Whew. I just got a not-so-gentle reminder of how hard it is to run 6K of intervals at 5K pace. My workout du jour was 11 miles with 1200m x 5 at 5K pace. I was a bit leery of this workout as it is my first interval workout since before the Capitol Mile (approx. 5 weeks ago). I decided I would take the workout by feel and just run hard, but not kill myself by being slave to a particular pace. This strategy was for 2 reasons: (1) I don't want to hurt myself; and (2) the Madison Mini Marathon is on Saturday.

I did 5.4 as a warmup (9:38). My HR was nice and low when on flat surfaces (upper 130s), but I did my normal hilly route with a couple bigger hills so I did get it up to the 160s a couple times. First 1200 m clicked off at 7:18. Not great, but not bad given a good portion was uphill. Second 1200 m was the flattest and was 6:55. Third one I started getting a nasty side stitch. Ugh. 7:08. I took about 45 seconds longer on my recovery in hopes the stitch would subside. I almost decided to bag the intervals at this point. Then I decided I would at least try to finish them out at tempo. Hit #4 at 7:25. About half way through I started feeling better, so I decided to go for #5 and finish my workout: 7:11. I then ran a bit over a mile for a cool down. Sheesh. Tough workout. I got home and was entering my day's workout and noticed my recoveries were supposed to be 2.5 minutes, but I did 2. Nothing like making the workout harder than necessary! ;) I am glad I finished it up though.

I have revised this week to cut back a fair bit more than scheduled since I have been progressively and aggressively building the last 4 weeks (51, 60, 63, 70). Was scheduled for 68, but will probably log around 55-58. Should allow me to have a tiny taper before Saturday's half marathon too. Not sure what to expect with that. Part of me is considering running it at MP since I don't have any MP runs scheduled. But the weather is looking perfect, so I may just have to go for it even though I am pretty beat up. Either way, I am REALLY looking forward to it.

On a personal note, on Monday my Mom called and asked if my kids wanted to come spend 3 days with her, my Dad and their 2 cousins. Heck yeah! So we dropped them off last night and are childless until Friday night. It is a great break, but boy is the house quiet without them!

Week 11 Recap

M: rest

T: 8.4 progressive (9:04) / core

W: 14.4 (9:06) / arms

R: 5.25 recovery (9:43) / core

F: morning: 11 w/6 at tempo (7:27); evening: 4 recovery (9:48)

Sa: 7 easy (9:24) / arms and core / it was sticky and hot and yucky out.

Su: 20 (8:40) with last mile fastest mile. Perfect running weather. It allowed me to trick my tired legs into thinking they were spunky.

Total: 70.2

Sweet.

Girls on the Run

Cindi asked for it, and I am over-the-top passionate about it these days, so here is the low down on Girls on the Run.

During the last 5 years, I have seen numerous girls complete their first 5K through GOTR and it is honestly an amazing experience. They are so fulfilled. Girls on the Run trains girls to run a 5K but it is so much more than that. It is a program targeting 3rd to 5th grade girls to not only get them through a 5K, but it is also a mentorship program to teach them self-respect, self confidence, and setting goals to meet your dreams. Even if in baby steps. Find your dream and make it happen. In the end, you teach young girls how to be healthy, happy and confident. What more can you want?

I met with local principals on Friday and they are very excited about the program. I hope that once we get the program going, we can also start up a Girls on the Track, which targets 6th through 8th grade girls, who have a whole different take on life, but could use some tools on how to have self confidence and make great choices.

I don't have any girls of my own, but I have been there, done that. This is my chance to make an impact. And both my boys want to be assistant coaches, which I think is awesome. Not only will they get to train to run a 5K, but they will learn the importance of self confidence and to value girls as they should be valued.

Tempo

I just finished my first tempo run of the season. That is kind of crazy given I am in week 11 of training! I guess I had a 5K and a 10K a couple weeks ago, but this was my first true tempo run. And it wasn't one for the weak-hearted: 11 miles with 6 @ 15K pace.

I looked at McMillan the equivalent 15K pace for a 3:25 marathon was 7:31. That seemed kind of slow, but perfect for my first heavy tempo - particularly since it is in the middle of my first 70 mile week! (Turns out it was slow - I looked at it wrong - proper tempo was 7:16. But 7:30 is more accurate for me right now).

I got up at 4:40 am. Ouch. My warm-up was slow and my HR seemed really high. It was 60 degrees and humid. As my warm-up progressed, my HR dropped some. Thank goodness. Then I was off: 7:30, 7:33, 7:32, 7:26, 7:29; 7:10. Perfect. Did a short cool down and hit my 11 miles. Sweet.

My boys are off to Mount Olympus today. It is a huge water park / amusement park. James is thrilled and keeps talking about a roller coaster he wants to go on called "Hades" - it has a 160 foot drop and then goes underground. Top speed - 70 mph. I am excited for them, but also a bit terrified. I used to do legal work for an amusement park holding company so I know what kind of terrible things happen all the time. Not to mention tons of people. But alas, I need to put that out of my mind and have faith that they'll be safe and have a terrific time.

I am also meeting with the principals of 2 local schools at lunch today to discuss Girls on the Run. Very cool.

Happy Friday!

Still on track

So I am midway through week 4 of my modified Pfitz 12/70 - or more accurately, 11/70. I have been playing this week by ear to see if I should take a cut-back or build one more week and cut back before my half marathon next weekend.

I know for best half performance, I should cut back this week. But for best marathon performance, I really think I need to get my base in. I am keeping my eye on the latter prize and sticking with the miles so long as my body will cooperate.

I ended up logging 63 last week, which was solid. I am planning for 70 this week. My midweek runs have been fine, but the long runs in the heat are killing me. I think I am going to have to sacrifice my "sleep in" time on the weekends and just get up early and go.

Yesterday I ran 8.5 progressive. Today ran 14.4 slowish, but in perfect weather.

My training has been very wacky this season. Should be interesting to see how it pans out. Here is my weekly mileage so far:

42
41
52
41
40
31
22 (Capitol Mile)
51
60
63

A little crazy. I am sore, but overall feeling good. And this 60 mpw thing is a bit rocking as far as weight loss goes. I have lost 3ish lbs, but my clothes are completely hanging off me. Sweet. I am inching closer and closer to race weight.

This week I decided I was going to start a Girls on the Run program in my town. I have been thinking about it for a while and finally decided to bite the bullet. WOW! I have been amazed at the support and welcome reception. This is going to be really wonderful. I have been bursting with excitement! I already have 2 school principals on board, one co-coach and of course 2 awesome assistant coaches (James and Jake) ready to go!

Another week in the books

M: rest

T: 10 (8:50) / core

W: 5 easy (9:07) / arms

R: 15 (8:54) / core

F: 11 (9:32) / arms and core

Sa: 6.5 easy (9:31) - ouch - really hot and humid

Su: 15.5 (9:28) - also very hot and humid

Total: 63 miles

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good: I am getting acclimated to early mornings again. I have been waking up on my own between 4 and 4:40 (which I guess is not so good on the weekend) and I have been awake and ready to go. The good #2: despite getting a mere 6 hours of sleep last night and having a nasty cold, my resting HR was lower this am than it has been in 2 years.

The Bad: That would be the above-referenced nasty cold. Perhaps I should have donned the hazmat gear after all last week. I had a headache for several days last week and it gradually started to turn into a "gunky" (for lack of better words) throat. The bad #2: my damn coffee pot has not been turning on in the morning as scheduled. Getting up at 4:40 I can deal with. Doing so without coffee at the ready - not so much.

The Ugly: That would be my run this morning. Thanks to my viral ickiness, I felt completely asthmatic during my run. I was wheezy and I felt like my airway was very swollen. And the gunk mentioned above felt like thick glue in my throat that was not budging. By the last couple of miles I got a bit of a side stitch too. Ack. But I gutted it out and logged my 10 miles (that part should fall in the "good" category though).

Weekly Recap

Whew. So I made my miles. It wasn't pretty, but they are on the books.

M: arms/core

T: 8.5 (9:02) / core

W: 14 (8:57) / core - weather was PERFECT and I considered logging my 18, but I didn't quite have enough time / core

R: 7.5 recovery (9:42)

F: 5 recovery (9:42) / arms / core

Sa: 10K which sucked

Su: 18.14 (8:56)

Total 60.4

Todays long run was very painful. It is HOT here and very humid. With the heat index it is somewhere between 95 and 100. According to our clock, it was already 90 at 9:00 this am when I headed out. I decided to do 3 6-mile loops so I could stay close to home and refuel as needed rather than risk blowing up 9 miles down the trail. Within seconds of getting out the door, I heard a huge BOOM! It literally sounded like 5 fighter jets taking off within a few feet of me. I stopped - waiting for something to fall out of the sky or something. Then I saw my friend, Donovan, biking down the trail. He was out shooting part of the documentary he is doing on training for and completing IronMan. He didn't know what happened either. We chatted for a minute and I went on my way. After about .5 miles, it started smelling like paint thinner or something in the air. Yikes. A lady who was walking was concerned and wanted to know what happened - in this heat and wind, it may not be safe to be out if the local chemical company had an explosion. I decided to run over and check it out. A cop had cordoned off the road and I asked him what happened. He said there was a small explosion but there had not been any evacuation orders. So I continued running a bit - looped around - and ran back up by the chemical company. There were cops and ambulances everywhere, but the road was now open. I couldn't see any visible signs of the explosion and it looked like it must have been an isolated incident. My HR was going through the ROOF (well into the 170s less than 5 miles in) and the air just smelled funky - particularly closer to my neighborhood thanks to the winds. So I decided to take it home and finish up on the treadmill. Ack. So I begrudgingly logged 13 miles on the treadmill. It was boring and awful, but I was so thankful to have it as an option. I finished the last mile progressively increasing from 8:26 to 7:30 - nice.

I thought many times about just cutting it short. But there was no way. After a crap race, I had better at least put in the miles.

So I did. And I am very happy for it.

We were planning to go to a Mallards game tonight. Not sure how fun that sounds in 100 degree weather . . . .

That didn't work out so well

My 10K this morning, that is.

Today was not only my first 10K in almost 6 months, but also my first tempo run in months. But that is precisely why I did it. Time to get back into uptempo work, and what better way to do it than in a small race?

I headed out to the race this morning and it was raining. Not bad - it was supposed to be warm and very humid. But when I got there, it started lightening and thundering like crazy, so we all huddled under a shelter and waited for the storm to pass. Half an hour later - go!!! It was still raining pretty good, but the thunder (mostly) subsided. It was weird getting geared up to race though - then having to wait 30 minutes - then immediately GO! when the all clear was signalled.

I have done this 10K 2 times previously and both times had relatively slow times. Usually it is because of the exact position I am this year - first 10K of the season. Although usually I have *some* tempo work in. My plan was to run 7:2x-7:30s and make it a true tempo run. If I was feeling better, great.

We were off and I did a pretty good job reining it in - first mile 7:24. Second mile 7:35. Miles 2-4 are the only hills and while they are not bad - they ain't flat either. Just before the turn around I saw the first female - and she was WAY fast. The second female was about 2 minutes ahead of me. And the hard part about this race is that there are literally only about 15-20 people in the 10K so you really are running alone for the most part. Mile 3 was 7:50 - darn! I tried to concentrate and not lose too much speed. I kept telling myself to pick up the foot turnover. Mile 4 was 7:55. Yikes. The good news was that the hills were over. My HR was dropping and I knew I needed to pick it up, but was having a hard time doing so. I started thinking I am really losing my racing mojo. Then I decided - no - 10Ks just really suck for me - it is always like this - GO!! About half a mile later a big black lab came running and barking at me. Its owner was several hundred feet away just yelling at it. I continued to run and it continued to chase me. And the owner continued yelling to no avail. Damn. I stopped, hoping the dog would run back to its owner. Unfortunately that didn't happen and the owner just stood there yelling. And we (dog and I) stood there. And more yelling from owner. And dog did not care one bit. He was fired up and eyeing me ready to go. It became clear the dog was not going to go back and the yelling owner was going to continue yelling to no avail, so I ran it back to the owner, who eventually grabbed it (the owner, BTW is upper 60s, so I see why she was not chasing this spry dog down). I took off again. And there the wheels officially fell off. Its not that I couldn't have resumed my pace, its just that I didn't really care anymore. I had stopped for a good minute and a half or two and I knew my time sucked. I had turned off my watch and had no idea how fast (or slow) I was going at this point, but probably 8:30ish.

I thought about just stopping at my car and DNFing. Dammit. I don't DNF. Not ever. Not today either.

It was not until I only had about only .6 to go that I thought I heard someone behind me - which encouraged me to pick it up, sista. Heh. I may be slow today, but no one is beating me now! So I picked it up a bit and finished strong. Not fast, but I felt like I had a nice strong stride.

Crazy news? I got an award anyway as 3rd female/2nd a/g (remember the 15-20 particiants thing?). Heh. Slowest 10K ever. 49:23. Sheesh. Gotta love small races. And yeah, the dog thing slowed me down, but I wasn't going to end up with a good race even if it didn't happen. Although I would have been PISSED off if it happened while I was having a good race. ;) I wonder if I would have just kept going and said too bad if this dog runs a mile and a half with me?

I can't say I'm not bummed that I can't seem to pull races together these days. But I had a good time, met some new people and well, did what I did. Better luck next time.

It ended up being a decent workout and I should be over 60 miles this week for the first time since spring season. And I feel good. I'll take it.

Dammit.

Working at Home

Jake has had a low grade fever for the last 3 days and today he was just icky. So I took him to the doctor this morning and they think he has croup. Yuck. Poor kid. The ridiculous thing was right after the doctor determined it was likely croup, she grabbed a mask for herself and then handed me one, saying, "Mom, you'll need this too. He is contagious." Okay, are you serious? Do you really think I am going to wear a mask around my kid for the next several days? I live with the kid. I hold his hand and kiss him goodnight. And I have done so the last several days. Do you really think it is helpful to wear a mask now?! But alas, I caved to her demand and put it on. And I felt like a terrible mom. You don't put on a hazmat outfit when your kid feels a bit under the weather. So after a couple minutes I took it off and felt much better. It made Jake feel a little better too and the doctor did not tackle me or anything. ;)

Needless to say, I am thinking this must have been a "courtesy thing" since she obviously wanted to wear one for the remainder of the exam. I guess it would have been rude not to demand that I put one on as well. :)

The good news is that it doesn't look like he has strep or the dreaded swine flu. But it is likely the croup and it took up most of our morning to reach that determination. After we left the doctor's office, Jake and I stopped in at my office to grab some work and came home. So here I am "working." I used to work at home full time and was very efficient. Now? Not so much. Since I can't get much done, I may as well update my blog, no?

Training is going well. We have had PERFECT running weather this week. It has been right around 50 degrees when I have done my morning runs. Nice. My HR has been low and all systems are a go. I am in week 2 of my revised Pfitz 12 week/70 mph. I hit 51 last week and I am hoping to shoot my head up over 60 this week. Not sure if I will be able to stick with the plan as the miles pile on quick and the recovery weeks are virtually non-existant. We'll see (fingers crossed). My first several weeks were in the 40s and low 50s. Hopefully bouncing to 60s and 70 won't break me. Literally.

In the immediate future, I have a 10K on Saturday and an 18 miler on Sunday. The 10K will no doubt suck as I have not run a tempo run in months (literally). Usually by this point in training I have several under my belt. But this time, those were all replaced with Capitol Mile training. So while the result will likely be slow, it will be very valuable for my training. It is also supposed to be very hot and humid this weekend - unlike the rest of the week. Yuck.

In other news, I got a new pair of shoes recently. The Mizuno Wave Alchemy 9s. I always excitedly anticipate, yet at the same time dread each season's shoe updates. Sometimes they are wonderful, other times I am sentenced to a year of black toenails or other ailments. The 9s are flexible and nice, but they eliminated much of the already barely there forefoot cushioning. This is fine for most runs, but everything over 15 or so causes some ball o foot pain. Not cool. Also, I am noticing that the shoe comes up further on my inner R ankle and causes some real "rubbage." Also not cool. So it looks like I will have to seek out some 8s before they are all gone! Damn.

Alright. Back to work.

Week 8

And what a nice week it was.

M: Rest - wanted to go for a ride, but got a flat tire on the way home.

T: 6.65 (9:02) - scheduled for a tempo, but my ankle was crazy swollen from the wasp stings, so I kept it easy and short.

W: 11 (8:51) / abs and arms

R: rest / c

F: 11.3 (8:41) - PERFECT running weather (50s) / abs and arms

Sa: 5K at 22:26 - not a great race, but very good substitute for my missed tempo run.

Su: 17 (9:13) - HOT (well, 80 degrees and sunny)

Total: 51 miles

Yesterday's race was relatively uneventful for me, but it was fine as it was a last minute thing. It was a tiny little race (100 people in the 5K) and I came in second F. I'll take it. I probably *should* have done the 10K, but that sounded oh so unpleasant. The boys did the kids' kilometer and it was awesome. James tied for 3rd at 4:30 and Jakey came in at 5:20. Jake was so proud he did not stop to walk at all. They both got medals - very cool.

Next week I am going to continue building miles and I plan to race on Saturday morning. I should do the 10K, but I am flirting with the 5K plus a 21 mile bike. We'll see.