Wednesday, September 30, 2009

September 2009

September 2009:
14 runs
76.2 miles

January 1 - September 30:
130 runs
569.5 miles
12:28 average pace

My goal for the year (in January) was 200 runs, 800 miles, less than 12 min/mile average pace. I'm behind schedule. Having to take so much time off in March in April due to illness took a toll. Not sure if I'll be able to meet that goal, but should easily exceed last years number of days run (153). I seriously doubt I'll achieve the average pace goal since I'm doing a lot of long runs at slow pace, easy runs with dogs at slow pace, and trail runs at slow pace. Although I'd like to run faster, I'm enjoying slow runs with pups and on trails.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Week 15 of 17 Chicago Marathon Training

Monday: My basement flooded during the night. There was 3 inches of water standing in it when I went downstairs this morning. The news reports many roads closed in the area due to washed out bridges, down trees, etc. The main roads that I would drive on to get to work are closed so I called into the office and said I'd be taking a vacation day to bail water out of my basement since I can't get to the office. I took a break from working on the basement around lunch time. It's still raining. So I went to the local indoor pool and swam 1000 meters. It felt great!

Wednesday: Easy run on the beach this evening for the first time in my Vibram FiveFingers Sprint. Ran 4.02 miles on the beach in 56:03 = 13:56 avg pace. Amazing rainbow over the ocean!

Thursday: (1) Did an easy 1.76 mile walk on the beach this morning before starting the day. So relaxing! (2) This evening I went a total of 5 miles on the beach. I started with a 1 mile warm up, then ran fartleks for 3 miles. Plan was for a total of 5 miles running, but blisters on bottom of feet said STOP NOW at 4 miles. Walked the last mile back to hotel in dark.

Weekly Summary:
Monday: Swam 1000 meters
Wednesday: Ran 4.02 miles
Thursday: Ran 4 miles, walked 2.76 miles
Days run this week: 2
Miles run this week: 8.03
Highlight of the week: running on the beach

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Week 14 of 17 Chicago Marathon Training

Monday: Ran 3.34 miles this afternoon with the dogs. Ran 1 mile with Tasha (pictured) then traded her in for Riley. 40:30 = 12:07 avg pace

Wednesday: Early morning run in the rain. Ran 3.09 miles in 36:05 = 11:40 avg pace.

Thursday: Morning run after dropping Kyra off at school. Ran 3.34 miles with the dogs. Ran 1 mile with Tasha then traded her for Riley. 37:43 = 11:17 avg pace

Saturday: Morning run at Stone Mountain in flooding rain (70 degrees). It was raining hard when I arrived at Stone Mountain around 8 a.m. I debated about whether to even start. Then I decided that I might as well because the forecast for tomorrow is rain too and I might as well prepare myself for running in bad weather in case it's storming on marathon day. And besides, there were other people out there running in the rain so I might as well do it too. It was hard to run upstream on streets/sidewalk in ankle deep water, but I did it. Ran 20 miles in 4 hours and 36 minutes = 13:48 average pace. Had a 12:50 avg pace for the first 16 miles, but lost motivation when the torrential downpour returned and began walking a lot more. Oh well, 20 miles done in extreme weather! Then came home to flooded basement... water heater out... bummer!!!

Weekly summary:
Monday: 3.34 miles
Tuesday: 3.09 miles
Thursday: 3.34 miles
Saturday: 20 miles
Days run this week: 4
Miles run this week: 29.77
Highlight of the week: 20 mile run in flooding rains at Stone Mountain

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Week 13 of 17 Chicago Marathon Training

Monday: Happy Labor Day! I took my old Trek 470 Fast Track road bicycle into Performance Bicycle for a tune-up and new tires today. I haven't ridden it in years... It's collected quite a bit of dust from just sitting in the basement, and the tires are dry-rotted. It was a gift from Santa way back in ~1995 and I used to ride it a good bit until mid-pregnancy (1998). I rode it occassionally after childbirth for a few years, but I don't think I've been on it more than a half-dozen times in the past five years. (A few years ago I purchased a cheap mountain bike for touring around the neighborhood with Kyra.) Anyway, about two weeks ago, a friend at work invited me to go with a small group of co-workers for a 40-mile ride on the Silver Comet Trail. I couldn't go because of mommy duties, plus my road bike was in disrepair and I seriously doubt my butt could handle being on a bike for that many miles since I haven't done any distance riding in about a decade. But this invite, plus hearing Lisa talk about triathlons, got me interested in cycling again. Plus, I think it would be a great way to boost my exercise to most days of the week without over-doing the running. I dropped it off at the bike shop and they said it would be ready for pick-up on Friday. While there, I purchased a new riding outfit (padded shorts, top, and riding gloves. Yay!

After the bike shop, I went in search for Vibram Five Fingers shoes. There has been a lot of talk on running podcasts and Twitter lately about running barefoot as well as these shoes. I know my overweight body needs more cushioning for running on the roads, so don't freak out. I've struggled with the challenges of running on the beach, though, and thought this may be the perfect solution. Running completely barefoot on the beach is great for short distances, but the sand rubs the soles of my feet raw for anything longer than about a mile. Regular shoes tend to sink too deep into the sand. Since I have a business trip to the beach coming up in a few weeks, I thought I'd purchase these and try them out. I bought a pair of FiveFingers Sprint at Abbadabbas.

I decided to take the dogs to the trails at Stone Mountain Park this afternoon for a leisurely trail run. Guess I should have known that it would be crowded on a holiday afternoon. Since there were so many people leisurely walking, and I had both dogs to manage around the people, it turned into a mostly walk/hike with a little bit of running. Oh well, it was 3.25 miles on my feet on the trails with the pups, which is a heck-of-a-lot better than no activity! (In my Patagonia Release trail shoes.)
Tuesday: I came home at lunch to take the dogs out since I still haven't fixed the hole under the fence and therefore, can't trust Tasha out in the yard without supervision. My lower legs are sore, especially near left ankle, and shin. I twisted my left ankle yesterday on the trail. My shins kept cramping so I walked more than usual. 2.73 miles total = 1 mile for Tasha + 1.73 miles for Riley. This evening, my daughter decided to break in my new Vibram FiveFingers for me. She loves them!

Wednesday: I decided to listen to my body and take a rest day since my shins were so sore yesterday.

Thursday: I'm on a business trip which started yesterday. I went to the Shuron Inc. Superfund Site in Barnwell, SC. When I filled out my travel itinerary in our travel system, no hotels showed up in the list of options. The nearest hotels in the system were in Aiken, SC and Augusta, GA. I chose a hotel located in Augusta, GA on the Riverwalk in hopes of it being a great place to run. It was a nice place to run, but the riverwalk wasn't as long as I had hoped it would be. Two loops equaled 3.07 miles (and my shins are still sore). It was very beautiful running along the Savannah River as the sun was rising! I'm thinking about returning to Augusta for the Augusta Chronical Half Marathon on November 1st. The medals from last year look like jack-o-lanterns, which would be a cool medal to have.

Weekend: I had planned to run a 12-mile long run this weekend, but couldn't fit it in. My daughter has horse riding lessons early on Saturday mornings and had her very first tennis match that afternoon. I would have had to start my run at 4:30 a.m. to get it in, and my body said it wasn't getting up that early on a weekend for a silly 12-miler. Sunday was busy with housework and errands. Oh well, I'll definitely get in my 20-miler next weekend!
Weekly summary:
Monday: 3.25 miles walk/hike/jog
Tuesday: 2.73 miles
Thursday: 3.07 miles
Days run this week: 3
Miles run this week: 5.8 + 3.25 walk/hike/jog = 9.05
Highlight of the week: taking my bike in for a tune-up + running somewhere new (Augusta, GA)

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Week 12 of 17 Chicago Marathon Training

Tuesday: 68 degrees with light rain at 6:18 a.m. 3.33 miles = 1 mile in the neighborhood with Tasha then the rest with Riley (pictured). Felt tired, shins sore, went slow.

Thursday: 82 degrees with occassional rain sprinkles. 0.96 mile. Mostly walked with a little bit of jogging from home to elementary school to watch Boosterthon Fun Run. Kyra suggested that I wear my "26.2 miles run there, done that" t-shirt. I enjoyed cheering the kids on as they ran around a small loop track. Kyra ran 43 laps (16 laps = 1 mile). Way to go, girl!

Friday: 82 degrees and sunny. 2.1 miles. Took a late lunch break to return home from work to take the dogs out for a run. Had to keep them inside today since Tasha dug a hole under the fence yesterday... Took Tasha for 1.05 miles, then Riley for 1.05 miles around the neighborhood.

Saturday: 80 degrees and mix of clouds/rain and sunny. 20 miles. I didn't feel well this morning so put off run to afternoon. It was warm and humid. Enjoyed new park (Alexander); it has several paths/trails which kept it from getting too boring. Hit a mental low spot around 12-14 miles, but first 10 and last 5 were good. During run, drank only water, took Endurolytes (one every 20 minutes), and after the first hour, ate 1 clif shot blok per mile. This was my first time using the clif shot bloks. I like the clif shot bloks better than gels because they're not sticky! Need to buy more.

Sunday: Rest day. legs are sore and am TIRED! Didn't sleep well last night so took a nap after church. After a 4 hour nap, I felt so much better! 5 weeks til Chicago marathon!

Tuesday: 3.33 miles
Thursday: 0.96 miles
Friday: 2.1 miles
Saturday: 20.00 miles

Days run this week: 4
Miles run this week: 26.39
Highlight of the week: 20 miles at Alexander Park. Woo Hoo!!! Longest run in 2009!