Thursday, March 30, 2006

Week 16 - Day 4: Lots of Stuff Going On

What a beautiful day. It's like 76 degrees outside and really feels like spring! I ran 6 miles with my sister, Holly, today during my lunch break at work. We had planned on running 6.4, but decided to cut it off at 6. The run involves several patches of woods, and I'm not confident that my Garmin didn't cheat us out of a .10 or so. Anyways, I had tired legs from last night's 8 miles. And that shin pain and knee pain I mentioned is back. I hope I am not all the sudden falling apart. One good thing is that the tendon in my foot that was hurting before the 1/2 marathon is better. I haven't had a problem with it in over a week. But the shin splints and the knee pain now concern me. I really think the 24 miles was a little too much on them. Either that or didn't stretch well enough before and after the run. I am icing the shin and knee after running, and back on the good ol' Aleve. I am supposed to run 4 miles tommorrow, but I am not sure if that's the best thing or not. I've got 4 tommorrow then 12 Saturday. I really want to make the 12 Saturday, so I may do some cross training tommorrow instead, and give the shin and knee some time to get better. Maybe a swim and a bike. These little injuries are getting on my nerves. I always took lots of pride in keeping myself injury-free....well, so much for that. I am 4 1/2 weeks away from the Marathon, and things are flaring up all over the place.

I was digging around on the internet, and found some things that sparked my interest about Marathon running. Like this:

When your mind goes to the finish
line and wanting to finish....bring the mind back to your body and focus on the
(present)...
Remember if your mind goes to the finish line...it has abandoned
your body to do the last 5 or 6 miles alone....and that's not good. Bring the
mind back to the present....breathing....relaxing shounders, jaw, eyes...eyes on
the horizon...and relaxing toes....relaxing toes.

©1998 Austin "Ozzie" Gontang, Ph.D.

I think that's what happened to us Sunday. For the last 6 miles or so, we lost our focus. We could see the sun was starting to go down, we were wondering how the kids were doing, and knew we needed to hurry up and get finished. And also knew that by the time we did finish, there wasn't gonna be much left of the day. It felt like an entire day gone. We just wanted to be finished. Our mind left the present, and our body suffered because of it. That's why I prefer to run in the morning. When you start early, you still have plenty of the day left to look forward to. This is certainly a confirmation of what an astounding effect the mind has on your performance.

I also ran across this on that same website:

Remember on marathon day, you will be full of energy. By running the first 3
miles slower 30 seconds to 1 minute slower than marathon pace, you will be ready
to settle into your marathon pace. Should you go out 30 seconds to a minute a
mile faster than your marathon pace, you will finish the marathon 20 minutes to
1 hour and 30 minutes slower than you expected. Since you are well rested, don't
let the excitement and adrenaline affect your first 3 miles which are 30 seconds
to 1 minute slower than your marathon pace. Do not waste any glycogen storage by
going out faster than race pace those first 4 to 8 miles.

©1998 Austin "Ozzie" Gontang, Ph.D.

I think that is interesting, as well. One that thing I can say that has always proven true for myself, is that every race in which I have started out too fast - I had disappointing results. And every race in which I was relaxed went out easy - I was pleased with the results. I am horrible about doing this in a 5k. I will take off as fast as I can, worried that I won't have time to make up any speed, and then I will crash and burn by mile 2. That's a bad feeling - when know that all those runners behind you are reeling you in ever so steadily, and there's not a whole lot you can do about it.

Well, enough of my thoughts for the day. Say a prayer for my shin and knee if you don't mind...I am too close to back out, now!!

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Week 16 - Day 3: 8 miles

Well, this is a start on getting things back on track. I ran 8 miles after work today in 1:17:42, pace of 9:42. I felt pretty good all in all, I think the 2 days rest did me good, but the 2 days of eating didn't. I had some pain in my left shin and my right knee, but nothing really bad. I am going to take some Aleve and probably ice them tonight. I am running 6+ tommorrow at lunch with Holly.

Week 16 - Days 1 & 2: Resting

I rested on purpose on day 1...but day 2 just never presented a good opportunity to run. I had to stay home from work with Bo. He said his ear was hurting. I took him to see Dr. Jay, and never really had a chance to run between ball practice and everything else. In the meantime, I have blown my diet and feel horrible about that. I have to get things back on track ASAP.

Monday, March 27, 2006

Week 15 - Day 6: 24 miles and I can barely walk

Ouch. I wish I would've had some pictures of this run. At least that might have made my blog entry a little more exciting than the run actually was. We actually drove to Murfreesboro for this run - for a change of scenery and hopefully a little motivation. The Stones River Greenway is great for about 7 - 10 miles, but anything over that, and it's a little monotonous. It was Gary, Tracy, Michele, and myself. We parked at Stones River, and ran the greenway to Thompson Lane, back to the car, then to Cannonsburg(or Cannondale as Michele referred to it..hehe), the back to Thompson Lane, then almost back to Cannonsburg, then back to the car again. The first 10 miles were okay. The next 10 weren't any fun. And the last 4 were shear torture. I'm not sure why it hurt so bad, but it hurt physically, not cardiovascularly. Like my knees, and the tendons around my knees. And both feet. I didn't drink as much Gatorade this time, but I wouldn't think that was a factor. Who knows? Maybe we're running too far. Most people seem to think so. But 22 felt good to me, so I thought everything was working fine. All I know is that around mile 21 of yesterday's run, I was seriously questioning the sanity of running a 26 miler 3 weeks before the marathon. And I questioned it again this morning when I wanted to call Marcrom's Pharmacy and ask for a wheelchair to be delivered to me so that I could make it from the bed to the shower. I finally took some Aleve (and finally got the spelling right since the bottle is sitting beside my keyboard now) at lunch today, so maybe that will help. I think I am just not used to running that long on Sunday, and then getting up and starting a new week the next morning. That's what I am going to blame it on for now anywas. The good thing is that today is a rest day. I'll pick back up with Week 16 tommorrow, when I run the 4 miles scheduled for Tuesday.

My friend, Leslie Trussler, was in the North Georgia Adventure Race this weekend. I haven't found any pictures online of her yet, but hope to get a report from her soon. Leslie has done several marathons, she is the defending Female Champ of the Mach Tenn Triathlon, and she also did IronMan Florida in 2004. That's just a small sample of all the things she competes in. She also does a lot of off road triathlons - like those XTERRA races. And she always does very well in all of them. She is the one that got me into doing triathlons!

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Week 15 - Day 5: Drinkin' Coffee...Feeling Better

I'm drinking my coffee, feeling a little better today. I took Briar to swim team this morning at 9 am, and I ran my 3 miles while I watched him swim from the wellness room. I still had another 45 minutes or so after running, so I took the opportunity to work on my arms and abs, finally. I am not all at all peased with the way I look, but I think I have made some minor progress this week anyways. I still have way too much body fat.
I didn't feel great running the 3 miles, but I didn't get sick either. It seems like it's been forever since I did a 20+ miler(it's been 15 days), so I am actually kinda looking forward to it. Especially if it's going to be nice outside. I won't be running at any record pace, though, that's for sure. I'll just be happy to complete the 24 miles.

I have to say "Thanks!" to Rae - who gave me some great advice on the IPod. I kinda hate to spend $149 for the Nano, but I do believe it may be worth it. Maybe he'll even let me borrow it sometime!! ;)

Friday, March 24, 2006

Week 15 - Day 4: Ugh :(

The last couple of days have not gone well for me. Day 4 was supposed to be Thursday, but when I got out of bed at 4:45 am, my foot was back to hurting again. I walked around the bed and decided it wouldn't be a good idea to try and run 5 miles just yet. So I took some Aleive and we back to bed, then got up and went to work. While at work, I got to feeling very sick. J.T. and the boys had a stomach virus about a week ago, and I don't know if I was just now getting it or what. Anyways, I didn't even consider running - I went home (skipped Briar's baseball practice) and went to bed. So this morning I slept late again, still not feeling well, and finally went to the rec center at 11:00. I set out to run my 5 miler on the treadmill, and did fine until mile 4. During mile 4 I started feeling sick again, and I stopped after 4 miles to walk for a minute, intending on picking back up and finishing the last mile. But when I stopped, I immediately got very sick to my stomach and very light headed. At that point, I just said forget it. I got Bo from the childcare room and we went home. I still don't feel well, and my foot is still hurting. Let's hope things get better fast.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Week 15 - Day 3: Another One Down

It is cold in Manchester today!! No running outside today. It was rec center all the way. Speaking of the rec center, it has got to be getting close to renewal time for The Sains. I need to check into that.

Today was a 5 miler. Briar went with me again this morning. We ran 1 mile on the track (he lapped me twice), and then he went downtstairs to wait for Andrew and I went to the treadmill. I finished up 5 miles as Tracy was finishing hers too. I have really been trying to watch what I eat since Monday anyway. I have that constant hungry feeling for the most part, but I'm hoping that I'll get used to it if I don't give in. I am convinced it's physchological anyways. I'm not like starving myself by any means - I'm just leaving out the snacks and junk food. All in all, after 2 days, I do feel better. And I have vowed not to weigh myself until Sunday night.

I have an issue with the scales, because one of two things usually happens when I get on them. One, I like what I see and decide I deserve a treat, which then leads to other treats and so on; or Two, I don't like what I see and give up. I would really like to lose 10 lbs over the next 5 weeks, but I'll settle for 6 lbs. I know that training for a marathon is not the time to try and lose weight, but like I said, I'm just giving up mainly the junk food. And that makes me feel better anyways. Andrew never showed up to swim with Briar this morning - the poker must have been too much last night for Brett to get out 5:30 a.m. J.T. didn't come in until the wee hours, himself. And he lost, how dare him!

I've done some research on IPods and MP3 players for Briar. I asked the All Knowing John Leighton and he said go with an IPod Nano or an MP3 player called a Lyra. I looked at the Lyra online and like it, but I talked with Briar about an IPod and he is leaning towards it. The main reason is because it plays files from audible.com. Like, he wants to download the Harry Potter books and listen to them as well as music. Now, I think that you can probably do this with an mp3 player as well, but I think you may have to do some converting or something according to my research. All in all, I think that the IPod is going to be more user friendly for Briar too. I have a Rio MP3 player and the software is just not very stable. Since this is going to be Briar's first dealings with this kind of thing, it definitely needs to be user friendly. John Leighton said he didn't think they made an IPod Shuffle anymore, but I went to the apple store and they are there for as low as $69. Ofcourse the Shuffle doesn't have the screen like the Nano, which is $149. The All Knowing, Technologically Advanced John Leighton has the IPod with the video. I'm not even considering that. John Leighton has all the latest tech gadgets as soon as they hit the market. He had a PSP before I ever knew what one was. Briar comes home one day begging for some kind of $300 portable video game thing, and I know who to blame! I did get out easy on the PSP though - Briar saved his own money and purchased it for himself. That thing really is cool, too. I even like to play it. Anyways, I need to find out $70 worth of reasons that the Nano is better than the Shuffle for a 9 year old. So, if anyone out there can provide a few, please do. Michele said that her friend, Dawn, bought a Shuffle for her 10 year old and has yet to get it to work. So I must also take that into consideration.

By the way, if you aren't from Manchester, you may be wondering who the All Knowing, Technologically Advanced, Absolutey GQ John Leighton is. He is the 15 year old son of my friends, Sage and Dwight, and one of my only two connections (Ashley, Andrew's sister, would be the other one) to the new generation of hip (is "hip" even a cool word anymore?) teenagers in Coffee County - since I haven't been able to consider myself one of them in about 10 years. And their younger son, Stanton is one of Briar's best friends. Above is a picture of John Leighton and Laura Johnson on the ski trip we took in February. He managed to keep his all knowing, technologically advanced, absolutley GQ poise while snowboarding down the slopes of Beech Mountain, NC.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Week 15 - Day 2: What A Fun Workout!

Well, Briar decided to go with me this morning. He was barely awake on the way up there, but he woke up fast. He lapped me during our first mile!! Then he took a break and ran another mile and a half with Andrew while I finished up my 3 miles. He was really having a good time this morning. He loves to run with MP3 player, and he wants one for Easter. I'm not sure if I should get him a regular MP3 player or an IPod...because I just figure it's a matter of time before he asks for an IPod anyways. If anyone out there has one - please let me know if you recommend an IPod for a 9 year old, and if so, what kind. I haven't done much research on them lately. So anyways, after we finished running we went down to the pool to swim. He has been learning all kinds of stuff from his swim coach, and he tried to teach me some of it. I was very impressed and actually learned some stuff from him!! We swam a few laps but nothing major, and then got in the warm water therapy pool for a few minutes to relax. I was happy that Briar had a successful workout. He and Andrew decided that they are coming back tommorrow and are both going to swim after they run. I'll have to make sure he gets in bed on time tonight.

Monday, March 20, 2006

Week 15 - Day 1: Intervals

Today the schedule said 4 x 1 mile intervals at 5k - 10k pace. I didn't make it to the gym early, but I did manage to get back up there after work and before we had our small group Bible Study at Jay and Leslie's. Briar didn't have baseball because of the rain, so I took him to the rec center for swim team from 5:00 - 6:00 while I ran my intervals on the treadmill. I did them all at 7.8 mph (with the exception of the last one when I up'd it to 8 mph on the last lap), and walked about 3 minutes between each.

Briar promised me that he was going to go the rec center with me at 5 am tommorrow. We're going to 3 miles and then swim.

Sunday, March 19, 2006

Week 14 - Day 6: The Tom King 1/2 Marathon

A New PR!! 1:51:02 Yeah!!! What an awesome race - especially considering that Michele, Tracy and I had complained all week because we thought it was going to be cold. It was pretty chili when Gary and Tracy picked me up at 6 a.m., but the sun was coming out quickly. We met Michele at The Coliseum and debated on what to wear. The 5k'ers were all bundled up for the most part...but it was getting warmer by the minute. Michele talked me into ditching my UA cold gear top (I always dress too warm), but I stuck with my cold gear tights, a cool max long sleeve shirt, and my UA gloves. As it turned out, I was glad I didn't have on anything more.

We started in front of The Coliseum, and I felt pretty good from the get go. Our first mile was 8:42 - when I saw that I knew that was a little better than we had hoped for. Michele had wanted to beat her PR of 1:56, and since my previous PR was only 2:04, I just hoped to stay with her for as long as possible. But the 8:42 felt good, the second mile of 8:35 felt good too, and then the third mile of 8:38 felt just as good. After that, Gary quit toying with us and took off to find a faster running partner. Tracy slowed down a little somewhere in there, but not by much. Michele and I found some other partners that really kept us entertained, though. Their names were Donnie and ....hmmm, I can't remember the other's name. But they were great. We ran with them for a couple miles or so, and they dropped back a little. I hated that, because they were very entertaining. Somewhere around mile 5 I saw Ed Duell, who works at Sverdrup with me, on his way back already. I noticed on the results later that he ran a 1:22:27 - unbelievable.

Our halfway time was less than 54 minutes...so I knew that if I could just hold a pace close to what we had been doing, we'd beat 1:55. Realizing this really got me pumped, and I kept picking people to catch up with. Once I saw a girl with and IronMan top on, so I thought I'd catch her. I did, but then I ended up eating her dust at the end (haha!). Oh well! Somewhere in all that Michele decided not to play those games and just let me go on. I kept thinking she'd be back at anytime. She has had a shoulder problem, and I think she had a few too many beers the night before (shame on you, Michele!). Anyways, I pressed on around The Coliseum and down into the tunnel - which was awesome! JT and I have Titans season tickets, so it was a rush to run through the tunnel and out onto the field like I see the players doing. As I did, I knew that my Dad was sitting in the stands watching for me, so I really tried to turn it on!! I went as hard as I could go around the field, and spotted him as I cam around the last turn before the finish. He was down on the front row snapping pictures. Wasn't that so sweet of him to come watch?!! So anyways, I finished up with 1:51:02. Gary was there at the finish line, and he ran a 1:49 something. Shortly after, Michele came in at 1:52:38. And Tracy smashed 2 hours with a 1:56:38. We were all pretty happy, and went and grabbed a sandwich.



Me, Michele, Tracy, and Gary


I had plans all along to go to the Grand Old Opry that night with my mom, dad, and sister. So my Dad and I left and checked into the hotel room I had booked. I went and sat in the jacuzzi, and then lifted a few weights and did some crunches. Then I went back to the room and talked with my Dad some, and got ready for dinner. Our new preacher at church, Darrell Denman called to congratulate me on my time. I thought that was so thoughtful. Darrell used to be a runner himself. Shortly after, we met my Mom and sister at PF Changs and had a great dinner. The Opry was great. We saw Lori Morgan, LeeAnn Womack, Carrie Underwood, John Conlee, Porter Wagner, and many others. I rode home with my sister, and my mom and dad stayed in Nashville all night. I was glad to get in the bed!

This is my sister - Holly, my mom - Kathy, and myself at the Grand Ole Opry

My Mom and Dad

About my foot(the tendonitus)...it started hurting around mile 10, but not too bad. I could tell I had put some stress on it after the race, but at the hotel I iced it and took my Aleive. It felt alright all night and the next day. I can tell it's going to be something I have to deal with, but I will deal with it until the CM Marathon is over, and then I'll give it some rest to heal.

And while I was running the Tom King 1/2 Marathon, Briar was running the local St. Patrick's Day 5k in Manchester. He got third place in his age group! And ofcourse got to add 3.1 miles to his log for the Kid's CM Marathon. J.T. took some pics of him running, so I'll post them soon.

Week 14 - Day 5: 3 miles

I ran 3 miles on the treadmill...not fast... just at 6.2 mph. Then I went down to the pool and swam about 1000 meters. Tom King half marathon tommorrow.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Week 14 - Day 4: All Systems are Go!!!

Ok...so here's what I did. Last night after Bible Study I got the kids in bed, took 2 Alieve, and iced and elevated my foot for about 30 minutes while I watched the news and fell asleep. When I got up this morning, it actually felt better. So I went straight to the medicine cabinet and took 2 more Alieve and decided to wait until lunch before I ran. During lunch a few minutes ago, I ran 4 miles and it felt fine! I'm not sure if it was the rest (about 48 hours worth), the ice, the Alieve, or a combination of all 3 - but it is definitely better. I ran the 4 miles in 34:56. I could tell that my foot felt okay after about a half mile, so I tried to run a little faster than normal to try and get a feel for the pace that Michele is wanting to keep Saturday. I'm not sure how long I can keep that pace, but atleast I feel better about my foot. I went ahead and took 2 more Alieve after the run, and I have it back on ice now just incase. I'll probably keep taking the Alieve until after the race Saturday. I guess I'll just do a 3 miler in the morning. Briar needs to run in the morning as well.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Week 14 - Day 3: Foot Still Hurts - Back on the Bike

Ok - it's not just in my head - my foot hurts. This morning as I was lying in bed in thought "maybe your foot is just bruised a little...nothing major". Then I got up and realized it's not a bruise. It hurts when I move my toes a certain way. I really couldn't stand the thoughts of trying to run on it this morning, so I slept late and then hauled my bike to work. Instead of running, I rode my bike 18 miles during lunch. I was worried about the wind... and almost didn't do anything, but it turned out to be fine. I am hoping that like 40 hours of rest on this foot is gonna help. And hopefully I can run either my 8 miler or my 3 miler in the morning. I really should run the 8 - but if the foot is still hurting, it will probably be the 3. I am seriously considering going to see Dr. Superstein tommorrow during to lunch to see what he thinks.

Week 14 - Day 2: 6 miles

I was supposed to run 3 miles this morning, but Bo was sick all night so I didn't get out at 5:30 a.m. I kept him home, and he got to feeling better yesterday around lunch so we went to the rec center. Instead of 3 miles, I want ahead and ran the 6 miler on the treadmill in 58:07. I saw Tracey up there, and she was running her 8 miler. The bottom of my foot bothered me quite a bit. And when I got through, it hurt the rest of the day just walk on it.

Week 14 - Day 1: Intervals

6 x 880s on the track. Tracy ran them with me and Michele this time. Here are the times:

1. 3:39
2. 3:38
3. 3:35
4. 3:34
5. 3:33
6. 3:26

Not too bad. I wore my heart monitor.

Average heart rate: 155 bpm
Max heart rate: 178 bpm
Total calories burned: 307

During one of those 880s, I felt something hurt in my right foot. I think I might have pulled something on the outside/bottom of it. Not sure what...let's hope it isn't bad.

Week 13 - Day 6: Still no running

Ok...today was a busy day. Went to Church at 9 am, got out at 11:30. Came home to change clothes and went straight to Momma and Daddy's for Daddy's 55th birthday. Then went straight from there to the ball park at 2:30 for ball practice. Then went straight from there to church at 4:30 for this seminar they are having. And Briar had play practice at 6:00 at church, but me and JT and Bo went on home and JT went back to get him at 7:00. So during that time, I got on my trainer and did the CTS Time Trial video. I am really liking my new computer. I can now keep up with my cadence!! And it wasn't hard at all to install.

Massage

I got a massage from Marj at 8 am Saturday morning. It was good, and boy did it relax me. I was sleepy all day. Marj said I shouldn't do any running or biking for 48 hours. I was thinking I might run 3 miles, oh well.

Week 13 - Day 5: 22 Miles

Today was 22 miles. I was a little worried, since this is the first run over 10 miles that I will have done by myself. My plan was to leave the rec center at 5:30 and run 22 miles all over town...then jump in my car, race home, and try to make it to my hair appt in M'boro by 10:15. So when I didn't leave the rec center until like 5:50, I knew I was going to be running behind. I got started out kinda rough - I couldn't get my fuel belt feeling comfortable so I messed with it until I realized it needed to be up higher. Then my keys fell out of my vest pocket, and I had to go back and get them and tie them to my shoe. My time at mile 1 was 10:36 Mile 2 was 10:09...I tried to pick it up some, but I still had several adjustments to make and couldn't get in a rhythm. And then mile 3 was 10:18. I knew I had some catching up to do, so I finally picked it up a little and ran the next several miles around 9:45/mile. I must say "thanks" to Uncle Coolidge, who stopped his car and let me pass at the main interestion!! I ran up to Lincoln St. and then over to Fox Crossing and back to Indian Springs, where I had finally evened out to averaging about 10:00/mile. But that would all be negated by the fact that on mile 9, in Indian Springs, I spotted a Port-O-Potty and had to take advantage of it. That made my time for mile 9 11:23. But believe me, the relief it brought was worth the time lost!!! So for next several miles I tried to get back down to averaging 10:00/mile again. I don't really remember when I did, but I ran down to Riverchase and finally saw Kimberly and Travis's new house. I knew it was their's because I saw Trav's little Mercedes sitting outside. I ran back up through White Oak, then back through town, down Hwy 55, up Interstate Dr., back down 53, and when I passed by Holly's apartment my mileage was 18.43. So I figured one more loop around the greenway and town should get me close. It did, when I got back I was at 21.6, so I ran up to the Ada Wright center then back around the greenway and hit 22 miles right before I got to the little bridge. As soon as I stopped my knees throbbed and my calves and quads tightened up. I knew right then that stopping to walk after 15 miles or so is not a good idea. My time for 22 miles ended up to be 38:18. Overall I felt really good. And according to my gps, I burned 2439 calories!!

Week 13 - Day 4: Did Nothing

Ok, I'm catching up this blog. I did nothing this day. I haven't had a rest day since I ran 12 on Sunday, and I am planning on running 22 tommorrow. So today is a day of rest!

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Week 13 - Day 3: 6 Miles

Briar and I made it to the rec center at 5:30 this morning. I ran 6 miles in 59 minutes around the track, and Briar ran a mile and walked a mile. That brings him to 3 miles out of the 25.2 he needs before April 29th. Baseball practice started yesterday - Briar had a ball. Dwight is really good with the kids - I think it's gonna be fun.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Week 13 - Day 2: The Beauty of a 4 Mile Run

I love 4 mile runs. I believe that is my favorite distance, by far, to run. There is a certain natural beauty about running it that's hard to describe. You can do about anything you want with a 4 mile run. If you want to run hard and test your speed, it's not so long that you have to worry about not being able to finish if you start out too fast. Or, if you just want to stroll along slowly, it's not so short that you don't feel like you haven't had a workout when you're done. And if you're sick, or having a really bad day, or have tired legs from a previous workout, you can almost always gut-out 4 miles if you set your mind to it. 4 miles also goes beyond the standard "30 minute workout" on an eliptical or stationary bike. It gives you an extra 100 calories burned. If you're training for a 5k - it's perfect. If you're training for a marathon - it's a perfect "easy day" run. If you're training for a triathlon, it's perfect because you can run 4 miles and still have time to get a swim or a bike in before work. I love 4 mile runs. When I look on my training schedule, as I did today, and see "4 Miles", I get a warm-fuzzy feeling! I remember the first time I ever made it to 4 miles when I started running. It felt great then, and it feels great now - 2 years and many miles later. I have to say that I kinda look forward to the day when this marathon training has passed, and I can do 4 mile runs anytime I want.
So today I got to do a 4 mile run. And even though I love 4 mile runs, my mind played a trick on me this morning!!! The alarm went off at 4:40 as usual, and I got up and started towards to the bathroom when I realized I could barely walk on my right knee. There was a terrible pain going through it every time I put pressure on it. I limped around a few steps, and finally concluded that I must have some kinda knee injury and went back to bed. The second alarm then woke me up at 7 am; I got up, and the knee was fine!! LOLOLOL. Have you ever heard of such?! I told Michele and she said "Yep, you're mind didn't want to run at 5am so it made your body hurt!" I think that's right. Because when I went out and ran 4 miles at lunch today there was not even the slightest sign of pain in the knee. I felt great. My mind should be ashamed. What a nasty trick to play - especially on a 4 mile run day!!!

Monday, March 06, 2006

Week 13 - Day 1: 880s at the Track


Today was supposed to be 4 fast 880s. Michele met me at the track this morning at 5:15. We ran warm up lap before starting the intervals. I hate the way I feel when I just take of on an interval with no warm up. It's that same sick to the stomach feeling I get when I take off too fast at a 5k race.
Anyways, I actually brought my camera and took some silly pictures as you can see. The time for the 880s according to my gps were:
1 - 3:38
2 - 3:32
3 - 3:37
4 - 3:28
Total Distance: 2.03 miles
Total Time: 14:17
Average Pace: 7:02/mi
Calories burned: 212

Acting silly!!!

Michele said "enough is enough"! Ha ha..not really - she could have done 4 more easy.

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Week 12 - Day 6: French Toast and 12 Miles Don't Mix

OK...so I've always been really carefully about not eating very much before running. It's usually just a Cliff Bar at most. But today, J.T. talked me into going to Cracker Barrell a little before noon. And I knew that I had recently agreed to run with Leslie at 1 pm. I was feeling brave, and ordered the French Toast that comes with scrambled eggs and ham...and I ate almost all of it. Gary also met Leslie and me at 1:00, and we sat out for 12 miles. I felt ok the first few... and by 8 or so my stomach was getting heavy. By 10:00, I just wanted to throw up, but couldn't. I fought it off until we finished (12 miles in 1:51:19 which is much faster than I normally run) and then went on home to the comfort of my own bathroom where the French toast and scrambled eggs came violenty back up with a vengence. Ugh!!!! I will spare the details, but let me tell you - it wasn't pretty. But I felt great after that, and took the boys and Stanton swimming. I don't think I'll take tommorrow off. It's just 4 fast 880s, and I feel fine...so I am going to press on and hopefully have a better training week than I have had in a while.

Week 12 - Day 5: Briar started his marathon!

Briar finally started his marathon today. He went to the rec center with me, and he ran the first mile with me and decided that was enough for the first day. I went on to finish 3 miles, and we then we both relaxed in the therapy pool. He was proud to put his first sticker on his mile 1 of the marathon course map.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Week 12 - Day 4: 6.4 miles

I was going to run 8 slow miles today, but two guys from work talked me into running 6.4 with them. Whew! They ran faster than I wanted to run - I finished in 57:27. Right at 9:00 miles. The weather was beautiful though - it was atleast 70 degrees.

Week 12 - Catching Up This Blog

I can't get enough sleep this week. It's really weird. I normally get by on 5 - 6 hours a night max, and feel fine. This week is a different story. I didn't go to the rec center Tuesday morning, and instead I ran 4 miles at work during lunch. Tuesday night I slept from 7:55 pm until 7:45 am the next morning, and was still tired. I've been swamped at work, so I didn't get to take a lunch break Wednesday, and had to be back for Bible Study (Briar has play practice) so I didn't get a work out at all. I was exhausted again last night, and didn't get up to go to the rec center this morning either. I need to get an 8 mile run in today somehow. Now that I am at work, I feel better, and finally feel rested. So hopefully I'll get that run in at some point. I find all this "sleepyness" a little strange. And I am hoping that it's over with. I've seriously got to get back into the 5 am routine, because Briar is doing the Country Music Kids marathon...and his schedule is about as busy as mine - meaning that 5am is about the only time he can get his running in as well.