Back in the Game

I feel like I'm back today. The sun is shining and I have a plan...

I spent the last couple days in a funk about what could have been on Saturday. Then I just laid around and ate bad food for a couple days, the whole time panicking about all the fitness I was losing by sitting around and eating bad food. Let me tell you, I couldn't eat on Saturday but I have eaten everything that wasn't nailed down the last couple days!

So here is my dilemma... I want my legs to heal. I'm tired of pain being the norm. In order for them to heal, I have to rest them but I feel like I'm losing all the work I've done the last couple months by resting. I finally came up with a plan - try to keep my cardio but don't do anything that causes pain; also work on some core strength because I think I'm really lacking that right now.

I am looking into some local strength programs. I'll update when I commit to one. I went to the fitness center and rode the bike hard for 30 minutes today. It was actually on an easy spin speed but I worked up a good sweat. Covered 8.95 miles, average speed 17.9 mph, average rpm 94. Back in the spring I think the bike helped me improve my leg speed/turnover and it's a non-weightbearing activity that doesn't hurt my hamstring.

I also got a good grocery shopping trip in today. I haven't had a good "deal" trip in awhile but there have been some really great coupons lately so I finally put something together. I am really trying to eat better but I needed to stock up on some convenience foods so that I'll quit going through the drive-thru on my busy days.

So here's my take today at Meijer...

$36.67 after coupons

 

I took advantage of their 10/$10 get the 11th item free sale plus I picked up ingredients to make this Chicken and Mushroom Stew (check out the link for the recipe - thanks Isabelle!)

 

Ended up with...

3 Palermo Flatbread pizzas (2.33 each after coupons)

8 El Monterey breakfast burritos (0.50 each after coupons)

- these have 9 grams of protein each and I am trying to eat more protein for breakfast

6 Green Giant frozen veggie boxes (0.80 each after coupons)

4 Hormel pepperoni packages (0.50 each after coupons)

3 packages of mushrooms (1.00 each but got 2 for free as my 11th item)

10 candy bars (0.25 each after coupon)

- I need candy like I need another hole in my head but I couldn't pass up the deal

- I'm hiding these for "later" when I'm sure I'll have some kind of candy bar emergency

bread (1.00)

celery (2.00)

3.5 lbs of boneless skinless chicken thighs (10.66)

bag of egg noodles (1.50)

 

All of the coupons I used are available to print at www.coupons.com.

 

Now I'm making my meal plans for this month. My work schedule has me hardly working early in the month but then it gets really busy at the end of the month so I'm trying to plan better.

Falling Back

Hope everyone in Indiana is enjoying their extra hour today (due to the time change)!

I slept in, got Dunkin' Donuts for donuts and bacon for breakfast, then walked a mile to get my legs loosened up.

I got up this morning and couldn't figure out why my left arm was so sore. Then I realized I had had my arm clenched with my fingers digging into my palm for several miles yesterday when my left leg was killing me. My hamstrings are still pretty tight and my knees feel a little creaky but, otherwise, I'm no worse for wear.

I couldn't eat yesterday. I had a peanut butter sandwich and banana at 6 am, then a gel pack at mile 7 and 14. I had planned to eat one every hour. I never had my third one because I wasn't exerting myself anymore once I started walking. After the race I just had no appetite. It was the usual kids' Saturday after that... pick up G from Nutcracker practice, then get groceries for J's Halloween Party. My older daughter had friends over til 10 pm. I finally got around eating a stuffed pepper and went to bed.

I got up this morning and decided I could eat anything I wanted. Donuts, bacon, and coffee it was. Now it's catching up on emails and relaxing until I go to work. I haven't been to work since Thursday. This weekend was Halloween, IU's homecoming, plus daylight savings ended last night so the hospital computers were down for several hours last night for time change. I am expecting to walk in to the aftermath of anarchy.

Happy Sunday!

Monumental Marathon

Well, what can I say, it just didn't happen today...

I ran really well for almost 16 miles. Then I collided with another runner at a water stop. It wasn't even a full on collision but I had to stop suddenly and my left hamstring immediately seized up. After that, I tried to run on it but it got tighter and tighter to the point where I was grunting with every step. I knew it was all over at mile 17 when I had to start walking.

My leg hurt so bad I looked around to see if there was a way to drop out of the race. I have never DNF'd a race but I was afraid I was going to rupture my hamstring or do some kind of permanent damage if I kept running on it - it hurt that bad. Problem was, there was no one around. Lots of runners but no race official looking people. The water stops at this point were mostly manned by little kids and their parents. I'm sure if someone fell to the ground with a true medical emergency they could get someone, but I was still moving - just in a lot of pain. I knew there was a SAG wagon that would pick up stragglers but since I had been moving at a 8:45 pace, I figured I could crawl across the finish line before the wagon caught up with me as they were picking up people that could not maintain a 15:00 mile pace, so I just kept moving; I didn't know what else to do!

So here's what happened...

The PLAN had been to go out with the 3:50 pace runner (8:46 pace) and stick to him like glue. Problem was that I got pushed so far back at the start that I couldn't even see the 3:50 pace runner anymore by the time I crossed the starting line. I knew that if I caught up with the pace runner, I'd actually be a little fast since I started behind him. I also realized I'd have to run faster to catch him but I told myself I just wouldn't go crazy fast; it was more important that I caught up with the pace runner to run WITH him.

Mile 1 - 8:38
Mile 2 - 8:44
Mile 3 - 8:27

I caught up with the pace runner at this point

Mile 4 - 8:33
Mile 5 - 8:46
Mile 6 - 8:47
Mile 7 - 8:34

I feel great and I think running with a pacer ROCKS!!

Mile 8 - 8:45
Mile 9 - 8:43
Mile 10 - 8:45
Mile 11 - 8:39
Mile 12 - 8:44
Mile 13 - 8:53
Mile 14 - 8:44
Mile 15 - 8:46

Still feeling great...

Mile 16 - 9:04

I collided just before the 16 mile marker

Mile 17 - 10:57

I tried to keep running. The whole course is pretty flat but the only slight rise in the road also happened to be at this point and I had to start walking. I knew my qualifying time was gone the minute I started walking.

Mile 18 - 14:25

Now I'm trying to figure out how to drop out...

Mile 19 - 13:17

... still trying to figure out how to drop out

Mile 20 - 14:29

Now I'm on White River Parkway. It's a pretty desolate stretch. The only other people around me are other runners, many who are in the same situation I'm in. We stretch, then slog, then walk, then stretch some more. The other problem I had was that once I stopped running, I got really cold. The weather today was PERFECT, as long as you were running. I was so frustrated. There was nothing wrong with my heart or lungs. I hadn't even started sucking air when my hamstring seized up. When I started getting cold, my right hamstring decided it was going to tighten up too... then my feet decided to join the mutiny and started cramping up. Arghhh!!

Mile 21 - 11:50

The 4:15 pace group passed me at this point and I tried to move and keep up. I couldn't keep up. I had a really really short choppy "stride" if you can call it at this point but I was determined to keep moving. I just wanted to be done!

Mile 22 - 11:04
Mile 23 - 10:45

My leg FINALLY started loosening up.

Mile 24 - 10:37
Mile 25 - 10:36
Mile 26 - 9:42
Last 0.2 - 2:59

Official time - 4:20:07. Average mile pace - 9:56

Yes, I'm very disappointed. I did, however, have 3 goals for this race - 1) qualify for Boston (3:55), 2) if not, break 4:00,  and 3) if not, run a PR (personal record).

Today I lowered my PR by a little over 30 minutes. My previous best had been 4:50:18 at Chicago in 2011.

Plan now is to rehab my legs and try again in the Spring. I was not tired at all when my leg seized up. As I said, heart and lungs felt great. My legs just didn't want to participate!

The day didn't turn out like I wanted, but overall, I had fun. I am walking away today ready to do it again. Some other things about today...

I started the race with my friends Trena and Bob. Trena ran her first marathon 3 weeks ago in Chicago and blew it away in 3:48 (check out her blog HERE). She ran 3:39:44 today and qualified for Boston (her qualifying time was 3:40). Her husband Bob ran a PR 3:49:05. He and I ran together for awhile after Trena left us in the dust.

It's good to have connections. Trena has a friend that ran the half. He also happens to work at the State Capitol building right by the starting line. He let us in the building this morning so we stayed warm and had real bathrooms all to ourselves to frequent multiple times before the race.

The Monumental is not nearly as big or crowded as the Mini. I got to my favorite parking garage at 6 am like I do for the Mini. Me and the 50 other people that were just as anal as I sat in our cars and napped for an hour. The race started at 8 am. The other cars started filling the garage at 7.

I crossed the finish line and was greeted by my former high school cross-country and track coach... or at least I'm 99% sure it was him. I was a bit glassy-eyed after running 26.2 miles and I had my name plastered on my race bib but he said my name without hesitation, grabbed my hand for a handshake, and we just held on a bit longer than usual in recognition. I tried to talk to him after I got out of the finish corral but he was still busy catching runners as they finished and shaking their hands.

My chiropractor was working the massage tent. I went to see him and he gave me a longer than usual complimentary massage and tried to get my leg unknotted. I'm glad I waited around to see him!

How was your Saturday?

Bev Coleman 5K

Yesterday went well...

Got up at 4:30 am and went to work; left promptly at noon. I got to Columbus and registered for the race. It was a sunny but cool beautiful fall afternoon. As I had predicted, the #1 and #3 runners in my age group were there. Time wise, they are both faster than me. I decided to try to stay right behind them and not look at my watch too much.

The course was several loops around a neighborhood so there was never any point where you could count who was ahead of you and who was behind you. I pretty much stayed behind the #3 runner the whole way and there was one other female between us that looked like a high school runner. I never saw the #1 runner after the race started and I figured she was running behind me with one of her kids. She is so far ahead in the points standings now that she can afford to do that.

Here are my splits...

Mile 1 - 7:30
Mile 2 - 7:44
Mile 3 - 7:38
last 0.1? - 1:21 (my Garmin said 0.18 and I think the course was long!)

Official time - 24:12. Average mile pace 7:47

I grabbed some water after the race and walked back to my car. I picked up my phone and the time read 2:35 pm. 1 hour and 25 minutes to get to Carmel. Then I noticed I had a message. It was from my husband. He was back from Wisconsin already and the people at Gregory Hancock wanted to know if G could stay at "Nutcracker" rehearsal for another hour. He could go pick her up.

Hallelujah!

I went back and watched everyone else finish and stayed for the awards. I figured I got second in my age group but I thought there might have been another female runner between the winner and the #3 runner that beat me. Nope. The #3 runner finished second overall. The 14 year old in front of me was third, and I finished fourth overall. I got second in my age group. The #1 runner ran with her son and got third in our age group.

I had time to go home, shower, eat dinner and actually sit for an hour before driving back to Bloomington to work for another 3 hours. I got home just before midnight last night and just dropped!

All in all, the day's craziness was definitely worth it. It was my 10th race in the Crossroads of Indiana  race series so I am now eligible for an overall award. I am currently in second in my age group. The #3 runner is now only 3 points behind me and I suspect she will end up second. Even if I do not run another race, the worst I can finish is third since the three of us that are leading our age group are so far ahead of everyone else in our age group.

More importantly, I felt really good during the race. I felt really evenly paced. If you go by my Garmin, I ran 3.18 miles which translates to a 7:37 pace. Plug that into a race calculator and that comes to a 23:40 5K. If I put that number in the race predictor  I get marathon times of 3:44:29 to 3:50:59.

I am going to believe that I can run under 3:55:00 on Saturday.

I saw my chiropractor this morning and got my left hamstring and butt cheek stretched and rubbed out in a hurts-so-good kind of way. Then I ran an easy 3 mile loosen-up-the-legs kind of run this afternoon. I am still trying to decide what to wear on Saturday. It was 38 degrees at 8 am this morning but 60 degrees at noon. I think I'll hit up Goodwill tomorrow for some throw away clothes.

How was your Monday?

Week 17 Wrap Up

One more week...

I feel like this training cycle has lasted forever but now is coming to a screaming fast finish. I went back today and looked at my post for Week 1. I keep thinking one of these days I'll tally up all the miles I've run this year. I track them daily but I don't keep a running total. I've definitely run more this year than in any year since high school!

So much has changed with my running since I started this blog in February. My main goal then had been to get back under 2:00 for a half-marathon. I discovered along the way that the more I race, the faster I get. I'm not sure if that is a sustainable schedule though as most races are on Saturday mornings and both my kids have crazy busy schedules. I guess we'll see what happens after the marathon. Most weeks, I just feel like "if I can just make it through this week" it will be OK. Problem is, it's like that week after week...

So, here's how my week went...

Sunday - 3 miles (5K run, no warm down as I had stuff to do!)
Monday - 30 minutes exercise bike
Tuesday - 6 miles
Wednesday - 40 minutes running in the pool
Thursday - 8 miles
Friday - rest
Saturday - 4 miles

21 miles total + pool running

I was suppose to run 4 miles on Wednesday. I got up at 6 am but it was dark and rainy. I thought about going to the fitness center but went back to sleep. I then got up and drove to Chicago with G. We spent the day at the Art Institute of Chicago. I planned to run on the treadmill back at the hotel but G didn't want to sit by herself while I ran so we went to the pool instead. I ran in the pool while she played, then sat in the hot tub.

Thursday, we drove back and I felt really tired. It sleeted little balls of ice on my windshield as we drove back. I just wanted to hibernate when I got home but went to the fitness center. I then had one of those magical runs where your legs feel fresh and you feel like you are flying. I felt like I could run forever. It was my last run of any distance before my marathon so I'm glad it went that way!

I've gotten up at 4:30 am the last two days to go to work. Tomorrow I'll do the same. I am working a crazy split shift so that I can squeeze in one more 5K and pick my daughter up from Nutcracker rehearsal. Basically, I am working in Bloomington from 6:30 am to noon. Then, I'm going to drive over to Columbus and try to run a 5K that starts at 2 pm. I'll give myself 30 minutes to run and get back to my car. That gives me 1.5 hours to drive to Carmel so I can pick up my daughter from her rehearsal at 4 pm. After that, I'll drive an hour home, shower, change and leave by 7 pm so I can be back in Bloomington by 8 pm to work another 3 or so hours.

Yes, another one of those "if I can just make it through this day" days. I am off on Monday though so I can recover then!

My 900 Year Old Daughter

Do you believe in reincarnation?

There are days that I'm positive my younger daughter G has been around the wheel (of life) multiple times. It started years ago before she even went to school. She would make comments that you'd never expect out of a 4 or 5 year old. She made her older sister really upset once when her sister, then in the 3rd grade, was talking about how she and her best friends were planning to live in a house by the beach together. G (then 5) tells her, "You know J, you think that the friends you have now are the ones you'll have forever but they're not. People change." Ummm... how does a 5 year old know that?

We once went somewhere, I think it was in Southern Indiana, that we had never been to before. We turn a corner and G says, "Oh, we've been here before. There's a barn over there..." Yes, there was a barn. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Plus, this kid...
- will sit down with you at breakfast with a cup of black coffee
- LOVES broccoli, spinach, and asparagus
- prefers to dress in grays and blacks
- thinks pizza and Oreos are disgusting
- likes her steaks "bloody like a crime scene" (her words exactly)
- is always a think ahead planner
- for her 5th birthday she wanted to go to a theater show and get a pedicure (didn't happen)
- on our vacation last week, she bought local art (a signed painting) as her souvenir

Her biological age is 10 but I think she is really 900.

Does she look 900 to you?

 

So we are still on Fall Break but I am working some days this week. She looked at my work schedule earlier this month and noted I had Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off. She tells me, "We are busy the weekend after we get home from the Bahamas and then you have to work on Monday. I will let you rest on Tuesday. On Wednesday I need you to take me to the art museum in Chicago because I want to see some of Picasso's works there."

 

Whoa. When I was 10 I don't think I knew who Picasso was. I'm almost 45 and I'd much rather spend the day going down water slides than pondering art at a museum (maybe I'm just childish?)

 

She then goes to the Art Institute of Chicago's website and types in "Pablo Picasso Blue Period" in the search box to see what they will have on display. Blue Period? What's that?

 

Well, I am obliging my 900 year old daughter and getting some sophistication by taking her to Chicago tomorrow. I asked her older sister if she wanted to go - got the eye roll "are you kidding me?" look - so it is just the two of us.

 

We decided to spend the night there. I think I'm more excited about the deal I got on our hotel room. I wanted to stay within walking distance to the museum so I wouldn't have to worry about parking. I knew all the hotels on Michigan Avenue would cost a freakin' fortune. I went to Expedia and decided to gamble on a mystery hotel. It's just like Priceline or Hotwire - it gives you a price, general location, star rating, etc. but won't tell you the name of the hotel until you buy it. I picked a 4 star hotel in the Michigan Avenue - Millennium Park - Grant Park area. The Art Institute of Chicago is between Millennium Park and Grant Park so I figured it was safe. Plus the price was right, $114.

 



We got the Hilton!!! I couldn't believe it. It is right on Michigan Avenue. This is the hotel I paid $350 a night to stay in all the times I've run the Chicago Marathon.

G has now informed me that we will be eating at Kitty O'Sheas (it's the Irish Pub inside the hotel) because she would like some potato leek soup of dinner.

Again, I think I was in college before I knew what a leek was...

Fort Vallonia Days 5K

My older daughter and I ran this race 2 years ago and I swore I'd never do it again. Worst 5K EVER! At the time, my daughter was running for her middle school cross country team and doing quite well. She wanted to try some 5K's but the challenge was finding one when were available to do one. Saturday mornings were out due to the bazillion other commitments we all had. We found this race and thought it was ideal - run on a Sunday afternoon at 1 pm.  NOT!!

It is part of the Fort Vallonia Days Festival. So where is Vallonia, IN? It's in the middle of no where Southern Indiana - take I-65 South to Seymour, hang a right there onto 50 West, drive to Brownstown, turn onto 135 and drive a couple more miles to Vallonia. MapQuest says it's 70 miles and about an hour and a half from my house.

So, 2 years ago, my daughter J and I set off to run this race. It was a beautiful fall afternoon - sunny and warm. Like 70+ degrees warm... and windy. I was one week out from running the Chicago Marathon and still pretty sore. J had finished her cross country season about 1-2 weeks before and hadn't run since then. In other words, neither one of us were in any racing shape! We had a T-shirt on the line. If she beat me, I'd have to buy her the shirt.

We registered and looked at the course map. It was a straight shot out and back. Then the race started. It was a straight shot uphill, no shade anywhere, with a crosswind that hit you from every direction as you ran across open fields. I would have dropped out at the one mile mark had J not been running right in front of me. It was awful. I felt awful. J wasn't doing much better cause I could see her slowing in front of me. FINALLY, we got to the homestretch. I kicked with about a 100 yards to go and passed her; she kicked and passed me back with 50 to go and beat me. We both ran over 27 minutes. It was bad!

I couldn't outkick that stride!

 

 

So this weekend the competitor in me got the best of me. I've been doing 5K's for the speedwork. Then I found that I was actually doing quite well in the Crossroads of Indiana Race Series. I am in second place in the points standings for the female 40-44 age group. However, you have to run a minimum of 10 races in the series to be eligible for an award. I had run 8 so far. After today's race, there are only 5 races remaining and I can only run in one of them. That meant that I had to run today's race if I was going to get 10 races in.

 

Time wise, I am the fourth fastest woman in my age group. The fastest woman is currently in third place but she has bigger fish to fry and won't be completing 10 races. The next fastest is in first place and will most likely take the series. She and I have run the same number of races. I am in second. The third fastest woman is in fourth place. She will have to run every race til the end of the year to get 10 races in but she very well might do that.

 

#2 and #3 were at the race just as I had guessed they'd be. All I wanted was to get credit for a race. I figured I'd get third in my age group. I was prepared for HOT, WINDY, and UPHILL.

 

Well, they changed the course. Still out and back but not so uphill. Still hot but about 15 degrees cooler than the last time I ran this. Still VERY windy. I ended up 7th female overall and 3rd in my age group, just as I'd figured. This is how it shook out...

 

Mile 1 - 7:28

Mile 2 - 8:03

Mile 3 - 8:12

last 0.1 - 0:41.8

 

Official time - 24:24.8. Average pace - 7:51

 

I told myself before the race that I would be happy with anything under 25:00. I was dead the last mile and vowed that no one would pass me on that last 0.1 since I got passed from behind last week.

 

All in all, I accomplished what I wanted. Was it worth it? I don't know. Somedays I wish I could just shut off that competitive streak. It took me two hours to get to Vallonia because I got a bit lost. After the race I ran straight to the car and drove another 2.5 hours up to Carmel to pick my younger daughter up from "Nutcracker" practice then drove another hour back home. So 5.5 hours in the car. I am sore today. Gee, I wonder why? Got credit for one more race and earned 1 point for my third place finish.

 

I am working all early morning shifts at work until the marathon so hopefully my sleep schedule will be somewhat normal. I got up at 4:30 am today to go to work. I got 30 minutes in on the exercise bike after work for my cross-training day workout. I also made appointments to see my chiropractor and my massage therapist next week.

 

12 more days!