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.