Weekend: The 'Other Race' Recap

Saturday & Sunday

Women's 5K
Distance: 3.1
Avg Pace: 9:40

How best to describe this race: womp, womp!

There was just NO motivation what-so-ever to kick hill butt.  For what?  Better than last year's 33?  Under 30, which I have hit consistently for over 6 months?  A PR being out, I just sandbagged.  Hard core sandbagged.  I didn't find any trainees to pace, so I started with Brandi and a trainee running for under 30.  These two, Birgit and Michele really ran to bank time in mile one, though.  Or at least it felt like it to me .. the girl who hadn't run a mile since Tuesday.  I let it go and just ran for good fun after falling back from them a little bit.  (At the end, I finished closer to Michele than expected; I should have tried to be a better friend and stay with her .. but who knows when she'll have a 29 day, and when she'll have a 26 day.).  I even walked for a minute.  That is the first race I've allowed myself to just toss in the towel and walk a little on in AGES.  (Probably not since this race last year).  To put it in real perspective, I ran faster dressed in a tutu and earmuffs last December.  I ran faster two days later this Monday at the kick off for Alpharetta Peachtree training (9:35 avg pace, for 4 mi with plenty of elevation up and back on Westside).  

Fortunately, I had nothing ventured, so no temper tantrums. :)  The only inkling of regret was that in that it was such a wasted opportunity.  Brandi & Birgit were running slower than their usual, so I if I had been up for it, they really could have motivated me.  And the race was PACKED with spectators .. All the guys who couldn't run.  Last, my favorite part of the whole race:  Bianca ran me up the last hill!  A last hill like that deserved a great race to go with it!  But alas, too late.  All ready over.

  So what I do have to show for my morning is some serious girl bonding fun!!

#proud mama.  Emily has been running at least a couple of times a week for a few weeks now.  She didn't run this race completely intending to do her 1st 5k.  The real reason was that she wanted to get to a hair appointment, and logistically, it only worked if she was already with me.  Plus, we had a bib.  So proud of her though.  If you read between the lines of the snarky teenage-isms, I can tell she had a blast, and might have found another athletic interest! :)  In hind sight, I should have just run with her!!  She wants to do a color run next; I'll do that one along side her and her friends for sure. :) :) :)

What an amazing session!  This group rocks. <3

I LOVE this stinkin' picture!  Face is ridiculous, but look at my friggin legs!! :) Look at that A bib.  Lets not discuss fleeting outcomes.  Lets focus on long-term progress.  And long-progress equals 1st RACE IN SHORTS WITHOUT CHAFING BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL. 

March 26th: the day I finally feel like a runner!  Because shorts, yea! :)

Sunday
Sunday, Emily and I tackled a Jillian DVD together.  This spring break ready thing is giving me a lot of mileage outta her!  Woo.  and boy did that make me SORE!  (Its Wednesday as I write this, and I am still feeling the ass kicking!)  And we only got through HALF the tape.  Why can't I work out my core without using ANY of my legs???  Mtn climbers don't FEEL like core.  Meh!

Post 1/2 Marathon Week In Pictures

Monday - Friday

Monday I got in a whopping 3,913 steps.  LOL.

Feed me ALL the foods.  ALL week long.  How can someone doing so little need sooOOOOOooooo much food.

Its funny how you don't feel anything right after a 1/2 marathon.  It waits a day or two, and then BOOM.  Sneaks right up on you.  HELLO, QUADS!  That said, no where near as sore as I used to get.  Major progress there.  I felt super fine at Tuesday's final Women's 5K training.  We did 8 x 200s, and I was reasonably fine.

And blister's cousin, Chafing, must mean, "SHOWER AT YOUR OWN RISK." :)

Tuesday would be the only day that week that I hit 10k steps until Saturday.  After Tuesday with the ladies, I did NOTHING.  And I mean NOT ONE THING.  Not abs, not swim, not a short, quick anything.  The less I did, the more tired I got.  I'm not sure if this is good: allowing the tired in, taking a recharge, in mental prep for a next go around after a much needed week off?  Or am I just being lazy??  In fact, its very tough to tell someone who's only been "good" for two years to take a break.  It feels too comfortable.  Too close to old me.  Like I'll blink, and be THAT girl again.  Its scary.  But the best I could do to push that feeling aside was to set a date for return.  I'll run an easy 5K on Saturday with the ladies, and then pick up the distance Monday.  That felt like a decent enough compromise, and got me through the week.  Not to mention that two 5K runs in one week was never old me either, and after 16?  Ha.  Puts things in perspective.  Never the less ..

Post-race pictures trickling in brings much hilarity the week after a race. LOL. No neck Judy:

Final thoughts ...

Weekend: Publix Half-Marathon Race Report

Saturday
Distance: 3.1 and Expo with the run buds!
Course: Greenway
Avg Pace: 10:20 (10:48, 10:18, 9:51)
What hurt: Legs made of lead during; Serious 'Top of Foot' pain after.

The plan for the morning was that Kyle, Michele and I would meet up, do a quick 3 easy to keep loose, then drive to the expo, and finally do a course drive, maybe grab lunch.  Fun pre-race morning bonding time. :)

In hind sight, this little run served its purpose.  On Saturday, though, it scared the crap out of me! It was perfect weather, flat, and I was hangin' with my buds.  But while we set out to do a 'very easy' run just to keep things loose, I was actually SHOCKED that all my legs seemed like they COULD do was run an easy three! Eeeep.  Since when.  The legs just didn't want to turn over.  Michele and I stayed together, though, and that's always fun.  When we were done, as usual, the thoughts in our heads were along the lines of: I will never be able to run faster than this .. and for 10 MORE MILES???! Never.  But we got the run off our to-do, and next up .. off to my 1st Expo! :)

Jeff Galloway, the father of run/walk! :)

We're not mean to each other .. really! ;) But here's the story behind these pictures: .. someone started a thread on Facebook about accountability, and goals for the Publix Half/Full Marathon.  I had very modest expectations.  We've spent months hearing about how hill-a-cious this course is, and not much has really changed from this session since the last in terms of overall speed for me, such that I could concretely say I'd banked a PR.  (Not like, say, from half-marathon #1 to half-marathon #2 one year, and 15 lbs later .. I didn't count on shaving 40+ minutes, but I knew I'd PR last Fall, right?).  This go around, not so much.  So, my PR is 2:14 and something seconds ..  comment Judy: 2:13:59.  

Enter Kyle comment: 2:13:58 for Michele and 2:13:57 me.

LMAO! Commence epic text / thread / picture shenanigans.  He swears that by setting a 2:13:59 goal, I was trying to take the lead 1/2 PR for our little mini group  (never mind that all our times were 2:14 and seconds.  I was surely thinking of breaking HIS PR and not MY PR when I made the comment.  LOL.)  Anyhoo, it was the big joke that got our minds off of the race.  #crushkyle hashtag is born.

Then, the story on this one goes like this... Michele and I are in B corral and Kyle is in C. Helpful Michele tells Kyle he needs to sign up at the 1:50 pace group to get into B so we can all start together. So he does. And now heeeee's baaaaack.  So I'm joking around that I don't want him anywhere near me.  This is a crush-off!  Haha.  She says "we would have to be at 1:45 to be in corral A". While we had no aspirations of being in that pace group, it was another perfect opportunity to tease Kyle. The take away for Kyle is, if you didn't keep stopping to buy stuff we wouldn't have had so many opportunities for mischievous pictures!!!

After the expo we decided to drive the course.  ALL 13.1 miles.  Boy was that torture.  BUT!  It helped A LOT with envisioning the elevation & route the next day.  

By the time we got to lunch, I was hobbling. :/  Top of foot pain.  After lunch, I decided to take a risk.  Pedicure with some foot massaging to make it all better?  Fingers crossed it didn't make it all worse!  Then I started up with Ibuprophen, and that through Saturday night and Sunday morning shut Top of Foot pain up good.  Hurrah!  

Me: Don't touch the callouses.  I need those. 

Wonder Woman fast!

I spent the rest of the day organizing .. pre-race gear, my run drawer, the laundry.  The cleaner my house, the calmer I stay.  Ultramarathon Man put me to sleep at the desired time, and pre-race day could not have gone any better!

Sunday
Course: Publix Half Marathon
Official Finish Time: ******* 2:10:12 *******
Avg Pace: 9:56 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Overall: 2708th of 5941
Female: 1080th of 3168
Female 35-39: 195th of 528

BOOM!

Oh the joy.  The sheer and absolute joy!  What a fantastic race!! :)  I was WAY early to carpool; oops.  But that ended up being the only mistake of the morning!  Yippy.  I started the race with familiar faces all about me.  I gave Michele my first mile and change, but she really took off from there.  Before I knew it, we were running under 9s before mile 3.  Time to say Good Bye to Ms. Michele already!  It was going to be too much of a risk to try and hold her pace, hoping she'd fall into something more reasonable sooner rather than later; I knew I couldn't bank on that.  So as much as I love running with her for more of the race, the only chance of it would be if I worked my way back up to her in the next 10 miles, after she'd finished her going out fast phase.  That ended up not being the case; she had the under 9 start under her belt solid.  And I never saw her again.  Woo, Craig!

Next was Kyle.  And oh dear, it only took me 2-3 more miles to say good bye to him also.  Can't even be mad at the dude. lol.  He knows his long-distance strengths, and boy has he sped up.  Much progress for me in that this didn't even phase me. :)   (No toddler tantrums in running. Haha)  I was actually completely confident in deciding to let each of them go; I had a race plan strategy of tightening up my pace delta / spread, and of running positive with fairly consistent splits, due to the lay out of the course.  If running with them didn't help me in that effort, I had to let it be.  

Marjorie (behind Michele and I in start picture) proved to be my best hang time bud.  We were together for about the entire thing, with her leading the way through maybe mile 8 or 9, and me out in front by a hair the rest.  In hindsight, I might have been able to give a little more in middle miles, but never having actually run this race, I would not have known how much would have been TOO much.  Too much would have meant a walk late in the race, and maybe forgoing my PR all together.  Couldn't risk it.  And the actual race, maintaining the average pace I was coveting, in its entirety did not completely kick my ass.  I felt fueled, I felt hydrated.  There were a few moments where now I wished I would have dug a tiny bit deeper .. in the park, and before I could see the finish line.  More PR than expected is ALWAYS a good thing.  But per watch, I was already solidly maintaining a good bank on 2:13; there was not motivation to possibly risk it all and end up (eep) without a PR.  So maybe, just maybe, I can PR some races without complete puke-fest efforts?  Maybe that's reserved for special special occasions, and shorter distances?  Or maybe I have to train on that more; getting more comfortable with 'losing my shit' so to speak, and knowing what that looks like for each distance, while still knowing I won't end up with a DNF.  Whichever it is, this race, with its -4 min ~30 second shave on the PR goes down as both a major win, and even more learning. HAPPY DANCE!!!!!!!!!!!

And .. and ... and.  HAIR GAME!  Hair PR for sure! ;)  Emily made these for me the night before, and with enough hair spray .. they stayed in overnight!  Woo. :) :) :) One 2016 resolution goal down.  And hair game is for sure now a part of pre-important-race ritual.  More boxer braids in this girl's future. Haha!

Women's 5K Training & Other Nonsense
Distance: WU .5, 3 miles at 2-1 intervals.

After the show, its the after party, right?  More running!! This is the LAST Sunday training run for Women's 5K.  I was a little emotional. *^_^*  I could hardly run/walk, but I tried my best because there were for sure enough participants in the 2-1 intervals in need of a lead.  So Involuntary marathon training, Day 1, check!  As soon as we returned to Armour for the final stretch, I started to walk.  Run-leading from behind because one tight calf said NO WAY to anything else at that point.  The ladies were so awesome; I'd call an interval, and the participant in front of me would call it for the participant in front of her.  Run-lead hack. Picked up a jog again, and finished off the 5K.  During stretching, I also found myself a pod of trainees to run the race with.  Very excited.  They have a goal of coming in under 40.  We .. of course .. are going to CRUSH that. ;)  I think they're capable of under 35.  But ssssshhhh, we won't tell them that right yet.

Good Measure Meals "After" Weigh-In
Drum roll please.  When we started the Women's training session, Good Measure Meals had us use their Tanita scale for Body Composition metrics.  I <3 numbers. :) I didn't really think that there had been enough time to see measurable results, especially as a lead who already was working out pretty intensely before training started, compared to say the participants who probably would see the most rapid of changes, as they were just committing to all of this for the first time.  But I am very happy to report these changes:

1/20
Weight 145.6
Fat % 36.4
Fat Mass 53lbs
Metabolic Age - 49
BMI 28

3/20
Weight 140.4
Fat % 34.7
Fat Mass 48.8
Metabolic Age - 44
BMI 27.4

WOO!

Ongoing Target Goals
BF % 27
Target Weight: 125
Fat to Lose: 15

Other Nonsense
And then .. just when the weekend (and this accounting there of) could not get any longer, I noticed that I had 37,800 steps on FitBit upon landing at home.  The Walking Dead or walking around the living room and kitchen to hit 40,000?  I choose both!  :)  If he didn't before, my husband now thinks I am COMPLETELY BONKERS.  "You ran a half marathon?  Why are you walking around in circles?"  Well .. ummm.. because badges! ;)

Coming Up
A break!  As much as I have enjoyed both spring training sessions, I am also very excited to put the doubling up to bed for a while!  We'll take it easy this week; even the Women's 5K will end up not being at race effort.  Next week, we'll go back to whatever corresponding week will get us to the Flying Pig 1/2 marathon on May 1 in race shape.  (I think this puts us 'back' at 11-12 mile long runs starting this or next weekend).  I'll be out the week of 4/4.  SPRING BREAK.  WOO.  Still running, though.  But running along highway 30A, without work and other responsibilities sounds A-MAZING.  My idea of a vacation, for sure!  The Saturday we come back is the 1st day of In-Training for Peachtree.  Kyle & I will be leading up the 10 minute pace group out in Suwanee.  Very excited to get that started.  So coming up summary: Women's 5K race day, Peachtree Kick Off, Spring Break, Peachtree training start, Singelton 5k/10k, then Flying Pig 1/2, and post Pig, kick tri-training into the next gear.

Did I say break?

The Never-ending Pre-race Week

Monday

Taper Day 1

Tuesday

Distance: 1 mile WU, 400 x 3, 300 x 3, 200 x 3, CD

About this:

Oh dear.  A participant who will remain nameless may never speak to me again. ;) Haha.  Taper week = faster run lead!  In my defense, we've collectively been trying to graduate this one trainee for weeks now, and she ran SOOooOOOOOOooo hard.  Very amaze balls to get her there mentally .. finally!  Although right at the very end, I am 110% sure I earn myself some mental curses for encouraging her to run with the bigger all-run pack.

So lets talk about times.  And these are hers (if I crossed before, I waited to hit the pause).  But I FOR SURE pushed her pace.  I figure no trainee is going to get lost in 200m, so we don't have to stay RIGHT with them, right?  And after about half of the intervals, we joined the faster pack, so she really was pushed not just by me, but by the whole lot of all-runners.  Might as well get my own work out on a little, no? ;) 

400 - 2:21

400 - 2:11

200 - 51

300 - 1:27

200 - 51

200 - 51

200 - 52

200 - 51

200 - 51

Again, these are hers, not mine.  But those 51s 200s aren't even within the realm of possible for her indicator time.  (Heck, they're not even my 200s indicator time, and I could have push through a good bit more).  SooOOOOOOoooo .. I am a 5'0" sprinter!  Long-distance running is my back up? Lol. :) Paces beginning with 5s and 6s ...  awesome sauce!! 

Wednesday 

Body: Rest

Brain: Firing off pre-race jitters at at least 4:30 pace! ;)

Lets find other things to talk about besides pacing, banking time, Top of Foot, hills, PRs, etc., shall we.  I can't handle the anxiety of the thoughts roaming through my head on those fronts.  Soooo.....

Nutrition is going well.  I enrolled in another week of Good Measure Meals.  Might as well put feeding myself good things on auto pilot for this important week.  

My weight hasn't changed much, though: 140.5 holding steady.  I'd venture that's about -3.5 for 2016 thus far.  This is for sure a big frustration for me.  I have been holding steady at 100+ miles per month since start of year. How can I not be skinny, right?  Why aren't the lbs FLYING off?  Will I have to run marathons all my life JUST to maintain??  And how can I not be starting to "look like a runner?"  Well, 1. that's a trick comment, because I am a runner.  So this IS what A runner looks like.  Apparently, though, there is more I must do, and I must do it for longer, to get to anything that might approach that "high school skinny" runner look.  Oy vey.  That said, I KNOW these next 10-15 lbs will really make a difference in how I feel about my body, and I REALLY WANT IT.  Not to mention drooling over what -10 or -15 would do for me running-wise! (I used to run to be skinny, now I want to be skinny to run .. how awesome!)  ... Which means I am going to keep on keeping on, and keep hitting this piece as hard as I can!  If I am honest with myself, I can say I know there is PLENTY of room for improvement.  I eat okay only SOMETIMES, and I hardly ever do strength training.  I need to make both of those more of a habit.  Especially before all the "Bad Things" people tell me start taking hold when you turn 40.  For sure have to work on control now, in these 3 years before there are even MORE things fighting progress. 

  

I'm sorry for the overshare, but whatever .. its part of the journey.  This is my 2016 battle of the swimsuit shopping picture.  I see a lot of progress in this picture (yippy), but I am honestly also completely shocked by just how much more of a ways I still have to go! 

By now, I thought I'd be solidly at the question of: is the remaining post-weight loss belly 'flub' acceptable, or am I wanting to explore "options" on this front, because I've gotten to the point where its not fat, and anything not 'toned' is basically outside of my control.  But the truth is, I have a ways to go before I even decide to tackle answering that.  For sure still "over weight"  and very ready not to be.  The final straw will be if I get into Chicago.  I'm telling ya .. if marathon training doesn't do it (and by do it, I mean put me into "healthy weight" range) .. and I am cautioned by many that it might not ... but still, if it doesn't, man, I am booking a Tijuana surgery-cation in December, fo sho! :) 

Thursday

Distance - 1-2 mi WU, 4 x 800 + recovery, 1 mile CD

About this run ...

Do I have a fever?  Or am I just hot?  Am I imagining that my head feels super congested / migrain-y?  PLEASE let me be imaging this.  My eyes are torturing me.  I am for sure not imagining that.  They are producing 'gunkies.' MEH!!! The eyes are causing my brain and nose congestion and headache-y-ness maybe?  Do I need eye drops? Is it the pollen??  Was it the pollen, until I shoved my finger in my eye 894 times, and now I need eye drops?  FML.  This is not happening on a Thursday.  I know .. I will go run it away ... brb ....

Oh. Fuck. Fuckitti fuck fuck fuck.  The pink bag says: I have a singlet, a bathing suit, and some socks.  You need bottoms?  You're on your own kid!

Ocee Rogue speed work turned into Ocee Rogue walkathon.  Kyle ran and Michele and I gabbed about boys.  It was a good evening. :)

Friday

Weekend: Begin Taper!

Saturday
Distance: 9.5
Avg Pace: 10:28
Course: Pleasantly flat!

Our bitter-sweet final run as a training session!  Gosh, I love my tribe!

This run was fantastic.  I began it dreading it (because I begin every run stiff and dreading it).  And the temperature was a surprise kick in the butt.  With no transition, all of a sudden, a shirt seems like too much, where just two weeks ago, three layers, gloves and ear-covering headband didn't even seem like enough!  Thanks, Atlanta!!!  But by mile 2, I was loosened up, and by mile 4-5, I was ready to rock and roll!  The only hiccup occurred at about mile 8, when we hit the only real incline of the entire run.  (We'd had 1-2% gradual rises, but this is just a steeper shorter section.  Usually it doesn't count as major hill work, but today it was the first real encounter with 'up.')  That's when Stupid Top of Foot made its move.  And at first I thought, power through.  Then two seconds later, I revised thought .. don't be an idiot; its just a taper run, and you have plenty of margin off your "easy" pace already.  Walk up the hill, and run if it stops hurting when you crest.  Harley (my hero), dropped back a bit, walked me to the Jimmy Johns sign, and then we both got back "on."  Apparently I got a little TOO on.  By the straight away into ATC, Harley was alternating between holding me by the back of my shirt, and straight up running smack dab in front of me.  Hee hee.  His theory that 1.  I had just been walking due to pain, and 2. that we should all taper / finish together just didn't mesh up with 1. I had just walked, so I felt reinvigorated, and 2. Stupid Top of Foot is so quiet for the flat parts.  Plus, after walking, then not feeling Top of Foot, I had started to work hard again to catch the original mini-pod.  After catching them, body said keep up kick, not taper.  So I didn't. :) And it felt good to finish up strong.  What a fantastic end to a fantastic session!  Last Jan - March, after my first half-training, I really dropped it back.  I can thank Spring session for the world of difference that early 2016 has been.  I have kept my base high, and I am very excited to see how that helps me grow during Peachtree and Fall.  No catching back up hopefully means that I can focus on even more speed (and/or even more mileage).

The other AWESOME thing that happened was that I (with some BIG help from Brandi) MAYBE convinced Michele to throw her name in the Chicago marathon lotto.  WooOOOOOOooooooo.  Good luck to both of us.

Don't ask me how I end up front and center in every single ATC group photo.  (Hint: 5'0.) 

Swimming once a week is now in full swing! Love it.  (when I don't drown).  Did more than I had planned on Friday: 6 x100 (yards or meters?  who knows).

Sunday
Distance: .5 WU, 3 mile 2-1 intervals, 5 hill repeats, and .5 CD
Pace: 12:30 including WU/CD (whaaaatt?  Ladies were hitting 9-9:30s for 2 min runs!  Speed demons!)

Coning duty training.  We gotta start 'em young! :) 

We're getting into the final stretch for this session, too.  We have a Tuesday run this week, and then Sunday 3/20 will be this group's final training session before the Women's 5K race! EeeeEEEeeeep and *sniff* *sniff.*  (Eeeeep for me mainly because ..oh boy.. the final training session is also post-Publix half-marathon on 3/20...  ZzzzzZZZZzzzz.  But at least, hey, its after the race, so who cares!).  As far as the race itself on 3/26, Women's 5K owes me nothing.  I've run flatter recently, so a PR attempt would be stupid.  I know with absolute certainty that I can beat last year's time of 33+, so that couldn't even be a 99% goal.  I'm also 95% sure that I can finish in under 30; if I didn't, it'd be for a stupid reason outside of my control.  Any time goal in between would just be a random meaningless time that does nothing for me.  SoOOooooOOooo ... I am hoping to maybe farm myself out to some of the ladies, and see if I can't find a pod of like-paced participants who would like to run this with a pacer.  I am guessing that some of the ones who would be most interested could run it in 33 - 35ish?  If I can't find anyone who has a specific goal, then I'll maybe run/walk it with Pam, and all the other HIPsters celebrating one lead's return after hip surgery.  I guess I could probably find #potato, too, or M's butt if I feel up for challenges.  Either would also be mucho fun.  Anyway, we'll see, and can't wait for the bling!  Its totes adorb this year. :)

Week In Review: My 1st Race Lottery

Monday
Rest.  5-6 miles on the training log, but I am swapping out Sunday's rest and Monday's 5-6 fairly consistently now.  I also had a stressful day at work.  But in the end .. A FANTASTIC conversation with the owner of the company that had been LONG over due.  AND .. an apology from the source of most of my current anguish.  WIN!  I think I feel in control of what next steps need to look like on that front, and so I went home and slept like an absolute baby!

Tuesday
Distance: 4 x 1200, with .5 WU and .5 CD, and ~200m recoveries.
Pace (set by ladies I train): ~11:30 overall

Major pluses:  my trainees willingly opted to run the 1200s, and walk the recoveries.  That took them from 2 min run to 8+ run. Woo! :)  And they ALL hit their indicator goal for 1200s EVERY interval.  I was so proud of how hard they worked, and how far they've come!  Can't wait to see them all racing it up on March 26!!

Itty Bitty Bummer:  Disappointed a bit to say that I was not selected to run the 2016 NY Marathon.  The lottery gods were not in my favor.  More on that in a minute.

Serious bummer: the top of my left foot started hurting at the half way point of the last interval.  I could run through it easily enough, and if I ran faster, I felt it less.  Unfortunately, 1. I can't run faster with participants, and 2. why the heck would the TOP of my foot hurt.

Post-training run, I did a little web MD style google-macation.  Either .. I was wearing the sneaker too tight (extensor tendonitis is the actual term interweb gave me for this) .. which is possible considering that my Mizunos are for sure more snug in the uppers than my Brooks.  Or I have a bone spur .. but that, the interweb said, is usually accompanied by swelling, redness, or a bump.  None of those for me.  So as with everything else: RICE.  Rest. Ice. Compression. Elevation.  Besides that, I won't wear those Mizunos on Sunday if I am sure they will make it worse.  (I don't have to wear them until then either).  I also read about lacing my shoes differently to relieve pressure: http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/straightbarlacing.htm.  Trying that Thursday.

I felt it into Wednesday, and am curious to see how much it will plague me for Thursday mile repeats, and/or Saturday's (short) long run (10 miles).  Please, running gods, not an actual injury less than two weeks from the Publix 1/2 Marathon.  Anything but a serious injury, okay??!! Pretty please.

My 1st Lottery

I was very unprepared for this 1st!  We do A LOT of educating around the most minute of details around racing:  from what to eat for breakfast, how to use a trash bag to keep yourself warm before start, to how much time to allow for porta-potties on the day of a race.  But NOBODY tells you how mentally draining a lottery day can be! I was unprepared.

Its very funny actually, considering that I began the year (just two some months ago), 95% sure I did NOT want to tackle a full marathon this year.  Why try it now, when the girls are 17 & 15.  Focus time on them, and marathon train as the nest gets emptier, right?  Well, then I heard that your odds get better each time you enter a major race's lotto, and are not selected. (this has since gone to the wayside, but it used to be that if you were rejected 3 times, you'd get in guaranteed the next year).  Anyhoo, that got me thinking that I should start now, and just run it in whatever year the race gods deemed it so.  Being a Jersey girl, NYC for sure is on the bucket list.  And when you look at things realistically, I've been on this earth 37 years, and only for 2-3 have I ever been this physically capable.  I hope I get even better, but .. there is a chance that something derails me.  There maybe a time where I can't do this anymore.  Wouldn't it be great to get 'run a marathon' off the list right now, while I know I can?

Soooo... fast forward to the day of the lottery, and what started out as luke-warm mixed feelings quickly became anxious obsession.  Check the email, check the bank account, check Facebook.  Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. 784 times.  (Okay, I didn't count, but I'm sure it was close!) And then all of the bustling excitement from friends who were selected.  You're happy for them.  But now that you've convinced yourself that you might want to do this too, its frustrating to know that you can't.

All that said, I was actually pretty proud of myself.  At some point in the day, I actually managed to talk myself out of the panic attack that was surely destined to take hold.  I told myself something simple, but something that I needed to hear:  you deserve good things.  You may not always get them, because the world does not work that way.  But this isn't karma, and there's nothing you could have done better.  Whatever happens, you deserve good things.  And by god, I believed myself.  And then, I found it very easy to stop checking the site, the bank account, and the email.  Later that afternoon, they updated to let unselected runners know, and that was that.  

I'm going to go ahead and throw my name in the hat for Chicago.  If I happen to get in, it does make me a little nervous, because the time frame for training shortens by a month.  But both Brandi and Angelina are also considering it, which would be a super awesome way to run a first marathon.  If I didn't get into Chicago (or maybe even if I did), I will lotto again for NYC next year.  And either next year or in 2018, when I turn 40, I will go ahead and raise the 2620.00 in charity funds that the NYC marathon requires for non-lotto charity entry.  I haven't decided what I'll do this year if I don't get into Chicago.  I know I want to start shooting for training at the longer distances in the fall, so I will be in-training for a marathon unless injury prevents it.  Now, what to do with that training is the big question.  Might as well decide after the drawing for Chicago.  Although I've already told friends that they need to sedate me and take my Iphone for that one; I don't think I can handle two lotto days in that short a period! lol.

Thursday

Rouge Ocee speedwork

Distance: 1 mile WU, 3 x 1 mile with 400 recovery

Work intervals: 8:23, 8:54, 9:14

Teehee, so someone oopsed on sustainability! ;) But actually, that first mile felt fab!  I think if it hadn't been for the top off foot 'saying hello' mile 3, I could have had three straight under 9.  That foot though, really did start to mess with my gait, and by the 3rd interval, I just needed a big ole recovery lap at 9:30 before kicking it up again.  

Its so frustrating that I am ALWAYS feeling something.  When its not the back of one thigh, its the calf in the other leg.  And now .. the top of my left foot?!  Ugh.  I blame not being at the right weight for running.  And not stretching enough.  And not strength training enough.  But honestly, my house is a zoo with just what I have been doing, so we'll just agree to muddle through!   

Friday

Swimming tonight! :) Can't wait.  Swimming relaxes me.  And I have a plan: 4 x 100m. (8 there, 8 backs).  Objective is not to touch / stop for a recovery 10 seconds (or drown) until each 100m mark. 

Baby steps.

On deck

Fairly flat 10 miles Saturday AM (short? taper? long run), Women's 5K training Sunday (not so flat), and Run Lead meeting for Peachtree kick off training immediately after.  Next week, another Good Measure Meals week, and taper for .. dum dum dum .. Publix 1/2 marathon race on 3/20.  EEEEEeeeeeeEEEEeeeeep.

To talk about goals for that race is going to be tricky.  For one, Top of Foot.  Is it a momentary problem?  Is it going to plague me for 13.1 miles.  But lets set goals assuming the best there.  If I don't meet them because of foot, I would be a-okay with that; injuries = null and void in my book.  No record breaking running through a broken bone type of athlete here!  The other major unknown (kinda known) is the course.  I have never raced it myself, but I hear it is fantastically hillacious!  Most runners who've done it before compare it to the Atlanta 10 miler, which is a beast! Keeping that in mind, loose goals of:

90% - under 2:30

50% - 2:14

10% - PR (anything better than 2:14)

    

Weekend: Race Re-cap

Saturday

Distance: 13.1 (or 13.4 .. but who's counting)

Avg Pace: 10:47

13.1 Thoughts I Have After a 13.1 Mile Run

1 - If I lay on the floor right after, I can make it look funny.  No one will know that I just really stopped being able to stand, right?

2 - According to my scientific calculations, a marathon would be just about .. um .. two times THAT.  Wait .. no .. that can't be right.  That can't be what they mean by a "half."  That's just impossible

3 - Oh $h1t!  That's exactly what a marathon is.  TWO. of THAT.

4 - I. need. a. nap.

5 - If I set cruise control at an absurdly impractical speed, I can drive all the way from Atlanta to Alpharetta with just my right thumb.  Every time I approach another vehicle, I just cancel and reset cruise control to the new speed.  Winning! (right?)

6 - I. NEED. a. nap.

7 - I. NEED. bacon.  And pancakes.  And coffee.  With whip cream, and chocolate drizzle.  And more bacon.  Or a nap.  Can someone please feed me bacon while I nap?

8 - 13 miles is totally doable.  Walking 10 more steps to the house from my driveway is a completely unreasonable, and will result in death and destruction.

8 - Lets just sit here in the drive way, post a selfie of my run, and see what the rest of my friends have posted.

9 - ***25 minutes later*** OH. MY. GOD.  I am an invalid.  Baby. steps.  Must get up .. and out ... of .. the .. car.  Shit, why is my neighbor looking at me funny.

10 - During the race, I just have to do that again.  Faster.  If my scientific calculations are correct, 48 seconds per mile faster.  That's like 688.8 seconds.  Which is just like 11 minutes, and I'll PR.  Wait .. waaaaahhht?  Oh. My. God.

11 - No, no.  Its okay.  My last course run was right under 2:30 minutes, and I ran a 2:14.  That's what a race is.  You'll be able to do it.  Without crying.  Remember how that goes.  No?  No, this is the fastest you can possibly ever imagine going without wanting to throw yourself off a bridge?  It wasn't "easy?" Everything you think you know is a lie?  Oh. okay.  Somebody needs a nap.

12 - Oh, hello family.  Yes, we can go 1. grocery shopping, 2. to the mall, 3. to friend's house of choice .. in about an hour or two.

13 - *in bed*  Hmmm, why can't I fall asleep at 11:30 am?

.1 - ZzzzZZZZZzzzzzZ

This was supposed to be: Selfie with Skyline.  It ended up being: What I Really Look Like When I Run 13.1 Miles.

Boom!

Sunday

Workout 1: Shamrock & Roll 10k 

Chip Time: 59:46

Pace: 9:38

Overall: 122 of 359

Women's: 61 of 261

Div Place: 9th of 41

Goals:

90% - have a blast

50% - sub-60

25% - sub-59

10% - sub-58

5 % - sub-57  

About this race:

That saying about the two wolves being in every man, and the wolf that wins is the one you feed, is SO SPOT ON.  I did not PR, but I had a fantastic time at this race, and I feel completely boss about the effort!  The course was good and hilly, and it was easy to accept that and move on this time.  Must have been the costumes.  And the friends.  :)

I ran hard.  I maintained PR pace for 4 miles. (sub 58:42)  I kicked in the final stretch.  What more can I ask for?  If it had been flat, I'd have had at least 25% goal. It was a fantastic morning! 

The cherry!  Michele with her 1st age group medal! :)   So proud.

ATC representation.  #Judysmash

Hey girl, after the race, I'll give you forehead kisses. LOL.

Oh.  The Hulk is technically naked from the waist up?  Hmmm.

Work out #2: Women's 5k Training Run

Distance: 4 miles

Pace: ~12:30

Ashley came with me this time.  (Might as well stack the odds in favor of finding a 2nd runner in the family).  My quads were so upset.  It took a while to warm up, and my pace wasn't as zippy, but it did become more possible as the intervals continued.  And my trainees did not seem to mind getting one up on the run lead this go around.  :)

I think I will name him Fred. :) 

2-1 intervals at about 12:30 total average pace. 

Workout #3

2.3 walk-run-treadmill-dance-walk-the-dog-whatever-it-takes miles

You don't know dog tired until you approach 26.2 miles in one weekend but figure out that you're just shy of the actual mark.  After a 13.1 course run, and a 6.2 mile race, and a 4 mile training session .. do I REALLY want to jump on a treadmill JUST so I can joke that I ran my first unofficial marathon in 36:30?  Haha.  yea.  Yea, I do.