That time I ran 20 miles !!!

Saturday
Distance - 20 miles!
Pace - 10:20

The big TWO-OH!  TWENTY MILES IN THE BOOKS!!!

From now moving forward, this is the only number I'll allow to define me. :) I'm not 37 years old, or 137 lbs .. I'm capable of running 20 miles. ;) BOOM!

Its also mentally official..  barring a 'Real Terrible Bad Day', I feel like I can (knock on wood) .. finish a marathon! Holy shit! ;)

About this run:

Here is a weird thing.  I don't feel like I am needing to do anything special for a marathon long run that I wasn't doing for the half marathon distance.  As of yet, I don't need to do anything weird, like say: carry a zip lock baggie with bacon and pickles, or a packet of salt, or ibuprofen, etc.  This week, I didn't even get all too anal about "Friday hydrate" or carb-loading a few meals before.  In fact, I think I even called cream cheese and crackers dinner.  Oops.  So B- effort on the the pre-run prep front, I'd call it.  (A+ being 110% organized, and F being going out drinking the night before, lol).

I did have my coffee, and a 1/2 breakfast pastry (I think it was cherry coffee cake).  Plus two honey stingers at start, and a Guu at about 10 miles.

I also made some smart calls.  Namely, I began drinking quick sips of water and G2 VERY early, before I was the least bit thirsty.  Heck, before the sun was even out.  

I was *terrified* of the course that had been planned, so I also kept my pre-training miles EASY.  Running out with a band of folks that were also pacing slower was a really good call.  

Next came the scary miles.  Leading up to this, I was scurred.  Scurred silly to the point that I maybe was a twinge mad.  Like really pissed mad, even. ;)  I rarely get mad about running.  But like with Women's 5K course, it just feels like purposefully evil planning some days. lol.  What are they trying to do, kill of every new woman runner in Atlanta????  (1st W5K) and this Saturday:  I'm trying to get used to the DISTANCE, people!  Chicago is FLAT people.  So yea, miffed for sure.  Thoughts of boycotting and running this at Riverside, thoughts of wearing a run lead tank and visor, and commandeering a group of unsuspecting participants off to the belt line, needing to UBER, thoughts of 14 minute miles on my Garmin.  Basically panic.  

Which turned into .. being so scared that the actual hills couldn't compare to what I had built up in my head!  (No, I'm not giving Enrique credit for that.  Happy coincidence; I'm still miffed about hill-a-palooza, dude!  haha.)  But for the run, it didn't end in death and destruction. YAY!

I'd already decided that pace was NOT important.  Steady effort was important.  I walked not ONE hill, and for that, I am SO PROUD! :) 

Also legit proud that my fastest miles came at 17, 19, and 20!  That bodes SERIOUSLY well on the mental front when I think about whether or not I can run another 10k.  Granted, I don't think I would have wanted to run it all this Saturday.  But with another month of training left, I think I am really brain-ready!! 

Run ATL

Doing the math, Avg Pace for both segments combined is 10:20.  I'm *positive* that if my watch had not decided to "save" at the 6 mile mark, and I could have seen the true average pace, I would have TOTALLY shaved the 20 seconds somewhere for 10:18, so I am TOTALLY calling this 20 miles AT 10% goal race pace! 

What hurt:  during, just a smidge of a tight left calf here and there, and my quads continue to burn up faster than anything else.  Otherwise, not a thing!  Woo.

In fact, I felt GOOD.  Holy crap, I felt good.   Running into the parking lot, I was whoopin and hollarin.  I didn't have that post hard effort "flu" ish feel.  Didn't need to lay down, roll around, cry for beer., etc.  I wasn't the most enthusiastic walker on the planet (the porta potty looked as if it were in IOWA), but I did keep going!  I did a bit more walking at the sale, and then met up with the CHI runners for brunch.

This was so fun!  I was patting myself on the back for coming up with the idea. LOL.  Woo, I thought of something, and people came!  Winning. :) It was nice to start team building with the travel crew for CHI!!  In just one meet up, I already learned tons!. :)

After:  lower back continues to be the dull quiet not quite pain annoyance de jour.  That and a bit of planter pain on standing .. not immediately, but after ~6ish hours and early the next morning.

Driving home, I still felt like bouncing off the wall though.  Even at home, I couldn't really nap.  I tried, but the best I could do was watch a movie.  I seriously felt like PARTYING!  Swimming, doing an AB video, biking .. or SOMETHING.

None for me, thank you very much! Unless its to bounce off of.  Woah.

Well, glad I didn't though.  Eventually the day caught up with me, and this Sunday happened:

Check out the sleep!!  hahaha.  I think I was reading a book for some, but yea. LOL.  And this is Sunday, about 4 PM!  I guess its time to go for a walk if I want 10,000 steps today!!  (I did head off to Fowler after dinner, and walked about 2.5 miles .. playing Pokemon GO. ;) )

Goal thoughts:  PROS: these are still runs in much hotter weather, with more challenging topography, and less adrenaline than on race day.  CONS: These are also runs with GPS watch pauses for hydration, red lights, and reboot stretching at Armour before training segment starts, with about 50 of my closest friends running along with me non-stop.  (con because I don't get to pack any of them in my travel bag).  Plus, there's the con of 6 more miles.

A GOOD amount of this run felt long, slow, and easy.  GOOD.  So so far, mission of seeing 10:18 - 10:52 on race day, while still having it feel like 50/50 goal, so I can chase after it without feeling like I'd need to die and return to the living for it, is looking plausible.

Upcoming:  Should I stay or should I go?  I did 20 miles this Saturday.  There are 20 miles on the schedule this coming Saturday.  If 100% of my thoughts were on CHI, I'd go for it and try to belt this distance out again, and then start following the schedule of LSD/PRO right with the CHI training calendar.  Two reasons why I might not want to do that, though:  the training calendar wants it to alternate for a reason, I'm sure.  Two 20s in a row sounds like a bad idea.

But more selfish than that .. Sizzler!  Can't I just run one more itty bitty race with rested legs?? huh, huh, pretty please. LOL.  Peachtree was very solid performance, and I am honestly so happy about my time there .. but this is the sweetest 10K course of the year .. what could I do to my PR without hills, and with tapered legs??

Honestly, I think the pulling back and racing is helping me so much.  I stay fast, I take mid-cycle taper breaks, I stay healthy.  If feels like a really loving way to do mean things to myself, lol.  (knock on wood).

On the other hand, it doesn't mean all that much.  Sizzler isn't a Grand Prix.  I can find a 10K after CHI easy if I want.  The only thing that might hurt is losing the 10K title back to Kyle, haha.  But its about time I give up my momentary hogging of all the PRs between 1 mile and 10 mile!  LOL.  So leaning toward doing the 20, and then just running it like a typical Monday (~58-59).  But we'll see.

Chicago Week 16!

Sunday 
Distance - 10 miles + 7 miles
Pace - 10:33 and 10:20

Skipping Saturday long runs now presents serious struggle.  We'll have to try not to do that again. ;) Before training started up at the end of last month, it seemed easy enough to find a sub group to run with Sunday morning whenever needed.  Now that training is *officially* Saturday, Sunday = crickets.

I wanted flat.  But I really dreaded 20 solo.  It crossed my mind to throw it out to all the run threads that I'd be doing a 20 miler at Riverside, and that any and all cameos would be appreciated.  Maybe I'd find enough folks that would at least adopt-a-mile? LOL.  That didn't feel like enough commitment pressure, though, and I was feeling like I for sure needed some commitment pressure.  The idea sounded fun though; I'll have to keep it in my bag of tricks for future reference.

Luckily, instead, I found this fun group hosting a long run!  I can count on one hand the events that I have participated in that were not ATC.  The novelty was entertaining.  I felt like should be challenging them all to a rap battle or a dance off or something. bhahahaha.

But they were all very welcoming, and the paces were roughly where I needed them to be.  (There was a group leading the way up in front; they kept me entertained for about 1.5; there was a group behind which I hung with after that right through about 9 miles.. until I lost them to a Starbucks run (mid-run Starbucks can be a thing ... ???? ... lol.  I like it Runningnerds, I like it.).  Two ladies in particular ran almost twin to me right from 3-9 miles, and that was perfect.  The course .. um .. I guess ATC is not unique in its petulance for torture.  Rolling hills ALL. The. Way.  I purposefully kept the pace really easy; I didn't know how much of a toll the 5K PR was going to take, and at that point in the morning, I was fully intending to do a continuous 20 miles.

Unfortunately, most in this pack were just going to ten, and by the time I got through with the rolling hills, all I wanted to do was gab with the new friends about their marathons.  We chatted, and chatted.  The longer I stayed, the less resolved I was to head back out on the same hilly course.  In fact, even taking it back to Riverside sounded terrible.  So I stayed and gabbed some more.  By the time I got to Riverside, I decided on just the first loop out: 7 total.  This came a little faster, but since it already felt like cheating because I had put like 1-2 hours in between of hanging out, and driving, I felt completely indifferent about just calling it at the parking lot. (17 total).  None of it felt "long."

In other news:  I met "Tes!" .. one of two other leaders on the Grand Prix F35-39 list that I've looked at all year.  It was HILARIOUS.  She knew my name, too, and we laughed at that connection.  We told each other we'd be "watching."  Cracked me up.  Too bad my times for Finest were in such a messy state.  The song:  its like rain-eee-aaain on your wedding day .. its a freeeeee ride, when you're already late' was stuck in my head for hours. LOL.  I met Tes, but I couldn't really talk about race results and whatnot, because it was too complicated. Of course.

Monday
Distance - 6.2
Pace - 9:50

I <3 Mondays.  It just feels so "free style" on Greenway.  This is what I'd do every day, if I wasn't such a koolaide drinking social butterfly.  (Okay, not butterfly .. maybe social donkey?  I'm kinda pulling myself 'there' but then I like it? haha).  No hills, a small pod, lots of quiet reflection alone running, no pressures.  Run to the best of my ability, never beyond it.  Just fun.

That said .. it took a LONG ASS TIME to warm up.  Michele and I ran together for a good 4 miles.  That's the first time in a good bit we hung to the same pace.  Woo.  In the last two miles, I did my little hill surges and then picked up the pace for a "get done" finish.  She fell back, but not by much, and I was really happy to see that she is not losing too much ground for all the misery that her training cycle has put her through.  Kyle brought up the rear.  Lately. he's been keeping this one a true easy, since he uses Tuesdays as a tempo.  That works for me ... because I don't need to race him at the 6 mile mark ever anymore. LOL. :)

Tuesday
Distance - 3.1
Pace - 9:30

Luxury is feeling totally ready to get out of bed at 4:00 am, and then letting yourself not, because you love you. LOL.  I slept like 10 hours, got up with hubby, and drove the girls to school, before hitting the treadmill at LA F for a quickie 3.1, and then work.  I didn't want a pressured run.  Motivated to push myself, yes, but not pressured.  And sometimes, I go *too* hard at 10KTuesdays, and then start tanking next work outs, etc. This week, I want to really keep myself religious about getting the distance in.  That means not being a fool.  The pace was the same as 10Ktuesday, but on a flat treadmill, the effort was for sure more controlled.  I ran the first mile at 10 on the dot, the next one at 9:40, and then hit it hard the last mile, upping the speed every 60 seconds through 2.5, and then every 30 seconds through 3.0, and every like 10 seconds for the last .1.  This way is mucho fun for me.

I'm going to do this again Thursday, for 2 x 3 mile repeats.  Maybe before taking the kids to school, and with enough time to get in a refreshing swim?  One can wish.

Unfortunately, thoday is quite a bit short of the 8-10 total on the schedule, but running by feel seems to be working so far.  I think I will hit 40+ this week, since I ran Sat. and Sun., so not stressing it.

Approaching the one month mark, I am feeling the drain, but also doubling the resolve.  A person can do anything for 6 weeks, right? I can let other things fall to back burner without serious impact for just 6 weeks.  It makes me want to hit my schedule with as much commitment as possible.

Oh and duuuuuuude:



That's "Tes" in green from the Grand Prix F35-39 list of names.  Duuuuuuuude.  Serious cosmic irony at work here!! bhahahaha. Powers that be, could we please discussed this forced nemesis thing?  I'd like to request a slower one! *^_^* #mikewasowskied

Wednesday
Distance - 2 miles
Pace - 10:08

I felt a little guilt about shorting Tuesday, and needed to hit my 10k steps for the day, so another very short treadmill run / walk.  Enough to hit the goal, while still remembering that I am going on 5 days of running without a break.  I know I don't like to "jog" any more, so to keep it super easy and just for steps, I did run walk.

Thursday
Distance - 1 WU, 3 mi by 800m x 2, 1 CD
Times - 10:30, 27:19, 26:56, 10:20

Badass treadmill work out!  Three miles and treadmill go hand in hand for me.  Whenever I can't fit anything else in, 5K on the treadmill always seems mentally doable.  So running this on mah machine seemed like the best way to pull out of myself the intended work out.  The only unfortunate thing is that there is really no telling what the goal pace should have been for these.  I was for sure pushing, but I never felt as rough as I do during track work outs.  Whether this is because you can't "sprint" 3 miles, or because I had no goal in my mind, I don't know.  But anyhoo, because total mileage was 6, I figured as close to goal 10K race pace as possible should do it.  That's still 9:08, which I hit the first interval, and crushed the second.  I felt really strong, running 1st mile at 9:30 - 9:40, and then upping the pace by one every lap the 2nd mile, and every quarter lap or so the last mile.  Thought in my head:  was this "wonder woman" and not "make it hurt" because: I ran alone .. because the pace was a little slower than it could have been .. because I had a RIDICULOUSLY awesome new play list .. because I'm always training so I am always still improving, even from week to week ..  or because I paced negative?  I will keep trying to answer that question every time I run a 5K from here to the end of time, I think. :)

Downloaded a random "cardio" playlist.  Holy crap.  Talk about illegal drug.  I was bookin' it listening to this.  That creeps a little plan into my head: save the headphones for miles 20 - 26.2 as a last ditch come to Jesus moment?  :)  I'd hate to miss the cheering, though, so we'll see!  Maybe miles 16 - 23? Hmmm.

Friday
Stupid alarm.  Womp, womp.  No Riverside.  Normally, I'd be happy enough, but I kinda like Riverside!  I see a theme emerging:  I love Mondays, Fridays, treadmills. (all flat, relatively cool mileage).  I dread Tuesdays, speedwork, and have a serious love/hate relationship with Saturdays.  So basically .. 10Ks would have been a good "quit while you're ahead" distance, hills suck, and so does pushing myself.  Ha.  I guess that's the whole point of the training schedule!

Hoping to get another quickie 5K in right after work to make up for lost morning.  If it gets too late, I won't.  20 miler can't be messed with.

Total:  If Friday afternoon and Sat. AM goes according to plan, I'll be at  .. YIKES .. 61.3

*drop mic*

Race Report - Atlanta's Finest 5K

Saturday

Distance - 1WU, 5K

Pace - 8:12

PR - 25:17

Splits .. 7:51, 8:19, 8:27 and 7:52 for the tail.

My PR starts with a "25!!!"  My PR starts with a "20 friggin 5!!!"  One WHOLE minute shaved from Jog Days PR.  How friggin awesome!?!  Clearly it was good I earmarked 24:59 as 'rest of 2016' goal.  If I had done 25:30, I'd be taking an early retirement.  :)

About this run

The morning didn't feel "perfect."  Something was off.  And not me just thinking my usual "I am going to f' up."  More the opposite ..  I just didn't feel "go-y."  In addition to physically not being 'all wound up,' which isn't normal for me, I also knew that I had taken a few mental hits this week, too, what with the dunk, and the pmsing, and in general, the burn out that is now life for the next 6 weeks.  But I hydrated really well leading up to it, and ate well enough for a 5K, nothing hurt, and I woke up, so we have to run today.  

    

I ran a full warm up mile before the race, knowing I needed to throw a lot of "time on feet" in the bucket by any means.  Kept it an easy 9:57 average pace.  Had that "how can I possibly start at or under 8 if this is 10" feeling, but I am getting better at knowing that, if anything, I am too fast out of the corrals.

This conflicts me because I am pretty sure that if I started a little slower, I WOULDN'T make up for the lack of banked time later.  Banking time is a necessary evil for me, I think, which essentially ensures PR but also makes the second half of all 5Ks MISERABLE.  The second half of this race, I forgot, had much tougher sections in it than mile one, too.  Thank god I had Brad running with me.  The final two miles were brutal and I literally just checked out 110%.  Brad and autopilot non-stop to the finish.  In fact, it reminds me A LOT of how HARD Singleton felt toward the very end.  So hard that you don't even have much of a kick, because you are just that gassed, and the final step is just about the last one you could possibly take at that pace.  I yelled at myself (and Bob and Brad around me .. haha) up the final hill, because if I didn't acknowledge the hurt, I was pretty sure it would eat me up, spit me out, and have me walking in the blink of an eye.  The motivational comments kept coming, and I did not give up.  Checked out, yes.  Giving up, not allowed.  The only moment I "really" got "it" back again a tiny bit was in the final straight away.  I sure wish it had been longer there, and shorter somewhere else (preferably knocked off one of the hills!).  

At some point, I am going to try a negative split 5K, running out at a pace over what I need for goal in mile one, and just see how that changes overall impact, and ability to hit goal.  That said, I think that for the most part, this is what it feels like when you set and hit tough goals.  But I'll try it once for something less important, just to see.

Right after finishing, all my thoughts were on Chicago.  Is this what will make me happy in Chicago?  The HARD goal?  I think the answer that came was definitive: No.  I want a moderate goal.  I can't hurt like that for more than a 5K.  I'll break myself.  Bye 4:30 ...  I'll catch you next time. 

After the race, (some ten minutes after me ;) ) I saw some cadets sprint and racing each other to the finish.  They were smiling and just INSANELY sprinting.  I know for a FACT that feels AWESOME.  That is 'wonder woman' to me.  That also comes at a price: easy, happy go lucky effort followed by kick ass fun effort.  Maybe I can live with that being a moment in my Chicago instead of a time goal that is just at the edge of possible?

Next .. picture time.  This was about when the emotion set in.  How lucky am I to have such amazing and supportive people in my life?????!!!!???? <3  

Hulk strong with my escort, Brad, and speedy Kyle continuing to make sure I don't forget to "bring it" because "he's coming!"  LOL. :) 

Post-post-race

Really frustrated by the mechanics and logistics of a missed chip time.  My official time was 27:20!  First I did bad math: oh, I must have messed up my watch or the efficient running.  I failed big time.  But even Brad's watch had 25:17 ... that's like what .. wait, that's like 2 minutes.  I can't have missed starting a watch, or lost two WHOLE minutes by not running tangents in a 5K!?  And Kyle started *right* behind me, how can that have given him two whole minutes better time??? What gives?  

Next, I figured I had messed up the finish line time by taking pictures around it, and racing someone else to "almost" their finish.  Neither ended up being the case.  For some wonky reason the chipping didn't take at the start line, and default "gun time" was applied.  

This seriously hurts because: 1. its my PR now, and an unofficial PR doesn't usually "count."  This first thing I can discount fine .. because using even another friend's start, who was one row deep closer to the start than I, I get 25:17.  Brad and Kyle's starts are just a second or two behind hers, and I was right smack in between.  So WORST case, 25:20, when the gun at B went off, and STILL crushed PR.  I'm okay with that, even if it never appears online anywhere.  2. though .. 25:17 beats #1 leader in F35-39 for Grand Prix point allotment.  27:20 comes in 3rd or maybe even doesn't place for extra points, which drops me out of Top 3. 

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I sent an email to the race directors, and am really hoping they have a good back up system like Sizzler did last year.  Otherwise, a year's worth of effort down the drain on a technicality beyond my control. :(

After the running, as I thought, I didn't feel like a whole heck of a lot else.  Morning running Sunday because .. I have breakfast and a baby shower to get to! :) 

Chicago - Week 15 (8 to go!)

Monday
Distance - 6.2
Pace - 9:42

Hard morning.  Snooze button like 800 times.  (Poor Bill).  "Fingers crossed its still raining."  Oh, not raining.  Leaving.  "Fingers crossed Kyle bails."  Nope, Kyle wakes up too.  On the run: easy pace out, (Finest is coming, Judy.  Be good!), but then a little push on the way back, just because dang it felt good to run post-rain in *just* 70 degree weather.  (10:30, 9:58, 9:36, 9:40, 9:30, 9:18, and 8:08 for the balance).

I can't believe how different the pace on these is from last year.  I remember *dying* to see 10:14.  9:42 now comes without total burn out.  I also like these Monday runs because there are a lot less variables.  I run only with Kyle, so not too crazy of an external 'pacer' push (like sometimes Tuesday or Friday).  Almost nothing by way of hills.  No stops, or recoveries to artificially sweeten the deal, like Saturday or Thursday.  This is what me looks like in my most simplest "go for a run" format. The pace is the pace, and today, I love what it looks like!

Took a new present out for a spin, too.  (Thanks Humana Vitality Bucks!)

More info than I could ever possibly need!  But the heart rate chart is great.  Lots of time in the orange.  Probably a little too much time in the red for a Monday.  Tomorrow, if I wake up for #10KTuesday, I think purposeful back of pack placement is a *must*.

Evening
The Kilometer Kids fundraising hosted a "get tanked" event tonight.  Using an under water scale to assess body composition, the process gives more accurate and in detail feed back than your typical home bathroom scale.

(Details on how this type of thing goes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5wITqBfVz0)

I am not ready to go into a lot of detail on my results, but suffice it to say that the metrics pulled me into a SERIOUS (if short-lived) bout of depression and uncertainty.  How?  How can I be doing THE MOST I have ever done and have my numbers still be THIS bad?  How is all of "this" NOT enough???  In a matter of hours, I ran through most of the grief stages:   Denial .. I didn't breath out hard enough, I didn't wear the right swim suit, I misrepresented my height (5'0 versus 5'1 .. because I am 5'0.6" and never know how that should be reported). Anger .. tantrums all night, late bed time, no run Tuesday morning. Bargaining ... I tried to focus on this being a good thing:  if I am so seriously out of range, and am running sub-26:30 5Ks, there's such great room for improvement.  If that improvement comes seriously slowly, I'll at least see PRs for eternity, right???  Depression .. just hand over the cookies & wine, and nobody gets hurt.  It all showed up.  Acceptance didn't come until Tuesday, though, and with a lot of help from a friend.

Tuesday
Distance - 6.2 total, run/walk
Pace - didn't keep

Looks like I am running evenings this week.  One itty bitty mishap on the sleep front, and I am struggling with early morning again.  Oh well.

Acceptance - Missing the AM run was really a direct result of my shitty mood post-dunk.  I only really started feeling better after a chat with a friend, where I was forced to remember just about ever detail of how far I've come.  (tears at work .. needed that! .. thanks friend. :) ).  This turned the depression into motivation.  I dusted off My Fitness Pal, and started tracking.  The entire day!  Woo.  Under calories.  Lots of healthy choices.  Day 1(again) in the books!

Unfortunately, by the time I got on the treadmill (9 pm), I just didn't wanna.  So I started with a walk.  Something is better than nothing.  Tunes and warm up helped talk me into mile 2 being a run moderate.  (can't report a pace, but no less than 6 mph speed, adding speed every 1/4 lap, and into the 8 mph setting for the final 400 m).  Another walk .5.  I thought I would walk/run in mile increments, but at 1/2 mile of walk, I had recovered and was bored. Finished the .6 to 5K running hard, and then off treadmill so kid could watch t.v.  I wanted to get in more distance, even if not running, so after that, I took myself out for a 3.1 mile walk (at 9:45 pm, with head lamp).  Mainly I played Pokemon go, haha, but my neighborhood is hilly, so better than nothing.  10KTuesday the extreme extended edition. :)

Wednesday
Distance - 3.1
Pace - 9:40

Wednesday is typically rest or XT, but this week, I can't say my Tuesday was legitimate, and I won't run Friday in prep for Atlanta's Finest.  So I felt totally up for a quick 5K before work.  (especially since the work step challenge is still kicking my butt).  Took it complete easy for two miles, (10 min pace ish) and then ran at 10% race pace the last mile.  It was tough, but just for a mile and on a treadmill, handle-able.

Still tracking, too.  Day 2.  Looking forward to a Friday weigh-in for the first time in ages.  I won't be disappointed if I don't see TOO much change in four days, because its the WRONG time of the month for scale victories.  But maybe, just maybe, a smidge of a reward for the effort.

Thursday
Distance - FAIL

Went to OCEE with best intentions.  Walked around for a mile while waiting for speed work to start.  Then thunder / lightening rained us out.  Drove home with best intentions.  Stayed in work out clothes until after dinner, but then ..  started reading Harry Potter, and never got back to the 2 mile repeats.  Womp.  I wasn't thinking I'd do them full out, because I knew I wanted to taper, but I *at least* thought I'd run something.  OOPS.  Oh well. I started this training cycle early enough, and am feeling strong enough about what I am doing that I should be able to give this week to Finest, and after that one, no more.  Straight Chicago training to the nth degree from Sunday to October 9th.

Day 3 tracking .. going strong!  Added some crunches before shower and after work, too.

Today, I also read another post on the topic of the "dunk tank" body fat composition test, and it gave me the one piece of information I needed to go looking in my own blog for more info: Tanita.  As in "search: posts: tanita scale."  And from a March post, voila:

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

*SHOCK* I already had seen all of this information.  And back in March, I processed it as "progress" and not "FAILURE."  Mainly because the charts on this new print out say things like "Poor" "Very Poor" and contained other phrases with the dreadful "O" word, where I don't think the Good Measure Meals broke it down quite that way.  I will take overweight.  I know that.  But Obese is a word I banned from the vocabulary at least a year ago!

So .. I'm ready ..

August 
Weight 139 (I think that's a little high based on time of month, having eaten before tank, etc.  I'm at 137 or less most mornings, so I am sure this improved more than just 1 lb, and during marathon training, so I'll take it).
Fat % 32
My fat mass: 45
My BMI now is 26.7 (26 even if I use my most recent "lowest" of 135.7).

So yea .. slow .. but I AM changing.  We can focus on that!

In unrelated / very related news:  I already had an appointment to try something a little "different."  (scheduled pre-dunk test, for real)  And before you eeep, let me explain. ;)  I didn't want to try something TOO invasive (yet?), but I see these offers on Group On all the time .. freeze the fat, heat the fat, laser beam the fat to smithereens.  Original price: $2,400.  Now: $89.99.  Well .. so I decided .. what the heck.  Maybe I just need a little laser to stimulate the process ..  to get the fat juices flowing?


This picture makes my middle look humongous.  IRL, not THAT bad .. just the belt going around all those controllers, the laying down, the scrunched up dress, and the tipping of the bed.  For realz.  

I read about this for a bit (of course), and people don't lose A LOT with "I-lipo."  But they claim that when they measure, they lose CMs, and that their clothes fit a little better, etc.  I'm not looking for -10 lbs in 8 sessions, but at this point, help with -5 in two months would make all the world of difference.

Bonus for the Spa: during the consult, technician said, "but ... oh man ..  you're so small already."  I LITERALLY turned around to look for the person behind me who she must be talking to."  Then she said, "and oh my goodness, your legs!" ... which tipped me off that we were, indeed, still talking about me.  lolz!

After that, I stayed as pictured above for about 25 minutes (2 of 8 11-minute sessions purchased with Group On).  When I got up, I didn't "see" any miracles, and by the time I got back to work, I had a raging headache.  On the other hand, I did feel "lighter."  Pardon the TMI, but as a runner friend of mine once said about using the toilet ... "in a new weight category." LOL.

I feel kinda dumb for even trying this .. but desperate times call for desperate measures.  If it even helps me get a lb or two off just by placebo effect, I'll take it.  I'll update after I have finished out the rest of the sessions.  Fingers crossed.

Friday
Rest or XT

Swimming?  Maybe.  If it doesn't pour this afternoon, I guess I'll do that to loosen the legs.  Either that or a short quick mile or two of intervals (quick and slow) on the treadmill.  TBD.  If I do something, I'll come back and write on it.

Continuing the other conversation .. This AM, the scale said 136.1.  That's exciting, even though not my lowest recently because:  -1 lb from Monday, 2. by this point in any given month, I am usually at the HIGHEST I'll be that whole month, and 3. this was not post any exercise either the night before or the morning right before stepping on scale.  The other lowest was after a long run.  So I am SOOOO excited about stepping on that scale next Friday, and seeing a NEW lowest number.  Very motivated to keep tracking and doing my 80-100 sit ups, interspersed throughout the day.  Its working!

Re: "I-lipo," firmly in the camp of saying:  it does work. Probably gets a bum rap because it doesn't work miracles, per se.  And I'm sure the change is so minimal, anyone who isn't already monitoring this SO closely wouldn't notice.  But here's how I know, where other peoples might not notice...  I have a scar from a surgery as an infant on my stomach.  It causes a little pooch of fat to deposit above it.  This morning, the view down from my eyes to my feet on the scale looked SO different.  Almost flat above the scar.  Now below .. which is *the* problem area, I can't tell .. hoping same effect, just not as easy to see a small difference.  But little pooch most definitely seriously flatter.  Can't do that with a week of dieting.

Saturday
See race report

Total - TBD.  Pretty Sucky So Far

CHI Training - Week 14

Monday
Distance - 6.2
Pace - 9:53

So here's a weird thing.  I totally botched the rest of my weekend after Tailgate, and Total for last week was a measly 24 miles.  But ..  unlike the past Tuesday that caused major stress and guilt .. I. feel. Nada.  Woo.  I think my subconscious knows how to tell me: "you did good and plenty," when it wants to. Racing made my quads sore like the 18 miler didn't, so .. done. :) If nothing else, I think I could add a second run to Tuesday this week.  But I also feel like I could go on as planned without batting an eyelash, too.  If that's what the "PRO" weeks are for, then I think I'm good.

This does make me a little nervous about 19 on Saturday.  Everyone else will be running their PRO week (16 miles).  It will take a good amount of coaxing myself to get me to finish out the mileage on return to Armour .. BUT .. loops are good for the mental game.  'Just a couple more loops.  Any pace you want.'  I'll also have on my mind that I want to switch PRO again for Finest, so I may not have a chance the following week to get in 19.  Fingers crossed, all those thoughts will get me there this Saturday.  Toes crossed, the course won't be TOO mean.

This morning's run was just gett'er done.  No pace goals what so ever.  In, out, and on to mommy mode in 1 hr and change.  It was nice to have Michele back and out with us again.  Triplets in action makes me *soo happy.*  Unfortunately, we were a little uneven, what with her having tackled all the mileage Saturday, and I having logged all of one 5K.  But still, very nice to always have friends out there.  It was dark.  At one point I had to scream at a deer.  LOL.  Hitting this pace felt comfortable, except at the end where I pushed to get back, and on hills where I now am doing a little "playing."  Greenway hills are completely non-existent, but the baby "ups" on bridges, I am trying to really sprint.  Its about a 10-20 second push to get to the middle of each bridge, but 1. Chicago has no hills, so I pretend that these are the last hill on that course, and that I *can* still push, and 2. pushing up hill makes faster running after hill feel great.  Just another way to make the time pass, too, I guess.

Tuesday
Distance - 6.2+
Pace - 9:30 (???)



Woo.  I stuck to my schedule for sleep, and made it to 5am #10ktuesday.  And I didn't die!  <3

I did, however, run my fastest non-race 10K.  Crazy.  I have Brad to thank for that; he really pushed me to finish strong.

That's two back to back 10ks solidly under 10 min avg pace.  Very exciting.  If I cover Saturday as truly LSD, these runs at a smidge more "tempo" will be why. I'm cool with that.

Its also really nice to knock out the running in the morning.  This first week of school, I feel so "put together."  Run early, home / shower, help with last minute breakfast suggestions, drop kids off at school, head to work, and then not really have to worry about much of anything except cheer carpool in the evening a couple of nights a week.  Yesterday, I even read 20 pages of the new Harry Potter, and went for a tiny walk with the dog!  Feeling so .. normal.

Of course .. then this morning .. I had this thought:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, its Tuesday, August 9th!  TWO MORE MONTHS.  COMMENCE FREAK OUT MODE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lol.

Wednesday
Rest or XT

Since you don't really want to hear about how I slept and did nothing .. some other stuff:

• Step challenge

We started a step challenge at work.  Humbling!  I thought I'd have an unfair advantage.  Not so much.  I don't love walking.  I love running.  I get it done, and then I stay done.  So I will have to work hard to add more stepping to the non-running hours.  That said, if its a choice between a silly step challenge and marathon training integrity, I choose Chicago! :)  We'll see how it all shakes out. Today I took a small walk at lunch, and a 20-30 minute walk with the dog at night.  Just squeaked in 10,000.

• Push up challenge

Someone challenged me on Facebook to do 22 days of 22 push ups.  The first few days were TOUGH.  I skipped two days, and now I am thinking of starting back up again.  Same issue as step challenge:  its all fun and games until it messes with Chicago.  I'm not going to get so uncomfortably sore that it hurts to move my arms to run. Period.  On the other hand, upper and core strength is still a struggle, so I am going to use the excuse to keep trying. Tomorrow. ;)

• Chicago Wave 2 Start Corrals

Oh Chicago.  Why don't you seed people based on race results!?!  They seed based on expected finish time (self reported) for their "Wave 2."  How stressful for a newbie!  I don't want to commit to a number.  But .. decision made.  I will hold true to 10% goal, and to the way I like to use start corrals and official pacers.  110% better in my mind to be able to fall back, than to finish TOO "happy go lucky."  

• Weight loss

No weight gain so far, thankfully.  Minus a lb each month is about what I have been consistently able to achieve.  That sounds tiny, but consistently down is consistently down.  I'd love to get dramatic about it for a few weeks.  I used to be able to go gung ho: 5 lbs in 3 days, and all of that jazz.  If I could do the marathon at 129 rather than 136, how awesome would that be?  I am still "over weight." I am still in the 30% fat-ish range.  So I should be able to quit the sugar, and see immediate return.  In practice, not so much.  Even things that REALLY excite me (like Finest in 9 days), just don't dramatically change my will power level to do this "hard core."  Like with racing, really changing habits is uncomfortable .. and slow.  I never seem to be able to put the healthy eating at the forefront of my attention for long enough, either, especially when the #1 goal is all of the new distance miles, that in and of themselves, run me ragged.  So middle of the road is what I am finding will have to do until after October.

Thursday
Distance - 1 WU, 4 x mile / 400 m recovery, 1 CD

Splits - 8:20, 8:33, 8:28, 8:20

I did it!  I woke up at 4 am TWICE this week.  What a kick ass first week of school. Tackling it all like a boss!  (well, until I left my phone in the windshield wiper well, and took it for a ride .. but I digress). Boss!

Hard goal for these would be based off of Jog Days PR (8:28).  Even harder goal would have been to pace it off Finest hopeful time of 59:59 (8:23).  Easy goals were to pace it off marathon finish times of 4:30 (9:30s) or under 5 hour (10:30s).  I don't think the indicator chart buffers enough for longer distances! ;)  Or at least, it certainly doesn't have a "newbie who's never done this" parameter in its formulas.  I haven't run a 10:30 mile during speed work since 2014.  But it was nice to have the out .. if a split was over 9, I could just think .. must be marathon training. haha.

Against ALL of this info (too much really; I should just go do my indicator run again, and stick to what it says for the season), I ran fairly well compared to the previous two weeks!  Especially for the heat (which is a smidge better, but JUST a smidge better, in the morning).  I don't think I ran these quite as hard as at Suwanee that last ITFP workout I did  ..still miss pod sprinting with the K-man :/ for the finish win! lol.  But these were more consistent, and reasonably run.

I'm doing it! *^_^*

Friday
Distance - 4
Pace - Need to check .. 9:45ish maybe ...

Serious progressions run: 10:15, 10, 9:30, 9:15.  I *really* had in my mind that I needed to keep this one easy ... cuz new distance tomorrow!  Ran in the back for the first mile or so.  Riverside felt so perfect .. a little cooler than blistering because of the river.  Super flat, with good bits of negative elevation on the way back.  I got to run with Courtney on my way back.  (Brad? Courtney? I don't fool myself into thinking I am actually "running with them" but .. even this wasn't even possible a year ago. high fives all around :) ). That did push my pace a bit, but I tried to stay fairly conversational until almost the end, even though the temptation was definitely there to try harder to keep her at her pace.  But I knew that I didn't want to really push the day before 19, so I let myself be pulled a little, but not to tempo effort like early in the week. Just right.  Good Judy.

Saturday
Distance - NINE *tear drop* TEEN! (point two five, because I couldn't roll around in middle of rd.)
Avg Pace - 10:17!

This marathon has me so bi-polar.  One day, I am thinking: omg, this is the hardest thing ever.  Why didn't anyone tell me how cumulatively draining this would be??  God, I am so far behind.  I wish I had more time!  Why do I slog so hard when everyone else is prancing along at super human speed?  The next day:  bring it.  Bring it tomorrow.  Lol.  And also: wait, the other shoe is going to drop.  There's going to be a cold.  An injury.  The wall is going to bite my ass and eat on it for an hour.  Swag wagons for sure.  Because so far, this is manageable.  And that can't be right.

Which set of thoughts consume my brain just depends on the day.

About this run specifically: to sum it up, I made GOOD choices.  I knew we'd have to fight some serious elevation.  That meant no stupid moves pretending the first/coolest/flattest 7 were the only 7.

10:41, 10:41, 10:31, 10:08, 10:10, 10:11, 10:14

From there, mentally, I gained A LOT from the reset: begin again at ATC parking lot, and go out for a 12 mile run.  Just like I've done dozens of times before.  Not even a 1/2 marathon from here.  I started out with 10:15, but with breaks and whatnot, a 'real' 10:18 ended up being running with the top of 10s.  It took getting back into the zone: 10:26, 10:28, 10:19, but then from there 10:03, 10:38 begin hillfest), 10:38, 10:18, 10:10, 10:18, 10:03, 9:32 (??), and 9:52.  Hill fest =

Flippin ay man!  Chicago will have none of this heat or hills, so I will be ahead of the game .. right???? That or Enrique is a masochist! All of that though, and I held my own with 'fresh' NYC marathon top of 10 pod?  Boom.   (that group, by the way, was awesome. I could tell that on the return, they all still had more in the tank, so pushing a little to stay with them was perfection).  Now how can I just bag all these people I run with up and take them on my marathon????? 

Having this run at the end of a near-perfect training week puts me on cloud 9.  I did ALL the mileage, fought the hills, and still banged out a slow 9 for the new distance mile.  How can I not be the happiest person alive right now!!?? *^_^*

My sole mates. <3

Upcoming
I am so excited for Finest, I can hardly keep it under wraps.  I usually try not to get TOO caught up.  Or at least.. not let on that I am caught up..  in my goals.  But this time, I am just ready to say out loud that I am TRYING MY HARDEST to CRUSH IT.  If something goes wrong, oh well.  But I am going to be okay with caring.  I give myself permission to care out loud this time. :)  Damn the pressure that comes along with that.  Damn it to hell, and be done with it. lol.

Goals besides 'CRUSH IT' are going to be tough to set.  Here goes nothing:

90% - PR, preferably by at least 9s- this course is much more forgiving than Braves or Jog Days, so but for unexpected turbulence, I feel comfortable with calling this 90% certain.  Last year, this race was my PR from August to February.  Expecting same for 2016-17.   (26:08 - 8:25 pace) This is still going to be seriously tough, but I am hoping Beast Judy shows.  If she sleeps in, 90% goal is always just to have fun.

50% - 25:59.  On this course, I am going to call this 50%, just because its looking likely that I will have friends around me, and that, plus the negative gain on elevation, should put an 18s PR firmly in my wheel house.  As long as beast Judy shows up and I am ready to make it burn, of course.  50 50 likely, at least. (8:22 pace)  Note that even though its the 50% goal, it IS the goal.  This is what will make me dance like a loon at the finish line! :)

10% - This is the hardest one to set. With constantly changing abilities, what my MAX time goal could be is confusing.  I want it to be hard.  I want to try for it, with the total expectation of not hitting it (that's what 10% means), and be okay with wanting it for at least a few months before I actually hit it. When I look back to last year, subbing each of these summer 5Ks by -2, I can say that that's no longer the "beginner shave" spread I can pull.  So first off, 24:17 is off the table.  LOL.

So 10% for remainder of year is somewhere between 25:59 and 24:59.  Maybe 25:30?  (8:12 avg pace).    24:59 requires 8:02. YIKES! So maybe I just keep 8:02 for mile 1 of each 5K, and see how things go from there.  On the watch could be Min Pace: 7 (cuz who cares how fast I go for a 5K) and Max Pace: 8:22.  And we just see where that lands me.  Under 25 sounds INSANE, really.  (So does under 26, bee tee dubs).  I know high school cross country kids with 24 and change PRs for 5Ks.  On the other hand, just in Feb, I was running 28.  And here I am 2 min faster in 6 months.  So really, if this is for the remainder of the year, maybe it should be 24:59, and not 25:30.  On the other other hand, I will not keep making the same gains at the same ratios over time as I improve.  Soooo .. after all that .. not setting a specific 10% goal this go.  Watch will be be min 7, max 8:22, taking the first mile out on pace for 8:02 if I am able, and lets let the chips fall where they fall after that.

I'm not sure if you all have figured this out yet, but 5Ks are my favorite. *^_^*  And the "thought process" around racing is my favorite too. :) :) :)  The fact that it will keep my mind off Chicago for a week, even better.



Total - 44! *^_^*

Race Recap: Jog Days

Distance - 3.1
Pace - 8:28

Time - 26:17

So excited.  This race was awesome, in part, for its lack of awesome.  I had *no* mental game invested.  My legs were TIRED.  I'd run all my scheduled mileage for the week thus far ... no taper except having done 4 intervals instead of 5 during speed work.  There were almost NO faces in the corrals. (most of the tribe was at In-training). The morning heat was relentless.  The advertised hills; worse than I imagined.

Mile one, in my mind, there was no bad-assery what so ever.  In fact, I had unhappy thoughts of Women's 5K most of it.  (In actuality, I *think* I had a '7' split!  My auto laps were in 400m mode. Oops.  But if I do the adding, I *think* I ran a 7:16 pace? That doesn't make sense .. that'd be the fast I've ever run a mile, including races where I've just run a mile.  And flat.  Pretty sure I didn't do that.  But it um .. kinda says so on my watch .. weird).

In mile two, there was complete and utter misery.  This mile hit like a MAC truck.  Up an down, but mostly up.  I began seeing "10s" in my lap paces, and I figured this is when things went "down hill."  (what a stupid saying .,.  clearly whoever came up with that one never ran!).  (9:02 avg pace in real life .. paying for the out-too-fast start I didn't think I had had, plus hill fest.. but nowhere near as bad as I thought my watch was reporting at the time.  At least I am on the new watch, but I need to get better at understanding what its trying to tell me).

Mile 3, I felt some better moments.  After the "big hill" there is still quite a bit of work to do, but the comment one volunteer made: "the worst part is behind you" made it 'go time.'  I didn't have any issues with hydration, but the heat for sure kept me from hitting the final mile as hard as I wanted. (Split - 8:24)

.1 (8:20) - this was a heart breaking moment.  I did not remember that the final stretch was UP HILL too.  I took a look at my watch, thought that I had totally lost an possibility of a PR (Again .. really BAD at on-the-race math .. I had the sub-8:20 pace in my mind for under 26, and seeing myself over it, I figured I was going to finish in 27 something).  It took EVERYTHING I had not to just give it up and walk because .. ah, why not.  But as I made the turn, I remembered age group.  Its the last hurrah .. the prize that keeps on giving .. time goals are static, but other people in my age group have good and bad days too.  It made me have the same thought that saved the day out in Cumming on Memorial Day .. the other people in your age group are running the same course .. the same hills .. in the same heat.  If its hurting you, its hurting them.  And they're not stopping to walk.  Most days, it doesn't matter.  But it did in Cumming, where the race was small enough for the enticing possibility of hardware.  And now it matters during Grand Prix races.  In fact, in this race, I knew names of at least two of the Grand Prix folks on the age group results list, and I thought to myself "so and so is out here, and she's finishing strong, I'm sure" LOL. Does it matter that I don't even know so and so?  Nope. Haha. I'll have to introduce myself to these two "racing twins" of mine, and thank them for the push they didn't know they gave me. :)

In summary, though, to have set a PR under such mediocre conditions is SERIOUSLY exciting.  I didn't once .. not even at the straight away .. feel like I pushed to my racing all out pace.  That makes me very excited for Finest in two weeks.  Under 26 or bust!

Chicago - Week 13/22

Sunday
XT - Swimming for 20 minutes

I can't tell you distance.  Out and about on Lake Allatuna, and I swam to the "other shore" and back, and then to "that boat" and back.  Counting it as XT, but as far as "TRI" training .. maybe not so much.  Lanier TRI is for sure going to end up being a "fun run."

I can feel my quads a tiny bit today, and when I got up in the AM, I for sure wanted to do a little stretching, just to make sure planter doesn't become a thing.  But both things are so minimal, I'd barely count them as on the radar.  Great feeling at 18 miles! (knock on wood!)

The other dull ache is the one in my back.  Thinking on it, there isn't a time of day where my back isn't sore.  While sleeping, sitting, driving .. always just this dull ache in my lower back.  I would seriously benefit from some massage or yoga to stretch things out .. but who's got time for that! :/

Monday
Distance - 6.2
Pace - 9:56

Running on Mondays has become very efficient.  Get there, stretch, run, get home, go to work.  I can hardly say I said more than 3 things to Kyle the entire hour. But done.

I thought this run would be tough on tired legs.  It started out that way, but on the return alone, I started pushing myself anyways, and I'm excited that this is what a shake out run legitimately looks like.

Tuesday
Distance - Nada

Another week.  Same problems.  Opted out of 5am for no good reason, since I was up.  But being awake because you're too restless too sleep since 2am doesn't necessarily equate to wanting to go out and run.  In this case, it equated to continuing to try to sleep poorly anyways.  Then work stress obliterated any resolve I might have had to hit the treadmill in the evening.

I'm trying not to be too hard on myself about this.  This week, I do not have a super long run on the schedule.  (Saturday is 5K race + 13 PRO after.).  I may get tempted to do more after the race or on Sunday, (I think the ATC plan has 18, but I switched it with next week, since this Saturday is the Tailgate, and I am running that at 5K race pace, which is much closer to the PRO day than to EASY long day, plus by the time I do 18, it might be 100 degrees out after a race day ..  so I will pick this run up tomorrow, and deal with the consequences of too many days in a row toward the end of the week.

Right now, outside of running, I am *really* stressed, a bit sad, and just wayyy too overloaded.  The reality of managing back-to-school, my daughter's Senior year, my other daughter's returning cheer schedule, and "that other thing" I am working on fixing that's like a second full-time job .. dang, I am feeling seriously meh!  I knew that I would not be able to turn life off for this, but I didn't realize just HOW MUCH of a balancing act this would be.  Boy, to have the luxury of just training, like the pros do .. *jealous*

Wednesday 
Distance - 5 (treadmill)
Pace - Garmin cheated me in treadmill setting.  So somewhere between what Garmin called 10:10, and what the treadmill called 9:40.

The not so fun thing about treadmills is 1. that you get bored.  There was nothing ... not music, not the news on t.v., not people watching ... that could convince me that I didn't want to stop.  And that was before mile 2! My legs took that long to get warmed up to the 10min pace.  And try as I might, I couldn't "forget" that I was running.  This goes on until the "safe" point: half way.  After that, I feel pretty sure I can play games with the speed.

The fun things about being a distance runner on a treadmill: 1. playing with the speed.  you always know you're going to finish a workout negative (or at least I do), because at 2.5, I'll let myself hit the arrow once or twice at every half mile mark, and then every .25.  Finally, in the last mile, I hit it every .1.  By the end of it I am zooming, which brings me to ..  2. how much other people scope you out.  They're running 10-20 minutes tops.  They're wondering when the heck you're going to stop.  They're looking at you like you grew a third head when instead of folding like a deck of cards, you bump the speed.  That's fun. :)

Thursday
Distance: 1 WC, 4 x 1200, 1 CD
Goal: high ... using Braves 5K  ... 6:14 (8:22 avg pace)
Goal: low ... using 4:30 marathon goal ... 6:42 (8:59 avg pace)

1 - 5:42
2 - 6:11
3 - 6:18
4 - 6:25

It hurts to run hard.  And I didn't want it to hurt today.  The end.  I had run 5 miles at a decent clip not 12 hours earlier, and I don't want to completely tank Jog Days.  So I cut one interval (work out called for 5).  This worked with the rest of the fast crew, except can't blame that .. I'm sure they would have hung around for 7 minutes.

Anyhoo, as usual, took the first one out at an unsustainable speed.  It hurt.  So I babied myself from there.  Much better than last week, though.  The headlamp helped TONS, as did the Garmin.  I could actually SEE what I was doing.  I did still miss my pod buds.  Its really helpful to have a smidge of healthy pacing competition out on the track.  They're going to head back to OCEE, I think.  That park is better than Riverside, but I have gotten really attached to an ACTUAL track, like at Suwanee.  But it works .. each Thursday I should have TWO viable options for running with people.  Until the temperatures lean back in the favor of runs while the sun is out, I'm going to *really* try to be a 5AM crazy, but guest visit at OCEE when I fall short.

These sessions are mega humbling.  The last cycle, with trainees, and Michele or Kyle, I could hold my own among the top of the speedwork pack.  (not THE top, but among).  On the track these past couple of weeks with my "speed inspirations," I am for sure the baby duckling. *^_^*  Very okay with that; running with fast people eventually helps you get faster.  But in the process, I huff, I puff, and wonder if I've ever done speed work before in my life.  Every. Time. Lol.

Friday
Distance - Nada

Very important conversation PR, though!  Woo.  Fingers crossed. :)

Upcoming
Jog Days.  The trend of not important important races continues.  Damn you, Grand Prix.  Damn you!  I'm not getting back in Top 3, but I could try to stay in Top 5.  (I am 4th right now in my AG).

First decision: I'll race if I am feeling up to it.  No tempo run to save my self for Chicago long miles.  Burn out, and then slog whatever else is needed .. that's more my style. .. most days.

Second decision: what to put in the watch as a pace goal?  Hmmm.  25:59 has to be there.  I will most likely not hit it.  But I might as well get cozy with the idea of trying to hit it.  That's 8:22 pace (and to be safe, more like 8:18 ish).  Hilly course, but see below on last year Braves to Jog Days info.  So 10%, done.  Whether I want to chase this hard or not this go around will just depend on the day.

Other goals that come to mind seem as much 10% goals as this first one. Re-hitting 26:25 (Braves) registers as no different in my brain on the 'really really hard' scale.  So I will settle for that too, and call it 10% part 2. No 50%/90% goal this time around. I just don't care about anything else for this course. Last year, Braves was 31:30, Jog Days 29:33.  -2 minutes.  (and Finest 27:47, just about -2 more)  So minus 30s from Braves this year to Jog Days this year doesn't seem to be too much to ask, especially with how well training is going.  Again, though, just depends on the day I am having.  I have done all of my mileage this week so far, so the legs may just say "No." And that's understandable.

One thing I'd LOVE to do is to run at least ONE split in the 7s.  Hopefully not the first one. ;)  I will even take seeing a 7 digit in the .1.  (most likely).

So that's the "if its a good day, and everything falls in to place" possibilities.  Writing this after speed work, though, it is much more likely that this will end up being a moderate effort, and I will save the "serious" effort for Finest.

Chicago Training Week 12

Sunday
XT!

<3 my tribe!  Stone Mountain 2 mile sunset hike. :)

Monday
Distance - 6.2
Pace - 9:32

First one to the parking lot gets to  .. go home!

Unexpectedly zippy for a Monday morning.  Which belies the fact that I am feeling so generically tired, 12 weeks in, and with 10 weeks to go!  I was hoping for a short 5 miles, or a slow 10k.  But apparently, Michele is BAAACKK, and chasing her kept me movin', as did the thought of stopping sooner! ;)  Eventually, though, I was REALLY pushing the pace, all by my lonesome again, and to heck with it, lets just see what I can do when its not 80 degrees out .. because ... why not.

Then ..  ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.  Oh wait, no.  Just the start to the work week.  Mergh.  Is it October yet? ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Tuesday
Distance - Nada

Guilt trips.  Guilt trips everywhere.  I wanted to do 8 miles.  I left them for 7:15 PM.  Solo.  Bad idea.  Instead, I spent some time doing all the chores and driving around that I had been ignoring for weeks.  Ah life.

Wednesday
XT or REST

Missing a training day really wrecks havoc on a 5x week running plan.  4x a week = almost no problem.  There's another spare day.  But if you miss a Tuesday, your choices are to shove it in on Wednesday, and then hope that making your long run a 4th consecutive work out in the week is not a bad idea. (Hint: it is).  Or you take the (now 2nd) rest day as prescribed, and live with more guilt.

I am giving myself an in-between.  The punishment I reserve for especially bad behavior:  tomorrow, I work out at 5 AM.  Lol.  By default, I will probably push harder than I would have for tempo or speed work elsewhere, and the 4 AM start will get me back on early morning schedule.  Fingers crossed, I wake up. :)

Saddest thing ever!

Thursday
Distance: 1 WU, 5 x 1000 / 400m, 1 CD

I had such well-meaning intentions for this work out.  But things conspired against me!  (for realz).  The 1 WU was a little more work than I would normally shoot for (although, truth be told, not a lot more than the pace Kyle and I kept the week before at Fowler).  But I for sure heard a little heaving breathing coming from my general direction up the hills to the track!

Then there was the darkness.  5 AM track work is rough!  Its a little cooler  .. but in July, almost not even THAT much cooler.  No air movement, lots of humidity.  Eeew.  But the worst part was for sure not being able to see my watch.  How can you try to hit a target that you can't see?  I'm not an elite .. I have no idea what my target pace 'feels' like.  In the dark, I'd also lose track of which line was the go, and which line was the stop.  And finally, not only no pod to run on top of, like at Suwanee, but I couldn't really even see where the rest of the folks running with me were AT ALL.  So ALL of that is going to get the blame.  I hit my 4:59 (aggressive target) once.  5:10 (more accurate for what I am trying to do in Chicago) maybe twice, and twice off by over 30s or more.  Even the second one I *really* tried on, I couldn't see to stop my watch, and ended up unpaused when I looked down something like a million seconds later.  Mergh.  After that one happened, I basically aborted the work out.  Ran a couple of 'easy laps' just to say I got 5 in, and called it.  I felt totally fine on the way back to the car .. which is pretty much not the way I am supposed to feel.  So .. yea .. mergh.  But oh well.  Got up, got out, got something done.  Progress.

Needless to say, I will be back.  I think if I bring my Garmin instead of the Tom Tom, that will help with seeing metrics.  And if I actually charge my headlamp, I'll also be able to sometimes see buds.  So we WILL try again.

In fact, I am thinking that resistance is futile.  I might as well go ahead, suck it up, and hit up another #10KTuesday.  We already lost Kyle that day to 5AM.  And all my other runs are becoming morning runs.  The Tuesday evening sticks out like a sore thumb, and for that reason, is becoming the problem child.

But  .. we'll see.  I don't like bothering fast people either.  If I can't hang, and I end up pulling people back, I won't do it.

 

My cray cray fast friends. <3

Friday
Distance - 4 miles
Avg Pace - 9:45

I am seriously missing hubby, who keeps a completely opposite schedule from me. :((((   (Runner girl, guitar dude .. suckage).  So I ditched Riverside for some extra cuddle time, and ran 4 on my lunch break.

Squishing a run into the middle of my day felt very rushed, and I think I won't try it again; too much backed up at work.  But I couldn't let the mileage dip under 30 at this point, so done. I guess I'll have to plan a post CHI date night with hubby in October!


Saturday
Distance: 18 (friggin) miles
Avg Pace: 10:14

18 miles is a long distance to run ...



No, just kidding ... I am pretending to be a blogger, so you get the deets.  But the 1st sentence really does pretty much cover it.

It was nice to mentally be able to break up this run.  This one had a lot of segments.  First, we did 6.4 in loops around Armour.  That was a little draining mentally, but lots of friendly faces, and runner buds to help, as did the fact that relative to later, it was a smidge cooler in the dark.

The stop to stretch and OFFICIALLY begin marathon training was not TOO jarring.  In fact, I think it was a perfect catch of my breath.  How much fun to see ALL THE FACES again.  :) That said, there were a good bit more stops in the second leg, too: a quick 10 seconds to refill bottles at 3 of 10 miles (my 9.4 mark), another very quick refill at the end of the belt line, and of course, traffic lights where there are none at Riverside.  I have to keep reminding myself of that, because I really am getting WAY too "pace greedy."  I'm thinking about numbers relative to what I am putting out for 18 miles.  but I still have 8.6 to go!  Plus race day course semantics, plus never having tried this before.  Yes, I am decent at math.  Yes, I can tell you what I *should* be able to target at 10%.  No, I should not get to far ahead of myself!

In my corner:  heat training.  I didn't realize just how badass I was being out there this summer.  When your entire pod starts walking, and you're in at +6.2 miles over their distance, and not only can hold the pace, but have enough to push the pace at the end, hot dog, that's a kick ass feeling.  It probably helped that the ATC gods (or just god in this case) took SOME mercy on the elevation.  It was more than Riverside, but not a ton more.  On the other hand, as Michele and I always say .. it just depends on the day.  Thursday for me sucked.  Saturday rocked.  Everyone gets a little of both.

At about 15 miles, I found a new mantra.  The final water stop had run out of hydration.  We were all out.  Michele said: this is when the shit hits the fan, isn't it?  I spent about 2 miles telling myself that the shit was NOT hitting the fan.  "The shit is NOT hitting the fan.  The shit is NOT hitting the fan."  And it wasn't .. until Brandi. lol.  I met up with her along Monroe, and she, another participant and I finished out my 18 mile loop and a half back at Armour.

I knew Brandi was there for me, and I knew she didn't want to push my pace, but I do always push a little extra right before stopping, and I know her natural pace is FAST.  So I for sure tried.  That said, I pushed REALLY hard to finish the mileage this way.  On returning to home base, one of the other run leads said, "I thought about running out there and serving as Brandi's body guard.  It looked like you might stab her at any minute." hahahaha!

The Brandi effect: miles that start with a "9," when I really didn't even know if I wanted to finish them period!  (First 6.4 were cut off .. dumb watch .. but if you have to ask me if they were faster or slower, you don't know me too well .. Judy Out too Fast Barrett, at your service).

Whatever happened to my dang hair in this picture is never allowed to happen again.  I look like Adolf Hitler.  Or that I am going bald .. but only on one side of my head. lmao.  I have a widow's peak, and it is usually a little crooked (I blame two sets of forehead stitches as a kid), but this is ridiculous

Total: 34 (respectable) miles