Capitol Mile Pics & A New Age Group

So these are some pictures from Sunday's Capitol Mile. Pretty fun. I turned 35 yesterday, so I get to test some new waters in my new age group category!

I am sad to report my Grandma passed yesterday. The good news is she is now in a better place and I got the gift of sharing my birthday with my entire family.

I apologize in advance if you want to read an entry about running. And I hereby (yes, hereby) give full and fair warning that this blog entry is a big downer.

I received a call today from my uncle that my Grandma had taken a big turn for the worse. I asked my husband to meet me for a walk around the square (so I could selfishly receive the hugs and kisses I needed), then went to hospice. I spent the day and much of the night there with my wonderful family and we all helped as much as we could, which was very little.

I have had to deal with many deaths before, but never watched someone I love die. It was painful, yet my heart was filled because I could be there to comfort her and ensure she was not alone.

I kissed her goodnight and told her I loved her and she responded in a way that let me know she knew. It was an amazing gift to me.

Hug those you love. Life is precious. Life is short. Life is beautiful.

Results are in!

James: 8:24
Jakey: 10:51
Mindi: 6:08

I am pretty happy with my time but a little regretful I did not pick up the pace a little earlier. There is a decent hill and after it I like to pour it on. This time I did not have the confidence in myself and waited until there was less than .25 left. I ended up with a lot more at the finish than I probably should have. But it was loads of fun and lots of my friends came out to watch, which was really, really awesome. What a fun day!

The boys also had great races. I did not get to run with James, but he said he walked the entire hill (which is 1/7 of the route). Next time I may try to pace him better to see if he can do it the entire way. His time this year was almost 1.5 minutes faster - awesome job and he had a terrific time.

Jake also did great. He ran at a great pace and did not stop at all - EXCEPT with only 2/7 left he realized he was in last place and just stopped and said he wanted to quit b/c he did not want to be last! I kept telling him he was the only 5 year old and was doing great. He hemmed and hawed for a bit, but ended up finishing strong and the crowd went wild when he came through. The announcer even said, "now here comes someone who DEFINITELY won his age group" which elicited the greatest finish line smile. Then of course hoards of people told him how great he did and suddenly he didn't quite care he was last.

Priceless.

Cut Back Week

This week was a much deserved (in my opinion) cut back week. Good timing too as it is also the week of the Capitol Mile. It was funny b/c in my post for last week Greg commented on how I just jumped to 20 miles. The funny thing was that I didn't even realize that as a crazy "jump." Since I have logged several 17, 18, 19, 20 milers, I seem to lump them all in my head as the same thing these days. Crazy. The good news is that I recovered with no fanfare from my 20 miler and 50 mile week.

The week did present several challenges, however. My grandma, who has been in very poor health for the last 10 years, was once again admitted to the hospital, then moved to a hospice center on Tuesday afternoon. There have been multiple times she was admitted to the hospital where the doctors did not think she would make it through the night. Somehow she always miraculously bounces back. Many of you coolrunners probably recall hearing of some of these instances. Anyway, this time she bounced back, but you can tell it is lesser and lesser each time. She is struggling and I'm not sure she will go home again. It is sad because she is in such bad health. But she is hanging on to continue. We visited her again today and she was very happy to see the boys.

We also did our last track workout for the Capitol Mile. It was a relatively easy workout since the race is this Sunday. It was a fun time - I love this group and this year had some great new people and we really had a fun time.

I was scheduled for a 12 mile long run this week but decided to bag it to ensure I went into the Capitol Mile rested. I had thought about fitting it in on Thursday, but I decided just to let it go - I had enough going on this week as it was.

Week in recap:

M: rest

T: last track workout - w/u 6.37; drills and striders; 2x400 at race pace (1:31/175 AHR; 1:27/174 AHR); 4x200 untimed with 200 recoveries; c/d 1.1

W: 4.5 recovery (9:59)

R: 8 easy (9:27)

F: rest

Sa: 8 easy (9:42) with strideout at end (5:11 pace)

Tomorrow I should log around 4 with the race and hit 34ish miles

Wish me luck!

50

Today I ran my long run and it was one of those runs that can be wholly described in two words: "mental toughness." I had 17 scheduled, but planned to do 18. Then I looked at my schedule and realized if I did 20, I would hit 50 miles for the week. Hey, I can do that.

I headed out the door at 7:30 and it wasn't too warm - right around 70 degrees. Unfortunately, the 94% humidity wasn't too pleasant. After 3 miles I was completely soaking wet - crazy. I headed down the trail and around mile 10 I got to the park I usually refill at. I decided to pass it up and stop on my way back. That was a mistake. I ran out of water more than a mile and a half before the park and was really feeling it. But I finally got to the park and there were a couple baseball games going on and people everywhere. It was actually hilarious because there I am soaking wet, undoubtedly red in the face, with sunscreen blotches and little black bugs intermittently stuck to my skin. LOL. I start dumping water on my head and people were looking at me like I was absolutely insane. HAHAH. Hardcore, baby!

The last few miles were tough as the sun came out and the temp continued to rise. I ended up finishing with 19.5 miles. Not quite 20, but I think I will adopt Bridget's strategy and round it up! :)

So here is my week:

M: rest/pilates

T: 9 - 6.2 w/u; intervals at mile pace: 600 (2:22); 600 (2:19); 400 (1:27); 400 (1:26) c/d

W: unplanned rest - I ended up working until 10:30 pm!

R: 5.36 easy (9:33)

F: 10.2 (9:16)

Sa: 5.6 recovery (10:00)

Su: 19.5 (9:35)

Total: 49.5 miles

Next week is a cut-back week and the Capitol Mile. I am really not sure what to expect for the mile, but I am hoping to get close to 6:00. Last year I ran a 5:58, but I'm not quite in the shape I was last year. I think sub 6:10 is definitely doable. We shall see.

One of those really great days

Wow. Today was one of those days where *almost* everything not only went right, but exceeded my expectations. Since there are so many positive events, I will just start in chronological order. :)

I woke up at 5:00 am after very little sleep. It has been a busy week at work and I have been logging some long hours. I had a 10 miler on my schedule because I did not feel well yesterday and couldn't get the full 10 in. I was a bit worried my HR would be super high and it would be a tough run b/c it was pretty humid and I was exhausted. But I hit the road and fell into a groove by mile 4. By mile 7, HR was good, I felt strong and so I picked it up a bit. I thought about how good my legs, etc. felt and was thankful I was not hurt. By mile 9.5 I decided to really pick it up and bring it home. Logged the last mile at a 7:53 pace and was probably doing closer to 7:00 pace during the last half mile. What a nice feeling after so many months of slow running! So that was a nice start.

I then got ready for work and was a bit nervous. Today was my first court appearance. No big deal, just a pre-trial scheduling conference. HOWEVER, the defendant in this case is a pretty wild pro-se defendant and I have heard many tales. So, I knew it wouldn't exactly be mundane. In addition, my client has been fighting with this defendant for years and she just won't seem to go away. They are tired of paying legal fees and dealing with this person. Unfortunately, she won't settle. The direction given to me by the senior partner who gave it to me: make it go away. Great - and I am sent to get the scheduling set and start discovery. Just what the client wants.

The good news is that my husband had a hearing at the same time/same court so we met up and walked down together - how cool is that?

So I get to court and all is well, but the defendant is not there. We wait and wait. I am thinking - wow - this is crazy! Can I ask the judge for a default even though this is only a scheduling conference and not a hearing on the merits? Or will he just let me set the schedule according to my requests without regard to the defendant since she did not show up? I did not want to ask for anything inappropriate, but did not want to lose any opportunities either. So the judge goes on record, states the defendant is a no show and then asks me what I would like the court to do. Ah, moment of truth. So, I take the true lawyer route:

Me: Your Honor, I can't say I have ever been in the position where the other party did not show up to a scheduling conference.

Judge: (Smiles) well, we could enter a default if you request it.

Me: I so move for a default

Judge: It is so ordered, when would you like a hearing to prove up your damages?

Hell Yeah!!! So my first hearing - a scheduling conference - ends up a dispositive hearing on the merits of the case. Yep, that means I won my first case today! Woo Hoo! Didn't see that one coming.

I got back to work and finished up a very painful document review we have been working on - after of course sharing my crazy story with several colleagues who were equally surprised the judge granted a default at a scheduling hearing.

But it gets better - in the midst of my doc review, my secretary, who had a dr appt due to a potential breast cancer scare, came back with good news (or at least non-cancer news). Thank God!!!

Shortly thereafer I got the bad news that my 6 year old was throwing up and feeling awful. Darn, I needed to cancel my trip to Milwaukee for a firm event (this is not really part of the bad news - sometimes an excuse can be a blessing). Hopefully the little guy is ok....

I came home and the boys were ok although a bit green. THEN, I notice my brand spankin new Mizuno Wave Alchemy 8s had arrived. I tried them on, and from first glance, I think they are going to be awesome - much lighter than the 7s and the toe box is a little roomier. Does this really mean no more black toenails? We will find out tomorrow.

So that was my day. Not many days are so good. Today was great.

BTW - The pic is my super fast 5 year old racing to the finish line from last Sunday's Diva Dash.

Diva Dash!

Today was the second annual Diva Dash! And what fun it was! Last year my 5 year old son and I did it. It was his first mile race. He went out blazing fast, would walk, repeat to the finish for a 10:58. Not too shabby. Last year I had a 21:11 5K- a PR and I won second in my Age Group.

Fast forward this year! I ran the 5K and and both boys ran the one mile. James (6) went out blazing fast and held his pace - never walked and finished in 8:13. I ran with Jake (5), and James came flying through after the first turn-around point and gave us big high fives! He finished in the top 6-8 kids and was thrilled. Jake did AWESOME too!! Like his brother last year, he would go blazing fast at first, then walk. But by the turn-around point he had it all figured out and was not stopping much. Just before we got to the turn into the parking lot for the last .1, I told him to run as fast as he could for the finish - and boy did he! He was so cute and finished with a very respectable 10:20 time. They were SO PROUD of themselves. I then ran the 5K. It was wicked windy for all of the course but about .7. I started out with a very conservative 7:38 mile. Then the wind was to my back for a good portion and I hit 6:53. Last mile 7:14 and finished with a 22:34. Not fantastic, but not too shabby considering I was #11 overall and #2 female! It is nice when the fasties sleep in! :) Plus the splits weren't as bad as they look when you consider wind direction. Yeah, I should have brought more juice at the end, but I am not disappointed.

Week in Recap:

M - rest/pilates
T - 200s x 6 (42, 43, 43, 39, 39, 38) + 150x3 untimed; w/u + c/d
W - 5.65 recovery (9:59 pace) and pilates
R - 9.56 (9:16) - scheduled for 10, but did not have quite enough time.
F - rest/pilates
Sa - 15.06 (9:35) / pilates
Su - 5K (22:34) / pilates

Total: 41.7 miles

OK, now the gratuitious multimedia (my husband thought the camera was on picture, but it was on video so we got a few fun - albeit messy - clips):

Jake finishing his first mile ever:

James rounding the bend before the finish:

Finally, me starting the race - not a great pic, but I am excited b/c my arm workouts are starting to show! I am in the white hat/black skirt:

I logged 15 miles today. Overall, it went well. Slow, but everything was ok. However, I am starting to get concerned about how high my HR has been this year. I would think it would be settling down by now. It seems to be consistently 10 bpm higher this year than last year. Crazy. I realize I am getting less sleep now, but 10 bpm? I was looking at my HRs last summer in July and they were easily 10-15 bmp lower and my paces were faster. That really really stinks. But enough on that.

I took my first ice bath of the year post run and it actually felt great.

THe best news is that I went onto Road Runner Sports tonight and saw the Mizuno Alchemy 8s are out! Yay! I LOVED LOVED LOVED the 6s, but HATE HATE HATE the 7s (as do my poor black toes). The 7s are like bricks, but they give me the support I need so I have stuck with them. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the 8s are more like the 6s.....

I am racing the Diva Dash 5K tomorrow and my boys are doing the one mile mini dash. It should be a lot of fun. I'm not sure what to expect. I certainly do not have any expectations for a PR, but I am hoping to have a respectable time. This is always a fun race too, so I am looking forward to it!!

Let's talk numbers

We are runners, we like numbers. And I haven't obsessed about them for a while so it is due time. :)

I was entering my run into my running log today and was looking at my "statistics." The first thing that caught my eye was that my total mileage logged was 5059.4 miles. Wow. That kind of surprised me. This mileage is since I started tracking my miles in October 2005. In case you were wondering, that translates into 30 days and 22 hours of running. Not too shabby (cue patting self on back).

THEN I noticed my monthly statistics for this year. Now as you all know, I started working in January and ix-nayed the serious training. Well did I ever?! Here was my "training" mileage leading up to the Madison Marathon:

Jan: 89
Feb: 86.5
Mar: 147.4
April: 161.7
May: 148.5

Wow, vastly different from the 250s-275s I was pulling last summer! The good news is that it gives me hope for this Fall. I should be logging around 200 miles per month, which is decent mileage for the marathon in my opinion. Ideal? No. But solid? Sure.

I ended up logging my 40 miles last week as scheduled despite my little injury - thank Goodness! I did my speed workout last night and we warmed up, then did plyometrics and striders. Immediately after doing "high knees" I could feel the pull on my L side, but it did not hurt. We then did 6x200 meters. Stats: (42, 43, 42, 39, 39, 38). We then did 3x150 meters accelerations/long striders untimed. Cooled off with a little over a mile slow. At the end of the day, my muscle pull did not rear its ugly head. And while my times were not stellar, it was okay because I did not feel like I was killing myself out there. Steady, running hard, finding my stride (which I am finding to be very difficult without having run fast in sooooo long!!).

Today I woke up and felt pretty good. I logged a little over 5 and a half really slow tonight (10:00 m/m) and everything felt good. It was crazy though b/c I had serious heart rate creep due to the heat/humidity (relatively speaking for WI). During the first mile AHR was 141. By the last mile it was 168 and my pace had not changed! Interestingly, at one point I finally hit a shady stretch and within 20 secs my HR dropped by 10 beats. Nuts.

All in all, everything is well - even my numbers.

Recovered

OK, so I was absolutely wrong that my soreness was DOMS. I went out for my 10 miler on Thursday morning and made it a whopping .3 miles. I was just too sore still. Friday morning I ran 10 and I could feel my inner thigh/groin pull the entire time. Nothing too awful, but it was there. Saturday I logged just over 6.5 and by the last mile I was hurting. All day Saturday I was in pain. Darn - I clearly pulled something. So I nixed my long run and my track workout this week. No running Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. I have been religiously working on my core/pilates, but pulled back on the leg stretches until I was feeling better. Well, my decision paid off. I ran 6 easy on Wednesday morning and felt pretty good. In fact, I felt better post run than pre-run. Thursday I did the same (about 6 miles really easy) and everything felt great. So today I logged 14 on the trail and can safely say I am back in business!! I tend to become a slave to my schedule, so I was very proud of myself for cutting back. I have had about 3 solid weeks of good core work and it is really starting to pay off. Yay!

I only logged 22 miles last week due to the muscle pull, but I should hit 40 this week.

Today we are going to a block party with friends. There will be a kids' parade, bouncy castle, cold beer and a great band (my husband's of course!). We should have a great time. Happy 4th everyone!!