Chasing the Johnstons

Yesterday when Meghan invited me to run with her and Rob, "want to join us?,"  I think what she really meant to say was, "want to chase us?"  I went up ahead of them and did 5k before I met them at Coyote Hollow.  We headed out to Ann's and I was hard pressed to keep up.  Seriously!  They are so fast.  I actually felt pretty decent, but around mile seven I started melting.  Back to back long runs are awesome training, but pretty hard on the legs. 

Those two are so fast that this is the only view I ever saw of them!  

You can just see Meghan about to go around a corner up ahead of me.  Can't see her?  Yeah, that's because she's fast and far ahead of me!

Rob stopped and snapped a couple of me before he and Meghan disappeared again.

This run felt good, but I pushed a lot harder than I would have, had I been alone.  I'm sure that's good for me, but I sure did feel it by the time I cruised into the parking lot!

9.15 miles 

1:52

12:20 average pace (over three minutes/mile faster than yesterday's run!)

Training Week 8

Today was a back to back day.  Let's just say that I was sore this morning (had you seen me on the treadmill you would have either laughed, or felt horrible for me.)  I met Meghan at the gym (it was 0º out!) where I did five minutes on the elliptical and then another 35 minutes on the treadmill, mostly walking with some running.  I'm going to count it anyway because hell, that was hard work!  This was my second highest mileage week ever!  And I'm over 200 miles into training for this race!

Week 8
Monday: 2
Tuesday: 10
Wednesday: Cross Train
Thursday: 3
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 18.15
Sunday: 2
Total: 35.15

Previous Total: 168.13
Training Grand Total: 203.28

18.15 miles

Well, I did it.  It was a long haul, some good, some bad.  But, I did it!  I headed out the Sandy Rail Trail from Sego Lily and went south.  I went all the way to Draper Park and then headed south on the Porter Rockwell Trail from there.  The first half of the run I felt good.  It was snowing fairly heavily, but I was dressed for it and kept warm.  My glasses got covered in snow at about mile two, so I took them off.  Not sure if there is anything I could have done about that, but I could see much better without them, so that made me happy.  At the half way point I started feeling bad.  My right leg was bugging me a bit and my spirits where low.  I asked myself why on earth I was out in a blizzard running for four hours!?  I did a bit of stretching and by the three hour mark I was feeling quite chipper and remembered exactly why I was out there!  I felt great!  By the last two miles I was hurting again, but this time mostly physically.  I played "Ultramarathon Man," by Dean Karnazes and that always picks me up when I'm struggling.  That man is an inspiration!  This evening I am hurting quite a bit, but it's been a very busy day with cooking and a kid's birthday party included.  I'm very happy to finally sit with a bag of ice and compression sleeve.  Oh, and my foam roller.  Ahhhh...

Feeling fresh and happy.

The trail was mostly plowed and even and though there was snow, it was relatively easy going.

Can you see the tired in my eyes?  This is around mile fifteen.

18.15 miles

4 hr 10 min

13:46 pace

Now who wants to place bets on how many miles I'll make it tomorrow?  

Training Week 5. Not the End of the World.

This week has been up and down, but luckily ended on a good note.  Today was my second back to back.  I met up at Katherine's house and we ran down to the Sandy Rail Trail for a seven miler.  It felt good, but my hamstrings were a bit mad at me.  Seven miles seems over really quickly after running 15! I'm so excited about the shorts I just packed for my runs next week in Florida!  Bring on warm Christmas runs!

Week 5
Monday: 3
Tuesday: 6
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 15
Saturday: 7
Sunday: Marathon Plane Trip (not my favorite kind of marathon!)
Total: 31

Previous Total: 88.39
Training Grand Total: 119.39

End of the World Run

Today when my alarm went off at 6:35am, I felt insane.  Why on earth was I leaving the warmth of my bed with all of my family sound asleep to run in the dark and cold?  I checked two different weather reports.  One said it was 23, but "feels like" 17 degrees.  The other said 19 degrees and "feels like" 19 degrees.  Any way you slice it the temperature was cold.  I layered* massively, drank a little hot tea and headed out with Ozzy and a flashlight.  Almost instantly I was happy I was running.  Today was a great run!  Despite the dark and cold, or maybe because of it, I felt alive and ready for an adventure. I did 7.6 miles with Ozzy, dropped him off at home and headed back out.  Although Ozzy could probably run 15 miles, I cherish the solitude and wanted that today.  15 miles felt easy and I've felt great the rest of the day.  Now, hoping seven miles tomorrow will feel equally great!

After the sun was coming up, it was still pretty cold.

Love that sunrise!

15 miles

2 hr 45 min

11 min pace

*What I wore today

Ear warmer headband (I don't like hats, they're too hot and I have lots of hair)

My visor (because I can't run without it!)

Neck/face warmer to keep my cheeks warm

Long sleeved technical shirt

Short sleeved technical shirt

Pull over fleece

Powercore running tights

Running shorts over tights to keep my other cheeks warm

Ankle gaiters

Fleece mittens

I was just right and actually took of the neck warmer after only a few miles.  After the sun came up I was starting to get a bit too warm, but as my run was nearly over it was no biggie.

Missed Miles

The past two days my runs* have been like this:
Run to the grocery store
Run to the instacare for prednisone (lame lame asthma that made me miss a three miler)
Run to buy Christmas gifts
Run around like a chicken with it's head cut off wrapping, cleaning, preparing for our trip, etc.

I've had to switch my long runs around this week because of our travel on Sunday.  Tomorrow will be my long run (15) and then I have another back to back, so Saturday will be seven.  Sunday it'll be marathon plane rides.  Not my preferred marathon.

Now let's see if I can cross a few more items of my to do list and get to bed at a decent hour!  That run tomorrow will be an early one!

*Not actual runs.  Just running around! 

Training Week 2

Today was my first back to back long run,* and the end of week two of training.  When I woke up before my alarm at 6:40am I could hear the wind raging outside and did not want to get out of bed.  After peeling my tired legs out of bed and getting ready to go Ozzy and I headed out on a loop that is uphill for the first three miles.  Let me just say that those first three miles were B R U T A L!  Not only was I tired from yesterday's trail run, the wind was howling around me and my legs felt like lead weights. At mile two I was contemplating the sanity of my decision making skills.  Luckily, by the time I reached the top of the hill and headed back downhill, I was feeling pretty decent and by the time I hit mile six I found myself running at a 9:30 pace!  Honestly, I knew it would get better because the first few miles are always the most difficult, but I didn't know I'd feel that good! What a great confidence booster!  I can almost see the 50k finish line!

7 miles
1:22
11:42 pace

*The back to back run is when you run two long runs in a row.  The purpose of the back to back for ultramarathon training is to prepare you for running on tired legs that you will certainly have on race day.  The back to back goes like this:  Day 1 long run, Day 2 long run of approximately half the distance of the day before, i.e. Saturday= 20 miles, Sunday= 10 miles.

Week 2
Monday: 3.1
Tuesday: 5
Wednesday: weight lifting
Thursday: 3
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 13.1
Sunday: 7
Total: 31.2

Week 1 Total: 23.12
Training Grand Total: 54.32