Tyler's Run + new PR

So, life was full of surprises this week and one of them was that I ended up doing a 5K yesterday morning. :-) A friend of mine told me about Tyler's Run, which is a run to create awareness around SIDS. Plus it was at Miami Whitewater AND you got a free t-shirt. Hard to pass up. Friday night I had the best intentions of not drinking any alcohol and getting to sleep at a reasonable hour. But then some pals persuaded me to go to the Comet, so of course I had to have a burrito and a couple of Allagash's (which I really do think I like better in a bottle). Anyway. You know the drill.

The 6:15 am alarm felt like it came way too early and I was cursing myself for eating Mexican before a race. Again. Dehydrated and uninterested in breakfast, I trucked over to my friend's house and a few of us carpooled across town. We registered (long-sleeved shirts - score!), huddled in the car for warmth, then finally lined up in the corral. The gun went off and the race went something like this:

.25 mile
Why did I wear shorts? It's f'ing freezing out here. Hate Fall.

.5 mile
Ugh. Lord, if I can make it through this race I will REALLY make an effort to stop drinking so much. And eat better. And get more sleep. I thought this course was going to be flat???

1 mile
Isn't it time to turn around yet?

1.5ish miles
Hooray for a water stop! Sad that I need one in a 51-degree 5K but I feel like a million bucks after a few gulps!

2 miles
A small child just passed me.

3 miles
I can hear someone coming up behind me. It's definitely a girl, which means she's going to place ahead of me in the female division (yeah, I have some competitive issues). Can I speed up??? No. No, I cannot.

Finish Line
23:58??? I won a prize in my age group! If only I knew what place I was...(guessing third)

I love small races because I tend to do really well in them. :-) They also frustrate me because I can never find the results online. How am I supposed to update my spreadsheet? At any rate, my pace averages out to a 7:43-4 minute per mile split. A new PR!

War!

Well, I've finally done it. I have managed to create the perfect storm of leg muscles (thanks, hills and weight training!) and too much body fat, which has resulted in none of my pants fitting correctly. I guess this is what happens when you only run 13-15 miles per week but continue to eat like you're running 25-30 miles per week. Blame it on the alcohol consumption, the peanut butter, the chocolate confections that surround my desk (the chocolate is for reference, really, i just can't seem to stop eating it), etc., but things are out of control. Enough is enough.

Hence, I have waged war on myself and the pants. Saturday I ran 9 very hungover miles, yesterday I ran 4.25 hungover miles, and tonight I ran 6. (Note: Yes, there is a pattern here and the obvious answer to my problems is to stop drinking and binging on cheese fries at 2 am.) I'm hoping to keep this daily exercise thing up until body parts go back to where they should be, at which point I'll stop running like a crazy woman. Probably. I also happen to be really stressed right now, so running every day is preserving my sanity and preventing me from being a surly grumpass. You're welcome, world. :-)

Almost an island

This past weekend, my parents and I piled into the family station wagon for a good ol' fashioned road trip to Erie, PA. No, we are not fun-hating masochists, we were headed to the Presque Isle State Park Erie Marathon. My dad and I have a goal of running races in all 50 states - Dad wants to run a full marathon in each place, I want to run a half. Prior to yesterday, I had only done two states:

Ohio - Cincinnati's Flying Pig Half Marathon - May 2008 - 1:56:05/8:51 pace (first half marathon ever)

Illinois - Chicago's Banco Popular Half Marathon - September 2008 - 1:55:34/8:49 pace (rained the entire race :-)

My Pennsylvania conquest advertised a flat course and the entire 13.1 miles took place on a peninsula in Lake Erie (Presque Isle means "almost an island" in French). Oh, and the field for the half was about 575 people. Packet pickup took place in the park's mess hall with the more domestically-inclined volunteers in the background cooking up a homemade pasta dinner. And all runners - even the halfers - got a reusable tote bag, a long-sleeved technical t-shirt, socks, and a Hammer Gel. I just love small races.


Checking out the beach pre-race

There was actually quite a posse of runners from Cincinnati. Two of my dad's friends from Fleet Feet (yes, he runs for the competition) were there, as well as 10 or so people from the Galloway group. We all convened at 6 am on race day, some of us sporting the essential pre-race garbage bags for warmth. (Not very green of me, I know)


Sporting our festive plastic wear

At any rate, I was one of only two people in our group running the half so I ended up starting the race alone. However, I quickly made friends. I was having quite a nice conversation with a fellow in his 40's (mile 1), when he announced that he was a run-walker and dropped off. Sneaky, sneaky those run-walkers! Next I recognized a dude I had met the day before (while he was peddling energy drinks). He was planning to run the race "at a pretty slow pace, shooting for a 4 hour". Hahaha. He dropped off pretty quickly though too, as he was frantically searching for a bathroom...in mile 2. Lay off the caffeine, eh?

Miles 3 and 4 were a bit lonely and I was trying to decide what I wanted to lock in for my race pace. Should I shoot hard for a PR or just run and see what happened? I was contemplating the latter when the guy next to me asked what pace we were running. A mathematician I'm not (and I wasn't taking splits and there weren't pace clocks on the course) but based on our mileage and my overall time, I guessed we were running an 8:45 or so. He looked a bit overwhelmed, so I gave him the talk test, basically asking him questions to help take his mind off the race but also to see if he could breathe and carry on a conversation. Turned out he could, and hence began our 9-mile partnership. His story was inspiring: a college junior coming off a knee injury and trying to prove to his football coach that he could indeed run again. It was his first half marathon, so I gave him a few pointers such as:

- Alternate between water and sports drink at each water stop and make sure to drink water on the stops after a Gu. The sports drink on the course was Heed, which tasted like HalfLytely but seemed to have more salt and less sugar than Gatorade. Not delicious by any stretch although my body responded well to it.

- It's ok to walk the water stops.

- Runners' Tourettes (e.g. yelling "shit!" aloud during a particularly hard mile) can be quite therapeutic even if it does make other people stare.

Around mile 10 we were too tired to talk and our only conversation was at the mile markers, "3 more to go, 2 more", and so on. I occasionally said things like "this race is in the bag" and "you're kicking ass", but honestly, these statements were more to help my own mental game. Yeah, I'm a self talker.

We finally finished and I helped myself to a slice of watermelon (brilliant post-race snack, btw) and a cinnamon sugar bagel from Panera. The medals, which I don't normally get that excited over, were super cool as well - a blue glass circle with the Presque Isle lighthouse etched into it, hanging from a thin leather strap.


Are we there yet?

My stepmom Pam and I then began the long waiting game while my dad and his gang ran loop two of the park to complete the full marathon. Sadly, I had to take a quick catnap in the car instead of being a good cheerleader but since I was told multiple times that "this race is just a training run for Portland", I didn't feel too guilty.


The Three Musketeers - Dad, Jen #2, Doug - finish their "training run" :-)

After the full marathon wrapped, a few folks opted for an ice bath with Mother Nature aka a dip in frigid Lake Erie. Um, pass. Pam and I collected rocks instead. At any rate, I'm proud to say I can now add a third state to my list:

Pennsylvania - Erie's Presque Isle State Park - September 2009 - 1:51:56/8:33 pace

On to Maine in October!

a lovers' quarrel

Running and I aren't getting along so well lately. I think deep down I still love him, but right now, I don't really like him. We've been fighting a lot...take this morning for instance:

Me: I don't really feel like spending 4 miles with you right now. I think I'll sleep in.

Running: Look, Muffin Top, er, Muffin, you promised me last night that you would get up this morning.

Me: I know but I'm REALLY tired.

Running: Fine. Sleep then. But need I remind you that you're 30, and the cupcake you downed at 10 pm isn't going to metabolize like it did when you were 25?

Me: Them's fightin words.

Running: Get up then! Come out and kick my @ss on the road!

Me: I hate you.

Running: Don't say things you'll regret just because you're lazy.

Me: Fine. I'm getting up.

Running: Sucker.

there is no "only" about running 16 miles

Because I love running long distances (or maybe because I'm a masochist), I tagged along with my Running Spot buddies on their 19-mile trek yesterday. I'm only doing half marathons this Fall, so I decided there was no need to run the full 19 miles. Sixteen would do just fine.

Our run started at the Loveland Spot, running north out and back on the bike trail for 4 miles then south out and back for 5.5 (4 for me). The temperature was in the 60's or 70's, but the humidity/dew point was out of control! By the time we hit the mile 4 water stop (I bring my own, since I'm a crasher), I did not have a dry spot on my shirt. Sexy, sexy. I was running with Kent and a few girls I've only met a few times, and we were all complaining because:

- The trail is beyond monotonous. At one point we actually went rogue and ran on the road, which goes right next to the trail, for a half mile. We were begging for a change of scenery, getting excited at things like fallen logs and the occasional grassy field. Sad.

- The trail is not only monotonous but flat. We normally bitch about the hills in O'bryonville but I think the flat trail is worse, because you're using the same muscles over and over with no break.

No one's Garmins were working correctly because we were in the woods, so we didn't really know how fast we were going. I also didn't get a clear read on when I needed to turn around. I left everyone some point during mile 12 and started hauling @ss because I just wanted to FINISH. The elites were passing me (they had already run the 5.5 miles and were circling back) and I felt stupid for being such a wuss, since I was doing only 16 miles. I mentioned this to one of them and he replied "there is no 'only' about running 16 miles." True story.

The end of the run was pretty miserable and by the time I hit the Spot, I could tell I was dehydrated - everything was cramping up. Tisha and I decided the best thing to do would be lie down in the parking lot, using railroad ties as pillows. Classy, we are. We were only motivated to get up by the fact that Kent was having everyone back to his house for breakfast. Score!

Our group (quite a lot of us actually) crashed Coach K's house, completely taking over the kitchen and deck. His very patient family was surrounded by gamey runners guzzling mimosas and shoveling in quiche as if we might never eat or drink again. Mmm...I heart quiche. Most of us stayed to hang around outside afterwards chatting and soaking up the sun. :-) Good times!

Once I got home, I plotted out my route on USATF to try and gauge my pace. I looked at the map and oops! I ran almost 17 miles on accident - 16.69 give or take. This puts my pace right around a 9:09. My body feels like it's been hit by a bus, I have more blisters than I can count, and two of my little toenails are black (again, sexy, sexy). As my dad would say, it might be time to take me out back and shoot me.

grumpy but speedy

Today was not a good day at work. :-) It was starting to get dark by the time I got home, but I decided I didn't care - dead bodies in the woods be damned! - I needed to go for a run. Cincinnati summer was pressing down its heavy blanket of humidity; however, my mood seemed to fuel me right up the first hill. I literally felt like I had a hand pushing at my back, and maybe I did because my first mile split was 9:20. For perspective, this split usually ranges from 10:00 to 9:30. Woot. I ended up with an average pace of 8:19 for the 4.25 miles, which is officially my fastest time since June!

I'm happy with the pace improvement although I think the better improvement was that of my mental state. I was having a pity party when I set out, but then I realized that any day I am healthy enough to run four miles can't be all that bad. Yes, I suppose I'm kind of sappy but whatever. Running helps me keep my head out of my @ss, which is a full time job really.

metronomes, beer, and pancakes

I'm so proud of myself. For the second week in a row, I got up early on Saturday morning and ran with the Running Spot group. They were doing 16-18 today from Crossroads, which I seriously considered doing. The plan was for me to run for at least 2 hours and take it from there.

Pace wise, my old group is all over the place. Coach Steve is now running with the 8-minute mile kids, no one can catch Tisha, and the rest of us are pretty scattered as well. I started off at a comfortable clip and caught up with Joan, my Winter training buddy, somewhere on Brotherton. Joan is like a metronome with a steady, even pace - complete opposite of me (I tend to run erratic splits). We were having a great time chatting though, so I kept up with her despite the fact that I knew I was running too fast to hold out for 16. :-)

The route took us on part of the Pig course - down Erie to Bramble, then through Mariemont where we did a few laps around what used to be my training loop. I was feeling pretty good...until we had to run back up Brotherton. Ugh. Once we got into Norwood, I knew I was only down for my original two hours. I ended up turning around somewhere near Floral and Smith and running back with the halfers, who happened to be trolling in the same area. I hit Crossroads at 1:59:34, about 13.75 miles at an 8:41 clip. I looked back at my training log from the Pig and this is about on target for me. At least I'm consistent!

Post run I hung around and waited for the marathoners to finish their 18 because I knew there would be...beer! And breakfast. Sure enough, Larry and Rich both had a delightful selection of imported beers. I enjoyed a delicious Lowenbrau in the parking lot of Crossroads, which is a church. Did I mention we were doing this at 10 am?? As the old joke goes, we are drinkers with a running problem. Afterwards a few of us went to IHOP for pancakes and chocolate milk. I didn't end up getting home until 1 pm! Long morning but totally worth it.

Balmy.

That's about the word I'd use to describe the weather this morning. I did 4.25 before work and by the time I finished, I looked like I was trying to win some kind of obscene wet clothing contest. However, the humidity was not my greatest challenge today. No, my greatest challenge was getting my lazy ass out of bed. I really needed to do 6 miles but kept hitting snooze. Oh well, at least I got up at all??? I did manage to do an 8:42 average pace, which is not bad considering I had a 10-minute mile for my first split. There might be hope for a Fall half marathon PR. Maybe. I'm not counting my chickens just yet.

Keepin' it classy

So, after Tuesday's dismal attempt at speed work, it became clear to me that I need to start training with the Spot group again. Also, I had promised Tisha I would go, which was about the only thing motivating me to get out of bed at 6:45 am on a Saturday. Ha! Of course I was late getting out the door and had to run up the hill but whatever - good warmup, right?

Almost all of my old crew was there this morning - awesome! As my friend Kent put it, everything was right with the world (or as right as it can be before an 11 mile run at 7 am...). I was worried I wasn't going to be able to keep up with everyone since I've been running slow lately and I swear, half of my pals have qualified for Boston and the other half probably will this Fall. Fast, these folks are.

But, either I was having a good day or everyone else was having a bad day because I had running buddies through the first 5.5 miles! We were cooking through Eden Park, until someone pointed out that we had to run UP the hill on the way back. Ha, ha, nothing wrong with a positive split I guess. It was really humid this morning and I didn't have my water bottle...I was super dehydrated by the time we hit the 5 mile water stop and had to take a nature break at 5.5, which meant I lost all my buddies. :-(

I knew the route though, or so I thought, and I was trying to run faster so I could catch up with someone to entertain me up Gilbert. I kept looking, and looking, then I started to wonder "how long was i in the freakin' bathroom???". FINALLY I caught Megan on Gilbert but she had come from another direction. Ooops, I went the wrong way coming out of downtown. It didn't matter though because all the marathoners were doing 13, so I lost her anyway in Eden Park. I did get to run with the elites for about .25 miles, since they had already done the add-on and were back on the same route as me.

I finished with 11.34 miles thanks to my detour but get this - my time was 1:36. Ha! That's an 8:31 pace!!! I was barely running that the other night on flat ground for 5 miles. Woot. Apparently running with the group really does make me run faster. It is almost like a mini race.

The best part of the morning was after the run. My friends have started a tailgate group post run, so someone brings beer every week. Todd brought quite the assortment - Bell's, Guinness, Great Lakes, Corona. Of course I had a Guiness - recovery drink! We all sat around the parking lot in O'Bryonville, at 10 am, drinking beer and making fun of each other. Super classy! Robert, one of our coaches and a fellow Nashville road tripper, taught us a valuable lesson as well...that you should never pay for drugs, sex, or office supplies. I don't even know how this topic came up. :-) Man, I've missed these people. Running and drinking before noon on a Saturday, what could be better??? Then I managed to score a free breakfast with my friend Cole who lives up the street and has a real kitchen. I'm fat, happy, and stupid. Time for a shower and a nap.

Grab bag yasso workout

With Sunday's 8-miler under my belt, I decided to try my luck with some speed work tonight. At first I was thinking of doing an interval run - the Spot group usually does two minutes on, two minutes off for these things. However, Spot runs also include coaches with Garmins, so you can tell what your pace is. I have about the lowest rent watch you can get (and I love it, btw) so I can only take my splits per mile and hope for the best. Not what I want for an interval run, really, so I decided to take advantage of Lunken's mile markers and do a combo interval/Yasso run. The plan was to run every other half mile as a Yasso 800, with a slower 800 in between. The track is five miles, hence, five fast 800s and five slow ones.

I started out and felt like I was running a decent clip...took my first 800 split, only to find I was running a 4:40 pace. Hmm. For my "fast" 800, I ended up doing a 4:08. Yikes. The rest of my splits went something like this: 4:30 slow, 4:17 fast, 4:25 slow, 4:20 fast, etc. I missed the last half mile marker and ended up just taking the full mile split, which came out to 8:28 minutes per mile. Redemption, somewhat.

In case you didn't notice, I was getting faster on each slow interval and slower on each fast interval. Truthfully, I'm not sure you can call what I was doing "speed work".

I'm trying to think happy thoughts though, since this was my first attempt at speediness since, I don't know, April? (not counting my erratic rash of 5K's in June) The moral of the story? I have to train with a group if I want to run a reasonable pace for a long (or apparently even a short) distance. News just in, but I tend to get pretty lazy on my own...

Eight is great

I'm pleased to announce that I ran eight miles today for the first time since...the Pig. Oy. I've been slowly trying to increase my mileage and I finally worked up the courage to break 6.5, lol. It was humid enough by 9 am that I was drenched in the first half mile. I stopped in O'Byronville, stretched my angry achilles (they hate Torrence) and went on my merry way at what was probably close to a 10:30 clip. I can't get over how much my pace fluctuates these days but as I keep telling myself, I need to rebuild the foundation before I start freaking out about speed.

Today's run was to Eden Park, which is a little hilly but one of the most beautiful Cincinnati runs, in my opinion. Also, running through the park brings back a lot of memories:

- The awful Art Museum 5K in 2006 where no one could find the start line, people were throwing up at the top of every hill, and I laid down in the grass at the finish line (only to get right back up because the race officials were threatening to call the EMS :-)

- Running with my friend Joe right before I started training for the half Pig and getting really, extremely lost

- The first time I ran the Overlook with the Running Spot group (didn't even know that overlook existed...)

- Training for and then running the 2008 half Pig

- Hill repeats up Cliff Street training for Columbus 2008

- Holiday in Lights Run 2008

- Training for and then running the 2009 Pig

Anywho. It took me a good 30 minutes to get warmed up this morning but once I was going, I felt amazing and managed to take almost five minutes off of my time on the way back home, which allowed me to finish with an average pace of 9:30. Glad to see I can at least still pull a negative split run out of my @ss!

Sun Run

I have been horrible at sticking to my training schedule this week! Here it was Friday and I had only done one 4 miler...oops. I've been eating like a goat this week so my motivation to get out of bed and run 6 this morning had more to do with fitting into my jeans than it did training, but whatever. I managed to be on the road by 7 and got to smirk at all the suckers going to work so early. :-) It was already super humid and I decided to do my usual route backwards, which meant I got to run UP Delta. Bleh. I swear this is worse than running up Observatory.

Even with the heat it was a beautiful morning for a run, and I am finding that early AM runners are more friendly than night runners. Everybody I waved to waved BACK and some people were waving at me first! I got really excited about this.

About two hours after my run, one of my neighbors walked his dog through the same area I had just trotted through, only to find a...dead body. Apparently it had been there so long the police couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman at first. Not sure how the person died, but this is very creepy to me because I have probably run past that very spot about 50 times in the last six months. Also, I've been known to dash into the woods on a few occasions myself (nature calls, you know) and now I'm thinking that might not be the best idea. What's worse - crapping your pants or finding a dead body??? Augh.

8:25! chafing! gerbil!

Tonight was an eventful run! I was in the pissiest mood (back to juggling eight brands don't ya know) so I hauled ass up Torrence, getting to the top in 5:48, which is a solid 30 seconds faster than I have been running up that hill lately. I was doing my new 4.25 mile route and usually enjoy the smell of Busken at the corner of Madison and Edwards, but tonight it made me want to puke. This is great because it means I was working hard. :0

When I turned the corner onto Edwards I saw a gerbil! WTF was a gerbil doing running around Hyde Park??? The little guy was running along next to me for a hot minute, then took off behind some flower pots at Wild Ginger. So random. By the time I hit Erie, I was excited to get a red light and take a break, which is when I realized I was experiencing some, er, chafing. It's a little humid out, so I was drenched, but the problem was in an area I have never experienced. Let's just say I could have used some Nip Guards. Again, WTF? I was wearing my trusty Nike singlet...maybe it has gotten worn out over the years, I don't know.

At any rate, I managed to do a negative split run and average an 8:25 minute mile pace. This is pretty exciting for someone whose fastest pace in the last two weeks has been 8:57. :-)

Back on a training schedule, sort of

I'm slowly working my way back into training. My goal for this training period is to do three runs per week, and my goal for last week in particular was to get back up to six miles (which sounds crazy given that I have run two marathons). Done and done. I actually got four runs in:

- Monday - 4.3 miler around Hyde Park - 8:57 average pace
- Wednesday - run/walk around Lunken with a friend who is a new runner
- Thursday - 6.4 miler around Norwood with Tisha - 9:02 average pace
- Saturday - 6 miler around Hyde Park - 9:32 average pace

I was a little frustrated with the pace but until I can get the mileage where it needs to be, I really don't want to focus on speedwork. Next week I would like to get up to eight miles. Once I hit that benchmark I will probably start doing Yassos, track work, hill repeats, all of necessary evils to try and get faster again. Yeehaw.

Yeah! Improvement and insights...

So, I ran on Monday night. Same route as last Tuesday night. Time last week was 40:55. Time this week was 38:05. I'm down from a 9:37 (not 10:37 like i originally thought) to an 8:57 minute mile. Still not where I should be but mega improvement over last week. Whew. And woohoo!

I did learn something over the last month. I didn't need to run in Peru. When I came back, I wondered if I was done with it - maybe running was just a phase. Nope. I'm still a runner. Unless I ever get a job doing very, very physical labor e.g. digging ditches, I will probably always be a runner. (God willing) I can't sit still otherwise...

my dad = rockstar

My dad did the OneWorld sprint triathlon this morning and finished in 1.5 hours! He braved a 400 meter swim in the Ohio River, a 20k bike, and a 5k run on a relatively humid, sunny morning and placed SIXTH in his age group. Go Dad!

i like bike

My three-week sabbatical from running is officially over. I ran twice this past week, pulling about a 10:30 minute mile both times. The first time I made it 4.5 miles. The second time I barely did 2.5. Gross. In my defense I think I have a sinus infection and bronchitis but seriously. This is not going to fly.

With the attempts at running going not so swimmingly, I decided to dust off my road bike and see what happened. Luckily, my old triathlon training partner was available to come with so we hitched a ride on the Anderson Ferry to Route 8 in Northern Kentucky and hit the road. Any outing that starts off with a ferry ride is bound to be awesome, yes? There wasn't a cloud in the sky, the humidity was low, and I managed to bike over the "rolling" hills without tossing my cookies. Awesome indeed. This is actually one of the best rides I think I've had in a long time. I didn't do any hill work last year on the bike (all paved flat trail) and my goal for tonight's ride was to stay in the saddle on the hills. Granted, the hills weren't long and they weren't terribly steep, but I am notorious for standing up at the first sign of an incline. I stayed in my seat though AND kept a decent cadence, even though I thought my heart was going to explode out of my chest a few times. Sadly, the old grey mare just ain't what she used to be.

The best part about riding Route 8 is that it's out in the country (funny because it is about a mile from CVG). It was peacefully quiet (for the most part) and we got to see cool old barns, log cabins, roadside vegetable stands, etc. For a minute I pretended I was back in Peru.

My legs were pretty wobbly by the time we finished the ride but I felt great! Plus the sun was setting over the Ohio river on the ferry ride home. Double bonus for this, Mother Nature.

Enjoy this beautiful day

Actually I only got to enjoy a tiny bit of this beautiful day, because I spent most of today indoors. However, for 36 minutes I got to run as fast as I wanted on two healthy legs, in 70 degree weather. Pretty awesome.

I'm getting sentimental because this may be my last run for a while. I leave for Peru in less than two days and something tells me I'm not going to get much running in there...

Anyway, if you want to read about my trip you can do so here.

If not, peace out until sometime in late July.

Jives

I had a Blast™

Ha, ha I love puns.

In case you couldn't tell from the title, I ran the Hyde Park Blast 4-miler this morning. :-) This race is near and dear to me because it was the very first race I ever ran (June 2006). The course has changed, there's less in the swag bags and they don't give out medals to everyone anymore, but I think I will always love this race.

As tradition dictates, I met up with some pals at my friend Anne's house, who lives close enough to walk to the start line. We met about 7:30, only 30 minutes before the race start, so I was pacing around nervously waiting for everyone to get their chips on, etc. I like to get to races absurdly early and I usually freak out before each one, whether it's 2 miles or 26.2 miles.

We finally made it to the corral and I didn't even hear the starting signal (no guns in Hyde Park - I'm sure there is a rule against even having the noise) but everyone started moving so I followed. Mile 1 has a nice hill right away, but then you hit a pretty steep downhill so I was able to make up a bit of time. First split was about an 8:01, which I was happy with because I was hoping to run right around an 8-minute pace.

Mile 2 was a bitch. It is pretty much all uphill (a long steady hill) and it was 90 degrees in the shade + humid. Oy. I did have a mini reunion of sorts with the 9:00-mile Pig training group though. First I saw my friend Robert. Then I saw my Boston-bound friend Tana. Then long-run buddy Joan. All of them passed me. :-) Normally I would be having a competitive complex over this but who am I kidding. These guys have been doing speedwork for a month (and have probably started Fall training) while I have been goofing around, drinking, and running once a week (5K's on flat courses for that matter). It was fun to see everyone but we were all wilting in the heat. My split sucked - 8:36.

I had a bit of redemption in Mile 3, enjoying some flat ground on Erie and Observatory as well as some shade. I actually stopped at a water stop (punk!) but my split still ended up being 8:08. Not too shabby.

Heading into Mile 4 is...Handasyde hill. Bleh. But, going back to the Blast being my first race ever, Handasyde was also my first "real" hill. I kind of like it a little, actually. I was wheezing like a Pug by the time I reached the top, but realized I had some gas left in the tank so I was able to sprint to the finish. My time ended up being 32:55, an 8:14 pace. One second per mile slower than last year...ouch! I hate this but again, what do I expect? You can't show up for a hill race with no training and expect to hit a PR...unless you're me and like to set unreasonable expectations for yourself. :-)

Post race I caught up with my friends who had run it with me as well as some Spot pals (including Running Buddy Tisha) and enjoyed a free donut. We also watched the Elite Race, which was AMAZING. The lead male finished in 18:49! Damn. Are these guys humans or are they runners?

Later we went back to Anne's for a dip in the kiddie pool and some mimosas, another post-race tradition. Think it's about time for a nap now.

Jives in maintenance

My off season has dragged on longer than I anticipated, for a number of reasons such as 60-hour work weeks, lingering pain from the Pig, and general lack of motivation. At any rate, I had been telling people I wasn't sure what I wanted to train for this Fall (half or full), but secretly thinking I would definitely do a full. Guess what kiddies? Ain't gonna happen.

I've known all along that I have a trip planned for 17 days in July, which will probably not allow me to run (I'll be hanging in the mountains of Peru building stuff). I figured I could just pick up training when I'm stateside again July 19, until I looked at the latest issue of Runner's World.

See, my dad and I are going to Portland, ME for our Fall race, and the event is on 10/5ish. According to Bart Yasso, I should have started training on 6/15 and need to be getting into some high-mileage weeks by 7/19. It's just not possible, and jumping into high mileage after my lengthy sabbatical sounds like a good way to get injured. Even I'm not that masochistic. ;-)

However, I really want to do a half in every state and this will (knock on wood) take care of Maine. Yay! I'm bummed that I don't get to do a full, but honestly, I wasn't mentally prepared to start marathon training in mid-June. So half marathon training seems like the right thing, and will give me more free time to do something equally fun in August, like learn to play the banjo. (cue Deliverance music)

Oops I did it again: OTR 5k

Perhaps you've noticed that my blog postings are a bit sporadic lately. This is because I'm not really running these days. However, I am drinking plenty of beer. So when my friends told me they were doing a run that had free beer at the finish, I was immediately interested - more so in the beer than in the run but whatever. It was for a good cause - the OTR neighborhood - and it was only 3.1 miles.

My left leg/foot/etc. has been bugging me since the last 5k, so I REALLY planned on taking this race easy. Seriously. I was going to run a nice 10-minute mile with my friends and enjoy my beer at the finish. The race was scheduled to start at 10 am (stupid in June) and it was 85 degrees with a good dose of humidity. Perfect weather for taking it slow.

As with most small races, things were a bit disorganized - they were still registering people at 9:55, the start line was marked with a big red balloon and a bullhorn, etc. The field looked to be about 600 or so. I kept eyeing the elites, who were right next to us (and mostly shirtless), and thinking "this is a flat course. i bet the finish times are going to be kick @ss." The airhorn (no gun) went off and common sense went out the window. I helplessly took off like a bat out of hell, driven by some primal need to run really, really fast (or maybe I have an overwhelming ego problem. don't judge). My friends shook their heads and yelled good luck. One of them later told me that she could see my internal battle over pace just by looking at my eyes. Guess I wear my heart on my sleeve, news just in. :-)

The first mile wasn't bad, even though the heat was coming off the pavement in waves. We were running through OTR, which is normally sort of rough, so it was cool to get to see the houses up close. Just as I was beginning to wonder if they hadn't marked the miles off, we hit the first split. My pace? 7:45. GREAT idea for someone who hasn't run in over a week, doesn't train anymore, and is bordering on an injury.

Mile 2 was...balls. It was so HOT, there was no shade, and we had to run up a small hill. After praying unsuccessfully for death, I stopped and walked for 30 seconds. I couldn't help it. My lungs were thanking me but my legs were cursing me...so hard to get going again after a stop. I have only walked in one other race, a 5k in August 2006 through Eden Park, for this very reason.

I felt a little better after the walk, especially when I heard that my time was 16:17 at the 2-mile mark. Not bad for a walk, plus I made a friend - a dude whose wife had smoked him in the first quarter mile and he decided to tail me since my pace was more manageable. Ha.

Mile 3 was mostly about trying not to vomit. I started walking again but my new friend yelled at me, so we picked up the pace and after what seemed like an eternity, crossed the finish line. One of the race coordinators hollered out "#9!" when I went through the chute. I was thinking there must be a lot of 30-year old women running the race and that I was #9 in my age group.

No.

I was the 9th woman to finish. Yes, there were a lot of walkers in that race and yes, the field was only about 600 people, but still...the ol' giant ego was pretty pleased with finishing in the top 10 women. My time was 24:30, which is only 1 second off of my Redlegs Run PR. God bless the flat ground that is downtown Cincinnati.

Sadly, with the heat being what it was and my lingering urge to yak, I didn't even want beer afterwards. Lucky for me a pal that lives in OTR cooked us breakfast with eggs, goetta, and mimosas, so I ended up getting a free drink anyway. Salud, my friends.

Sharon Woods Run

So, I met a really cool girl last month blazing mountain bike trails with Give Back Cincinnati, and she also happens to be a runner. We've been trying to get together for, well, a month and tonight we were finally able to hit the Sharon Woods running path. Thanks to my crazy job, I was flying out the door at the last minute, sports bra on inside out, water bottle only half full because I didn't have time to wait for the faucet, etc. Sigh.

Anyway, we had a great run! My stupid achilles is bugging me again but the Sharon Woods path was PERFECT - not too many hills (I gotta stop running Torrence), she ran my pace, and the trail is only three miles long. It was so nice to run in a park and not have to worry about cars, Hyde Park yuppies taking up the whole sidewalk, etc. and I enjoyed having a running buddy. (I haven't run with anyone since the Pig) We chatted the whole time we ran, then hung out in the parking lot gabbing until the sun went down, everyone else had left the park, and I accidentally digested the gum I was chewing.

The best part is that my leg didn't hurt so bad, which I really do attribute to running on flatter ground. I guess this means I have a lot of runs at Lunken in my future. Bleh, but at least I can still run. Cheers to that.

National Running Day?

Who knew? Apparently everyone except me. :-) I did manage to make it out for a run today, but this is more because I was feeling tired and lethargic (I have been to four states over the course of the last 18 hours). My inadvertent "National Running Day" workout was only about 5 miles...I was hoping for 6 but my legs are grumpy with me from the 5K last weekend, or maybe it's because I spent this morning trolling around my client's campus in 3-inch heels. Hiss, growl.

Redlegs Run!

I usually avoid 5K runs like the plague. And no, it's not because I think I'm too cool for school, but because 5K races are hard. I've spent so much time training my body to run like the Energizer bunny that when I ask it to run a sprint race, it laughs at me.

However, a few of my girlfriends were doing the Redlegs Run for Home this weekend and it sound like fun - the finish line was on the Reds field and you got free ice cream afterwards. What's not to like here? Since I have been running pretty slow since the Pig and haven't done ANY speed work in almost two months, I was planning to just run it with my friends and not worry about finish time. Yeah. Right. Once my bib was securely pinned into place, chip fastened, I decided I would run all out to see what would happen. I was hoping for an 8 minute mile pace.

It was a small field, about 3,400, so we were able to start pretty close to the front. I decided to do a quick warmup jog (probably about 1/4 mile), which I think helped a lot. There were a TON of people with strollers (regular ones, not jogging strollers), and the first part of the course had a large median for us to dodge as well as all the Reds characters in the middle of the road. Was kind of entertaining. The course itself was pretty flat and I spent the first mile pushing it hard but still feeling comfortable - first split was sub 8:00. Hmm, not bad. I blew by the first water stop to keep the momentum going thinking I would hit the stop at mile 2.

Mile 2 had a couple of hills so my split was closer to 8:00. By this point, it was really hot and I was panting and drooling like a Great Dane...and there was no water stop. Nice work, Ives. Luckily we hit a downhill and I was able to pump the gas, motivated by the fact that I could see the front of the field (I heart small races). Once we hit the cinder path around stadium, I took off and managed to come in at 24:29 - about a 7:54 clip on average.

I was excited with my finish time, although McMillan thinks I should be closer to a 7:48 pace based on my last marathon time. Perhaps if I actually train I could do this. Ha.

Regardless, it was fun to do a race with my girls and we even saw some of our other co-workers running. Throw in some UDF chocolate ice cream and I was a happy girl. And this whole 30-34 age group thing is working out really well for me, by the way. I rank much better with this crew than the 25-29 year olds. ;-)

The only thing better than running...

...is running in the rain.

I have a special purpose!

I have been a mega grumpass for the better part of May - to the point where I'm getting on my own nerves. I've been running just one time per week and haven't been able to do more than 2-3 miles at a time due to my knee and a surly digestive track. However, thanks to new shoes, some serious stretching, and complete abstinence from chocolate yesterday (chocolate = laxative) I was FINALLY able to do six miles this morning. I'm still running slow, but I think maybe I'm bouncing back from the marathon (knock on wood).

I knew I was missing my training schedule but I didn't realize how much not being able to run was affecting me - until today. When I got to Hyde Park Square and my body said I could keep going, I was filled with so much glee that I almost ran straight into a fire truck (how do you miss seeing a parked fire truck???). My delirious delight lasted for most of the run, even though I was struggling not to yak up last night's vodka/rum/whiskey/beer/salami combo. Clearly, running is my special purpose in life.

Happy happy joy joy.

Brave New World

So, I've needed new shoes for about a month but have been avoiding the purchase for two reasons:

1) I realized two weeks before the marathon that Asics, in their infinite wisdom, upgraded my already-perfect Kayano sneaker. New shoes before race = no.

2) I'm a complete cheap-ass and didn't want to spend the money AFTER the marathon because I lost my training group discount.

However, my post-Pig attempts at running have not gone the way I was hoping and I really want to attribute this to the fact that my kicks are completely shot in a "we're going to run away by ourselves" sort of way. The only reasonable thing to do was to go to the Spot and buy new shoes. Done and done.

I'm not sure how I feel about the new Kayanos. I mean, they fit well (who would spend $140 on shoes that didn't fit?), but aesthetically they are not the most pleasing things I have ever owned. To start, the color of the shoe (at least the part visible from my vantage point) is mostly white. White. Glaring, blinding, look-at-me-I-just-got-new-shoes-white. Eek.

Secondly, they have changed the toe box to be asymmetrical:



Ok, the picture doesn't really do the ugly justice of these things. However, when I was telling my dad what I bought he said "Ew, I didn't like the looks of those this time and steered clear." This coming from a man who will go to the mall in a ripped flannel shirt with sawdust in his hair (I really do mean this with affection). If he thinks the shoes are ugly, well, that's just no bueno.

So why would I purchase something I want to hide under my running pants? Well, supposedly the new design is more in line with the way people's feet are actually designed. Since I usually lose a few toenails each season, the Running Spot salesperson and I thought this might be a good shoe to experiment with. I also bought the shoe in a half size larger than usual. We'll see what happens...

In other news, I'm still hobbling through three mile runs at a snail's pace. My left calf/achilles/something is all jacked up, which makes my knee hurt when I run. When I stop, the pain stops. Again, I'm really hoping that stretching and new shoes will help solve this problem. Meanwhile, I'm climbing the walls and taking up all sorts of odd pastimes because I don't know what to do with myself. :-)

The Day After the Marathon

Saw this after my first marathon but it's still hilarious

This one's leaking oil...

So, news just in, but the Flying Pig is way, WAY harder than Columbus. Parts of the race were really fun and parts of it were, well, hellish. :-) This is how today's marathon went down, at least for me...

Corral + Miles 1-2
In hopes of reaching my double-secret goal time (3:56), I have seeded myself in front of the 4-hour pace group and behind my Running Spot group. The gun goes off, and BOTH groups take off like bats out of hell. I decide I don't care and hang back, running a comfortable 9:24ish pace. Why does standing in the corral always make me have to pee???

Miles 3-4
I can't see my Running Spot teammates or the 4 hour group. I'm worrying about getting a sub four or even a four, so I pick it up to a 9 minute mile...feels ok.

Mile 5
Yay! I see my stepmom and a few friends and feel like a rockstar. The question then becomes, do I Gu early in anticipation of Gilbert or can I hold out till mile 6? I scrap all learnings from Columbus and down a Just Plain, hoping like hell it will give me a boost of energy. Some guy yells at me "You love hills!" which makes me laugh. :-)

Miles 6-8
Ah, here come the hills. While I definitely don't love them, I don't feel too bad today. Maybe because I ran them 100 times in training? We split from the half marathoners at mile 8.5 and I realize, there is no turning back now.

Mile 9
Oranges! I don't usually like ingesting solids on a run but I'm STARVING so I gobble one like a monkey. My face is a sticky mess from Gatorade, Gu, and now, citrus fruits. I am a sexy thang.

Miles 10-11
Welcome to Hyde Park. The crowd support here is AMAZING and I see three of my co-workers. Two of them are sober and one of them looks ready to pass out from drinking too much alcohol. Ha ha, it is 8:15 in the morning. Awesome.

I finally catch up with the four hour kids and although they are like a brick wall, I manage to get around them. I check my latest split and see that I have run an 8-minute mile. Crap, crap, crap. I'll pay for that later...

Mile 12
Now that I've caught the pace team, it's time to go to the bathroom. I score a Port a Potty with no wait! In fact, the guy coming out holds the door for me. And I thought chivalry was dead.

Mile 13-14
Sweet, sweet downhill then flat. Thank goodness. I peek at my half marathon time and I'm sitting at 1:58...I'm on pace for a sub four...

Miles 15-16
Hello Madisonville and Mariemont! I'm thrilled to be here, as these are my old stomping grounds - the place where I re-debuted as an outdoor runner just three years ago. I run past my friend BG's house and he's sitting on his porch, so I call out to him. He yells back "Are you running this thing?" I respond - "No". I guess that was kind of mean but really? What does it look like I'm doing? :-)

Next, I see my mom, who is beaming with pride and relief. She tells me later that she was expecting me to be in awful shape. Ha.

Mile 17
I'm fading. Fast. I hit the Wall like a Mack truck and pull a Hail Mary. Literally. I start to say the rosary in my head because I need something to take my mind off the damn race, at least until the next water stop.

But then the guy next to me burps so loud that, without thinking, I turn to him and say "8.8". We both start snickering and I feel a little better.

Mile 18
Onto Columbia Parkway. NOT terribly scenic but I get to take another Gu and remind myself that my dad is waiting for me at mile 21. Woot.

Miles 19-21
I see Coach Steve and my friend Megan up ahead, which motivates me to run faster. I catch up to them, excited, until Steve tells me they're shooting for a 4-hour finish. I sigh dejectedly and press on.

I pass the Fleet Feet booth (my dad's running team) and shit! No Dad. I feel like crying, even though I realize I'm acting like a 5-year old.

Mile 22
My friend Robert, who is running people in for the Spot, finds me and jumps in to help. I mention that I must look a mess, because people have been yelling my name + words of encouragement a heck of a lot more than they were in the previous miles. Robert replies "Yeah, you're a little red...". Doh.

Mile 23
Robert takes off (each coach has a specified area they have to stay in) but Coach Christine picks me up right away. She tells me I need to focus on my breathing then offers to get my water for me so I don't have to stop. Nice! We see Coach Ryan on the sidelines and Christine goes over to confer with him. They're coming to the end of "their" mile, but luckily, Coach Frankie is coming towards us. Ryan drops me with her and says quietly "This one's leaking oil". Oh boy.

Mile 24
I run with Frankie for a few minutes and she leaves me with words of encouragement - "You're almost there." I usually hate this phrase but today, I desperately want it to be true.

Mile 25
The crowd picks up again, hooray! I see a bunch of friends who ran the half marathon and am excited to hear them cheering. Ok, ok. I think I have one more mile left in me.

Mile 26
The finish line is just ahead and I discover that the faster I run, the faster I'll be done (duh). Go, baby, go!

The announcer calls my name and I smile because it means I'm finally FINISHED. My friend Jule and her dad are waiting for me after the timing mat and I hug them, forgetting that I must smell like Body Glide and other nastyness. We try to have a conversation but I'm not making any sense and also, I want to vomit, so I wander into the finishers' area to collect my medal and some fluids.

After the Gatorade, I make my way to the Running Spot tent and find Anne, Laura, Maren, Chris, and Virginia waiting for me. They help me onto Serpentine Wall and eventually, my mom and dad find us. I am a happy camper. :-)

Official finish time? 3:56:48, roughly a 9:03 pace. Not sure how, but I beat my Columbus time! Cheers to that.

Road Trip! Country Music Marathon

A bunch of my pals from the Running Spot decided to run the Country Music Marathon/Half Marathon, which is in Nashville, so we piled in the car for a road trip. I knew I would have to spectate the thing instead of run it, because I have no self control and would end up running too hard. Seriously. If you slap a bib number on my chest, you better get out of my way. Not a smart thing for me to do the week before a hilly race.

Anywho. Tisha and I had fun spectating the marathon, although we didn't see ANY of the 10 or so people from Cincinnati. I don't know how we missed each other given that:

- Most of our runners were wearing Running Spot shirts
- We were holding large obnoxious signs that said "Show us your Nip Guards" and "Running is Cheaper than Therapy"
- Our friend Robert is like, 6'6" or something and he and I are both VERY LOUD :-)

It was kind of funny that we missed everyone, since that was the whole reason we were there, but I think we motivated lots of other runners. Many Nip Guards were flashed our way and the dudes who didn't have Nip Guards just lifted up their shirts and petted themselves. Ok that part was a little disturbing...

In hindsight, we decided that spectating requires more work than just showing up at random mile markers on the course without telling anyone where you'll be. Oh well - lesson learned!

We finally caught up with our runners post race and enjoyed plenty of beer (Yuengling, baby!), naps, greasy food, more beer, and a few too many shots at a bar named after a trailer park. It was a super classy joint featuring girls in tube tops and lime green cowboy boots. In fact, it was such a classy place that some guy felt compelled to get on stage with the honky tonk band and propose to his girlfriend. If that isn't romance, I don't know what is.


The Running Spot Crew after a few drinks...

New buddy + back on the fence

I really did not feel like running tonight. It's rainy, windy, I was in a crappy mood, and I have shin splints from going for a walk last night. (Does that make any sense? I can run 22 miles and be fine. I walk four miles and I get shin splits. #$&%^#!!!!!)

However, I got home from work at a reasonable hour today (6:30) and didn't really know what to do with all the extra time so I decided a run was in order. After dragging myself out the door, I saw my neighbor, who I have met exactly twice, gearing up for a run of her own. Without thinking I yelled "Hey! Can I come with?" like a little kid. Ha ha. Luckily she was really nice and let me join her, even though I huffed and puffed all the way up Torrence. :-)

This is the same neighbor who is in the half marathon Running Spot group. I was looking for a short recovery run but she was hauling it. We ended up doing 5.5 miles at a sub 9 clip...not too bad for a recovery run! We were a little bummed because we were actually trying to catch the half marathon group, who had left from O'Bryonville, but couldn't find the 9 minute pace coach OR any of my old buddies. Boo.

I'm excited to find a new running buddy though, especially one who lives in my building. Plus, she's planning to do a Fall marathon, which means she'll be in the Summer training group. And this reminds me...I'm back on the fence about what I want to do next season. My dad and I are both doing SOMETHING in the Portland, ME Fall race...he's doing the full and I'm still thinking. We'll see how the Pig goes, but after the nice 22 miler last weekend, I'm rethinking taking time off because...

- I would really miss my training buddies (not a good enough reason though)
- I would also miss my marathon legs (yeah. I'm kind of vain. and this still isn't a good enough reason.)
- I might miss calling my grandmother on Saturday mornings and hearing her say "You ran 20 miles? That is ludicrous."
- I'm starting to like ice baths. Kidding.
- I'm 30, single, and my alternative at this point is to become a crazy-knitting-cat-lady-aunt. Except I'm allergic to cats.

In all seriousness, I feel like it's now or never. I look at the people in my training group who have kids, who are going home after 22 miles to sit through soccer games and other non-napping activities and I think, damn, I'm glad I all I have to do today is SLEEP. How do people with actual lives DO this?

Redemption

We had our infamous 22-mile run yesterday morning from Newport. I was dreading this big time for two reasons:

1) We were running the part of the course that I choked on two weeks ago. Yippee.

2) The route instructions took up almost an entire page in Microsoft Word. I know 22 miles is a long way but for some reason, seeing it all spelled out on paper really psyched me out.

Can I just ask who planned the Pig course??? "Let's have the runners do three bridges, then go up Gilbert THEN run through Eden Park! Wouldn't it be funny to make them run up Paxton? They won't be expecting THAT hill! Oh and then let's send them through the East End for the last few miles so that they can see how far away they are from the finish line...mwahahaha."

Ok, despite all these things, I actually had a good run yesterday thanks to perfect weather, free Gu from the Running Spot and my die hard running buddies. I really don't know what I would do without these people who laugh, growl, poke fun, and celebrate through each mile with me. We are the world.

Anywho. I struggled through the first 12 miles or so, but once we finished the ascent, I felt a lot better.


Since when do we take pictures at water stops?? Me and Tisha at mile 12ish...


In fact, I think I ran a negative split because I caught up with the speedy kids right before Eastern and kept up with them all the way back to Newport. Yay!

My finish time for the 21.7 miles was 3:16...roughly a 9:03 minute per mile pace. My goal was really just to finish without crawling, laying down somewhere, and/or hallucinating. (I was nonsense after the last 20 miler). So, I'm feeling a little more confident that I might be able to pull a reasonable finish time out of my @ss in three weeks. But who knows? The marathon is an unpredictable beast and any number of factors can throw the best-laid plans out the window. :-)

Sunshine Makes Me High

Heard that song on my way home from today's run and thought it was pretty appropriate! It's 48 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and I finished my 18.6 miles without begging for mercy...what else could I possibly ask for? :-)

The workout today was up and down, literally and figuratively. We started from Crossroads and ran down Madison to Erie, where we followed the Pig course all the way through HP, Mariemont, Fairfax, the ever-scenic East End, and then hopped on Delta/Linwood for a long climb back up to Madison. I got to run with Tisha, and since we did kind of an early pit stop, it was just the two of us for most of the run. I always have fun running with her because we have the same silly sense of humor and she never rolls her eyes at me, even when I'm slappy and singing the Gummy Bears theme song, tap-dancing at crosswalks, etc.

Also, I love when we run to Mariemont. I used to live out there (moved away one year ago this weekend, actually) and I get a kick out of trotting around my old stomping grounds. Running on Columbia Parkway was also interesting. I don't even know if you're supposed to do that, what with it being a functioning highway and all, but it's something I haven't done before (this particular part of it anyway) and I like running new places.

Plus, my legs felt pretty good...until we hit Eastern that is. I can't tell if I need new shoes or if that stretch of the course just sucks the life out of me. Maybe both. I wasn't grouchy though, and by the time we hit Delta, the dead legs came back to life and I enjoyed the rest of my run.

Pace was a 9:16 average today...I'm getting slower (yes Dad, I know these runs are for endurance and not speed). The pace was comfortable and I don't want to push it. I'm in preservation mode I think. I'm watching the damage I'm doing to my body (don't read this if you're easily grossed out) - the blisters, the black/falling off toenails, the stress on my GI system - and it's bugging me more this season than last (or maybe I blocked out the memory). I'm seriously considering just doing a half marathon this Fall. I don't want to give up training completely, but I want to take a break before I burn myself out. I don't want to end up hating running (and I don't hate it...yet) so I think some time off will be a good thing. Not to say this will be my last marathon (I hope not), but do I really need/want to do two per year? TBD.

Sandbagging?

So, last night's group workout was structured a little differently than usual. Instead of Groups A and B meeting at different places, we all met at Lunken and divided into THREE groups based on pace: sub 9:00, 9-10:00, and more than 10:00 minutes per mile.

It was supposed to be a speed workout...technically I should have gone with the sub 9:00 group. However, my legs are still a little tight from Sunday (my left leg actually kept me up all night after the race) and I really don't want to provoke an overuse injury (I can feel at least two brewing right now). Luckily Tisha was in a similar boat so we decided to run with the 9-10:00 group.

After getting over the initial shame of watching our regular running buddies trot off towards Eastern Avenue (no Lunken for them), Tisha and I jumped in with our new group and enjoyed a nice run around the airport. Well, mostly nice. I got accused of sandbagging (and later found a similar comment on my Wall from the same person) but whatever! I am seriously trying to be careful of my legs...I need them to get me through 26.2 in five weeks! I'm noticing more and more people who are either out with injuries or running slower than usual to try and nurse a sore IT band, etc. And, muscle injuries aren't the only problems cropping up. Last night as we were finishing, the guy next to me turned to his buddy and said:

"Hey, how'd it go? Did you sh*t yourself"

I didn't hear the buddy's response but the first guy replied with:

"Dude! Take some Immodium!"

LOL. I really shouldn't laugh...

Anyway, we ended up running just under a 9-minute pace for the 6 miles, which is perfectly fine with me. Not sure I ran hard enough to deserve the Big Boy and onion rings I devoured afterwards though. :-)

"I thought you said this would be flat."

"I thought it would be! I looked at the map!"

- Actual conversation I overheard during mile 1 of the Mercy Heart Mini Marathon

Maybe they should have looked at the ELEVATION. :-)



Ask most runners/walkers in Cincinnati what the hardest race is and they'll tell you it's the Heart Mini. The course is almost all hills, it's an out and back, and the wind is in your face for the last five miles. Awesome! Yet we continue to do it, year over year. Masochists, we are.

Despite the wind, the rain, and the 40 degree temperatures, I really enjoyed the race. Highlights o' the day include:

- I set a PR! I had no idea what this race would bring given my dismal performance last week, but I finished in 1:20:12, about an 8:38 pace per mile. This is two and a half minutes faster than last year's time AND I ran a negative split with my last few miles ranging from 8:12 to 7:52.

- I got to run with my friend Meg from the Half group. We only see each other at races so I was pumped to tackle this course together.

- Actually I saw a ton of old friends today - it was almost like a homecoming. I got to catch up with my coaches from last year, some buddies from the Fall group, and my friend Karen who I have been talking to on Facebook but haven't seen since high school! Karen and I finished together - totally random but very cool.

Overall, I think I was better prepared this year. Not sure if that's due to Coach Joe Fung's workout plan or if I'm just in better shape? What's funny is that I run Torrence (the beastly hill in mile 6) at least twice a week and I actually thought it was the hardest part of today's run. Sucker!

Also, I normally hate out and back courses but Meg pointed out that we could focus on the runners coming towards us for distraction. It worked! I had a great time cheering for all the Running Spot elites and my dad and my cousin Holly (who totally didn't see me :-)

At any rate, I have slightly more motivation now to keep going with the marathon training. I needed a good run...

Rituals

One of the more interesting things about running are the rituals that seem to come with it. There is a big race here in Cincy tomorrow and a bunch of us from the Spot are hoping to run, so there's been some discussion over racing rituals (actually most of us do this stuff before/after any big run). One of my friends, who shall remain nameless, drinks Ensure for dinner the night before a race (I've heard rumors he also drinks it in the middle of the night :-). Another guy in my group always has chocolate milk waiting in his car after the run (how does he keep it cold??). My NY friend eats pound cake before races (at least she used to). And I of course have a few of my own weird habits...

- The day before a half marathon or longer race, I eat a 6-inch Subway ham sandwich with Baked Lays for lunch. I'm usually too wound up to eat much dinner, but it almost always involves mashed potatoes in some form or fashion.

- I drink 16-20 oz of Gatorade the night before the race and the same amount the next morning (for races only). It's always Orange Gatorade.

- I wake up four hours before I actually have to be out of bed and freak out about the run/race. I usually fall back asleep just before the alarm goes off. Once I'm up, I pace around my apartment like a cat, watching the local weather channel and trying to calm down.

- 1-2 hours before I run, I eat plain Quaker oatmeal (the mess from the canister, not the sugary packets). Occasionally I chase it with a shot of honey.

- During the run I take a Gu every six miles. It gives me something to look forward to...way easier to to say "Only six miles till my next Gu!" than "Oh snap. I have to run 20 more miles."

- Post run, I eat two scrambled eggs with a stupid amount of cheddar cheese. Note: I do not like eggs and can't eat them unless it's training season. I don't know why.

- I usually enjoy a chocolate whey protein drink and/or a strawberry banana smoothie with my eggs.

- If I have a really horrendous run and don't want to eat at all afterwards, I snack on strawberry-flavored Bagelfuls. They're the only thing I can keep down sometimes.

These rituals also hold true if I'm doing a long bike ride, although after road biking I crave ravioli and red Powerade...

Divine intervention/inspiration

In case it wasn't obvious from my last post, Sunday was one of the most grueling runs in my "career" as a distance runner. Two days later and my legs are still sore, I'm just now starting to feel rehydrated, and despite the fact that the mental pain of the run is fading, I'm still thinking of clever excuses to avoid tomorrow night's speed workout. Clearly I need something to build me up, buttercup. Fast.

Well, ask and you shall receive. I found the inspiration I was looking for tonight in a nondescript white envelope that I almost threw away. Inside the envelope was my COLUMBUS MARATHON FINISHER'S CERTIFICATE. Five months late but really, it couldn't have come at a more appropriate time. What better to remind me that I can overcome a bad run than a certificate that points out:

- I FINISHED A MARATHON
- I ran a kick @ss pace in said marathon
- I placed reasonably well in the overall race AND my division

Maybe I'm a little too proud of this stuff but whatever! This little piece of paper has encouraged me not to throw my running shoes out the window just yet and brave whatever Coach Fung tosses at us tomorrow (which I'm sure will be a real treat given that we're running from Newport. Road intervals, anyone? :-)

I get by with a little help from my friends

Having slept through yesterday's group workout, I decided to tackle the dreaded 20-miler solo. However, when my running buddy Tisha heard this, she volunteered to do part of the route with me and recruited our other running buddy, Cole, to do a leg as well. Thank goodness for my friends! I never would have made it through the run today alone. Today was also my first run with the Spy belt. Normally I make fun of people who run with everything but the kitchen sink (I had my water bottle too), but I needed my phone to coordinate "hand-offs" with my buddies. :-) I don't hate the belt as much as I thought I would, although I felt like a dork and a half.

The run started off ok. Cole and I dropped his car off downtown so that he could do a full six miles with me and not have to circle back. (Keep in mind that both he and Tisha ran 20 yesterday with the group). I did the double-secret add-on in Hyde Park, stupidly choosing a loop that involved Handasyde hill (the killer hill from the Hyde Park Blast). After 3 miles or so on my own, Cole met me at the coffee shop in O'Bryonville and we went through Walnut Hills, Eden Park, then on to downtown where we did the ever-scenic route around Linn Street to the Clay Wade Bailey bridge. Highlights of this section of the run include:

- Almost getting hit by some j-hole running a red light :-)
- Some dude getting arrested at 7th and Plum Street downtown
- The dogwood trees in Eden Park...Spring has sprung fo shizzle

Cole left me at the bridge and I proceeded into Kentucky, through Covington, Newport, then back across Purple People to Cincy. (Head Running Spot Coach wanted us run the Pig course backward, so we wouldn't get bored with running the same route every week.) I have to say that running the route in this direction made the bridges much easier...almost felt like cheating. By the time I got to Eastern Avenue though, my tummy was grumpy, my legs were tight, and I had "Help I'm Alive" by Metric stuck in my head. Not exactly motivating. To make matters worse, there were no Porta Potties at Schmidt field anymore. Hiss, growl.

Thankfully my rendezvous point with Tish was just around the corner and she had a lovely thermos of Gatorade waiting for me. This perked me up a little, enough to get me up the Delta hill to the UDF. Ha. We were supposed to keep going up Delta to Erie, but what I really wanted to do was have Tisha go back and get the car while I laid on the sidewalk. I compromised and agreed to run up Linwood, which seemed like a faster route back to Chez Ives. I was very, very surly (and pretty horrible looking), however Tisha kept me entertained with stories from yesterday's run and last week's pub crawl. Apparently one of our coaches showed up on St. Patty's Day in really tight holiday boxers. Ha ha ha, ew.

Somehow we made it back home...thanks to my patient coach. It takes really, really good friends to accompany someone on a long run, especially when that someone is me. I can be a bit of a handful sometimes. :-P

Even with my punking out at the end, I still managed to get in 20.3 miles. Average pace was 9:29, and since I was doing 10-11 minute miles (or slower) on the last stretch, I must have been hauling it for the first 16?

Not sure what my problem was today but I really think it's good to have excrutiatingly painful workouts now and then. The first 20-miler of the season is never great for me anyway, and learning to run through the pain is good training. Right???

Proud...

...not of myself...I got up to run this morning and went right back to bed...and slept the rest of the day. (And no, I wasn't drinking last night, I'm just ZAPPED).

What I'm proud of are all the people training for the Pig in some form or fashion. My friend Emily, who is the original long distance runner and is training for her FIFTH marathon. My dad, who is 53 and doing his fourth marathon (although I think he's doing St. Louis this year...). My cousin Holly, who walks faster than most people run, is training for the full 26.2 for the first time. My friend Karen is also training for the full. My friend Virginia wants to run her first 5K. My friends Jule and Susie are training for the half (which is all uphill!)...it's Susie's first half and I'm having a blast hearing about her giant blisters and other "discomforts". And I love that we talk about these things as though they are badges of honor and not grotesque. Running is SUCH a sexy sport...just read this month's issue of Runner's World - one of the quotes is something like "You're not a real runner until you've pooped your pants." Ha ha.

In all seriousness, nothing makes me happier than watching people fall in love with the beautiful, wonderful thing that is running. :-)

Tenuousness

I'm stretched a little thin these days. I'm carrying six active clients at work, trying to keep up with my marathon training, and attempting to have somewhat of a social life. Work seems to trump everything else...tonight I'm sitting in focus groups instead of doing a hill workout with my running buddies. Sigh.

I suspected the time would come when I would have to start doing my training runs in the morning and that time is officially here. I knew I had these focus groups tonight and I knew that last night was St. Patty's Day (BTW I never, never want to shoot Jameson's again. Ever.), so I figured I better get a workout done Tuesday AM if I wanted to salvage my mileage for the week. I was especially proud of myself yesterday because...

- I got up at 6:33 am to do a 5.5 mile hill run before work. 6:33!! It was still dark!
- I held a 9:02 pace on Torrence, Grandin and the Rookwood loop.

It was actually a pretty amazing morning. I had the road to myself, the birds (a scary amount of birds, truth be told) were chirping in full force, and I had a Neil Young song in my head. All was right with the world, if only for 49 minutes. ;-)

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Today's run was fantastic. The double-secret group had an 18-miler, thus beginning our series of four long runs before the April taper. I haven't run with the group in two weeks, so I was excited to catch up with everyone and be back in the pack. :-)

I'm drained...physically and emotionally, but here are a few things that made this morning fun:

- The 6:29 am WAKE UP text from Cole (the 9-minute mile kids get these every Saturday)

- The half-eaten grilled cheese I found on my coffee table when I got up today...remnants of last night's Irish car bomb recovery plan (hey, who can turn down free shots??)

- Running with my buddy Tisha. We haven't run together in at least a month so this made me very happy.

- The sudden burst of speed I got when I hit Delta. I had been running at the back of the bus so to speak (only one guy was left behind me) and I pulled ahead and caught Coach Steve and the rest of the four-hour crew.

- Cherry Jolly Ranchers. They had these at the water stop before Gilbert/Eden Park and I discovered I really like the distraction of eating hard candy while wheezing up hills.

- The St. Paddy's day parade. We ran right through their staging area and everyone was staring at us like we were crazy. :0

- The camaraderie of my group in general. We cheer each other on, make fun of each other, and Coach Steve even stopped while I tied my shoe. After the run we all stood around the lobby of Crossroads (our start and end point) drinking free hot tea, stretching, and being goofy. Good times.

- The swag. I finally got to pick up my "perks" this morning and scored an awesome running shirt, a pair of my favorite running socks, and a gift card for a Road ID. Maybe I'll finally break down and order one of those things...

My least favorite part of the day was the obligatory ice bath, although the ski hat, flannel shirt, and watching the Office online made things much more tolerable. :-)

Pace was an 8:58 minute mile (average). I've slowed down a bit, but not freaking out about this. Yet. I am kind of concerned that there is so much time (10-20 minutes) between our double-secret add-on mileage and the base mileage with the rest of group A. Trying to figure out a plan to close the gap...may have to start doing the add-on at the end...

Vanity Smurf

I've reached a new level of narcissism this evening. Last weekend, my friend, who is also training for the Pig, mentioned that she and her husband had recently measured their calves (these muscles get absurdly huge during marathon training). I can't remember why they were doing this but regardless, I'd forgotten about it... until tonight. Suddenly struck by a strange urge to see how big MY calf muscles were, I crept into the living room, stole the tape measure from my knitting bag, and went into the bathroom to check things out.

13.5" at the largest point.

I have no idea if that is large, small, normal, etc.. I'm kind of embarrassed that I did this, but probably not as much as I should be. :-S

In other news, I have my mileage for the week almost back on track, thanks to a four-mile run tonight. AND both of my runs this week were in the daylight. Dig.

Sabbatical=Over

I've spent the last 10 days on a somewhat inadvertent break from running. Last week was crazy busy at work and I ended up taking a last-minute client trip to PA Wednesday-Thursday - no time for running. Then I was in NYC Friday-Sunday for vacation; however, I was planning to do a 12-miler in Central Park with my NY running buddy. Long story short, I drank way too much over the weekend AND came down with a cold, hence, no running. Monday night I had to travel to Columbus, where it was blustery, rainy, and I was staying in strip mall-suburbia hell. No running there either.

Tonight I figured enough was enough, so I marched out of work promptly at 5:15 and got in a lovely 5.6 mile run. Between all of my time off and my disagreeable respiratory system, I was curious to see how I'd feel once I was on the road. Actually, I felt better running today than I have felt in a LONG time. The weather was perfect, I was able to breathe, and I managed to keep my pace below 8:25 min per mile. Decent. Also, I saw a half-eaten corn dog while I was out. It was at the corner of Woodburn and Madison if you really must know.

I'm debating what to do training-wise the rest of the week. I don't think my body is up for a Coach JF speed work out just yet, so I might run a few easy miles solo to get myself back on track. We have an 18-miler this Saturday, although, I'm not as psyched out about this as I usually am. Maybe it's the cold medicine.

Mood swings, bribes, and bridges

One of the myriad benefits of long distance running is the emotional roller coaster you begin to experience after being on the road for more than two hours. No other activity has quite the ability to make me happy, sad, pissed off, and elated...all back to back. It's interesting, this sport.

The double secret group met early this morning to get in 3.6 miles before joining the rest of Group A for 13.4 more. As an added bonus, we had to be at Newport by 7:30 (40 minutes early) to get the mileage done, and as a SUPER added bonus, we had to run two more bridges than everyone else (seven bridges total). Ha ha ha I hate Newport. :-)

I wasn't feeling great on the double secret route and actually considered going home and not doing the rest of the run. However, I bribed myself with a Chocolate Gu and decided I could turn around and go back at any point. (I tell myself a lot of things just make it through one more mile.) It was really, really windy today and we were doing the half Flying Pig course, which is basically all uphill with the exception of the last four miles or so (seriously). Somewhere in Eden Park I started getting pretty surly and decided I don't want to run at all next week (yeah, right). By the time we passed the Walnut Hills YMCA, I contemplated going inside and calling one of my parents to come and fetch me.

Another Gu and half a mile later, my 3:50 running pal found me and kept me distracted until we hit the Gilbert downhill. By then I was all smiles, waving at the people at the bus stop and loving life. I discovered I had a bit of fuel left in the tank and took off, only to discover that we had to run all the way to the Southgate bridge. Boo. Back to cranky. We finally made it back to Newport and found that our average pace was 8:50. Cheers to that! Happy.

I stopped at UDF on the way home to get two bags of ice and a delicious chocolate milk to enjoy in the bath. I also discovered the awesomeness that is hulu.com and entertained myself with a nice episode of the Facts of Life while I shivered and tried to avoid hypothermia. :-) All in all a good morning.

Just because you can...

...doesn't mean you should. Ha.

Our head coach had us doing speed work tonight from Newport. The plan was to do a 1.75 mile warmup, five miles of fartleks (based on marathon goal time), then 1.75 miles back to the start line. The fartleks were supposed to be five minutes "on" and two minutes "off". No breaks.

Since I've been running faster than a 9:09 pace on our long training runs, I got brave and decided to hop in with the 3:50 group who were doing the following paces:

8:16 on (MP minus 30 secs)
8:46 off (MP)

I felt great during the five miles...I kept up with the group and was able to get my breathing stable in the "off" minutes. Then we stopped for water before heading back. Then everything went to you-know-where in a hand basket. :-)

My legs were actually in good shape; however, I had the mother of all side stitches, my stomach was making goofy noises, and I was trying to talk to someone and realized I wasn't making any sense. Doh. Two hours later and I'm still hurting...

I don't know what the problem was. This definitely isn't the fastest I've ever run, but I guess that's neither here nor there at this point. All I can say is that if it's this painful to recover from TRAINING at the 3:50 pace, no way do I want to know what happens after I do this for 26.2 miles.

Not sure that a 3:50 is a realistic goal anyway given the marathon I've chosen to run; however, for a split second tonight I actually thought about it. The aftermath has been nothing short of humbling though. I kind of want to curl up in a ball somewhere and howl. Yeah, I'm a punk. :-P

Mind over matter

Ugh...what a week. In the last nine days, I think I have had one day off from work (today is not that day. nor is tomorrow). I'm SO glad to be busy, especially in this economy, but the stress is getting to me - to the point where I'm so exhausted that running has switched from being a stress reliever to being "one more thing I have to do".

Needless to say, I wasn't completely jazzed to do 12.1 miles this morning. My legs were tight and I was a little overdressed for the run (it's a balmy 31 degrees), so I was kind of surly for the first few miles. However, we were doing part of the Pig course, the section from O'Bryonville to Mariemont, which reminded me that I CHOSE to be out there today and I CHOSE to train for this race. Training is the one thing in my life I can control (as long as my body cooperates) and since I like being in charge (hello OCD!) I really should be enjoying every workout even if it hurts. Remembering these few things helped me to have a much better run. :-)

Some other things that made today awesome:

- Chocolate Gu. This stuff is heaven in a foil pouch. It's like licking all the icing off of a cupcake but it's even better because you don't have to feel guilty about it. AND it didn't make me want to throw up. Amen to that.

- Our pace coach. Today's run was pretty hilly and the coach cheered us up every incline and kept us on track.

- The Boston Boyz. I don't know how they ended up with the 4-hour gang, but I got to run with some of the BQers for the last few miles. Since my goal (very very long term goal) is to someday run Boston, I kind of idolize these guys...

Average pace du jour ended up being between 8:35-8:41 minutes per mile. Happy.

Accidental progressive pace run

Tonight's run has me wondering...can the good people of Hyde Park not change out a lightbulb here and there? Seriously. Almost all of Torrence is dark and there are a bunch of street lights out on Grandin. I wore my little flashing bubble to avoid being hit by a car, but sometimes I wonder if that thing acts too much like a beacon, attracting the crazies in the woods who otherwise wouldn't have seen me. And...perhaps I should stop reading Stephen King novels.

At any rate, my plan was to do an easy pace today. I got in five miles of recovery on Sunday (9:48 pace) and needed to do about four miles MP tonight, ideally on a flat surface. Since I was running hills I decided to compromise and slow down, taking my splits every mile for entertainment purposes only. I ended up with:

-10:18 for mile 1
- 9:39 for mile 2
- 9:31 for mile 3

No idea what mile four was (serious lack of landmarks on the last downhill, especially with the lights out), but my watch indicated that my average pace was 9:18 for the whole run. Apparently I decided to haul @ss the last 1.3 miles. Doh. Oh well, at least I got a workout in while it's still 50 degrees. Yay for shorts! And yay for 90's rap music - I had Warren-G and Sir-Mix-a-Lot stuck in my head tonight. Mount up...

Whole lotta love

The double secret training schedule called for a 15 miler this morning, which posed a problem because the running group had organized a 7-mile Valentine's Chase run from the Loveland Running Spot. (Alex, I'll take cheesy for $1,000 please.) To get our mileage in, some of us met at 7 am to do an additional 8 miles before the "chase".

I'm pretty useless before the sun comes up and was really struggling to keep pace. We were supposed to be doing a MP +30 sec run - should be about a 9:36 for me. I was running with the 9:00 group though (there is no 9:30 group really) and they decided to run sub 8:30 minute miles. I almost threw up, ha ha. My saving grace(s) were my running pals who were very entertaining this morning and also very encouraging. Somehow I managed to make it back to the Spot for some Gu and water and a quick break. Average pace for the first 8 miles ended up being between 8:25 and 8:28 (there was some debate among the Garmin users over exact distance and speed :-).

We then had to put our watches back in the car (I'm rockin a regular ol' Timex, which came free as part of the Fall program) so that we could run the Valentine's Chase. The purpose of the chase was twofold:

1) You were supposed to predict your finish time BEFORE the run and then run without a watch to see how close you could get. Closest predictions = mega cash prizes (actually I have no idea what the prizes were)

2) The girls got a seven minute head start so that the boys could chase us (hence the name of the run). Sigh.

There was about a 10-minute break between my eight miler and the chase - very cool because I got to meet up with my half marathon buddies who were also doing the run. Yay! What was not so cool was when we started moving again and I realized my legs had locked up from standing around for 10 minutes. Doh.

The chase (and the eight miles before it) was on the bike trail, which is MIND NUMBING. Out and backs are tough for me anyway from a mental standpoint and the trail was making it worse. I had predicted I would do 1:03 - a 9:00 pace - for the run, but I think I started off at a 10:00. It was freezing cold and I just wasn't feeling it. Then people started passing me. Then the boys caught us. Finally my competitive side kicked in and I was able to pick it up. The back half of the run seemed to last forever but I managed to finish in 60:08 - about an 8:35 minute mile. I attribute this to the fact that the bike trail is flat as a pancake...

The best part of my day (aside from running with my buddies and seeing my old pals) was that I managed to convince two of my non-Running Spot friends to meet me for brunch, even though I hadn't had a shower (if that's not love I don't know what is). We had a magical, greasy breakfast in a smoky Newport hole-in-the-wall restaurant. Total euphoria. I plan on sleeping the rest of the day.

The sky is falling

So, Cincinnati is being hit with 60 mph winds tonight. My boss urged me not to do my training run because I might get hit by a falling tree. Guess what? I almost got hit by a falling tree. What are the odds???

Despite my run-in with nature, I had a great night! Our group met at Crossroads and did the Madison/Erie/Rosslyn/Brotherton loop - some decent hills, although we had a nice tailwind at our backs for most of it. I took off way too fast and kept waiting for my legs to die so I would have an excuse to back off the pace. But then before I knew it, we finished the 6.8 miles and I had forgotten that I wanted to slow down. Average pace? 8:19.

I can't figure this out. Why am I faster now? Is it because I've tweaked my training plan this season? In the Fall I was doing 3-4 runs per week: 2 with the group (1 speed run and 1 long run) and 1-2 on my own, which usually involved hills mixed with a masochistic effort to beat my old training run times.

This season I'm doing four runs per week: 2 with the group (same as Fall) and 2 on my own (1 five-mile run at a 10 minute pace and 1 MP run on the treadmill or other flat surface). Are the flat, slow runs helping?? Perhaps my sudden burst of energy is coming from the REALLY BAD HIP HOP MUSIC I've been getting stuck in my head during training runs. Tonight's internal jukebox? Cyclone by Baby Bash (I had to look that one up). Ha ha.

Whatever the cause, this newfound speed makes me hungry for red meat. A bunch of us went to Habit's after the run tonight in hopes of getting burgers, only to have the power go out during the first round of drinks (silly hurricane-force winds). Thankfully Arthur's had power so we were able to satisfy our carnivorous cravings there. :-)

Hungover long run

During training season, my Friday nights usually involve laundry, dinner at home, and me falling asleep on the couch by 10 pm. If I'm really feeling wild, sometimes I'll do yoga. However yesterday there was an all-you-can-drink alcohol fest (complete with DJ) in the lobby of my office (don't ask). This week has been incredibly, ridiculously and maybe unnecessarily stressful, so I had already decided I needed a drink last night. Just one or two beers at a local bar, then I would head home. But when the Sade started pumping into the lobby around 4:30 pm, I figured it wouldn't hurt to have some free cocktails at the office. Ha. One hour and six drinks later, I was very, very intoxicated. Some of my co-workers found themselves in the same boat, so we ended up in the rec room playing drunken kickball, ping pong, cornhole, etc. until 9:30.

What does any of this have to do with running? Not much really, except for the fact that said events made it difficult to get out of bed at 7 am today for my long run. Especially since I woke up at 2 am with a wicked hangover. However, I persevered and made it to the Running Spot promptly on time for our run. I spent the first couple miles just trying not to yak and by the time we hit the water stop at mile 6, I was dragging and my left shin was killing me (it is all bruised from playing kickball last night). Thanks to some cold water and the magic of caffeinated GU, I got my second wind and was able to truck up Gilbert to Eden Park at a reasonable clip. It didn't hurt that I met a new girl somewhere on Court Street - if we hadn't been chatting I don't know how I would have made it up that hill. :-)

I actually felt pretty good when we got back to the Spot, enough so that I went and did the three mile add-on for the double-secret group. The add-on was around Grandin/Rookwood - same loop where we do our nasty hill repeats. I ended up doing 13.72 miles at an 8:50 pace. Hello! That's my half marathon pace! Granted, I did take a 2-3 minute water stop at the Spot before doing the add-on but still...

Staring at the wall

I did hill repeats last night with the group (about 5 miles total) and it was so cold that my fingers hurt, to the point where I couldn't unzip my jacket pocket to get my car key out. Call it frost nip, bite, whatever you want, but enough is enough. Hence, tonight's marathon pace run was treadmill city. I just couldn't bring myself to run outside (not that I can get up my hill on foot anyway. still no sidewalk for Jen.)

Adding insult to injury, I have lost most of my iPod playlists (long story) so I left my workout music to chance and put the iPod on shuffle (Note: I don't usually run with music unless I'm tolerating the treadmill). I wound up listening to all sorts of random stuff, some of it surprisingly good for keeping pace (Let You Go by Nico Vega and Dying is Fine by Ra Ra Riot) and some of it surprisingly bad (Live Your Life by T.I....too slow). Plus I was staring at the wall the whole time and despite the fact that I was sweating buckets (yeah. gross.), the four-mile run didn't even feel like a workout. Boo.

On the plus side, I've been admitted into the double secret high-mileage group. :-) So far I've done 14 miles this week total and our run Saturday is supposed to be 14...