Decided to wratchet it up a notch....

This is once again a modified Pfitz schedule. I have my Capitol Mile training (track work) up front and am replacing tempo runs with races......

What do you think?

Fall Schedule

Madison Half Marathon 2009 Race Report

Well that went better than expected.

Looking back over the last 6 weeks since the Illinois Marathon, my mileage has been very low and I only ran one 13 miler (which, incidentally, left me insanely sore for some reason afterwards). This week, I actually had the opportunity to start adding in some miles. So rather than "tapering" at all for this half, this week ended up being a decent building week.

Yesterday I logged an easy 4 miler and it was way hot and my HR was through the roof. Uh oh. I hoped today would be cooler.

Sure enough, this morning it was in the upper 50s and just fine. Well, warmer than I like to race in, but fine. I got up at 4:00 am to get ready, but didn't get out the door until just after 6. Big mistake. The traffic leading to the Alliant Center was INSANE and I wasn't able to park until 6:45 (race started at 7:00). I then rushed to check my bag and ran into Donovan and Matt. No time to hit the port-a-potty despite all the hydrating this morning. Yikes.

I had decided I would go out at 7:45s and see how everything went. Before I knew it, the gun went off and the huge pack went out in a crowded start. I clicked off the first mile at 7:35ish, same with the second. It felt pretty comfortable, so I decided to go with it. The Madison course isn't easy, and most of the hills are in the middle section, so I enjoyed my flattish start. By mile 5, we had long hills and I knew I just had to hang on. I am bad about losing concentration in the middle miles and I was focusing really well. I took at gel at mile 6.5 because they had signs for Gu and water. Problem - no water! Fortunately the gu never upset my stomach.

At mile 10.5ish I saw my friend Jessica and that was a nice boost. I felt really good and started to pick up the pace a little. The problem was that I REALLY had to pee at this point. No good. Finally at mile 12ish, I jumped off into the woods. I have never stopped in a race before to pee, but I knew that I was either going to have to slow WAY down or literally pee my pants and that was just not an option. :D So, I lost 30-60 seconds, but I felt SO much better and was able to finish strong. Despite my stop, the last 1.1 pace was at 7:50.

There is a really crappy hill right before the turn to the finish, but then a nice little downhill and you can see the finish line. I saw John and the boys yelling and it was really cool. Finished in 1:40:35. According to my Garmin, I was at a 7:36 pace, which made me happy because that was pretty consistent throughout the race. Of course my actual pace was 7:41, but I'll take it.

Stats:
overall: 313/3685
women: 56/2181
a/g (35-39): 7/347


Cool. And even though I was unable to get in a warm-up today, I also broke 45 miles for the week. Back in the saddle.

The boys also did the kid race and had a blast. It was really funny.

Grove Games

Today is one of those days I wish I was still a stay at home mom - or at least had more time off. It is Grove Games (in school sports and game competitions) and both my boys are so excited! Unfortunately I cannot go as work calls. James has been talking about his "race" for over a week. Apparently last week they practiced and he won in his class, so he is smelling the sweet seduction of victory. Too cute!

I ran an easy 7 this morning. It was humid, but 60 degrees. It started gently sprinkling during the last mile. Man, I LOVE running. No, I didn't start banging out the training right after Illinois as planned, but I can tell I did take exactly the recovery I needed. I feel renewed and am really enjoying running.

I am number 5107 for the Madison half. I am very excited to race! I am hoping for around 1:40. Then next weekend is Race for the Cure. I may not hit any PRs any time soon, but I fully plan to take advantage of a full race schedule! I miss it and am not going to let the entire season slip me by like I did last year....

The boys are running the kids run on Sunday and are also doing the one mile for RFTC. Then the following Tuesday, we start our track workouts with Fleet Feet to prepare for the Capitol Mile. I am thrilled that they have a kid's workout program too so we can all train together. I schlepped them to the track the last couple of years, but they had to just hang out and wait for me. This time they get to participate in their own group training! How fun!! And they are excited about it. They are getting to such a fun age - it is so cool to do these things together.

Happy running!

So my blogging has been pretty bad lately. And admittedly rather aligned with my running. The Madison 1/2 marathon is next weekend. My original plan after the Illinois Marathon was to recover for 1 - 1.5 weeks then gradually get back into training so I could be in peak shape for the half. It didn't happen. My mileage has remained very low and I have done zero quality workouts - not even striders.

So, this weekend I decided to do the "Run for the Rock." It is a small town race where my sister lives, so I decided to give it a shot. I got there at 8:00 am and the kid's run was just about to start. My nephew was running it and all the kids were so darn cute! I am always amazed to watch them come in - one tiny little guy (4?) came blazing in around 9 minutes. Hilarious.

It was 50 degrees (perfect) but extremely windy. I looked at the course map prior to the race and saw that the first 2 miles would be tailwinds/cross winds and that the headwinds would only be in the last mile. Perfect. Seriously. This was not a goal race, this was get Mindi back into race mode - I could use a bit of a kick in the pants to get my mental toughness back up there.

We lined up and there were probably only around 75 people participating. The first two miles were very hilly and sure enough, the turn just before mile 2 was into the winds. It was never terrible, but it was funny that when the course finally flattened out it was into a headwind. I tried not to slow and to keep pushing myself, but I never had a huge kick at the end (nor did I fell like I was dying). Turned the last corner and saw my sister and nephew, who were screaming at me. It was really fun! I finished in 21:49 and was very happy. It was a tough course and this was the first sub-22 5K for me in over a year. Oh yes, and thanks to the size of the race, I was also 2nd female.

I hung around and met a lot of fun people. It took the RDs forever to get the awards going and they actually screwed up an age group and did not even try to correct it. That was frustrating. Plus they gave the top 3 overall age group awards as well. While I like my hardware, I would have preferred someone else got the AG award. With that said, I won a huge rock for 2nd place. Yes, really. It is hilarious. (My kids were a bit confused when I showed them though!)

The coolest part was that there were several couch to 5K women there and their coach called them all up and they were all in tears they were so happy. It was very, very awesome and moving. One of the ladies actually won her age group too (60-69) and was just amazed. It was inspiring.

Now I am preparing for my son's first communion and a house full of people for lunch. I am really hoping to then log 12-15 this afternoon. Fingers crossed.

Go JOE POSITIVE!! I am hoping the winds stay calm in Cleveland.

Finally back at it (well, sort of)

So I am still in slacker mode and am not really following any schedule, despite my best efforts to do so. BUT, I did log my first "long" run since the Illinois marathon today. I am hoping next week is a bit more structured.

M: rest

T: 7 (9:05)

W: rest

R: 4.5 (8:58) - it was warm (80s and kind of icky since I did it after having 2 pints with my husband to celebrate his trial win!)

F: 6.5 (9:13) - hoped to get in a 10-12 miler but it was HOT and my HR was through the roof so I stopped at 6.5

Sa: 7.33 (8:49) - PERFECT running weather (50s and a little windy)

Su: 13.15 (9:14) - difficult run as I felt a bit crappy after too much wine and dancing at the American Heart Association Heart Ball, but I did log the time on my feet. It was awesome weather - 60 degrees although the wind was a bit heavy on the way back.

Total: 38 and change

On a strange note, my L ball of my foot has been sore the last 2 days. Not sure why as this has never happened before. Tomorrow is a rest day so hopefully I will see some improvement.

So far, Mother's Day has been a real treat. The boys let me sleep in and then served me breakfast and lots of hand made, fabulous gifts. I am so very blessed to be a mom and to have my husband and 2 boys! :)

A beautiful day

So this week started out really crazy (work - wise), but has tapered off quite nicely. In fact, I took the entire afternoon off today, and with the exception of a teleconference at 4, the weekend has started for me. It is funny though because I went for a run this afternoon hoping to log 10-12 miles. Ah no. It is over 80 degrees and 6.5 was just about far enough! Heh, I am a big wimp in the heat. So I will ease into it slowly. I am hoping to log 14-15 this weekend. I haven't done anything over 8 since Illinois Marathon 4 weeks ago. BUT, I am doing the Madison half in 2 weeks, so I better start acting like something of a runner again.

Wow. I was tired today. But it was a great day. I was on my own with the boys and they both had soccer practice/ games at 8:30. My oldest went off with his buddy and coach bright and early and ended up going to soccer games all day. That meant my little guy and I had the whole day to ourselves. It was priceless. At his soccer game, he was a scrappy little thing and scored 4 goals! We then went home and I started doing some much needed yard work. Then my sitter came over and I went for a run...Yay! I was planning 10-12. But as I got going, I realized I was just plain worn down. My HR was high and my R hip/hamstring was tight. WTF? So I called it a day after 7. Jake and I then proceeded to do 3 hours of much needed lawn work - and that was only the front! Yikes. But we had a great time! He was so awesome helping me too! We then went to the local nursery and got some geraniums, begonias and pansies. We also picked up some seeds for sugar snap peas, a variety of bell peppers, tomatoes, sweet corn, brussel spouts and brocolli. Oh yes, and marigolds too, as Jakey informed me they were essential to keep bunnies away. Now we just need to clean up and turn over the garden!

So yes, running is very light, but it seems like just what I need. Tomorrow - back yard and mulch! And hopefully a nice grill out and camp fire to cap off the weekend.

30 mpw, 40 mpw, um....no

Nice pics, huh? These are from Crazylegs last weekend. Don't ya love my cool blue hat? That dude is trying to take me at the finish, but I'm pretty sure I schooled him. At least I have support in these pics! :)

Okay, so last I posted, I was hoping to log a longish run on Sunday so I could break 30 mpw and hit 40 this week. Yeah, none of that happened. I am fully "recovering" if you will. I ended up having to work on Sunday and didn't want to spend the remaining 2 hours of my day running rather than spending it with my kids. But I did log a nice, easy 4 miler with my husband, which was even better.

And this week, yeah, nuts. Very very busy. Yesterday I started working at 6:00 am and didn't finish until after midnight. Was up and at it again today by 5:30. Thank goodness I am not training or I would be bouncing off the walls.

The good news is that I am going to try to log 12ish tomorrow after my rounds of soccer games!