High on the Miles



Liz at mile 17 (committed)



The method to my madness is easy. Its been stressful around here so I run... or I don't but there is no in between. I run hard or I run long. I did learn so much at my RRCA class and but the big make it work for me info is to slow down on my longer runs and I''ll feel better. Guess what? It worked! I started out working hard on that first Tuesday night speed workout but then kept it light for the rest of the week. I eased off even more on my pace and I did amazing on our 20 mile run this weekend, even with the crazy wind, rain and sleet (and hills) we ran through I felt great the entire way. I had nice easy quiet 6 and 7 mile runs all week. That 20 miler on Saturday finished off a 47 mile week.



Bday shot of tequila



We celebrated my birthday by going with friends to dinner at Tres Hombres, hit Panama's for a drink (but no potty breaks!) then for some "Drunk Bowling". I was pretty blitzed by then and made everyone shake their butts if they were up at the same time as me. I yelled WAHOO a lot and drank a bunch of NorCal Margaritas which made me VERY HAPPY! We didn't get in until 1am or so and I slept like a ROCK! I didn't go for a run Sunday but I didn't have a hangover either! Wahoo for me.



at mile (crazy) 17 of 20



Monday I did knock out a good 7 miles up to the airport but it was warm. Weird what 2 days can make, from snowing to the 60's and sunshine. Tuesday night was my "webinar" with the rest of the RRCA group and so I ran with Robin, Traci, Marta and Anna at the CSUC track that morning. We ran bleachers and sprints. Not my usual kinda run and it showed. I was at least one set back from them by the end and my strides (sprints) were poor but I tried! I was super sore and tired and still had to run to mom's office to call AAA since I locked my keys in my car and then run back. It was only 4.87 miles in the bank but 3 of those were pretty hard work! I was super sore the next day but went for a nice long hilly hike with friends to Table Mt. and even more sore today (Thursday) but ran a good 7miles including the mother hill with Tracy, Cheri and Liz today. Hopefully I'll run 5 tomorrow and figure out how to get my 18 in on Saturday.  

It Snot Pretty

I did now want to get up this morning for our scheduled 14 mile run but today was a little special and we ran from C&M Automotive. My friend Kosmo and his wife own the repair shop and also sponser a local race series here in Chico. You could not ask for more supportive and sweet people.

Kosmo had a route laid out for us based on a cycling route with some little extra loops to make up some mileage. We started out from C&M and I kept up with the 10m/m pace group but it wasn't pretty. The first 5 miles were at an incline with some rolling hills at the top. We went up by the airport then along Ryan by the ball fields where Hollywood plays Little League. I kept Susan, Liz and Becca in my sights and TDD right behind me. There were a lot of "snot rockets" and "super spitting" going on from all the morning gunk from this cold. It was GROSS! We did have a few fun little things happen along the run though. About mile 4 a cow and and its calf came out over a hill headed in the same direction as us at a run. It was like they were running with us. It was very funny when my friend made an attempt to run faster than them up the hill. We also saw a bunch of great creeks and slews rushing with water. I wish I would have stopped to take pictures.

At mile 5 we turned off of Cohassett Highway and onto the Keefer road. The houses along this road are pretty amazing. I would love for someone to buy me one of these $500k-$1million dollar homes then come clean it for me. :) We took a few of those loops off the side streets including running past Aaron Rogers parents house. I didn't take a picture because I was respecting their privacy but it was green. Not GB Packers green either but that's OK. It was pretty cool. That kept me going past the half way mark and I was just hoping to make it to the 10 mile mark. I was all about climbing in coach Paul's truck and giving up but he went to rescue another runner by the time I got to the aid station meaning I was going to have to finish the last 4 miles. Now I'm glad I did but I probably would not have regretted it if I hadn't finished.

Levy shot of the rushing water. This is usually dry



Liz on the levy



I felt like CRAP! I took GU shots (the new peach tea ones are THE BOMB) at mile 5 and 10 and hoped they would kick in quickly. The last 4 were plagued with moving streams right over the road on Hicks and that makes for some wet socks which even with Body Glide makes for hot spots or even blisters. We turned off onto the levy at mile 12.5 and headed towards home. The wind was a bitch all day. My head felt like it was going to explode from the pressure in my sinus and every time I stopped for something I started coughing. I just wanted to get back to Kosmo's shop and drink coffee and eat treats. So although I felt like I was flying I saw on my Garmin I was struggling to keep it at 10 minute pace against a 10-15 mph head wind.  That uneven surface isn't too pleasant on wet squishy shoes and socks either so I was ready to be home and out of the wind. I'm just thankful it didn't rain on us! I did like TDD's version of my cold. Its like a little green gremlin in there trying to get out... and the snot and gunk is like that character from the commercial we all love don't we? LOL

I'm looking forward to a good easy hill run with my friend Cheri tomorrow.

Whirlwind of a week

I'm pretty proud of myself for not only hitting my miles but getting and lots of those miles in the form of hills. I'm loving getting stronger and pushing those limits, of feeling the burn in my legs, in my core, in my ass... All these miles have also given me a lot of time to think. Our family dynamic is changing and things are coming to light that have been brewing for a long time. Things that I have very little control over but I wish I could change none the less. The one thing I can do is be the best me, mom, wife, friend that I can be. Being that means including running and working out. Being a healthy happy human being is now part of my make up, it is included in the definition of me. Mighty Mite is tired of bending herself to make others happy. So she's going to love on her boys, go to dinner with the girls, watch movies and cuddle with the firefighter provider (FFP) and take my dogs for walks with their furry friends. Are you tired of referring to myself in the third person yet? yea me too.

When I was in my Freshman Year of High School I ran track with an amazing coach. I also did something to my knee in the middle of a 1 mile race and end up twisting it pretty good. The sports trainer iced me up and did an evaluation. We talked for a good half hour about my training, about the melanoma and then about food. That sparked my interest in nutrition for athletes. I took several sports and nutrition classes over the years and one thing or another always got in the way of me going after what I really wanted to do. No more of that. I'm making a plan and putting it into action.

First things first.


Monday:
I took Monday off and did some stretching and core work.

Tuesday:
 Scheduled evening group run and we met at the prompt care parking lot and ran the "mother hill" and took the corner running the ridge across the top before dropping back down. its mostly rolling hills but its a lot more up going out and more down on the way back. it was wet and cold but always fun to run with those peeps. Our program has great coaches. 5.2miles

Wednesday:
I met Liz and Vicki at the park for a late afternoon run along the trail with the wein. It was a great time catching up with my first two running pals. It was definitely an easy run after running hills on Tuesday night. 3 miles

Thursday:
Got up early and met Liz, Kim, Tracy and Susan at Left Coast and headed out on a POURING down rain run. it was hard but fun. I was soaked to the core and came home and cuddled on the couch with 2 big fluffy blankets and proceeded to waste the rest of the day. 5.2miles

Friday:
Rest Day. Hubby went hunting so we could have more duck in the freezer! We had friends over and made a nice dinner of duck Parmesan, salad and wild rice. It was pretty darn good.

Saturday:
Up an at 'em. I headed out to Fleet Feet for a nutrition presentation by Susan before our 9 mile run out West of town. It was a progression run and we had a few warm up miles before heading into our speedier miles. Each mile was supposed to get faster but I had one mile that I had to slow down and do a little overall status check so I pretty much maintained but I did stay strong and got down to sub 9 minute mile that last mile. I felt great! We ran errands then headed to Paradise to drop the kids with my parents. We headed off to Hamilton City for the annual crab feed to support the Volunteer Fire Dept where FFP used to be a Battalion Chief. Lots of old memories came flooding back and we had a great time visiting with the Penman's and making some new friends too. 9miles

Sunday:
Another "Mother Hill" run with Cheri, Kim, Liz and Chane this morning. That hill is killer! But its fun and it works me out. I can't wait to start adding in some hill repeats. My parents brought the boys home and we hung out all day while friends came and went. 5.2

total 27.6 miles


I'm looking forward to taking the boys skiing this week. I guess that means I should run tomorrow.

I totally Rocked this Weekend

I suffered from a terrible ear infection all week (and refused to see the dr.). I lived on ibuprofen for a few days I think. But I felt better on Saturday and met the marathon training group at 1mile for our 16 mile run. The great thing about meeting here is that the city turned the creek into a pool perfect for post run "ice baths".

Since the 10mile and Half Marry programs are over we got Ramon back to help coach! We took off and I got to chit chat with the girls at the back of the group since I'm to slow to keep up with the faster runners.  We headed up the park, took the levy around, then headed up Upper Park road all the way to B trail. 8 miles! It was pretty slow going since it was a decent climb all the way to our turn around on a rocky unsurfaced fire road. We did take an extra long rest at the top, ate some GU chomps and i really needed to stretch my hip flexors (ouchy!!!) and headed back down the trail. We chatted away and the miles seemed fly by. When we got to the aid station with 5 to go with picked up the effort to marathon pace then the last mile was supposed to be 10k effort to simulate the "race to the finish kick" we should all have at the end of the Marathon in 8 weeks. We finished strong. I still felt good enough to bring home a 9:08 the last mile! I'm starting to feel my legs, brain and lungs falling back into sync. Not as fast as I have gone in the past but definitely seeing improvements. You can see my Garmin Connect info
Got back to 1mile and stretched good before literally jumping into the creek for the "ice bath". This is so much easier than going home, filling up the bath tub with cold water, getting in then adding ice. 15 minute soak then got out and dried off as Ramon was talking to Tara about ultra running. Now this has been sitting in the back of my mind for a long time. I even gave a little hint a few months ago on FB about wanting to try my hand at an Ultra some day. We talked ourselves into doing the Sunsweet 50k next Spring. HOLY CRAPPOLA I'm even more crazy than I thought.!

bib for 1/4 marry and cute long sleeve tech shirt!

Good Neighbor and I had our Bunco for Boobies night last night so I was on my feet getting stuff done all day then headed to packet pick up to sign up last minute for the HOT Half in the quarter marathon. Got my bib, my shirt and I was off to convince a bunch of ladies to spend a bunch of $ for a good cause... and it worked! We raised $915 last night!!!

I got up this morning and handed the kids to the sitter and headed to Hooker Oak park for the Hot Half and quarter marathon. I met up with a friend TD and we headed out on a warm up run. She was treating this run like her last long run before Nike Womens next week and needed to get 9 in total. Since we were both doing the 1/4 we headed out a mile and a quarter and back to get the difference and did some planning for next weekends race in the city. We shared some GU chomps drank some water and lined up.


 I'm not much of a trail runner but I was excited to try something new and work into more trail runs since I got my cool nifty trail shoes too! I also wore the cutest outfit possible to distract other runners and hopefully disorient them long enough to let me pass and then they can't catch up. That was the plan anyway.

TD and I post race

Me and Shannon post race

The race started and immediately hit some tough terrain. It was fun though. I can't believe I actually enjoyed crashing through brush, up embankments, around boulders, through creek beds, along rocky or very narrow paths and sometimes down steep lose graveled trails. Many of these trails are ones we run on every week... and some were definitely harder and less run paths. But it was fun and I didn't fall and hurt myself or anyone else even once. We had water/electrolyte stations at mile 2 and 4.5. I walked through those but none of the hills or especially technical areas. I'm pretty darn happy with myself. I ran most of the first 5 miles with Shannon who was in our training group last year and we did some catching up when the path was a little wider and we didn't have to concentrate too much. When we hit the fire road I took off and caught up to TD who had been ahead of us all along and we just tried to keep her in our sights. We worked hard to keep the pace up that last mile and a half (.83 is more like it). I crossed the line in about 1h10min. That brought my grand total today to 9.23 miles with our warm up. Here's my GC for the race sans warm-up.

I met up with Shannon, TD and Jed from our training group was there too. It was a pretty awesome day. Chico Running Club did a pretty good job of organizing and getting us out there today. Instead of a medal we got pint glasses! Aren't these cute!


I did need a nap today but over all I felt great for the whole race. Came home and did some laundry (fun fun fun I know!) and re-organized bunco stuff for future games. I finally settled down tonight and tried out the new glass... with my favorite beer of course!

I do need to give a special shout out to SBS who ran Portland Marathon today and brought home a BQ coming in at under the 4 hour mark. I hear it was a soggy race!! And also to Anthony Villasana and Holly Nevarez who both ran a very hot Chicago Marathon today. You guys rocked it in spite of the weather. I'm not sure I could have said the same. All of our local runners doing the Healdsburg Half (my hats off to you!) but especially to Ed Hudson who ran an amazing 50mile race yesterday. You are truly an inspiration.You are all my heroes!!!  I think 10-10-10 will go down in history as a day of extremes.

I'll raise my pint glass to those extreme runners!!! Cheers!

New local Long Run and Livestrong Yellow Day 5K 2010

Saturday our coach took us to Riverbend Park in Oroville to start our run there. We had an amazing run along the Feather River to the damn, past the fish hatchery and through lots of trails. From the park to the aid station just below the damn was 7 miles of paved trail, dirt trail and rocky trail, so it was 14 mile round trip technical, hilly but fun course. I had the FFP come along as an aid station since our coach Paul was going to have to carry all the water for us via bike. We did a little 10 minute warm up, some active stretching and headed out.

I was running with 3 other girls on the way out there. Karen, Ellen and Kim. We had to run through a creepy tunnel and got turned around twice but made it there safe and sound. Got some electrolyte replacement drink from the hubby and headed back. It was so beautiful! I'm glad we didn't see the snakes that the fast runners saw. Sometimes its a blessing to be in the back. Karen and I stuck together and sped up a little in front of the big group of gals. We haven't really ran together alone before so it was nice to talk to someone new.  We did end up being stopped by a train. It turned out to be a good place to stretch. Although we both felt tight running back, we stretched again well and headed back to Chico in one piece. Thank you Hubby for manning the station. I guess he saw 5 jake turkeys, 150 or so Canadian Honkers and some deer out there. Its a great place to run and I hope he lets us do it again. I love Chico but it was nice to run something new for a change.

We headed to Paradise to pick up the kiddos then home to veg. Well I vegged and ate and did dishes and laundry and ran to Fleet Feet to get the hubby some socks and us all Livestrong yellow bracelets for the race we were volunteering for later. Not a lot of rest and probably not enough to eat.

turn at the 1 mile race in Bidwell Park

I've been dreaming about helping out since last year when Sean Murphy started a local Livestrong group in our community. Being a survivor of 17 years isn't something that I need everyone to know. I don't keep it a secret but participating in this is all about me, for me in my heart and in my head. I made the boys and the hubby (FFP) help because all of us have been touched by cancer. FFP lost his Grandfather and Great Grandfather these last few years to cancer. His mother is a Breast Cancer survivor. I have lost my Grandfather, my uncle James, my uncle Larry and there are many other friends and family including my mom and my uncle Jerry who are survivors or angels on our list of those cancer has reached. The boys learned very young what cancer was and that it doesn't discriminate. It could hit anyone at anytime.That fear lives in my heart always. I hope I didn't pass that to them.

my boys at the 5k turn around point near the Manzanita Bridge

The boys and I drew signs in yellow chalk on the ground along the course at the 1 mile and the 5k turns on the footbridges. We cheered people on at the first bridge then headed to the other end of the park for the second round of cheering. Although it was almost a mile and a half those kids were troopers. We drew more signs with the limited amount of chalk left and yelled and cheered and sent them over the bridge and back down the park telling them how thankful we were they were there to run/walk for such a wonderful cause, how this survivor thanks them, how they are making a difference literally one step at a time.

We cleaned up and headed back. I was looking forward to finishing up with the last people and celebrating with the group. Unfortunately one runner at the finish line reported to one of our volunteers that a little boy said he had lost his mom at the last foot bridge where I was and they asked me to go back and check. I was already almost 3/4 of a mile back and in frustration I sent the kids together back to the start/finish line I headed back the way I came from. I would not be able to live with myself if I hadn't checked but I was tired and cranky and pretty sure that I did a good check of the area on both sides of the creek before I left.

Although I had no reason to be upset with that volunteer I was a little. She didn't ask or have the hubby (who has little knowledge of the layout of the park)  ask how far away I was, she just assumed I was "closer than she was". I had already run 15 miles that morning and being a part of the finish and the festivities meant a lot to me. I didn't need anyone else to know that before we set out on our assignments but in my heart that was what I was looking forward to most. I cried for the 2 miles back to the bridge then back to the finish line where I got a hug and a cookie for being the nice one who did what needed to be done. I was mad at myself for feeling so selfish and sad for me for having missed out.

The "lost" boy had obviously been running with his mom but had probably run up ahead and turned around and not seen her. She probably made it around the corner and caught up with him and they had likely finished the race together since no one reported a missing child. There was no lost little boy when two of the runners re-ran and checked the course. No one called me to tell me that the course had been cleared. It would have taken a volunteer from the finish line 5 minutes to drive to the bridge that it took me 15 minutes to walk back to bridge and looking everywhere in case I missed something before turning around and walking all the way back 30 minutes to Sycamore Glenn.  I was really mad at the lady who ran another 20 minutes to the finish line before reporting a boy who was "lost" to a volunteer when I was standing 20 yards away from where she had seen him with a telephone in my hand when she crossed the bridge. She didn't send the boy to me or even try to help him. She left him to finish this "important" race in spite of someone being in trouble. That really hurt my heart. We headed home. Off and on for the rest of the night was a battle against crying and feeling angry.

I know that the people who were in charge of the race did a great job and I'm looking forward to working with them again. I actually can't wait. This was an event I was excited about working on all year. I'm sad it didn't turn out for me the way I had hoped but I also understand that things happen... I just wish it didn't feel like they always have to happen to me. That was more than just a celebration of my survivorship and a way to raise awareness  for a wonderful charity that brings funds to the research for a cure. For me it was more than the anniversary of the day Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with cancer that lead us to this point with an amazing charity and local chapter. That day was the also the celebration of life of Vicki Gelletti, one of my Aunt Sandy's best friends. She was an amazing women and she fought so hard against cancer for so long. I'm thankful she's at peace and free from pain but this world will miss the angel that walked among us.

I love and miss you Grandpa Derril, Grandpa Dave, Uncle James and Uncle Larry and Vicki too. There are so many more angels up there who have been taken by cancer and so many survivors who endured and overcame cancer still with us on Earth but  no matter where you are, you are all in my heart.

Totally Freaking Out

Blogger totally freaked out on me and all the posts I had been working on that it wouldn't let me post just disappeared! bummer. So heres a slight recap.

Two Saturdays ago I missed my 12 mile long run due to the stomach flu. I was supposed to run on Friday and go camping for labor day weekend. Needless to say I just scrapped it and started from scratch on Wednesday when I felt like jolting my system wasn't going to cause any adverse effects. I did 2 so slow on the dreadmill that I felt like a brisk walk would have been faster. BUT I felt so good on Thursday that I rocked the 7 mile run w/ 3 at Marathon (actually faster) pace. I ran 3 on Friday and 14 on Saturday.

Saturdays 14 miles long run needs its very own post since I'm going to review Chocolate #9 that I won from Momma of 3 on the Run and my new hydration belt that I paid for myself but love love love.

After I rocked my run on Saturday I took Sunday off, ran a short run Monday, ran hill repeats on Tuesday (totally rocked those too!) did KOR yesterday and I think my arms should have fallen off and ran around like a mad parson today getting things done but not getting an actual run in. Tomorrow is KOR and an easy run and Saturday is 10m "speed trial" that I'm running easy and Sunday is Whiskeytown Relay.Whew!

FOOD! has been a nightmare. I should be shopping now, there is nothing in this house. its so sad!!! I'm so hungry for food that isn't instant that I don't even care that half my sentences start with lower case letters and that usually dries me crazy! OK, now I have to go back and fix them. Thank goodness there is enough $ on the kiddos hot lunch tickets to get lunch at school tomorrow and the in-laws took the kiddos to dinner and yogurt tonight. Tomorrow I must shop!

But it's so SAFE Here

I'm a total chicken. When it comes to new things I'm afraid that I'll fail so why start. What if I try something I've never done and I totally bomb and all my worst fears come true? I do a lot of negative self talk and Ive been working on overcoming these conversations with my self that only stop me from doing what I really want to do. Running has given me confidence to at least try things I never would have done before. I mean what normal person, who runs2-3 miles on the treadmill and does a few weights and the occasional cardio class would wake up one morning and want to run a marathon? Not only that but go out and DO IT? I mean the training has always been the funnest part for me, you  know other than the whole getting injured part. I have worked for the last 3 years to build not only miles to the marathon but also the confidence needed to get me there. That confidence has led me to try other new things like Kayaking and getting in the lake where I can't touch without a life vest. I'm thinking of going back to school and pushing my photography stuff a little more this fall. I'm looking forward to trying new things like how to really swim instead of half assing it. I'm thinking of going longer distances and not so much on speed work. I'd like to run more trails and maybe run from the "green gate" on HWY 32 down to one mile. If I went up and back it would be about 18 miles. I'm ready to tackle these things slowely but I'm ready.

I used to use fear as an excuse to keep from getting hurt. Now I use it as a tool to stretch my limits a little past their comfort zone. At kettlebells I climbed the rope, not all the way to the top but farther than I've ever climbed before. I'm not afraid to try things that I refused to try before. I'm ready to hurdle these obstacles and have fun doing it too.
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Running this week
Monday I ran 3 easy and Day 1 of KOR (he went easy on me though)
Tuesday Ran w/ group from the park to upper Park trails to the "Z trail" which is not fun. Its up up up along the hillside to upper trail. we did repeats. one of our runners fell and sprained his ankle. Not fun. at all. I got to direct the ambulance to where the coach and our down runner was. I did total about 6 miles though.
Wednesday: KOR and 3 miles
Thursday: 3 miles (was going to do more but Blondy ended up with a migraine at school)
Friday: I got the migraine... how did that happen?
Saturday: 10 miles total on the books w/ warm up and cool down.

Run into the New Year

So far I've tallied about 22 miles for the week. I didn't run last Saturday with group because I just wanted to sleep in and hang out with my kids after being gone to LV the week before. I knew vacation was coming to an end and I wanted to not have to worry about getting up and about for just one morning. I took up an offer to run with Susan (owner of FF and 5k, 10k and 1/2 mary coach), Ed and Katie (both helping to coach the 1/2 mary group). I love my running groups but not sure how "special" I looked running with 3 coaches, either I really needed it or I'm damn lucky. I'll take the latter "Thank-you-very-much". We took the trail to upper park and the levy around to the bridge, back through 5mile and down the trail to 1 mile again. I love our not so little park. I had missed my running buddies now that we were all running different speeds during training. It was so nice to chit chat with them again. 6.89 on the books and the first for the new year and new decade.

Tuesday: Speed work. I got there early and ran an easy lap around the 1/2 mile or so loop at WW park. The fog was setting in as we did our plyometrics and warm up. We got done as the pea soup feeling settled in around us. 6x800's . Wahoo! But I kinda suck at figuring out what my threshold pace is. My marathon pace is actually about the same as my half and my 10k pace... because well, I don't really know why its the same. I feel like I push the same effort at any distance some are just farther than others I guess. TTD and I settled into a 8 minute pace (for me in hopes of speeding up by teaching my body that faster is not a bad thing) and Liz and Ross were on our heels. Diane is new to the program and she stayed right with us too. The fog was so eerie. I really liked it up until someone mentioned that it seemed like a set for a horror story... eek! Then I ran faster thinking about things like men in hockey masks and chainsaws and before I knew it the speed work was over. Did a cool down and some stretching with David. 5.5 miles in the books for my second run this 2010 season.
I took Wednesday off and ran Thursday hills with Liz, Katie and Kim. We met at 5pm after work and it was already mostly dark. We had fun with the rolling hills in CalPark and Canyon Oaks. If you stick to the main road, and don't climb the biguns, then the gentle up and downs feel like work in a good way. The fog looked beautiful hanging into the nooks and crannies of the canyon and the light finding its way through the dark foggy night in beautiful and magical ways. I <3 my good friends and a good run. Another 4.04 miles in the books.
Thursday: Ed FBed this morning that he wanted to run in upper park this morning. I took him up on it and we had a blast. We trudged through dirt and mud and muck and talked and talked and talked. I haven't had a run alone with Ed since his "unemployment days" not so long ago. Today his job was on a furlough day like most of our friends in any govt. or upper division school position holds. So glad to take advantage of the BEAUTIFUL day with a wonderful friend. 5.5miles today.
Sheesh I feel so blessed to be a part of this amazing running community.

Week 15

Today was our last long run of the 17 week training session before the marathon in 15 days. It was a great day and we did much better staying on pace than I did on Tuesday.

Tuesday: I drop the boys at my parents in the next town half an hour away. As I'm heading down the hill back to where we're running rain drops start hitting the windshield. By the time I got to the park it was POURING. The workout was supposed to be 1 easy, 6 at race pace (for me 9:15 miles) then one easy. I don't think I ever got any faster than 9:42. I felt like I was running faster, I was soaked to the bone. I was tired and done. When that last lap showed I did 9:58 even thought I should have been thoroughly warmed up at called it a night. I only got in at total of 6.5 miles in. I went home shed my soaking wet clothes in the laundry room then still walked dripping to my room to dry off and change so I could go back and get the boys. This was not my best speed work. But I figure we are so close to taper that its not the end of the world. By the time I got back into the truck 15 minutes after leaving the park, running home and changing the rain had stopped. Go figure. The test would be how I did on my long run Saturday.

Today: Saturday
We ran easy (9:45 or so) out to Durham park and Race pace (9:15) back. That was the theory anyway. You know that is my favorite run. Through the orchards to the park, its so darn beautiful and lots to talk about with TTD today about life and parenthood and family dynamics. We did our full 8miles then turned around and put our race pace faces on. We caught up to Susan, Patty, Ross and Liz about 5 miles back then took Vicki with us to the end. That last mile split was a 7:50pace. Wow. No wonder I was feeling wiped. We came in strong with an overall pace back of 9:03/mile. Crazy. Crazy enough to feel confident when the race comes up.

What if I want a 4 hour marathon?

I've posted a few things on here about wanting to run a 4 hour marathon. During the program we have had two 10k time trials. I'm not any good at them! Both of them came in at close to 58 minutes... not even close to what I'm capable of. My half marathon pace is faster than that! Ugh. I just could not find my high gear during those runs. I was afraid that getting any faster was a pipe dream. I'd need to run a 9:09 for 26.2 miles to come in under 4 and I couldn't run that for 6.2.

Last nights speed work was well work. We left from a different spot and used the available light as a guide for running time not miles. Coach Paul and Alan wanted us marathon group to run hills. We would do a mile warm up then the rest of the time at marathon speed. Am I supposed to run at the speed I want to run for CIM or the speed according to my really crappy 10k time? The run took us up into upper park (the trip up was lots of uphill on uneven surfaces) 37 minutes including our easy first mile then turn around how ever far you are and make it a negative split back (mostly down hill except for one long up hill before the lake) for 33 minutes. I got back to the parking lot at the perfect time 1 hour 10 minutes. I looked at my times, deducted the first mile and the remaining 6.5 miles was at 9:11 pace. Really darn close to the pace I was hoping for. If I did run EXACTLY 9:11 pace at the marathon that would put me at 4 hours and 36 seconds or so.

Part of my running regimen has been to incorporate a stronger core by spending an astronomical amount of money for a 6 month membership to KOR fitness. Lots of kettlebells and stretching there to make me more efficient, stronger and faster (I hope). I'm going to miss it come November when my membership is up. I'm not sure I want to give that up. My hands are all tore up today. I probably won't be able to lift my arms up to wash my hair after those clean and presses or the 6 minutes of snatches that K.C. told me not to worry about counting since I was using the 26lb bell. I can feel myself getting stronger after every single class. That will be hard to give up.

So do you train for the time you want... or by how fast you actually are now? The run felt comfortably hard once I got a good breathing pattern down, not sure if it will last 4 hours though. I guess that's why I have coaches and 11 more weeks of training to figure that out.

Speedy mcSpeedy

Up at 5:30 with news that we have a new little Nephew, born at 4:47 this morning, 8lbs 11oz and 20.5 inches long! Great job Rachel and B! So happy for you guys!

I dropped the kiddos off at school and went for a run in the park with Liz. We were a bit speedy today and turned our "feels-good-go-a-bit-faster" run into a speedy workout. We pushed it all the way and come in at 4 miles in 36:28. That averages out to be 9:06/mile (ugh... my marathon goal Pace!). It did feel good the whole time but I think I would need to GU every 5 miles if I went that fast. That is A LOT of GU! Long(er) run tomorrow! Supposed to be 7-8 miles but I might try to get there early and sneak a couple extra in there before hand since I'm short one mile from yesterday and 7-8 just doesn't feel like a long run anymore.

Food! Banana this morning and Chai after my run. Yes I know! I need to find something else. I AM going to get the new parents some cookies. Oatmeal (good for milk supply) for Rachel and PB for B.

Still no Garmin band or charger... I'm getting impatient!

Hot Stuff

My plan was to run 40 minutes today... so about 4 miles. I walked out the door at 11am, 83 degrees F, very little wind and humid, with a positive attitude and a new podcast in my ear (other one empty so I could listen to traffic or a dog who might want to chase me), and a smile on my face. I ran down a street I haven't ran down before that takes all the way across a cross street then up towards the foothills to the levy. I made a stop at a little park where I got a drink of water at about mile 1.3 miles then out to the levy and down to Wildwood park where there is another drinking fountain. I know that to the turn around at upper park road would put me at exactly 5 miles. I played a little trick on myself, saying I'd go 4o minutes but knowing I was 5 minutes more to a drinking fountain would give me another mile under my belt. Sneaky I know.

I was hot and sweaty and loving it at the turn around. Although my body was tired and I hadn't really eaten properly my mind was so joyful that it kept me energized. I stopped for a drink and to say hello to a fellow runner at the park then headed back home. By the time I got home I was DRENCHED in sweat, like pouring down me and leaving a puddle, but I felt so good! All over tingly, runners high that I had been missing since my little hiatus from a running program.

I wonder if Kettlebells has anything to do with it? I have been so stiff and sore since starting that a good run has been the only thing that has made me feel better, so good in fact that I really look forward to doing KOR again tomorrow, a hike or 3 mile run and then 10 mile long run on Saturday!

When was the last time you had that runners high? Do you get it often or is it rare but magical?

Relay

TodayI ran the Bidwell Classic Half marathon but I did the relay instead of the full since I'll be doing Shamrock'n next weekend! Remember last year when I ran the half marathon for the first time? This was that same race but I dreaded running around our beloved park TWICE again. So when I was asked to do the relay I jumped at it. TTD was my partner and she did the amazing first leg, so I went out for an easy 3 mile run before my leg of the race. I'm not sure what her time was but after the "exchange" point I turned the corner and headed through the finish line shoot and the time said 57min so I knew I needed to keep the 8:30 pace but I didn't have my Garmin and I didn't have my tunes so I was by myself out there.

Vince ran the first mile and a half with me and we were doing a little over 8 minute pace and I knew that was too fast so when he took the cut off I slowed down a bit and found the zone. Problem was the zone kept getting slower and slower until I realized people would start passing me! I sped up and found a faster happy place and by mile 4 I had caught up with a guy who was doing 7:40! I don't think he was going close to that fast when I was catching him but he didn't want me to beat him so he sped up. Men and their ego's hu? I stayed with him from mile 4-5 and decided I probably wouldn't finish if I kept that speed up. I slowed back down and took it easy mile 5-6. Probably too easy as I took the corner and could see the finish line I kicked it into high gear and sprinted! I practically ran over the gal in front of me to beat her to the mat on that last turn into the shoot.... sorry! Well kind of sorry, she knew I was behind her but stayed right in the middle of the narrow path anyway. I'm not exactly sure of our time but I looked at the clock and it said 01:51: ?? (I have no idea what the seconds were). TTD met me with water and a hug. What a great relay partner hu? I figure I ran about 8:30 pace and know that next weekend won't be that fast but I'm hoping for sub 9s anyhow. WAY TO GO EVERYONE! Both Ed and Susan took some pictures that I will post when I get them.

Over achievers

You know those crazy people who run TO the race, then run the race and PR, then some of them even place in the top 3 of their age groups. Yea sorry. I'm part of that group and had Liz and I actually signed up and not just crashed the run (I must remember to write a check to Durham Sport Boosters this week) then Liz probably would have placed.

It was the perfect day for the "Almond Blossom" run. We went out along the midway and through the orchards and everything was blooming beautifully. Everything was wet with dew and fresh from the rains of the last few weeks. We could not have chosen a better day to do this long run out my favorite path to Durham. I'll have to steal pix from Ed, he was smart and had his camera with him.

So we left Vicki's at 7:20 Saturday morning and headed out to Durham. It is just under 7 miles out there so we jogged along campus to hit that 7 mile mark on the dime. So there were 7 of us I think running out there and Ed and Tracey headed back to get the big miles in. Vicki, Ross, Vince and Ross's parents all ran the 5k for real and Liz and I just jumped in for fun, this was my first (and probably only) bandit race. We would have PR'ed at about 25 minutes (had I not veered off course at 3.05miles) and Liz would have come in at 24:50 or so. She definitely would have placed. Vicki came in first in her age group, Ross placed, Vince placed, Sue placed. Our group kind of swept the top spots didn't we?

The run was great. We were doing mostly 9:40's out there, I ran 8:06 too fast for mile 1, 8:19 for mile 2 which is better time for me, and 8:22 for mile 3 even though I tried to speed up I had a side stitch that just would not let up. Liz creeped farther and farther in front of me and Vicki and Vince took off like a shot so I never even saw them once the gun went off.

We did run a little over a mile loop afterwards at a REAL easy pace. I think that helped Sunday to keep us from being sore.

I did see Good Neighbors husband "Coach" out there and he did good for his first run. He came in about 35 minutes but is feeling the pain from not stretching. I used to be that person... the one who didn't stretch. If I want to keep running though I can't make that mistake any more. LOL. I hope he's feeling better today and to see him out on the race field again.


*** I know I should not have crashed the race, I know that the money raised for this run goes to a very worthy cause and since I'm a huge supporter of local public schools and their sports departments (or lack of in this time of school cuts) I will donate directly to their boosters. It was not my plan originaly to run and with no time to sign up before hand, no extra $to pay for the race once I got there since I was running to the race. So I appoligize to anyone who is upset for my rebelious ways***

Almond Blossoms

Do you pronounce the L in Almond? If you are a native to Chico, California you don't. Its almost a crime to pronounce it with one. EEEK! I still slip and I've been with a native boy for 14 years. Anywho...

I had been suffering through my long runs and hitting walls that had never been there before so my plan today was to eat right. Eat enough and hopefully fuel the way I should so tomorrow would be a better day than say... the last 6 or so weeks during my long runs. LOL. I ate oatmeal with peaches and milk (I guess it would be peaches and cream hu?) some granola sprinkled on top because I like the crunchy texture. I had a banana. Late morning I had some salad with romaine lettuce, broccoli salad, garbanzo beans, dried cranberries, carrots, feta cheese, artichoke hearts (soaked in water not oil) and 1 Tbsp poppy seed dressing. I was hungry right before picking up the boys so I picked up a burrito at Chipotle with yummy rice, grilled fajita veggies, steak, pinto beans, corn salsa, and a little bit of cheese. I don't know if I could eat anything else today I'm still stuffed at 7pm.

Tomorrow is that long run and we'll be leaving Vicki's at about 7:15am and headed to Durham where the annual Almond Blossom run will be taking place. Its about 7 miles out there +5k(unofficial) and a 2 mile cool down. We'll be having lunch in Durham before coming home. It will be nice to run with the gang. I can't really say girls since Ross and Vince have increased our group size and Ed, who is training for PARIS MARATHON, will be running with us also. I'll let you know how it goes.

Pick up the slack

Blondy loves the Tower of Terror. We had to run across the park to make in on time befor it closed Friday night.

I really need to pick up the slack. I would count walking all over Disneyland for three days working out because I have to. I have done nothing in terms of running or working out this week. I started getting a headache coming over the Grapevine Saturday on I-5 (or "the 5 if I was from SoCal) and it just progressed into a migraine as the night wore on. I still have the headache. It doesn't want to let up. I'm hoping that a good workout tomorrow night and some nice weather for the next few days will help get me back into the swing of things. I will say that I ate very healthy while on our trip. I chose fruits and veggies as snacks and at dinner I chose a small protein and lots of veggies so I didn't gain 5lbs on our 3 day excursion like last year. Guess What? I still gained 5lbs. What the heck. Must have been retaining water or something, Dehydrated and puffy is my only excuse.

Tomorrow it starts again. Speed workout, Kettle bells on Wednesday and Friday. No MORE SLACKING. The Shamrock'n Half is just a few weeks away. No more excuses.

I did take my resting heartrate this morning before I got up and again tonight and they were both 55beats per minute. Pretty good. My resting heart rate when I started the half marathon program last January was 63bpm so I'm showing cardiovascular improvement. Lets see how the next few weeks go though. I may be kickin' myself for taking a week off.

Hey, you wanna see some more pics from Disneyland!?! Head on over to my other blog to get the story.

Sweetness

Just put my miles in for today and realize that I hit the 100 mile mark on the dot for this month. YAHOO. My goal is to hit 1000 miles this year. I think I might take a 5K program somewhere in there that will give me a break from the hard long milage but give me a chance to work on some speed.

So for the first Month of this year I hit my 100 miles and I'm stoked. I'm still going to work on those 1 legged squats in Kettlebell class.

In your face!

I love a good meme so I posted the one from my Face Book on over at my regular (not so) everyday going on in my life blog. Check 'em out!

I ran 14 miles today. The first 7 were fine... maybe a little fast but they felt good. On the way back we were supposed to kick it up to race pace for a mile and a half then jog for half of a mile x3. That did not happen. Vic and Liz think I'm going to do 8:30's and I just played along because I thought it sounded good at the time. I have revised that. My Half Mary in October averaged out to be 9 minute miles so I figure if I go for 9 minute miles and if I feel good and want to kick it up a notch here or there and into high speed the last few I will do better than my previous time and that's really all I want. I want to be under 1h56m00s. That's the plan Stan.

Food... I was so bad yesterday... so stinkin' bad. I ate a banana and some coffee in the morning and I didn't eat again til dinner. I had Chinese food which was WONDERFUL but just not enough. Maybe that's why I sucked like a dust buster today. sheesh. I'm self sabotaging myself! I need to get the heck over it!

I really want to go see Liz's husband play in his band tonight but I'm just not sure how that's gonna pan out. hummm..... Have fun at all your SuperBowl parties tomorrow!

February Goal:Show your love and one legged squats

I'm not sure if this will be a monthly thing but I thought February would be a good time to set a smaller goal and break down that New Years Resolution into bite size pieces you know? I am also throwing out a February challenge to you so I won't be going at it alone you know...

First things First. Show your love. There are lots of ways I think you could do this. One thing I need to work on is positive reinforcement for the kids, the hubby and myself. We are too hard on each other. Instead of focusing on the things that are wrong at that moment think about speaking up when everything is going well. Congratulate on a 100% spelling test and reward with ice cream or a hot chocolate with extra marshmallows. Thank them for using their manners. Cultivate friendships. Have Coffee with a friend you haven't seen in awhile. Don't forget your non-human loves. Rescue a dog from the humane society if you are looking into bringing a pet into your home. Bring home special treat or toy for your cat.

Love the Earth. I'm selling Chico Bags to raise money for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. They are pink and brown. So cute! It is so good for the environment to carry your own bags when you are running to the market for something or the farmers market. When you take something from your house to your friends because they are on bed rest, had a baby or just are under the weather? Take the food in a Chico Bag and leave it for them to use again. You are showing your friends and the Earth Love.



Love your heart. It is the Month that women wear Red Dresses to raise awareness for Heart disease. Take care of you. Make a 30 day commitment to eat healthy (maybe less Pizza and more fun foods like stuffed butternut squash! Thanks Vicki!) for you and your family. You will all feel good and maybe the recipes and connection to your own health will become a habit. Exercise. I know most of you who read this do. Some may want to do MORE. set a goal. I had to decide to run a race. I don't particularly like the race part but it motivates me to train so I don't hurt myself or look like a total moron out there.

Love yourself: Tell yourself you are worth it. Take time for YOU, doing something you like even if you have to drag the rest of the family with you on a hike. Take some quiet time for you too. Read a book or an article you have been waiting to read. Read 15 minutes of the Bible every day if you haven't and that interests you. Wow, what a concept that was for me when I had little ones. I felt like all I was doing for 24 hours a day 7 days a week was cooking cleaning and serving nourishment from my TaTa's. I was drained and exhausted and didn't feel like I had anything else to give...but those few minutes a day I found my connection to God more strong then ever. To each their own. I didn't think of doing that til someone brought it to my attention so I'm just putting it out there. Smile when you look in the mirror. I know its hard but don't look for the flaws, look for the things you like, every day and it should get easier (I'm going to work hard on this one, we are all so self critical aren't we?).

This month besides loving someone else, loving my family, my heart, my Faith, myself. My big physical goal this month is to do 10 Kettle bell one legged squats on each leg. Yea I'm a freak and I should have started with 20 push ups or something "normal" but I always wanted to be able to do them so that's what I'm putting on my plate.

There's no place like home

Today is a day when I wish I had stolen my moms treadmill and set up shop in the living room. The run outside was horrendous. I just could not get and stay focused. I yearned for those easy miles to find me but they never did. OK so I stuck it out and came in at just under 3o minutes even though I was supposed to go out for 30-40 minutes today. Today it wasn't just in my head but my whole body was having a revolution against this new life change of mine. That's fine, I came in my the skin of my teeth but tomorrow I'm going to kick its butt in Kettle bells and take the doggie for a walk. I'm going to make it wish I was running so Tuesday night will kick ass and Wednesday and Thursday's 5 mile runs will be a dream. Friday will be my core/xt day maybe another kettle bell class and Saturday is another LONG run. I'm putting it out there... This will be a great training week.

=)