Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Tricks Are Not Funny At 4 a.m.

Andrew Carnegie and Harry Potter
Briar is actually going to be Jason Voorheefs for Halloween, but the 5th graders at school all were assigned a historical character to research. Today he had to dress up like A.C. and give a speech the students about his life. Bo is, ofcourse, your much-loved kids wizard that he knows every single thing in the world about. Are these fun times or what?!?!


Ok,this is bad. I'm just going to cut to the chase. I was supposed to meet Michele at 4:30 a.m. for a 12 mile run. I had a new route mapped out and everything. Holly even had water at the end of her driveway. So when my alarm went off at 4:00, I woke up, looked up at the clock on the cable box and saw "5:00". Not a good feeling. What happened was, I have one of those clocks that sets itself off the atomic clock. But it got confused, as did many I'm sure, and set itself back hour this past weekend instead of this weekend. I've been compensating for it by setting it an hour early, so far.

Until, last night....when I was running around cooking 3 desserts for different events today, and up until 10:30 practicing Briar's "Andrew Carnegie speech" that he has to give to the entire school today, getting together Bo's Harry Potter costume for today, etc. In all the madness, I forgot to make up the hour when I set the alarm and fell into bed, exhausted. When I saw 5:00, I knew that Michele surely had gone ahead with her run. I got up, and thought about just getting in as many miles as I could until 6:30. Then I just got mad at myself and went back to bed.

Sorry, Michele.

I'm not sure how I'm going to get that 12 miler in now. Perhaps I'll do 12 tomorrow instead of 5. And then go ahead with the 17 schedule for Friday morning (17 w/14@MP). We should finish up the 17 around 7:00 and then head SOUTH for PCB @ 8:00. The plan is to get there by 5:00 for our meetings at 5:00 and 6:00, then we're meeting up with Tac, Trimama, etc. @ 7:00. We are body markers and strippers for IMFL Saturday. And then Sunday we are going to sign the next year of our life away to IMFL '08. Yikes!

Goodluck to all those competing - IronJenny, TJ, IronGirl Nyhus, and the guys from the Excel Swim Club:Jere, Andy, Ken and Rebecca!! You guys rock!

Monday, October 29, 2007

A shot, Long Run Poetry, and mental toughness training

1. The Shot

The title of my last post was "I Need Air". Little did I know, when I wrote it, how true that would be. Last Friday morning was supposed to be a 17 mile long run. Since Michele could only run after getting her kids off to school, I had thought about meeting up with Tim, Heather, Holly and the gang at 3:30 a.m. to run with them - they were running 20. I set my alarm for 3:00, but I didn't need it. I was still awake when 3 a.m. rolled around - coughing, hacking, and trying to breathe. Needless to say, I turned the alarm off, opened another cough drop, and tried to get some rest. As soon as the doctor's office opened Friday morning, I made me and the boys and appointment. They have had this mess too, and it was time to to get rid of it. The doc gave us all antibiotics, and I got a steroid shot, too, to help spur on my recovery(a long run might be the only thing worth voluntarily taking a shot for). The shot helped, and I felt some better Friday night. I decided I would run my 17 at 6 a.m. Saturday morning. But alas, the Saturday morning lazy bug got a hold of me and I slept in. It didn't take long until I was feeling guilty and mad at myself for not already getting the long run done. J.T. was busy with work all day, and I had almost decided I would just do the run Sunday morning when Briar and Bo asked if they could go over to my parents' house. Honest...I swear I didn't put them up to it. I was dreading this run and actually looking for a reason to further procrastinate. But we called, and my parents were happy to have them come over. I got dressed for the run, we drove over to my mom and dad's, and I just took off from their house.

2. Long Run Poetry

With apologies to Dylan Thomas, ofcourse...

Why did I dread this run, you ask? I have had past issues with running from the light into darkness. It's just way too symbolic. In past long runs when I've done this, I can feel my energy going down with the sun...being swallowed by the darkness. Negativity surrounds me, and all I want to do is get back home.

I prefer to run from the darkness into the light. I am a solar-powered generator. Running as the sun comes up fills my body with energy and life. The light triggers things in my soul that nothing else can. The light is hope. It is the sign of a new day, a new beginning, and - you guessed it - the end of the run I've been gutting out in the darkness this whole time. The light is my victory.

But we don't always get to choose the field our battles will be fought on. Nor the rules of engagement (think headwinds in Vegas). Saturday night, I took off just before dusk for 17 miles. I expected the worst. I headed for the lights of downtown Manchester, knowing they were about 4 miles away, and I talked to the last inches of the sun as He dropped below the neon pink and orange sky. I listened, through the headphones of Briar's iPod, to SteveRunner's account of his Bay State Marathon experience. I decided, as I approached the intersection of traffic heading into town, that I could take on the darkness for the next 2 to 3 hours.

I did not go gentle into that good night.

I drove the pace down under 9:30 and felt fine. I thought about the superb 20 miler that Tim had emailed me about, where they ran just over 8.5 minute miles for 20 miles. It inspired me, and I picked the pace up a bit more. I felt SteveRunner's anguish, just like it was my own, as he experienced "The Wall" around mile 24 at the Bay State Marathon. He had a sub4 in his back pocket until that point. I pushed a little harder. At one point, I looked up at the sky above me, in all its vastness, and assured myself that God, himself, was there...in all the majesty of the millions of stars, and was smiling at me. Proud of me. Understanding me. Loving me.

Mile 11 - 8:46
Mile 12 - 8:59

And I started to think I might be getting tired.

"You might not make it, you know. You've been running this thing like you were running a 12 miler. You still have 5 to go. It's dark. It's getting colder. You gonna slow down, or what?"

I raged, raged against the dying of the light.


My labored breath got louder and more visible, but my legs turned in perfect time. The last four miles were on the dark, rough Old Woodbury Hwy, but I knew I had this battle won. I finished the run in 2:37:21. Average Pace: 9:15. Average HR:160. Max HR:170.

By far, the best long run yet.

3. Mental Toughness Training
AKA, "I am an idiot." Yeah, so there was no poetry to speak of this morning. I got up at 5:00 and got dressed for my 9 mile VO2 Max run with 5x1000m intervals. I've been overdressing lately for my morning runs, so I decided to make sure I didn't make that same mistake today. Without even looking at the forecast, I put on shorts, a thin long sleeved shirt and a lightweight vest. No gloves, no ear warmers, nothing. I ran from the rec center to the track (about 3 miles) and realized what a complete moron I really am. I was frozen. It was 36 degrees!!!! Nothing I could do about it at that point, so I squatted down to squeeze through the gate at the track. Nothing doing. Stood back up, squatted back down, and tried again. No dice.

"What the ??? Okay, I know I've put on a couple of pounds, but surely not..."

And then I realize I can't even get my head through the gate. Much less my rear-end, extra pounds and all. It was chained up tighter today.

~sigh~

I turned around and proceeded to run the 1000m intervals through town, on the rough sidewalks and even did a few laps around the town square, like it was my own track. I am sure I didn't hit target pace, but I don't have the splits with me at the moment. Either way, I finished the workout in pain, but without my fingers falling off, got home and finally regained the feeling after about an hour.

If it wasn't a boost for the VO2 Max, at least it was some money in the Bank of Mental Toughness.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

I NEED AIR!!!

First and foremost, Happy Birthday to my mother yesterday!!!

Next, thanks guys - all of you - for your comments and insight on the weight gain. I'm not letting it get me down - see the pic - I'm still smiling. As much as I so don't want to admit it, I can't help but wonder if those 30's I've been talking about have brought with them the difficulty to lose weight. Like IronJenny said - she now has no more free bites of food - I wonder if I am starting to see what that's like. It's a scary thought, but there's really nothing I can do about it. I might as well face it, deal with it, and learn to like it. I'll feel better in general without the junk anyways.

Moving onto other things, Tuesday was a rest day. I went to yoga class and enjoyed every minute of it - especially the back massage that the instructor came around giving everyone at the end of class. I needed that. When that was over, I rushed up to the weight room to try and squeeze in some hamstring curls and quad lifts. I got a couple of sets done, but probably not enough to make any difference.

Wednesday was a recovery paced 4 miler w/6x100m strides at the end. We had a pretty big group show up to run this one. We laughed and talked the whole way, probably awaking all the people who live on our route. We had such a good time that we totally forgot about the strides at the end. I did go in and finally...I repeat, finally, get back into the pool. Ha - lle - lujah! And just as I would have expected, my ears had forgotten that they have to deal with water rolling in and out of them like sand in an hourglass. My ears really do not like that feeling, and it normally takes a while for them to get accustomed to it. I should have never taken such a long hiatus from the pool. The funny thing is, when the water goes in, I can't help but squint my eyes shut. So even though I'm swimming with goggles, I have my eyes shut half of the time. My form goes completely to hell, too. For some reason, the ears think that shutting the eyes and not leaving my arm outstretched long enough will help the pain. Go figure.

And that brings me to this morning. Mr. Pfitzinger suggests an 8 - 15k race today. I guess in a normal person's schedule this day of their training would fall on Saturday, making it fairly easy to find such a race. But, not being very normal, it falls on Thursday for me. And there's no race before work on a Thursday morning anywhere around here. I emailed all my running buddies asking for anyone who was game to race a 10k at 5:15 this morning. I had 3 takers - Mike, Amy and Mary Beth. Amy and Mary Beth weren't exactly racing, they were just getting in a good, hard run. I told Mike I needed to be pushed, and he did just that. It was all I could do to keep up with him. I was gasping for every breath. We stayed well under 8:30's until around mile 4 when Mike pulled a hamstring. He slowed down a little, but he wouldn't stop. We came to the main intersection and I had to pretty much stop to let traffic pass, and then I pushed the last 1.2 miles in about as hard as I could go, still gasping for air between my crazy-high heart rate and this chest/head cold my kids brought home from school for me. I finished the run in 51:46. Not my 10k best, but I'll take it. Average Pace: 8:21/mile. Avg HR: 169, Max HR:181

Tomorrow is 17 miles. I'll be glad when that's over.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Fatter

Yesterday I felt stronger. Today, I feel fatter. Would someone tell me how you gain weight while running 55.88 miles in a week?!? No, don't. I already know. It's like this:

Thursday night: "I have a twenty miler tomorrow; I need some carbs and lots of water."

Friday morning: "I need something in my stomach before I start. I'll take a few drinks of this Power-Aide." Then I proceed to drink OS Endurance during the 20 miler because it rocks as far as keeping me fueled and not hurting my stomach.

Friday post-run: Finish off the Power-Aide because I am dying of thirst. Chocolate milk for recovery. Gotta have that protein.

Friday lunch: beef stew, fried okra, and baked apples at Cracker Barrell.

Friday night: Tailgating at the HS football game, we have BBQ, chips and beans. I don't eat that much....but I do get into the cookies. Cookies, cookies, and more cookies. And you know the story "I ran 20 miles this morning - I deserve a couple of cookies!"

No, Lana, you do not. You deserved the 400 calories of OS Endurance and the chocolate milk. It helped you through a fantastic 20 miler and made your legs feel brand new for Friday afternoon. You did not deserve the cookies.

~sigh~

But it's so hard.

My pants were tight this morning. I saw it coming. I knew it was coming.

I got up at 4:00 a.m. and ran 11 with Michele at 4:30 a.m. I drank Power-Aide because I needed it. I ate a banana for breakfast with my coffee. I will do better this week. Maybe I can wear those pants next Monday.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Stronger

I'm getting stronger. I can feel it. This week was The Big One in the Pfitzinger 18/55 marathon training plan. The "18" is for the 18 week duration of the plan, and the "55" is for the mileage in the peak mileage week. This was peak week. And it was capped off by a 20 mile run on Friday. I was a concerned about it, having already run two 12 milers this week, one of them including 7 miles at LT pace. Michele and I took off at 4:25 a.m. from my house on a route that she had mapped out the night before. It was cool and felt just right. We were careful not to start out to fast, and that's the way I like it. So when we hit the halfway point and was just shy of 10 minute miles, we picked up the pace. We had a negative split 20 miler, and I felt like I could have kept going. During the last 3 miles, I noticed a difference in how my legs felt. Instead of like dead tree stumps barely moving (like the last 20 miler), they felt strong. It was a great run. We ran into a fallen tree while it was still very dark (ha! I tried to take a picture of it, but it was just too dark), we saw a pretty sunrise, we ran by lots of road kill - including a deer that hadn't been there long, and we both finished strong on a route that came out to exactly 20 miles back to my house. I drank my chocolate milk for recovery, took an ice bath for 9 minutes, and then took a 1.5 hour nap that made me feel like a lazy, but well-recovered bum. Oh yeah.

Saturday was rest/cross training, and believe it or not, I cross trained. I had set my alarm for 6:45 a.m., and when it went off I had no idea what day it was, why I needed to get up, or where I was supposed to be. I finally figured it out, and I met up with Holly, Michele, Kevin, Tim, Jacky, Jacky's friend, and Eric (aka The Bionic Man) for a 24 mile bike ride in beautiful weather. I might be getting stronger on the run, but my bike legs have a lot to be desired right now. But man, it felt good to be back on the bike, regardless of the struggle. The bad news - my bike is rattling. And I can't figure out what it is. It's around the front wheel, but it's not the brake pads or anything that I can see. I'm going to have to take it to the bike doc.

Bo won his soccer game with J.T. filling in as coach for myself, and I took Briar to his first swim meet. He swam in the 50 yd freestyle, 50 yd backstroke, and 50 yd breaststroke. I thought he did well, but he was upset that he came in "last" in a couple of the heats he was in. I like the competitive spirit, but I think he was way too hard on himself. I told him he can't judge anything by the first meet. A lot of those kids have been swimming way longer than he has. He still swam the 50 yd free in 44 seconds, which is better than I could do right now. He later said that he did have fun, and that's what I was hoping for.

Sunday called for the second VO2Max run. 8 miles with 5x600m intervals w/90 sec jog between each. Finally about 1:45 I headed down to the rec center and ran from there to the middle school track where I squeezed through fence for the intervals. This time the times were on target. They are supposed to be 5k pace, which is around 7:30/mile, and here were the results:
600m Intervals:
1.7:18
2.7:23
3.7:23
4.7:21
5:7:25
Overall pace: 9:30/mile, Avg HR:161, Max HR:175

Tomorrow is 11 miles at 4:30 a.m. and I need to go get in the bed right now if I am going to survive it.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Number 5 Is Alive

I was wondering if this day would ever come. My anti-schedule, freedom of choice, don't-box-me-in self has finally conceded. This past week I have noticed a change in my thought process as the alarm goes off shortly after 4 a.m., or 5 a.m., depending on the day.


Snooze button? Haven't touched it.

Curling up on the bathroom rug to get "3 more minutes"? Haven't done it.

Sending out a text to announce that'll I'll be the "no show"? Nope.

I haven't even been late this week.

That's right, the Devil now has a severe case of frostbite on his evil little toes.

What gives? I don't know, to be right honest with you. I am not an early riser by nature. But about 3 years ago, when I went back to work, I realized that on work days, the exercise had to be done while everyone else was asleep or it might not get done. There's any number of curve balls that might get thrown my way if I wait until 5 p.m.. So I started working out at 5:30 a.m. and realized the amazing effects it had on the rest of my day. I loved it, but don't even, for one minute, think it ever came natural. It was more of a "Just go...you can do it...you'll be glad when it's over."

I trained for my first marathon the same way. "You must get this run done now or it will not get done and you will fail miserably at your quest to complete a marathon. Go on, now. Go. Go. Go."

Same thing for triathlon training. After going through about 3 cycles of "snooze", I would finally convince myself that I would be better off to go on to the pool rather than get 1 more hour of sleep.

But it is so hard. I'm not wired like that. I am wired for flexibility. Say we've got plans for Friday night, ok? Last minute...you wanna change the plan? No problemo!!! I roll with the flow. My program has tons of nested If, Then, Else's.

Here's a common scenario:

ALARM CLOCK = RINGING
IF LANA = TIRED x 100 THEN

***Lana didn't get enough sleep***
IF (TRAINING_CAN_BE_COMPLETED_AT_LUNCH) = TRUE THEN
LANA = GO BACK TO BED
LANA = TRAIN AT LUNCH
ELSE
LANA = GET OUT OF BED
LANA = TRY AGAIN TO GET OUT OF BED
LANA = TRY ONE MORE TIME TO GET OUT OF BED
END IF

ELSE

***Lana got enough sleep and is not tired x100***
LANA = GET OUT OF BED
LANA = GET SWIM OR BIKE OR RUN DONE

END IF

IF LANA_GOT_SWIM_BIKE_OR_RUN_DONE = FALSE THEN
LANA =(((GUILTY x 100) + LAZY) - TRAINED)
ELSE
LANA = (((HAPPY x 100)+CONFIDENT) + TRAINED)
END IF


But lately, it's just been this:

ALARM CLOCK = RINGING
IF LANA_HEARS_ALARM_RINGING = TRUE THEN

LANA = GET OUT OF BED
LANA = GET SWIM OR BIKE OR RUN DONE
LANA = (((HAPPY x 100)+CONFIDENT) + TRAINED)

END IF

I hear the alarm, and I get up. Just like a robot. Call me Number 5.

And if I can be robotized, then anyone can. I'm sure one reason that I finally conceded has to do with the fact that when I am running multiple 12 milers in the middle of the week, I really have no other choice than to get up and run before work. Lunch break will not permit 12 miles. And neither will afternoon/evening with 2 kids. The only other option involves the possibility of not reaching the sub-4 goal. And that option hasn't been included this time.

And another reason has to be just plain classical conditioning - further proof for Pavlov. Do it 5 days a week for 10 straight weeks because... 1.) you want a sub-4 marathon so bad you can taste it and much more so than an extra hour or two of sleep, and 2.) because the sting of defeat still lingers from 10 months ago... and even the most robot-challenged of us can quit hitting snooze.

All that being said, I ran another 12 Wednesday at a 9:37/mi pace and 5 recovery miles today with Michele, Amy, Mary Beth, Kim, Tracy, and Mike. Tomorrow is the second 20 miler. Number 5 says "Bring. It. On."

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

I need a Trapper Keeper


Something has got to give.

I've got papers coming home in a Kindergarten backpack reminding me to eat lunch with Bo on Monday. Reminding me of this event and that event.

I've got 5th grade papers, if they are lucky enough to make it home, keeping me informed of Briar's school activities.

I'm receiving letters in the mail from swim team - "bring an ad by Tuesday for the 'Heat Sheet'", "bring hot dogs and buns on Saturday for the hospitality room", "Don't forget, you volunteered to be a timer at the meet Saturday - be there at noon and stay until 3:00". Not to mention just finding out and remembering when my child actually swims in this thing.

Then there's the phone calls asking for a copy of Briar's physical for football. And then another copy of it because they lost the first one I gave them. Then a call from the basketball coach needing one too. Oh yeah, and a copy of last year's report card, please.

I have all these sheets of paper I'm supposed to keep up with for my soccer team - the contact info for all the parents. And that "Laws of the game" book I should be reading so that I don't make a fool out of myself while coaching.

I have a marathon training schedule. Hair appointments. Group rides. A school cafeteria menu (can't send the kids to school without a lunch box on "Salisbury Steak Day"). A snack calendar. A football schedule. A basketball schedule. A soccer shedule. A swim team schedule. I need to call about batting lessons. And remind J.T. about guitar lessons.

The birthday cake and cupcakes will be ready at 9 a.m. on Tuesday. The cupcakes and drinks need to be delivered to school at 2 p.m. Thank God J.T. can help me with this stuff.

And don't forget that report and oral presentation Briar has due in a couple of weeks on Andrew Carnegie. And he has to dress up like him, too.

Oh yeah, and I have a job, too.

I've tried to do it electronically. I've got a lot of this in my Outlook calender at work and then duplicated in my Yahoo! calendar so that I get reminders sent to my cell phone about the most important things. But when you have 10 minutes to get kids out of swim suits and into soccer or football clothes and you get 3 papers with upcoming "important dates" shoved in your face in the meantime - the high-tech solutions are failing me.

I need a Trapper Keeper. I need that pretty, sleek, purple, paper-trapping binder that solved all my problems in the 3rd grade. I need those folders in it, some paper, a pen, and some tabbed dividers. And I need to carry it under my arm, like I did in 3rd grade, everywhere I go.

And I think I'll change my hair color back to brown.

How else do you guys do this stuff???

Monday, October 15, 2007

Some Braggin' and Some Running

Ok, first and foremost, let me brag on my boys a little. Bo had a soccer game this past Tuesday, and we won 6-5 over the only undefeated team - and Bo scored 5 goals! He was just a little bit proud of himself! Saturday, Briar had another football game. I had to miss out on the Delta 100k local bike ride to see his game, but let me tell you - I would have missed every bike ride from here on out to have seen this game. He rushed for almost 100 yds (I don't have the exact count), and he looked great on the field!! For the first time in a while, he is carrying himself with confidence and really doing a great job. He had one run around 45 yards, and got stopped at like the 4 yard line. I almost peed in my pants. And he made several first downs by refusing to go down. And for my favorite part - getting pretty deep into the 4th quarter, he lined up at QB, snapped the ball on 4th & 12, and ran for about 25 yards before being drug out of bounds. And so he's laying there, out of bounds, on his back, on the ground...when some unruly player from the other team comes pouncing on top of him - helmet to chest - Briar's chest. Knocks the breath out of him and he lays there for a while in pain. The coaches get him standing up, but have to send someone else in to run the next play as he gains his composure. After the next play is run, the coach turns around and says "Briar, you just let me know when you're ready." Briar snaps on his chinstrap and yells "I'm READY!!" as he runs up to the coach to get the next play, and runs back out onto the field. Oh yeah...I was proud. ;) Briar's birthday is tomorrow - he will be 11 years old. For the past 11 years, I have been blessed with a miracle we call Briar. I hope that some day I will be able to find the words to express the amazing, intense, 'lay down and die for you' love that I have for my children. It takes my breath away sometimes. It is unlike anything else in this world. We have ups and downs, celebrations and meltdowns, but I have been entrusted with the care of the 2 most special boys in the world to me, and I don't take it lightly. If I make a fool out of myself for trying to make sure they are taken care of, then so be it. I will err on the side of going too far for them before I will risk not going far enough.

Happy Birthday, Briar!


I rested on Saturday and enjoyed my kids' games. J.T. and I went to see "Why Did I Get Married?" Saturday night - funny movie! Sunday I ran the scheduled the 6 miler to kick off the big "Peak Week" on the Pfitz program. It's going to be 55 miles this week. I took Wrigley with me, and bless his heart, he had to sit down and rest a few times. I'm going to have to get him back into shape. I was just glad it was a 6 mile "recovery run"...and I wasn't that concerned about pace. We spent a couple hours at the ball field practicing baseball with the boys, and then came home and I cooked a big meal. We all got too full and went to bed early.

The alarm went off at 4:05 a.m., and I was rested. I got dressed, opting for a short sleeved shirt because it just didn't seem to be that cold this morning, and went outside to meet Michele
for our 12 mile run. This was supposed to be a lactate threshold run, with 7 miles of it being at half marathon pace. HM pace is 8:30, give or take a few seconds. So we set out, with our new reflective belts that work GREAT (thanks Michele!) down to Fredonia Rd. We turn left on Matt's Hollow Rd, and pick it up, after 3 miles, trying to hit Half Mary pace. We go all the way down Matt's Hollow to the end, take a left, and I try to locate the side road that I think is to the left that should bring us out at Hwy 41 on down a ways. We take a left turn that I presume is the one, and keep going. Michele is doubtful of the turn, but I assure her it's okay. Until we are .61 miles into it and it suddenly dead ends. I said "UH - maybe I don't know where we are." But there is no time to think about it, as we are still in the LT portion of our run. We turn around and head back to the intersection and the original way we should have gone. We knew we were going to be too far out after that fiasco, and we talked about calling J.T. to come get us once we were done to ensure that we weren't late getting back and getting the kids to school. We did some calculations and decided that we would be around a mile long - not really long enough to justify getting J.T. and the kids out of the bed. So our 2 mile cool down turned into a 2.88 mile cool down. Not a good a way to start out the heaviest mileage week of my entire life. Instead of 55 miles this week, if all goes well, I'll end up with 55.88. Ouch. Here are the splits from the run:

Mile 1: 9:45
Mile 2: 9:49
Mile 3: 9:23
Mile 4: 8:31
Mile 5: 8:35
Mile 6: 8:27
Mile 7: 8:42
Mile 8: 8:34
Mile 9: 8:30
Mile 10: 8:13
Mile 11: 9:50
Mile 12: 9:32
.88 extra: 8:28(9:40/mi pace)

Total: 12.88 miles in 1:56:19 Avg Pace:9:02/mi;Avg HR:163 bpm; Max HR:178 bpm

I am pleased with this run.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Finally...a good, comfy long run

Today was the last day of week 8, and a recovery week. This time, I really felt like I was somewhat recovering. 14 miles. Michele and I started at 4:25 and ran on the dark country roads until the sky finally lightened up. We had OS Endurance to drink during mile 8, but I couldn't seem to finish all of mine. I had eaten a fig newton on the way to her house and my stomach just felt too full for whole 8 ounces. But the Fig Newton and the OS I did have carried me through a nice, comfortable, and halfway decent-paced long run. Finally. Next week is the peak week. 55 miles. 2 mid week 12 milers (one of them a LT run), a long run of 20 miles, and a 6 and 5 mile recovery run. Whew...I need to get plenty of sleep...starting tonight.

Oh, did I mention it's cold now? 44 is cold. I still wore shorts, but I am now regularly sporting gloves, long sleeves and a vest.

Activity
Route:--Elev. Avg:1078 ft
Location:Arnold Afb, TNElev. Gain:+0 ft
Date:10/12/07Up/Downhill: [+479/-479]
Time:04:29 AMDifficulty:3.4 / 5.0
Weather:Fair
44 F temp; 92% humidity
44 F heat index; winds Calm
Heart Rate (bpm)
Splits
MilePace (min/mile)Speed (mph)Heart
Rate
Elev
Gain
actual+/- avgactual+/- avg
19' 45+0' 226.2-0.2134+7 ft
29' 31+0' 086.3-0.1140-36 ft
39' 35+0' 126.3-0.1147-3 ft
49' 30+0' 076.3-0.1152+37 ft
59' 29+0' 066.3-0.1155+33 ft
69' 12-0' 116.5+0.1154-30 ft
79' 10-0' 136.5+0.1157+3 ft
89' 38+0' 156.2-0.2157+14 ft
99' 21-0' 026.4+0.0156-36 ft
109' 17-0' 066.5+0.1158+4 ft
119' 17-0' 066.5+0.11590 ft
129' 04-0' 196.6+0.2162-7 ft
139' 07-0' 166.6+0.2164+32 ft
149' 10-0' 136.5+0.1164-23 ft
end8' 45-0' 386.8+0.5164+6 ft
Versus average of 9' 23 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Wednesday, October 10, 2007


Last Friday was a marathon pace run. 15 miles with 12 at marathon pace, which is 9:09/mile. Man, it hurt. Not to mention my chest was tight with some kind of cold/congestion crap. Here's the splits:

 
Pace (min/mile)
 
Splits
MilePace (min/mile)Speed (mph)Elevation
Gain
actual+/- avgactual+/- avg
110' 14+0' 545.9-0.6+79 ft
29' 36+0' 166.2-0.2-32 ft
39' 31+0' 116.3-0.1+26 ft
49' 01-0' 196.7+0.2-20 ft
59' 02-0' 186.6+0.2+10 ft
69' 12-0' 086.5+0.1+26 ft
78' 59-0' 216.7+0.2-17 ft
89' 09-0' 116.5+0.1+16 ft
98' 54-0' 266.7+0.3-79 ft
109' 13-0' 076.5+0.1+52 ft
119' 23+0' 036.4-0.0-4 ft
129' 26+0' 066.4-0.1+16 ft
139' 25+0' 056.4-0.1-4 ft
149' 26+0' 066.4-0.1-20 ft
159' 03-0' 176.6+0.2-59 ft
end9' 10-0' 106.5+0.1+3 ft
Versus average of 9' 20 min/mi

Posted from bimactive.com


Last Friday was a marathon pace run. 15 miles with 12 at marathon pace, which is 9:09/mile. Man, it hurt. Not to mention my chest was tight with some kind of cold/congestion crap. Here's the splits:


Posted from bimactive.com


Last Friday was a marathon pace run. 15 miles with 12 at marathon pace, which is 9:09/mile. Man, it hurt. Not to mention my chest was tight with some kind of cold/congestion crap. Here's the splits:


Posted from bimactive.com

Monday, October 08, 2007

I ate an organic banana today

And I'm embarrassed to say that it was my first ever organic food purchase, to my knowledge. I want to eat organic. There's not even a grocery store that carries organic food in the town I live in. I know it is much better for us. So I went to Kroger after work (in a different town) and purchased the bananas, and I like them. Next up: organic broccoli and cauliflower.

I was going to post splits and talk about runs and stuff, but let's not do that right now. I have other stuff on my mind. Fair warning, though: This is not my typical post. Those easily offended might want to move on along for now and wait for the splits.

Ok, I'm going to admit it. I spent the last 5 years of my twenties talking about how I was not afraid of the thirties and how I welcomed them and couldn't wait to actually feel old enough to have my children and look old enough to not get carded every time I try to purchase a glass of wine.
And so I turned 30 last year(and 31 2 days ago), and now all of the sudden I'm thinking about things like I've never thought about them before. Kinda strange. Like...what is up with these wrinkles and how much does Botox cost and I need a lift here and a lift there and, well you get the picture.
Of course it doesn't help matters when you wake up one Saturday morning and your 5 year old wakes up about the same time all snuggled up in your arms, and as he starts focusing in on your face through the haze that lies between his sleep and conscienceness, he looks concerned, moves his eyes closer to my face, and says:

"Momma"

"Yes, Bo?"

"Momma, you're growing a lot of wrinkles on your face. Right here...and over here...and right here." (as he points first at the very obvious New Madrid Fault that lies between my eyes and gets deeper every day from my concerned and serious furrowed brow)

I jump up and go look in the mirror, and then proceed to think very Botox thoughts for the rest of the day, and week, and we'll I'm still thinking about it.

Aside from the wrinkles, though, I'm thinking that the twenties made away with my flexibility when they left. And so, I'm starting to think very panicky yoga thoughts and trying to see where and when it can be fit into my marathon schedule. I really fear becoming stiff as a board, ya know.

But those are physical things, and it's not only physical things by which I am being blindsided. It's intellectual and spiritual matters, as well. I stepped outside myself one day, took a brief look, and realized how pathetically ignorant, uneducated, and uncultured I really am. For instance,
I graduated High School with a 4.0 and went on to get a B.A. in Computer Information Systems while starting a marriage and shortly thereafter, having and raising kids. I have been to probably half of all the states, been on a little cruise to Jamaica and the Grand Cayman Islands, but I really know nothing about the
world I live in. Yes, I remember taking tests on world history (ace-ing them of course), and I watch enough of the news to hold a political discussion without completely embarrassing myself, but I think for the first time in my life, I realize that I know nearly nothing. I mean, I made the
grades in school, but I didn't really absorb anything. There were more important things in the town I lived in. During Elementary and Jr. High, kids are focused on one of two things, depending on which route they are starting to go down: 1.)The sport(s) they are playing, or 2.)The band instrument they are playing.
Get on up to high school, and the opposite sex and the next field party become number 1, with the sport/band thing a close second. Anything else is just not cool. This is not at all a knock on my parents, because they, of all people, did not stress these things and tried to keep my head screwed on as straight as possible. But there is not much a parent can do when
the entire community culture gravitates toward one or two things. Girls didn't look too far beyond their boyfriend as far their future went. And boys didn't look too far beyond the next Bud Light. But, I digress. Mom and Dad, you may now insert the "I told you so".

Some people might say this is a reflection of my age at the time and not necessarily my surroundings. Right now, the way I see it, I don't think so.

Moving on to spiritual matters, I guess this is what concerns me most right now. What do I believe about the creation of the world, and about God and the pathway to Heaven? Well, of course I believe what I was taught by my parents and Sunday school teachers at a very young age. And it was re-enforced every day/month/year from there on out. Problem is...I ask a certain question
a little too often in my life for this state of blissful ignorance to continue. That question is "Why?"

Me:Lana, why do you believe in the story of creation?

Lana:Uhhhh, well, because the Bible says so.

Me:And why do you believe the Bible?

Lana:Uhhhh, well, because Mom and Dad believe it. And so does most everyone I know.

Me:Why do you believe them? Are "they" authorities on the topic? Why do "they" believe it?

And so I am confronted with the bothersome question of why I believe what I believe about something very basic, but very important and instrumental in my entire faith. And right now, I am not sure what I believe about spirituality, and faith, and how we got here, other than a few things that I know, personally, to be true:

- I know that I am better off to be unsure but seeking the truth than to be walking around in a state of ignorant bliss based on what "they say".

- I know that I have, since I can first remember being on this earth, always instinctively talked to a superior being.

- I know that He has given me undeniable peace, when I have asked, in times of tragedy and turmoil

There you have it. Me. 31 years old. Wrinkled, Ignorant and Uncensored. And that was only a fraction of it.

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Fall Break Comes to a Close

As I sit here and finish uploading pictures to my computer, and think about how I am going to cram over a week's worth of theme parks, fun, and running into one post, I can't get over how fast time flies. It seems like just yesterday we were visiting Disney World for the first time, but it was over 3 years ago at the same time of year. So three years later, we decided it was time for Universal Studios, with one day of Disney's Magic Kingdom thrown in there mainly for Bo and his buddy, Nicholas, who weren't hardly 3 years old the last time we went(We do these trips with our friends MB and C - who have kids the same age as ours).

We spent 5 nights at the Hard Rock Hotel in Universal Orlando. I loved the hotel. I don't have to have the fanciest of fancy hotels, but there's something to be said for comfort and cleanliness when you're going to be there for 5 nights with kids. This placed ROCKED. No pun intended. So the first night, after we arrived, we all took the water taxi over to Universal for Halloween Horror Nights. As it turned out, we were the only people who had our kids there in the entire place. The. Only. Ones. With. Kids. Yes. And we couldn't figure it out, actually..there were 8 haunted houses and spooky people running around, but it wasn't more than they could handle. The 11 year olds were just fine...the 6 year olds got a little scared at times, but they knew it was fake. Anyways...I won't elaborate. It was cool. Haunted houses don't really do anything for me - I personally think real life is much, much scarier than any horror movie or haunted house, but we had fun.

The next day MB and I got up and ran 6 miles, and then we all went to Universal Studios. We did every possible ride and show until closing, and then spent the rest of the evening by the pool. The next day we hit Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney, the next day was Sea World(after running my 14 miler), and the final day we did Universal Islands of Adventure, where we did cool roller coasters and the boys got to meet Spidey other super heroes. I wish I had a pedometer to see how far we walked during these 5 days. I really considered taking up a career that involved more manual labor and walking around. My feet might run 20 milers in the wee hours of the morning, but they are serious wimps for walking around theme parks 10 hours a day. But it was a lot of fun. I think it was really good for our family - to have 5 full days of just playing and having fun. It wasn't laying on the beach relaxing, or enjoying the beauty of nature in the fall, but it was just good fun - laughing, playing, no rushing to this practice and that practice.

So we got home on Wednesday, and I had a 6 mile recovery run with Michele, Mike, and Joe at 5 a.m. Thursday morning. And then a 15 mile long run on Friday w/12 miles at marathon pace. And I learned that TriSaraTops had The Big Day!! Congrats!!!

I finally got everything uploaded to BimActive, so I'll post some splits next...