I even tried tying the shoes in a different way.  Maybe it's just sore and needs to heal.  It'll have to wait till taper week I guess.

I went to bed at 7 last night because I was frustrated at nearly everyone in the world.  Sleep seemed like the best way to not go around offending people.  It was nice to get some extra rest, but I still needed a 15 min nap this morning after my run. 

On a happier note, I found an old Lindor truffle this morning as I was rummaging around for garlic.  I don't know how old it is, or where it came from, but I'm enjoying it :-)

Had to get up at 4 again to log the miles before doing the seminary drive.  If I can say anything about the army's schedule, it's this: unreliable.  I would like to go into a ranting tirade right now, but I'll stop.  I've got other things to rant about.

Tempo run.  Warm up mile was a 10:10, then the goal was 5 miles at a 8:50 pace with a cool down mile.  Instead, I ran the last 6 miles at a 8:25-8:39 pace.  It felt like a great tempo pace.  I tried to imagine myself keeping the pace for the Halloween 10K.  I think I might be able to pull it off, as long as there aren't too many hills.

At mile 1, there was a big dog out in someone's front yard.  He barked at me, and followed me along the yard, but never came out in the street at me.  I took the safety off the pepper spray just in case.  I changed my route a little to avoid going back there, because I didn't want to ask for trouble.

Then, at mile 5.5, a small Chiuhahua type dog came out in the road after me.  I was running on the shoulder of the road across the street from his house.  He was out in the road barking after me, and chasing me.  His owner was out in the yard yelling at the dog, but the dog was not responding to his owner.  So I sprayed the pepper spray in the direction of the dog.  I could see the mist particles in my headlight floating over toward the dog as he was running after me.  As soon as they got near him, he turned around and ran home.  I thought I heard him whimpering, but there were so many other dogs barking in the neighborhood (I guess they were cheering him on), and I couldn't tell one bark from another.  I just kept on running...I thought that was better than going back and having a confrontation with the owner.

I do feel bad for the poor dog.  But I feel like I did what was in my best interest.  I was under a tight time schedule to get my miles in before I had to drive to seminary.  I knew I didn't have time to deal with a dog bite.  Hope the dog is okay now.  I also hope the owner doesn't take his dog out at 5 am without a leash anymore either.

After I got home from the seminary drive, I rubbed the side of my nose with my wrist (it was itching) and there must have been some residual spray on my arm, because my nose was on fire!  I had to wash my face off with the closest soap the was around. The soap helped relieve some of the burn, and it was totally gone in 5 minutes, but I learned my lesson.  Wash my entire arm after using the spray...not just my hands!

Hopefully I'll get in a couple more miles tonight, but it's started raining, and I'm not sure what it's going to be like at 4 pm.

5am- 61^o , 70% humidity, wind at 12mph.   Not bad weather.

What a morning :-)  These are the days of my life......

After school run in the rain.  Had to cut it short because middle school track didn't stay late.  But I managed to get in a couple of good miles before I had to quit.  My legs felt nice and tired, so I considered it a good training run.  9:10 for mile 1, and 8:30 for mile 2.  About the same for the last half mile.

I slept all night with the window open listening to the rain.  It was so nice that I didn't want to get up.  I managed to get out of bed at 5:30 and run a little before I had to get ready for the day.  I did get my stretching and physical therapy strengthening done, so it wasn't a total wash.

It was 50^o, 89% humidity, winds 8 mph, and the rain had just slowed to a drizzle.  It was really nice to run in...except for the glasses.  I ended up just taking them off because I could see better with them off than on.  But best of all....no dogs today :-)

I don't think I'll get in my 5 extra miles this week.   I think it'll be okay anyway.

 I did manage a 1.25 quick loop around the hood with my daughter after school.  I asked her if she wanted to run, and she said yes, yes, yes.  I told her we didn't have to, and I could just start dinner early.  She insisted that we run.  So I changed, and we started out on the road.  Not 1/4 of a mile into it, she quit!  I told her it was HER fault I was out there, and she'd better get running.  (tough love)  She ran off & on the rest of the way with me.  Silly teenagers.

Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  I'll need to do my strength training later.  Soup for dinner again tonight.  Just regular chicken and rice.  It'll be nice now that the weather's cooled down. 

High of 59 expected tomorrow.  That's going to beat the 87 on last Saturday's run.  No rain expected till Saturday night.

I did not want to run today.  I felt tired and just wanted to stay in bed.  I finally made myself get up and get ready, because I knew I had to "get 'er done."

As I was eating my breakfast, I realized I hadn't had my bananas, and that I didn't even have any bananas.  I worried that my leg cramps would be back.  But the chicken soup pulled me through, and I didn't have any problems.

I had to stay close to home, so I ran a 4.1 mile long loop through the hood, then back tracked 1.2 miles on the short loop.  I did this over and over till I logged in my miles.  I stopped at the house for a quick potty break after mile 4, then for water & gu at 5, 11, 16, 20.  I had gatorade too.  At some point, I ran in a grabbed a new battery for my mp3 player.  Can't remember when it was. 

My goal was to finish 20 miles.  After the first 5 knocked out the cob-webs, I fell into a nice rythm and around mile 17, I felt like I was doing so well that I would try and go a little further than just 20.  I hadn't put in my 5 extra miles for the week, and I felt like I had the energy to do a few more than 20.  It was just an amazingly great run.  Great weather, nice breeze, some sun.  No dogs in the road coming after me.  Just a great run. 

Once a year or so, there's a run when things go well, and you just feel like you can keep going.  That's how I felt at mile 20.  So I went for another 4 mile loop.  Funny thing was, as soon as I took off on the last 4, I started getting a side ache, then weird hip pains, and I almost threw in the towel.  But I worked through them, and kept on going.  My pace was a little slower for the last four, but it was still a pace I was happy with.  Such a difference from last week.

At mile 20, my overall average pace was 9:31.  I kept it about that pace the whole time.  10 seconds +/-, but pretty consistent.  At mile 24.09, it was 9:33.  I can't say what made it so great, but I'm happy with how well it went.  And since I went 24, I do feel confident now that I can do 26.2.   I'm glad that the long training runs are over, though.  I need my Saturdays back. 

I had a nice ice bath after I got back, then a warm shower, and off for errands.  We went to see a dollar theater movie.  I thought I'd fall asleep, but I was surprised I stayed awake.  I guess 2 huge diet pepsi drinks will do that for me :-)

Thanks to Terri, RAD & Carolyn for the good positive thoughts & helping me feel like I could do it.  You're the best.

2 mile easy walk in the pm

Easy recovery miles this morning.  It was around 40^o outside, so I was dressed warmly.  I hadn't worn my running tights since spring.  I realized I might need to get used to running in them for the race if it's that cold on race day.  

My warm up mile was a 10:08, then mile 2 was around 9:30, then the last 3/4 mile was around 9mm. My parts all felt good, but I could tell my effort was more than it should have been.  I guess they're still recovering from Saturday.

Because my training miles never got really high, should I try and keep my weekly training miles about the same and just diminish my long run miles until the week of the race?  I was only getting 20-25 miles pre-long run in.  Should I try and keep that level until race week, or taper those down too?

Had to drive to seminary again, so I only got in 4 miles before it was time to go.  Did some physical therapy after the drive.  I didn't have time for my Garmin to find the satellites before I started running, so mile one was a ? on the pace.  The other miles were 8:50, 8:35, 8:20. 

My legs felt okay, but were still a little worn out/tired.  I hope my tempo run tomorrow goes well.  My last 8 mile tempo run before the race.  The end of tunnel is getting closer!

Luckily, I've got some FAUBLOUS new red and black apple-bottom skorts to run in for the race.   I'm so excited to try them out this weekend when it gets a tad bit warmer for my run.  I just know they're gonig to be fast!  Thanks little RAD. :-)

40^o  81% humidity

In the afternoon, I was able to get a couple of miles in with some cool running ladies from work.  I forgot my garmin, so I said we'd just run a path I'd run before, and keep track of the time on my stopwatch.  Except I forgot to start the time on the stopwatch, so we ran for a while.  I know it was 2 miles we ran...it could have been just a little over.  Not sure on the pace.  Probably a 10mm average.

Easy eight...lol.   No, this was my tempo run today.  8 miles total.  1.5 warm up, then 4 sets of 1600x 8:11 (I was able to do a little bit faster)  with 800 recovery.  1 mile cool down (included the last recovery).

I did not want to get out of bed this morning.  I think I've said that every day for the last 5 days.  It's not getting better.  I thought maybe I'd be motivated because this is my last really tough tempo run....but I wasn't.  I almost persuaded myself to sleep in and do it tomorrow. 

The end is in sight, but I feel weary from the journey.  I'm looking forward to the week-end taper and the last week of easy workouts.  But most of all, I'm looking forward to finishing the marathon so I can whatever I feel like doing....especially if it includes sleep.

I think of Carolyn...running every day for an entire year.  That is awesome dedication. 

I managed to get the running program to come up on my watch.  But I wasn't prepared for all of the beeping it was going to do.  I'm not sure why there were extra beeps along the way.  At one point on my second tempo mile, I heard it beep, and the remaining distance portion said .50 so I thought that meant my tempo portion was over, and I started slowing down.  About 1/4 of a mile later, I realized I was wrong, and I hadn't even finished the mile tempo...I blame it on the early hour.   So my second tempo run was slower than it should have been. 

Came home and showered so I could try and see some of the shooting stars that were supposed to be out this am around 6.  I didn't see any shooting stars, but I did see an awesome sattelite zip through Orion.  Supercool.

45^o,  83% humidity. 

lap	dist	pace
1	1.5	10:23
2	1	7:39
3	.5	9:22
4	1	8:17
5	.5	9:21
6	1	7:48
7	.5	9:08
8	1	7:58
9	.5	9:20
10	.52	9:22

47^o     81% humidity       clear skies.......beautiful

Slow warm up mile.  Not sure of the pace, my garmin hadn't picked up the satellites.  So I ran the distance and started keeping track after I reached the mile point.

Started mile 2 at moderate effort, and it was around an 8:50 pace.  Mile 3 was around an 8:30 pace, and mile 4 was an 8:50 pace.  It got harder to keep up the pace as the miles went on.  The moderate effort went from a 5 to a 7, but I knew it was only for a short time, so I just went with it.  The last mile I ran slower..I wanted an easy cool down.  I can't remember the exact pace, but it was between a 9 & 9:30.  1/3 mile walk at the end. 

I managed a quick nap before work. I'm loving those morning naps.

Probably do running/bleachers after work as well. 

Added two miles after work.  Went running with someone who hasn't run for a while, so they were slow and easy miles.  We even walked a little, but it was good company and I enjoyed the sunshine.

I got to sleep in and do 30 min easy elliptical this morning.  I think it's my first Friday actually doing something for a while.  Since I only have 12 miles tomorrow, I figured I could do a little something today and not be totally burned out.

Went to run our favorite trail and there was a sign up that said the trail was closed until the end of December because of rifle hunting in the area.  Who is hunting rifles?  J/K.  We were bummed, and thought we'd go try another nearby trail that goes around a lake.

The lake trail wasn't what we thought it would be.  It was very uneven, very sandy, and it was hard to tell where we were supposed to go, because it kept shooting off in different directions that all dead-ended.  We got tired of trying to figure it out after 2+ miles and headed back to the car.  Mr. had run out of steam, and I wasn't liking the uneven surface.  At mile 3.6 I was back at the car.  We decided that I'd just run the road back to base and he'd drive along in the car and stop to give me water, gatorade, etc. when I needed it.

For the first 4 miles, there wasn't a shoulder on the road.  Just 2 lanes @ 55 mph.  I was having to run in the grass/weeds on the side of the road whenever a car came by.  The road was really hilly. Not steep hills, just a lot of ups & downs.   The second 4+ miles had a small shoulder, so it was less "off road" running.  Much better.  We did find some interesting items on the side of the road as I was running along.  Nothing I'd post on a family friendly blog though.

The weather forcast was supposed to be overcast & rainy.  It was just humid and hot..no rain, and too much sun.  When we started, it was 71^o with 99% humidity, and when I ended, it was 76% with 80% humidity.

I think I underestimated 12 miles.  After 24 last week, I thought 12 would be a walk in the park, and didn't fuel up correctly yesterday.  I realized when I was done today that 12 miles is something I should plan for a little better. 

Lots of new and different variables today with my run.  I don't think my head was in the game like it should have been.  But I did feel fabulous in my new apple bottom running skirt!  With extra room in the pockets for my cell phone and my gu.  Thanks again Little RAD.

I only had a 2 mile run this morning, so I decided to hit the snooze button and get a little extra sleep.  I guess I hit the off button instead.  I woke up just after 6 when my daughter was getting ready to leave for school.

I asked her why she didn't wake me up and she said that she thought I was out running.  I guess that's a reasonable assumption to make.  I can't be too mad, I did enjoy the sleep.

Some strength training in the am. 

Okay, guilt set in and I did four after work.  Overall pace 8:45, but the first two miles were rough.  Lead legs that wouldn't seem to get into a rhythm.  The last two miles felt better.  I sprinted the last 1/4 of a mile.  Times were 9:07, 8:59, 8:47, 8:04.

Now for dinner...

Four miles this morning. Started out with a slow warm up, then increased speed gradually. Legs still feel a bit tired.

57 degrees, 98% humidity

9:05 average pace. 10:08, 9:04, 8:46, 8:22.

I'd like to do a 10K this Saturday. It's the week before the marathon. My training guide says to do 8 miles. So I'd do a couple mile warm up or cool down, and then do the run at moderate pace. Do y'all think that would be okay, or is it too close to the big run?

I had a tempo run on the calendar today.  It was 1 mile warm up & cool down with 3 miles at a 8:25 pace.

I ran the first w/o my garmin because I didn't want to wait for it to find the satellites.  The tempo miles were good, and it felt like I was pushing myself to keep the pace.  My paces were 8:14, 8:13, 8:12. 

After my last tempo mile, I tried to slow down, and immediately got a sharp pain behind my knee.  Running came to a halt and walking was very difficult.  I hobbled to the mailbox where I do my stretching, and tried stretching the muscles out.  I wonder if my knee brace was too tight.  Not really sure what the cause was, but it was the end of my running for the morning.

Put ice on it for a while as I was getting ready for work.  It's been 3 hours and it's still a bit tender, but I can walk w/o any troubles.  I took some naproxen and hopefully it'll work out by tomorrow.

It's been cooling off in the mornings, and the forecast was for rain this morning.  So I put on my running tights, long sleeve shirt, jacket, etc.  I took one step outside and thought I was having a heat stroke.  My outdoor thermometer said it was 79^o.  It wasn't raining, but it was humid.  I checked wunderground, and it said 73^o with 98% humidity.  I had to take a few min for a wardrobe change before I went on my run.  After 4 miles, I was dripping wet...and it hadn't rained a drop. 

I sure hope the weather isn't THAT bad for the race.  I think I'd rather take cold rain than humid heat.  But I'm holding out for cool, clear skies.

I ran short and easy this morning.  Wanted to make sure my leg was okay. 

pace times were 10:20, 9:57, 9:33

clear skies, in the 50's and not so humid..........Just Right!

Leg feels fine, so that's good.  AND....I'm not tired, so I don't feel like I need a nap this morning.  :-)

Hope everyone out west has a safe run in the cold and snow.  Can't wait to read about it.

Strength training/physical therapy. 

I got a late start, but didn't have to wait for my garmin to catch the sattelites because (thanks to Carolyn) I have it sitting in the window getting warmed up while I get dressed in the morning. 

3 easy miles: 9:48, 8:50, 8:27 (this was more like moderate) 

51.1^o, 89% humidity

Stretches, strength training/physical therapy

5 days left till the race.  Woo Hoo!!

I thought 4 miles would be okay for today.  It's the same I did last Tuesday, but it's still low enough miles that it's not going to ruin my taper. (At least that's what I think).

I ran easy/moderate.  Slow start with 9:55, then 9:05, then 8:50, then 8:40 (approx paces).  I wasn't trying to speed up, it just seemed like as I warmed up, the pace increased.

46^o ,   93% humidity    good weather.  the sun was lighting up the sky as I was heading home, around 5:50.  So I guess the sun is coming up around then.  It made a pretty morning sunrise color in the sky...kind of all the colors of the rainbow rising up from the tree tops.  I didn't need much from my headlamp today though, because the moon was sooo big and bright this morning.  It lit up the night.  Pretty cool morning to be out running and get to see all the beautiful stuff that people miss when they stay inside.

Physical therapy/strength training after.  I couldn't do my glutes the way I usually do on the ball because my back was sore.  I think it's just from sleeping wrong.  Nothing big, I'm sure it'll be gone tomorrow. 

Tomorrow is my last tempo day.  Yee-haw!  It's only 5 miles, with 3 tempo, so it's going to be a piece of cake.  The tempo is 8:55, so I'm not even going to worry about it.  I'm liking the taper week!

I found a wonderful little deli type store in town that sells fresh made tabouleh (?spelling?).  It is wonderful!!  I'm treating myself to some of it this week.  It's full of great carbs :-)  Yum, Yum.

4 1/2 days left till the race!!!  Woo Hoo!

update: ran .75 on bleachers then .3 around the track for another mile after work.  Walked & stretched to cool down.

I woke up to run and checked my workout log to make sure I had my miles/times right for the tempo run I was going to do.  I saw that this week, they've changed the tempo run to Thursday. 

So I did some quick thinking and decided I would go back to sleep and do some elliptical.  I've read it's important to get plenty of sleep the week before a long race, so I thought I could get more rest, and do some moderate elliptical.  I did bleachers yesterday and figured it wouldn't hurt my legs to rest a little more.

I did 25 min on the elliptical, then all of my physical therapy stuff.  I thought that would be enough, but I feel sluggish (like I haven't done a workout at all).  Maybe I'll do my tempo run tonight after school...I don't know.  I just feel like I didn't do enough...is this normal for taper week? 

This morning couldn't come fast enough.  Since I wasn't supposed to run yesterday, it's all I could think about doing.  It was such a release to get going today.  I enjoyed all of it!

Tempo run 5 miles total.  3 miles tempo in between warm ups & cool downs.

start 48^o end 46^o  86% humidity.  Beautiful, clear skies again.  I took my headlamp & hat off at the end so I could enjoy the night/early morning sky.

I did my tempos a little faster than they'd suggested, but I think it's okay, because on average, I'm always running faster than their suggested pace.  I wasn't ever really pushing hard, I was just running faster..if that makes sense.

paces were: 9:55, 8:30, 8:10, 7:55, 9:15 (I'm rounding.... I can't remember exactly what they were, but I know they're about this pace).   I walked .5 mile home to finish the loop.  Any other day I would have run, but I'm really wanting to do this taper thing right.

I didn't get my physical therapy done this morning, it'll have to wait till tonight.  I guess I'm skipping bleachers after school today.  It's going to be beautiful, but I know I need to rest, and I want to get dinner ready early so I can make it to the big craft show in town.  It runs today-Sunday, so this will be my only day to make it. 

I'm excited to go to the craft fair because I saw they've got a crickle booth.  I've wanted to try it ever since I saw it on Food Network.  YUM!  And speaking of food, I bought a giant sized bag of chocolate puffs with marshmallows for breakfast next week.  No oatmeal for me.  I've been eating oatmeal 6 days a week since mid-August.  I'm ready for the treats!!!

72 hours from now, I'll be running somewhere along the race route!! 

I was excited to run this morning.  I was looking at my training calendar, and I'm all the way at the bottom.  Only one thing left....the big run.  So this was my last "training" day. 

The run was easy, I tried to keep my pace over 9mm.  I think my first mile was around 9:45 and the second was around 9:15. 

I went to the craft festival last night.  Lots of booths were selling things with polka dots and big monograms.  That must be the craft thing of the season.  I got to try some crickle.  It's kind of like peanut brittle, but it's not as hard.  The brittle part is crunchy, but it's more of a flaky kind of crunchy, like a butterfinger.  It was good, but it wasn't as great as I thought it was going to be. Of course I bought some, because maybe it'll grow on me.

It was hard not eat all of the different things they had to taste test there, but I knew I didn't need the fat/calories from that stuff (dips, cakes, chips, fudge, funnel cake!).  I was a little worried about the germs too.  I thought, what if someone double dipped?  Or what if that dip hasn't been kept at a cool temp long enough?  I didn't want to get sick from it.  I feel like I'm little OCD lately about not getting sick from people around me.  I've trained too much to give it all up for some rhino-virus or flu bug.

Less than 48 hours left! 

10 1/2 hours till race time....  I need to get to bed!!!

Well, that's finally over.  It was exciting and fun.  The awesome factor wore off around mile 20 when my legs got sore and it was hard to keep my pace.

That's when I started pulling up all the good energy people had been sending me.  Thank you to everyone who was so supportive. 

Beautiful sunshine.  Perfect temps almost the whole way.  It warmed up toward the end, but that's to be expected around noon.

Already thinking about trying it again sometime.  But for now, I'm just going to work on walking :-) 

UPDATE:  Here's a little more info about the race and how things went for me.  I'm sorry if it drags on...I've read some of the other race reports on the blog, and there's no way this will be as well put together or eloquent...it's just going to be my ramblings

We parked maybe 1/2 a mile from the start.  We'd driven most of the first 13 miles the day before, and were excited to be there for the run.  Terri and I followed the same training program (with our own adjustments)...she did hers in MD and I did mine in NC.  So we were together again for our first marathon.  It was fun and exicting as we walked to the start line.  We were making up songs to tunes that popped up in our mind.  

"It's a beautiful day for a marathon, a beautiful day for a marathon, won't you run with me?  Won't you please?  Please, won't you please, run the marathon with me?"    and "Rise, and shine, and we're gonna run today, rise, and shine, and we're gonna run today, Rise and shine and, we're gonna run today, all 26.2 miles."

I think the nervous energy was making us a little giddy/silly.  It's good we weren't being too self conscious.  We were both wearing striped pirate bandana hats with Mickey Mouse ears sticking out the top.  At first we didn't see anyone else dressed up like a pirate.  That was a little awkward.  After hanging around the start line for a while, we saw a few stray pirates here and there...and one guy dressed up in an elf hat.  Still not sure about that one.

We made it out of the port-a-potty just in time to stand for the national anthem.  I was glad I didn't have to choose between the potty and being patriotic.  There were really long lines, and the race was fixin' to start.

We found our corral, and were in the 3rd group to take off.  It was so exciting.  I started choking up a little, but swallowed hard.  I didn't need a headache from crying at the start of the race!  My emotions were just overwhelming.  I was finally there.  All of my focus for the last 3 months was for this moment (and the next 4 1/2 hrs of moments to come).  Awesome feeling.  My heart still swells thinking back on the emotions I was feeling.

We started out at a slow, warm up mile pace. 9:58 for the first mile.  I was happy with it.  My garmin was beeping to speed up, but I knew we'd be getting on our pace track soon, so I just let it beep.  We had discussed the day before what we wanted to have for our pace goal, and what we wanted to set our garmins at for pace indicators.  I had successfully run a 9:30 average 24 mile training run 3 weeks earlier.  It was on a super flat course.  I felt like I wanted to stay with that 9:30 pace.   Terri expressed that she wanted to run a 9:20 pace because that's what the training program had said we could run.  I wasn't feeling confident that I could do a 9:20 pace, but I was willing to try.

We set our watches to beep if we went over 9:00 or under 9:45.  After the first mile, the next 8 miles were pretty flat, but really winding.  We picked up an extra .25 miles somewhere in all of those turns in the first 4 miles.  Not using our tangents correctly, I guess.  That's how I ended up with 26.47 miles.

Miles 2-9, we started out at the pace I was comfortable with, but just got slower and slower.  I found that I had to hold back a lot, and I figured that was good, because I didn't want to burn out later.  But we were over our target time, over my goal pace time, and we kept getting slower.  I was getting really tired of hearing the garmin beep at me.  Paces for those miles were (9:32, 9:34, 9:36, 9:37, 9:45, 9:41, 9:45, 9:51).  The folks who lived along the path were great.  They were out cheering us on, and had water out for us if we needed it.  It was so beautiful and fun.  One group even had a couple different beers they were handing out if anyone wanted...it made me laugh.  Some other house was giving out tomato juice...I didn't see the vodka with it, but I wondered if they were passing out bloody mary's.  What a hoot.  The inlet of water between Kill Devil Hills and Manteo was just beyond the houses to our right as we were running down the island.  It was beautiful to see the water, and the plants that were growing on the shore.  At one point, we ran through a huge field of the wild oat grass and reeds that grew there.  It was picture perfect.  The golden plants were at least 6 feet tall, and they were blowing in the wind.  We could catch glimpses of the water occasionally through them.  It was beautiful.  At mile 8, we ran around the Wright Brother's Monument.  It sits atop a big hill.  Luckily, we just ran the perimeter of the hill.  I took a picture of Terri on my cell phone to send to her hubby who wasn't able to be there.  Then she took one of me, and a fellow runner saw what we were doing.  He offered to take one of us together.  How fun! 

Miles 10-13 were in the woods.  The first 2.5 were on packed dirt road with some pretty sandy spots along the way.  It was full of hills too.  I wasn't expecting that.  I found that I was trying to run faster to keep the garmin from beeping at me, because I really wanted to make my goal pace.  I would look back, and Terri was behind me, so I'd stop and run in place till she caught up with me.  This happened the entire 2.5 miles on the dirt path.  I think we were both frustrated.  She was doing what she could, and I wanted to do what I could, but I didn't want to leave her behind.  We've always stuck together for races.  It was a huge conflict for me whether I should go on ahead or not.   Our miles were (9:53, 10:21, 10:05, 10:35).  When we finished mile 12, and I told her that we'd run it in 10:05, she said that she was going to stick to that pace for the rest of the race.  She suggested I go on and run what I could, and she'd turn her ipod on and see me at the end.  I spent a few minutes thinking about it and debating what I should do...there wasn't an easy answer.  Finally, at mile 12.5, the trail turned into a narrow path that went up the side of hill.  It was all just thick, soft mulch.  That was a bugger!  The longest 1/2 mile of the race.  It slowed me down too.  But I was moving on ahead, and I didn't see Terri after the 13 mile mark.

After mile 13, it was the familliar 1/2 marathon route that I'd run last year.  It wasn't as fun running by myself, but I did feel like it was good that I had a chance to run with/for myself.  I kind of came to the conclusion that running a marathon is a huge person struggle, especially at the end when you're tired and have to find that extra strength somewhere inside.  People have told me that running a marathon is a really spiritual experience.  I can see that now, and I think it was okay that I did it by myself.  I learned a lot about myself in those last 4 1/2 miles.

I enjoyed the running into the neighborhoods and the cheering crowds.  I took another pix of myself as I ran past the sand dunes.  It's not easy to take pix on a cell phone while you're running.  I'm glad I did it though.  That was around mile 15.  I sent the pix to my sister and to my friend Cori.  My sister was in church & couldn't reply, but Cori did, and gave me some encouragement.  It was great to have my phone to get the extra support.  Around mile 20, I wasn't able to text and run at the same time.  My fingers weren't working very well, so I had to put the phone away.  The race was getting rough, and the bridge was still ahead.

I grabbed gu at each of the 4 gu stations they had.  I'd brought enough with me, but I thought, hey, they're $1.20 each, so I'll get some free gu! (I think it was actually hammer gel).  I'd started putting their gu in my pockets with my gu, and the weight was pulling my skirt down.  So I put my gloves in my running bra in the front pocket, and tried to sandwich the gu in between them so they didn't rub my skin off.  It didn't work perfectly, and I've got some wicked raw sores on my sternum now.  But I've got my $4.80 worth of free gu! 

Miles 14-21 paces were (9:39, 9:31, 9:43, 9:27, 9:38, 9:26, 9:31, 9:48).  I was happy with those times; that's just where I wanted to be.  I could tell around mile 21 I was getting tired.  My legs started getting heavy and I could feel the pain creeping up in them.  I was glad that I'd run on sore legs before.  I was glad that RAD had told me that I should be prepared to run on sore legs.  That way, I knew what was going on, and I knew I could just push on and keep going. I was grateful for my training and for the advice of my mentors.

Mile 22 was going up the bridge.  I was in the mode to just keep moving, and I didn't really seem to have much control over my speed.  It was going to be what it was going to be.  I was trying so hard to just keep running up that hill.  The 4:15 pace group passed me going up the bridge.  I wanted so badly to be able to keep up with them, but after 30 seconds of trying, I knew I wasn't going to be able to keep up with them, and I was okay with that.  I knew I was doing my best, and the disappointment didn't last long.  After the bridge, it was pretty flat through town to the finish line.  I was obviously running slower.  I can't believe how slow my mile 26 was.  I didn't feel like my effort was a 10:50, but that's all I got for my effort.  I tried sprinting the last .2 miles.  I did increase my pace, but it wasn't a land speed record.  I was glad I was able to run a little faster though.   

Paces for 22-26.2 were (9:53, 10:10, 10:13, 10:11, 10:50, 9.16-for the .2)

I crossed the finish line, and I was so happy that I finished in 4:20.  It worked out to just under a 10 mm pace.  Mike was at the finish line to cheer for me - he'd just run the 1/2 and finished it in 2:05.  I walked for a while at the end, and was thrilled that I didn't have any horrid leg cramps.  All hail to Carolyn and her great suggestion for chicken noodle soup!

We waited in the corral for Terri.  She finished in 4:44.  I let her run in and then I hugged her.  It was so wonderful to be there with her when she finished.  We'd done it.  It was amazing.  It was great.  For those few moments there in the corral, we'd conquered the world.

I can't wait to do it again....

getting out of bed today was a workout

I'll be using my upper body strength today to pull/push myself in and out of chairs.

I managed to get some shoes on my feet and went out for a short walk this morning.  It was a tough start.  Every step was such an effort.  But I knew it would help.  I was walking more comfortably about half way through. 

I just want to sit all day, but I know I need to drink a lot and keep moving.  It's the epic struggle of doing what I know is right and good for my body vs doing what feels good right now.  Obviously, I'm sitting at a computer right now and not moving around, so you can see how well that's going.

I'll be ready for another walk tonight. 

I got an email, and a friend of mine that I haven't seen in almost 2 years said she might be coming down my way for the 1/2 marathon in 2 weeks.  I'd love to run it with her (just running slowly...no pr's).  Will it be too soon?

I laid out my running stuff last night thinking that maybe I'd be able to try to jog a little this morning.  But laying in bed all night made me super stiff again.  I took the easier route and clamored up on the elliptical for a 20 minute workout.  Started out slow, but but 17 minutes, I actually felt good. It's 3 hours later now, and I can feel the soreness coming back. 

I think that's the encouragement I need to get out there and work my muscles a little more to help them feel better.   Maybe I'll try the easy jog tomorrow.

I bought that huge bag of chocolate cereal for breakfast to eat when I'd finished the race, and it's so uappealing in the morning, I haven't been able to eat it for breakfast yet.  I actually thought about making my oatmeal again this morning.  I went for a pb&j bagel instead. 

Holiday day off.  Slept in and ran errands all day.

Great to be back on the road in the morning.

My legs were tired, it was raining, it was cold, and the wind was blowing.  But I loved every minute of it. 

paces were 10:00, 9:14, 9:11(for the last 1/2).  I had the watch set to alert me if I went over a 9mm.  I was surprised when it went off.  I didn't think I'd be running that fast.  It was a moderate effort.  But getting up off the chair is a moderate effort these days.

I think I'll do a few short miles again tomorrow, and try a longer run on Saturday at a slower pace.

3 easier miles than yesterday.  I just want to take the recovery easy so I'm able to heal and not get injured.  But I'm glad I can do it with some easy runs.  I'm hoping to get a longer easy run in tomorrow.

paces were 10:30-9:30.  Misty rain, windy.  Just right :-)

On an awesome note...last night I got to listen to Billy Mills give a speech.  I was able to meet him and get his autograph & get my photo taken with him after.  He was/is so inspirational.  He was recently listed in the Runner's World magazine as "The best underdog story of all time."  He won the 10K in Tokyo's 1964 Olympics.  His win is on youtube, and it's amazing to watch. 

Bad night.  Up at 2 worried about the dumb things 16 year old boys can do.  Couldn't go back to sleep, so by 4:30, I was out running.  I got in 6 miles total.  The last .5 I needed to slow down a little and I thought I pushed the lap button on my watch, but pushed the stop button instead.  So I'm not sure what the pace was on the last 1/2.

The weather was nice and cool.  Running helped get some of the stress out. 

Emotional exhaustion is harder to work through than physical.  And there's no "finish line" or "medal" at the end.  Just another problem to deal with.

 paces were:

9:35, 9:07, 8:59, 8:51, 9:01, 9:00 (first .5- not sure on second)

2 mile walk to get out of the house and drag myself out of bed

Just an extra easy Monday run.  Having a little pain on the outer thigh of my right leg, and trying to not push that.  I guess I'm still supposed to be recovering too. 

The 1/2 is Saturday.  I think that as long as my thigh cooperates, I should be able to run it.  It will be a slow, easy, training run.  But I'll be among friends, and that will make it fun.

Super foggy this morning.  Paces were 9:57, 8:59, and 8:33 for the last .62.

47^o   96% humidity

Running felt great until mile 3.5, when the pain that was in my thigh yesterday started radiating up into my hip.

I tried stretching it out really well last night, and I stretched it again this morning. 

I think I might just not run more than a couple of miles a day for the rest of the week to let it get better.  That, and lots of stretching.  Or maybe I just shouldn't run at all...not sure what the best course of action is.  I really want to run the 1/2 this Saturday.

Average pace was 8:58 for the 4 miles.  Weather was in the high 40's.  The sky wasn't overcast, but there was a lot of foggy stuff down where I was, and I wasn't able to see any of the meteor show.  :-(

My hip felt sore when I went to bed, but it felt great when I woke up...so I decided to....not run.  It was hard to convince myself it was the right thing to do, but I really want to run on Saturday, so I am going to take some time off till then. 

I'll work on my physical therapy, which will only help to strengthen my core (which includes my hip).  I'll walk too.  But I'm just going to lay off the running and other hippy-type things.  I thought I'd try walking the bleachers yesterday, but the motion of going up was just aggrivating.  Down was fine, but it wasn't worth the pain.  So I did some walking and stretching instead.  It was good to get out with the other ladies and talk.

Is it irony that at the same time my child starts acting like the idiot of the year, I develop a huge pain in my rear?

Still taking it easy and waiting for Saturday to run.  My hip-thing feels like it's getting better. 

I went to see the dr about my bump on my ankle that hurts when I tie my shoe on it.  He said he thought it was tarsal tunnel syndrome.  Oh dear.  I'm not sure I think it's accurate.  He gave me a referral to a podiatrist, so I'm looking forward to seeing that dr for a diagnosis, and to talk about my other foot issues.

He told me to take extra strength naprosyn 2x a day for 10 days to see if that would help with the swelling.  I guess that's okay to do?  I figure it can't hurt my hip stuff either, so I'm game.  I just don't want to ruin my insides by taking lots of meds.

I plan on doing some walking after school, and my physical therapy.  I had to leave an hour early this morning because it was take your parent to middle-school day.  I'll be honest, I couldn't wait for it to be over, and to get back to work. 

The highlight was when I saw the entire language arts class reading a book called the 7 habits of effective teen-agers.  It was by a Covey (a son I assume).  I really loved what I read and what the students were being taught.  Kudos to the Coveys for bringing values back into people's lives.

I can hear the music playing..."another one bites the dust."

I'm letting my hip try and heal. I still feel it a little now and then. I don't think sitting on it all day helps at all. But what do I know?

Went to an early celebration breakfast after a early trip to walmart for a bunch of candy and some flowers.

Hopefully the run tomorrow will go well. I don't really know how my hip will feel, but I've certainly rested it the last 3 days. Hoping for the best. The weather forecast says 50's and no rain. It's going to be better than last year's 31 degrees.

Even on the car ride up to the run, I could feel a little something in my hip, and I just wasn't sure I'd be able to go the distance. 

We got there early, and signed up for the races, and got our long sleeved white t-shirts with the horrid bright green screen printing on them.  Wow....you'll see me coming when I wear that!

It was just a little chilly, but warm compared to last year. at 7:30 when we got there, it was 39^o.  By race time at 9 am, it was 48^o.  I took off my sweat shirt and sweat pants.  My skirt and 2 long sleeved techniical shirts were chili while waiting for the gun to go off, but I warmed up quickly, and the weather was great.  It was 53^o when we finished.  Humidity wasn't bad.  It started at 93% (7:30 am) and went down to 67% (11:15).

It was great to see Katie.  I hadn't seen her in almost 2 years.  We talked and talkedf or the whole 2 hours.  She's just finished her big marathon in California, and I'd just finished mine in the OBX, so we were both just running for the fun of it, and we both knew we needed to take it easy and go slow.  So there was NO pressure.  It was marvelous!

The hills were still there, but they just didn't seem as bad as last year.  And time flew by.  I was ready to stop running when we got to mile 13, but I wanted to keep going so we could talk more.  I was kind of sad when it was over. 

Mr ran the 10K with some ladies from my work.  They all ran in under 1 hour.  I think Mr. even broke his PR...and he'd been suffering from shin splints all week!  Everyone seemed really happy with their results, and seemed to have a good time. 

Panera afterwards was delicious!  Maybe it's a good thing Panera is over an hour away, or I'd be there every week-end!

We averaged 9:45-10:00 mm most of the run.  The last few miles, we walked more at the water stops, and Katie got her little water jugs filled up..so that added the extra time.  It was great to just stop and not worry about the clock.  The best stop we had was just around mile 7.  We ran across a bridge/road that went throught he middle of a lake, and while we were crossing it, we came across a couple of guys who were walking.  So we asked them to use my camera to take our pix.  They ended up taking a video clip instead, but it's still fun to see.

Great day, great run, great company, great food.  Doesn't get much better than that.

20 minutes on the elliptical, moderate intentisty.

I feel like I'm ready to get back out & run, I just need to make myself keep my pace slower for a few more days while I "recover."  Easier said than done.

5:20-6:00am....drizzly rain, not too cold- somewhere around 50^o

  Warm up was around 10:45, then the next three were all 9:50's.  Felt great to be out running in the morning again.  I'm even enjoying my oatmeal breakfasts again!

Got to sleep in a little today.  It was great.

Ran 6 easy.  started at a 10:40, then kept the miles around a 9:50.  There were 2 miles in the middle that ended up a 9:30.  I tried to go slow, but stay under a 10 mm. 

It was nice weather, and it was great to run 51^o and 95% humidity.

Happy Thanksgiving! I managed to walk around the block after dinner.

My afternoon race didn't materialize.

Too much food!

So much fun sleeping in and not going shopping.  Had a nice breakfast and then went out for a little easy run with Mr. while my daughter rode her bike with us.

avg pace 9:52   10:40, 9:46, 9:33, 9:35, 9:55, 9:41.   Nice weather, just a little windy.

Still sleeping in and enjoying it.  Mr. rode the bike today while I ran.

Beautiful weather.

avg ?..forgot to shut watch off while I was walking and doing yard work.

 9:56, 9:13, 9:36, 9:31, 9:39, 9:29, 9:16, 8:48  

I think I ran faster because I was trying to keep pace with the bike. 

Back at the early morning run.  I will say that my early runs don't seem to last as long as the ones I did when I slept in.  I wonder if it's because I'm still asleep and it's dark outside.

4:50-5:50 am   nice weather, clear skies.  Beautiful moon was setting as I went out.

Started a new "training program" for the Myrtle Beach Marathon.  I used smart coach on the runner's world magazine.  It has me running 3x a week and xtraining the other days.  I think I'll just run on the x-train days and see how it goes.  Maybe throw an elliptical in there now and then when the weather is horrid.

The marathon is on Feb 13th..so I've got just under 11 weeks.  I think I can do it.  I'm glad I've got some serious training to do to keep me motivated as it gets cold and as the holiday treats pile up. 

avg pace 9:24  - 10:28, 9:20, 9:13, 9:21, 9:10, 8:54, 8:43(pace for last .13).  

20 min elliptical

3 miles run

I wasn't prepared for the cold weather..I had my shorts on, and I'm really glad that I did the elliptical first to warm up, because my legs were frosty on the run. My outdoor thermostat read 37 degrees.

9:45-9:00 pace increasing w/mileage

Had a tooth ground down to a stump for a crown last night.  Traumatic for me emotionally and physically.  It was my first crown rodeo.  :-(

So I didn't sleep well, and rationalized my sleeping in because I figured I needed to heal.  Looking back, I don't think I really needed the rest, but I thought it was a good excuse at the time.

I did 20 min on the elliptical.  If it's not a thunderstorm after work, maybe I'll try and get my tempo in then.

I did enjoy the fact that I got to eat a vanilla frosty for dinner last night.  It was great except for the fact that I had to carry around a towel to wipe the drips off my face because I couldn't keep the food in my mouth. 

I got my run in today. It was 59 degrees with 84% humidity outside when I went out at 5 am. I'm never sure whether to wear shorts & a t-shirt or pants & a coat. I guess I need to keep a better eye on the weather forecast. Did the same old 4 mile loop. It's getting boring. I feel like I need a new running venue. paces were: 9:54(warm up mile), 7:45(fast mile), 10:07(1/2 mile recovery jog), 7:50(fast mile), ???(1/2 mile recovery jog...I pushed off instead of lap), 9:47(cool down mile), 9:54(.17 to get home). My fast miles were faster than I'd anticipated. I had only planned on trying to keep an 8:30 pace. My garmin wasn't set up for this run, so I just ran fast figuring I'd get at least an 8:30. It was hard running the 7:45 pace, and I felt kind of icky right afterward, but when I got home, I was feeling good and happy about what I'd accomplished. I could tell when I started out on my first fast mile that my knee wasn't used to that kind of speed. It was talking to me for the first 1/4 of that fast mile. I think it was trying to tell me that I need to work on my physical strengthening exercises more and build my quads up. I've been really slacking on them. The little dog that I had to spray last month was out again this morning. I just kept running while his owner was standing there yelling at him to come back. The dog chased after me for 2 houses, then went back. I'd forgotten my spray, or I would have given him a little mist. The guy knows I'm out in the morning, yet he still takes his dog out front without a leash.........and he knows the dog chases me. Frustrating.

Did 4 full laps with bleachers on both sides after school.  It was 22 minutes.  I don't know for sure the mileage, but I added 2 miles to my running total.  It was a tough workout!

Didn't sleep too well.  I think I'm getting a chest cold.  Tried to go to bed early, but the Office and 30 Rock kept me awake.  They were great last night.  The hour before was great too.  I guess I spent 2 hours laying in bed watching tv instead of sleeping.  I didn't have energy to do anything else.  Sounds pathetic when I put it in writing.

Wanted to do an easy day today, so I did a 10 min elliptical warm up, then a 2 mile easy run.  41^o outside.  I wore my shorts outside, but it was okay since I'd already warmed up on the elliptical.  Mile 1 was 10:48, mile 2 was 10:47.

10 miles are on the agenda for tomorrow.  Rain in the forecast....ick.

Not feeling well.  Basic lack of energy and chest congestion. 

Went out to see what I could do.  Got to run in a new area by Sealey's house. We almost didn't get started because I was afraid to get out of the car.  Her four fowl birds ran up to the car when we drove up, and I was afraid to get out.  I didn't want to get pecked.  After we found out they're just stupid birds, I had to laugh at myself. 

 It was fun hearing the stories about all the neighbors that lived nearby.  Real country living down there!  There was a bridge/overpass that is being worked on, so we got to run on it w/o any traffic.  I just didn't have any energy.  Sealey had already run 7, and was just topping off her mileage with us.  The 3.74 was really all I could do.  I was getting dizzy and could tell it was time to quit.

47^o   87% humidity

Slept most of the day yesterday, and 8 hours last night.  Felt awake and good this morning.

It was 33-35^o on the run with 85% humidity.  But it felt pretty dry to me.  I bundled up and stayed warm running.  It really felt good to run and to be out in the cool, crisp air.

I started slow with a 9:48 warm up, then kept the other miles at around a 9:30.  I was supposed to run 6 miles for my "training", but I slept in and didn't have time.  5:15-6:05 am.

Chest congestion is still here.  I thought it was going away, so I didn't take my meds last night.  I woke up this morning sorry. 

3 miles at a faster than usual pace.  I was literally running short on time. 9:16, 8:48, 8:43.  I'll be doing more this afternoon on the bleachers/track.

It's fun to see the holiday decorations up.  Some houses really go crazy with those blow up yard decorations.  One of the houses I run by actually has a blow up yard decoration that plays the Nutcracker Suite music.  I can't imagine what that's like listening to it play all night long.  I think it might give me bad dreams about ballet class.

37^o out this morning.  Partial cloud cover.  It was warmer today than yesterday, but my breath created a lot more fog today than yesterday....I wonder why?

After work, I went out for a quick bleacher work-out.  I got 2 sets done, but it was starting to rain, and the bleachers were getting wet.  I didn't want to slip on them, so I just finished out running around the track, and running back out to the car.  It was a quick, but hard workout.

12:07 pace for the two bleacher laps (.72 miles), then 8:58 for the next mile on the track and 9:02 for the last .18.

I put 6 hours of sleep...that's the time I was laying in bed, but I was up a lot last night.  I had a dream that all my hair fell out...I wonder what that means?

I've still got a lot of chest congestion, which is why my times are a little slower this week than last.  I made a concious effort to try and stay over the 8/mm today.  I knew I was low on energy.  My target was an 8:30 for the speed portions, so I was happy I managed what I did.

It's the same routine as last week...I read the directions wrong last week and did this week's run instead of a tempo run.  Oh well... 

Avg pace 9:27. 10:27, 8:10, 10:21 (1/2 mile jog), 8:16, 10:21, 9:35 (last .84)

50 ^o with 98% humidity 5:00-6:00 am

It was warmer today, but very, very, humid.  The mositure in the air was so thick I could see the water vapor particles floating around in my headlamp. I'm just so glad it wasn't raining.  As I was getting ready for work, I heard the rain start.  It's a crazy southern lightening storm/downpour.  Unless you've been in one, I can't explain just how bad it is.  The rain blows and comes down in buckets.  I'd never experienced anything like it until we moved here.  It's just crazy wet.

Working on getting enough sleep right now seems just as important as running.  The congestion just seems to linger.  The mucus busting medicine I'm taking works to help, but it's always still lingering in the background.

3 mile run.  My garmin was dead...so it was re-charging today while I ran.  My outdoor thermostat said 55^o.  I'm not sure what the official temp was, but it was nice enough for shorts and a jacket.  The wind was blowing a lot, but it was a nice run morning.

Bleachers after school tonight.  I was wishing I'd brought my workout gear to work yesterday.  After school, it was 70^o outside.  The rain had stopped, and other than being humid, it was just perfect weather.  It was still in the 60-70's  when the kids went out Christmas Caroling with their church group last night.  The weather is changing though, because tomorrow morning is supposed to be 25^o. 

I'm glad I've got other plans tomorrow morning.  I'll be setting up the cultural hall for our ward x-mas party tomorrow morning at 5:30 am.  I'm thinking I'll pass on running before that.  I'll get some strength training hauling those tables around!

2.1 miles on the track/bleachers after school.

We put off our run for an hour to see if it would warm up at all.  At least we got above freezing- when we left home, it was 36 degrees. 

We ran a 6 mile loop.  I went twice.  Mr. finished one and started the other.  I think he did around 8.5 total.  It was cold, but even the cold was better than the hot, humid heat.

I went easy because I was still congested.  I think I averaged a 10 mm.  We stopped occasionally to stretch and get fresh tissues.  A good run for a crummy day.

I am looking forward to winter break, and not having to wake up so early.

On a happy note, I felt much less congested today.  I hope this is the beginning of the end of this cold.

Foggy outside this morning.  A little chilly...44^o with 98% humidity.  There was so much vapor/fog in the air, it was hard to see with my headlamp.  The particles in the air were so thick...it was like trying to drive in the fog with high-brights on.

Started slow with a 10+ mm, then gradually increased speed.  Mile 5 was a 9:14. 

After, strength training physical therapy stuff.

This morning was warm...54^o with 98% humidity.  I had to take my sweatshirt off after a mile.  It will cool off after today, and be colder for the week-end.

3 miles today.  9:38, 8:30, 8:15 paces.  The congestion's back...it can't seem to make up it's mind if it's coming or going.  I feel like my energy level is fine, so I don't mind the congestion as much.

I'll be doing some bleachers after school.  I'll try for 2 miles.  My holiday to do list is growing, even though I'm crossing stuff off every day....    I'm sinking in the holiday spirit!

However, I did have a very special holiday miracle yesterday.  I went to the little post office in town after work, and expected to wait in line for a LONG time, since it was the busiest day of the year at the post office.  And, tender mercies, there was no one else there but me!  I went straight to the cashier.  It was beautiful!

2 miles on the bleachers/track after school.  I tried pushing and increasing my pace on the runs between bleachers.  It was 22 minutes of work, but it felt like more.

I typed comments in here yesterday,  but they're gone now.  Darn.

Yesterday was 41^o and I had a tempo run.  5 miles total.  the middle three miles were supposed to be at a 9mm pace, but I wanted to try faster.  If I remember correctly, the paces were around 8:30, 8:20, 8:11.

When I woke up this morning, the radio alarm on my clock had been on for 8 minutes before it woke me up.  I was sleeping right through it.  I guess I was tired.

4 mile run today.  I started slow and sped up.  I got a little hitch in my hip at the end of mile 3, so I stopped, stretched it, and slowed down a little for the last mile.  Miles 2,3,4 were all between 9 and 8:30 paces.  Mile was was around a 9:15 pace.

29^o with 80% humidity.   I guess it cooled off.

Not looking forward to Saturday's long run.  It's 14 miles, but the forecast is for rain in the am with temps below freezing, then maybe cooler and snow in the pm.  I might chicken out and run at the gym on base.  I haven't been on a treadmill in 1 1/2 years, so it would be a change.

20 min easy elliptical

rain and cold almost all day