PASAVANT 10K - RECAP

Oh wow! Even w/ my little mishap, I managed to get 3rd place in my age group today!!! We just checked the results and there it was!! Guess that's when we went to the car and didn't here them announce it... OK, so maybe I feel a little bit better my race..

Kevin and I headed over to Jacksonville early this morning to do the Passavant Hospital race. He was doing the 5K and I was doing the 10K. There was a pretty decent crowd of just over 300 including a few from Springfield. Got our packets, pinned our bibs on, snapped a few pictures and it was just about time to get lined up. Kevin wanted to come in under a 8:00 minute pace and I was hoping for 10:00 or under. (Kevin came in at 24:37 for a 7:56 pace!!! PR for him! Woo Hoo!!!

It was very warm.. no, HOT with the sun out and early on I knew I better hit every water station. The first 5 miles were good. Got into a nice rhythm and just tried to maintain it. Stopped quickly at the water stations for a drink, took 1/2 my gel at mile 3 w/ water then the other 1/2 at 4. Some lady was standing out by the street with a hose to hose people down as they went by at mile 4. That felt awesome. Thanks for that!

I was maintaining a good pace and was thinking I might come in under slightly under 62 minutes. Then disaster struck. We headed into the last mile which is all those twists and turns in a neighboorhood right before the end of the race. I missed a turn. Yep, I missed a turn. So maybe the 'blondeness' kicked in, but I swear there were no markings and nobody was on the corner directing you, and there was nobody to follow in front of me. (you know how some streets are really short and if someone has already turned a corner, you can't see them?!) I came up to a T and had no idea which way to go. I chose left. I kept looking behind me to see if I could see anyone, but I didn't. Went way up to another street, turned right and saw people coming TOWARD me. Oh shit. Turned around and ended up doing that entire loop around the neighboorhood again. Yes, AGAIN.. Got up to where I missed the turn and the guy was standing about 3-4 houses down the street instead of on the corner. A lot of good that does!! So I hit the Garmin at 6.2 and just walked/jogged the rest of the way back. I was very tired at that point and there was no sense in racing. I should probably have another infamous 'notes to self' here, BUT in this case, it wasn't my fault.. I swear!

Mile1 9:46
Mile 2 10:08
Mile 3 10:07
Mile 4 9:49
Mile 5 9:49
Mile 6 10:36.. too much slowing down trying to figure out where to go, looking behind me, stopping w/ some gal and her showing me the map she was carrying...etc. etc. etc. Now that's a thought.. carrying a map.. WHO KNEW!!!

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5806227

Kevin says 'Forget your ending time and just concentrate on the splits you know you did'.. Yeah, I know but it's still frustrating!! sighhhhh.... Actually It's kind of funny.. I've never had that happen before and it is quite a strange feeling getting 'lost' in a race... it could only happen to me.

3 miles w/ Kaiden

Kept Kaiden home from the Y camp today (they were taking them canoeing.. yeah, right!) and still needed to get my 3 miles in. I slept in too late to get out before Kevin left for work so decided to take Kaiden with me. He loves riding his bike and riding it all the way to the other end of the neighborhood is a treat for him. So off we went. I did my 3 miles while he stayed with me on his bike. Worked great!! I told him that if he stayed right with me we'd cross over to maple grove and go over to the lake. He loves 'exploring' over there. Which we did. Had good splits today.. almost negative splits. Had I not done circles in the street waiting for Kaiden to get done looking at the pond, I probably would have had them!! DANG!

Mile 1: 9:56
Mile 2: 9:51
Mile 3: 9:52 (1 second off!!!)

Anyway, fun run with my boy.. headed over to the lake (Ski and Boat Club) afterwards. The water is as gross as ever.. nasty puke looking stuff all along the shore line.. nice.. not to mention the stench.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5790450

5 miles today

Ran a couple of 'running errands' today at lunch. First stop: Springfield Running Center for new shoes. Had Asics 2120 since September so it was time. Kris was there and she's always a big help. I decided to stay w/ Asics and get the 2130's. Same shoe I have, just the newer model. She was heading back to get a size 6 when she stopped and said 'You know what, I think we have your shoe you have now (2120's) on sale for $60 and I think they are 6's.. '! She found them and sure enough $60 for the same shoe I've been wearing since September. If it's not broke, don't fix it I always say ! Grabbed a couple of cliff bars and I was out the door for under $70.. sweet!
Dick's for sunglass (didn't find any) and BikeTek for more Accel Gel and it was time to head back to work....

OK so today I drug out the pants and long sleeve shirt... no hat and gloves tho! After freezing yesterday at the track, I wanted to be warm this morning. Grew impatient waiting for the Garmin to hone in a satellite (cloudy or something??) so I hit mode early and away I went. I checked a time or two very early on and it said my pace was 15:00.. but once it got a good satellite connection, the pace slowly went back up to 10:20 by the end of the first mile.
I start increasing these Wednesday runs starting next week so I'm going to find a different route.. probably get out of the neighborhood some. While I was over in Crowe's Mill I looked for rental property for Kellie but didn't see any..

Good run !

Mile 1: 10:20
Mile2: 10:07
Mile 3: 10:04
Mile 4 10:07
Mile 5: 10:01

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5778943

Tuesday's track work

I met up w/ everyone at the track again for more torture... actually we did ladders and it was fun! Bill told us we were doing ladders.. 400, 600, 800, 1000 then down to 400. I've heard of ladders, just have never done them. This was either going to be fun or pure hell.

My goal was 2:00 per 400. Bill suggested I don't do the 1000. He wanted me to do 400,600,800 then 400. Although he didn't come out and say it, we both knew they'd all be waiting on me if I did the 1000. Not doing it meant getting done about the same time. A-OK with me...

400 - 1:49
600 - 2:55
800 - 4:07
400 - 2:01

I was really happy w/ my times today. Guess not doing weights yesterday helped.. Bill gave me some pointers too for increasing my speed. After a cooldown w/ the group, I practiced them on the way back to work.... SLOWLY!

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5772787

Day of rest

I'm supposed do weights on Monday's but I'm skipping it today... Some of the neighbors are coming down for a BBQ this afternoon and I've got lots to do to get ready.. I probably could have squeezed in an early workout, but I'm busy and not feeling like doing a weight workout today... My luck I'd head to the club and it would be closed anyway!!

11 Miles today

Loaded up the fuel belt w/ accelerade, gel, ipod and my cell phone... felt like it weighed 10 pds...
hopefully I can run with this thing today I thought.. we'll see.
Headed to Washington Park and pulled in at 6:05 a.m.. There was absolutely no one around and it felt a little creepy. So I sat in my car debating wether or not I wanted to run in the park and decided to go across chatham road to Parkview and start from there. The park was just too eery this morning and I wasn't feeling good about it.

Headed out from Parkview to Lawerence to Washington to Chatham rd and back to the park for a little over 4 miles. It was a little more hilly than I expected and my legs were feeling it by the time I got to washington park. Kathy and Patti were there and there was a little more activity going on.. We all headed back out of the park and did 5 miles toward TGI Fridays..About the 1/2 way point, we stopped for a walk. THANK GOODNESS THEY WANTED TO WALK!! :-) :-) :-)
Told ya Kathy!! ha Those 5 miles weren't too bad.. the talking and laughing we all do helps those miles go by... when we got back to the park, Kathy and Patti were done but I had 2 more miles to do. I headed out onto South Grand and headed east! . Why, I have no idea. My car was in the opposite direction. I always say I get delirious while running, and I guess I was living up to that label!! Turned around and headed back the right way.. and finished up the final 2. The last mile was bad ... got a side stitch... Haven't had one in a long time so I'm not sure where it came from. Oh, maybe it was the steak n shake chilli for lunch yesterday.. blah.. Finally that last mile was done and I sort of limped back to the car due to the side stitch. Glad that didn't happen early on!! It was gone in a flash, but dang that hurt! The fuel belt worked fine, bouncy at first but probably from the overload of 'gear' I had. Also wondering if the pocket goes in the back or front... or if it even matters. To me it's more convenient for the pocket to be in front and that way the bottles are all toward the front.. guess that's the way I'll leave it..
Overall a decent run.. Glad I've got my running buds to keep me company in those middle miles!!

Mile1: 10:20
Mile 2 10:30
Mile 3: 10:29
Mile 4 10.37
Mile 5: ??? hit the lap and messed it up
mile 6 10:39
Mile 7 10:15
Mile 8 10:13
Mile 9 10:20
Mile 10 10:28
mile 11 9:31

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5747438

You're kidding... negative splits???

Wouldn't have thought I'd ever see negative splits for 3 miles but somehow it happened....
I was cold out there this morning (shorts and T-shirt again) .. was it colder this morning????
Anyway, maybe being cold got my rear in gear to get the run done but regardless, negative splits is a cool feeling!!

Mile 1: 9:55
Mile 2: 9:48
Mile 3 9:24 !!

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5729320

Now I get to rest until I do 11 miles on Saturday... and I'm gonna need it....

Met my non-runner friend Melissa for lunch today... I have to work on that girl...

6 miles.. all in the sun

Woke up, got dressed and headed out to the kitchen at 5:07. Looked out the windows and it was already light out.. Hey cool. Not very fond of running in the dark.. Got the fuel belt loaded w/ accelerade, gel and my ipod in the front pocket. I was wanting to try the fuel belt out and thought I'd need the extra fuel to get my 6 in. Headed out and after a quick adjustment the fuel belt worked great. Even forgot I had it on. Rubbed a little on my left hip bone after a while but I just moved it a little and it was fine.

A brisk morning but it was sunny so it didn't seem too bad. A huge full moon still hung in the sky which was beautiful. Early on I met a guy running toward me and I had to laugh a little because he was dressed as if it was 25 degrees out.. heavy running pants, sweatshirt and who knows how many layers underneath, hat and gloves! I just smiled and ran by in my shorts and t-shirt....
My goal for this morning was to stay at goal marathon pace. I've been heading out a little faster than that lately so I concentrated at staying around 10:18.. My average pace was 10:14 so I did keep it down. NOT that 'keeping it down' is a problem for me by any means!!! That's quite easy for me..
Felt good this morning even after the speedwork yesterday and it was a good run.

Mile 1: 10:19
Mile 2: 10:15
Mile 3: 10:27 (walked to take the gel and a drink)
Mile 4: 10:21
Mile 5: 9:56
Mile 6: 10:16

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5722777

Feelin' the need for speed!!!

Tuesday means speedwork at the track and I was feeling up to the challenge. Came better prepared this week as I remembered my sports drink. Last week I only had H20... Changed here at work and jogged down to the track. After a short warmup around the track with Tracey and Gregg, Gregg (Bill couldn't make it today) gave us the rundown on the workout. 400 m then 800 m with a jog 1/2 the distance in between for 3 sets! OUCH!

Based on last week my goal was 2:03 for 400's , 4:06 for 800's.....

Started the first 400 and my legs felt strong. There was a strong wind from the north so one side of the track was a little harder than the other.. Hate that darn wind... hit the lap button at 1:52:18! I'll take it... Jogged 200 then started my first 800. Legs still felt good but I was getting winded.. In fact, it wasn't my legs today, I just felt extremely winded. Guess that's because I haven't done any sort of speedwork in ages... perhaps that will settle down a bit as we go on. I could keep my breathing under control, but it took effort to do it... First 800 was 4:11:48.. only 5 seconds off goal.

First 400, 1:52:18.. YES!
First 800 was 4:11:48.. Fine with that...
2nd 400 1:59 good! Still under 2:03
2nd 800 4:23.. slower but I was getting tired...
3rd 400 2:08.. again very close so I was fine w/ it.

Did a short cool down run w/ everyone then needed to head back to work.

I'm happy w/ today given it's only my second track workout..
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5718335

WEEK 3 !!! Strength Training Day

Week 3 of marathon training. This week I'm doing week 4 of the schedule (11 miles Saturday) and next week I'll do week 3 (6 miles Saturday). That fits in with the Jacksonville race that is next Saturday. It's Monday so that means weights at FitClub:

LEGS:
Leg Curls: 2 X 20 25 pds
Leg Extensions: 2 X 20 25 pds
abbductor/adductor 2X 20 50pds
walking lunges 10 pds X 50
squats 2 X 25 10 pds

ARMS/CHEST
single bicep curls 2 X 15 X 10 pds
bicep curls w/20 pd bar 2 X 15
hammer curls 2 X 15 X 10 pds
Tri's - 20 pds overhead
cable tri pulldowns 2 X 20 12.5 pds
lat pulldowns 2 X 20 15 pds
deltoid raises 2 X 20 10 pds
Flies on incline bench 2 X 20 10 pds
chest press/incline 2 X 20 20 pd bar
chest press/flat bench 2 X 20 20 pd bar
rows for both upper/lower back - 2 X 20 X 15 pds

ABS/CORE

20 minutes worth... roman chair, various forms of crunches, twists w/ ball, V-ups, etc etc etc.
stretched ... for a long time because I was listening to a guy grunt and groan while using the foam roller and his trainer telling him he needs to stretch more..
Thinking of dusting off some old Yoga tapes (YES, tapes not DVD's) told ya they were dusty.. and maybe doing that twice a week.. mon, tues and fri I don't run in the a.m. so I could head down to the family room and pop a yoga tape in... but I like the extra hour sleep too so we'll see.

9 miles - DONE!

What a beautiful morning for a run. A little cloudy to start with but the sun came out soon. Wasn't so sure about how I'd feel this morning because we spent last evening having dinner/drinks with Donna and Mike on their deck again. But I stopped at 4 beers so I tried to be good!! Drank lots of water last night so that helped. I was fine when I got up.

Started out from FitClub West about 7:00 and ran a little over 3 miles to Washington Park where I met Kathy, Kathy and Patti. We did 4 together. Ran up Feldkamp all the way to SHG, around their track, and back. Then I headed back to FitClub for another 2. Got the 9 miles done.

Mile 1 10:01
Mile 2 10:11
Mile 3 10:07
Mile 4 12:18 (stoppping and starting up again with the girls)
Mile 5 10:59
Mile 6 11:12
mile 7 13:07 (stopping, chatting a bit then starting up again on my own)
Mile 8 10:43 (huh???)
Mile 9 10:15

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5686676

Headed to Kaiden's baseall game after my run. I caught all but the first inning!! They lost by 4 in the very last inning. Bummer. Gotta go finish planting my annuals and help K-man wash the car :-)

Why do you run?

I was talking with a old friend of mine the other day and she asked me 'So, why do you run??" She has never done any type of running in her life, doesn't plan to, but is always interested in hearing about the races I do and what I'm training for next.. Her question took me by surprise as I've never really thought about it that much to actually put it in words. Like an internal thing that you subconsciously 'know' without it actually being put into words. You just do it because you enjoy it without really thinking that deeply about why you enjoy it.

So her question got me thinking. Why do I run? I've been running for over 15 years with a small 3 year hiatus starting while I was pregnant and ending when I looked in the mirror one day and finally realizing I had NOT lost any of my pregnancy weight.. So I started back up again. I started in 1993 to get in shape and I started back in 2003 to get in shape. That's easy. But why do I keep running? And why running? Why not cycling or kickboxing or some other form of aerobic activity that's so widely available (if you're into show-mercials)? I really do like Wayne's kickboxing class, but I wouldn't want it to be my sole form of aerobic activity. So what is it about running that I'm so drawn too?

So after thinking about it's because of several reasons. The main one is I can compete with myself. How much faster can I go? Or how much further can I go? I'm not a very competitive person but I do like to compete against myself and see how much I can improve. You can't exactly compete against your self in an aerobic class. Either you do the hour or you don't. No real competition there. And I've never have gotten into cycling other than recreational family bike rides. Running is the one sport that I can compete against myself and push myself. In races I'm not out to see who I can beat (mainly because I know it's a lost cause!) but to keep it interesting I'll pick out someone close to me in pace and see if I can beat them. I usually don't know the person, just someone I pick out who's going about my pace....

Not to mention the goals you can set. The 10K in a couple of weeks, the completed 1/2 marathons. The upcoming marathon. Setting goals gives you something to strive for and accomplish. And feel good when you finish, regardless of your time. I have exactly 1 trophy from 14 years ago. 3rd place in my age division. There were a total of 4 runners in my age division. But that's OK.. Getting out there are doing the short races and the 1/2 marathons are actually fun for me. It's not about winning, it's about doing. I would really hate to be the person who gets down on themselves for not coming in the top 3 or get sooo wrapped up in the competitiveness that they miss out on the fun.

Definitely another reason is my running friends. Every Saturday we meet to run and chat. Sometimes mostly chat! :-) I'm a busy mommy (1st priority!) but I need some 'me' time and girl talk!! Getting out early Saturday mornings for a couple of hours w/ my friends is perfect for filling that much needed time! It's like great therapy!!! We talk away the miles and before you know it, we're done! I look forward to my Saturday runs with my girlfriends and I would miss that greatly if I were to quit running. Thanks Kathy F, Kathy H and welcome back Patti!

As much as I love the chatter of the Saturday runs, I also love the quiet weekday runs alone where I can either get lost in my thoughts or jam to my ipod. Regardless, it's just me out there and I enjoy the peace. I FINALLY got off the treadmill and outside once the warmer weather came and it makes such a difference. I slip out of the sleeping house to an awakening world of sunrises, chirping birds, rabbits, an occasional deer or two in the open field area next to the forest line...sprinkler systems, paper boys and other runner/walkers. I love watching the sun come up and things come alive. (OK so maybe no sprinkler systems yet, but I know it won't be long!)

Running with big groups like the HalfWits has also introduced me to some great people and the comradery and support is fantastic. Being a small part of that group is what keeps me going though the winter because there's always something they are training for.

And yes the obvious reason why anybody runs is to try to keep in shape. I love my pizza and beer and my favorite wine you know!!

And talking about therapy, actually writing out my thoughts just now was a little bit of therapy for me!!

HUH? 4:45 already??!!

The alarm went of at 4:45 this morning and it felt like I had just shut my eyes!! I really wasn't wanting to get out of bed, especially because I knew it was going to be a little chillier this morning than it has been... BUT I did it anyway... needed to get my 3 miles in.

I dressed a little warmer with a long sleeve T-shirt on and headed out. Not a very note-worthy run, just a good run. A little more activity this morning in the neighborhood than yesterday.. couple of dog walkers, paperboy and a rabbit that darted out in front of me and scared the bue-hee-bee-jee-bess out of me!!

Didn't have time to download the Garmin but I did check my splits:

Mile 1: 10:02
Mile 2: 9:58
Mile 3: 10:01

not bad!

5 miler

Did my scheduled 5 this morning. Wasn't too sure how I'd feel after yesterdays speedwork, but I felt good, to my amazement! Walked outside, turned on the Ipod.. nothing! Dead battery!! KAIDEN!!!! Grrrr.. Stuck it in the mailbox. Great.. 5 miles in silence. Headed out with a water bottle and belt strapped on and all it did was bounce around and drive me crazy.. dropped it at the end of the block. OK so now I'm 0 for 2.. I'm wondering how the run is going to go at this point!! It was a little misty but it felt good and I actually had a good run. The silence was actually nice.. it was very quiet out and i'm supposing that's because it was rainy so the birds weren't chirping. Got lost in my thoughts and had a very quiet peaceful run.

Splits:
Mile 1: 10:13
Mile 2: 10:08
Mile 3: 10:14
Mile 4: 10:00
Mile 5: 10:12

A little slower than last weeks five but I'm blaming that on the speedwork yesterday..
Obviously I haven't brought these Wednesday runs down to marathon pace (10:18) which they are supposed to be, but now I'm wondering if I should..will have to talk to Bill about that.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5663934

1st track workout with Bill's Group

I did it! I was extremely apprehensive, intimidated, AND nervous, but I showed up anyway and did speedwork with Bill Owen's and his group of sub 6 miler's... Yeah for me!! When we were talking in Indy Bill suggested doing speedwork and told me about the Tuesday track workouts they do and that I should come.. we've kept in contact since Indy and he talked me into showing up and that I have nothing to worry about it.. just go at my own pace.. He also said Tracey Dowell comes every week and I know her from kickboxing and running so at least I'd know somebody there..

Slept in this morning on purpose (which was nice!) in anticipation for the track workout. Brought everything I needed for running with me to work, and changed in the restroom.. Did about a mile or so warmup downtown and ended at the track. Bill showed up as did Tracey and about 8 other guys.. some I recognized some I didn't.. caught some names.. Terry Purcell (cool Austrailian accent), Gregg Bennet, Jim Dahlquist, and Eric. I'm bad with names.. hopefully I'll slowly learn the others..

I was intimidated for nothing! They are all a nice group of guys and very supportive! Bill planned 7 X 600's and suggested I do every other one since I was just getting back into speedwork.. worked out good too.. As they were finishing up their 2nd 600 and walking back to the start, I was done and cooled down from my 1st 600 m... My 3 600's were all consistent at 3:08.. but the 1st one I only did 400 m. because I basically screwed up.. it was 1:55..
The 3:08 for .38/mile works out to 8:14/mile.. wouldn't that be cool for the sizzling mile??!!

First 3 'laps' were running to the track from work, standing around and running a couple of laps around the track..
Lap 4: 1:55 .26/mile (my bad)
Lap 5 5:38 .25/mile ( walk back to finish and waiting to go again)
Lap 6 3:03 .38/mile (1st 600)
Lap 7 4:56 .14/mile (walk back to finish and waiting to go again)
Lap 8 3:08 .37/mil3 (2nd 600)
Lap 9 5:32 .13/mile (walk back to finish and waiting to go again)
Lap 10 3.08 .36/mile (3rd 600)
Lap 11 13.47 .86/mile (cooldown run)

Did a short cooldown run with the group towards washington park, then Bill and I turned and ran back towards downtown. Did almost 5 miles in all.. scheduled for only 3.

I was really glad I showed up and told Bill I'd be back next week..

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5658233

Strength Training Day

Headed to the FitClub at lunch to do some weights..

LEGS:
Leg Curls: 2 X 20 25 pds
Leg Extensions: 2 X 20 25 pds
abbductor/adductor 2X 20 50pds
walking lunges 10 pds X 50
squats 2 X 25 10 pds

ARMS/CHEST
single bicep curls 2 X 15 X 10 pds
bicep curls w/20 pd bar 2 X 15
skull crushers (tri's) 2 X 20 10 pds
cable tri pulldowns 2 X 20 12.5 pds
lat pulldowns 2 X 20 15 pds
deltoid raises 2 X 20 10 pds
Flies on incline bench 2 X 20 10 pds
chest press/incline 2 X 20 20 pd bar
chest press/flat bench 2 X 20 20 pd bar

ABS/CORE

25 mins of ab/core work. lots of different things. not gonna list them all...
stetched 10 minutes. ahhh........

8 miler

Met Kathy H, Kathy F and Patti this morning at Washington Park.. Patti is back after being laid up from foot surgery in January.. it was good to have her back with us!! She's great for hillarious stories while we run... We ran 4 together and then I did a second loop to get my 8 in.. We did the Washington Park to the Y and back. Got stuck for over 4 minutes by a train on 3rd street on the way back so it was not a very fast 4 miles. But I did another 4 and speed it up some..
Here's the laps:
Mile 1: 10:32
Mile 2 11:54 (drink at Y)
Mile 3 14:44 (train..)
Mile 4 10:45
Mile 5 10:24
Mile 6 9:52
Mile 7 9:55
Mile 8 9:55
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5633315
It was a perfect sunny morning and great running weather.. no complaints there!

LOVE it!!!

'Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets;

So love the people who treat you right,

forget about the ones who don't,

and believe that everything happens for a reason.

If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it.

Nobody said life would be easy, They just promised it would be worth it.'

Harvey Mackay

DAY 3

Scheduled for 3 miles again this morning but it was raining, windy and just plain nasty outside so I drove to the FitClub for a boring 3 miles on the treadmill... did a bunch of ab/core work too then headed home. Done now until Saturday when I do 8 miles.

And that's all I've got for today!

Day 2

Did the scheduled 5 miles at GMP (10:18) this morning.. It was a strange feeling to check the Garmin and think 'oops, going a little too fast'.. that's a whole new experience for me! Wind was pretty strong coming from the South and it definitely slowed me a bit whenever I headed south.
Should have brought water or my fave sports drink with me for this... guess my head was foggy at 5:00 a.m. will have to set out my water bottle so I'll remember it next time.. because I really could have used water by mile 3..
Meeting my friend Sherri for lunch.. did I earn my mexican food???? hmmm...

Splits were:
Mile 1: 10:10
Mile 2: 10:14
Mile 3: 10:20
Mile 4: 10:22
Mile 5: 10:15

Here's the link:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/559500

OK so I started a week early!!

Started my marathon training this morning a week early! Don't think it will hurt any and by doing this I can have an extra week to get in 2 20 mile runs or a 20 and a 22... keep hearing how you really should do more than 1 20 miler.

So I did 3 miles in the neighborhood as scheduled. Splits were :
mile 1: 10:05
mile 2: 10:03
mile 3: 9:52

I was feeling good out there! Here's' the link:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5586175

Indy Mini Recap

First of all Kathy called me Wednesday to let me know she wasn't going to be able to go to Indy!! Her 7th grade daughter made it to the state championship game in grade school basketball.. Yeah for her! Kathy felt she should go with her family to watch the game and I understood that.. that's a once in a lifetime thing for them and Indy is every year.. and she had done it last year.. My thoughts changed for being happy for her daughter to: WHAT??!! How am I going to get though 13.1 miles by myself?! I haven't run long distance (to speak of) by myself in I don't know how long! This is going to be a challenge for sure!! Libby Jon and Jill rounded out our team of 5 but they are a little bit slower (no offense, guys!!) than Kathy and I.. and Jon was recovering from a skiing knee injury and was only going to do the 5K..so I was going to be by myself...

We started out Friday in the rain and it wasn't bad until we hit Crawfordsville, Ind and we couldn't even see the road for the rain! Drove on 6 more miles until we spotted another town and took the exit.. we were hungry and it was pouring. I think everybody had the same idea.. I've never seem so much traffic in such a little town.. All I was wanting to do was eat a quick lunch and get back on the road but that wasn't going to happen. The more we stopped and waited for the screwed up traffic lights who let 3 cars through at a time, the more impatient I grew.. and anyone who knows me knows I'm not a very patient person to begin with. So finally we grabbed a Quizno's sub, whoofed it down and got back into traffic. FINALLY we were back on the road and the rain let up a little.

By the time we hit Indy the rain had stopped !! woo hoo.. checked into our hotel (Embassy Suites) and checked out our suite.. one of those with the LR in the front and the bedroom was way in the back.. good thing because we were right off the elevator..

Headed down to the Expo which was busy as usual.. Got my packet, and we started doing some shopping.. ended up with an 'I finished' shirt, and nice very very light weight wicking shirt for this summer, pepper spray and we were about to leave when I saw Fuel Belts!! I was hoping they'd have them so I wouldn't have to pay shipping.. picked out a red 4 bottle one, paid and away we went back to the hotel.. SCORE!! It was by that time 4:30 and we had dinner reservations with the team at 5:45. Got cleaned up and walked down the street to Rockbottom Brewery for a beer and went back to the hotel to have them call us a cab. They were about to call us one when somebody said, Hey, isn't Mustaffa still here? Looked around and there he was outside his LIMO.. hey, this could definitely work!! So for the same price as a cab we got a limo ride to dinner.. pretty cool... Dinner at Iaria's was yummy and it was good to see the team! Although we were missing one!


The team!! Jill, Jon, Libby and me

RACE DAY: Rain was forecast but it turned out to be beautiful !! Met Jill in her hotel lobby and walked down to the team challenge tent to check in our bags.. Met Libby and Jon there and then headed over to get in our assigned corals.. I put 2:15 as my estimated time and was assigned to coral O.. Jon decided to run it at the last minute so we headed back to P so we could run together. Waited what seemed for forever when it was finally time to go..
The first 5 miles was cloudy but very humid!! Had a shirt on under my team shirt that I took off around mile 4 and tied it around my waist.. ahhhh much better.. Sun came just as we were getting on the track but it was behind us so not bad yet.. Jon decided to hang back around mile 6 so I went on. Thanks Jon for running the first 6 with me! When we got off the track and headed back east the sun was right in our faces and it heated up quick.. took every water stop there was to stay hydrated.. humidity went from 68 to 87.9% during the race so I played it smart and grabbed water or gaterade at every 'pitstop'.. slowed me down some but I wasn't on pace for a 2:15 anyway so I wasn't all that concerned. Coming in to the home stretch I spotted Kevin in the crowd (missed him last year) so that was cool.. he got some pictures of me running by and one just about ready to cross the finish line.. My time was 2:20:29 (2:23:49 last year) so I was happy I was faster than last year but still not a PR (2:16:33). I could blame the slower time on lots of things: being sick a few days before the race, not getting in my last long run because I was sick, not running for 10 days prior to the race, (except for 1 sucky 4 miler) and the humidity.. add all those up and you're just not gonna get a PR !!! Not to mention the crowd of people you are trying to get around... and the tight turns in places that backlogged runners almost to a stop.. like me! I would have loved to have a new PR but I can't be too disappointed given all the factors of this race.. and to have improved from last year is definitely a plus....

here's the route: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5570262


I'm coming in under the 'R'


The post-race party was great and got all the free beer we wanted in the team challenge tent... Saw Bill Owens there and he asked how my marathon training was going.. told him I start next week doing the Hal Higdon Novice II and he suggested doing some speedwork even though it's my first marathon.. talked more about that , came up with a weekly idea, and going to give it a go..




Hung out all afternoon at the post race party after closing down the Team challenge tent.. enjoyed listening to the band and relaxing.. see pic below!! Crashed in the hotel for a couple of hours.. Met the team for drinks at Ram brewery then headed to dinner at PF Changs...

Ahhhh.... nice cold beer!



Me and Kevin


PF Changs was awesome.. had 8:00 reservations and got right in.. The food was great and gotta love the atmosphere of the place.. After dinner everyone headed back to their respective hotels and called it a night.. Another great weekend in Indy and who knows, we may even do it again next year!

tested out the new Garmin 205

Kaiden had baseball practice at Lindbergh park last night so I got him settled in to practice then took off around the neighborhood for a run. Wanted to get 6 miles in but it wasn't a good run at all so quit at about 4 1/2 miles... Hopefully I'll feel better in Indy.. can't wait to use the Garmin at Indy too! Uploaded the data to motionbased and here's the link:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5537788


All set for Indy! Woo Hoo!! Meeting up with the team tomorrow night at dinner.. we're ready to rock!! Indy is always a blast and everything runs so smoothly! Awesome post-race party and plenty of food and beverages... a good time with good friends will be had by all..

Then May 12th starts Marathon training... ready to go with that! Patti says she may do the 1/2 too ... she's back to running after foot surgery and up to 6 miles now.. so far it's Kathy F Kathy H and Patti for the 1/2 and I'm doing the full...

I'll get any extra miles in that I need to before meeting with them on Saturdays.. we still all want to train together so I'll have to do my extra before....... shouldn't be a problem..
Pam Enno told me I should run with them.. guess there's a group that will be training for chicago.. that was very nice and I might take her up on it but I'm sure they run faster than me so we'll have to see..