Wednesday, December 31, 2008

december 2008

i finished off december and 2008 with an easy 5-mile run today. it wasn't anything special other than the fact it was the last run of the year, just an easy run to log some miles as i wind down my goofy training. i ran outside and it felt wayyy easier and wayyy slower than the past two days of running on the treadmill.

mid-day run: 5 miles, 46:21 (9:16 avg pace), avg/max hr (149/183)

overall december was another good month. i had a confidence-boosting mile repeat workout, a great 20-mile training run with an average pace just shy of another bq-paced marathon, and logged a record high 62-mile-week. i'm a little sad i won't have a week that high in mileage for awhile, but it'll be nice to have a little (tiny, short, miniscule) break. i did better at getting in abs than previous months, but on a weekly basis there is still room for improvement. i also fell off the yoga train again, but i'm telling myself i will be busy yoga-ing the week after goofy since i am going to try to force myself to take a few days off from running.

total mileage: 200.64
time spent running: 29:38:23
days off: 7 (1 due to an abnormally high rhr, 2 due to family emergency, & 4 scheduled rest days)
abs/yoga: 7 ab workouts/0 yoga sessions
avg resting hr: 52.26
avg max hr: 185.50

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

looking back on 2008

2008 was my 4th year "back" to running (since high school cross country in '00), although it was the first year i really trained seriously (consistently), and that was only for the last 5 months of the year. it was a good year in which i found a groove (in the latter part of the year) and really started to enjoy running more.
mileage totals
2005 - 735.94 (starting march 14th)
2006 - 623.43 (did not log may thru september)
2007 - 1335.95
2008 - 1613.95 (plus whatever i log tomorrow)
i pr'd at every distance except the 10k this year (where i was just a few seconds shy of my current pr), and i finally, finally got my boston qualifier. what a high that was, especially since i had just added that race in as training for the goofy challenge. it definitely gave me a boost of confidence to think i can really continue whack some minutes off my marathon pr in '09 and '10. i survived the year with no injuries - a few aches and pains here and there, and a couple sinus infections, but nothing really forced me off the streets.

2008 in review

january - 108.97 miles, how far i have come since then! i joined the local running club and decided to go after a "club running series" award for my age group. i'd have to run in and place well at most of the local races throughout the year to earn points, and the top 3 people in each age group win something at the year-end banquet. i ran a 5k, pr'd (21:27) took 2nd place for my age group, and my longest run of the month was 8 whole miles.

february - 85.53 miles, umm. wow lindsay. no comment on that slackness. i ran a half-marathon (1:40:51) with friends, placing 1st in my age group and pr'ing by 3 seconds. longest run = 13.1 (the half race).

march - 64.66 miles, and i thought february was bad. ran a 10k, placed 2nd in my age group and just missed out on a pr (by 5 seconds). otherwise i apparently sat around on my bum all month. i did go visit a friend in st. kitts and did 0 running while i was there. this was also my fattest month of the year, of which i am now down 15 pounds since my fatty-march-weight. yay for running. longest run for march - 6.2 (the 10k race). i hang my head in shame.

april - 104.87 miles, that sounds a little better. no races, and most of these miles were on the treadmill at the gym. longest run was 10.17 miles ....on the treadmill.

may - 111.05 miles, improvement is always good. about half of the runs were on the treadmill at the gym, and otherwise nothing exciting comes to mind as i review my log. longest run - 10 miles, again on the treadmill. i must've been on crack these two months running that long on the tm.

june - 111.25 miles, wouldn't want to increase the mileage too much. i got my sweet bike complete with kickstand and bell to commute to work a few days a week, and i actually did 2-3 days/week. that motivation came fairly easily when gas was up around $4/gallon. (it's a commuter/hybrid bike as i have a budget to stick by so i'm not ashamed of my kickstand or bell.) anyway, i ran my first ever 8k for a guaranteed pr, taking 4th place in my age group. longest run was 9 miles, on the treadmill again.

july - 81.59 miles, a cutback month if you will, from all that intense running april-june. no races for july, but i did continue biking to work a few days. i had to take the last week off completely for patch testing at the dermatologist to try and figure out what the crap was making me itch all the time. spent a few hundred bucks only to not find out the root of the problem, but i did learn i am moderately allergic to nickel, it's just not what was making me itch all over. longest run = 7.44 miles at the beach.

august - 145.77 miles, hello olympics. august was the start of my motivation to run more and train seriously, mostly thanks to watching the olympics all month. i continued biking to work and began training for the goofy challenge (jan '09). i started blogging about my running and ran with a local high school cross country team on the weekends. oh and i spent some more money at the doctor to find out i am severely allergic to soy, nuts and beans. good to know. i became a proud owner of an epi pen. did you know that everything delicious contains soy? it's true. long run of the month at 12.4 miles.

september - 180.07 miles, also my birthday month! i'm trying to savor the remaining months until next september when i have to graduate to the 25-29 age group where the women run way too fast and take all the age group awards. i ran a 2 mile race where i pr'd by 1:10 and took 3rd place overall female! that was pretty sweet. i biked to work a few more times and got in a 21 mile ride with my dad (yes, on my dinky little bell & kickstand trek bike!). longest run was 11 miles.

october - 213.83 miles, quite a difference from march's efforts. i ran a true cross-country 5k and a half-marathon at times close to my current pr's. i wasn't supposed to race the half anyway. i traveled up north for my grandpa's funeral and my aunt's/cousin's bunny gave me a bad asthma attack, forcing me to run easy that week. longest run was 16 miles (2 of them even).

november - 210.80 miles, not too shabby. i bq'd!!! ran the atlanta marathon and pr'd by about 17 minutes. prior to that i ran my first-ever 20-mile training run, even though it was my 5th marathon. the concept of actually training for these things makes a huge difference. obviously my longest run for the month was 26.2 miles.

december - 200.64 miles, a decent end to the year. i ran a 20k with my old running buddy and definitely did not try to 'race' it. somehow i still ended up placing 3rd in my age group. i got in my final pre-goofy 20-miler, cutting off 18 minutes from the one i did in november. i took a few extra days off this month due to some 'family drama', and had a very special Christmas hanging out with the family. i've been so focused on running for the past few months, but it was easy to set it aside and spend time with the family without feeling guilty for missing a run (or two). longest run, 20 miles.

all in all, it was my most successful year of running yet, complete with race pr's, weekly mileage pr's, and a yearly mileage pr. i also truly enjoyed running everyday, especially after my motivation jumped through the roof from the olympics. i ended up taking first place for my age group in the local track club's "running series" competition that i set my eyes on back in january. i beat out 2nd place by 220 points - all the competition is in the 25-29 age group i'm telling you! since it was a fairly easy feat (i'm not bragging i promise, there just wasn't consistent competition) i'm not going to worry about repeating in '09. i have bigger goals to chase now!

hope you all have a fun, safe and happy new year!!

consistency is key

...especially when it comes to ab work. i've been extra lazy about doing abs for the past 10 days and tonight when i attempted some planks after my run i wanted to collapse after 10 seconds. sad, sad. i moaned and groaned my way through 2x1minute regular planks and 2x1min side planks (1 per side). i made up a song (to the tune of rihanna's "live your life") about all my flabbiness to try to not stare at my watch slowly ticking the seconds away. i'm sure my non-exercised shoulders, arms and back didn't help much either. so people, do your crunches and do them regularly. i keep saying i will get back on track...

i spent another hour on the treadmill tonight after work. it wasn't too bad i guess but i have to make up games to play so i don't quit in the first two minutes. tonight, i tapped the speed up a little every 5 minutes, and since i was going for an hour i threw in some "hills" as well so i wouldn't end up at like 9.0mph. i'd consider getting a tv for the treadmill's room but then again, i don't have cable and it would just be even more painful to run for an hour+ on the treadmill and flip through all 7 channels i get via antenna (...for now anyway).

i'm getting a little antsy for next weekend (the goofy). i want it to be here and yet i don't. i have been training for 20 something long weeks and while it'll be nice to have a week off afterwards, i don't really want to take a week off. i'm also having a hard time with self-confidence - after training so long, working hard, and dreaming about a sweet half-marathon pr, i'm afraid of letting myself down. i'm just gonna keep reviewing my training log, reminiscing the good runs and reminding myself i've put in all the work.

pm run: 7 miles, 1:02:16 (8:53 avg pace), avg/max hr (159/176)

Monday, December 29, 2008

goofy training week 16

recap of training week 16 (12/22-12/28):
[day - mileage, time, avg hr]
mon - 5.4 easy, 50:32, 147
tue - off, family emergency
wed - 6 tempo, 47:08, 176
thu - 8 easy, 1:10:58, 159
fri - off, effects of a rough week
sat - 8 easy, 1:12:59, 152
sun - off, laziness

mileage total - 27.4 (wow do i really have to count this week?)

seems like i hardly ran. less than 30 miles? i ran more miles last weekend than i did this entire week. ahh well, life happens. while i love running, there are just some things it can't replace, like time with friends and family.

hamster, day 1

i must first give a huge thank you to all you wonderful folks for your kind messages, (virtual) hugs, and thoughts over the past week. it's been tough mentally and emotionally, but i am so thankful that i don't have more to be upset about. it was a very special Christmas for us, and i hope my greatfulness doesn't wear off as life returns to "normal". i hope you were all able to enjoy the holidays and time with your friends/family as much as i did.

today's run
i hopped on my new (to me) treadmill this afternoon after work for a run. i assumed i had my regularly-scheduled monday 5, and since i missed my last long run of the training period yesterday i figured i'd do more than 5. turns out i only had to do 4 miles today, although i only "overdid it" with 6.8 miles.

well, i'm recording 6.8 miles for the day anyway. that's rounded down from what my nike+ said i did, which is usually off a little itself. i figure i usually get in about 7 miles/hour on an easy day, so i got on the treadmill and started cranking the speed up. when i got to 6.7 "mph" i decided to leave it there to warmup a bit, plus it kinda felt hard already. anyone else have this problem? my hr was creeping into tempo-run zone, and it felt kind of quick to me. i dropped the speed down to 6.5 after about 12 minutes, and when it still felt too fast/hard at 20 minutes (for an easy run) i dropped down to 6.0.

what a mental beating. the treadmill was telling me i was running 10 min miles and i felt like i was sprinting. ok, not quite sprinting, but it certainly wasn't easy-feeling and my hr was skyrocketing (for an easy run). i hamstered for an hour and hopped off. the treadmill said i had done 6.5, nike+ said 6.86... so i pick that one. my average and max hr's were comparable to my last 20-miler (avg pace 8:26) and an 8-mile tempo run earlier in the month (avg pace 8:06).

anyway, so i'm a little beat up about the treadmill telling me i'm slower than i thought i was. my dad and j told me it's probably just not calibrated right and to use my own measuring system. a little annoying, but easy enough to fix i guess. lets just hope i wasn't really sprinting to maintain 10min/miles.

pm run: 6.8 miles, 1:00:45 (avg pace 8:56), avg/max hr (166/183)

catching up on christmas runs

i'm back, for the most part. i tried to read a few blogs over the past week but couldn't really focus enough to leave decent comments so i took a hiatus. i did a little running last week, and i guess it's good that i got something in, but it was a slack, slack week.

12/24 - 6 miles "tempo" aka the rot in hell run. i tried to be positive and think more about my dad and how glad we are that things didn't turn out worse, but i couldn't help but want to wish bad things on the nutjob that did this to him. anyway, i ran hard but i'm sure it could've been better because i felt like junk. i haven't slept well, my eyes weigh about 30 pounds each, and i've eaten maybe 1500 cals in the past two days. i only ate that much because i still want to run (in the daylight only for now) and i know i won't be able did to run at all if i don't eat so i've forced a few things down.

mid-day run: 6 miles, 47:06 (7:51 avg pace), avg/max hr (176/187)

8:09, 160
7:50, 171
7:42, 178
7:44, 181
7:50, 182
7:51, 184

12/25 - 8 miles easy. after a lazy morning waking up and opening presents with the family, we headed over to the high school track for some run/walking. i ran, they mostly walked. initially i thought i'd get up in the morning and run before everyone woke up, but i wasn't in the mood to leave the house. luckily everyone else wanted to get in a little workout too, and they were nice enough to hang out until i ran all 8 of my miles. as we drove over there i thought i'd run the perimeter of the school (a two-mile loop) but when we got there i didn't want to be away from everyone, especially my dad, so i ran laps around the track and the field/tennis courts next to it. the man who called the cops and saved my dads life called while we were at the track and said he wishes he had been able to do more. he certainly did more than enough by choosing to call the cops instead of helping his friend follow through with his plans. we are all very thankful for this man who chose to do the right thing.

the run was ok, still felt crappy but still haven't eaten or slept much. i suppose at least i won't gain a christmas belly, but the semi-post-traumatic stress effect is taking it's toll.

the good news is j got me a treadmill for christmas so i won't have to run out in the dark and i'll still be able to get in my runs, provided i can make myself go run... feeling less and less motivated with all that has happened.

mid-day run: 8 miles, 1:10:58 (8:52 avg pace), avg/max hr (159/190)

12/26 - return of the appetite. i ate too many cookies today, but at least i ate i guess. i even had two real meals, small steps. bad news is i was not up for a run. i was tired and weak (presumably from not eating/sleeping) to run and then once i ate a small but actual lunch i had a little more energy but didn't want to go anywhere to run. some of my sisters and i went to the stores to do some christmas shopping for next year (gotta take advantage of the deals). i spent more time at the stores today than i did in all of my pre-christmas shopping. today i noticed how 'out of it' my brain has been - can't focus on much, even reading emails from friends and catching up on blogs has been put on hold. i don't want to half-read and leave crappy messages so they're piling up until i can really read them.

12/27 - i ate breakfast today, my first for the week. i know, i know, wag your fingers at me. let that digest a bit and then went over to the school with my older sister to run. it was cool and misting but didn't make the run uncomfortable. i ran 6.5 miles around the school and then came home and finished my mileage on my parents' treadmill. i ended up eating three square meals today, also a first for the week.

mid-day run: 8 miles, 1:12:59 (9:07 avg pace), avg/max hr (152, 182)

12/28 - took my third day off for the week. just didn't feel like running 12 (or 2) miles on the treadmill, or running period. it's been a tough week to begin with, and my running really fell by the wayside. it's been hard to be motivated to run, and to voluntarily be away from the family. i'm assuming (and hoping) that with the goofy only a couple of weeks away this week of slack-ness won't hurt me too much.

hope you all had very merry Christmas's with your families, were able to get in all/most of your runs, and kept your hand out of all the delicious holiday goodies.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

make the most of everday

had a serious family emergency last night and not sure if/when i'll run today, but for the first time in a long time running is just not a priority right now.

long story short, my dad was kidnapped, robbed and stabbed last night, but they found him and the nutcase. (a friend of the dude turned him in.) thank the lord his injuries were not life-threatening, and we were able to leave the er in the late hours of the night/morning. my daddy is a good man, he did not deserve this.

burger, i thought a lot about you last night as the events slowly unfolded and i can't imagine what you went through a few years ago. i'll especially be praying for you and your family this christmas.

we're all doing ok, especially pops. he's making jokes as usual and just trying to get some rest and avoid the "paparazzi". thanks in advance for your thoughts, warm wishes and prayers.

love and hug your moms and dads and sisters and brothers, and have an especially wonderful christmas with your families. don't take a single moment for granted.

Monday, December 22, 2008

numb again

i know i have no room to complain as it is... but lord was it cold out. a big 36 degrees. i know, that's in the positives and tropical compared to all the negative temperatures and snowstorms elsewhere, but i was cold. i don't see how you people do it. my speech was slurred after my run, and i guess j thought i had a stroke or something. i don't think i did, but who knows. there was a return of the numbness so i'm a little concerned about that. last time it happened i said i was gonna go to the chiropractor but well i never made it (just never went). i will definitely be going when i'm home for christmas, that's for sure. i'm assuming/hoping it's related to pinched nerves and/or limited blood supply like when your foot falls asleep but i avoided bio class like the plague so that's complete speculation. my hrm was also a little funky and shot up to 170+ within the first two minutes (was not going that hard) and then i saw 201 a few minutes later (still not going hard), so i don't know what's up with that.

anyway a pretty un-exciting 5 mile run tonight with a mostly-numb left arm and a teensy bit of numbness creeping into the right. i just checked my schedule for tomorrow, knowing it's a tempo day, and was pretty relieved to see i only had 6 miles. guess i'm ready for a little break from all this running.

pm run: 5.4 miles, 50:32 (9:21 avg pace), avg/max hr (147/201)

goofy training week 15

recap of training week 15 (12/15-12/21):
[day - mileage, time, avg hr]
mon - 7 easy, 1:03:34, 149
tue - 11.75 (7xmile), 1:37:33, 171
wed - 7 easy, 1:05:50, 150
thu - off (swapped with friday, again)
fri - 8 tempo, 1:01:32, 176
sat - 9 easy, 1:27:17, 158
sun - 20 progressive, 2:48:56, 161

mileage total - 62.75 (finally, a new record high)

the easy runs felt junky this week but that's ok as long as i can have quality hard(er) runs. the weather was extra nice all week. i can't believe i complained about the 60/70 degrees, as it was 21 degrees when i woke up this morning. (i'm sorry mr. warm front! please come back.) this was my last tough/high-mileage week before goofy and i hope i don't go nuts with the reduced mileage. the excessive christmas cookies aren't going to help much either!

Sunday, December 21, 2008

a sincere thank you to my legs

dear legs,

well, you survived another 20 mile run. thank you for putting up with my insane goofy challenge training these past 20-something weeks. all we have left are a couple 800 workouts and otherwise just some easier running until the big race(...er, races). next weekend's long run is only 12 miles! you've really held it together for me most days and given me some great runs. you should feel honored to have gained so much speed. i think we can really hack off some more minutes and seconds in 2009 and i hope you'll still be willing to work with me.

i know you'd like to thank me for actually training for a marathon for once, and you are quite welcome. after atlanta, i've learned that marathon's don't really hurt as bad if you actually go on long training runs. yes, i know i said we could go get a massage after your bq performance in atlanta, but i'm cheap and haven't wanted to part with $50 for 30 minutes of pain-filled pleasure. you're lucky, joyrun just recently made me jealous of her spa day so stick with me, give me a few more weeks and two great races, and i just might splurge for the hour-long session.

sincerely,
me

oh right, today's run...
yes ladies and gents, today was my "3rd" and final 20 miler in preparation for goofy/disney. (i say "3rd" because technically atlanta was supposed to be a 20+ mile training run, but i have this competitive issue and ended up racing it...) i slept in a little, and took my sweet time waking up and getting ready. i decided to eat a bowl of cereal pre-run (i rarely eat pre-run) so then i had to wait a bit for it to digest so it wouldn't be sloshing around giving me any explosions from either of the emergency exits.

i wanted to do a semi-tough, progression run, especially since yesterday's 10 9 was just an easy run. well the first 10 miles went a lot faster than i thought they would. my hr was still staying low enough, but my splits were faster than i kinda wanted them to be. at this pace i was going to have to basically be running a tempo run (or better) for the last 5 miles. wasn't exactly sure i'd have that much gas in the tank, so i re-adjusted my goals in order to not kill myself. today was just not my day for pacing, but i'm satisfied with the run as a whole. it was about 18 minutes faster than my first-ever 20 miler, after all.

(i know most of you will be bored by all these but i figure i might wanna look back one day...)
mile 1 - 9:28, 158
mile 2 - 9:06, 153
mile 3 - 9:02, 155
mile 4 - 8:55, 162 *popped some fruit-punch flavored sport beans, mmm candy
mile 5 - 9:01 159
mile 6 - 8:49, 163
mile 7 - 8:48, 157
mile 8 - 8:42, 153
mile 9 - 8:20, 152 *more sport beans, still delicious
mile 10 - 8:15, 154
mile 11 - 8:11, 159
mile 12 - 8:41, 166 *even more beans, yum yum
mile 13 - 8:09, 162
mile 14 - 7:48, 163
mile 15 - 7:53, 169 *beans
mile 16 - 7:54, 165
mile 17 - 8:01, 168 *i think i had a few more beans here too
mile 18 - 8:02, 166
mile 19 - 7:56, 172 *into some serious gusts of wind the whole time = not fun
mile 20 - 7:46, 170

am run: 20 miles, 2:48:56 (8:26 avg pace), avg/max hr (161/187)

cliff young

came across this story the other day and just had to share it. enjoy!

The legendary story of Cliff Young is already known to many runners. If you're aren't familiar with it, you're in for a fascinating read.

An Unlikely Competitor

Cliff Young winning Melbourne Sydney race

Cliff Young

Every year, Australia hosts 543.7-mile (875-kilometer) endurance racing from Sydney to Melbourne. It is considered among the world's most grueling ultra-marathons. The race takes five days to complete and is normally only attempted by world-class athletes who train specially for the event. These athletes are typically less than 30 years old and backed by large companies such as Nike.

In 1983, a man named Cliff Young showed up at the start of this race. Cliff was 61 years old and wore overalls and work boots. To everyone's shock, Cliff wasn't a spectator. He picked up his race number and joined the other runners.

The press and other athletes became curious and questioned Cliff. They told him, "You're crazy, there's no way you can finish this race." To which he replied, "Yes I can. See, I grew up on a farm where we couldn't afford horses or tractors, and the whole time I was growing up, whenever the storms would roll in, I'd have to go out and round up the sheep. We had 2,000 sheep on 2,000 acres. Sometimes I would have to run those sheep for two or three days. It took a long time, but I'd always catch them. I believe I can run this race."

When the race started, the pros quickly left Cliff behind. The crowds and television audience were entertained because Cliff didn't even run properly; he appeared to shuffle. Many even feared for the old farmer's safety.

The Tortoise and the Hare

Cliff Young waving during ultra marathon

Cliff Young

All of the professional athletes knew that it took about 5 days to finish the race. In order to compete, one had to run about 18 hours a day and sleep the remaining 6 hours. The thing is, Cliff Young didn't know that!

When the morning of the second day came, everyone was in for another surprise. Not only was Cliff still in the race, he had continued jogging all night.

Eventually Cliff was asked about his tactics for the rest of the race. To everyone's disbelief, he claimed he would run straight through to the finish without sleeping.

Cliff kept running. Each night he came a little closer to the leading pack. By the final night, he had surpassed all of the young, world-class athletes. He was the first competitor to cross the finish line and he set a new course record.

When Cliff was awarded the winning prize of $10,000, he said he didn't know there was a prize and insisted that he did not enter for the money. He ended up giving all of his winnings to several other runners, an act that endeared him to all of Australia.

Continued Inspiration

In the following year, Cliff entered the same race and took 7th place. Not even a displayed hip during the race stopped him.

Cliff came to prominence again in 1997, aged 76, when he attempted to raise money for homeless children by running around Australia's border. He completed 6,520 kilometers of the 16,000-kilometer run before he had to pull out because his only crew member became ill. Cliff Young passed away in 2003 at age 81.

Today, the "Young-shuffle" has been adopted by ultra-marathon runners because it is considered more energy-efficient. At least three champions of the Sydney to Melbourne race have used the shuffle to win the race. Furthermore, during the Sydney to Melbourne race, modern competitors do not sleep. Winning the race requires runners to go all night as well as all day, just like Cliff Young.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

somedays i wish i ran 5k's

like today, for example. i had a severe case of negative/i-want-to-quit-thoughts running through my head for the entire 90 minutes of my shorter-long run for the week. i've been trying to think more positively in general, thanks to some motivation from terri at middle-of-the-pack girl. today i didn't do such a great job.

on second thought, i guess i take it back. i don't really want to just train for 5k's. i'd probably be just as whiny if i had to do track work 3-4 days a week.

from the beginning of the run, my legs were heavy and giving me a hard time. the hills in the first mile didn't help too much at keeping my hr in the 'easy' zone, and i just felt pretty junky overall. i fought off thoughts of turning around and quitting, or calling j to come pick me up in the first 3-4 miles. it was a slow run, and i even let myself walk a little. i did end up ditching the last mile and had j pick me up. i'm already overshooting my mileage for the week, and i want to make sure i get in my last pre-disney 20-mile training run tomorrow.

i ran to the airport again today, and took my phone along to take some (grainy and pixely) photos. they're not the best, but i figure some pictures would be more interesting than my babbles. it would probably be in my best interest to not run with a cell phone again though, too easy to call for a ride home. :)

i just thought the sun looked cool here

down this nice hill, up that not-as-nice hill to hit mile #1

my favorite road to run on

the no-shoulder road
but you can run in the ditch which is full of who-knows-what

another hill, also on the no-shoulder road where cars also like to come flying down
(it's supposedly 30mph though)

fountain at the airport

see, huge airport
just like lax or lga

crappy picture, but this is the roller coaster road
j met me a little ways down this road and chauffeured me home

am run: 9 miles, 1:27:17 (9:41 avg pace), avg/max hr (158/178)

Friday, December 19, 2008

i just might be getting faster

i made up for yesterday's missed skipped tempo run this afternoon when i slid out of work early. for the first mile, i held back a little, and then kicked it up a notch for a few (6) tempo-paced miles. those middle six miles were tough, and i was on a relatively flatter route than i usually take for tempo runs. on past tempo runs, my hr hangs around 172ish, but today it was in the 180's, which is where it's supposed to be anyway based on the "87-92% target hr" rule.

mile 1 - 7:52, 156
mile 2 - 7:37, 179
mile 3 - 7:38, 183
mile 4 - 7:37, 181
mile 5 - 7:41, 182 *ah yes, this is what my tempo pace is supposed to be
mile 6 - 7:31, 182
mile 7 - 7:30, 183
mile 8 - 8:03, 162

sometime ago i got 7:41 as my goal tempo pace from one of those online running calculators, so that's been my goal for the past 5 months every time i head out on a tempo run. most days it seems like i've struggled to hit the pace, and while today was tough and uncomfortable, i was easily beating my goal pace mile after mile. (and my hr was still "within the zone", so i know i wasn't overdoing it.) i just might be gaining a little bit of speed after all. although, today's route was less hilly than normal and that could have bought me a few seconds too, maybe? either way, i ran hard, which is the point of these lovely tempo runs anyway.

ahh yes, and then there was mile 8... i was going to pull back a little anyway, and of course my stomach has other plans. i actually had to stop a couple of times and convince it to pull it together and let me get back to the car. it's fine now, no worries. we had a chat. (and i made it do core work for extra punishment.)

pm run: 8 miles, 1:01:32 (7:41 avg pace), avg/max hr (176/190)

Thursday, December 18, 2008

why don't i just change my "off" day...

people. send me some motivation or something. i had a great run tuesday, and two so-so easy runs monday and wednesday, but i could not talk myself into running today. i'm still all motivated to run and get fast and stuff, but i just wasn't 'feeling it' today.

a big part of it is knowing i still have my 'off' day of the week, so it's not like i'm slacking off or cutting out any mileage, just delaying it. however, i also slacked off like this last thursday, and the thursday before that, and the wednesday before that... it's looking like i need to re-arrange my schedule.

a tiny morsel of it is the 73 degree weather going on right now. i realize this is south carolina and we don't really get cold weather, certainly nothing compared to what most of you have been toughing it out in lately, but it is december 18th. it is supposed to be like 50, not 70.

alright, i'm not totally complaining 'cause i hate being cold, but 73 just sounds like death-by-dehydration right now. the temps here are 70+ probably 9 months out of the year, but come on. i've just gotten acquainted to 40 and 50 degrees; i've forgotten how to hydrate for 70+ degrees and what it's like to sweat.

my most loserific excuse is that i'm going to brave the wilderness and go to the shops tonight to try and knock out some christmas shopping. i've spent $9 so far on presents, if that tells you how much shopping i have left to do...

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

they can't all be great

after yesterday's tough mile repeats i wasn't expecting much today from my easy/recovery run, but sheesh i don't think i could've felt worse.

i got in 7 miles today on the same route i did monday except my nike+ told me it was a shorter distance this time (??wtf nike??). maybe monday's run was better because of all those cookies i ate... riiiight. my legs were dead and heavy the whole time it seemed. usually after a few minutes they perk up at least a little bit, but today was completely a slog-along kind of day. i guess i can't blame them, they did work hard for me yesterday. (but come on legs, my lungs are coping just fine and they've been working pretty darn hard too. let's get with the program here!)

tonight's run also featured a return of the grumbling, upset stomach, which obviously made for a less-than pleasant hour of running and forced me to stop a few times. even after an emergency pit stop it still didn't get any better. it seems like i'm, um, using the facilities outdoors more often than indoors lately. everywhere i drive i can pretty much point out an emergency situation spot; no matter what i do pre-run, my digestive system is out for revenge. i could've handled the run with dead legs, the stomach/etc problems just really did me in.

pm run: 7 miles, 1:05:50 (9:24 avg pace), avg/max hr (150/187)

on an unrelated note... anyone happen to know why when i make a post on here, it doesn't show up in google reader for hours (like 5-6 hrs) later?

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

practicing my hammer throw

today i was a professional runner, sort of. i took off work early in order to hit the track and complete my 7xmile repeats before the sun went down, so essentially i was running and getting paid for it. (had to use a couple hours of my time off but still, i was getting paid. i'm lucky my boss is cool enough to let me take the afternoon off to go running!)

anyway, being able to do this workout in the daylight really helped with my mentality. i actually kind of looked forward to it all day. my shoes stayed tied, i had no bathroom emergencies, and i exceeded my goals for the day.

i forgot to check my schedule so i wasn't too sure how many and what pace i needed to hit, but i was pretty sure i was supposed to do 7xmile. i figured i'd aim for about a 6:55 for the first two, and then 6:50 for the next two, 6:45 for miles 5 and 6, and then go for broke on the last repeat.

1xmile - 6:55, 177
2xmile - 6:51, 183
3xmile - 6:48, 182
4xmile - 6:47, 182
5xmile - 6:45, 183
6xmile - 6:37, 185
7xmile - 6:30, 185

mile 1 was dead on. i felt decent throughout and my hr dropped quickly back to the 150's during my recovery jog. my breathing was easy (the 63 degree weather probably helped a lot with that) and legs felt good. i felt pretty solid throughout each mile, easily found the pace, kept recovering quickly, and didn't really ever start to feel tired. since i was ahead of my 'plan' most of the time anyway, i decided to attempt "throwing the hammer down" for the last two repeats instead of just the final one. i figured since i didn't have anything to give at the end of atlanta, i ought to practice. the 6:37 and 6:30 miles were the 10th and 11th miles of the workout, so i'm pretty content with the hammer-throwing effort.

for whatever reason, i got trans siberian orchestra's "carol of the bells" in my head during #6. it's pretty up tempo so i ran with it. (har har.) i did sing the tune in my head though, out of order and dragging some sections out so that i could get to the finale build-up section as i rounded the last curve of the track. (if you watch the video linked above it's the part around 4:51.) random, and probably dorky, but it motivated me to pick it up and bring it home. it worked so well in #6 i did it in #7 too. i don't think i could run off the song for an entire race as it got a little old, but it did the job for today.

pm run: 11.75 miles (incl. 7xmile with 800m jogs), 1:37:33 (8:18 avg pace), avg/max hr (171/193)

Monday, December 15, 2008

i hate cookies

i will probably definitely retract that statement tomorrow once i have detoxed from the 90 dozen cookies eaten in the past two days, but for today, i am not too fond of them.

today was 'goodie day' at work, and of course everyone, including me, brought in delicious baked goods. yesterday afternoon j and i whipped up a batch of chocolate chip and sugar cookies. i sneaked some of the dough while we waited on the trays in the oven, and i only had maybe 4 cookies, but i still got a "sugar stomach ache" and was full enough to not eat dinner last night. (nutritious, i know). surprisingly, there were plenty of cookies left to fill the tin to bring in and share with my figure-conscious co-workers today.

utilizing my complete lack of self control, i couldn't resist going over to the spread of food and essentially pigging out all day long. i wasn't hungry, and i definitely didn't want chocolate/sugar, but i kept walking over there and snagging a cookie. i hate when i do this! i know i'm not craving it and i know i won't truly enjoy it, but i eat it anyway. i felt so fat all day long, and taking yesterday off didn't help much either.

running wise - on schedule for today was an easy 5-miler, but since i didn't run yesterday i was really planning on 6, and since i was little miss piggy today i was aiming for 6.5. turns out i did 7, whoops. i'm certainly not complaining; i needed the calorie burn. the first few miles were crap and i felt soo junky, but i knew i had set myself up for it with my cookie addiction. the temp was amazing for mid-december (56) and i stretched out my legs fairly decently afterwards, and threw in a few abs. at least i'm feeling a little better about my sugar habit earlier.

my right inner-ish quad was sore all day and i can't think of why. i freakin took yesterday off, how did i possibly tweak it while sitting around the house? maybe i mopped the kitchen floor too intensely... anyway i often read about some of you folks "rolling" and/or using "the stick". i know next to nothing about all that but i assume it's not rocket-science and figured my rolling pin would substitute just fine. it felt good and i was able to put gentle, yet hard pressure on the sore part, but who knows if i was doing it right.

this morning my rhr was 53, which is an improvement but still not back to "normal" so hopefully skipping my longer-long run was the right move.

pm run: 7 miles, 1:03:34 (9:04 avg pace), avg/max hr (149/184)

Sunday, December 14, 2008

goofy training week 14

recap of training week 14 (12/08-12/14):
[day - mileage, time, avg hr]
mon - 5.45 easy, 51:24, 133
tue - 8.4 tempo, 1:08:10, 164
wed - 7 easy, 1:04:50, 146
thu - off (swapped with friday)
fri - 6 (6x800), 50:53, 167
sat - 13.2 "race", 1:58:26, 175
sun - unscheduled off

mileage total - a lowly 40.05

tuesday's tempo was a little slower than preferred but decent for just over a week after a marathon i suppose. (or maybe i'm just still using that as an excuse?) this week's 800's went well but i called it off early because i was freezing. saturday's race wasn't really raced, but it made for some good hillwork.

i took sunday off because my resting heart rate (rhr) has been 10 points higher than normal. typically i check it in the morning before getting out of bed, and it hangs out in the mid-upper 40's. this week it was in the upper-50's and trying to go higher. i'm not an expert on all the heartrate monitoring stuff but i think i've read that an increase in your rhr can be hinting towards an oncoming cold or the overworking of your body, neither of which i need right now. so i didn't do my 2nd long run of the week, and i felt a little guilty but it was kind of nice to just relax all day. i have some hard workouts coming up this week and hopefully a little extra rest will pay off all around.

only one month to go until the 'goofy challenge'!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

paris mountain 20k "race" recap

for the past few weeks, i've been planning on 'just running' this race. i withheld my end of the bargain for once, with the help of my running pal kt and the unwanted help of the enormous hill. i'd say hills but really there was just one, never-ending hill. this run doesn't really warrant a true race report since i didn't race it but i'm doing one anyway.

pre-race
friday night i went to the track and did 6x800 at a 6:27 avg mile pace. yes, this was somewhat regretted saturday morning. afterwards, i was showering up for dinner and banged my right knee, hard, into the shower door. this too, was regretted saturday morning. j and i then went to a delicious and super filling dinner at the melting pot, and i felt like i gained four pounds. i haven't eaten there in awhile and you know how they say "don't try anything new"... luckily however, this was not regretted saturday morning. i just had to get up extra early to start coaxing my bowels. the melting pot was super yummy and i highly recommend it. who can turn down chocolate fondue???

saturday morning i awoke and checked the weather report. 28 degrees or something, fantastic. i looked to see what it was predicted to be around 9 (the race started at 8:30) and planned my attire around that (upper 30's/low 40's). lets just say it never got that warm, but i was moving enough to keep from getting cold. i ended up wearing the same clothes i wore in atlanta (yellow shorts, long sleeve tech, yellow beanie, gloves).

i arrived at the race site and met up with my pal kt and we did our usual pre-race potty stop and tried to stay warm. with about 12 minutes until race time, a lady asked if we knew where the race started. the brochure online said in front of the pac center (furman university's gym) which is where we were, but there was definitely no start line of any kind there. so we walked over to the football stadium where pre-race registration was, and saw a sign that said "20k race start by the such and such building", aka not near by. i made a pit stop to pick up my carolina running series participant shirt since i've earned 50+ points (i actually sealed the deal on 1st place in my age division a few races ago), ditched it at my car, and headed to the start.

at this point we had maybe 3 minutes until race time, so we were running to get to the start line. we're a few 1/10ths of a mile away and we hear the gun go off. we laughed about it and said well at least we were never planning on racing it. we run by some spectators who had watched the start of the race and they brilliantly informed us that "the race already started". thanks, you are so helpful.

the race
we got in over half a mile before the race started, and as we caught up to the pack i told kt, well at least we can count how many people we pass! i tried keeping count the whole time but a lot goes through my mind in 12 miles and i probably wasn't too accurate. kt, by the way, thought this race was 9 miles, so not only did she have to learn that it was really 12.4, but then we realized we were really doing a half-marathon with our extra running to the start.

i felt like crap in the beginning of this race. my lungs were doing ok and my legs didn't hurt, but my body just didn't want to run. the first mile was alright, mostly uphill but nothing serious. then we turned onto the mountain and proceeded to run up it for the next three miles. i mean check this out:

elevation chart of the first four miles of the race

i mean straight up hill for 3 miles. no slight dip, sort of a "flat", but otherwise, up hill. it was over 1,000 ft in elevation change. this definitely opened my eyes to getting serious about doing hill workouts. i am also definitely not doing the grandfather mountain marathon in boone, nc ever. needless to say, the first few miles were miserable. my calves ached and we were moving slow. around mile 3, i think, they had painted on the road "you made it". as you can clearly see, there was still a bit more climbing to do at this point before we really "made it". i will say, there were some gorgeous views as we ran along the edge of the mountain roads. i wish i had brought a camera.

after going up the horrendous mountain, we got to go down it of course. not the wisest thing to do after your body is already tired from the climb, as it is harder to control yourself going down some rather steep slopes. now my shins ached a little, my right knee was reminding me i banged it yesterday, and my toes were making friends with the fronts of my shoes. at least my body was feeling a little better overall now that i wasn't trying to give myself a heart attack on those insane inclines.

miles 5-7 were mostly downhill with some flat and a few uphills, and after that we were back around 1,000/950 ft elevation and had a couple more regular hills until the finish. (regular = the kind you might normally encounter in a race). in between miles 10 and 11 the course turned onto the shoulder of a four-lane highway. you'd think they'd maybe shut down one lane to make it a little safer, but we just had the shoulder. a little over a mile on that road and we exited off onto furman's campus for the finish. i picked up the pace to give it a strong finish, and afterwards wasn't tired so i knew i'd at least done a good job of taking it easy.

instead of a finisher's medal they handed out ceramic ornaments which was a cool idea. i always appreciate a useful/realistic award over a medal or trophy. the ceramic pottery awards are becoming more popular it seems, and i like them because they are unique, usually cute, and don't make you appear to be full of yourself. (i'm certainly not trying to have a lindsay shrine in my house.) my medals and trophies are in a pile or tupperware somewhere, but the various bowls, cups, plates, and now ornament are acceptable to display around the house in my opinion. now i just need to actually put up a tree so i can hang my new ornament!


20k race: 1:55:57, and somehow placed 3rd in my age group.

would i run this race again?
probably not. on one hand i would like to come back out and smash my time from today because i know i could, but this race seemed poorly organized overall. the start line was not where it was advertised to be and there were limited signs to help you find it. there were numerous cars passing us on the two-lane mountain roads, and the whole running on the shoulder of the four-lane, 55mph highway is a big concern too. water stations were only available around miles 4, 8, and 10. post-race refreshments consisted of some very watered-down gatorade, water (if the cooler had any in it), a few apples, tangerines, and bagels. the online brochure also mentioned having some sort of food on the 20k course, and maybe i missed it, but all i ever heard them yelling at the water stations was "water" and "gatorade". i hate to complain, but these are some key points to organizing and holding a race and they should've all been addressed properly.

am run: 13.2 miles (incl 20k race), 1:58:26 (8:58 avg pace), avg/max hr (175/202)

Friday, December 12, 2008

dropping fast

i wimped out today and cut my run short.

when i packed my bag at lunch for my post-work run, i was counting on it being 50 degrees, and only packed shorts and a short-sleeved technical shirt. when i left work at 4:30, it was indeed 50 degrees, with 15mph winds, and the temperature was dropping fast.

it was cold.

my body never really warmed up and i attribute this to being under-dressed. the temp dropped very quickly to 43 ("feels like 37") and i was miserable. had i brought long sleeves, i probably would've been fine...

after a 1 mile warm up, i strode off into rep #1. about 3 steps into it, my left shoe came untied, but i ignored it for the entire 800m and re-tied it when i was done. it was so hard to breathe. i know this was because of the cold temperature and my lack-of-clothing on my back/chest, and i paid for it tonight. in each rep i was struggling to inhale; i wasn't getting enough oxygen.

i continued to push out repeats, but i didn't get in as many as i had planned. :( bummer. i'm just not as hardcore as all of you who stuck it out and completed your track work this week! my left shoe came untied again in rep 3, but not until the last turn at least. i was wearing the same shoes i ran the atlanta marathon in (saucony grid type a2), and they re-blistered my right pinky toe.

my lungs and airways never opened up, and i actually got pretty mucus-y (tmi? sorry). it's so nice to feel like you are choking on your saliva and all. my legs felt great though, and i am happy for that. i could definitely feel weakness in my core and upper body, and hopefully that will help remind/motivate me to crunch, pushup, dip, etc more.

on a side note, i slammed my knee into the shower door post-run when i was hopping in to clean up for dinner. that should be great for tomorrow's 20k! at least it's a guaranteed pr (...my first 20k) and i wasn't planning on racing it anyway. it's a touch sore but not bothering me, and i'm sure it's fine.

1x800 - 3:11, 185
2x800 - 3:11, 175
3x800 - 3:11, 179
4x800 - 3:17, 180
5x800 - 3:14, 179
6x800 - 3:16, 177

pm run - 6 miles (incl. 6x800 w/ 400 jogs), 50:53 (8:29 avg pace), avg/max hr (167/192)


good luck to those racing this weekend!
john (the long run) - rocket city marathon
kevin (5ks and cabernets) - white rock marathon
jess (seejessrun) - white rock marathon
d10 (justrunning for fun) - thunder road marathon
laura (absolut(ly) fit) - honolulu marathon
(and anyone else i forgot!)

Thursday, December 11, 2008

daily ledger

if a man has greatness in him, it comes to light, not in one flamboyant hour, but in the ledger of his daily work.

- beryl markhan
as i flipped through my random quote book i started my senior year of high school ('02) i came across this quote and it reminded me that it will take a lot of time, dedication and hardwork, but if i continue to make the most of each day and each workout, i will one day reach the goals i have set for myself.

with that said (i swear i'm not being hypocritical), i took the day off from running - felt a little 'off' last night, didn't get much sleep, and felt blah-zy all day at work (one of the old men i work with said i looked pale?). it also poured all day leaving rivers of water on these non-shoulder streets. so once again i am trading my rest day and will do my 800's tomorrow afternoon. good thing my off day is on friday and not monday so i can take advantage of a little flexibility.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

just plain lost

today's weather: pouring all day with a mix of thunderstorms and tornadoes, but temp's in the lower 60's! :o)

it was still raining when i left work but it had eased up a good bit and i went out for my run. i had planned a new route before leaving work and tattooed (permanent-markered) the directions on my forearm. i've been getting a little tired of the same old same old and wanted to explore some new territory. let's just say that trying to navigate a new route in the dark, rain and fog is not exactly the easiest, and i got lost.

well, i wasn't lost lost. i know the area roads well enough to get back on any of them but i had ended up at the end of a neighborhood and didn't want to venture down a 2-lane road with no shoulder in the dark, rain and fog. (the scdot must pride themselves on making no-shoulder roadways, seems that's all we have here). i didn't get my full exploration in, nor did i really gain any familiarity with the new (to me) roads, but i did get in my mileage and find my way back. next time, perhaps.

once home, i stretched for a few minutes (still room for improvement but progress is being made), did some abs and even some pushups. my left arm has felt fine while running the past two days and it didn't give me any trouble with the pushups. j massaged it a bit monday and tuesday nights, and i could definitely feel some knots/pressure points so i'm hoping that has helped. i'm still planning to see the chiro friday/this weekend as well.

pm run: 7 miles, 1:04:50 (9:15 avg pace), avg/max hr (146/183)

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

lost without my +

first of all i would just like to say that if weather.com is going to report a 1% (yes, 1%) chance of rain well i think most people would assume it's pretty much not going to rain. nope, definitely rained on me and my run. ...ok so it sprinkled, for a few minutes, in the beginning of my run, but still, it rained. liars.

i got a nike+ back in august/september-ish as an early birthday present from j. while it has it's quirks and can be irritating, today i realized just how much i do like it. i was not even a quarter-mile into my run and glanced down to find it wasn't recording my distance. i paused to start it up real quick but it wasn't syncing up to my sensor. then i realized, i never put my sensor in my shoe pouch, great. i couldn't turn back because j had gone for a run too and since he was running 6 miles (to my 8) he took the key since he'd be back first. so, i sucked it up and ran without it. granted, it's never been the most accurate, especially at races, but i like having it to know roughly how far i've gone on training runs.

today was to be my first tempo run/speedier run period since the marathon and i wanted to see my mile splits, but i had to do without. it wasn't too bad at first, but after awhile i started to feel tired, and i didn't have my nike+ to tell me how far i've already gone. i made a deal with myself to make it to 45 minutes at tempo pace and then i could pull back a bit and just finish the run. had i had my +, i would've been able to glance down, see how far along i was, talk myself into finishing that mile, and ultimately probably pushing myself along little by little. instead, i told myself i could ease up after 45 minutes, but when i got there i was cruising downhill and talked myself into 50 minutes. a small victory at least.

when i got home i stretched briefly (as always, it could've been better) and logged into map my run to see how far i ran. turns out i didn't do too bad for my first 'speed' day since the marathon, not knowing how far i'd gone, and not knowing my splits and whether or not to pick up the pace. i got in 6.4 tempo miles in 50:29 (7:53 avg pace). normally i aim for 7:41 or better, but i'm quite happy with today's run.

terri over at middle of the pack girl asked how my legs do all this running, no cross training and not fall apart, and to be honest i'm venturing into new territory with them. while i've been running fairly consistently since 2005, i only recently ramped my mileage up to ~40mpw in early 2007, and fluctuated for the rest of the year with 20-40 mile weeks. 2008 began and i still hopped on and off my own bandwagon, running 3-35 mile weeks. (yes, i ran a 3 mile week earlier this year! march, to be exact.) then came the olympics in august and i got motivated, plus i had to kick it in gear to get ready for goofy. since august, i've built my mileage back up to 40mpw and beyond. watching the olympics jump started me into getting serious about my running and i hope i can keep it up through the winter and coming years.

i've really hit a groove where i'm addicted to logging miles, although i've never been too content at recording my workouts any other way than running miles. i'm trying to stay smart and take it easy when my body starts hollering at me in order to prevent injuries and continue running. i'd rather take a few days off for prevention than get sidelined for a few months with injury. in the spring/summer/fall i'll bike to work a few days a week but i "can't" let that substitute for my running miles, my mentality is stubborn like that even though i know cross-training is just as good for you (and sometimes better). plus, i love how efficient running is at burning the calories i love to eat!

pm run: 8.4 miles, 1:08:10 (8:06 avg pace), avg/max hr (164/182)

Monday, December 8, 2008

nauseous and numb

i had another bout of nausea today after work and before my run while driving over to the gym. it subsided enough for me to stick it out although i still felt a little off, and i headed off for my run as j went in to lift weights. for whatever reason i get nauseous/light-headed/dizzy sometimes, usually in the car, and i think it's because of j's crazy driving but he claims he is a perfect driver.

anyway it didn't give me any trouble during my run, but my left arm/hand went numb around 3.5 miles. very weird. it was about 44 degrees out so i know it wasn't from the cold. i stopped and took my watch/hrm off, in case maybe it was too tight (although i could still move it around so i didn't think that was it) and got a shot of numbing-pain from my elbow to my hand. it wasn't really painful, just uncomfortable, and the fact that my arm & hand were numb wasn't a very comforting thought either. i put my watch back on loosely and headed back to meet j. i periodically shook my arm out, squeezed my hand, and tried cracking/popping my elbow but the numbness didn't go away. i'm great at thinking worst-case scenario and while i finished out the run i worried about having to have elbow surgery and not being able to run. (talk about jumping to conclusions.)

initially i thought it was originating from my elbow - i pressed on a spot sort of in-between my elbow bones and felt some 'numbness'/tingly-ness. (man this is hard to describe elbow parts and numb sensations, but i hope i'm not losing you). i called my mom, a former nurse, and she said maybe it was from the repetitive motion of running, kind of like tennis elbow, but otherwise wasn't sure. a few hours later, it's still numb, and kind of feels like it's coming from my shoulder. i'm thinking i should get a little massage tonight to try to work out any kinks (hint hint j) and then it'll be all better. ;-) i'll go see the chiropractor later this week if it's still bothering me, i should go anyway since i haven't been since a couple days before the atlanta marathon.

pm run: 5.45 miles, 51:24 (9:25 avg pace), avg/max hr (133/173)

Sunday, December 7, 2008

a plan for joyrun

sorry in advance, but i couldn't figure out how to send this to you any other way... after reading your plans and goals i put together a training plan for you to see if you'd like it. i don't know too much about your training history or when you wanted to start officially training again, so we can definitely tweak this to make it fit better, but based off your half and full marathon times i came up with some goal paces for the runs. please let me know if you have any questions or comments. i hope it's not too 'intense' or confusing and that maybe you even like it a little!

(click to actually be able to read it, sorry about that)

(this is also obviously planning for the full marathon at ocean drive, but the long-run mileage could be easily changed to accommodate running the 10-miler instead.)

other notes: recovery for track work is half the distance (ie 400m jog after an 800). warm up/cool down is included in thursday's mileage (ie for week 13 - warm up 1 mile, 3x800, cool down .5 mile). you can, of course, increase the distance of your warm up and cool down if you'd like.

hope you find it helpful, please don't hesitate to modify it to meet your needs (switching days around, etc), and if you want the excel version i'll be happy to email it to you!

goofy training week 13

recap of training week 13 (12/01-12/07):
[day - mileage, time, avg hr]
mon - 5.3 easy, 48:43, 149
tue - 8.04 easy, 1:13:25, 155
wed - 6 easy, 57:03, 140
thu - off (swapped with friday)
fri - 7 easy, 1:01:32, 153
sat - 10.3 easy, 1:32:46, 157
sun - 15 easy, 2:15:09, 153

mileage total - 51.64

during most of my runs this week i felt tired and slow, but my times weren't bad and i had to remind myself that i was taking the week easy to recuperate from atlanta. now that i'm looking back on the week as a whole, i can't really complain. my legs did a great job of holding it together for 51 miles the week after a marathon. nothing is aching or bothering me and i'm hoping i'm not doing too much too soon. i need to recover but i also need to press on and finish out training for the goofy challenge.

relaxing 15 miler

i'm feeling a little brain dead and extra uncreative so i apologize in advance for the boringness that will follow.

i got in my planned 15 miler late this morning, and just took it nice and slow (~150hr). my legs started aching a bit around miles 6-7, and i hope i didn't overdo it with a long run. no pains, just that tired-muscle-ache you often get on a long run. i didn't run with any water, propel, or gu/sport beans but i didn't yearn for any. i'm sure had i been a little smarter about it i would've felt better during the run, but i survived. i tried stopping at one of the elementary schools i passed around mile 11 to take a sip from the water fountain, but of course, they didn't have any by the playground. a little weird because usually i always have luck finding water at playgrounds.

i've noticed that i get some of the randomest songs in my head when i'm running. i can't remember them all now, one today was an old school hip-hop-ish/r&b song. sometimes i get this song stuck in my head that my older sister's class sang at the elementary school performance ("it's alright to cry, crying gets the sad out of you") which makes no sense to begin with, and especially while i'm running. she was also in elementary school back in the mid-late 80's, so i really don't know why it gets stuck in my head. i wish i could remember which songs my mind played today because i know while i was running i'd starting thinking what the heck? where did this come from? so i'll work on that...

thanks to little motivation and advice from joyrun and d10, i even made myself stretch for a few minutes after my run. (and during, when i had to wait on traffic lights) i'm working on telling myself how good it feels to do and how good it will feel to prevent funky aches.

am run: 15 miles, 2:15:09 (9:00 avg pace), avg/max hr (153/186)

Saturday, December 6, 2008

airport run

for the past year and a half i've always thought about running to the airport but i kept chickening out. from my house to the airport it's about 10 miles round-trip, and last night i decided i was going to just do it already. this morning, i ran to gsp and back for my shorter-long-run of the week, and it was alright.

(photo taken from the gsp website)
huge, i know.

the first few miles were through my neighborhood and then onto a hilly 2-lane road with little shoulder. i ran past the white fences and horse/cow farms and then turned on a steeper hilly road with even less shoulder. this road with its lack of a shoulder and cars flying down the hills is mostly why i haven't ran to the airport before. but today i did.

once i got through the narrow part i ran past some industrial buildings which always weird me out when i'm running since they are deserted on the weekends. i crossed over a 6-lane highway and was officially on airport property. now the road was 2-lanes but with a grassy shoulder i could run in if needed, and it was quaintly tree-lined. i ran past the "rental car" area, the national weather service station, and the cargo freight "terminal". then, i was finally at the airport. to ensure i got in the full 10 miles i had to run past the airport and some of the parking lots for a bit before turning around. on the way back i ran up along the concourse/airport pick-up and drop-off loop and then headed back the same way i came.

the scenery was nothing new as i've obviously driven there before but it was a little motivating when i was on the way back and thought about how i finally actually ran to the airport. i have no one to "brag" to about my random destination runs but they are my favorite simply because i think it's cool to run to point or landmark instead of just a regular loop through neighborhoods and roads. sounds more exciting anyway.

am run: 10 miles, 1:32:46 (9:00 avg pace), avg/max hr (157/197)

Friday, December 5, 2008

no trees, no dogs, no darkness

i had the day off from work today and was able to get in a good little run in the daylight. i made the mistake of heading out shortly before elementary school lets out though, and had to dodge the minivan mamas* on the way back. apparently 50 parents like to park in the neighborhood across from my neighborhood and wait for the kids to get out. (the school is in between the two 'hoods). makes sense, i sure wouldn't want to wait in the never-ending snaky line at the school pick-up either.

anyway, i thoroughly enjoyed the sunshine, seeing the road (and trees) in front of me, and wearing a t-shirt and shorts in december. (south carolina, i don't hate you when you keep it mild. we do need to discuss these recent 27 degree mornings however.)

since i had daylight on my side, i explored a new (to me) neighborhood today, which is also newly accessible now that they did some road construction and added a sidewalk. it's a pretty busy 2 lane road with not much of a shoulder so i didn't like running that direction before. there were 2 decent hills in the neighborhood that i can do hill repeats on if i ever make myself do them, but otherwise it wasn't too exciting.

i still need to force myself to stretch after running. i've gotten slightly better, as i now stretch once or twice a week, but i'm running 6 days a week so i'm still failing quite miserably. i just don't know how to make myself sit down and just do it. it's not even hard, especially compared to all the running.

alright on a completely unrelated note - i'm watching the grinch on abc and this publix commercial was just on. the one where the doctor guy is ending his shift on christmas eve/day and is heading home to spend the day alone 'cause all his family is at his parents, but really they are all busy getting ready at his place so he can spend the holiday with them too. anyway, i'm a loser. i teared up.

pm run: 7 miles, 1:01:32 (8:47 avg pace), avg/max hr (153/189)

*no offense to the minivan-driving mothers out there. i'm not a mother but i did drive a chevy astro van in high school, the epitome of coolness.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

switching things up

what ever you do, do it with all your might. work at it, early and late, in season and out of season, not leaving a stone unturned, and never deferring for a single hour that which can be done just as well now.

-pt barnum
i was lazy today and decided to trade today's scheduled 7 miles for tomorrow's off day. i don't really have any good excuses but it was 'rainy' after work (ie hardly drizzling) and i have the day off from work tomorrow so i can run sometime mid-day in the *gasp* daylight. seeing what lies ahead of me? not having to worry about cars not seeing me? i don't know if i'll make it...

anyway so i rested today and will run tomorrow for sure. the temps were actually in the 50s today which would've been nice and are only supposed to hit mid-40's tomorrow, but i'm in the mood for a non-pitch-black-dark run.

in case you were worried, buddy survived the night without getting sick from my protein (well, if he did i haven't found it yet). and since you asked joyrun, my (right) eye is doing fine from the recent tree incident. my left eye was bugging me today but i'm pretty sure my contact was just being funky. thanks for checking in on me nurse!

finally, i would like to send my best wishes to everyone racing this weekend, especially these folks who share the details of their personal lives via google reader:
good luck everyone!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

running with buddy

this is buddy
(my mom likes to make him wear bandanas)

buddy is a cute dog and all, full of energy and spunk, but lord is he annoying. he's locked up in his crate all day when i'm at work so i felt bad when i got home this afternoon and needed to go for my run. i didn't want to make him hang out in his crate for another hour.

i should've just hardened up and left him in there and gotten my run in alone, but no, i had a soft spot and took him with me.

first of all, he has the need to sniff and/or pee on every leaf, twig, mail box, sign post, tree... you name it, he sniffs it and pees on it. this really helped with our splits. i tried telling him that but he just wouldn't listen.

then he yanks on the leash whenever he feels like it because he sees or hears or smells something that he has to chase after and is, of course, in some direction other than the one i am trying to go. he also likes to stop in his tracks, directly in front of me, which i swear will one day cause me severe injury.

in the middle of the run he puts on his show and starts to slow down as if he is tired, but i know he is not because he's done this to me before and i have to pull on the leash and give him some words of encouragement to keep going. it's all an act because once you hit the homestretch (or see someone else with a dog) he takes off full sprint.

meanwhile i'm just trying to run, but my form is suffering because i have to continually pull on the leash and jump over the dog, and it just gets a little irritating.

six miles later we arrive back at the house and i wasn't in a bad mood towards him and his funky running so i gave him a few dog treats with his dinner. i heated up my dinner (leftovers), scooped out my protein powder and mix it with water, and sat down in the living room to eat. i got up for 2 seconds to take out my contacts, i went out of my way to put my food on top of the tv armoir to ensure he can't reach it, but left my protein glass on the floor by my chair.

i'm back in the bathroom taking out my contacts and i notice he didn't follow me back (he usually tails you wherever you go), that dog better not be doing what i think he's doing! of course i come running back out only to find him lapping up my protein. seriously?!? ok now i'm ticked. he didn't drink it all but i'm not really into dogs mouths/tongues, and i'm pretty grossed out about having to drink the other half of it after him.

i gave him a smack on the butt and the nose (sorry peta, but i was mad) and called him a bad dog about 5 times. at least he will recover well from the run after drinking half my protein. (and he sure better not get diarrhea from it tonight!)

pm run: 6 miles w/ the dog, 57:03 (including sniff and pee breaks, avg pace 9:30), avg/max hr (140/173)

eating my bojangles cinnamon biscuits
(when i dog-sat back in the spring)

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

blinded by the ...tree

i woke up at 5am like my old, dedicated, morning-runner self and checked the weather report only to find "31 degrees, feels like 24". hmm, not quite ready for that, so i went back to bed. i know, i know, i'm a slacker.

i headed out for my run after work in a much "warmer" 42 degrees. today was an easy-paced 8 miler although i pushed my hr a tad and i probably should've taken it easier. around 2.5 miles i made a turn and headed downhill, and ran into a tree. those things jump out of nowhere. well really i got whacked directly in the eyeball with a branch but still, that made it a little tough to see for a bit. (no big deal, i can see ok now i figure i'm alright.)

as of tonight i am dog sitting for my mom and hopefully i'll be able to take the lil' pup out for a run. he's ran 7 miles with me before (with no regular conditioning) but apparently he's been limping a little since the hike last friday. sometimes after a run one of his hind legs bothers him and he's limped around then too, so i'll be thoughtful and not let him tag along for too many miles.

pm run: 8.04 miles, 1:13:25 (9:07 avg pace), avg/max hr (155/185)

Monday, December 1, 2008

november 2008

11/08 was another pretty solid month and only a few miles shy of october. i did my first ever 20-mile training run and pr'd (and bq'd) in the atlanta marathon on thanksgiving day. i officially hit a weight 10 pounds lighter than i used to be, and i'm continuing to lose weight with my cleaner, more well-rounded diet. (although it still needs work.) let's hope i can keep that up through the holiday season that is upon us.

total mileage: 210.80
time spent running: 32:14:27
days off: 5 (1 unscheduled for marathon recovery)
abs/yoga: 4 ab workouts/1 yoga session
avg resting hr: 49.76
avg max hr: 183.13

just a touch of soreness left

it seemed no matter which direction i ran tonight the (cold) wind was blowing into my face - not exactly my cup of tea. at any rate, got in an easy 5(.3) tonight after work. last night i said i would run in the morning but when the alarm went off at 5:00 i knew there was no way i was getting up. i haven't been too good lately about leaving my warm bed for the cold, dark outside and i need to get back in the habit. the run was easy, but i could feel a little twinge in my quads still and my asthma was acting up from the chilly air. hopefully keeping all of my runs this week at an easy pace (~150 hr) will allow me to get in my mileage without overdoing it and still give my legs a chance to (actively) rest.

with running in general, i'm in a really cool place right now. my legs were itching to run all day at work as i shuffled through all the race pics on marathonfoto. they're feeling good considering i ran a marathon (and pr'd by almost 17 minutes) just 4 days ago. i'm looking forward to my 15-miler this weekend and just running/training/getting faster in general. in the past i've gotten burnt out, lazy, or let other things come between me and running, but i've been going strong for 4 months now and can't see that going away anytime soon. thankfully, i have not had any sidelining injuries, and will hopefully keep it that way. i've been a lot smarter at pulling back and taking it easy as necessary, although compared to my usual mentality anything is an improvement. (...i've ran through an ingrown toenail + surgery and getting my foot run over by a car for example). i'm just feeling really good about running and working towards my (lofty) goals for '09 and '10. i mean, i've had my training for 2009 all planned out since september...

pm run: 5.3 miles, 48:43 (9:11 avg pace), avg/max hr (149/169)
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