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?