essentials

the essential thing in life is not so much conquering as fighting well.- baron de coubertin (founder of the modern olympic gam...

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fairfield in photos

my lungs were actually almost back to normal today although they got a little worse in the first few miles of my run. after cleaning up papa's old apartment for most of the day, i headed out for my run around 5:00. yippi, rush hour. i didn't have any close calls, for the most part anyway. i took the...

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a day of rest

talk about out of shape. i get winded getting up from the couch to grab a snack or cup of water. asthma is really acting up today (and kept me up for a good part of the night) so i am probably not going to run today. i will either try to get a run in on friday sometime or run longer tomorrow to make up for it. my lungs didn't do so well yesterday and it is cold (upper 30s) and windy (20+ mph) which...

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new england weather

so yesterday here in connecticut it was a gorgeous, 60+ degree day with sunny skies and a light breeze. today it's poured rain, hung around in the low-40s, and had winds gusting up to 22mph. luckily i found a brief window where it didn't rain (for the most part). it did start sprinkling/sleeting on me with about 1.5 miles to go though, not fun. my hands warmed up in the first mile but then for whatever...

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asthma attack

had a pretty bad asthma problem last night from the pet bunny here at my aunt's house. we had to take a midnight trip to cvs for some inhalers, and luckily we were able to call in for a prescription strength one too. i woke up this morning with a sore upper-back and shoulders from coughing and trying to breathe last night.still struggling to breathe today so took a nice, easy, slow run with some...

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goofy training week 7

recap of training week 7 (10/20-10/26):[day - mileage, time, avg hr]mon - 5.15 easy, 47:20, 139tue - 8.4 tempo, 1:08:02, 170wed - 7 easy, 1:04:31, 143thu - off, traded with fridayfri - 6.3 easy, 53:41, 159sat - 13.1 race (tempo), 1:41:49, 176sun - 16 easy, 2:16:59, 155mileage total - 56.00the spinx half was successful in that i did not push the pace and just ran it as a tempo run. of course i was...

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semi-solo sixteen

ran 16 miles this morning, 8 with kt and then she peaced out on me so i ran the last 8 alone. today was a small test of how my body will feel and run after running a half. i was tired, but not sore. it was harder mentally than physically for the last 8 miles but my times seemed to improve slightly. i think we went out too fast (i would've been ok going a little slower anyway) and my times/hr fluctuate...

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spinx half marathon

i ran the spinx half this morning in downtown greenville with kt. it was a decent route i guess - hard for me to get excited about the 'sites' when i see them all the time anyway. there were some pretty good hills to tire me out, but i am mostly satisfied with my effort today.i successfully talked myself into not-racing it and running it at goal-pace instead (8min/mile). i started out a little...

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great things

to accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.- anatole fra...

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back to the beaten path

the rain held off (for the most part) this morning and kt and i got in our 6 miles on the road we used to train on everyday back in '06-'07. i pretty much quit running there when she moved which probably worked out for the better since another girl was sexually assaulted while running there last fall. it did start raining a bit miles 3-5 but at least it didn't pour. i've been extremely wimpy about...

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rearranging the schedule

i didn't run today because good ol' kt is coming back to town for a couple of days and wanted to run tomorrow. i wanted a day off to get some sort of rest in before the half on saturday so i figured i'd switch thursday and friday again. bad news is the weather forecast is calling for a rainy, 50degree morning, but maybe it'll be wrong again? rain or shine i'll get my easy 6 in tomorrow. i'm...

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slow and neverending

that's how today's run felt. overall it really wasn't bad - kept my hr low and most of my miles were around the pace i wanted them to be for an easy day, but the last 2.5 miles took forever it seemed.oh yes, and yet again i did not run in the morning as planned, but luckily i've had time to log miles after work to make up for my slackerness. i really prefer to go in the morning so it's done for...

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getting there

while i, once again, did not wake up this morning to run, i'm finally making some progress in finding a steady, even pace for my tempo runs. saturday's effort was right on and i dreaded today's run all day because i was afraid for some reason that i wouldn't be able to find and hold the pace. took it slightly lighter today and aimed for an 8min/mile pace for 7 of the 8 miles on today's schedule.mile...

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mmm bushes

when you really have to pee the clusters of bushes and trees in a very populated neighborhood are the devil. they just laugh at you as you run by with your burstingly-full bladder begging to be relieved. tonight was such the case for me as i strongly needed to go shortly into my run. thankfully, i made it about 3.5 miles to the "wooded" section which it's still probably not legal but at least it...

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goofy training week 6

recap of training week 6 (10/13-10/19):[day - mileage, time, avg hr]mon - 5 easy, 46:43, 138tue - 8.4 (5x1mile), 1:08:58, 165wed - 7 easy, 1:00:46, 155thu - off, lazinessfri - 8.25 (4x800), 1:11:27, 167sat - 10.4 pace, 1:22:05, 175sun - 12 easy, 1:50:15, 150mileage total - 51.05all i can think of right now as i type up this week's summary is how hungry i am. ended up being an ok week since saturday's...

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afternoon delight

more lovely sleeping in today. it was much needed after a late night at classy karaoke where 'big ray' wearing pleather pants proposed to his girlfriend. what girl doesn't dream of getting engaged at a bar?so i had a couple beverages last night for the first time in a long time but i wasn't out trying to get tanked or anything. i'm training you know. woke up this morning fine of course (i only...

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on pace

treated myself to "sleeping in" this morning and set the alarm for 8am. woke up on my own at probably 7:58, i am an old lady, can't even sleep in. anyway took my time getting ready as i did not really want to go for my run, but j was going to bike with me so that gave me an extra push out the door.the goal for today's shorter-long run (10 miles) was to get in some marathon pace miles (8:00min/mile...

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800s take 2

well i did get up and out the door this morning but i was still "not there" mentally and my legs were absent as well. just wasn't feeling it, and it sucked.did a 2mile warm up which was ok i guess. i wasn't really into it but i transitioned straight into my 800s anyway (which i did on the street again vs the track). first rep, felt like junk. already having to seriously talk myself into finishing...

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question mark

running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. it asks you, "are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?"-peter maher, sub-2:12 maratho...

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lazy with no excuses

today's daily run is a big fat dnf. dns, actually.once again i did not get up early this morning to get my run in. now that i am home from work i am not really feeling up to doing the scheduled 800s. i could think of a million excuses but i'm just going to suck it up and accept the fact that i am being lazy. this is actually a hard entry to type. i want to go run, but i want to get my 800s in...

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inconsistent seven

two pm runs in a row now - i was lazy this morning and opted for that extra hour(+) of sleep. tonight's run was kinda sucky in that i was all over the place, but overall my avg pace was ok for an easy day.[mile - pace, avg hr]mile 1 - 8:56, 139mile 2 - 8:21, 147mile 3 - 8:30, 157mile 4 - 8:41, 161mile 5 - 8:31, 157mile 6 - 8:36, 161mile 7 - 9:02, 162mile 7 was rudely interrupted by a craptacular...

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miles and miles

6xmile today became 5xmile and i think one of those was really 1.25 but whatever.because i've had no luck with the middle school track lane-hogging walkers, i headed over to a nearby high school track for today's mile repeats. did a mile warm-up and immediately started my repeats with a 400 recovery in between. i think i lost count in the 2nd repeat and ran more than 4 laps because that split was...

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light morning run

5 easy, recovery miles this morning. goals were to be slow, keep the hr down, log some miles, and help loosen up the calves more. successful on all counts.long day so i'm tired and this is gonna be short. foot did ok, calves are slowly getting looser.[mile - pace, avg hr]mile 1 - 9:23, 143mile 2 - 9:46, 135mile 3 - 8:49, 136mile 4 - 9:27, 136mile 5 - 9:17, 139am run: 5 miles, 46:43 (9:20 avg pace),...

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goofy training week 5

recap of training week 5 (10/06-10/12):[day - mileage, time, avg hr]mon - 5.1 easy, 45:22, 158tue - 7 tempo (4mi), 58:15, 166wed - 8 easy, 1:11:26, 151thu - 7.3 easy, 1:02:33, 155fri - offsat - 5.4 easy (52:28) + 5k race (21:35), 175sun - 16 easy, 2:21:24, 152mileage total - 51.9 *new record high, for now!abs: 600 crunches, 2 days of ball work, 5x1min planksi'm starting to try and talk myself into...

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4x4

this morning i woke up and couldn't walk because my calves were so tight. the right one is still worse than the left, but i think the left doesn't want to be 'left out' in the heat-pad pampering so it's acting up too. once i walked around a bit and slowly stretched them out they were ok/manageable.j...

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furman 5k photos

2008 furman blue shoes 5kphotos by my #1 spectator :)in mile 1in mile 2, before wanting to quithomestretchsee the tiny kid? yeah he beat me.i beat this guy, had to regain a little pridecan't really see me but proof i beat ...

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furman 5k

i suck.ran a true cross-country 5k this morning at furman university. the course was cool and all but there's a reason you run golf-course hills for torturous training and not (typically) in a race. well furman's course is also their golf course, so yippi for big hills in a race.as usual, i started out way too fast. well, it should've been a manageable pace but it was a hard course and my mile...

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running resources

a list of running-related websites i frequent for information, motivation, gear, etc...athlinkscomplete running networkhal higdonhanson-brooks distance projectlets runmap my runmarathon guidemcmillan runningrun your cityrunn3rrunning usarunning wareho...

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everyday

everyday someone is training when you are not.when you race him, he will win.-unkn...

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stress relief

long, busy day at work today so tonight's easy-paced 7(+) felt good and helped work out some stress. i had to cancel on my regularly scheduled 800s to get a little rest in for saturday's 5k.my foot did pretty good, it flared up with a little pain around 6.5 miles but went away shortly after. i'm still taking precautions and babying it after runs - sure don't need any serious injuries (or injuries...

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easy eight

my right foot held up today, only started slightly hurting about 6.5 miles into the run and never became a concern. tied the shoe pretty loose again, took some ibuprofen yesterday in case there is any tendon swelling or whatnot and i'm gonna go ice it in a bit. (man it almost sounds like i'm actually good at listening to my body and tending to injuries in advance... pssssh)easy 8 miles this morning...

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morning tempo

7mi run this morning with 4mi tempo. felt easier than last week and i even kind of enjoyed pushing the pace some (aka didn't feel like crap).my right foot was bothering me slightly the whole time (and yesterday too) but got a little worse 5-6 miles in. i tied that shoe looser today and yesterday, but it's still been hurting. i'm still hoping it's from tight shoes and just a little bruised/sore...

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the m&m diet

i really need to give up m&m's, again. i've polished off an entire "medium" and "tear 'n share" sized bags in 2 days (minus the blues, i don't eat the blue ones). coulda done it sooner but i made myself stop and save some for today. felt like blubber running today, blub blub blub.didn't run til after work today, and after all the m&m consumption i thought it'd really bog me down. somehow,...

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goofy training week 4

recap of training week 4 (9/29-10/05):[day - mileage, time, avg hr]mon - 5.1 easy, 47:55, 149tue - 7 tempo (30'), 1:01:38, 166wed - 8 easy, 1:12:10, 157thu - 6 (6x800), 48:07, 153fri - off (sick)sat - 7.3 easy, 1:06:22, 163 (recovering from fri)sun -13.1 (with tempo), 1:51:18, 168mileage total - 46.50yoga: once (20min)abs: 750 crunches, 1 day of ball work, 5x1min pla...

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tired

i hate trying to think of titles for posts.longer-long run of the weekend this morning with j tagging along on his bike as usual. had he not come i probably would have turned around at about 1 mile and called it a day; i was not feeling it in the beginning. luckily, he was there to push me, and i survived.the top of my right foot (big toe side) hurt more than usual today even after a stop to loosen...

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construction workers

got oogled by some classy construction workers this morning, but only for the first 3+ miles. first there were some road workers out pushing dirt around on the side of the road (i think they are widening it and *maybe putting in a sidewalk* which would be awesome). i waved and said good morning to be polite. one of the guys on his big dirt-pushing machine put it in reverse next to me and i thought...

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5k workouts

one of my goals is to run a sub-20:00 5k, and ultimately even faster. the following 5k workouts from running planet are designed to help increase your strength, speed, and stamina.12x400 meter repeats - warm up, run 12x400m at goal 5k pace, recover between repeats for 30 seconds. as you progress, cut your recovery time to 15 seconds.6x800 meter repeats - warm up, run 6x800m at goal 5k pace, recover...

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brick walls

brick walls are there for a reason. they're not there to keep us out. they are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.-randy pau...

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just some more 800s

it's getting cooler out. a cool 49 degrees this morning when i headed out for my run. i toughened up and did not put on long-sleeves, telling myself i would warm up quickly. i always forget my temperature tolerances by the time the cooler weather comes back around. can never remember what my short- vs. long- sleeved threshold is. oh well.fast 6 miles this morning. well, slow 2-mile warm up,...

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abdominables

i've decided i'm going to really try to focus on core workouts this month and getting in a routine of actually doing them. i know core strength is important for running, especially now that i am really picking up my mileage and (hopefully) speed.currently i am inconsistently doing 300 various crunches "3 times" per week. translation: i do 150-300 crunches once/week, occaisionally 2x/week.so goal...

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1000 miles

with today's run done, i've officially ran 1000(+) miles for 2008. had a bit of a slow start to my running consistency earlier this year so hopefully next year i will be able to claim this sooner.8 easy miles today. i was torn between holding a decent (sub-9:00/mile) pace and keeping my heart rate down. it just didn't want to stay in the 140s or 150s like it's supposed to. sometimes i still wonder...

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