Taper Week # 1

And it's been ugly. Seriously. All of a sudden the L ball of my foot has been screaming at me. Friday afternoon, top 'o foot was. Oh no - don't need a stress fracture. Yep - I piled on the miles quick the last 8 weeks. Now we are in damage control. Fortunately, I think all will be okay. But feel free to opine otherwise.

M: rest / core

T: 5.23 recovery (9:28) / core

W: 9 easy (9:12) / core

R: unplanned rest due to busy schedule and sore foot / core/ abs

F: 11 w/ 5x600 meters; 90 sec recoveries - turns out I did them too slow - coincides with my HR data.

Sa: 2.6 and bagged it. Foot hurts. Work is in the bag. No need to push it with an easy/recovery run (hopefully)

Su: 3. 5 w/u; 10K at 46 even; 4.5 c/d. Not a great race. As always, the arb kicked my @ss.

More so than I was hoping for. It was awesome though. The race was for the Capital Candlelighters, a charity for kids with cancer. The program itself is top notch in helping families cope during the tough times after diagnosis. Suzy Hamilton has become involved, and in case you are unaware of her, she is a 3 time Olympian and 7 time national champ. Best of all, she is a big philanthropic supporter in our community. I have encountered her with Girls on the Run and she has started her own women's running group in Madisin. She is bubbly, boisterous, and incredible for all of those kids.

At 9:30 am as I was stressing about a tune-up race, I was hearing about a 6 year old dealing with cancer, well. It was perfect and appropriate.

My race was hard, but I felt I ran it evenly. Just not my day. I hit the finish at 46 flat. Would have been much happier with 44, but I am not letting that be an obstacle. I need to recover, rest and kick Chicago in the @rse. I have no doubt I will. :)

Ha. And awards were funny. Suzy is an Olympian and has done her rounds. Today the top two M and F got awards for 5K and 10K. But she insisted we all got the bi-cheek kisses and congratulated each other. We also had to give words of advice. Mine: thanks to all the kids out there today. That's why we are here and the are all an inspiration. Yeah. Fighting cancer is a whole lot harder than any 10K.

One of these days I will channel my inner Greg and 10K train. For now, it is my big weakness. And I can't see giving up marathon training since it I love it so much. But days like today make me think I should. Just so I could kick that arb loop....

Tapering is a good thing. And boy do I need it. I am definitely feeling a bit beat up. I also am winging it a bit. While I love the Pfitz programs, many times I end up cutting some miles in the taper weeks to really make sure I get the snap back into my legs by race day. This week the ball of my L foot has been tender and my R inner thigh has yelled at me a couple times during the run. For that reason, I did not do my interval workout until today.

I also took a rest day yesterday b/c I had a flu shot W and was not feeling the greatest (plus I wanted an extra day for the foot thing). This morning I hit the road bright and early for 11 miles with 5x600 meters @ 5K pace with 90 second recoveries. I did just over 5 miles as a warm-up, then hit the intervals:

7:04 / 172
6:39 / 182
6:51 / 182
6:48 / 184
6:39 / 184

These were all done on the same little loop. Overall I am happy with these numbers. The intervals felt very easy, which is reflected in my HR numbers. This interval workout is a bit close to my 10K on Sunday, but I wanted to make sure I got the workout in. I am trying to get pumped up about the race - it will be only only true "tune-up" race. I am trying to ignore the facts that: (1) it is in the arboretum; and (2) it is a 10K and I am terrible at 10Ks. And I am trying to get excited to race hard .... wish me luck.

Oh yes, and despite my rant about my recent trip to the dermatologist, I'm glad I went. Turns out the mole they biopsied was "moderately" atypcial. This means it needs to be completely removed as it is more likely to be precancerous than "typical" moles. Since it is on my back, I need to wait until after the marathon so I don't irritate the incision area. So I will go in to have it removed in a couple of weeks. Part of me is glad - that big mole has always worried me. It will be nice to say good-bye to it.

Happy Friday.

I made it.

It wasn't pretty, but I made it through this last 70 mile week. Whew. And that means it is taper time. Sweet.

Here are my last 2 weeks:

M: rest

T: 1.3, then bagged run as my back and legs were sore

W: 15 (9:10) / arms and core

R: 9 (9:17) / core

F: 7 (9:12)

Sa: 10.5 (9:25)

Su: 20 (9:12) / arms and core

Total: 63

M: 7.25 recovery (9:47) / core

T: rest

W: 12 with 6 x 1000 at 5K pace; 2 min recoveries / core

R: 6 recovery (9:44)

F: 15.5 (9:03) / arms and core

Sa: 9 easy (9:07)

Su: 20 (9:25) - hot and icky, especially at the end. BUT, my son ran 2 miles with me and that was awesome!

Total: 70

I am Battered and Bruised and FIT!!!

I won't pretend to tell you I'm not tired. Nor somewhat residually sore. And my resting heart rate is ridiculous. This is no surprise after a 6 weeks of *relatively* light mileage + speed; followed by 6 weeks of abrupt and aggressive mileage spikes.

But check it out: my running HR is dropping like mad, despite high resting HR in the morning because I get wholly inadequate amounts of sleep. Okay - not a great equation, but I figure if I can get through the next 2 weeks of heftier mileage, then have the benefit of rest, I should be golden. This morning, the weather was great (low 50s), and my HR was rockin. Seriously, it was 134 a couple times when I checked it. I haven't logged those numbers since 2007 when I was spiking at miles. This bodes well for a break-out marathon. A PR may just be in reach.

Week 13 Recap

Whew. This week has not gone according to schedule at all. Between board meetings, school starting, and a busy work schedule, I have had to change up most of my scheduled runs. The good news is that I still hit 70 miles with 6 runs.

I was a bit sore this week from the Madison Mini Marathon, but by the weekend, I was feeling pretty good. I was scheduled for 12 with 7 @ 15K pace this week, but decided that was probably too aggressive right after a hard half marathon. Plus I will be racing the next 3 weekends.

I slept in yesterday and it was icky and hot for my 12 miler. My HR was high and it was just somewhat miserable. So I decided I would get up early to do my 21 miler. I got up at 6 and was out the door by 7:30. According to our temp gauge, it was 45 degrees. Sweet. The first 5 or so miles were awesome, but then the sun got higher and it started getting warm and humid. By mile 12 my HR was increasing and I could really feel it was warming up. Boy didn't I wish I had gotten up an hour earlier. The last 9 miles were tough and the last 3 were downright painful. But, despite many nagging thoughts, I did not bag the run and pushed through all 21. Last mile was the fastest mile. It was 77 when I got back - no doubt into the 80s with the humidity. That is quite a temperature swing!!!

Here is how the week fell into the books:

M: rest / arms/ core

T: 9 progressive (9:09) / core

W: 10 easy (9:26) / core

R: 6.7 recovery (9:43) / arms

F: 11 easy (9:14) / core

Sa: 12 (9:15)

Su: 21 (8:44) - will do arms and core later

Total: 70.

Now I am off to work. I worked yesterday too, which theoretically stinks on a holiday weekend, but it is great to be busy again after a slow couple of months.

Matters of the Heart

Heart disease, otherwise known as cornonary artery disease, is the number 1 killer of men and women in the US. Why am I talking about this? Because it also runs in my family. Unfortunately both my uncle and grandfather died at very young ages from heart attack. My grandmother also had a heart attack at 49, along with multiple subsequent strokes.

When my uncle died a few years ago, a doctor recommended that we all get various tests done to help predict whether we have any of the risk factors. Well I ignored that for several years. But given that as I get older and know more and more people getting sick or dying, I decided I better take a stronger lead on my own health. And just because I run all the time does not mean I am not ask risk. Just ask Jim Fixx or Voodoo Joe's families.

As I mentioned, I have a significant family history of heart disease. But there are also other important factors, such as smoking, sedentary life styles and a tendency to be over weight. None of these things are helpful to the old ticker. Fortunately, I do not have any of those issues.

When I went to the doctor (a new one I hadn't seen), she thought I was a bit nuts when I requested various tests. She said if I could run 60 miles a week, I must be fine. She'd just order a new lipid panel, and if it was off, then they could sonogram the heart. Later that day, she called me saying she read up on it more and was going to order a full lipid panel, a glucose test (diabetes - that too runs in the fam), c-reactive protein test and an enhanced homocysteine test.

The test required a 12 hour fast, and I went in last Monday. I received the results this week and, for the most part, they were great. My lipid panel (cholesterol) was good. Actually, my results across the board were even better than in 2005 when I had it done. The glucose and c-reactive protein results were also "excellent." However, my homocysteine level was elevated (11, with top range being 10). Great. The doctor recommended a multivitamin with folic acid, B-6 and B-12.

I already take a regular multi-vitamin, but I got an "active" complex that has higher levels of those 3 ingredients. It scares me a bit though because apparently homocysteine is a "key marker" for heart disease, even when lipid panel results are normal. However, my doctor told me she was reluctant to do the test because it often has false results. Factors that can lead to false results are any inflammation - including muscular. Not only did I have a head cold when I got the test done, but I also just finished a 70 mile week. Don't know if that is related.

For now I am just researching and trying to figure out what it all means. I guess this is precisely why people don't get these types of tests done.....

Update: Did some more research and inflammation should have nothing to do with homocysteine - that is the c reactive test. But it looks like 11 is only slightly elevated. In fact, some believe the upper limit is 13. I will do my best to bring it down, but I am not as concerned as I initially was.

For now, I am off to run a 21 miler to cap off a peak week week. The good news is that my HR has finally dropped over the last 2 weeks. I am relatively tired and running slow, but I have seen a significant decrease. My HR hasn't been this low since 2007 when I was piling on the miles. The cooler weather also helps, but it is definitely the miles that are responsible. Yay! Perhaps I am really getting into shape after all! 5 weeks to Steamtown.

Madison Mini Marathon 2009

Saturday was the first inaugural Madison Mini Marathon. When I signed up for the race several months ago, I was excited to do it since it was a local race, but was sure it would be 90 degrees since it was August. Well wasn't I pleasantly surprised when the week turned out cool. Forecast for Saturday was a low of 52 and a high of 65. Awesome!

The race was on Saturday morning, so I hit the sack nice and early to get some rest. I was in bed by 9:00. Unfortunately, I have been doing electronic document review at work and I just could not shut the old noggin off. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw document after document. My husband got home around 12:30 and by that time I was MAD. Here I was, lying wide awake, 3 hours after I went to bed. I almost just shut off my alarm and said, forget it. But I didn't. I tossed and turned for about 2 more hours then drifted off. You can imagine 4:30 wasn't all too pleasant when my alarm went off. But I bounded out of bed and got ready for the day.

I was a bit concerned about this race because: (1) my training has been all over the board this season; (2) my legs were somewhat shot; and (3) I haven't had a good race in a LONG time. As I got ready before the race, however, I tried to push those concerns out and just have a good time. It was a perfect morning for a race. I CAN DO THIS.

My friend had signed her husband up for "VIP status" but he could not race, so she transferred it to me. Boy was that cool. There was a big room for all the VIPs and we could hang out there, drop off our gear bag and use restrooms with short lines. I ran into Donovan, and it was fun to have a familiar face pre-race. We chatted for a while and then hit the start line. I did not get preferred seeding because I did not get my entry in on time, so I snuck up as far as I could. They played the Star Spangled Banner, and as always, I felt so happy and lucky to be there.

It was a pretty slow start and the first section is up a long hill. Around the half mile mark I was at an 8:10 pace. But then we had a downhill toward the square and the crowd opened up a bit so I was able to pick up the pace. Clicked off first mile at 7:13. Oops - that was a bit fast. But I felt good so I just went with it. It was nice being in a bigger race with lots of people to run with. The last couple of races I have done were tiny races and by mile 1 I was running alone. It was nice to have people pull me along. I was still running a bit faster than I should have been, but I was feeling really good. We looped over to the zoo entrance and I tipped my hat at the spot where James' guardian angel caught him a few weeks ago.

The route was now a backwards route of the arboretum loop that so many Madison races take. I never seem to run well in the arb, but I decided today it was mine. As I turned into the arboretum, a cop car had Soft Cell's Tained Love blaring. Ha. Once in the arboretum, I was determined not to lose my focus and dramatically slow down. It was nice because here I was able to break up the race - only a couple miles until I'm out. I kept waiting to blow up and feel terrible, but fortunately it never happened. There was a strongish headwind at mile 10, but it actually felt welcome. The last couple of miles I was able to pick it up some. As I got close to the Memorial Union, I heard John screaming at me. I blazed down through the finish with lots in my tank and I was very pleased to have gone under 1:40.

Sweet.

Stats:

#813

Cottage Grove, WI

Age: 36
Distance
HALF MAR

Clock Time
1:39:27

Chip Time
1:38:51

Overall Place
325 / 2433

Gender Place
49 / 1281

Division Place
8 / 198

6Mile: 45:07

Pace: 7:33

I planned to run 10 on Sunday to get my miles up, but I was sore and ridiculously busy so I decided to bag it. Here is my week:

M: arms/core

T: 8.5 easy (9:08)

W: 11 w/ 5x1200 meters; 2 min rec. / core

R: 9.3 (9:32) / arms and core

F: rest

Sa: 2.5 w/p; 13.1 race (1:38:51)

Su: 1.25 then bagged it / arms and core

Total: 45

Now I am gearing up for another 70 mile week.....