Looking back a year

Last September I ran 29 miles for the entire month...this week 31 miles.

Finally Friday!

What a week!

Saturday- Air Force 10 k race for me and soccer game for Buster
Sunday- Buster's Birthday and crazy birthday party with 15 5-8 year olds.  (What was I thinking?!)
Monday- Work, soccer practice for Cub, zumba and weights for me
Tuesday- 10 x 400 on the track at 10k pace 5k pace (7 min miles)
Wednesday- Meeting after work, 5.5 mile run with zumbachica, soccer practice at 5:30 for Buster, 6:30 soccer practice for Cub (DH and I take a soccer practice shift)
Thursday- 50 min tempo run  3.1 mile tempo run plus 2 mile warmup/cooldown + weights
Friday- Pizza, beer and a movie :-)

On the schedule for tomorrow:

6 or 7 am- 12 mile run
10 am- soccer game for Buster
1:30 - soccer game for Cub
1-5- The boy's school's picnic
at some point I'll get groceries since there is nothing in the house hence the aforementioned dinner choice tonight.

Bring it!

This is my track, I can run to it from my house and it's usually unoccupied.  I love it, it's next to a lake, it's cinder (which can be dirty but who wants white shoes anyways?)  Tuesdays I'm here for my workout, just me, myself and I oh and the jr high football team on the field next to it.  I kicked butt this past Tuesday! 
My plan was 5 x 800 at 10k pace, but I wasn't feeling it in the warm up so decided to do 10 x 400 instead (same distance just broken up differently, right?)  I hit 1:45 for every single one.  I think that pace  just works for me!  I thought, until just now, ha ha, that I'd run them at 7:30 pace (umm, make that a 7 min pace) not a 10k pace but a 5 k pace.

Anyways, killed them, even managed to put the jr high kids to shame since they had to join me for 2 laps in their pads.  Talk about stinky!  I started to gag running by them! 


I stopped my mapmayrun.com app on the phone and this is what showed up!  So much for reliable...I promise you I did not cut across the middle of the field...  Must talk DH into getting me a garmin for an early xmas gift. 

Have a great weekend everyone! 

Race Recap: Air Force 10k

As you all know from my last post that I was a bit worried about getting sick before my race since I had the beginnings of a sore throat.  I took Zicam faithfully every 3 hrs for 3 days and the cold (which was sort of there- congestion was starting) was gone.  I felt great today!


I went to the Expo on Thursday and it was like Christmas for me!  Discounts all over the place.  Snagged some new threads, including some  Saucony armwarmers,  nice mizuno shirt, this shirt which I'd had my eye on for awhile, and an Air Force marathon technical shirt from 2009 (which I bought because $10 for good New Balance running shirt is cheap! but I feel like a poser since I didn't run it), oh, and a pair of running shorts.  Then I got my dh this gem of a technical tee so I could spot him at races! :-)

 Friday night I was freaking out what to wear since the temps were going to drop and I haven't really gotten used to running in the cold.  They were telling us to get there 1.5-2 hrs ahead of time.  Here was the forecast:

Decided on my running skirt, target tank that matches perfectly and I was going to wear my new armwarmers but decided last minute to take them off, good thing, I didn't have time to stay cold!

great view while waiting

So got up at 4 am, had my bagel and cup of coffee and headed out by 5.  Got to the Air Force Museum's gate for parking and hardly had to wait to get in and parked.   It was 5:20, so I jammed to music for awhile, checked facebook, then decided about  5:50  after watching hundreds of people walk by in the dark that I might want to get in line for the portapotties.  Did that and continued to walk about a mile in the dark to the start line.  Well, it wasn't really dark, they had portable lights going but they just blinded you more than anything and it was feeling more like 40 degrees than what my car said of 54 degrees. 

Finally got to the start line, hung out trying to stay warm for other hr, another trip to the portapotties they must of had over 200,if you walked long enough you didn't have to wait- and they were clean!  Very good, considering I always get the gag reflex when I go in those things!


So finally the RACE...
The Air Force Marathon started at the same time as the 10k so I decided to try running with one of the free pace teams, and found myself near the start line with the 3:15 pace group or 7:27 per mile pace.  The 10k splits after 3 miles with the marathon so I figured, I always go out too fast (6:55- 7:10 pace) so why not try it?  It worked for the 1st mile, then there was a hill, and wind, and I don't even have an excuse really, but I couldn't keep it up, so slowed down, watched the 7:40 pace group pass me.  Finally got to mile 2, (8:00 ) then it started going down hill again, Yay!, then I stayed pretty consistent. Messed up mile 3 to 4 since I saw a clock and hit my watch then noticed it had been only 4 minutes (I thought that mile had been quick!) so I hit my watch again thinking I must done something to it, then noticed the clock ahead saying 4 miles, ohhh, that other clock was for the other races. Oops!  Miles 5 and 6 felt great.  I was trying to chase down this woman in a white skirt ahead of me, finally did during the last mile, for her to speed past me the last .2 of the race!  Finished strong and PR'd!!!!!  46:45  

Splits:

Cub and Buster in their coonskin caps at the finish line!

Mile 1:  7:34

Mile 2: 8:01
Mile 3:  7:28
Mile 4: 7:05 (down hill)
Mile 5:  7:37
Mile 6: 7:26
Mile .2: 1:32


59 th overall out of 1668
14th overall female out of 956
3rd place in age group!  

Wait, what was that?!

My feet hurt suddenly, my IT band feels tight, my throat is slightly sore, what was that twinge in my hamstring?  Must be taper time!  I swear I become such a hypochondriac before a big race.

Granted, my feet are hurting a bit and it probably has something to do with my high mileage last week. Since I've been on DailyMile.com (friend me! Heather)  this has been the most I've ever done in a week.  32 miles.

I ran yesterday with my buddy and it was perfect weather and great run.  I did 6 miles and @Zumbachica ran another 5 since she was feeling guilty about not running much this week!  Loca.  It was a great run considering I was tired from the 9 the day before.  We ran through a beautiful field of daisies (or something similar) on part of the trail.

Not much this week on the training calendar, track workout tomorrow easy 2 miles and a 30 min tempo on Weds, Thurs walk through the AF expo, Friday rest.

Now I'm just worried about the Parking situation, since it seems I have to get to the base by 0 dark hundred or 5:30 am!  Then just chill out for at least an hour before I need to do anything.  I was going to drag the fam with me but somehow on a Sat. morning, sleeping in will probably what they will dh will want to do.  We'll see how that goes...

My 9/11 memories

I have been on the edge of crying all day.  I'd been dreading this day for a week, we had our 9/11 memorial at work. I have a hard time keeping it together and I hate crying in public.  My big girl job is teaching. My students have a very shielded account of what happened that day, not only because of age but also the lack of proximity to Washington or NY. 

I live in Ohio now, but in 2001 I lived in Washington, D.C., still a newly wed, starting my second year in my job.  I had just heard that a plane had hit the world trade center from a co-worker and we all assumed that it was a freak accident.  It was maybe a minute before 3rd period, so we all figured we'd hear about on the nightly news. 

I announced to my class that I'd just heard there was a plane crash in NY and I remember this kid say "Who cares?".  I told  him my dad was a pilot so I immediately think of my father when I hear about crashes.  I wasn't worried about him since he was a corporate pilot.  The rest of period went on, and by 4th period the kids where coming in saying that there 2 buildings hit, that they'd fallen down.  I was sure that they were being typical kids and were exaggerating.  Then my fellow XC coach walked by, running his hands through his hair looking extremely distressed and told me "They've hit the pentagon- we're under F-ing attack!"  I just couldn't get my head around this...there were no TVs in my room, no announcements had been made, no smartphones to check.  

I tried to get online and all the websites were overloaded, then Marina (can't believe I still remember her name) who was Russian, tried a Russian news website and sat there and translated for the whole class.  Kids started getting panicky as they realized that their parents were in the pentagon or had family downtown.  There was news that another plane was heading for the DC area. Honestly, I don't know how but  I managed to keep calm.  

Then it was lunch time, and my department ate together in our workroom, listening to the local news radio.  Every single one of them had spouses were federal employees.  The metro was closed, evacuations of DC were happening.  Then we got the call that schools were closing early so they could use the buses to help evacuation of downtown.  I went out to my car, which I couldn't find because I'd parked in the back since we were going to have XC meet that afternoon- something so normal.  So drove home listening to the local radio, trying to grasp what was going on.  I got home around 1 and found my dh at our neighbors apartment watching the coverage together.  I sat there stunned like every one else. 

Pentagon-maybe a week later, taken from our car

It was so strange that people were just pulling off the exit ramp and walking towards the pentagon, we were not alone in our need to see.

We had some desire to see first hand the damage later, to pay our respects at the pentagon.   Here are a few of our photos.



  Since May 2001, I'd been doing a Marathon training program supporting  Whitman-Walker AIDS clinic in DC.  We'd been training for the Marine Corps Marathon for 4 months.  We had our normal training run that Sunday, and there was talk that the marathon might be cancelled since the Marines are the ones who sponsor it and they might be at war.  The marathon did take place and when we ran by the Pentagon everyone sang God Bless America.  We all teared up, running by other runners who were carrying flags, running in full FD gear, people running in memory of someone.   Here are some of the pictures from the 2001 marathon.    This is my story.

Blah

I really shouldn't complain but here it goes!  It's cold and rainy and I'm just not liking it right now. 

Or maybe because I'm tired, so tired I didn't have any energy to run yesterday, today the same...I was going to do 6 on the trails, but because of the rain, cancelled that and went to the Rec.  Treadmilled it slowly and only got 2.7miles in before my 25 mins were up.  (Hate that feature on those treadmills)  Then looked at the time, decided I had enough time to lift then pick up the kids without being too late.  Nothing like Mommy Guilt to speed up a workout!

Meanwhile, I'm sitting here trying to figure out how much to taper for this 10k next week.  I want to do well but I need to get the mileage for next month.  Ugh. 

 Anyone else training for 2 races?  How do you do it?  Following any training plans in particular?  Comments?  Anybody?

Running Naked

Got you to look! 

I had a race today and I decided that I'd not time myself so that I could run by how I felt instead of worrying about my time.  It was a great idea! 

This morning was around mid 50 degrees and it was so refreshing after the entire summer of heat!  I felt good.  Almost too good- like I probably should run a bit harder next time.  The race didn't have timers at the mile markers- so I was completely clueless on my time. 

I took the first mile (I think) pretty conservative, I'd placed myself in the right spot, so I wasn't dodging slower runners and I wasn't sprinting to keep up.  Mile 2 was great, wind at my back.  Mile 3 I still was feeling strong.  Sometimes, I get winded (maybe that's not the right word) but generally start feeling gross/tired and I just try to hang on for end, but today I was strong.  I powered through the last mile- actually passing people! I was surprised to see the timer at 22:32 when I crossed the line.  I felt great- I could go for another few miles at that pace...good thing since the Air Force 10k is in 2 weeks.  

My dh always tells me after how many women were ahead of me, 13 today.  So, 14th overall, 3rd in my age group.  I'll take it!

 Cub ran the kid's fun run, which was about a 1/2 mile.  It was so fun to watch them take off since they were all sprinting.  Cub ended up getting 3rd place.  He looked like he was having a blast and he got the famed "Participant"ribbon which is a family joke of ours since I won a 5k outright and was handed a nice black participant ribbon- not even blue for 1st place! 

Waiting for mommy to be done running!

What's nice to see is all the lifting that I've been doing is starting to pay off.  So what did I do later? Go lift!  It was Monday, and Monday and Wednesday are my lifting days.  I also ran another 3 since I'd postponed my long run for this race.  I wanted to get an additional 6 miles in but after the race this am and lifting my legs were pretty tired so 3 it was.  

Weekend update

I might have to take this off, seriously creeping me out

The weather has really cramped my running style this weekend.  Yesterday was way to hot so I ended up  doing 5 miles on treadmill while watching Man Woman vs nature show.  Not a fun show to watch if you are squeamish like me!  Leaches, huge spiders, yuck!, but I was going to fast to push the TV channel button on the screen to change it.  Oh well! 

Not the same ducks but you get the point

Today has been storms after storms, and I just didn't feel like getting soaked. But I had to do something since my running partner ran 13.1 on her own today. I also was debating how much to run since I'm running a race tomorrow.  I need to get a long run in but I hate not doing well at races so I decided 6 was good enough.  I watched the pool- which I assumed was closed but the guards were there.  They were trying to get a duck that was just swimming around in the pool by herself, she'd come out then go back in.  I think they finely gave up, and the guards went back inside- and then about 6 ducks came out of the bushes and got in the pool. It was like something out of a cartoon.  This was way more entertaining than reruns of Sex in the City that was on TV

Tomorrow is a special race for me.  I'm running the Holiday at Home 5k.  Which was my big modest return to running.  In 2008, I started going to a boot camp class at our Rec and at the end of the summer was this race.  We'd been doing some running but not 3 miles worth...I'd been doing zumba as well so I had some cardio.  My goal was to finish and maybe break 30 mins.

Results:

2008- 28:36

2009- 26:00

2010- 24:41

2011- ??

I'm also running a virtual 5k sponsored by Casey of Running after Bugs and Bees. 
Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend- probably should start dinner now!

Crazy busy

Ok- so I'm a complete failure in updating my blog lately.  So my big girl job has required a bit of effort lately and the boys have returned to school so our life has been exhausting.  I managed to get some good runs in as well. 

SUN- Ran my longest yet (since kids- that is) 12 miles on the trails.  My running partner and I met up at 7 am on a Sunday. It was actually chilly enough that I left the house with a sweatshirt!  Can't wait for more crisp running weather.  Managed to go about a mile when Carrie took a nose dive (sorry Carrie)-damn roots! Thank goodness she was ok.  Anyways we managed to get through 4 miles when we saw deer just along the trail and they stayed put so I could get my phone out of my armband to get a pic. 

MON- I could only manage 1/2 mile on the treadmill and weights.  Then off to ZUMBA.  I absolutely love doing zumba after running long the day before.  It totally loosens up the legs/hips and it's something that isn't running.  :-)

TUES- Track workout day.  4 x 800 at 7:20 pace.  Did this at "my" track, near my house.  It's an old cinder track by a lake.  Totally reminds me of Jr. High- since our track was cinders.  I decided to run after work- wow! it was really hot...(but less mommy guilt about leaving later)   I was thinking that I might try for another 800  and about puked after one lap so decided against finishing that one. 

WEDS-  Crazy soccer night at our house.  I took Buster to his first practice at 5:30-6:30, hubby took Cub to his soccer practice at 6:30-7:30.  We might as well have a revolving door in our house!  I was so wiped out from (I think) the 12miler and work I had no desire to go run later.  Decided a "rest" day was in order.

THURS- Tempo Thursday.  Another super hot day in Ohio, so I headed right to the Rec after work and got my 45 min tempo run in.  I did first 24 mins at a 7:41 pace and next 24 mins at a 7:30 pace.  (Can you tell the TM have a time limit of 25mins?)  all in all 6.2 miles in 48 mins.  Awesome! Almost my PR for a 10k.  Only 2 weeks left before the Air Force 10k.  I'm feeling good about it (knock on wood!).

FRI- 100 degrees and a scheduled soccer game and plans to go run 3 and a quick lift but instead...pizza and a beer and blogging....carbo loading, right?

This weekend- I'm not sure what to do... running a 5k on Monday, but I need to get a long run in too.  Might run after the race.  Anyone ever done that?