Just as the grass started turning a slight shade of green, we had a snowstorm come in this weekend. I was scheduled for an 8-10K race on Saturday and 16 miles on Sunday. Unfortunately, there are no races around here this weekend. I looked at the Chicago Shamrock Shuffle - but registration was closed. Also, I knew we were supposed to get a lot of snow, so I reluctantly ran my 16 yesterday instead of trying to race on my own and run long today. Turns out that was a good idea as the roads are a mess today and it is ridiculously windy - not ideal long run conditions.

It was very windy yesterday also and I ran 7 of my 16 miles on the trail. This turned out to be not such a great idea. Since it has been so wet lately, the trail was very uneven and my ankles and thighs are feeling it today! So, I am going to log a recovery run today. No need to push anything at this stage of the game.

This was my first week of taper. As usual, I was excited to begin the taper, but since it isn't a very dramatic cut back in mileage, it felt pretty ordinary. The good news was that on Friday I had a meeting in Milwaukee and that is for the most part, all I did that day. I slept in and hung out with my boys (who had spring break this week), went to Milwaukee, then picked them up by 2:30. It was fun and it was nice to feel like I had a 3-day weekend.

I am (of course) already looking at the 15 day forecast for my marathon (which is in Champaign, IL on April 11). It is too early to tell, but I am very worried about windy conditions. I always forget how windy March and April are until they roll around. It has been pretty brutal here lately and it looks like Champaign is much worse. I am keeping my fingers crossed that given the harsh training conditions this season, I am due perfect race weather. :D

The next two weeks start backing way off on mileage and my number one goal is rest, rest, rest. I am hoping to see much less of 4:45 am. I am also starting to look to a fall marathon. My husband's band books up fast and they already have requests for every weekend in October. Since I want him to come with me, I'd like to put something on the schedule ASAP. So far, I am looking at Indianapolis. Anyone do this one? Any other suggestions?

Week 16 recap:

M: rest

T: 5.78 (8:36) in pouring rain and wind (it was actually very fun!)

W: 8 miles with 5x600 @5K; 90 sec recoveries (paces: 6:48, 6:48, 6:42, 6:33, 6:34)

R: 5.29 recovery (9:29)

F: 4 easy with 6 striders (8:45)

Sa: 16 long (9:02)

Su: 6 easy (9:24) plus shovel the driveway

Total: 45 miles

Week #15 is in the Books

M: Rest

T: 5.58 (9:07) - still a little sore from Sunday's race

W: 10 with 4x1200 at 5K pace; 2 min recoveries (paces: 6:46, 6:57, 6:57 and 6:43)

R: 5.08 easy (9:03)

F: 10 (8:35)

Sa: 5.3 recovery (9:35)

Su: 20 (8:47)

Total: 56.1

A good week. Scheduled for 54. It has been BEAUTIFUL here this weekend. It was actually 62 degrees when I finished my 20 miler today. Very nice.

And now the taper gradually begins . . .

One Happy Camper

As I am preparing to wrap up my last high mileage week before the taper begins, I have begun taking inventory of this season's training and I am very pleased with how things have played out. My paces have steadily dropped and my HR has followed suit. In fact, my pace is on average 30- 45 secs faster this year than last year with the same, if not improved heart rates.

Yesterday I ran 10 at an 8:35 pace and my hr was in an easy 150s zone. Today I ran a recovery run with my husband and my HR was actually in the 120s the first mile! Crazy! So I am feeling quite optimistic about Illinois and already starting to pray to the weather gods for good weather. I feel like I deserve it after the brutal training weather we have endured. Indeed, in the 15 weeks I have trained so far, only 2 weeks ignored the treadmill. That is crazy!

I have a 20 miler tomorrow and then I start easing into taper mode. I am greatly looking forward to the extra sleep I am planning to pack in!

A good morning for speed

This week has promised near-perfect running weather, and so far Mother Nature has delivered. It was 45 degrees with very little wind this morning when I set out to do my intervals. This morning had 10 miles with 4x1200 meters with 2 minute recoveries on tap. I didn't sleep well last night (unable to shut out work) and my resting HR was really high this morning. However, during my 5 mile warm-up, my pace was under 9 and HR was in the 140s. Not too bad. Then I hit the intervals. They were all a bit uneven because I would slow relatively significantly for the hills, then make up the time. All in all, I am pleased with how they shook out (paces: 6:46, 6:57, 6:57 and 6:43). Now I've got to hurry up and get to work!

Happy Wednesday.

Shamrock Shuffle

Sweet. Apparently there were some issues with the chip timing. My time just moved to 44:25.

2009 Shamrock Shuffle

Now that was fun! This morning I ran the Shamrock Shuffle 10K. It was absolutely beautiful weather - upper 30s, low 40s and nice sunshine.

I only had 2 glitches: (1) For some reason, I had thought the race was at 11:00 am all week. Woke up this morning a little after 8 and checked the website - nope, starts at 10:00! Yikes - so I got moving out the door and just accepted the fact that I was not going to get my 4-5 mile warmup. (2) I did arm and side weights yesterday and was crazy sore this morning - oops. Although I was glad to get back at it.

Back to the race....I got the the Overture Center and ran into a bunch of running buddies right away. Boy do I love the pre-race environment. It is a big race and very well organized (cue: hat tip to Donovan). Having St. Patrick lead "Jump Around" was particularly amusing and fun.

The 10K started right on schedule and we were off! I was careful not to go out too fast, but definitely was closer to 5K pace. But soon we hit the brutal hills on Observatory Drive. I did my best not to crank too hard up them, but tried to get the most I could out of the downhills. There was a woman about 1 minute in front of me and I was following her lead. Unfortunately around mile 2.5 I saw she was slowing down, hence: I had been too. Darn, I do tend to lose my focus in the middle miles. I hit the 5K at 22:17, which was very good (for me) given the course. I meant to hit "lap" on my garmin, but at the 4 mile marker, I saw I had turned it off. Arg. So I had not idea where I was at. So I just kept on as hard as I could. The first mile up Observatory was absolutely brutal (Garmin read incline as 837 feet to 973). Ouch. But I hung on and tried to finish strong. Down the home stretch, I passed a woman who looked to be in my AG and finished hard (Garmin had me at a 6:17 pace for the last .4). Ended with a 44:29. This is 18 seconds off my PR, but I will take it. Stats:

Finish: 44:29
Overall: 48 / 625
Women: 10/322
AG (30-39): 4/114

Did a quick cool down then went to State Street Brats for a green beer with my husband and boys who were nice enough to cheer me on.

WEEK IN RECAP:

I was completely off my scheduled workouts. I was scheduled for 17 this weekend, but knew I shouldn't do 17 the day before a 10K race, and I knew working a 10K into 17 would completely suck. So I ran 15 hilly miles on Friday after work and logged a 6 mile recovery run yesterday. Total Miles: 51.

3 weeks, 6 days until Illinios.

Oh yeah, and hats off to Adeel on an excellent race in Seoul! I also hope Greg takes down Fenty and 32 mins in the 8K!

Coming Up for Air

Whew! This week has been a WhIrLwInD and it is only Thursday. The good news is that I am swamped, have lots of billable hours and that the week is FLYING by. The bad news is I have gotten very little sleep, my HR is high and I haven't quite hit my scheduled miles.

The work front is cranking away in a very positive way. As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, lay-offs are coming fast and furious in law firms these days and mine has not been immune. However, I have been absolutely swamped the last couple of weeks. I had a big brief due today in federal court, which is now filed (as of this afternoon), so I can now let out a deep breath and move on to the 750 other things I have put off. A good situation to be in now. So, I'll take it.

But, considering I've had some very pressing deadlines lately (as has my husband) and the mornings have been well below 0 degrees with the windchills, my running has suffered a little. Here is the start of my week:

M: planned rest

T: Scheduled for 8 with 5x600m. Still a bit beat up from my MP run so I just ran the 8 (9:01).

W: Scheduled for 11. Wasn't going to happen as my husband had to leave at 5:30 am and I had to get kids on the bus and get cranking at work. Did 5 w/5x600 meters (90 sec recoveries). Had to run on treadmill as it was -8 outside with 30 mph winds! Intervals: 6:57, 6:53, 6:53, 6:51, 6:43. Felt relatively easy on the mill, but a bit awkward.

T: Scheduled for 10. Did 7 (8:46) on the treadmill (again, well below 0 and my husband left early).

So this leaves me 3 miles short of schedule even if I shift things around. I plan to bug out of work early tomorrow (fingers crossed!) and run 12 (instead of that 11 miler I missed) and if I run 6 on Saturday (instead of 4), I should be fine.

Whew.

On other news, I had my kindergartner's parent teacher conference today. So cute. He is a model student. Almost a brown-nose. No sign of his usual at-home naughtiness at school. Boy does he have them snowed. :) Seriously, I am so proud. I am so lucky to have such smart, healthy and fun kids.

Now I am going to go crash....

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

The Good: I was scheduled for 56 miles this week and ran just a tad over 57.5. Even better, I was able to run all of them outside! :)





The Bad: Another nasty scourge has descended upon my family. It has been another long, sick winter. I have a nasty head cold, chest cold, and correspondingly unhappy stomach. Yuck. My kids are both a mess too. My littlest one got a rash all over his body and the skin started peeling off of his fingers. Thought it was an allergic reaction at first, but it didn't get better with Benadryl. I made the mistake of Googling his symptoms and saw it could be all sorts of awful (life-threatening) diseases. So off we went to the after-hours doc on Friday night. Turns out he had strep throat and we never knew it. Although that is gone, they gave him antibiotics to ensure he doesn't get rheumatoid fever. Sheesh.

The Ugly: Whoooo. That would be today's long run! I was scheduled for the notoriously difficult 17 miles with 14 at marathon pace. Um, it was 33 degrees, pouring rain and winds 15-18 mph, gusting up to 30 mph. Weather channel said "feels like 21." Felt like PAIN to me. Seriously. There were times the wind literally look my breath away and my shoes each felt like they weighed 30 lbs. I almost wimped out several times, but fortunately (and somewhat miraculously), I didn't. Logged an average 7:54 pace, last mile at 7:32. My goal MP is 7:45, so given the conditions, I would call this a success. An ugly success. But success nonetheless.

Week 13 Recap:

M: rest
T: 8 (8:26)
W: 5.78 (9:18)
R: 9 with 5x1000 meters; 2 min recoveries (recap in prior post)
F: 12 (8:58)
Sa: 5.78 (9:15)
Su: 17 w/14 at MP (7:54)

Total: 57.5

The Intervals Won

Today I was scheduled for 9 with 5 x 1000 meters at 5K pace with 2 minute recoveries. The run was OK, but my stomach was rocked and cut my last interval short. I think it is the darn mucinex I have been taking the last 2 days.

The good news was that I did not shy away from the wind or the hills. It was a good workout, even if the intervals look a bit slow.

.62: 4:25 / 178 (7:09 pace - almost entirely uphill and headwind)
.62: 4:13 / 184 (6:49 pace - headwind, but a good part was downhill)
.62: 4:17 / 184 (6:57 pace - headwind - mostly flat)
.62: 4:19 / 184 (6:59 pace - mostly uphill, but less wind)
.20: 1:24 / 185 (7:01 pace - had to stop and stroll on home).

Here's hoping my hard workout this weekend goes a wee bit better.