THE END...of this nonsense

A little late - but better late than never.

TIME: 2:07:52

and I finished the last 100 yards or so with Max.

Week 18 - Burnout

It happens to the best of them, whoever they are. It has happened to me. THANK GOODNESS it is almost over. I am SICK AND TIRED of all this constant running. Just want to get it over with. I need a break. My body needs a break. My mind and all the mental "toughness" that goes into long distance running needs a break.

ONE MORE WEEK TO GO. HALLE-FUCKING-LUYAH!

This week was more taper but with a decent weekend run - not long, but decent. I have drained the well dry in terms of motivation to run, so it's a pretty pathetic week.

at this point I DONT CARE. Neither should you. Here's how I rolled:

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday: OFF - have I mentioned I am SICK of running??? yeah. sick of it. oh, and WTF is with this weather? rain. cold. more rain. wind. 40's. Oh yeah:

burnout + crappy weather = NO RUNNING. pretty simple.

Thursday: ok ok. I'll run. do I have to? yes, yes I do. FINE. 2.6 mi or so at work. climbing up Crescent all but killed me. freaking hill. alright? I ran - check that box.

Friday
Saturday: OFF - little to know interest. not even panicked about not running. so don't care.

Sunday: ok - panic setting in. I've only run once this week? OH SHIT. got my lazy ass out on the road and ran 4 mi. Ok - check the box.

adds up to not quite 7 mi and a whole bunch of apathy. AWESOME.

luckily one more week and I can take a break from this whole running thing. HELL YEAH!

Week 17 - Sick...and Tired...

With the changing weather comes: changing of leaves. rain. wind. cooler temps. pumpkins and a candy explosion. breaking out the sweaters and hoodies. putting away the open-toed shoes/sandals (BUMMER). turning off the AC and cranking the heat (already? geez).

aaahhh. fall.

oh, and COLD AND FLU SEASON. Dammit.

you'd think by now with two little kids who bring home every germ on the planet (well, close), that my immunity would be TOP NOTCH.

nope. the first cold of the season is upon me. starting Monday morning with a sore throat, it morphed into a nasty head cold that lasted all freaking week. if I thought it'd be a bitch to run in the wind and rain that is now West Michigan, add to that the inability to take a deep breath.

nice.

at least this week starts the glorious taper - and one last long-ish run before THE long run.

Monday - yeah right. off

Tues - still sick. OFF beotches!

Wed - ok - better run. 3 mi. hell on earth. snot everywhere. gasping for air (where's my Oxygen mask??). feel like I'm 85, not 35.

Thurs - HAHAHA. off

Fri - whatthefuckever. off

Sat - I should run. 6 mi. ugh. nah, give the body one more day to sort itself out. OFF

Sun - 6 miler. like my dad affectionately told me: SUCK IT UP. ok, did. done. and it actually felt pretty good. was only going to eek out 4 or 5 (if I could make it). but by mile 4 I felt pretty good and busted the 2 more miles to get to the requisite 6. Last long run before the race. oh thank goodness. I'm getting tired of this shit.

a pathetic 9 mi of running - but considering I'm sick, not too bad. it's all relative.

ARE WE DONE YET? 3 more weeks to go. THE END IS NEAR.

and that's a good thing.

Week 16 - Can we stop with the cross training?

Yes, it's official. NO MORE mountain biking for this chick. At least, no more until after October 18. OK people? You (and YOU know who YOU are) can stop telling me to stop. Done. Kaput. Against my poor judgement, I have decided it isn't worth getting hurt worse than I already am.

And yes, you've guessed it, I went out biking this week and AGAIN hurt myself. so, ok. no more.

totally sucks.

The week goes such as this:

Monday - off

Tuesday - ran 2 mi in the FREAKING rain. 2 and only 2. it was lightly misting when I walked out my front door. just barely raining as I got to the main road. Unholy DOWNPOUR as I turned down the main road and headed away from the development. Now, I can run in the rain. I HAVE run in the rain (10K Riverbank Run anyone??). But this rain, now this was something else. I couldn't SEE. The rain poured down my face. My contacts kept swishing around in my eyes.

I literally COULD. NOT. SEE.

I stopped and turned around after about 5 min of this BULLSHIT. And then, only then, did the rain mysteriously and abruptly STOP. Just like that. Like Mother Nature was fucking laughing at me.

Bitch.

I eeked out another mile and a half but my legs were tight and I was soaked to the bone. Eff it.

Wed - mountain biking. SKI AREA. first time EVAH for me and Leanne. Ramp up the technical difficulty. Yeah, I'd say so. Tight twisty turns, especially the downhill ones - NFG. My major difficulty. I think I'm too timid on that shit, so I brake and topple over. This time - I did it on one of those downhill turns that was thick with sand. I bit it. HARD. full force into my left shoulder. DOWN AND OUT. Leanne now knows that when I yell/shout/curse - I'm ok. I made NOT A SOUND on this fall. Nor did I speak when she reached me and asked if I was ok. Uh oh.

Eventually I made it up to my feet. My arm? I swear I thought it was broken. Had to walk out. Could barely grip the handlebars let alone ride the bike out. we chilled at the cars for a half hour or so until I felt like I could drive home. Put a call in to my dad (the orthopod) who informed me if it wasn't swollen (it wasn't) or tender to the touch (nope), then it probably wasn't broken.

yada, yada, yada, my arm wasn't broken but pretty badly bruised. ice and advil. my friends to the end.

OK - so yes, I understand. No more for a while. If I'd have broken the arm - that would have really sucked for the whole running thing.

Thurs - are you kidding me? O - F- F.

Fri - yeah right. arm still jacked. O F F. fuck it.

Sat - ran 4 mi - felt ok considering. my legs were sore from the bruising they've endured the past 2 weeks but the arm was better.

Sun - nothing of note. 30 min of bullshit/maybe 3 mi in all.

tally: 2 + 4 + 4 + 3 = 13 mi total. weak. very weak. one more semi long run (6 mi) next weekend and then the last two weeks of serious taper. Ahhhhhh....

Week 15 - Hard knocks

Last week I didn't run much. Missed the long run to boot. I knew this week would be rough, as I've noticed that it takes 6 months of running to build up a good base and stamina and get to the point where I can train and run and not be sore, yet it takes only one short week of not running to LOSE IT ALL.

WTF?

So considering I had the 10mile Bridge Run to do on Sunday, I figured I wouldn't push it too hard running during the week. Good thing too, as my quads were sore as hell from even the easy runs I did.

And there there was Custer. Fort Custer. A dream for hard core mountain bikers. And by hard core, I mean bikers that are GOOD, that have SKILLZ, and that DON'T SUCK.

AKA: NOT ME.

But I went anyways, thinking I was badass (right Leanne??) or something equally stoopid. And I went two days before the 10mile race. I figured, how hard could it be??? Meh, it'll be fine! No worries.

Uh, WRONG.

Here we go:

Monday: traveling back from Florida - so OFF

Tuesday: ok, let's get back at that whole running thing shall we?? Uh, yeah. Did 2.5 mi and at a pretty good pace (~9:30min/mi), but didn't want to push it distance-wise as I could feel it in my quads (esp the hip flexor - not something you want to pull the week of a long race!!). Yeah, been running all freaking year, and it took one week off to lose is. I HATE THAT SHIT.

Wednesday: off

Thursday: another easy run - this time 3 mi again at a good, sub-10min/mi clip. Again, didn't want to push the legs too hard in preparation for Sunday's race. This run felt better than Tuesday's, and it worked out some of the soreness from the quads. Sweet.

Friday: crosstraining...CUSTER STYLE. Ok, so the thing about Custer is this: it isn't physically demanding, but mentally it is HELL as it is very technical. And while I can power up hills without much problem, it is the finesse and scary shit I have a problem with. So here we are, Graveel, K8 and I, going along, about 10 min in, and we come to what apparently used to be BMX trails - loop-de-loops with high-banked sides and tight turns. I come to the top and immediately hammer on the brakes - promptly sliding down the first loop and getting dumped on my left side. oops. yeah - this part is all loose dirt and not conducive to hard braking. my bad. So I watch the other two psychos do it and think to myself, "self (MEG!), I can do this!!".

So I grit my teeth and go. totally fine (minus the yelling at the top of my lungs) down and around the first loop, so I started thinking, hey, I CAN do this! And then...well...I dunno what happened, but as I came around the turn for the second loop something bad, very bad, went down.

me.

HARD. smack on my right side. into a cloud of dust and dirt. In fact, that was all K8 saw of the spill from her perch at the top of the first loop (where she went back to in order to watch me attempt this nonsense). took me a minute to gather my composure and spit the dirt from my mouth. wow. that stung. yep, gonna leave a mark, or 20.

but I got back on the bike and proceeded to ride another 2 hr - quite a bit of it was spent either staring at things I couldn't mentally get past to try, or walking with my bike over/around/down stuff I didn't even consider trying.

Good times. I HATE CUSTER. K8 - WHEN DO WE GO BACK????

Saturday: OH HELL. my knee...my hip...the bruising...oh hell. I can barely walk. A lump on the outside of my knee the size of a jumbo egg. A lump on my hip the size of a softball. Black-and-blue all over. OH HELL.

Sunday: 10 mile Gazelle Sports Bridge Run. feeling stiff and sore first thing when I got up. But whacha gonna do? suck it up loser! well, turns out running this race might have been the best medicine for my aches and pains, although 10 mi might have been pushing it. But in hindsight, running this race forced me to do the 10 mi I was supposed to do, and if it weren't for the race, I doubt I'd have run even half that distance on my own. So it all worked out I suppose. And the race went pretty well - the weather was good, albeit a tad chilly at the start, and once I got moving my knee and hip loosened up and felt ok. Finished in a decent time for me - sub-100min, so I was happy with that. But boy did my hips and knees tighten up big-time when it was all over. And at mile 9 I started to feel a bit woozy - good to know for the half, as I'll suck down some GU around mile 6 or 7 to fend that off.

FOUR WEEKS TO GO - the countdown is ON! And the training is relatively easy from here on out as I taper my long runs down to keep my legs from tiring out for the big day.

TALLY: 2.5 + 3 + 10 mi running + 8 mi biking = 23.5 mi. Not bad, minus the bruises and lumps.

Not bad at all. Bring on the half-marathon. BRING IT!

Week 14 - Florida agenda intervenes

Florida. The Sunshine State. Hot. Humid. 5 inches of rain in 2 days.

Need I say more?

This week is being chalked up to my MASSIVE THROW-AWAY WEEK. Considering the fam was traveling to Florida for my Zayde's 95th birthday party. Ridiculous thunderstorming torrential rain all day on Saturday. Add in a marathon car ride across the state to visit with Mama Ruth and Papa Oscar on Sunday and there you have it.

But you know what? My legs are probably thanking me. And except for cursing the rain Saturday morning, my time was much better spent visitng with family than running in the oppressive humidity. So while I am kinda FREAKING OUT about missing my long run this week, I'm over it. Let's move on.

The recap (while I grit my teeth):

Monday - rode Game Area with Leanne - last time for this trail for the season as it will be closed for hunting upon my return from FL. This ride SUCKED ASS. BIG TIME. I don't know what my problem was, but I got a horrible cramp right under my ribcage on my right side pretty much at the start, and it never went away. every bump hurt. I bit it on both uphills on 2. No mental focus. Decided to bail and not do the last 2 parts. SUCKED!!!! Pissed off since I can't ride this trail again til spring. Wanted to try to get another ride in this week, but it just didn't happen. Oh well. Now it's on to the Ski Area - which I have never ridden. Apparently it'll be right up my alley - lots of cardio uphills but not too much more technically challenging than the Game Area. We shall see...

Tues - off

Wed - was planning to do 4 mi or so. until the Maxer decided to go with. first he wanted to run with me - so we ran up and down our street (about 1/2 mi) - call it my warm up. Then he decided he'd run enough, so he rode his bike down to 32nd Ave and back while I did a mini-fartlek (about 3 mi total). Plus I had to push him up the gentle hills to boot. Took about 45 min total - but it was a workout for me. And kudos to the tornado for biking like a champ.

I can't wait until he's old enough to go on trails with me. We are going to TEAR - IT - UP!

Thurs - travel day - re: off.

Fri - a day to relax - re: off. spent the beautiful FL day in the sun - swimming with Max and just chilling out. Besides, I was planning to do 8 mi on Sat. So NO PROBLEM!

Sat - rain. lots off rain. started at 3am and didn't stop. ALL DAY. Torrential rain. thunder. lightning. K8 - I AM NOT A WUSS. you wouldn't have gone out in this either. so no long run today. the beginnings of FREAKING OUT...trying to stay calm.


Sun - left early with the fam to head to Palm Beach to see Mama Ruth and Papa Oscar. 4 hr each way. The kids did great, considering. And, what a great visit. Totally worth the drive. On the flip side - no running. Left too early to get a run in, got home at dark. HOLY SHIT. Week 14 - and I am missing a long run. Is this bad?? It feels bad. Real bad. Like I didn't do my homework. The dog...she ate it! I swear! Is this gonna screw me up? I dunno. I'd like to believe it is good for my legs to take a break. Does that sound good to you???

it gives me a headache thinking about it. Oh, hello denial! So nice to see you!

Meanwhile, I can't even bring myself to tally this week up. So I'm not gonna. You can do the math. And you don't even need a calculator.

next week is the 10 mile Bridge Run. and I missed my long run this week. and only ran once.

FREAKING OUT HERE. FUCK ME.

Week 13 - Holy altitude Batman!

Spent the week in Santa Fe NM for a conference Bacillus ACT (look it up if you really want to know). According to Wiki, Santa Fe is located at 7,000 feet (2134 m) above sea level, making it the highest state capital in the United States. That's cool - I'm up for a little legal EPO doping. Yeah, that is until I tried to run in this elevation. HAHAHAHAHAHA! Seriously. I know the body adjusts, but HOLY HELL PEOPLE. How does my dad do it?? I've since decided it isn't fair that he trains at this altitude all the time - it's akin to cheating me thinks.

Regardless, I am still proud of myself for sticking to the training and running 2x while I was out there. Add in a couple of decent hikes and I'll call it a good week. Here's how it went:

Monday: ok, let's RUN. 7000ft above sea level can't be THAT bad...can it? Oh yes, yes it can. within 5 min I was huffing and puffing like an out of shape slug. 10 min in and I was sucking wind and ready to collapse. I lasted 25 min, feeling like I was dying the whole damn time. sweating like it was raining. I have no idea on the distance, as I kept looping around and around all the little streets by our B&B. I'm going to guess 2.5 mi (but I have a feeling I am being generous).

Tuesday: blew off the meeting and spent the day in Taos. Went on a sweet hike overlooking the Rio Grande River - 2.5 mi. over the course of an hour. Call it my crosstraining day.

Wednesday: Bandelier National Monument outside of Santa Fe. I love this place - visited it about 6 yrs ago when Bill and I went out for a visit with Dad and Eunice. If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend checking it out:

http://www.nps.gov/band/index.htm

Went hiking around for about an hour and covered 2 mi. Nothing too difficult except for climbing 140 ft to see the Alcove house (this consisted of climbing 4 wooden ladders to get up there). The climb was a bit dicey and tiring, but man, the view was so worth it. Chalk it up to another crosstrain.

Thursday: ok, let's try that whole running thing again. This time? My body must have adjusted some to the elevation because this run felt WAY better! did a little over 30 min and could have kept going, but I didn't want to push it, and I had a meeting to go to after all (although after reading about all the road trips you wouldn't believe it!). The first 5 min were rough and I started thinking to myself, "self, this is gonna SUCK!!!" But it got better, my breathing stabilized and the run felt good. Sweet. I again have no idea how far I went but I'll go out on a limb and guess 3.5 mi

Friday: Travel day - i.e. NO RUNNING (off)

Saturday: was planning on doing my long run today, but decided to do it on Sunday and just take today chilling with the family and letting myself recover from an exhausting travel day.

Sunday: long run day. did 7 mi in the a.m. at a slow-ish clip (10:15min/mi or so). felt good. except for the blister/callus that has formed on the side of my right heel. OUCH. Where did I put my lube...

Totals: 2.5 + 3.5 + 7 mi running and 2.5 + 2 mi hiking = 17.5 mi total.

next week is another abbreviated week interrupted by life (as in, traveling to Florida for a family function). My 9 mi long run on Sat should be fun in the Floriday heat and humidity!

Week 12 - Hitting a wall...a brick wall.

This week I knew I wasn't going to get in my cross-training, as the weather forcast and having too much going on at work and at home were all working against me. So I made it a point to run longer distances on the days I ran instead. I figured it would all balance out. Except for one thing:

RUNNING IS NFG ANYMORE!!!

I don't know what happened. Was I not eating right? not hydrating properly? or have I hit a dreaded "wall" in my training. not sure. either way my runs for the most part this week felt horrible and my recovery from them was even worse. this does not bode well.

not well at all.

Monday - ran 4 mi. this run actually felt decent. from here on out it went downhill. FAST.

Tues - off

Wed - a dreaded OOPS run. ran 5 mi. meant to run 4. needless to say I took this run out at a much faster pace (9:15 min/mi) than I should have for a 5 mile run. BUT I MEANT TO RUN ONLY 4!! I decided to turn down a road that I was sure looped back down to the main road. You know, diversity and all. Instead, I was wrong about this loop, and it looped back UP to the main road, not down. By the time I realized this it was way too damn late. So I had to make the call - continue on and run all the way around back to the main drag (something more like 5.5-6 mi), or cut my losses, turn around and go back down the loop. I turned around. IT SUCKED. HARD. Felt terrible pretty much the whole time. And after I got home it didn't get better. my legs felt massively tired and so did I. Had tons of trouble sleeping - had to get up and take advil at one point my legs were so achy. I dunno what happened, but it is no good.

Thurs - off. felt like utter crap all day. headachy, tired, legs crampy. halfway thru the day I POUNDED water and finally started to feel better. Made the realization that I was probably dehydrated, and this is after not being properly hydrated for the run on wed. dammit.

Fri - off. still don't feel that great. I'd better not be coming down with something. considering I have the tornado's 5th bday party the next day, and then am off to Santa Fe for a conference for a week. dammit.

Sat- was planning to run 6-7 mi. made it 5.5. This run too felt crappy. Just couldn't get my breathing down. my legs felt really tired the whole time. and mentally I just wanted to stop for most of the run. NFG. buck up! I have 12 kids coming over in a couple of hours - get it together!!

Sun - travel day, so OFF. survived the chaos that is a 5 year old's birthday party. Up early and off to Santa Fe, where the 7000ft of elevation await me and my sucky training. yeah I know - GOOD LUCK WITH THAT. thanks.

final tally: 4 +5 +5.5 mi running + 0 crosstraining (BOO!) = 14.5 mi running, the majority of which felt like utter hell.

what have I gotten myself into?

Week 11 - Toledo and Daveshit

Ok - so this week started with a whimper and went out with a B-A-N-G, daveshit-style. Yes, don't worry (especially if you are here from FB) - I shall get to 'daveshit'. Give me a minute.

First of all, my training for now 2 weeks in a row have been less than stellar, as this week AGAIN I only ran 2x (instead of the 4x I am supposed to be doing, so says my training book - but WHO CARES - this is week 11 and I haven't followed my training schedule ONCE. EFF IT). But I haven't skipped one long run so that is the most important thing. This week - a 9-er in Toh-leeeeeeeeeeeeee-d'OH! Thank god I don't have to run it alone!!! Because Poplaski and I drove 3 hr so I could run it with K8 - who is training for the FULL DAMN THING here in GR. Now, one thing you have to understand about K8 - she's FUCKING CRAZY. Hard core to the max. This is the chick that got me hooked on mountain biking - she is killer at it (no exaggeration). And to fill her time she's decided, eh, what the hell, train for a marathon...no biggie. Yeah. crazy. crazy good though. She might kill me, but for more insight into the craziness of K8, go here:

http://schminke-kate.blogspot.com

Feeling me now? I bet you are.

Onward.

Monday - OFF. again. love starting the week off. but I had a haircut (desperately needed) after work, and there was just no time to run. Meh. I'm over it.

Tuesday - interval training day. no fartlek, but I decided to run a 5k (re: 3.1 mi) as hard as I could to see how fast I could do it. The result: 27:45. About a minute faster than the last 5k I ran (back in March). Not bad you say? Well, sure. Except if felt like SHIT the entire time. good stuff (sarcasm people!).

Wed - cross train - yep, mountain biking with Leanne. All 8 mi at the game area. And the bestest part? I conquered the things I didn't/couldn't do last week (see Week 10 entry for a reminder). The rooty hill on 3? Crushed it. The big drop into a hard right into a bridge with no side rails over a creek? DID IT (except I screamed like a little girl the whole way down and over - Leanne thought I went into the creek - too funny!). Yee-fucking-haw.

Thurs - off

Fri - off, only cuz I know what's in store for me Sat

Sat - pick up a still-drunk Poplaski (who had her 20yr hs reunion the night before - ouch!) at 10am and head out to To-leeeee-d'OH! Run 9 miles at sub-10min/mi pace, which is awesome and bad all at the same time: awesome in that we ran so much at such a great clip; bad in that we are SUPPOSED to run it around 2-3 min/mi SLOWER than our normal clip, meaning we should run it around 11-12min/mi pace. Well, I for one canNOT run that slow, sorry, and besides, all I can think about is FINISHING - makes me run faster than I ought to. so be it. the run itself felt great and the trail we ran on ROCKED!! Barely any pavement - mostly thru meadows, on trails, in the woods (the deer made for nice distractions). yep, I could get used to that. too bad it is 3 hr away from GR.

and props to Poplaski who rebounded and was our water wench on a bike. except for constantly yelling at us about our pace (she had a mi/hr monitor on the bike and we told her we wanted to be around 6 [re: 10 min/mi]). girlfriend, you can be my trainer anyday.

so, daveshit. yeah, life is full of daveshit. if you perused K8's blog you now know all about daveshit. so I don't necessarily want to re-explain it (meaning: skip to the end if you already know about daveshit; if not, continue reading). K8 has a cousin, you guessed it, named DAVE. apparently he's crazy (gee, must run in the family). apparently he took off without telling anyone to live beneath aztec ruins for 6 months, and while everyone thought he was dead - he, ask K8 put it, "was doing peyote, just hanging out...you know...doing dave shit."

and there you have it. "daveshit" was born. why poplaski and I thought it was so funny I'll never know. but after that moment, EVERYTHING was daveshit. and I swore to her that when we woke up in the morning it wouldn't be funny anymore.

WRONG. it is still funny. I don't know why. DEAL WITH IT. it's all daveshit anyway

(HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA)

Sun - drive home. RE: OFF

final tally: 3 + 9 mi running + 8 mi biking = YES - 20 MILES TOTAL. pretty damn good. luckily, next week or 2 are drop off weeks for the long runs, while making the shorter runs a tad longer. Then it's the 10 miler bridge run. then 4 weeks to go. HOLY CRAP - where is the time going???? and me with all this daveshit to do.

Week 10 - The week of AMAZING feats!

We are precicely at the halfway point for my training. And this week was a RECORD-SETTING week to the extreme!! Three records set this week - very exciting indeed. And, amazingly enough, I didn't even do that much running-wise (only ran 2x this week as opposed to the 4x last week). And yet, I am quite pleased with what I did do, so I'm ok with not running as many days as I should have.

Behold: THE WEEK OF AMAZING FEATS!!!

Monday - off. HAH. not so amazing. But hey, after a great weekend beforehand (running 6 mi Sat followed by 2.5 mi on Sun) I deserve a day off. I like really liking starting the week with a day off. Sets the tone. NICE.

Tuesday - AMAZING FEAT #1: mountain biked at the Game Area with Leanne. YES FOLKS - we did the full freaking thing - all 8 mi. In about AN HOUR!! Considering last time we did the whole thing it took about 2 hr, I'd have to say this is an AMAZING FEAT!! And, I only stopped and got off the bike TWICE (in the 3rd part)! That's only because I couldn't remember the trail (it was a few months ago since I did parts 3 and 4) so I couldn't anticipate ANYTHING. First of all, the third part was really sandy and muddy (lots of rain on Monday - in hindsight, probably shouldn't have ridden the trail at all). Then, there was this steep, gravely (re: slippery) hill to climb, which we did thank you very much. However, at the top of the hill, there was a rutted out drop that went down the other side with a right turn. Not too scary (although I didn't know it was there until I got to the top of the hill); but at the bottom was another sharp right turn...which led to a bridge, without side rails, that went over a small creek. Doesn't sound too bad you say? Well, it probably isn't. BUT. It looked freaking scary at the time. And honestly, all I could think about was that I probably wouldn't make the right turn coming out of the drop and would go straight over the side of the bridge right into the fucking creek about 3 ft below it. Really NOT interested in doing that.

So we walked that part. BITE ME.

Then, there was another really rooty uphill (again, no anticipation - I gotta learn this part better!!). Made it up halfway when I saw a huge root just jutting out in the middle. I meant to go around it to the right. Really I did. Except I couldn't do it in time. Hit the jutted out part square on. And stopped dead in my tracks as the front tire popped straight up, and dumped me on my side. I have a beautiful bruise on the side of my left knee as a lovely reminder. Damn root.

Otherwise we rolled through the trail quite nicely. Oh, and one more moment I MUST share. My "chest-thumping moment" - ok sue me, I have NEVER had one before while mountain biking so let me just have this ok?? I climbed Ginormo-Hill in the second part and cruised around to the straightaway at the top to take a moment to catch my breath, drink some water, and wait for Leanne. As I did, I watched as two young guys, all decked out in serious biking gear (you know who I mean - in their fancy racing shirts with logos on them, etc) PUSHING their bikes up Ginormo-Hill.

THUMP FUCKING THUMP.

And yes, they peered at me quite sheepishly as they pushed their bikes on by. I just smiled and said, "how's it going (smirk smirk)?"

Have I mentioned how much I now LOVE mountain biking??? Yep. love it. And to think it only took 3 years. Perseverence. Or insanity. Not sure.


Wednesday - AMAZING FEAT #2: So I get an email from my dad, from the NYT Health section. All about the importance of interval workouts particularly for marathon training, particularly for beginning runners. I have been praising the almighty Fartlek for ages, a classic interval training run. This article is SPOT ON. Here's the link:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/how-slow-runners-can-increase-their-pace/?emc=eta1

So, because my dad emailed me this link, and I hadn't run a fartlek in some time, I decided, LET'S DO IT.

So I did. I jogged at about 10min/mi pace 1.25 mi. Then I ran a mile Fartlek like this: 30 sec at not quite top speed, 30 sec back to jog pace (like I jogged my warmup). I did this for a mile. Then I jogged at probably 11 min/mi pace another 0.8 mi.

The AMAZING FEAT? My fartlek mile was a 6-FUCKING-30 mile. NO JOKE. HOLY CRAP. Kate had told me that it would be possible (I didn't believe her) since she's done the same thing on the treadmill running on/off at 1min intervals. YOU WERE RIGHT HOLY CRAP.

AWESOME.


Thursday - off

Friday - off, only because I was planning on running 8 mi on Sat and thought my legs could use the extra rest, and because my dad told me I am training too much and needed to give my legs/body a break between runs. Oh, and I was tired as hell (still) from the fartlek on Wed.

Saturday - AMAZING FEAT #3: I RAN 8 FREAKING MILES. WITHOUT STOPPING. AT 10MIN/MI PACE. Seriously, up until this point I had never run more than a 10K before. EVER!!! This is amazing in numerous ways: I never thought I could run this much at once without collapsing to the pavement crying and begging for someone to drive up and carry me home; I actually felt pretty good the entire time (except for my knees which were a bit sore for the last 2 mi and horribly sore the rest of the day); I now believe I can run a half marathon.

HOLY SHIT.

Sunday - off. thank goodness. however, my legs feel TOTALLY FINE. My back on the other hand? NFG. What are you gonna do?? Advil. Lots of it.


Final tally: 3 + 8 mi running + 8 mi biking = 19 mi total.

9 weeks to go. Next week: training trip to Toe-leeeeeeee-d'Oh! And I think it's about time I shared with all the wonderous inner workings of my partner-in-crime: K8. Yep, it's long overdue.

Week 9 - I have my work cut out for me.

Two months of training down, roughly 2 and a half months to go. I am happy to report that for the first time in this whole training debacle, I ran 4x this week (which, according to the training schedule I am following, I am supposed to do...EVERY WEEK). Meh. Better late than never!

Meanwhile, one of the training books I read talked about needing an ironclad motivation for running the marathon (or half in my case, although I imagine it is not such a serious thing as running the full thing - KATE, ahem!). My initial motivation was to be able to say I did it, I ran a half marathon. Well, that's not entirely ironclad - I can easily talk myself out of that one (I am still young(ish) - plenty of time to do it! I can just do it next year!). However, my real motivation turned into running it with my dad, considering he said he'd do it with me, and since then has bought the plane tix and everything to fly out here (from AZ). Well, no talking myself out of it now! Except...here's the email I got from him on Sunday:

Registered today! Ran half marathon in Flagstaff yesterday. Beautiful clear warm day. Started at 6900 feet and first 8 miles went to 7600 feet , then back to finish. Time was 2:20. Only have sore toes today. Start training tomorrow for GR.
Love, Dad

OK - does anyone have any suggestions for how I can possibly get out of this thing now??? That is SUPER impressive - a killer time considering the elevation and the climbing almost 1000 ft over 2/3 of the race. HOLY CRAP. I was estimating I'd run the half somewhere in between 2:15 and 2:30, hopefully. At sea level. On flat asphalt.

Way to go Dad! See you at the finish line...

In other news, ever since I'd started ramping up my mileage, I feel absolutely shitty. Worn down, legs having a hard time recovering from runs, even wussed out of doing the full trail at mtn biking because I was just plain tired. I was trying to figure out what the problem was, and I think I understand it now. Here's a snipit from the active.com newsletter I received this week:

Daily workouts accompanied by a low-carb diet cause a day-to-day decrease in muscle glycogen. Chronically low muscle glycogen stores can trip up even the fittest runner, especially those training every day. Heavy or sore legs, nagging injuries, feeling rundown or running out of gas during long runs can all indicate insufficient recovery after a run.

Understand that I am not low-carbing it by any means. However, I think I might not be eating properly in general. In other words, not eating enough of the right types of foods at the right times (this is freaking complicated!!!). Furthermore,

Activities such as socializing, stretching or showering often delay when runners eat after a workout. And runners trying to lose weight while ramping up their mileage or intensity often skip post-run or race meals. But eating after a workout should be one of your top priorities.During the so-called "carbohydrate window," the first 60 minutes following exercise, muscles convert carbohydrate-rich foods and beverages into glycogen up to three times faster than at other times. (The most effective period is 15 to 30 minutes after exercise.) Make immediate post-workout meals a part of your routine to avoid fatigue throughout the day and injuries during runs.

Now that I think about it, I usually stretch, shower, and eat after a run: in that order. Meaning I don’t eat until an hour or so after running. Maybe I should stretch and THEN eat before showering!

And finally, one surprising, but quite lovely little tidbit:

Chocolate milk (with its 1:4 protein/carb ratio) continues to earn top status as the perfect post-exercise recovery drink, according to a study in Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism.

yep, I am so ALL OVER IT!

And now, on with the recap:

Monday: ran a nice and gentle 5k with Leanne in Hville. It was good for both of us - even with her whining and worrying beforehand that she'd be "too slow" and "hold me back". Frankly, I needed an easy run. My legs were still sore and stiff from the long run on Sat from Week 8 (here is where I started feeling lousy, and it lasted much of the week), and I was feeling run down, not sleeping well (my legs felt achy and I just couldn't get them to relax). It was good having her pace me at 10-11min/mi pace. And I appreciated the company since I was feeling quite unmotivated to run in the first place (re: feeling like crap). So THANKS LEANNE!!!

Tuesday: off

Wednesday: mountain biking with Leanne. Did the first two parts in 26 min, including stopping at the top of Ginormo hill for a much needed break. This is the second time in a row that I got a huge cramp in my side after climbing that hill. I think the problem is I am so focused to get up the fucker, I forget to BREATHE. So once I get to the top I am all gasping for air - hence the cramp. Need to work on that. And again, feeling lousy. We should have gone on to do parts 3 and 4, but I wussed out, citing exhaustion. But WTF? As Bill put it, "you drive all the way out there, ride for less than half an hour, put your bike away and drive home??? that's dumb."

he's right. DUMB. Pissed off at myself for not doing all 4 parts. Not gonna let that happen again.

Promise.

Thursday: ran 4 mi. nothing of note today except I was still feeling worn down. Gotta push thru.

Friday: off

Saturday: long run day. was supposed to be 7 mi. only did 6. But before you criticize me (re: K8) - listen - storms were a plenty on Sat; it had rained all night. But according to my training books, you can't use the weather as an excuse not to run, especially on long run days. Those are "no skip" days. no matter what (except for bleeding profusely or some other such emergency I would hope, althought not sure about that). 7 am there appeared to be a break in the storm front, so I hightailed it out on the road. a mile in, it DOWNPOURED. then, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped (after about 10 min). I kept going (and no, I didn't stop while it was raining). 5 min later Bill and the kids pull up to rescue me - I waved them on; after all, it had stopped raining and I was only 20 min into the run.

The middle 3 mi were fine, although my legs were tight from being cold and wet. So I just stayed slow and steady. The last 2 mi though - it started lightning and thunderstorming, and I thought to myself, "self (MEG!), NOW would be a good time for Bill to pick you up!! Better move your ass!!!"

So I did. Practically sprinted the last mile back to the house. By then it was really lightning out. And just as I turned into my development, the sky opened up and it POURED. It could have been worse. I could have been on mile 2 when that happened. I didn't mind the rain so much, it was the getting killed by a massive electical current that I was mostly worried about. Alls well that ends well. Except I had to shorten the run and didn't get in the 7th mi. I still say, SUCCESS!

And to finish things off, once I got in the house, Bill handed me a tall glass of? You got it: CHOCOLATE MILK! YAY!!! And I changed out of my wet clothes and ate breakfast within 15 min of finishing the run. Let's see if these changes help with my energy level and recovery...

Sunday: ran a short recovery run in Niles in the heat and humidity. Why you might ask? Well I had good motivation. My inlaw's pool, which I jumped into with all my clothes on (sans the sneaks and IPod luckily) after the run. NICE!


All in all a good training week. And my legs didn't feel so tired over the weekend, and I feel somewhat better energy-wise. Hopefully paying more attention to what I eat, and when I eat it will solve these problems.

Final tally: 3 + 4 + 6 + 2.5 mi running + 4 mi biking = 19.5 mi total (just a half mi shy of my goal - NOT BAD!!!).

Week 8 - A new run, a new adventure!

So this week I was determined to do a GOOD JOB with regards to the training schedule, and amazingly enough, it wasn't too shabby. Granted, real life got in the way again, but in a GOOD way for once (see Wednesday's blurb) so I am not complaining (I know - are pigs flying? has hell frozen over??).

Meanwhile, this week starts the "long run-ramp up" as I like to refer to it. Starting this week's Saturday - and for the next 5-6 weeks or so - every long run goes up by a mile. So last week I ran a 5-er. This Sat was time for a 6-er, which I hadn't done since the last 10K I ran. No biggie I guess, as I know I can run 6 miles, but there are two inherent problems with this ramp-up:

1. I have never run MORE than 6 miles at any given time, and I really am not on board with the run 10 min (or 1 mi) and walk one min type of training that so many runners abide by. Too many years of having "DON'T WALK!!!" shoved down my throat by track coaches I guess.

2. The time committment that comes with longer and longer runs. If I thought it was hard to get away just to run for 30 min - how the hell am I going to have the time to run a hour, all the way up to 90 min, 100min or however long it takes for me to do 9/10 milers???? I suppose I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, but I can't help but already start stressing over it.

Now, back to thta 6-er I was to do on Sat. Considering I'd never done one around town (re: Hville) before I decided to map out a new route and see what happens. Check out Saturdays' blurb to find out...


Oh, and BTW, as a side note: I finally committed to run the half. HAHAHAHA!! No, really. I hadn't registered yet. Until this week. HAH! There it is - I've committed. Or, is it, I should BE committed for committing to run a half-freaking-marathon. Not sure.


here's the week's recap:

Monday: ran 3 miles. hip felt ok. I have the beginnings of turf toe (really just inflammation/tendinitis of the big toe) in my left foot. Advil, ice, and ignorance. whatever works.

Tuesday: OFF.

Wednesday: was planning to mountain bike with Leanne. Instead, well, we all decided to hit Founders. Why you might ask? Turns out my paper got accepted...the one I'd been working on for what felt like an ETERNITY but was more like 6 months or so. YAY! So, yeah, scratch training - on to drinking and celebrating!!! Me likey.

Thursday: Ran 4 miles, because my training book told me too (good girl!). Actually felt pretty good, and I am realizing that no matter what distance I run, I pretty much run at the same pace - hovering around the 9:30min/mi mark. That's ok with me. I'll take it.

Friday: NOW we mountain bike. It was ok - both Leanne and I were tired. And WTF - where did all the sand come from??? Especially the large load that seems to have gotten dumped IN THE MIDDLE OF GINORMO-HILL!!! NO FAIR!!! Didn't make it up - at least not in one fell swoop. Got to the sand in the middle and spun out and skidded into a tree. PISSED ME OFF. So I got back on the bike, pushed past the sand, and, from a standstill, biked the rest of the way up that EFFER. YEAH!!!

Saturday: 6-er day. I map my route, wait for the rain to stop and head out around 6pm. So this run, I've never run this route before, but I figure, what the heck. Yeah, well, it takes me into a trailer park, where I promptly get LOST. Nice. (BTW- the name of this "park"??? Presidential Estates; no joke, with street names like Nixon, Eisenhower, Truman, and Cleveland. Yep - classy. Trailer park owners, if nothing else, sure have a sense of humor). OK, so I am 30 min into the run and lost in this trailer park. I know eventually it leads to a main road that I'm supposed to meet up with on my route so I keep going. Except...as I am running (with my headphones cranked so I can't hear a damn thing) I see a little girl, I'm guessing maybe 6 years old, walking towards me with about 4 other little girls following her. This girl is dragging the smallest kiddie bike I've ever seen and she's clearly talking to me. So I take an ear bud out and she asks me if I can help fix the chain on her bike.

Yeah, I admit it, 30 min into a run that was feeling pretty damn good, my first instinct was to say "NO" and keep running. Don't worry - I didn't. And yes I did fix the chain on her bike. Unfortunately it was the RUSTIEST chain EVAH and took me a full 10 min of kneeling on gravel in the middle of the road with a host of random trailer park residents eyeing me up (and no one offering to help mind you) to fix the damn thing. By the time I fixed it and stood up, I almost fell over my muscles had tighened up so bad. Great. Well, onward I go!

But lemme tell you - it DID NOT feel good. not good at all. I managed to make it back home in another 30 min or so and ran 6.3mi total, but geez. Between the tighened up legs, and the FREAKING WIND it was a crap second half of a run. The wind, holy hell, the wind. Heading straight north, which meant that for the last 2 mi of my run (which was due south) I was running straight into it. And I tell you, this running nonsense has made me a little wacky, as I actually said to myself, OUT LOUD, to the wind: "BRING IT! I AM NOT STOPPING! SO BRING IT!" I am clearly losing my mind.

But I didn't stop. SO THERE! And the hip didn't bother me at all! Not during and not after. HALLELUYAH.

however, not sure I'm going to run this particular route again. judge me. go ahead. I DON'T CARE.


Sunday: took it off as my legs were really freaking worn out from the Sat run - stop - run.


so the final score: 3 mi + 4 mi +6 mi running + 4 mi biking = 17 mi total. Next week I am shooting for 20 mi total...

Week 7 - 21st Century Breakdown

Well, it was bound to happen. A breakdown, that is. No time to run, need to run, trying to stay on top of the training schedule, 9:30 at night before there is even a break in the day for me to run...yeah, it finally got to me. I admit it, I had a break from reality. If you know me, you know this initially involves a lot of mumbling under my breath, and making a lot of unnecessary noise while I do ordinary things (like fill a dishwasher for example). This of course paves the way for me to build up steam until I, yep, explode into a full on breakdown of frustration and nonsense. This one went so far as to having me declare THERES NO WAY I'M RUNNING THE HALF MARATHON - I CAN'T EVEN FREAKING FIND TIME TO TRAIN FOR IT! I GIVE UP!!!!

nice, right? I know. that happened on Thursday, after I hadn't run since MONDAY and kinda, well, freaked out that it was THURSDAY and I had only run on MONDAY. Get it people?

Strangely enough, the week ended up pretty good training-wise. go figure. and yes, I am still going to run the half marathon in Oct. I was obviously yelling out of my ass.

my bad.

here's the recap:

Monday - ran 3 mi in the evening with Gabrielse and Leanne. very nice - always good to have company, and the run felt pretty good. as did my hip. a bit sore after the run, but all in all,not bad. maybe it will resolve itself with some easy runs and stretching. here's hoping.

Tuesday - mountain biking after work with Leanne. WE ROCKED IT! Did the first two parts at the Cannonsburg Game Area - and yes folks, I DID BOTH PARTS WITHOUT HAVING TO GET OFF THE DAMN BIKE AND WALK UP OR DOWN ANYTHING. This includes the ginormous hill on part 2 that I have in the past claimed thatmere mortals cannot climb. I'd like my superhuman status badge now please! This is a big deal for me. Three years after I started mountain biking (which by the way includes a year sabbatical due to the alien I created last year) - I finally got up that effing hill. ROCK ON! And, we are getting way faster - both parts in 31 min, which includes a couple of breaks (re: the top of the ginormo hill). First goal - CRUSHED. On to the second goal - doing all 4 parts in an hour and without having to get off the bike. We are on our way.

and BTW, I'd like to give Leanne a shout-out here - she has only been riding a few months, and if it weren't for some asshole (re: guy-biker - of course) effing her up at the base of the ginormo hill, she'd have climbed it to the top also. NEXT TIME GIRL. FO' SHO'.

Wed - took the day off

Thurs - mental breakdown day. was planning to run in the evening. 9:30 rolls around and I had just finished doing "stuff" - you know, normal everyday, shit to deal with stuff. 9 - freaking- 30. I cannot go out running that late, not by myself. PISSED. WAY PISSED. That's it. I GIVE THE EFF UP. Game OFF.

Friday - ran an easy 2.5 mi jog in the evening after TGIF at work (re: 2 beers) and pizza dinner once I got home. So yeah, I was conservative and did a short easy run. considering I hadn't run since Monday, not bad. But I need (MUST) do a long one on Sat or I really do give up.

Saturday - 5.2 mi run. and at a good clip too (sub -9:30 pace). Felt good. Ok - I'm back in it. Game back on. the hip was a bit sore since I had run less than 16 hr previously (this run was in the a.m.) - but felt good during the run and felt ok afterwards too. HURRAY!

Sunday - took it O-F-F. eff it.

totals: 3 + 2.5 + 5.2 running and 4 mi biking = almost 15 mi total. Considering I almost quit the whole damn thing, not bad.

yep - I have issues.

Week 6 - The Week That Wasn't

Well this week was pretty pitiful training-wise, but I knew it would be. My mom was visiting, and so there wasn't much free time to run, what with the trip to the zoo, Chuck-E-Cheese, lunch date with my mom, sans kids, in Holland, and oh, yeah, I still had to squeeze in going to work too.

All in all - a poor showing for the week. But it probably did me and my hip some good to rest a bit. Here's what I did - and didn't do.

Monday - off

Tues - ran 2.5 mi with Gabrielse in the evening. A good run, was good to hang out (even if it was while running) and my hip didn't feel too bad during the run. Was sore as hell afterwards, especially when I tried stretching it. Not sure if that's a good sign or bad sign...

Wed - missed out on the mountainbiking crosstrain. total bummer. my hip was really sore though, and I'm not sure if biking would have helped or hurt. so ok, chalk it up to an "off" day. whatever.

Thurs - too busy with work to run during the day. and I had to run back in to lab at 9pm for my mice (don't ask) - so no time to run in the evening either. sigh.

Fri - busy running into work in the morning, taking mom to airport (bye mom! see you in Sept!), and then back to work all day, then off to Niles. Re: no time to run. again. this is bad.

Sat - had a nice ~3.5 mi run with my brother-in-law Phil in Niles. run felt pretty good, my hip didn't hurt at all during the run so I take that as a good sign (as in, when hurt - REST!).

Sun - hip sore! hip sore! WTF? stretched it, and then, hip REALLY sore!!! ok, now I'm just getting annoyed. was going to run after we got back from Niles, but on the advice of K8 (who knows about these things) I decided to R-E-S-T instead. yes K8, you are my excuse for today's "off day" status. thanks!

The pathetic tally for the week: 2.5 +3.5 mi running and no biking = a lame 6 mi. plus one sore hip.

Week 5 -IT Band? WTF is an IT Band???

I keep learning new things with this training. First it was proper nutrition, then proper hydration. Then all about pronation, overpronation, blah blah blah, as my knees protested mightily when I started this whole "training" thing (note the continued use of quotes here - I am still a poser). Now? The dreaded IT band. As in, iliotibial band. Most runners at one time or another have issues with their IT band, usually in their knees, causing lateral knee pain. The IT band is a thick tissue that runs from the hip to the knee, attaching from the pelvis to the femur (see image), and basically stabilizes the knee during running. The problem with the IT band? If it isn't stretched properly, or from running a lot (especially after rapidly increasing distances) it can rub at the knee joint resulting in inflammation and hence, cause massive pain when running (and after).

This is very common. Less common is my problem with my IT band. Pain at the hip where the IT band is connected at the pelvis. How uncommon? See what Wiki says about it below:

"ITBS can also occur where the IT band connects to the hip, though this is less likely as a sports injury. It commonly occurs during pregnancy, as the connective tissues loosen and the woman gains weight -- each process adding more pressure. ITBS at the hip also commonly affects the elderly. ITBS at the hip is studied less; few treatments are generally known."

Uh, yeah. Don't I feel good now. I am neither old (I don't think 35 qualifies as old - does it?) nor pregnant (8 mo post pregnancy doesn't still count as pregnant does it???). So what is my problem?? I dunno. This all started about a week ago, I noticed my right hip aching a bit during my runs. Then it went to a dull pain, that would start about a half mile into the run and fade away as I ran. Then it went to sharp pain within a half mile of the run and fade to a dull pain for the remainder of the run. At that point I realized I need to figure out WTF is going on. Looked up some stretches on line for it, and that seems to help some. Ran this week and biked and after stretching, if anything, it was just a dull soreness. Hopefully continued stretching will work it out.

Here's the recap:

Monday - off day

Tuesday - I had to go to Niles for my father-in-law's funeral so I didn't have time to run.

Wednesday - I ran an Oops! run. I mistaked (as Max told me). I ran in Niles (as in, I don't have a clue where the fuck I am going). Meant to only do about 3 -3.5 mi run. Told everyone, "I'll be back in about 30 min or so!" Started off running and got to the road I normally turn and head back at (making it a 3.5 mi run or so). Instead, brainiac that I am, I decide to TURN down this road, as I knew it hit a cross road that I could take back to the main road to the inlaws house. I was thinking this road I turned down was SHORT, only quarter mile or so. ONE FREAKING MILE LATER - I hit the other road. Oops. Not only that - this road is a dirt, desolate road. A couple of houses far back from the road, and THAT'S IT! Remember, I didn't tell anyone where I was going. So, as I ran down this dark and desolate road, I started to wonder what would happen if a white van with no windows pulled up and sucked me inside. No one would ever see me again. EVER. Remember, I had a lot of time on my hands to just think, as I ran down this road pleading for it to end. So then I started thinking, OK, if a white van with no windows does pull up - I need to drop something in the road so at the least, when the search party goes looking for me, they'll know where I was. I decided I'd drop the Ipod - it was either that or my watch, and I figured the Ipod was easier to just dump quickly.

Yeah, like I said, I had a lot of time on my hands to think worst-case-scenario.

Meanwhile, no white van with no windows showed up to swipe me, I made it to the cross road, however - that road was a winding road that took 1.5mi to get back to the main drag. All told? I ran 5.1 mi or so in 50 min. Not the 30 I told everyone. Next time I tell people where I'm going. Live and learn.

Thurs - ran a ridiculously hard-ass 2.5 mi back in H'ville in 21:48 or so - yeah, that's a 8:43min/mi pace. I have this great 2.5 mi route that I am now challenging myself with to see how fast I can run it. My goal is to do it in 20 min - 8min/mi pace. Last week I did it in 22:22 - so I'm making progress.

(What can I say - this running thing can be freaking boring without a little challenge here and there!)

Fri - off - stretched the IT band after it KILLED from the Thurs run (Oh SHEET Jenny!).

Sat - ran 4.25 mi at Reed's Lake with K8. She of the, "I'm training for a marathon because I am more psycho that you are" vein, had already run onle 4.25 mi loop when I met up with her. Psycho. It was a good run though at a decent (~10min/mi) pace. My hip felt good - only slight dull pain at the start. Whew.

Sun - mountain biking at Yankee with K8, Graveel, and Leanne. Did ~7 mi. Felt fucking fantastic (ok - so this time I wasn't hung over - BITE ME!). Considering I'd run the day before and hadn't been biking in a week and a half, it went really well. The sand was tough, but I'm getting the hang of it. And definitely getting better going up tough hills - K8 taught me a trick to just hover over the seat and practically wedge the seat in my ass - amazingly, considering how uncomfortable that sounds (and it kinda is) it helps a TON. Thanks K8 - you ROCK!

That's it - the tally: 5.1 + 2.5 + 4.25 mi running = 11.85 mi + 7 mi mtn biking = 18.85mi total.

Way better than what I expected for this week - yay me!

Week 4 - Real training for a real person

Before I start with this week's recap, WARNING!! WARNING!! Rant ahead!!

Life sometimes throws curveballs. Life is not always neat and pretty and tied up with a bow. Life can be messy and complicated, and yeah, it can fuck with my training schedule. Like, on a weekly basis. Listen people - I am only one person, and NEWSFLASH: I am NOT Wonder Woman. There, the cat is out of the bag, and I have admitted it. Let's all GET OVER IT and move on.

I have read two marathon training books and NOWHERE in either one of them was there any mention of how to get thru this tight training schedule when real like impedes on it. Uh...hello? SHIT HAPPENS! Can I read a book on how real people with real lives can do a realistic training schedule and still be properly prepared for running a half/whole marathon?? Is that too much to ask? I mean seriously, come on! Doesn't anyone have anything better to do that run? I am starting to get irritated and frustrated that I have yet to have a "perfect" training week. I am thru one month of "training" and I have to put freaking quotes around that word like I'm a poser pretending to train. This is getting ridiculous. And already, I know that Week 5 is not going to be much better. This is going to be a familar theme for the month of July. Here's why:

Week 4: I was sick. See below for the whining and complaining and excuses.

Week 5: Bill's dad passed away Sun night, so I'll be in Niles for the majority of this week - no doubt NOT running.

Week 6: my mom visits. hey, on second thought, this week I might get in some extra running (hahahah).

Week 7: the Gonzalez crew from Boston visits Niles - their once/yr trip back to MI. I'll be in and out of Niles that week with who-know-what schedule.

Yep, that pretty much takes care of July. I am so fucking fucked.

so here's the end of my rant. real life can NOT take a backseat and just chill so I can get my fucking training in. So? I do the best I can, and bear the brunt of K8 telling me I suck. Which I do. Fuck it.

And now, the lowdown for Week 4.

Monday - ran 2 miles as a "recover run" from the 10K on Sat with Graveel. yes, I know smart-asses, the recovery run is supposed to be the day after the race. tough shit. I was tired (waaah) on Sunday. and frankly, my legs were still spent on Monday. but the run was good after I got going. this week is starting off well! things are looking good. I'm going to have a great week training! Yeah! yeah. what-the-fuck-ever.

Tuesday - ran my true love - the FARTLEK. Went hardcore today - 30/30s baby! What are 30/30s? Let me tell you - that is the most DREADED of all sprint workouts. I did them back in college and they were the worst and best training days EVAH! Here's how it worked when I was in college:

An outdoor track is a quarter mile - 400m. Half the track is then, yes for you brainiacs - 200m. Sprinters can run the 200m sub-30sec, how sub is depending on how good they are (my best time BTW? 27.7sec - yeah, I was fast, but not that fast). Ok, so this is how the 30/30s workout went. We'd line up at the starting line and take off at a 30sec pace for 200m. Stop at the 200m mark in 30 sec (or less if you were psycho or had too much adrenaline or forgot you had a long fucking way to go for this workout) - and it'd better be within 30 sec or there would be hell to pay from the coach (more on that in a min). We'd jog in place at the top of the track for 30 sec (our coach would be at the starting line yelling at us - sometime she'd even sprint across the field at us to yell at us up close and personal). And you bet - you'd better keep MOVING for that 30 sec recovery - jog in place, jog in a circle - whatever - but keep fucking MOVING OR ELSE. Then we'd take off at 30sec pace for the next 200m back to the starting line.

rinse and repeat, baby. rinse and repeat. We'd start off with sets of 4 (as in 4-30 sec 200m sprints with 30sec rests in between) - start off with 3 sets. Sound easy? try it sometime. it will whoop your ASS. I promise. By the end of the first set you feel whipped. halfway thru the second set, you feel like you might die. If you're lucky, and everyone in the group was able to keep at or under 30sec for EVERY sprint in both sets, our coach might let us do the last set as a set of 2 instead of 4. However, if one of us, and ONLY one of us didn't hit 30 sec for even ONE 200m, we had to do the entire set 3. And god forbid if one of us didn't hit 30sec in set 3?

oh fuck. you know it. set 4 was locked and loaded.

So based on that workout I did my own version - mile warmup, then 2 sets of 4 - 30sec sprints with 30sec rests in between each sprint and 2 min jog in between each set. Then another mile up the Michigan hill and a 3 min walk cooldown. Total time, minus the cooldown - 25min27sec - about 2.5 mi total.

and let me tell you, it was tough but it felt good to get those fast-twitch muscles moving. I LOVE the fartlek. LOVE IT!

Wed - 40 min mountain biking with Leanne at game area. parts 1 and 2 only still. didn't make it up the big/long/fucking impossible hill on 2 but I did manage to get up the steep rutted out hill on that part (YEAH ME!). so that's something. progress. and we're getting faster - we did each part under 20 min. Once we can do both in 30 min we move on to include parts 3 and 4. the goal? well, there are two I think: 1) do all 4 parts in under and hour, and 2) do all 4 parts without ever having to get off the bike (to walk up/down/over something - this does not include a bail/dump which I feel are necessary in that if I don't get dumped off my bike at some point in the ride, I feel it isn't a "good" ride. Check it - I'll turn into a real mountain biker yet!! Oh yeah, the dirtier the ride, the better!).

Thurs - well, here starts the downhill slide for the week. Wed I had a sore throat. by wed afternoon I was full on feeling like crap. By thurs a.m. I not only could breathe fire, but was dealing with a head cold to boot. No running today.

Fri - same as thurs - I figure it's better to get healthy and not run, than to try running and make my cold worse. an excuse? eh, maybe. honestly I was trying to take care of myself. you be the judge.

Sat - I was starting to feel better, so I was thinking I might run in the a.m. except - the fam was heading to Traverse City to visit friends who live on Long Lake (awesome fireworks out there!). Meaning? no time to run. ok, let's chalk this up to another "get well" day. works for me (not really, but that's what I tell myself).

Sun - oh my. was I in a treacherous mood. dark and ugly. stressed from the trip and cranky kids and I hadn't run since tues. everyone just go away. don't go away mad...just GO AWAY. Got out for a run in the afternoon THANK GOD - I fear if I hadn't I would have literally lost my mind (this makes me realize how good running/exercise is for my mental health!). Did a ridiculously hard 2.5 mi at 22.26. I think that's a sub-9 min/mi pace. Felt AWESOME. I could have kept going but didn't want to push it since I hadn't run all week practically.

so the final tally: running - 2 +2.5 +2.5 = 7 mi , plus 4 mi mountain biking = 11 mi total.

not horrible, but nowhere near what I ought to be doing.

Week 3 Recap - Tackling another 10K.

This week started out hotter than hell, and ended about as well as can be expected weather-wise. I was super fearful that I'd be running the 10K Reed's Lake Run on Sat in the blistering humid crap that had been haunting me all week long. As luck would have it, the weather cooled off and the humidity evaporated (no pun) to bearable conditions for race day. Yada, yada, yada, I ran a pretty good 10K if I do say so myself - 1 min faster than Riverbank Run in May.

here's the recap:

Monday - off

Tuesday - 30 min run in the heat and humidity with Gabrielse - ugh. See previous post.

Wednesday - mountain biking at game area with Leanne in the heat and humidity - ugh. And while I remembered to BRING my bug spray, and even watched Leanne put hers on, I still forgot to APPLY my bug spray. I am stoopid. Regardless, the ride was really good - we are getting better and better! We did the first two parts in about 45 min, which is pretty good, since we still had to walk up both hills on the second part. I almost got up the long effer, but more stoopidity got in my way (I geared up instead of down and ended up punching a tree with my hand as my handlebars swerved; then I fell over - like I said, stoopid). Next time. Fo' Sho'.

Thursday - off. While I was supposed to run today, I decided to give my legs a break considering the race on Sat; in hindsight, I should have done SOMETHING. Too bad I was freaking exhausted from going to the Cubs game in Detroit. Didn't get home until 2a.m.

Friday - off

Saturday - Reed's Lake Run 10K. Time: 57:25. NICE!

Sunday - I took it off as I was still wiped out from Sat. In hindsight (I hate that) I should have done an easy recover run to loosen up the muscles and work out the lactic acid. Live and learn.

Week 3 - The HEAT! Holy CRAP the HEAT!

Ok, so I know it's only the beginning of Week 3 training, by HOLY HELL - (no pun intended) - IT IS FREAKING HOT.

took yesterday off, because, well, frankly it was sorely needed. So I needed to run today and decided to run in the morning when I first got to work with Gabrielse because it is supposed to be a hot and humid one today. So I'm thinking 8:30 should be FINE...

driving in, the car thermometer read 80. already. and did I mention it is humid? really, walk-outside-and-start-to-sweat-immediately, hair-frizzes-instantly kind of humid?

almost makes me long for the 105 degree heat of Phoenix. at least it was dry.

almost

so Gabrielse and I ran. 3 mi and change. half the run was in the shade of trees along Lyon. and STILL - HOT AS HELL.


sweating like it was raining.

you know it is bad when someone who saw me when we got back and then saw me again after I was cleaned up, upon asking how the run went, mentioned that "yeah, you sure were sweaty!".

uh...yeah. ITS FREAKING HOT MAN!

what worries me now?? Sat run. 10K goes off at 8:45. if today (and the rest of the week) is any indication, it's gonna be hot on Sat. And I have to run 6.2mi.

I might need an IV of Gatorade when I'm done.

Week 2 - MUCH BETTER!!

Ok, so after my "piss poor" training week last week, I ramped it up (maybe too much? see Sunday's details...) to get back on schedule. Still not feeling quite ready for the 10K on Sat, but there's nothing to do about it now.

Here's the recap:

Monday - ran 3.1 miles in 27 min and change. Yeah, hard run, to punish myself I think for my bad week before. Ran at 11am, thinking I'd get out there before it got too hot. TOO LATE. Freaking drenched by the time I got back - took almost an hour to cool down (real attractive at work). Good grief. It is a good thing I like to sweat (my favorite part of working out). Now I'm thinking I need a headband for all the sweat that runs into my eyes - I wonder if I can find a red-white-and-blue one a la Richard Simmons? I have the hair for it. Now if I can just find some dolphin shorts on ebay...

Tuesday - Ran my first fartlek (more on that some other time) - and damn did it feel KILLER. LOVE IT. Seriously, if you've never run one, DO IT. THEY ROCK!!!! Granted this was really a mini-fartlek, but I hadn't run all last week so I didn't want to kill myself. Here's what I did:

ran a mile to the 6th st bridge
ran 2x2 30 sec sprints across bridge and back
30 sec rest in between each sprint, and 1/2 mi recovery run (down to end of path and back to bridge) between each set
ran back to michigan, and sprinted up hill to church
3 min walking cooldown (about 27 min total for 2.5 mi)

Wednesday - didn't mountain bike or run due to the pouring down rain. Dragged out my stationary bike and biked for 35 min (6 mi) while I watched Rachel Maddow. Meh, better than nothing.

Thursday - was going to run, until Leanne talked me into mountain biking before the Symposium dinner. We did the first part 2x - because 1) we wanted to work on our handling skillz without constantly tapping the breaks, and, 2) neither one of us was in the mood to be beat down by the big hill and "endo alley". It was a good ride, and I got some nice air over the log jump (love that spot now!).

Friday - off

Saturday - ran at 7:30 a.m. when it was nice and cool out - 40 min, about 4.2 mi. Should have done 5, but didn't. Deal. Still sweated like crazy - mental note: need some sweatbands of some kind. or to start running with a visor to keep the sun and sweat out of my eyes.

Sunday - mountain biking at Yankee. Oy. Considering I was hungover from Founders Fest, and still pretty dehydrated, well, it SUCKED. It felt good to get out though, but holy shit, the SAND. It is exhausting to constantly fight thru it all the time. My legs were done for. And where the eff is my bug spray? Why do I always forget it?

So all in all, it was a good week training-wise. Next week will be easy so I don't burn out for the Sat 10K. Last 10K was 58 min and change. This time? Closer to 55min would be nice. And can I just ask? NO RAIN PLEASE!

Week 1 Training Recap

In a word? SUCKED. or BLEW. either way this week was a total waste running-wise, as that damn 10K Reeds run is looming large in two weeks.

I'd prefer not to admit how bad this last week was, but accountability and all...so here goes. And I'm going to pre-emp any comments with BITE ME.

Monday - I took it off after a good weekend of running both Sat and Sun. I had high hopes the week would go well, so taking the day off when I'm supposed to seemed like a good idea. Then. Looking back on the week, well, now not so much.

Tues - ran 30 min downtown - 3.1 mi (I mapped it; as I do all my runs) - with the doublemint twins (Carrie squared) and Leanne.

Wed - went mountain biking for my x-training with Leanne. It ROCKED, and so did we if I must say so myself. She kicked that damn water feature in the beginning, and I jumped the log in the first part. We managed to do the first two parts in under an hour, and that's pretty good considering we still had to walk up more than half that killer hill in the second part, and stopped while I went back up to re-ride the drops into the tight turn between trees (where now we've BOTH done endos) - after I bit it hard on my right side again trying to make that turn (FYI, I can make that turn, so long as I'm crawling thru it - if I go thru with any speed I wipe out; I need to learn to LEAN). Yeah, we rock. Our goal for the summer? Get up that hill without getting off the bikes. Problem is I don't think mere mortals can do it. Should be interesting.

Thurs - I took off as I was going to run Fri, which is my regular "off" day - more on that below.

Fri - well, I was going to run. I had the best of intentions (although come sunday I realized that I couldn't have run even if I wanted to as my sneakers weren't in my bag - more on that later). But Fri was a sucky day mentally, I was irritated at people and things and it got worse as the day went on. So I went home early to get ready to go to Niles. So, yeah, I have no excuse. I just said FUCK IT. Get over it.

Sat - went to Chicago for Cubs game. Knew full well I wasn't going to run. Caught the train in South Bend at 730 am and didn't get home until midnight. This was why I was going to run Fri and hence take off Sun. I figured I'd run Fri and Sun so that would be ok. Except I didn't run Fri. FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK. Oh well. Good thing I'm not training for a marathon (HAHAHAHAHA).

Sun - ok, so I was thinking to myself, self (for you Megs!!!) - you haven't run since TUESDAY, you'd better run today while in Niles. I even left my workout bag in the car from Fri (remember when I was supposed to run then??) - so I'd have it to run on Sun. Except, when I opened it I found no running shoes. FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK. Oh well. I'll run when I get home. Except I got home after 6pm. And then had too much shit to do that didn't get done over the weekend plus two kids to deal with.

So there you have it: 3.1 miles for week 1 of official training. YEAH! I am so fucking fucked.

The training schedule

After much internal debate, I think I've decided on my training schedule for the next 19 weeks or so. It's based on the schedule in the book "The Nonrunner's Marathon Guide for Women: Get Off Your Butt and On with Your Training" by Dawn Dais, a very good book recommended to me by my running partner in crime, Superhuman Kate (I imagine a future posting will discuss Kate and her superhuman-ness; probably when I'm pissed off as all hell at her for making me run 10 miles or something equally ridiculous).

So here's the general schedule - I am posting it so I burn it into my brain. and so you can keep me accountable for it.

Monday - rest

Tuesday - interval run (if you wonder what this is, look forward to a future posting all about my love of fartleks - the word, and the run)

Wednesday - cross train - MOUNTAIN BIKE BABY!

Thursday - easy run

Friday - rest

Saturday - long run

Sunday - recovery run (and by "run" I mean jog, if I am able to move at all)

Let the training begin!

So this is it. Up until now I was sorta flirting with the idea of running the half marathon. Do not mistake me - the HALF marathon. Not the full 26.2 miles of crazyness that is the MARATHON. The HALF. That's it. Trust me, that's enough. Considering I am an 8 year veteran of running track as a sprinter (as in, anything less than a half mile) - this is a big deal. For me. I was a sprinter all through high school and college, not because I was fast, but because I hated to run long distance (longer than a half mile, which to me is a freaking LONG way to go). So here I am. Training for the half marathon. That's 13.1 miles. Yeah, a LONG FREAKING WAY TO GO. But I'm going to do it. In October. In Grand Rapids.

I've decided to commit because I thought it would be fun to run it. Not by myself. That's a long time to run (2hr +) alone. I was thinking I'd run it with Kate, but I'm pretty sure she's going to ditch me to run the full 26.2 miles instead (you go girl!!!). Then I thought, hey, my dad just ran a marathon last November. And I remember him saying that during that race he thought that the half was more up his alley (the second half of that marathon was not pretty, but the first half rocked). So, yeah, this is a good idea - how about I ask my dad to run this thing with me?? YEAH! That's a GREAT idea! I mean, after all, he's almost 30 years older than me. So we probably run around the same pace, right? This will be PERFECT!

And when I asked him, he'd already decided he would like to run with me anyway. All right! I'm all set. Now I have motivation, and someone to run with, I'm committed now! Except for one thing. My dad does NOT run my pace after all, but a good minute/mi faster. No, that is not a joke nor is it a typo. To prove it, here's the text message he sent me today from Philly, where he's attending my niece's graduation from High School:

"7 mile run this am 8:30 pace. Game on. Dad."

Oh. CRAP! So far this season, in the two races I've run (a 5K in March, and a 10K in May) my pace is somewhere between a 9 and 9:30 min/mi. Yeah, that's about a FULL MINUTE slower than my dad. Clearly I am totally screwed and have my work cut out for me.

So there you have it. I have created this blog for two simple reasons. One - I'm going to need to complain. A lot. About all the running I'm going to have to do in order to not die while running this thing. Second - I'm thinking I'm going to need some encouragement, support, whatever you want to call it, from friends and family (and let's face it - those of you who will take sheer pleasure from my misery - you know who you are!). Because now my goal can't be to just finish this damn thing (which, barring an injury I'm pretty sure I can do). My goal is now to be able to finish it with my dad in my sights, if not with him right next to me.

Wish me luck. I'm going to need it. Big time.