1/28/24 - 2/3/24

I spent the early part of this week continuing to feel totally wiped out. The sun finally came out the latter part of the week and I think it really helped me get more active. I still felt incredibly tired every time I stopped moving, but at least I felt better while I was moving. I'm ready for my body to adjust to my new activity level though because I'm a little tired of feeling totally wiped out!

Sunday 1/28/24

rest

Monday 1/29/24

4 miles

upper body strength session

I moved my strength class to tonight because I needed to be available all day on Tuesday to drive my husband to and from the hospital for an outpatient procedure.

I ran in the morning and planned on running some mileage but felt tired so I stopped at 4.

Strength session in the evening went well.

Tuesday 1/30/24

zero miles

We got back home by mid-afternoon so I had time to get a run in but for some reason I've been feeling plain wiped out the last week or so. I ended up napping on the couch.

It may be that it's been rainy and gray for over a solid week but I simply have no energy.

Wednesday 1/31/24

3 miles

Again, I had plans for big mileage but when I got to the hamster track I had no energy so even running 3 was a struggle.

Thursday 2/1/24

lower body strength session

1 mile

My lower body strength sessions have really been more core work followed by a circuit workout. I'm supposed to be doing deadlifts and squats for lower body work but the squats consist of lifting a kettlebell to chest level and then squatting. This makes my arms the limiting factor because I can only squat as much as I can lift. I get a great workout with the circuit though and I'm pretty wiped by the time I'm done. Trying to follow it with a run really didn't work today.

Friday 2/2/24

skied all day

The sun finally came out and I spent the ENTIRE day skiing with my daughter and her friend. We finally came home in the evening after my thighs started burning and my legs started to fatigue - signs that crashing was eminent. I got home and barely had the energy to eat dinner.

Saturday 2/3/24

upper body strength session

5 miles

I was pleasantly surprised this morning that I wasn't entirely sore, however, getting up and moving to get to my 9am strength class was a bit of a struggle. Strength class went well. I decided to come home and rest a bit before going back out for my run.

The sun was out again today so I decided it was time to take the run outdoors. It was a bit windy but much more enjoyable than going around the hamster track. I felt pretty good after 3 so I kept going and made it to 5.

Week 5 Activity Summary

12 miles of running

3 strength sessions

1 day of skiing

Trying Something New: 1/14/24 - 1/20/24

I've had this pull up bar up in my house for several years now.

Looking at it every day hasn't gotten me any closer to be able to do a pull up.

I decided to try something new and signed up for 12 weeks with a strength coach to lift weights three times a week. Strength training is something that has always been on the back burner for me for various reasons... 

- It's boring

- I'm not sure my technique is correct

- I've had surgery on my right shoulder and I've guarded the movement in my right arm for so many years before that (because, otherwise, my shoulder would spontaneously dislocate) so I pretty much have no upper body strength... therefore I'm bad at it... therefore it's not fun

- Did I say it's boring?

On the other hand... I want to be able to do a pull up... 

I suppose one way to make yourself accountable is to go pay money to do something so that's what I did. It came down to signing up for strength training or rejoining the Y so I could have access to a pool and start swimming again, but the strength training place was closer than the Y and I've already done adult swim lessons, so I decided to learn how to lift weights properly instead.

Sunday 1/14/24

rest

Monday 1/15/24

7 miles

The mileage was not a problem but I think I got too dehydrated during my run.

My original plan was to run 4 miles then drink some water, then finish out the rest of the run. Well, the track was super crowded and it felt like too much trouble to stop after 4 so I ran 5, then at 5 I figured I might as well finish out the run before I stopped. I did drink an entire 500 ml afterwards but I felt like my face was hot and dry for the rest of the day and I continued to feel flushed with a bit of a headache for 2 days.

Tuesday 1/16/24

2 miles + some weights

I met with my coach for the first time today and mainly went over how the program would work before doing some upper body work.

Initial plan was to go run right after the weight session but I ended up going home instead.

G then came over and I helped her with a sewing project until late into the afternoon.

I finally made it to the track but only had time to get 2 miles in because I wanted to get home in time to shower and watch the IU basketball game.

Wednesday 1/17/24

zero miles

Pretty much all my plans for the day got trashed because my mom called in the morning saying she was too dizzy to get out of bed so I ended up driving up to my parents' house to check on her. She ended up feeling better but then I ran and got groceries and picked up prescriptions for them because the weather had been too bad the last couple of days for them to get out of the house. I had a screaming headache by the time I got home and just went to bed early.

Thursday 1/18/24

5 miles + weights

It was leg day, then I went straight to the track and ran 5 miles.

The good thing about doing the weight session before running is that I don't have to do all my dynamic muscle activation exercises before I run because I've already done them and more.

Friday 1/19/24

1 mile walk

I intended to run a couple miles but my headache was back and my legs felt heavy so I ran a lap and decided to walk out the mile and go home.

Saturday 1/20/24

3 miles + weights

It looks like Tuesdays and Saturdays are going to be upper body work and Thursdays are leg days.

3 miles went fine. I probably could have done 5 but I wanted time for a good cool down stretch AND get done in time to get to the bank before they closed at noon so I stopped at 3.

Week 3 Activity Summary

17 miles running

1 mile walking

3 weight/strength sessions

How To Eat An Elephant: 1/7/24 - 1/13/24

How to eat an elephant... so goes the quote. 

One bite at a time.

One bite at a time. One step at a time. One dollar at a time. One stitch at a time.

So many large things you can accomplish if you only take that first step, and then another, and then another. That was the voice that I heard in my head this week as I made my rounds around the hamster track.

All my running was done on the hamster track this week. 

Seven laps per mile.

Sunday 1/7/24

rest

Monday 1/8/24

3 miles

See previous post for details.

Tuesday 1/9/24

no miles

Truthfully, the day got away from me. I intended to run after my dentist appointment at 10 am, however my appointment ran almost 2 hours so I came home afterwards for lunch. My daughter than came over to work on a sewing project and I ended up spending the afternoon with her instead.

Wednesday 1/10/24

3 miles

My new running shoes arrived and they feel great!

Thursday 1/11/24

5 miles

I had to spend the afternoon helping my parents run errands and help around their house. They live an hour away so I made a point of getting my run done before I headed out to their house, knowing I wouldn't feel like running after I spent the day with them. This was the right call since it ended up I didn't get back home until 7pm.

Overall, I felt pretty darn accomplished running 5 miles today.

It's been quite some time since I've run this far.

Friday 1/12/24

no miles

No running miles but it was a full day.

Left the house at 9 am to go to a visitation for a friend's mother.

Didn't get back home until noon. 

My husband and I then went to a matinee to watch The Boys In The Boat.

Fantastic movie! I highly recommend it.

Got home in time to watch the IU vs. Minnesota basketball game.

Started dinner at halftime, then both kids and their boyfriends came over for dinner at 8:30pm.

A full day!

Saturday 1/13/24

5 miles

I got up at 3:15 am to take a kid to the airport.

The road conditions were horrible. There was freezing rain coming down, the highway was a sheet of ice and it was so windy I thought I was going to get blown into a guard rail. I got back home at 5am and went back to bed. Didn't wake back up until 11am.

Leaving the house to go run was a struggle. I felt dead tired.

I told myself I was going to get 3 miles in and go home.

Surprisingly, I felt stronger the further I ran so I ended up running 5.

I've decided to work on building base miles this month. Nice easy runs with no watch. I want to finish my runs always feeling like I could run more.

Food prep this week...

I made beef stroganoff last night and should have a couple more meals left.

I made granola to have with Greek yogurt and fruit next week.

I bought a 3lb bag of clementines to snack on.

I made a loaf of honey oat bread tonight because I have a craving for bougee PB & J made with pistachio almond butter and blueberry preserves.

It's been alot easier eating clean since I threw out almost all the junk food in the house.

Week 2 Activity Summary

16 miles running

Day 8

Remember these shoes?

These are my "trophy shoes," the shoes I bought after I got into the Boston Marathon in 2016. I really didn't care for the design that year but by Gawd I got them anyway because it was that year's Boston shoes.

So today I ran in them since I decided last week that my current shoes were beyond dead and my new running shoes aren't going to arrive until the end of this week. I wear a Brooks Ghost and all the shoes available locally in my size were Gawd-awful colors. If I'm going to spend $140 on running shoes I'm going to at least get them in a livable color... which is white. Running shoes should be white. Period.

Well, I'm going back to the dead shoes tomorrow because, while these had plenty of tread left, they were stiff as a board from sitting on a shelf for 8 years.

I ran 3+ miles on the hamster track today. Going in, I thought about running 5, however once I heard my feet slapping down on the track in these shoes, I decided the wiser thing to do would be to stop at 3. Normally you can't hear my steps if I'm running correctly so a noisy run means I'm not hitting the ground like I should. I did go ahead and run one more extra lap, then I walked an additional 6 laps to get a total of 4 miles of distance in.

My 3-Things today:

1. Give some things away in my Buy Nothing group.

2. Clean out the cubby next to our fireplace.

3. Sweep and vacuum the hardwood floors.

Check, check, and check.

I love my Buy Nothing group. It makes it so much easier to give away sentimental objects that are gathering dust in my house. Today one of the things I listed were these wooden African animals that I purchased in Eldoret, Kenya in 1997 while I was doing a 2-month long medical rotation there.

I remember haggling with the vendor over the price of the giraffes. I don't remember how much I paid for these, but I do remember that I was a poor medical student who took out an extra loan to have money to travel to Kenya that Spring. I then had to carry these halfway around the world to bring them home. 

There was a woman in my group who said she was on the board of directors for a school in Uganda and would love to have these for her home. On reading those words, I knew she was the right person to give these to. It's easier to part with things this way than leaving them in a donation bin.

The cubby next to our fireplace was meant for firewood but over the years has turned into a catch-all for miscellaneous objects. Most of those objects went straight to the trash. (My husband is a gunsmith and that "target" on the fireplace is what he uses to zero in scopes. I have yet to figure out how to talk him into taping this up only when he needs to use it.) All that's left to find homes for are these FIVE computer power cords which my husband swears he'll look at tomorrow, plus this portable DVD player which will probably get donated too.

Breakfast was oatmeal with dried cranberries and pepitas.

Lunch was white chicken chili.

I was hungry before dinner so I had a hardboiled egg.

Dinner was minestrone, sourdough crackers, and a salad with spinach, roasted beets, feta cheese and balsamic vinaigrette.  

Writing It Down Makes It Real : 1/1/24 - 1/6/24

Writing it down makes it real.

Since I did the cliche thing on New Year's Day and signed up for a marathon I figured I'd go ahead and keep down that path with a couple more goals.

1. Aim for at least 30 minutes of activity daily.

Seriously, I think I've been laying on the couch with my cat for the last two years.

2. Meal plan.

It's been so easy to grab drive thru or packaged food lately because I don't think about my next meal until I'm starving, then I just grab whatever is handy.

3. Write out what I want to accomplish every day.

I'm retired. I don't HAVE to do anything. I can lay on the couch with my cat, order Door Dash every day, and hire people to do all my chores... but I also realize I got to where I am today by being productive and accomplishing my goals and I have more things I want to do. Those things not getting done by themselves.

Highlights of my week...

Monday 1/1/24

Registered for the Geist Half Marathon (9/14/24) and the Monumental Marathon (11/9/24).

I burned my boats on the beach and chose the non-refundable option.

Tuesday 1/2/24

1 mile run indoor track.

Weighed myself and almost stroked out. More on that later. I'm still processing...

Cleaned my kitchen and pantry and threw out all the junk food. Took stock of what I had, made a meal plan and a grocery list.

Wednesday 1/3/24

2 mile run indoor track

15 minutes stationary bike (3 miles) level 5.

I made a big pot of minestrone and portioned it out. Also made some hard boiled eggs to snack on.

Thursday 1/4/24

3 mile run indoor track

I was pleasantly surprised I ran all 3 miles without a problem since I haven't run in a loooong time.

I had to drive up to my parent's house immediately afterwards so I was glad I had hard boiled eggs and an apple to grab after my run so I wouldn't be hangry later.

Got back home late in the evening and it was the same deal. I was starving. I had minestrone.

Friday 1/5/24

3 mile run indoor track

Goal today was to run 4 miles. However, 3 laps into my run I developed a pain in my right knee. An uncomfortable niggle that sent concern into my brain. Maybe I should back off... 

I considered walking it out but decided to continue running. I've had the discomfort before. I'm certain I have a bit of a meniscal tear in this knee and every now and then a piece of cartilage floats into an uncomfortable position. Of course this is pure speculation. I've never had it imaged. Anyhoos, most of the discomfort worked itself out after a couple more laps. Then, I lost count on what mile I was on... so in the end, I either ran 3 miles or I might have run 4, but I'm counting 3 because I'm sure I ran at least that far.

Made butter chicken with sweet potatoes and rice.

Portioned out the leftovers for later.

Saturday 1/6/24

30+ minutes of ice skating

I woke up this morning with a pressure feeling in both knees. I've had this discomfort before. I get it when I start increasing my mileage. Usually I feel it the first time I run 5+ miles after I haven't run for awhile and since I had some right knee pain yesterday I wasn't surprised. Plus, my running shoes are past dead. I think they are over 5 years old...

Initial plan was to go to the fitness center and check out the Peloton bikes. I noticed that they were there this week but I didn't have any ear buds with me so I couldn't use them. G and I were also planning to go ice skating later in the afternoon. Well, the morning got away from me and G called me while I was out running errands, so I picked her up and ran her errands too, and by then it was too late to go to the fitness center so we just went to the skating rink. I did work up a sweat doing laps around the ice and since my goal today was to do at least 30 minutes of activity I'm going to count this as cross training.

Week 1 Activity Summary

9 miles of running

15 minutes on a stationary bike

30+ minutes of ice skating

Unfinished Business - 2024 Monumental Marathon

 

I had no plans on registering for a marathon when I woke up this morning.

Sure, I had plans on getting back into shape and running some more some day... 

Then one of my Sole Sisters texted me. Are you racing this year?

Um, no. Not exactly racing... but I've thought about running...

Long story short, we decided to run the Monumental Marathon together this year.

The first time I ran Monumental was in 2013. 

It was the third marathon I ever ran and my first attempt at a Boston Qualifying time. It was a newer marathon at the time, only in its sixth year, so it was small. I was well on my way to qualifying until I collided with another runner at a water stop at mile 16. I spent the next several miles trying to figure out how to drop out of the race but all I saw were kids offering their Halloween candy to runners on the course. I wanted to drop out but I couldn't find a way to do it! I realized the quickest route to my car would be through the finish line and miserably limped to the finish, 25 minutes over my qualifying time.

2014 I was registered for the full but ended up dropping to the half and running it as a training run due to an injured hamstring.

I qualified for Boston in the Spring of 2015 and didn't think about racing for the rest of the year.

I ran both Boston and Big Sur in the Spring of 2016 and didn't race for the rest of the year.

2017, I ran Monumental in another Boston qualifying attempt. 

I was well on my way to qualifying when I injured my knee at mile 12. This time the shortest distance to my car was NOT through the finish line so I dropped out of the race and walked 5 miles to my car. This is my first and only DNF in a race.

2018, I had no interest in running this race.

2019, I registered for the full because I have a short memory. 

This again was supposed to be a Boston qualifying attempt. However, I ran across the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim two weeks before the race and sprained my ankle. I ended up hobbling across the Grand Canyon, then my ankle blew up the size of a grapefruit and I couldn't run for a week so I ended up dropping to the half. The only reason I even ran the half was because a group of Sole Sisters came into town to run the race together.

I haven't run this race since 2019. 

I have no intention to run this race for time.

I just want to have a good run and enjoy this course for once.

Period.

Mill Race Training Week 16 - The Week Before The Week Of

In 2014 I ran my 5K PR in my last road race before my BQ attempt at the Derby Festival Marathon. In 2015 I ran my 10K PR in my last road race before my BQ attempt at the Napa Valley Marathon. I didn't feel close to PR shape this year but figured I might as well run one more road race before the Mill Race Marathon this coming weekend. Saturday I hit the Indiana Timing circuit again and raced.

So here was my week before the week of the Mill Race Marathon...

Sunday 9/10 - Zero miles. A well deserved rest day after the 20 on Saturday... plus I had to go to work.

Monday 9/11 - 6 miles. Easy shake out run on the Monon.

Tuesday 9/12 - 7 miles. Run Club workout. 2 miles warm up and then 400's on the track with a 200 jog in between. Goal was 8-12 400's. I ended up doing 10. Also finally figured out how to use the lap timer on my Garmin (Thanks Trena!)

400 sprint           200 jog
1:48.1                 1:32.8
1:51.1                 1:33.9
1:54.2                 1:35.3
1:52.6                 1:34.8
1:52.3                 1:39.9
1:52.5                 1:42.2
1:49.3                 1:45.1
1:52.4                 1:44.6
1:52.0                 1:48.4
1:54.2

I'm actually amazed at how consistent the 400's were considering I couldn't see the individual lap times. I knew the Garmin was recording the lap times every time I hit the timer but all I could see was the overall running time until I downloaded the data. I basically ran on feel and tried to keep up a hard effort but a sustainable pace. 1.5 mile cool down after the track work to get me 7 miles.

Wednesday 9/13 - Zero miles. Rest day.

Thursday 9/14 - 4 miles. I couldn't decide what to run today. Long run? Pace run? Hit the Monon and thought I'd run pace. This went well for two miles. 8:48, 8:45, then I became aware of how hot and humid it was. 8:55. The weather had changed again and the cool temps were gone. I was actually sweating walking out to the trail and that should have been a tip-off. I struggle-bussed through a cool down mile 4 and decided I was done for the day.

Friday 9/15 - 6 miles. Again, I felt like I should do some kind of long run today but realized even before I started running that I was really really tired. At first I didn't even know if I'd make 6 and thought about turning around at the 3 mile turn around but crossed 75th Street and kept going south. Finally started feeling somewhat better and managed to finish 6 but no more.

Saturday 9/16 - 5 miles. I decided to run the Seeds of Love 5K in Columbus, IN. I figured it would be a good run through for race morning next weekend. So... up at 5 am... and laid in bed til 5:30 am. Ugh, I am SO tired. Finally got up so I could eat my oatmeal and drink my coffee. Out the door at 6:15 am. I was still so seriously sleepy that I considered turning around and driving back home at the Edinburgh exit... but I kept driving. Got to Columbus a little after 7 am so I could register for the race and get a one mile warm up in. Took a glance at the course map which wound through multiple neighborhood streets and figured I'd just follow someone. Happy to see Jane and Magda and Debra there. At least I'd have some gals to run with.

The race started and there were two girls (as in teenagers) that toed the starting line and took off. The first one took off and I never saw her again. In the back of my mind I felt I had a chance of breaking 24:00 but knew I needed a 7:20-7:30 first mile, then to hang on after that, if I were to have a chance.

Mile 1 - 7:28. I could feel myself reeling the girl in front of me in. Passed her before the 2 mile marker and gunned it to the next corner.
Mile 2 - 7:50. Now I was running alone which made it harder. I knew Jane and Debra were behind me somewhere but where were they? It was a twisty course through small neighborhood streets so I kept my head up and made sure I ran every tangent.
Mile 3 - 8:18. I really needed someone to push me. I knew I should run sub-8:00 to get sub 24:00 but I lost my motivation. I could feel myself slowing but I didn't see any shadows or hear any footsteps behind me either so I got a bit complacent. But... where the heck was that 3 mile marker?!! I was starting to really slow down and knew I'd get caught if I didn't hurry up.
Last 0.1 - 0:37. I saw the finish clock read 24:06 as I came down the straight away and knew I didn't get my time, then put my head down and ran through the finish line.

Official time - 24:13.

I walked through the chute and turned around... and found Debra right behind me. Whew! I almost got caught. I didn't know she was so close behind me.

Magda, me and Jane

Overall, it was a pretty solid race and I felt like I had earned my medal this week. Only low point of the day was the UGLY rumor that I heard... the weather next Saturday shows highs in the 90's...

Trying really hard to stay positive and not go into freak out mode this week!

28 miles for Week 16.

Mill Race Training Weeks 9 to 14 - August... the Lost Month

Hello. I'm back. I didn't know if I'd be back or not...

August was a horrible month. Between the end of July and the beginning of September I lost 6 weeks of training. I really debated whether to run Mill Race at all... but here I am, seeing what I can salvage.

I had all kinds of problems. First, it was the weather. Hot. Humid. Days and days and DAYS of 90 degree weather. Normally when I can't stand the heat I'd retreat to the hamster track. Well... my fitness center decided to upgrade the whole facility... and was closed for the last 3 weeks of August. At first I figured it would be good for me to get out and heat train out on the roads. Running around my house is tough. It's all rolling hills. I used to run them all the time cause that was all I knew, until I discovered the indoor track and the flat shady Monon...

Second, I got scheduled a boatload of shifts at work. Most days I got home late at night so if I was going to get a run in, I'd have to do it in the morning. It makes sense you know - hot weather, morning runs - except...  I'm so so SO not a morning person. I just could NOT get up early enough to run while it was cool and then go to work. After a late night at work I was dead tired in the morning. I came to the conclusion that I didn't want a BQ bad enough. I remembered getting up at 4:30 am all those days to get to kettlebell class in January the last time I was trying to BQ. I've done it. But not this time. I just didn't want it that bad.

Other family stuff too. My mom got sick. My older daughter went to college. My younger daughter is busy as ever pursuing a professional dance career. I was dead tired and getting pulling in a hundred different directions. Looking at my training schedule and seeing all the runs I was missing just added to the stress.

I decided to practice Subtraction Happiness. Subtraction Happiness is a minimalist principle I came across a while back. The basic tenet is that most people think they will be happy if they obtain stuff - material or not, if they get that one more thing, they will be happy... but you can accumulate all the stuff in the world and still not be happy. With Subtraction Happiness, instead of trying to gain stuff, you get RID of the things that make you unhappy. I love the simplicity.

Well... all the runs hanging over my head everyday was making me unhappy... so I decided not to run for awhile. Come what may.

September 1st brought a cool cloudy day. Mid to high 60's all day long. It was the perfect day for a run. I ran 20 miles and decided to run Mill Race. Getting a BQ will be a stretch at this point but I'm going for it. If I fall short I have Monumental on November 4th.

Here's what the last 6 weeks looked like...

Week 9
After a 50 mile week in Week 8, this was supposed to be a "down" week for me so I allowed myself to take it easy.

Sunday 7/23 - 5 miles
Monday 7/24 - 6 miles
Tuesday 7/25 - 8 miles. Run Club workout. 2+ mile warm up then 3 laps of a hill circuit that was approximately 1.25 miles. Lap 1 pace 8:29/mile; lap 2 pace 8:33/mile; lap 3 pace 8:41/mile. 2+ mile cool down.

The workout felt good but I was DEAD afterwards. By the time I had showered at the Y and picked up G from dance I was starving. I messed up by not having any food with me. By the time I got home 2.5 hours after my run I felt so bad I couldn't eat.

Wednesday 7/26 - Zero miles. I basically "broke" myself Tuesday night. I felt horrible all day.
Thursday 7/27 - Zero miles. Drove all day to Philadelphia.
Friday 7/28 - Zero miles. Spent the whole day sight seeing in Philadelphia and watched G perform in the evening for the end of her summer dance intensive at The Rock School for Dance Education.
Saturday 7/29 - Zero miles. Checked G out of her dorm in the morning then drove to New York City. Went out to a nice dinner at Lattanzi, then saw Cats on Broadway.

19 miles for Week 9

Week 10
This was supposed to be another 50 mile week but here is where it all started falling apart.

Sunday 7/30 - Zero miles. Spent the day walking all over New York City so LOTS of walking miles but no running miles.
Monday 7/31 - Zero miles. Spent the whole day driving home.

Tuesday 8/1 - 9 miles. Run Club. We were suppose to run mile repeats. I decided I wanted to run a steady state run instead. Ran the "warm up" with the fast kids - 8:32, 8:40. Everyone else stopped after that to get ready to do the repeats but I kept going to try and keep this pace - 8:50. It was HOT. I couldn't keep the pace so I decided I'd alternate jogging and running the miles - 11:01, 8:37, 9:00, 12:22, 8:41, 11:18. Pretty much felt horrible by the time I got done. Both this week and last week it was so hot and humid that all my clothes were soaking wet - like I had jumped in a pool wet - by the time I got done running. I did remember food this week.

Wednesday 8/2 - Zero miles. Worked all day.
Thursday 8/3 - 6 miles.
Friday 8/4 - Zero miles. Worked all day. Up at 4:30 am for the morning shift but still got home too late to run.
Saturday 8/5 - Zero miles. Worked all day.

15 miles for Week 10.

Week 11
Obviously I didn't get any big miles in during Week 10 but I told myself not to panic. I felt like I needed the extra down week. I was tired from traveling and working, plus my younger daughter went back to school that week and she had an orthodontist appointment and I had had a doctor's appointment to squeeze in. This was going to be my big mileage week.

Sunday 8/6 - Zero miles. Worked all day.
Monday 8/7 - 6 miles.

Tuesday 8/8 - 10 miles. It was still hot but not quite as humid. The whole family was going to be home this evening which is a rarity so I decided to skip Run Club in the evening and ran on my own mid-morning. Went down to Morgan Monroe State Forest and ran the Low Gap Trail.

I hadn't been trail running in over a year. I love the trails but I hate mud. It had been too rainy in the Spring to even think about hitting a trail. Plus, the highway has been under construction FOREVER! I have to drive it every time I go to work in Bloomington but I've been avoiding it as much as I can. Today was a beautiful day though and I felt like a trail run would be good for me.

So... about 1.3 miles into the run I got my right foot caught on a tree root and fell. Landed hard and skinned up my left knee. Nothing cut up enough to bleed though so I gathered myself and kept going. My right foot is still bothering me. I must be dragging it just a bit because I caught my right foot on something three more times and stumbled, but didn't fall. The foot was throbbing by the time I got done. Plus, there were huge trees down everywhere along the trail. They had been down long enough that I could make out paths around them but when I got down to the creek bottom I ended running in the dry (thankfully!) creek bed looking for landmarks until the trail left the creek because of all the trees that were down. Took me 2 hours and 20 minutes to run it; so about 20 minutes slower than usual.

Wednesday 8/9 - 5 miles. Quads were pretty sore from running the downhills on the trail but managed to run.
Thursday 8/10 - 5 miles. Ran after work. Huge accomplishment.
Friday 8/11 - Zero miles. Thought about doing my long run in the morning before work but couldn't get out of bed. Worked til midnight.
Saturday 8/12 - 12 miles. I had 20 on the schedule but I just couldn't do it. I got too hot. Ran a 7 mile loop back to my house and felt pretty good but when I went out again I had to stop after 5. I had all day to run but, quite honestly, I just didn't want to keep running.

32 miles for Week 11. Way short of the 50 I had planned.

Week 12
Sunday 8/13 - Zero miles. I was still wiped out from the 12 on Saturday.

Monday 8/14 - 12 miles. I was going to miss Run Club on Tuesday due to work so I thought I'd get some tempo work in. Hit the Monon just before 5 pm and decided to see how far I could get with "marathon pace," except I wasn't quite sure what my marathon pace might be. 9:00? 8:50? 9:00 would get me 3:55:58, pretty solid BQ (I need 4:00). 8:50 would get me 3:51:36, a PR by 11 seconds. Definitely not in PR shape but lets see what happens...

It was freakin' HOT. Started at the Y on 86th Street. 8:43, passed on water at 96th Street because it had only been a mile. 9:04. Got passed by the Carmel girls' cross country team and passed on water at the Monon Center because it had only been 2 miles. 8:49, 8:49... this was getting HARD and I was SO cooked. 8:48. I was done. Completely overheated. Pretty much crawled another mile to the next available water stop which was just before 146th Street and doused myself with water before shuffling back another 6 miles to the Y. So... 5 miles, averaged 8:51 pace, then 7 miles of crawling back.

Tuesday 8/15 - 6 miles. Mid-morning run by my house before going to work in the evening. Hot hot hot.

I was done after that. Pretty much what had been happening for the last couple weeks was I'd overheat on my runs. I'd be down about 5 pounds after my run. It would take me about 2 days for me to regain that weight and I'd feel like hell. I felt horrid on Wednesday. I didn't have to work for the rest of the week but I didn't run either. Subtraction Happiness kicked in and I decided running made me feel too bad, physically and emotionally.

Moved my older daughter down to Indiana University on Wednesday then spent some time working on a blanket she wanted for her dorm room the rest of the week. It was $600 on Etsy so I made her one instead for about $50.

18 miles for Week 12.

Week 13
Worked Monday and Tuesday and didn't feel the urge to run again til Wednesday.

Wednesday 8/23 - 6 easy miles on the Monon.
Thursday 8/24 - Zero miles. Worked all day.

Friday 8/25 - 9 miles. Actually started feeling better and the weather finally cooled down a bit into the 70's so I tried another tempo run on the Monon. 9:07, 8:48, 8:43, 8:43, 8:53, 8:40. I was running a 3 mile loop. Averaged 8:49 pace for 6 miles, didn't feel like death, then did a 3 mile cool down. Hmmm. Maybe a week off did some good.

Saturday 8/26 - Zero miles. Spent the day celebrating my dad's 80th birthday. I made most of the food for the party so it sucked up my whole day.

15 miles for Week 13.

Week 14
Sunday 8/27 - 5 miles.

Monday 8/28 - Zero miles. A frustrating day. I actually wanted to run but a plumbing issue at home sent me on a wild goose chase for a replacement bathtub faucet that we ended up not needing anyway and I lost my time window to get a run in.

Tuesday 8/29 - 9 miles. Went back to Run Club after 3 weeks off. Workout was 800 meter repeats. 2 mile warm up, then 6-10 800 meter repeats with a 200 meter recovery jog in between, then a cool down. Goal was to run all the repeats at the same sustainable pace. Once again I had the dilemma of what my pace should be. If I did all 10, they would be sorta like Yassos, but maybe a little harder since Yassos allow you the same amount of recovery time as what you ran the 800 in and these have less recovery time. If I did 10 and ran 4:00 each that would be a pretty good indication that I could run a 4:00 marathon. But... I didn't think I could maintain that pace. I settled on trying to hit 4:15.

So... 4:08.7, 4:07.8, 4:08.1, 4:06.4, 3:55.2, 4:00.0. The first 5 felt good. Six was hard and I sped up at the end to get it over with. Then I hit a wall and felt like throwing up. 4:29.9. Maybe I'd stop at 8. 4:19.0. One more. I didn't look at my watch and ran by feel. 4:11.4. What the heck, might as well do one more and get all 10 in. Again, I didn't look at my watch but ran as hard as I could. 4:05.5. Averaged 4:09.2 for ten 800's. Well, at least I might be able to run a 4:10 marathon. I wanted to lay down on the track after that. I was the last one done. Crawled another mile back to my car.

Wednesday 8/30 - Zero miles. Got home from work at 1 am.
Thursday 8/31 - Zero miles. Got home from work at 2 am. It was horrid.

Friday 9/1 - 20 miles. Today was decision day. If I was running a marathon in 22 days I needed a 20 miler this week. Today was my day off. I was scheduled to work for the next three days as Labor Day Weekend is my holiday to work this year. I had to run 20 today if I was running a marathon.

It turned out to be the perfect day for a long run. I slept in in the morning on account of getting home so late from work. I woke to gray skies, gusty winds, and temperatures in the 60's. Hallelujah! It wasn't hot. I ran 20 miles on the roads by my house. It wasn't fast. Took me 3:34:08, so 10:42 pace, but I FINALLY got a long run in.

Saturday 9/2 - Zero miles. Worked all day.

34 miles for Week 14. Not bad for 3 days of running.

Now it's 20 days to race day. Not sure how much ground I can make up but I'm back to trying.

Mill Race Training Weeks 6 and 7 - It's Been a Roller Coaster Ride

My running life the last two weeks...

I really need to start breaking up my blog posts. There have been so many days these past two weeks where each day's post would have been a story unto itself. My goal over the next few days, or maybe weeks, will be to blog more often with shorter daily blurbs, kinda like I used to do when I first started. For now though, here's the roller coaster ride I've been on...

Sunday 7/2 - Zero miles. Didn't do jack. This is my recovery week. I had entertained the thought of running 10 miles but realized my legs still felt tired so I laid around the house all day.

Monday 7/3 - 4 miles. This was suppose to be 4 easy miles with my friend Margo. Ha! Started off around 9:00 pace and I had to tell her to slow down. We ran at 9 am but it was still starting to get pretty hot and I continued to feel crappy running outdoors. Upside is that I got to cool off in her pool after the run.

Tuesday 7/4 - 5 miles. Title for today would be Sparkler Sprint 5K as well as Christmas in July. The Sparkler Sprint is the annual Fourth of July 5K in Franklin to benefit Franklin HS Cross Country. Race started at 8:30 am. I got to Province Park at 7 am and ran a 2 mile warm up. Temperature was pleasant then and I felt like I could run several more miles but stopped since I was there for the race. However, by 8:30 am it was blazing hot again.

Mile 1 - 7:38. Eh... not bad.

Mile 2 - 8:24. Never mind. This totally sucks. I can't breathe.

Mile 3 - 8:19. Attempting a respectable finish.

Final time - 25:20. Bleeckk!!

It was a horrid race. I felt so bad afterwards that I didn't even do a cool down.

Got home, showered and felt better. I had the day off so I decided to do some shopping. I've had my eye on this Salomon hydration vest for awhile but I wanted to try one on before I dropped $175. I went to Runner's Forum, Bicycle Garage, Gander Mountain, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Blue Mile looking for hydration vests. Nada. Camelbacks yes, hydration vests no. However... Blue Mile was having a 4th of July sale. It was 40% off all their sale stuff that was already 50% off. Wheee!! I ended up getting:

Nike Epic Lux tights, regularly $105, for $31.78. I loved the marbled print!

Saucony Siberius tights, regularly $88, for $26.38. These are super warm with a fizzy fleece lining.

Under Armour No Breaks jacket, regularly $89.99, for $26.98. Another cold weather jacket with a hood that leaves an opening for just your eyes.

It was pretty much Christmas in July for me. Huge mood swing from the morning.

Wednesday 7/5 - 6 miles. Got up at 4 am and spent the day at work. Got home in the evening and pounded out 6 miles on the hamster track. It felt surprisingly good; good enough that I considered doing 10, however I had 10 on the books for the morning and I wanted to do it outdoors.

Thursday 7/6 - 10 miles. Another morning of wasted good intentions. I absolutely could not get out the door early enough to run long outside. It was blazing hot again. I retreated to the hamster track and just barely got my miles in before going to work. Then I had the shift from hell at work and stayed an hour over. Got home after 1 am and, oh, did I mention, I have a 7 am flight in the morning.

Friday 7/7 - Rest. Well, no miles at least. The next few days should be titled Our East Coast Adventure. Got up at 4:30 am so I could pack, then left the house at 5:30 am to go to the airport. Hubs and I flew to Boston. This was a mini-vacation to celebrate, well, for one thing our 21st Wedding Anniversary... which was yesterday... plus we were going to see G dance in Philly on Monday... and, oh by the way, hubs bought a car... in Boston.

So, personally speaking, hubs has a car problem, as in he loves cars. Remember we had to stop in Pittsburg on our way home from Philly to test drive a car? Well, that wasn't the one, but he ended up finding the one in Boston. The guy from the car dealership picked us up from the airport and took us to the Topsfield Motor Company in Topsfield, MA (a suburb of Boston) where hubs saw and drove the car in person and handed over a check.

Once he had possession of the car we drove to Needham, MA where he had booked a hotel. We stopped at Blue on Highland, a local farm to table restaurant, for lunch. It was fabulous. Being in Boston, I had to get the lobster roll which came with the most delicious crispy French fries. We split a cannoli for dessert.

Checked into the Sheraton after that. I swear the hotel looked like it used to be a hospital. It was all hotel inside though and I crawled into bed for a nap. Sleep at last!

After getting caught up on sleep it was dinner time. Dinner was at Gari Japanese Fusion Bistro where we had sushi. Back to bed after that. This is my kind of vacation - eating great food and sleeping! It was also rainy and gray outside so it was sleep weather.

Saturday 7/8 - Zero miles. Another rest my legs day for me. We basically got up and drove to Philadelphia. Checked into our hotel there and went to the Mission BBQ for dinner. Had the smoked ribeye with collard greens and mac'n cheese. It was heavenly. Then, as if that wasn't enough, we went to Davio's Galleria and had gelato for dessert. Davio's is a Northern Italian style restaurant. Their Galleria is the bakery/café across the street. I got espresso gelato and hubs got vanilla coconut. We were stuffed but there's always room for gelato! We rolled ourselves back to the hotel.

25 miles for Week 6.
I needed a down week!

Sunday 7/9 - 9 miles. Title for today would be Boom! After sleeping and eating for two days I got up and ran 9 miles on the hotel treadmill. NINE miles on the freakin' treadmill. Can you believe it?! I was the only one in the little fitness center and I got it done and out of the way in the morning. Boom! It was a great feeling. Picked G up from her dorm in the afternoon and took her out to dinner at Mistral. This is another farm to table type restaurant with small plates to be shared. It was pretty much foodie heaven for G and me. We got grilled sourdough with ricotta, honey and ramp oil,pineapple chili wings with avocado cilantro dip, a market green salad with smoked goat cheese, strawberries and pistachios, and tuna tartare with squid ink rice crackers, miso and yuzu. Dessert was coconut pudding with lime curd, strawberries and thai basil as well as Medjool date cake with lemon, dulce de leche, and vanilla ice cream. Then... we drove back to Davio's Galleria for more gelato and cappuccino. Rolled G back to her dorm and went back to bed!

Monday 7/10 - Zero miles. The whole reason we came to Philadelphia was to watch G dance. The Rock School for Dance Education, where G is spending the summer, was putting on a community outreach show called Rock-ology at the Mann Center. We watched the show in the morning. It was over at 12:30 pm. As soon as it was over we jumped back in the car and drove back to Indiana. It was a loooong drive. Got home at midnight.

Tuesday 7/11 - 8 miles. Title for today is The Struggle Bus. I came back from Philadelphia feeling like I had fresh legs again. There were 9 miles on my training plan today and I wanted to kill it. Problem was, it was pouring rain. Complete and total downpour. Roads by my house were closed due to flooding. First I thought I'd go to the fitness center and run 4 easy miles and do my 9 mile speed workout on Wednesday. That however would push all my running plans back a day, making my long run on Thursday and I was planning on racing on Friday. Not ideal. I piddle farted around long enough though that the rain stopped and I hadn't gone to the fitness center yet so I went to run club. Better to get that speedwork in with the group.

Workout tonight was couple miles warm up, then 1-2 miles at half-marathon pace, 1-2 miles at 10K pace, then a mile at 5 K pace, followed by a cool down. Since I was supposed to do 9 miles, my plan was 2 mile warm up, 3 miles at 8:45 pace, 2 miles at 8:20 pace, 1 mile at 8:00, then 1 mile cool down... at least that was the vision.

The evening was deceptively overcast. It was humid as heck. The 2 mile warm up went well. First mile in 8:42. Not too bad. Next mile in 8:42. Had to work enough that I decided I shouldn't do a third mile at that pace and decided to drop down to the 8:20 miles now if I was going to make it through the workout. Well, then I couldn't hit 8:20 either. Ran 8:26 and decided I needed a recovery mile. Jogged a mile then went for the 8:00 mile - which totally didn't happen. I felt like I was being smothered and I was running at altitude. I couldn't breathe. 8:22 was the best I could manage. I was pretty much done after that. Slogged through a mile cool down and ended in a puddle by our meeting place on the Monon, completely deflated and defeated. So much for killing the speed session today.

Wednesday 7/12 - 5 miles. Title for today is The Most Craptastic Run Ever. I had high hopes for  a great long run. It was supposed to hit 90 degrees today so I got up at 5:30 am, had my oatmeal and coffee, packed my GUs and water bottles and got out the door by 6:30 am to run 19 miles. The air was cool but incredibly humid. Right away I felt like I was swimming. My Garmin was showing that I was running 11 minute miles. Sigh. I slogged along. 11 minute pace climbed to 12 minute pace. I was running an out-and-back course today since was wearing a fuel belt. I almost never carry a cell phone with me but I had one today since I had my fuel belt and I thought I might take pictures of how much the corn had grown...

AVERT YOUR EYES NOW IF POOP STORIES ARE TMI

...so, just before I get to the 5 mile mark, it happens... that feeling like all my insides are going to fall out... that feeling of impending doom. Blame it on having children but I've had this problem since I popped out my kids. I'll get sudden urges to have a BM and it's like I have to find a bathroom NOW because I can't stop it. I think I've pretty much had to dash into a restroom at every store in Indy at one point or another. It's happened on a run or two too and sometimes it gets ugly - like have to throw all your clothes away ugly... and it was happening now... out in the middle of nowhere. There was a soybean field that was too short to squat in. There was a cornfield on the other side of the road that just so happened to be the one cornfield that was fenced in! Flimsy wire fencing that you couldn't climb over or climb thru. Plus, I'm wearing a bright red top so everybody could see me! Right now I just wanted to be invisible. I was trying so hard to control my innards I was breaking out in a cold sweat and standing in the middle of the road. Inevitably, I soiled myself. I immediately felt better but now I had a crapload of shit in my pants. Thankfully I had on long black compression shorts so it wasn't running down my legs...yet. @#%##%!!! If I ran back, it was all going down my legs. If I walked back, it was going to be an effing long walk and I might still have shit running down my legs. This disaster of a run was over. I pulled out my cell phone. Just shy of 8 am. Hopefully hubs won't be too mad when I wake him up...

Luckily hubs was up and after he finally figured out what cornfield I was stranded at, he came and got me. It was bad. I laid on my stomach across the back seat to get home while he drove home with the windows down. Love you dear... Yup, undies went straight into the trash when I got home. Got cleaned up but felt totally wiped out and spent the next 4 hours between the couch and the bathroom just emptying my guts out. I felt Completely. Totally. Defeated.

Thursday 7/13 - 19 miles. Title for today is Redemption. Got back on the horse again and did my long run... indoors this time. People often ask how I can stand to run so many miles around an indoor track. I don't think of 19 miles as 133 laps (it's 7 laps to a mile at my track). I break it down into sevens... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and your done with a mile. I do that 5 times. Then it's a slug of water and a GU. Rinse and repeat til you hit your goal. I got all 19 done with absolutely no problems.

I passed the time listening to podcasts. First I listened to Episode 56 of the Runner's World podcast where (now former) editor David Willey makes his attempt at a BQ at the Bayshore Marathon this past May. He has tried for years to qualify. I can totally empathize with him. This time though he had a whole team of people helping him... from a coach to a nutritionist to pacers that ran with him, carried his water and nutrition for him, and blocked the wind for him. Don't get me wrong... I was really rooting for him to finally achieve his goal... but I have to wonder how fair is that? I suppose that's no different from what the elites do though. He qualified 1:05 under BQ. It will be interesting to see if he actually gets into the 2018 race.

The other podcast of note that I listened to was Outside magazine's interview with Diana Nyad. I got to the part about the Cuban guy at the CVS store that gave her his lucky $2 bill before her 4th attempt at swimming from Cuba to Florida and almost started crying. It's a good interview.

Friday 7/14 - 5 miles. Title for today is Redemption Part 2: Seymour Midnight 5K. There's a 5K at Seymour High School every July that's run at midnight as a benefit for their cross country team. They are the Seymour Owls. This is one of my favorite 5K's. Let's face it, I'm a night owl. It's usually nice a cool at midnight and I enjoy running in the dark.

As luck would have it, today was another get-up-at-4am-and-go-to-work kinda day. Plus, we're short staffed so everyone is working longer shifts. I ended up clocking just over 11 hours at work. Came home and hit the couch and debated whether I really wanted to drive all the way down to Seymour (it's a hour and a half away) for a 5K. I reasoned though that if I ran tonight I could sleep in as long as I wanted in the morning and not worry about trying to get a run in before going back to work on Saturday. Do it now and get it over with! Plus it's more fun racing with a group than running on your own.

And so I ran...
One mile warm up. The weather felt glorious. It had cooled down to 73 degrees and the humidity was gone. Then we were off.

Mile 1 - 7:51. It was too dark to see my watch so I ran by effort. Early on one of the guys I was running with asked what time I was trying to run. I told him I had no idea and left it at that. I really had no idea how I'd run. I had a 19 mile run on my legs from the day before and I'd already been up for 20 hours... but I felt kinda good...

Mile 2 - 8:10. Hold it together. Breathe. You can do this!

Mile 3 - 8:.02. Still felt pretty good so I just worked on maintaining my effort and started picking off people the entire last mile. There are a ton of people in this race. Lots of kids. I concentrated on catching up and blowing by... one by one by one. The stadium lights came into view and I kicked it.

Final time - 24:46.

I'd have to say I was happy with the result. Ecstatic really. It was an ego boosting moment at the awards ceremony when I heard the murmurs that I'd run "pretty fast." I won my age group (F 45-49) by over 9 minutes. I was the 10th overall woman. The nine that finished in front of me were between the ages of 12 and 19. I really did not run any faster than I had in previous years and my time was about what I'd run at Abby Brinkman last month but tonight I was "pretty fast." All things considered the last couple days, I needed this. I was SO glad I decided to run at midnight. I even had some guy come up to me and ask if I'd run a PR tonight. When I said no, he wanted to know what it was, so I got to see his jaw drop when said 22:50.

One mile cool down after the race. It was 1:30 am by the time awards were done; 3 am by the time I got home, showered and fell into bed.

Saturday 7/15 - Rest. Worked the night shift in the evening.

46 miles for Week 7.

Mill Race Training Weeks 4 and 5 - Train Like You Mean It!

Somewhere towards the end of Week 4 I found a new mantra.

Train like you mean it.

It means buckling down on my runs and getting the work done, going after that BQ in September and trying to take care of myself.

Sunday 6/18 - 4 miles. Got up at 4 am (again!) to go to work and had to crawl onto the couch as soon as I got home. It was hotter than Hades. Then it rained... a little. By the time the rain stopped I decided it was now or never so got myself out the door and ran on the county road.

Monday 6/19 - 8 miles. Another 80+ degree day. I couldn't get myself out the door early enough to run in the morning so I did some yardwork instead and finally hit the county road at 6:30 pm. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't fast either. Also lost 5 lbs during the run.

Tuesday 6/20 - 4 miles. Morning weigh in showed I'd gained back 3 of the 5 lbs I'd lost. Ran the county roads again in the morning and lost another pound. It was off to work after that.

Wednesday 6/21 - Rest. Worked all day. Also found I was back to Monday's weight.

Thursday 6/22 - 3 miles. Original plan was to get up at 5:30 am and run 16 miles. Well... I got up at 5:30 and decided I was WAY too tired to go running and went back to sleep. I still needed an 8 miler and a 16 miler this week according to my training plan. I decided to do 16 tomorrow and 8 tonight. Got to the Monon in the evening and realized I was still really tired, even before I started running. Started running and felt exhausted. Plus, it was so humid I felt like I was swimming. SO wanted to walk!. Made it through the first mile and thought about turning around, then decided I'd do at least 3. Got to the turn around for 3 and felt better but decided to turn around anyway because I was afraid I'd be too tired to run 16 in the morning if I pushed out 8 tonight.

Got back to the Y, showered, changed, then discovered that the temperatures had dropped, it was overcast, a bit breezy and felt like perfect running weather. Go figure.

Friday 6/23 - 16 miles. So... up at 5:30 am as planned. Ate my oatmeal, procrastinated some, thought about running 5 mile loops by my house so I wouldn't have to carry my water and fuel, and scanned the skies. Then it occurred to me that maybe I should check the weather. Good thing I did. By now I had procrastinated long enough that I wasn't going to get out the door any sooner than 7:30 am and the forecast showed rain with thunderstorms by 10 am.

It was off to the fitness center after that. There was no way I was going to be done by 10 am and I didn't want to get poured on. Plan was to stop for fuel and water at 6 miles, then again at 11. Started running on the track and felt really good. Got to 6 miles and decided I really didn't need anything. I reasoned it was still pretty early in the training cycle and I didn't feel like practicing my fueling. Actually rocked out 10 miles before I decided to stop for some water and Gatorade chews. Well, after that the "great" feeling was gone and my GI system went into overdrive. Had to run into the bathroom twice in the next mile. Good thing I was running indoors! Managed to finish all 16 without too much trouble after that. Also glad I took the run indoors as it started POURING around 9 am and poured rain pretty much the rest of the day.

Saturday 6/24 - Rest. Hubs and I spent the whole day driving G to her summer dance program at the Rock School in Philadelphia. I passed the time by tracking the Western States 100 as it started the same morning. My friend John was out there helping out at the race so I got quite a few text updates. Early on, Jim Walmsley was tearing up the course so fast the joke became that my goal for the day was to get to Philadelphia before Walmsley got to Auburn (the finish). Unfortunately, after having a  45 minute lead at mile 62 he couldn't keep any fluids down for about 4 hours and ended up dropping out of the race at mile 78. John said it was 105 degrees in the canyons so it was a tough day for all. Only 67% of the field finished. It was a really really tough day.

Lots of inspiration to be found though. First off, Walmsley as well as the women's leader YiOu Wang wemt for it. Never mind that there was snow at the start at Squaw Valley this year and torrid heat in the canyons, both runners went out to win. Wang ended up collapsing at mile 70 and had to drop out too. I admire their efforts.

Next, Karen Bonnett-Natraj. She finished the race in 29:59:51. She made it with 9 seconds left on the clock. If you have never watched the final hour videos for Western States, it's something to see. It's amazing how hard these runners fight to finish after running 100 miles. Bonnett-Natraj hit the track with 50 seconds left on the clock and had to run 8:30 pace to finish. Runner's World did a nice write up of her race here. Hour 29 videos are on the Western States Endurance Run Facebook page. Having shared that final hour 29 with John in 2014, these runners always bring tears to my eyes.

Finally, Sara Vaughn. Western States wasn't the only big race going on in the running world on Saturday. The USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships were also going on in Sacramento all week and Saturday was the women's 1500 meter final. Top three finishers make the US team that goes to Worlds in August. Sara Vaughn finished third and made the team. She's MomVaughn. Mother of 3 (her oldest is 10) and works as a realtor in addition to training at an elite level. She wouldn't give up her dream of making a World Team and she did it. Another tearful moment.

Totally inspired. Train like you mean it.

35 miles for Week 4. It was 5 miles short of my goal but I'm glad I listened to my body on Thursday.

Now onward to Week 5 where I ran none of my runs on the days I originally planned to run them but somehow managed to get all my mileage in. Small... never mind, BIG... victory for me! What I HAD on the training plan will be in parenthesis...

Sunday 6/25 - Zero miles (4). Plan had been to get up early at the hotel and run 4 miles before we had to check my daughter in at her dorm at 11 am. I work up plenty early enough but the hotel was next to a highway so I'd have to either run loops around the parking lot or get on the treadmill and neither sounded appealing so I reasoned that I'd run later in the evening, once hubs and I got to the bed and breakfast we were staying in for the night.

Got G all settled into her dorm room, had lunch together, the hubs and I started driving to the Annville Inn which is the bed and breakfast I'd chosen about 1.5 hours outside Philadelphia. Got to within 30 miles of the B & B when G called to say she couldn't find her phone... which we found... in the back seat of the car. Arghhhh! It was back to Philly. After that, we didn't get back to the B & B until after 7 pm. Of course we were starving by then so we had to go find food, then it was 10 pm. Ya, run didn't happen.

Monday 6/26 - 4 miles (rest). Today I really did get up at 6 am and went running. Explored the road in front of the B & B for a mile and decided it was pretty much a highway as there was a surprising amount of traffic for 6 am and it was a shoulderless county road. Ended up turning onto some less busy shoulderless county roads with rolling hills and pastures (heck, felt right at home by now) and finished the run. Got back to the B & B by 7 am. Breakfast wasn't until 9:30 am so I explored all the gardens and pretty much the whole place by myself until people started stirring around 8:30 am. Drove back to Indiana after breakfast. Didn't get home until almost midnight as hubs had to stop in Pittsburgh to test drive a car (don't ask...) and we had to swing through Columbus, IN to pick up the dog.

Really glad I got up at 6 am and got my run in!

Tuesday 6/27 - 7 miles (8). Got up and felt sore from being scrunched up in a car all weekend. Tonight was Run Club. Workout was a 2 mile warm up, then 2 x 400 meters with  a 200 meter recovery in between, 2 x 800 meters with a 400 meter recovery in between, 2 x 400 meters with a 200 meter recovery in between, then 4 x 200 meters with a 200 meter recovery in between, then a cool down. It wasn't quite as hot as it had been last week but it was still hot on the black asphalt track. I got through my first 800 and was ready to call the workout. I sounded like a freight train but felt like I was running in place with NO speed at all. It was incredibly frustrating. Completely miserable workout, plus I was thirsty and my water and Gatorade were back in my car. I kept going though and finished all the sets. I'm pretty sure I was the last one done. Then the cool down. I got to the water cooler on the Monon outside the Athletic Annex with 6.75 miles on my Garmin, only to find it EMPTY. That did it. Brain went into nuclear meltdown and I simply could not do another mile, no matter how slow. Finished out 7 miles and went to my car.

Wednesday 6/28 - 9 miles (16). Original plan was to get up at 5:30 am and do my long run (why do I feel like a broken records right now?) Well, my mom calls at 12:30 am, feeling sick. We go back and forth on what she should do until 1:30 am... then I can't go back to sleep. Finally turned my alarm off at 3 am and decided to reschedule the long run. Due to some appointments during the day I'm not free to run until after 3 pm. Meanwhile... I'm watching the temperature climb into the 80's again.

Finally got free around 3:30 pm and went to the fitness center. Training logic says you shouldn't do two speed sessions in a row. Well, I felt so crappy about Tuesday night's workout I wanted a better speed session. Plus, I felt better today. So, did a 1 mile warm up on the hamster track, then 3 miles on the treadmill; set it at 7.0 mph and ended up doing it in 25:48 (8:36 pace). Recovery mile on the track then hit the treadmill again at 7.1 mph. I really didn't know how long I'd last at this pace and I'm not sure whether it was boredom or fatigue but my brain decided I could only do 2 miles. Ended up running exactly 17:00 (8:30 pace). Two mile cool down on the track after that. Ran an extra mile today for the mile I wimped out on on Tuesday.

Thursday 6/29 - 4 miles (rest). Ran easy on the county road in the morning before my massage at 11 am. I haven't had a massage in quite some time and I was so tight all over I was almost afraid to go because I knew how much it was going to hurt. In fact, when Craig hit my calves it hurt so much I almost told him to stop... but I didn't. Now I'm sore from the massage, but MUCH looser.

Friday 6/30 - 17 miles (8). Work up feeling like I'd been run over by a truck. I don't think I've ever been this sore from a massage before. The only "have to" I had on my agenda today was my long run.

So... it was deceptively cloudy. It was supposed to storm today. I watched the skies all morning and finally decided on some loops around my house. I parked my car at a church 2.5 miles from my house and left PowerAde in my car. I left water and GUs at the end of my driveway. Plan was to start at my car and run to my house, do another 2 mile loop back to my house, run to my car, do a 2.5 mile loop around a subdivision by my car, stop by my car, run to my house, then run back to my car and do the subdivision loop again to finish.

Of course I didn't get around to running until noon... I just don't learn, do I?

Like I said, it was deceptively cloudy... but as soon as I started running the sun kept peeking out... and it was 80 degrees with about 80% humidity. Plus, I'm on the shoulderless county road and there's a LOT more traffic than I expected. At one point there were cars stopped 6 deep waiting for me to pass because I was coming down a hill and they couldn't see past the rise in the road to drive around me. Other times I had cars pass within 2 inches of my foot because there were cars in the oncoming lane and they had no place to go and I had no place to go either.

I didn't even make it back to my house. I had sweat pouring into my eyes before I'd even gone a mile and it took me 11 minutes for the first mile, plus I was totally stressed out. At 1.5 miles, at the top of another roller, I had had enough. I turned around and ran back to my car.

Drove 5 minutes to the fitness center and retreated to the safety of the air-conditioned track. Took me another 3 miles to cool off. Crazy thought... running to cool off. Anyhoos, ended up running 14 miles on the indoor track. Not the run I had envisioned but I got the miles in. Good thing I had nothing else to do today.

MUST MUST MUST get out earlier in the day!!!

Saturday 7/1 - Rest (4). I'm calling this an active recovery day. Got up at 4 am to go to work and ended up staying 2 hours over due to a couple social nightmares. Good thing I didn't have to run today. Got home and, yup, crawled onto the couch for a couple hours.

41 miles for Week 5.

Next week is a drop down week and I am looking forward to it!

Pink Strong & Fort Vallonia 5K... the Third 48

A glimpse into my week and what I've come away with... it has gone in 48 hour cycles due to a screwy work schedule. I ended up working the night shift (7 pm to 7 am) every other night.

The First 48
Tuesday 8 am. Up and ready for the day.
I should be sleeping in but I can never pre-sleep the first day of an overnight shift. The problem this week will be that I don't have consecutive overnight shifts.

5 mile run mid-morning. Took G to dance class in the evening. Brought her home and went to work.

Wednesday 7:30 am. Home from work and on a conference call for work.
9 am. Call over and I go to sleep.
Noon. I'm up. Today's my day off and I don't want to waste it sleeping!
Took G to dance class in the evening again and ran 7 miles while she was in class.

It was pouring rain and I couldn't get my Garmin to lock onto a satellite so the plan was to run 35 minutes out, then try and get back in less than 35 minutes. Somehow the Garmin found a satellite soon after I started running. Besides for my recent 5K I'd been running slow and easy. The rain let up and I enjoyed the misty evening. Apparently my legs liked it too. I surprised myself and had a really good run.

9 pm. Home from dance. Showers for everyone and in bed by midnight.

48 hours. 37 hours up, 11 hours of sleep. Still feeling pretty good.

The Second 48
Thursday 8 am. Woke up because I had friends coming to take a piano off my hands.
Our basement is getting new flooring next week and we have to everything out and off the floor,
including this piano...

My parents made me play the piano through 8th grade. I haven't played since. My mom got a new piano and had my childhood piano delivered to my house. Arghhh.... I finally got her blessing to give it away. It's going to someone who wants to play the piano.

Next, my husband went to Lowe's to pick up all the flooring we will get installed next week. Two pallets of wood laminate. My job was to pick the boxes up from the bed of the pickup and hand them down to my husband and daughter. I decided today was a rest day from running and this was my leg workout - lots of squats!

2 pallets of flooring

 

Spent the rest of the afternoon clearing everything else out of the basement then went to work.

 

Friday 7:30 am. Home from work. It was a busy night. I could barely drive home.

9 am. Got up to shower and pull myself together. G had to be at a photo shoot in Noblesville (an hour away) at 10:45 am. I then realize that I feel like I got run over by a Mack truck. My upper back is sore... from reaching down to hand over all that flooring to my family yesterday.

 

G gets to her photo shoot. I decide to try and sleep in the car while she's getting shot (OK, that doesn't sound good but you know what I mean!) Then my cell phone starts lighting up with texts. Bloomington ED is getting hammered and they are looking for back up. Well, this chickie is over 2 hours away going on 1.5 hours of sleep so I guess it won't be me.

 

photo by Lydia Moody

 

 

Photo shoot is finally over... and it's back to Lowe's. They didn't give us all the materials we needed for the floor install so I had to go back and get more stuff. Luckily they already had it all sitting in a cart for me so all I had to do was put it in the back of my SUV and go home.

 

3 pm. Yeah, I feel like a total zombie. Tired but too tired to fall asleep. Run? Oh yeah, I haven't run today either. Maybe in the evening...

5 pm. Time to take J to cheer. Last Varsity home football game is tonight.

7:30 pm. Game time and no, I'm not going to get a run in today.

10:30 pm. Game is over and everybody is starving. We go out to eat and finally get back home at midnight

1:00 am. Bedtime.

7:30 am. Time to get up so J can go cheer at the JV football game.

 

48 hours. 40 hours up, 8 hours of sleep. Feeling "meh."

 

The Third 48

Spent the entire morning at the JV football game. It was an away game and had possibly the worst officiating I have ever seen. At half-time the referee threatened to flag the parents for unsportsmanlike conduct which would result in our coach getting ejected from the game. 'Nuf said!

 

J made it through another football season without breaking anything or getting dropped on her head.

 

It was cold!

 

We got back home around noon. I attempted to rest...

 

3 pm. Left to drive down to Columbus for the Pink Strong 5K. The 5K was a fundraiser for the Mammography Assistance Program as well as one local family. Crossroads runners were also challenged to raise $300. Our fearless race director Jeff Niewedde agreed to don a tutu if we did that.

 

Race time was 5 pm. I had to be at work in Martinsville at 7 pm so here was the plan...

25 minutes to run the 5K

5 minutes to stretch and get back to the car

60 minutes to drive home to Greenwood

10 minutes to shower and get dressed

20 minutes to drive to Martinsville

 

We got Jeff in a tutu...

photo by Barb Leffler

 

It was raining again so I went outside to warm up and get my Garmin to find a satellite. It's been taking it  forever to find a satellite lately. Then it was 5:00, then 5:05... we went inside for announcements then everyone grabbed a pink balloon and went outside...5:10...5:15...

 

The starting horn finally sounded at 5:17. By then I realized it was too late for me to run the race. There was no way I was going to finish and be in my car, on the road, by 5:30 so I watched everyone start and drove home.

 

So, Pink Strong 5K Race Summary - didn't run the race.

 

My husband claims that I live my life on such a tight schedule that it's unbearably stressful. We have come to a compromise - if it doesn't involve him, I can do what I like. Most of the time I can leave him out of the frenzy. The 5K on Saturday was my event, no other family members involved. I didn't run but I was OK with that. In the end, it was a fundraiser for a good cause and that's how I chose to spend my time.

 

Sunday would be a different matter. I wanted to run a race in Vallonia, one and a half hours away, at 1 pm. G was suppose to be at Nutcracker rehearsal in Carmel from 2 - 3:30 pm. My husband reluctantly agreed to take G to rehearsal so I could run.

 

I got to work on time Saturday night. By 4 am Sunday morning I was a train wreck. I was so tired I was having myoclonic jerks while still awake. The minutes could not go by fast enough to 7 am.

 

7:30 am. Home. I would have to be on the road again by 10:30 am if I was going to do the Fort Vallonia 5K (I always get to the race an hour early so I can register and warm up.) I decided this was not going to happen. I told my husband he was off the hook for Nutcracker and passed out.

 

So, Fort Vallonia 5K Race Summary - never even made it to the race.

 

Slept 4.5 hours and got up at noon feeling like I might live. Took G to rehearsal and started feeling better. My husband got to go deer hunting instead. He was happy.

 

Got a 5 mile run in at 6:30 pm. This was probably much better for me today than trying to race on 2-3 hours of sleep. I ran nice and easy, crunching leaves and side stepping walnuts until it was too dark to see my footing.

 

Planning to be in bed by 1:00 am tonight. Flooring people will be here in the morning.

 

48 hours. 37.5 hours up, 10.5 hours of sleep. Happy to have survived and lived this week!

 

My Takeaways...

This will not be the last week I ever have that will be like this. I should have run on Thursday while I was still feeling OK rather try to run on Friday after my night shift, even though Friday was technically my day off work. Next time I'm feeling good on a non-run day I'm going to run as I'll probably have a run day that may not happen.

 

Things happen. Be flexible. There was no gain to be had being upset over not running on Saturday. Some things are more important than the speed work you had planned to get in.

 

Kids will be kids for only a short time. I really didn't want to take G to a last minute photo shoot on almost no sleep but I'm glad she went and her photos are beautiful.

 

I should spend more time listening to my body than my competitive spirit. I really enjoyed my run this evening. I'm certain my legs would have felt like concrete if I had tried to race this morning.

 

I should go to sleep now...