Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured

Yasso 800's were on the plan for today.....I tried really hard not to be to afraid of the work out.   Annette and I met at CMS to run them on their track.  Their track runs east/west vs. the high school and other middle school with both run north/south.  This is important because we had 15 mph winds today.   We warmed up for two miles and then lined up on the track.  My goal for today was to run strong and push through and if I was lucky, be were I needed to be - 3:30.  

The splits ended up being 3:25, 3:30, 3:27, 3:30.   I went out to fast, but actually felt really good on the first one.  The next two I used mantra's to get me through and was very pleased.  I stop during the recovery before the last repeat and got a drink and this was a mistake, my legs thought we were done.   I took off and 150 meters in, my legs felt like they were going to fall off. At 200 meters I was trying to decide if I was going to throw up or pass out... not sure which was going to happen...neither did.   I just kept trying to push through and focus and ended up with a 3:30.

This is the first time I have run these on the track and actually hit my paces, previously I was always 10 - 15 seconds off.   I do not want to do them again anytime soon, but very glad with how they turned out.   I then cooled down for 2 miles and had 1 MP mile on a gradual up hill road, thinking of MCM and the first two miles up hill. One recovery mile where I ran into Jenny and Saskia, so I stopped and visited with them and then one more tempo-ish mile to finish.

My legs are tired and I love that feeling.  I am going to try to hibernate in my office as much as possible until the lunch run.

Avg Pace 8:27

I let Jenny talk me into going to spin class this morning.   I really want to like spin, but I go about every six months to remember I really don't.  You get a great work out, but I would rather be running.  A friend of her's was teaching the class and did a really good job, but I was a clock watcher and on count down the entire time.  

We ran 4 miles on the treadmill and they were slow and painful.  My calves were dying and I was struggling.  

Annette and I planned this run last week.  We were going to run the trails from Oakmont Park and invited quite a few to tag along.  We ended up with Jenny and Saskia, so a good crew.  We started out and ran 3.5 miles to the best water stop ever at the country club golf course - nice, ice-cold water and cups to drink it out of  - SWEET!  We continued on another .5 and then turned around.   On the way back we ran into Rene Villalobos and his friend and they shared the goodness out of their cooler.   He is an ultra marathoner in the area and just a truly nice guy.  He runs a marathon distance training run every Saturday and Sunday.   He gave us  a gatorade and water and we were on our way.   We ended up back at the park to make a pit stop and ended up having to move our car due to a party at the park, so a longer than normal stop.  We then headed the other direction on the trail and it was the first time I had ever been there and I loved it.   Lots and lots of people out the entire time, which was great to see and a ton of cyclists - most were extremely polite, which was nice.

I really struggled the first 8 miles, my legs were heavy and tired and my calves were tight.  I felt much better the last 4 and really enjoyed this part.  The best part of the run - we stopped at McDonald's afterwards for a chocolate dipped ice cream cone - YUM! 

Avg Pace 9:10

4 Easy miles on the treadmill at the Y, while my two younger girls swam.    Normal lunch time run and today POST NAP - How great is that!

Today's plan called for 4 MP miles and as I laid in bed gearing up to go run, I was rationalizing my way out of them - I ran long yesterday, I can do them tomorrow and on and on.  Once I got up and going, I knew I would get them in.   I ran a mile and then dropped my water bottle at CVS and then did another warm up mile.   About half way through the second warm up mile, I looked down and my pace was in the high 8's and the effort was hard and I was seriously considering backing down, but decided to give it a try.  

As usual, I cannot run MP - I am either too fast or too slow, so today's ended up being MP turned fast tempo.   Splits were:  7:34, 7:41, 7:23, 7:23.  I had to tie my show in the first mile and stop and cross a busy road in mile 2 and then I did have a longer than appropriate break in between miles 3 & 4 while I crossed a busy intersection and stopped and got a drink from my stashed water bottle.   

I then cooled down 2 miles to home and I was tired.  The last mile went on and on and on.  

The Good:  I rang strong and hard and pushed through.  I did a loop so route, so it was very honest.

The Bad:  I cannot stick to MP and I had too long of a break in between miles 3 & 4.  

The Interesting:  My pace for the entire run was 8:12, which was the pace for my first marathon - SG in 2008.   I never ran a training run at that pace during that training cycle, but I do not feel near ready to run a marathon at 8:00 pace either.

Lunch:  3 easy miles on the treadmill at the Y.  

Yoga.....

Easy miles this morning with Annette.  This has been a very good week, but my body is feeling it, so we took it very easy and enjoyed the morning.   

I am off and down near Houston watching my son play ball.   Good quality time with my 17 year old, who will be leaving home far, far too soon.  I do feel bad about my husband stuck at home with the three girls, but we all have to take our turns - right?

Avg Pace 8:58

I am down in Columbus, Texas with my son for baseball and I decided to sleep in until I woke up on my own.  Surprisingly that happened to be 6:45 - I was surprised it was that late.   I took my time getting ready and headed out around 7:20 and it was hot and humid - 78 degrees and 88% humidity.   I did an out and back enjoyed the small town scenery and an easy pace - nice running at sea level.   

Avg Pace: 8:22

Run gone wrong!  The plan today called for hills and with the race on Saturday, we chose to take it a little easier and run the hills in my neighborhood - this ended up being a very good thing.    I did not feel well yesterday on the way home from southern Texas, but didn't think much about it this morning and headed out to meet Annette.  Within a mile, I knew I would need a bathroom along the way and we passed by my street towards the end of the second mile, so we stopped.   Started running again and about another 1.5 miles out, I stopped at the POP....not good.   Trekked back up the hill and grabbed a drink of water from the water bottles I had stashed heading out this morning and again ended up back at my house - 3 stops in 5 miles for those keeping track.  Ridiculous!   I ran Annette back to her car and then back home to get just past 7 but what a long, hideous morning.   

I am attributing this to eating raisin bran for breakfast the last two mornings and my body not adapting.  This is what I get for trying to eat healthy.     I am hoping my lunch run is better, that maybe I can go three miles with out a break. 

I ran with Annette today and we repeated the  - I run to her house, we run together, she run homes plan, but this time I still had to add on afterwards.  The run was much better than yesterday's, only two bathroom stops.  I picked it up at the end and did 2 MP miles.

Avg Pace 8:43

Rough week and lots of travel, so an easy 4 with Jenny & Saskia.

What a race.  El Scorcho is an Ultra event in Fort Worth with  25K & 50K options that is run at midnight, I obviously chose the 25K.  The race is all run in Trinity Park and consists of running loops that each measure 3.1 miles.  

I have had a stinky week.  I traveled Tuesday - Thursday and had major stomach issues that didn't resolve until Friday and a headache that was on the verge of a migrain that would not go away and bothered me right up until the start of the race.   I am sure both are stress related and while I really had zero expectations going into this race, I did have the following goals:  

1.  Have fun - I hate racing and I am really needing to learn to enjoy it

2.  Stay positive - this was my downfall in Houston and I in looking back, did most of 2011 so I wanted to mentally be strong.

3.  Run Progressive Splits - hopefully stay in the MP range. 

Right before the race started, I felt miserable - tired, hot, nauseated...but the gun went off and so did we.   I ran this focusing on the loops, not the miles and the first half of the first loop was terrible.  My calfs cramped, we had to run some on grass - you name it, I was miserable.   At this point,  I knew I would be seeing Jay and I needed to get my act together if I was going to survive.   I started running half of each loop for members of my family and this helped and made it much more enjoyable.   I also thought a lot about Dean Bullock and his battle and the courage I know he is fighting with and my Dad who battled cancer and how strong he is.   I felt stronger and stronger as each loop went on, but never got any faster and MP was not happening.   Did I hold back to much  - maybe, but I also know I ran hard and had to fight along the way.  

Splits:  8:59, 8:36, 8:36

            8:41, 8:36, 8:33

            8:31, 8:22, 8:26

            8:29, 8:26, 8:32,

            8:33, 8:28, 8;28, 8:32 , last .5 7:48

I ended up finishing in the top 10 female finishers overall, which made me pretty dang happy.   I finished about 20 min slower than the winner and 10 min slower than Wendy, who I run with at the store and this puts it in a little more perspective regarding time - They are both very fast, so while I couldn't get my pace where I wanted it - I am not sure it was realistic.  

It was very eye opening to how much work I have to do to get ready for MCM in October.  Time to get busy.

Oh boy!  I am sore from the race this weekend.   Much sorer than I expected, but it does susbstantiate the effort.  Interesting the difference time of day makes.  If I run in the evening I usually do not need as much time to warm up and get going compared to mornings, but running at midnight is a whole other beast.   

7 easy miles with Jenny, only thing of interest where two dead snakes along the way - about a mile apart from each other.   Tis the season, I guess.

I am in the midst of non-stop travel.  Last week kicked it off and I now have 5 cities in 7 business days.  I am sitting here in Louisville at the airport at 5:00 am after a client meeting that went late into the evening yesterday.  Running? Maybe tomorrow.  I am on countdown to July 25.

A very long week in three time zones, early flights and late nights.   I missed running, but the time off helped in the recovery and I was excited to run with the group from the store.  I had a tight time frame so the plan was an out and back for 1:15 each.   I met Ashley, Lindsay and Melissa and we picked up Britt at about 1.5 miles in - she and I had on matching shirts today, which made for a conversation piece with lots of people on the trail.   Lindsay had taken off with the guys and and Ashley and Melissa fell back a little so it was just Britt and I and we had a great time chatting.   I wore a fuel belt for the first time in two years and it was heavy and bothered my calves quite a bit.  Nice to have water, but they are not happy today.   Britt dropped me back at right at 8:30 - very nice when this happens and a full day of baby showers and ball games.    I forgot my garmin so mileage and avg pace are approximates - close but not exact. 

Avg Pace 8:15

In Syracuse for work and I thought since I was so much further north, it would cool.  Not quite - actually the same as Texas - hot and humid.   I headed out and didn't take any money with me which ended up being a mistake by mile three.  I turned around at mile 4 and headed back and then grabbed a gatorade at the hotel - grabbed a drink and then finished up the last two.   My legs are still heavy and tired and the effort is more than I would like for the pace - hopefully this means in a few weeks, good things will come.

 Avg Pace 8:33

I arrived back in Dallas late last night and had an early flight out of Love Field this morning, so I opted to stay in a hotel near the airport.  Super nice, I might have to due this more often.   Woke up at my normal time and went and ran on the oldest, nosiest treadmill ever.   Warmed up for two miles and then started my tempo.

1 min on/off

2 min on/off

3 min on/off

back down and started back up until I hit 30 minutes. 

The on's were 6:53 and the off's were 9:13.  This is much easier on the treadmill then on the road but I due need to either pick up the on pace or off pace, or possibly both.   Pleased with the work out and that I was in more control then previous versions.   

1 mile to meet Jenny

4 miles with Jenny

3 miles to finish

My legs are tired and my quads are sore.  Nothing really specific but very naggy.   Lots of foam rolling on tap tonight.

Our "store group" that has defected and is starting earlier than the rest is growing. We ended up with 8 people there today. We started out and right away I knew I was in trouble. My legs were heavy and tired....I am starting to think they have never recovered from my race. We did the same route as last week, just adding on a bit. The last 6 miles, the walking at the water stops got longer and I started feeling the run. It is a great group and I really enjoy running with them.

Avg Pace 8:40

AM: Met Annette, Jenny and Saskia to run some moderate paced hills.   We had a two mile warm up and then pretty much up or down for the next 4 on the hilly roads in our area (we didn't cover them all) and then 3 miles home after dropping them off.  Again hydration was an issue and I have to figure this out.... 

Avg Pace 8:48

Lunch:  3 miles on the treadmill at the Y watching US Volleyball - could have spent much more time there...too bad I have a job.

Easy miles this morning with Jenny.