The Plan? Yeah, that didn't happen. This week I have been a bit under the weather. Nothing atrocious, just a head cold. No serious nasal congestion, just massive head congestion and I have had a headache for 6 days. Ack! I rarely get headaches so it was yucky. And it was weird because while I didn't really feel that sick, I completely felt uncomfortable + no equilibrium. Not cool. Plus, when I did run, my HR was crazy out of control. Great. So I have just been winging it and taking it easy. I also have a crazy "bump" on the outside of my little toe. It doesn't hurt running, but drives me nuts at work. Definitely residue of Chicago - what is it?!?!!

The good news was I woke up at 5:00 am today and felt great. No run at that time b/c I wanted to get into work early as I am thankfully busy with some very interesting work. Well, that didn't work either. My 8 year old was saying he didn't want to bring his Halloween costume for his party (at day care) for the strangest reasons. And he seemed really down in general. Alright, what's up? So he had his old costume and some parts fell off. I fixed them and assured it wouldn't happen again. To no avail. New costume, looks bad (full detail on how). Ack. Welcome to third grade. So we work out a reluctant compromise and I get to day care where they ask me if James told me about "what happened" yesterday. Nope. Apparently a couple of his closest buds really started picking on him. All kids had to be separated (FYI - this doesn't happen often in school age day care unless there is some seriously ridiculous behavior). Apparently they were okay at the end of the day, but James was very sad. And apparently this is becoming a real, ongoing problem. Not a one-time thing.

I knew he'd be just devastated that his teacher was saying all of this to me, but was so thankful. How else would I have known?! These 2 kids have been James' friends for a long time and with great ups and downs. I pulled him aside as we walked into the hallway and he was embarrassed and did not want to talk about it. He looked crushed. I tried to reassure him, gave him a kiss, and got in my car. But the world was just not right.

Got to work, and decided this was just not going to work. I couldn't focus on anything but how to make sure he can handle this crap and keep a healthy self-esteem. I went back and picked him up. We decided to spend the morning together to talk, get a cool journal to do together (he has been into books like that) and a Halloween costume he loved and felt comfortable in. We had a great time! And he found a costume that fit and he loved it. We talked lots about what happened with his friends (but not too much), and while he clearly told me he didn't want to talk about it, he did. And I felt like I did the best I could to reassure him and tell him how to handle it (and how to differentiate the behavior from his other good friends who never treat him like that - and why that just illustrates why it is so important to be nice). It is all his choices, but I try to give him the tools. Crap shoot on how it affects him/reaches him.

We got back to day care in time for the party and the kids that had made fun of him were now there. Surprise! He didn't want to put on his costume and looked embarrassed. I gave him a big hug, worked at home, and picked them both up just after noon. The good news was he had the courage to put on his new costume despite the pressure. And tonight when I asked him about it, he finally said he put it on because he wanted to and tried to encourage his friends to put theirs on. They didn't, but he felt it was their loss. I told him I was proud and he said, "why, because I stood up for myself and did it because I wanted to?" Bingo. :)

Long story shorter, this has been culminating for a while with both boys. My husband and I have recently decided that while day care was PERFECT when I went back to work 2 years ago, now it is not working. These kids go 100% from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm. School, day care, sport, then rush home to do homework, reading and shower. THEY HAVE NO DOWN TIME. And that is a crappy thing to do to your kids. Mix in some serious peer pressure and negative behaviors and.....Well, it is not working. SO, I am in the market for a part-time nanny. That way they can come home after school and chill some. Not have all the extra stuff. Plus she can help do dinner, get homework started, etc., so we can have more time together on the just plain "how are you today" stuff. Fingers crossed. And 2 interviews lined up.

Lesson Learned: Today I was crazy busy and did NOT have time to skip the day at work. But my kid's self esteem is way more important than anything else.

Lesson 2: Doing something nice for someone you care about it is one of the most fulfilling actions in the world.

Lesson 3: While the particulars of parenting are ever-changing, the challenges strike deeper and deeper in the heart as time goes on. It makes sense as kids get older and you recall your own challenges and can relate with their stresses. Sadly, my colleague is burying his 17 year old daughter tomorrow after a year long battle with cancer. It is incredibly heartbreaking, and it reminds me of how thankful I actually am for my challenges.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE: I ran 6 easy this evening. Wicked windy, but first "snap" these legs have felt in weeks. New goal is to lose the 4-5 lbs I already gained since Chicago (seriously!) and enjoy my half next weekend!

Happy Halloween!

The Plan

For the next 2 weeks:

M: rest
T: 5 w/ 8 striders
W: 13 easy
R: 5 recovery
F: rest
Sa: 11 w/3 at half pace
Su: 5 easy

Total: 39

M: rest
T: 6 recovery
W: 7 w/ 2 @ half pace
R: rest
F: 5 easy with 6 striders
Sa: Half Marathon
Su: rest

Total: 31 (18 pre-race)

Any thoughts/suggested changes? I thought about adding in some more speed work, but thought my 5K yesterday would be good. I might switch the half pace run next W to a tempo or interval workout. Not sure. Kind of making it up as I go along.

Starting to Bounce Back

It has been almost 2 weeks since Chicago and I am finally starting to bounce back, both physically and mentally. I ran 5 miles on Thursday and just over 6 yesterday. Both felt good and - yesterday in particular - I was happy to be out there.

Some interesting observations:

* No toenail casualties this time around. This is nothing short of amazing to me given how bad my toes hurt after the race.

* My resting HR is nice and low. That is always one of my favorite things during post-marathon recovery. I still have a high level of fitness. Combined with rest and recovery, my resting HR is in the low 50s.

* Conversely, the scales are tipping upwards. It is amazing how quickly a couple pounds can climb on when you stop putting in the mileage and eat/drink whatever you want. :) I guess it is time to get back at it and start watching my diet more closely again.

I am hoping to log 8-10 miles today. Then tomorrow I am doing a 15K relay. Should be a lot of fun. I am not planning on a PR or fabulous performance, but I do think it will be a great time. The mission for the day is to come up with a plan for the next two weeks before the Tyranena Beer Run. The idea will be to maintain fitness while continuing to rest. This means relatively low mileage with some high quality. Hopefully I can come up with something decent.

The weather is really starting to turn south here. We have had multiple gloomy, rainy, windy, cold days in a row. But as I was running in the light rain yesterday, all of the bright yellow sugar maples, blazing red sumacs and rusty brown oaks were glorious. I need to take it in now before the dark, bare winter rolls in.

Have a great weekend and good luck to all my peeps running races!!

Lessons Learned

As each training season comes and goes, I try to reflect on what I did right and what I did wrong. I know lots of times people only do this when the goal race doesn't turn out as planned, but I think it is equally important when race day goes well.

It has been 10 days since I ran Chicago and the most obvious lesson jumping out at me is that my schedule last season was just WAY too much. My last 11 weeks of training included several 20 (or 20+) milers and high volume. However, I don't think I needed to do that much. In fact, I think it may have actually been somewhat detrimental since I was so beat up.

During the last 10 days I have been surprised at all the little tweaks and twinges I have been feeling during recovery. Usually I feel them during the taper. I am very clearly still recovering from the abuse I laid on my legs the last few months. The take away: My body can't sustain that high of mileage. While it worked when I was a stay at home mom getting at least 2 hours more sleep every day and being up and active all day, it was manageable. Now, it doesn't make sense.

On the other hand, high mileage DEFINITELY makes a big difference. Almost immediately after getting above the 60 mile mark I watched my HR dramatically decrease and I dropped a couple pounds. This always makes such a huge difference. The take away: While I won't pile on lots of high mileage weeks, I may try to hit 2 or 3 in the peak of my training.

My tune-up races were very poor during this season. I know it is because I was really beat up and needed more rest. I think scaling it back a bit will help solve this. While it isn't really critical for my key race, it is SO much more fun when the shorter races go well.

I REALLY needed down time. Not only am I currently feeling tweaks and twinges 10 days out, I have had very little desire to get up early and run. I need the rest and am going to take it while consciously pushing out the nagging thoughts that I am wasting my fitness. I can get it back. For now, I need to recover and rest, both physically and mentally.

With that said, I will probably run tomorrow, Saturday and I am doing a relay race on Sunday for fun. Next week I will probably try to get back up in the 25 mpw range, with a little quality. Probably the same the following week, which will culminate in a half marathon. I don't have any real expectations for the half - just run as hard as I can that day and enjoy it.

Happy Wednesday.

I haven't run in a whole week

And I really don't feel like doing it yet, so I probably won't go today either. Crazy, huh?

I was wicked sore on Monday. You know, the blown over by a Mack truck feeling. I had to focus really hard not to look like I was limping. It was hard sitting at my desk for a couple hours, then getting up.

Tuesday was better. Easier to walk, but the muscle soreness was much more acute.

Wednesday was much better. I wasn't really sore at all and probably could have run if I wanted to. I also had minor surgery on my back to remove a mole. Well, the surgery was much more extensive than I had expected it to be. I have a 3.5 inch incision across my back and lots of stitches. By Wednesday night, it hurt like mad.

Thursday my back really hurt. My legs were a lot better though. I had two events to go to after work and was able to break out my cool black boots.

Friday my L quad was feeling the effects of said cool black boots (with 3.5 inch heels). :) Back was much better though.

Today I was going to take my oldest son to his soccer game, but he decided to throw a huge fit. Fun times. So instead I have been on a rip cleaning out cupboards/closets/etc. My L quad still kind of hurts and I'm not sure I even feel like running. So we'll see.

And now I need to plan what's next. I was thinking of running Boston 2010 as my 10th marathon. Doing it on relatively light training (18/55) and running it just for fun and taking in all the sights. But now I'm not so sure because I don't know many people going. What spring marathon are you doing?

Good luck to all the racers this weekend! And congrats again to Salty on her marathon win last weekend!!

Race Pics

pre-race!

This right here - yep, this is called hurting.

Ah, sweet finish.

2009 Chicago Marathon Race Report

Marathon #9 is now in the books. And as I leave the single digits for counting them, I do so with a great big smile. My training for this race was epic (for me), yet plagued. And as I have adjusted to make my running fit nicely into my otherwise crazy hectic life, it has not been easy and I have definitely seen my race performances overall decline. Oh yeah, I'm not gettin' any younger either. So let's just say that this weekend's marathon PR - which is my first PR in ANY distance since October 2007, is a sweet, sweet, beautiful thing!

I decided after the Illinois Marathon this spring that I was going to wratchet my training up another notch and really go for PRs in both the mile and the marathon. I started out my training and in the first week was struck with the flu. I also started my Capitol Mile training and I never was able to manage the speed work + mileage. I was beat up and my hammies/glutes were killing me. So for the first 7 weeks, I tried to strike a delicate balance between decent mileage and track work. Well, I didn't do so hot. My Capitol Mile was 6:12 when I was shooting for sub-6. Not even close. So I closed the book and decided to ramp back into marathon training. And I didn't hold back. I bumped up to 50 miles, 61, 63 and 70 consecutively, then ran an all-out half, then back up to 70. Woo! I knew I was skating on thin ice, but, well, I guess I didn't care. I wanted to go for it. I ran a few tune-up races and while they were fun (and even involved cash awards), I was no where near PR shape. So let's just say I had some nagging doubts coming into this weekend. I was crazy beat up at the end of my peak training and by the end of my taper, I had some real snap in my legs but my hammies were still really tight.
After dropping the boys off at my sister's for the weekend (thanks Beth!), John and I headed out to Chicago. Thanks to road construction on every road in the US right now, it took forever! But we got to the hotel then cabbed it to the Expo. The Expo was crazy. Wow!! People EVERYWHERE. And I laughed as I thought of my co-worker who still continually tells me marathons are bad for you. Never before have I seen so many fit people in one building. Even more so than going to the Boston Expo. It was cool. John had a lot of patience while I checked everything out. I was in the market for some arm warmers since it was going to be cold, but I did not want to wear long sleeves. I found some really fun ones. I also got to sign the VW Bug that was being given away, which was also fun.
John and I then headed down to Grant Park to check out the starting area. It was COLD and windy! We checked out Buckingham Fountain and the starting corrals. Needless to say, it was exciting!

We then went back to the hotel for the way below average yet way overpriced pasta dinner at the Hilton. But it did the trick. The FSU game was on and we watched the first half, then John went down to the lobby to watch the rest while I got some Zzzzs (He came back at midnight after a few beers with fellow pit-crewers down there).

I slept okay, but not great. I ate my breakfast and checked the weather. It still looked perfect. Yay! I got dressed and was ready to go. I had on my funky new arm warmers and had promised James and Jakey I'd wear one of their sponge bob wrist bands. James loved having his on during his race and we all thought it would be a good idea if I followed suit in my big race. :) I left the hotel at quarter to 7 and walked to the corrals. The line was crazy long and I asked a volunteer where bag check was. She said she heard it was a few blocks over, but many said it was not there. Great. I decided just to get in line and pitch it. I put my phone, keys and hotel card in my skirt pocket. I was suddenly glad I wore the skirt rather than my shorts. I got in line and got into the corral around 7:17 (they were supposed to close at 7:15, but the lines were crazy). I threw my bag over and left a message for John to pick it up if he could. The star spangled banner was sung and it made me tear up as usual. I was so thankful for this moment, for everything.

Before I knew it, we were off. Less than .1 in, I heard Johnny screaming at me and I flashed him a big, cheesy smile. This is awesome. Not only was the race itself huge, but an estimated 1.5 - 2 million spectators line the course. The first several miles were incredible. People everywhere screaming. I hit the first mile at 7:37. Ooops. So much for the plan to log 8s for the first few miles. I also lost GPS coverage under a big bridge and made sure to turn off autolap. I was cruising along and thought about my race with James last weekend. Early on, he decided he could do the 5K without walking. It was a bold decision on his part, but he made it then and there and I knew he would do it. I decided to take a page from his book. I don't care if my training wasn't perfect or if I haven't had any great races lately. I CAN DO THIS.

I saw John again at mile 2.5 or so and it was just incredible to me that I heard him screaming at me out of the thousands of people. I was so glad he was there. The runners around me were a complete hodge-podge, which was true throughout the race. Some had 3:10 tags, some 3:20, 3:30, 3:40. Whatever, I was on my own clock today. At mile 4, I started feeling a funky stomach pain. NO!! It was like I had way too much sugar/gu/gatorade. Not today. I told myself it would go away and to be careful with nutrition. And it did! Unfortunately this plagued me throughout the race, but I seemed to stave it off by taking water most of the time and only gatorade/gu when I knew I needed to.

Other than these slight g/i issues, the first 10 miles FLEW by, which is always a good sign. My favorite spectator sign in the crowd said "26.2 WTF?!?!?!?!?!" :)

I saw John just before the half again (see pic). I hit the half at 1:42:48. Cool. During the race, it was hard to identify highlights. The whole race was entertaining. I slapped a singing Elvis' hand, I gave high 5s to every kid that outstretched their hand and I hammed it up in general. If I ran through a particularly crowd heavy, yet quiet area, I would unabashedly raise my hands in the air and smile and elicit lots of cheers. It was amazing. I saw John again around mile 17 or so and again was amazed I heard him screaming at me. I noticed one of my pinned on gels had fallen off and was so glad they were handed out on the course at 17.5. The group of runners started slowing down at this point and some people started walking. I saw a woman who looked JUST like Runnin-from-the-law stopped and stretching out her calves. Damn that sucks. I tried the best I could not to lose focus. At this stage of the race, it is easy to lose focus and just follow the people around you. I made a conscious effort to keep on keepin on. I hit 20 and felt good. 21 clicked off easy, but I could feel I was falling off pace some. Damn. I went out a little too fast. I really had to focus to keep going and my hammies were screaming at me a bit. My feet, well, I really didn't feel them much. During the last few miles, I had slowed down a few seconds per mile. Miles 22-24 were 7:55, 7:59 and 7:57. I saw my friend Alison at mile 23.5ish and she was a welcome and unexpected sight. I was admittedly hurting some, but I knew I was close. I decided then and there that I worked way too damn hard this season to wimp out and not take home the PR. Mile 25: 7:46. Better. I had gotten so used to watching the crowd, however, my eyes could no longer focus. It was weird. So I refocused only to what was in front of me and I was much better. Mile 26 I was pushing as hard as I could. I was following a girl that had cranked into another gear as well. I started to turn up one of the last corners and again heard John screaming at me. No time to ham it up, I acknowledged his cheer with an upraised arm and headed up the last (and pretty much only hill). It was a nasty bridge and I cranked as hard as I could. Hit the 26 mile mark at 7:49 pace. Then it was down to the finish. I felt I had so little left, but I gave it everything I had. Garmin clocked the last .24 at 7:15 pace. Yep, I was spent.

I got through the finish and my watch said 3:26:15. Heck yeah. The problem was, I didn't think I could walk a step further. My feet hurt SO bad. But I knew if I didn't keep going, I'd get taken to the med tent. So I got my medal, water, power bar, nice cold beer and kept myself moving along. I bit into the powerbar and it was frozen. Crazy.
I ran into a guy from Austin, TX. It was his first Chicago as well and he hit a PR. Nice. I finally met up with Johnny and gave him the biggest hug ever. What an amazing day. And I can't believe he found me on the course 5 times. We decided that was a course record. :)

We got back to the hotel (painfully) and I grabbed a quick shower before the noon checkout. I went to the lobby to get my courtesy medal engraving. They did not have official times, I had to go over to the Niketown store to ask them. The girls pulled my time, then said 3:26:12 - "wow - that is amazing." And it felt so good. I may not be a talented runner, but I work my @rse off. And it was nice to have that PR in hand AND engraved on my medal. Especially those extra 3 seconds (My Garmin said 3:26:15).

Today, my legs are trashed in such a beautiful way. I plan to enjoy a week of absolutely nothing, but recalling this fun race.

If you made it this far, thanks again for your support. I thought of my running peeps so many times during training and my race. What a great community of support fellow runners provide. Run on and be happy. :)

Stats:

Chip Time: 3:26:12
O/A Place: 3375 / 33,608
Gender: 448 / 14,567
35-39 Div: 72 / 2,283

PR! My first in 2 Years!!!!

3:26:12.

Woo Hoo!!! Perfect weather and what a FUN race. Wow.

More to come soon . . . .

T minus 1 and counting

Almost time to go! Woo Hoo. The weather forecast couldn't possibly be more ideal either. While it will be chilly at the start, my best races have been with frosty starts. I'll take it!

My family is all sick, but somehow I seem to be escaping it. My poor husband is feverish and just plain under the weather and both kids have head colds. Fingers crossed that I can make it the next 27 hours without falling sick!

With that said, training is in the bag, I have gotten pretty good sleep this week and the stars are aligning. That means no excuses and it is up to me - my football to fumble (or not) if you will. So I am getting FIRED up. I am not sure where I am after this training season, but do we ever really know? I need to just trust my training and listen to my body out there on the course tomorrow. I KNOW I can do both. So sweet - I am READY!!

I am going to log a short, easy run this morning, drop the boys off with my sister, then head to Chicago! We are staying at the Hilton, which is the host hotel and closest to the start/finish. At first it was sold out, but this week I was able to get a room. It is INSANELY expensive, but I could justify it since we never dropped any $$ for plane tickets as originally expected. Also, it will be well worth avoiding the stress of having to take public transportation down there or find parking. I just don't know Chicago well enough. So, we will stay in grand style. :) I always find it crazy when I stay in fabulous hotels for a race only to go to bed at 8:00 pm!

I did my pre-race grocery shopping this time. Bananas. Check. Bagels. Check. Peanut butter. Check. Gatorade. Check. Breakfast of champions.

I am looking forward to the expo and hoping to pick up some arm warmers for the race. Should be easier than throwing something off. We'll see.

See you at the finish - and thanks for all the support this season.

2009: The Year of Illinois

So I ran the Illinois Marathon in April and am now wrapping up the books for my training for Chicago. Woo. I am starting to get excited, nervous and even a bit worried. Weather so far (yes, its early) looks good, although it may rain. Oh yeah, and Saturday has 37 mph winds forecast. Fingers crossed that whatever front is moving through does not linger.

I have no idea what to expect with this race. My training was somewhat all over the board and my races this summer have not been very impressive. No where near PRs. But that doesn't necessarily mean a marathon PR is out, right? I don't know. I did log 8 high mileage, high quality weeks.

Plan for now is to rest up as much as possible, get in some quality and get my head in the game. Depending on how I feel come race morning, I will either go after the PR, or start out around a 3:30 pace.

Here is a recap of the last 18 weeks:

1: 42 miles (mileage cut a little short due to flu)

2: 41.2 (cut mileage b/c adding in Cap Mile speedwork was hard on the body)

3: 52 (bumping it up a little, but still under planned mileage)

4: 41.3 (very sore piriformis/hammies)

5: 40

6: 31.8 (decided to scale back to heal up legs before Cap Mile)

7: 22.6 with way below average Capitol Mile (6:12)

8: 51 (time to crank back up)(22:26 5K)

9: 60 with bust of 10K

10: 63

11: 70 (heavy week w/6 @ tempo and 20 miler at 8:40 pace in hot temps)

12: 45 with half mary (1:38:51)(goal was sub 1:40, but this is still a good 2 mins off PR).

13: 70 (with another quality 21 miler)

14: 63

15: 70

16: 42 with 10K 46:01 (PR- 44:11)

17: 37 with 5K 21:59

18: race week - results TBD.

Ended up logging four 20 (or 20+) mile runs in the heavy 8 weeks.

Any suggestions on race day given this crazy training is greatly appreciated.....

Off to run an easy run in cold, cold rain!

2009 Literacy Run Race Report

Today I ran the Literacy Run with my son, James. To date, this has to be my favorite race experience yet. It seriously was just amazing.

James has been asking me to let him run a 5K since he was 5 years old. I have always told him he had to be 8. Well, he turned 8 in August and I decided I would let him take a swing at it. Like most kids, he is very active. He plays soccer and flag football for hours on end, he can do this.

If you are a parent, you will know kids are so different in their personalities and what drives them. James is a smart, great kid. And he is competitive. However, he also notices everyone else and often sees his shortcomings. He notices that he is the shortest kid in his class. And that he isn't the best soccer player, etc. And no matter how much I encourage him, these are things he sees and feels. I knew the 5K would be very hard for him if he was thinking negatively or worrying.

Two weeks ago, we went for a run on the trail. It was 85 degrees and pretty miserable. From the get-go, James was concerned about needing walk breaks. I told him walk breaks were fine, but that he shouldn't think about not being able to do it. Those thoughts are negative and will not make the run fun. I said, ignore it. Let's just talk and have fun. And we did! It was great. We briefly stopped at .5, 1 and 1.5, but ended up logging a nice 2 mile run with the second mile faster than the first.

This week, I think James started getting a bit nervous about the race. So this morning, I kept smiling at him and asking, "are you ready?" He'd return a little smile and say, "yes!" This happened at least 30 times this morning.

Once we picked up our chips and got to the start, I could tell he was a little nervous again. He said, "what if I come in last?" I said, "don't worry, we'll come in last together." The gun went off and we started down State Street. Almost immediately, he said, "I'll tell you when I need a break." I said okay. Then he started getting into the crowd and the sights. All of a sudden he jumped on this big platform and jumped off. It surprised me and I looked at him and he said, "sorry mom." I said "don't be, that looked like a lot of fun." Yay! He was enjoying this. From that point on, he was super happy and noticing everything. He loved the change of scenery when it came and loved the cheers from the crowd (and he thanked each person who cheered him on). He started saying "hi" to other runners and he told me he loved the race. He also decided he was going to try to do the whole race without stopping. I told him I knew he could do it. We hit the turn-around point and I could tell he was just thrilled with himself. He looked at me and said, "there is no turning back now, since we are already on the way to the finish!" Oh yeah!

We ran past the clock with one mile to go and he saw the time was 22:5x. He had told me before the race that he wanted to be under 30 minutes. I told him that was pretty fast, but he stuck with that number. He saw the clock and told me he'd have to run the last mile in 7 minutes. I told him not to worry about it (but was impressed with how focused he was). He then started to pick it up. Not significantly, but I could tell we were moving faster. We finally got off the bike path and turned back towards State Street. A police officer was directing traffic and James thanked him (what a good boy!). Once we hit State Street, the kid found some real focus and WHEELS! Spectators were cheering him on and he was thrilled. He was all smiles and I told him he rocked and patted him on the back. With about .2 to go, I told him the finish was right around the corner and he started FLYING through. It was awesome. He finished in 31:33, beating his mom by one second. He never stopped and he never uttered a single self-doubting thought. Awesome.

Splits:

Mile 1: 10:58
Mile 2: 10:43
Mile 3: 9:05
Last. 1: 7:24 pace

He has been so proud of himself since and has been telling everyone with such a big smile. He made me comb through the results with him to verify that he was indeed the fastest 8 year old boy. He was and he even beat a 14 year old. And he did not come in last. He was before 102 people. And he loved it. And was very, very proud of his accomplishment. Boy was it amazing to be a part of it. Awesome. Just awesome.

Some motivation

Sweet! I won a 5K this morning!! Well, came in first female anyway. [Yes, it was a very small race in case you were wondering.] I ran faster than I thought I would, ran very even splits and never blew up. Felt good the whole way. :)

It was a fun race and a good time with some fun friends. My friend Donovan's daughter came in first kid too. Woot!

Motivation has left the building

Seriously. In a big way. This week I have had absolutely no desire to get out and do my runs. I can't say I have ever felt that way during a taper. But this has definitely been an odd training season for me.

My foot feels 100% better. This week has just been normal taper twinges. It was actually funny because two of my L toes hurt the other day. Weird.

So back to loss of motivation. It is Friday morning and I have only logged 6.5 miles this week. Seriously!! It is in large part because I have just been busy or distracted. Monday was a planned rest day. Tuesday I was going to go after work (so I could sleep in and get some rest), but unfortunately got into a car accident on my way back from Milwaukee and that threw my whole day off. Wednesday I only logged 6.5 because I didn't have more time than that in the morning. Yesterday, my alarm went off and I was just plain exhausted, so again decided to go after work. But, we had my 1st grader's open house and when we got back at 7 it was dark, windy and raining, and I just did not feel like getting out there. It hasn't helped that sickness/flu has set in around here big time. My husband and kids are sick and there is a general gunk going around, along with the swine flu. I was a bit headachey yesterday and felt a run in the cold rain would not be useful.

But I feel good this morning and am off to run 10 miles. I am really hoping the legs have some snap in them. I always like to deepen my taper, but this week was admittedly somewhat ridiculous. The nice thing is I slept in (5:15) and am taking my time getting going. Fortunately work is not crazy today, so I will be okay getting in a little later.

I looked at airfare for Scranton. Tickets are now $515 a pop (up from $250 when I last looked). Hello Chicago.

Weather looks absolutely perfect for Minneapolis/St. Paul on Sunday. Go Cindi!!!

Happy Friday.