Mad Monday Update 2/9 & DD Report

OK, so I had to modify my original "lame" post which only had the weekly numbers that BB called me out on. So now it actually includes a RR for DD....

Saturday I ran the Dirty Dog 10K which is pretty close to me (relatively) and I have had the pleasure of running for several years in a row now! This race is held out at Mosquito Lake in Cortland, OH. The last 2 years it has been below 10 degrees at the start so since it was in the 40's it actually felt pretty darn warm, despite a cool breeze.

I rode down in the mini van with BL and his normal posse and arrived to the race. I had an interesting dive into the woods over a huge snowpile to go to the bathroom prerace as there were not any facilities for that (B, did I not mention it wb a good idea to stop at BK on the way to go?. Guess it was no big thing for the boys!)

I grabbed a few pics, saw some familiar faces and peeled off a couple layers to run in just one long sleeve shirt (gasp!) which was a first for this race! We started on the lake (and no I was not worried about falling in or getting stranded like a bunch of silly fishermen)! Actually with the snow on the lake, it was much better traction than past years on an icy parking lot.

I went out by EG and MD (who were both taking it easy that day). I was a little nervous as I had not hit my inhaler and did not even have it so I wanted to make sure I kept my breathing within reason. The course was gorgeous as we trudged through that park offering wintery views of the lake and trees. The main paths had been packed down by snowmobiles or 4 wheelers and were not too bad. However whenever we would duck off the main path the pace slowed and everyone had to work a little harder.

I had not seen any girls up front and was content to just stay in my comfort zone staying in the vicinity of the little group I had started with. As I passed one guy he said I should save some energy for the stretch by the road coming up and he was right! As we turned onto the once-grassy field by ST RT 46, the snow was deep. I would guess 6 to 8 inches of snow the that front runners had broke through. I tried to perform the tire drill to stay in their footsteps but oftentimes it did not happen with my shorter stride. The stretch was tiring and I did manage to hold a steady pace, passing one runner while feeling the burn in my legs...definitely a strength training session in that stretch!

As we headed up the hill and looped back around to the water stop I noticed I had a shoe untied and I ran with it that way for awhile thinking perhaps I could run the last 2 miles like that. But after a quarter mile or so I finally stopped to tie not one but both shoes. I figured if I lost one in the snow it would cost me even more time!

As we made our way back I was still feeling good and was just keeping things in check. I always seem to think I am closer to the end than I actually am and we kept winding around and I kept thinking the finish was near. In addition to the winding turns, my garmin was also trying to trick me as it read 6.35 miles at the end, so I kept thinking that I would be stopping sooner than it turned out! Finally I could see the clock and I pushed it in a bit to finish in 54:25. 14/95 Overall, 1st Overall Female. All and all, a decent effort but not what I would call race pace which was in check with what I wanted to do there. I would venture to guess that most people were about 4 minutes slower this year just due to the snowy conditions verses last year.

A huge thumbs up to the RD and his wife for the work in putting on this race. They do a nice job, provide some really awesome random goodies in the bags (in our van alone, P got a nice running jacket, J got a ls wicking running shirt, b got a full face mask) and it is just a nice course to run that will challenge everyone a bit while offering some gorgeous scenery!




I think this is right....

Monday 2/2- Lunch, ran 4 miles, full body exercises (pushups, drips, pullups)
Tuesday 2/3- 7 Miles AM Ran, 2 hour Indoor Cycling Class (~30 miles)
Wednesday 2/4 - 5 miles eazy treadmill
Thursday 2/5 - 3 Miles Treadmill lunch, UBWO, DOT 5 mile run
Friday 2/6 - 3 miles ez treadmill, 10 miles mtn biked at Rays
Saturday 2/7 - 6.4 mile (ran Dirty Dog 10K trail run)
Sunday 2/8 - 16.6 mile run (~8:20 pace)

Core -2 sessions
Bike- 30 (Road), 10 (Mtn)
Ran- 53 Miles
Swim 0 :-(

Mad Monday Update 2/2

Prior week was a nice recovery week and last week was just getting back to it.

M 1/26 - AM -2.5 Mile Run Treadmill, 5 Miles Biked (Got to gym late and sulked because I was too late for spin class)

T 1/27 - AM -8.6 Mile Run with Downtown Group,
LUNCH -9 miles stationary bike, UBWO

W 1/28 - 3 Miles Treadmill (snowed in, was going to do track workout but skipped out on that in favor of getting in tempo on R)

R 1/29 - AM swim 1000 m, lunch tempo run (7 miles) with E on snowy roads, 2 hr 5 seasons indoor cycling (31 miles)

F 1/30 - 4 miles ran easy on treadmill at lunch (short on time)

S 1/31 - 14.5 miles ran with VR (8:30 pace), 28 miles biked (ran through cycle w/o with TB)

S 2/1 - 2650 yds swam at Reddy's clinic (included 20 minutes time trial and swam 1000 yards)

Totals
Swam: 3650 + yards
Ran: 39.6 Miles
Biked: 73 Miiles

In general, I am feeling recovered from BT50K.



On the swimming front from the one who has always neglected swimming totally and was doing awesome to get in 4000 meters a month past years.......

I can't say enough about how much more I have been enjoying swimming this year and am so glad I signed up for the Reddy clinic. Swimming in the group setting is much more enjoyable and I have been fortunate enough to have had some buddies joining me more regularly in my pool which has been fun. Furthermore, swimming actual workouts that I can check off works for me too. Critique yesterday included making sure my thumbs entered water first, keeping arms down center line by chin instead of out to the side and pulling all the way through. I swim so much better on short stuff and during the 20 minute I just felt all my bad habits come right back. Still not swimming as much as I should be, but this year is far above where I have ever been so I will take it! Oh my lane mate and regular swim buddy, BH, is a perfect swim partner for me!

Next race Saturday--Dirty Dog 10K! Should be some fun footing but I should be used to that!

New Year, New Teams!

So I really have been wanting to spend some time updating the blog layout lately with some new links and information but there is just not enough time in my day. So since I don't have time to tinker with my template I will just blog about it!

I will give a quick plug to the only link I have updated in 2009 which is for Treadmills Guru which provides a guide to buying a treadmill for home fitness purposes. Lord knows a lot of us have been considering buying one of those if we did not already have one given us this year's lovely weather! One of these days here soon, I will actually get some more links that belong in the sidebar over there but for now, that will have to wait!

Anways, the big news which I am very excited about for 2009 is joining Team Lake Effect (TLE), a hard core cycling team. Guess I am going to have to work on my cycling game this year to fit in with this bunch!



Also, Bike Authority and Fleet Feet joined forces to put together a multi-sport team (which many TLE members are also on and now I am a member of that team as well! So 2009 should afford me lots of new training partners between these new teams! You can read more about More info here! www.clevelandtri.com



The beginning of the year has been so busy with meetings and some responsibilities to my little recreational groups which now include: Team Lake Effect, BAFF MultiSport Team, Cleveland Triathlon Club, Southeast Running Club and Cleveland Touring Club.

Mad Monday update 1/26

A day early!

So after the 50 Sunday...

M 1/19-10 mile easy spin followed by nice hot salt bath
T 1/20-off
W 1/21-1900 meter swim
R 1/22- 8 mile hilly run (7:48 pace) Good to be back running!
F 1/23- same 8 mile hilly run (7:50 pace - Just running what felt good in some mild conditions
S 1/24 - 2 hr Excel Cycling (31 miles)
S 1/25- 11.5 miles with SERC, showed up late and ran 7:55 first 6 and backed it off through the hills to average 8:13 pace
-2000 meter swim with BH and AH

Totals
Road Bike -41 Miles
Ran-27.5
Swam-3900 Meters

Feeling pretty well recovered and ready to start training plan for Pittsburgh mary this week with 3 key runs per week. Plan is to start focusing more on the bike.

---------------------------------
Since a few asked, the Dirty Dog run is out in Cortland Ohio on Saturday Feb 7
http://www.teampr.info/dirtydog.htm. I highly recommend it!!! It is gorgeous out by Mosquito Lake with a mix of terrain. Don't come out thinking you are going to set any 10K PRs as the course is not fast. As a sidenote, I have never done this race on anything but a bitterly cold morning and still there is always a ton of wonderful volunteers, support and enthusiastic racers. It is a great way to open the season. And lastly for anyone interested as we have done in years past, whoever wants to can join me in Parkman or Middlefield for breakfast afterwards is welcome!

Recovering...

So I was pretty beat up after the 50K. My legs were very tired. My blood blisters on my caluses were aggitating me. I just felt LAZY! I probably did not do anything helpful after the race by resorting to junk food and beer, but I was inclined to let things slide that day!

Fortunately I was off for MLK day and so I slept in and was pretty lazy most the day. I popped my stupid blood blisters to relieve some of the pressure on my feet which was an improvement for sure (Yeah probably TMI but it had to be done!). Finally I forced my weary self onto my bicycle which was set into the trainer in my workout room. It was time for an easy spin to try to clear away the lactic acid and the soreness. With very low resistance I spinned away at around 90 rpm with a few easy buils to 110. My speed was low but I was not concerned. I was just watching NCIS, which for some reason has become one of the shows I find myself really enjoying these days. 10 miles later I hopped off, feeling better already. Then downstairs to a nice hot epsom salt bath where I massaged my leg muscles and stretched out while I sat in the tub. As hard as it was to make myself do the spin and the soak, it was all worth it.

Monday night for some reason I had trouble sleeping so I skipped the Tuesday morning workout in favor of some extra Zzzz's and spent the day in a desk chair without a break for a workout. Oh well, so much for my nice easy run that I had planned. I always give myself a little leeway after big events which I think keeps me healthy.

Wednesday, I got in a nice long swim. The first couple hundred meters, I was not feeling 100% but I kept on swimming. By the time I finished the 1900 meter workout I was a bit tired but the muscles were feeling terrific. For years I have HATED the swimming part. This winter I had decided for once and for all I was going to commit to working on this whole swimming thing. Between RR swim clinics, swimming actual workouts and swimming with some good friends (BH, EH, TR) on a regular basis, I am actually beginning to really enjoy this whole swimming thing. Weird...there may be hope yet!

Next up, Dirty Dog 10K on 2/7. Less than 15 weeks to Pittsburgh Mary!

Winter Buckeye Trail 50K Report

So starting from the beginning, I felt like I had prepared pretty well for the race and have been feeling better running than I had in a long time. Then mother nature dumped a ton of snow on northeast Ohio so I was not sure what to expect as far as trail conditions.

I had a decent taper and took it pretty easy over the last several days and pasta preloaded both Friday and Saturday night!

Sunday I woke up ready to go after a decent nights sleep and got into my car early. The roads were awful. They must have had 3 inches of snow on them for the first 17 miles or so and it was one of those days where I knew driving in these conditions was a little stupid. But darn it, I had places to be! Fortunately when I got onto the turnpike, all was good and the roads were in much better shape!

I arrived early and got my stuff ready. It was a balmy 26 degrees so I opted to remove a layer up top and go with just my under armor shirt and then my asics coat with pockets and only 1 pair of tights. I had two pairs of socks, one being the my wicking running socks and the other being my sweet new smart wool socks. (My feet were my only problem area feeling cold and numb for much of the run.)

After hanging out for awhile in the garage and catching up with friends, it was time for the fun to begin.


Me, TriSara, and TriEric

I headed out behind a group of guys trying who were blazing a path through the snow. Single file was pretty much the rule of the day. The packs started to quickly separate and while I ran up the majority of the hills, I know I walked some of steps at the top which were pretty vertical. Perhaps one of the hardest parts of the day was when other runners were coming in the opposite direction and you had to move out of the way into the really deep snow. It often totally messed up your momentum and often resulted in almost going down.

I had started running with Todd for awhile on the way back to Boston store (where I had some water) and he followed me out to Pine Lane. I fell down somehow on this section but thankfully it doesn't hurt in the snow! Not even 6 miles into the race and I had already started complaining to him that the caluses on the inside balls of my feet were killing me on account of everytime I set them down, they would slide out to the sides. It was pretty evident very early on that this event was really going to be tough on the body in these conditions as my muscles and feet were already getting worked over.

Poor Feet
By the time I hit the Pine Lane station I was ready for my first gel and some water. Oh and to back up I had a coffee, some water and a banana pre-race. We had a little group which had gotten together, so it was nice to hear the boys talking about some 7.5 mile Potomac River swim (WOW!) coming up and some other events. R, a local 14 yr old studdette, who I had seen running trails a few times was now with us and she was looking strong. The snow continued to fall and sometimes the wind picked up which was not making things any more comfortable.

Miles clicked off and back to Boston store where I had some more water and back out to Brandywine. R and I stuck together make some talk and it was a good laugh when the passing guys would say nice job girls which would result in the guy behind us repeating over and over that he was not a girl. It is really the little things sometimes on the trail that make you smile! Had a gel out at Brandwine and my muscle soreness from the trails was really setting in. The only thing that made me feel better was it seemed that everyone around me also felt the same way.

At Boston store (18 miles in), KM helped me out getting me some pain reliever which helped some. TG!! I think that was one of the low points knowing I still had another 13 and was sooo sore. We made the slow journey up the first two long climbs and started counting down the miles looking forward to each aide station. The big hill down after about 3 miles was so sketchy, it really felt like you were just skiing down it. Then it was a game to keep my feet dry at the water crossing (even though I am certain they had been soaking wet for many miles). It was impossible to get decent footing and even the small stretch of towpath seemed like some of the worst footing. However we kept plugging along very steadily, sometimes Rachel leading, sometimes me. I was relieved to hit Pine Lane and start heading back after a yummy Tropical Blast Hammer gel, some water and some coke! I did hit my inhaler a few times out there thoughout the course during some of the big climbs and I am not sure if it was more mental or more that I actually needed it, but it seemed to help!

Back at Boston store I took a quick swig of my Fruit Punch Rockstar which tasted divine and I was off. I was hoping to pick it up the last loop and get the win. The way back out to Brandwine was painful up the hills but I pushed along, relieved to be on the final loop. I thought about not stopping at the aide station but I was tired and thought another gel and some coke may be worth the extra time. R was hot on my heels. On the return trip I flew down the first big down hill and walked the steps of the final climb while running the last half of the hill to the top. I was trying to drop the pace but R was sticking tight and it was obvious she wanted 1st as badly as I did. My calfs were screaming as I pushed on, afraid they may just fully seize at any minute as it felt like my legs were just cramping. We made the turn onto the towpath and I was hurting and pushing it in as best I could. With about 1/3 mile to go, R surged and passed. I had nothing left to answer back and trotted in for the 2nd place finish with a time of 6:09 behind her.

It is all good though. She really pushed me to work hard out there on the course and just finishing that race in those conditions! My body was pretty fatigued after the race and I am sure I was pretty dehydrated as I did not go to the bathroom the whole time (even though I thought I had to right at the start!).

The times on a whole were so much slower this year. Last yr, DP who placed 3rd ran a 4:47. This year he won it with a time of 5:35 (I think). Last year I ran a 5:37 compared to my 6:09 this year which felt like so much more work! From what I heard (which I could be wrong as I am not sure) only 55 people finished of the 100+ that had signed up for the 50K. It was one tough day out there for all!

Here are the garmin stats-
29.79 total miles-6:01.08 total time, 12.07 avg pace,6707 ft climb, mile paces-
1 9.38
2 13.10
3 11.51
4 9.35
5 11.53
6 11.40
7 11.12
8 11.48
9 11.55
10 13.39
11 11.08
12 11.48
13 10.40
14 12.50
15 12.44
16 13.04
17 11.19
18 14.08
19 12.50
20 11.31
21 14.33
22 13.00
23 14.10
24 12.24
25 13.30
26 10.49
27 13.07
28 12.30
29 10.43
30 9.54

Afterwards, I hit Winking Lizard with a bunch of other hard core runners and I ate and drank whatever I wanted to the rest of the day!

Nice job to all the other racers out there who braved those conditions! Even those who may not have attained their goal, all worked hard out there. Thanks to the awesome volunteers for helping us out in the cold weather. I really appreciated everything they all did whether it was getting me some coke or opening a gel that I just could not seem to handle doing on my own as the day wore on! Oh and thanks to VR and TC for a great race and the awesome jacket!!!

Now it is time to recover well!!!

Mad Monday 1/19

Mon 1/12- 6 miles ran, 48:03
Tues 1/13- 4 miles ran on treadmill easy, 60 minute indoor spin (mtn bike wrkt dvd)
Wed 1/14 -3 miles ran on treadmill, lots of full body exercises (60 pullups with assist, dips, pushups, pike-ups, lifted upperbody, swam 2050 meters with BH and MT
Thurs 1/15 - Swam 1950 meters with BH and TR
Friday 1/16 -rest
Sat 1/17 - ran 2 miles easy with some 25 second strides
Sun 1/18 -BT 50 K Race

Biked - 15 miles
Ran - 46 miles
Swam-4000 meters
Lifted -1 session

Tips & Thoughts on the Winter Buckeye 50K

This post is dedicated to triguyjt as he will be making his debut 50K performance at this weekend's Winter Buckeye 50K.

Now first off, I am hardly an expert. I have only ran two 50K's, the winter and summer buckeye 50Ks. I am just going to post my thoughts and what I was planning to do thinking maybe it will help someone else AND more importantly if anyone else has other advice or thinks I should rethink something, I would love the feedback.

So, going back to last year's Winter 50K, I was doing it just to finish and had not put any pressure on myself as to my time or place. That was a really nice way to approach the race mentally. This year, I feel like I have put more time in on the trails, feel more comfortable with the distance and should do better....EXCEPT, for the fact that there is now a ton of snow on the ground, more that is still coming and there is no likelihood of any of it going away anytime soon. So I am not sure time-wise how this snow will all figure in, other than to mentally prepare for the fact that I am going to have to work a lot harder this year. It will be interesting to see how much the trails get packed down over the course of the day with all of the runners out there.

My first piece of advice (which I hope everyone does not read) is to get there early as close parking is going to be very limited. Race starts at 7:15 and I would like to be there by 6:15. Last year, I spent a bunch of time debating last minute stuff and I like having the extra time, PLUS this affords me extra social time!

My second piece of advice is to race how you train, but be prepared for things not to work out. Last year, I always ran with a waist camelback. I loved it. The morning of the race, I filled it with water in the garage. The next thing I know, water is everywhere and it was soaking wet as I had not put the lid on right. Thank goodness I had a spare waste water bottle holder for back-up that was not soaking wet or I would have been cold and wet right from the start and it was cold last year too!

With regard to the camelback, handheld, fuel belt debate, again I would go with how you train. (My guess though is that many fuel belt wearers may have issues with the little bottles freezing in the cold temps.) This season, I usually planted water and just drank at the stops, which is the route I plan to take Sunday (not carrying and drinking plenty at the aide stations). CLEARLY THIS WOULD NOT WORK FOR MOST, but I feel comfortable with this since it is how I trained. I do plan to put both my handheld and my waist water bottle in my special needs bag, in case I change my mind. I do plan to carry my inhaler, pain reliever, gels, and anything else that I may think of in my coat.

While we are talking about special needs, last year I dropped stuff I might want on the Boston store porch and I would assume that it will not be a problem to do that again this year. Things I will put there include-extra pair of shoes, socks-2, extra clothes, gloves, hat, pain reliever, hand & toe warmers, band-aids, pepto pills, salt pills, an energy drink (FRUIT PUNCH ROCKSTAR, DUH!) and whatever else I dream up between now and then. What am I missing???

I have never worn yaktrax or anything else in the snow besides my trail shoes. While I wish I would have tried some different things out, I am hesitant to do anything different now. So I will probably just go with the regular trail shoes. I may see about putting screws in my back up pair but I am not sure how much they will help.

I will wear my normal running socks with a pair of smart wool socks and a heavy pair of mittens. My hands and feet are always problem areas for me. I will have hand and toe warmers on hand for sure because ya never know, but in my warm socks and mittens I have never needed them yet. I am leaning towards a hat to keep the heat in, but generally I like the headbands as they tend to cover my ears better, so I still need to decide that one!

I am thinking two pairs of running tights, long sleeve wicking layer, light wicking jacket and Asics lined windbreaker (which was the top half of an awesome, light-weight, very warm, two piece suit that I picked up last year to run in for when temps got crazy cold).

My plan for the 50K is to run the first half easy to conserve energy for the long day. I think it should feel like I am border-line almost going too slow. However, if it is anything like last year, I know that it will pay off in the end and I should have ample energy to go the distance and perhaps even pick up the pace. My plan is also to enjoy the race, my company out there and the volunteers. That said, I would not be totally honest if I did not admit that I am planning to work hard and hopefully put in a solid effort and performance.

Also along those lines, thank you volunteers in advance for coming out in this bitter cold to make this all possible.

After running the 31 miles, I plan to have some chili and then go to Winking Lizard for a well-deserved beer, or two!!! Oh yeah, and I definitely plan to take a bunch of pics after the race of all of us who rocked the course! Best of luck to all my peeps that will out there running with me!

Mad Monday Update 1/12

Week one of taper and I slacked a bit!

1/5- off
1/6- 10 miles ran through hilly chagrin with TR, 1600 meters swam
1/7- 35 min (11 miles) spinerval DVD on trainer, upper body workout
1/8- 2 hour indoor cycling class (31 Miles)
1/9- off
1/10 - 7 miles treadmill with 40 second strides
1/11- 12 miles with SERC, 1750 meters swam

Totals
Ran- 29 Miles
Biked-42 Miles
Swam- 3350 Meters
Strength-1 UBWO

Mad Monday Update 1/5

12/29 - 6.2 Miles with E at Lunch
12/30 - AM - 7 Miles with BM, E, & CV
- 1600 yards swam
12/31 - 13.25 snowy miles with SERC in Bedford
1/1 - off (watched polar bear swim and hit a couple parties)
1/2 - 5 miles ran with AS & MT, 1 hour spin class
- 10.5 miles mtn biked at Rays
1/3 -24.25 miles ran on Buckeye Trail
1/4 -8 miles ran with SERC
- 2000 yard swam with E

Weekly Totals

Ran - 63.7 Miles
Biked-30 (19.5 spin / 10.5 mtn)
Swam - 3600 yards

Taper time until 50 K in less than 2 weeks.

So one resolution for the new year is to start inputting all my mileage into a log that tracks my mileage for me. My question to everyone out there is the following. What do you use and what do you like? I want to start this right away. It needs to be one I can use for multisport and FREE.

Mad Monday Update 12/29

The last few days of rolling with it.....

Yes, I know some people are not big on the New Years Resolutions but I have always found it to be a perfect time to refocus my energy on what matters to me. It is a time to think about my nutrition and my training and to start gearing up for the many events of the new year. This week I sat down with my 2009 calendar and started plotting out what 2009 may hold. Strangely, I feel like this 2009 schedule is rather bare at this point, but I have this feeling that it will fill up in no time.

Notable events that are definitely on the calendar for the first part of the year include-

* Winter Buckeye 50K Run (1/18)
* Youngstown 1/2 Marathon (3/8)
* Pittsburgh Marathon (5/3)
* Mohican Mtn Bike 100K (5/30)
* Xterra One (7/19)

Other than that, I am tenatively planning to add in some 5K's to keep the speed up, a couple bicycle races, a couple more Xterra's (XTERRA Torn Shirt MI 6/21, XTERRA M2Xtreme NY 8/21/08), a couple mtn bike races, some centuries and of course a few more tri's (maybe another half). Oh yeah and perhaps some more du's and runs (starting with Dirty Dog 10K, Chili Bowl 5 K, St Malachi....!).

So in rolling with it, things were not exactly where I wanted them to be, but during the holidays I will let it slide!

M 12/22-
Lunch-5 Miles Run
Eve-11 Miles Mtn Biked at Rays (Felt great and did about a zillion loops on the pump track. The thing I like about Rays is there is always something new to play on or try)
T 12/23 - OFF, busy
W 12/24 - 12.5 Miles Ran with SERC on some very icy roads
R 12/25 - OFF for XMAS!
F 12/26 - Swam 900 yards (zoomers blistered toe, cut workout short to hit spin class), Spin Class (70 min, at least 20 miles covered I'd assume), Ran 2 miles, abs
S 12/27 - 15.25 Miles Ran on VERY muddy Buckeye Trail on Vertical Runnner Waterfalls Group Run, 24 miles biked on road with hubby (Omigoodness, I was a waterlogged, dirty, sweaty, muddy mess all day. With the warm temps, my asthma flared and killed my chest so I cut the run a bit short...one of these days I will learn to carry my inhaler!)
S 12/28 - 11.5 Miles Ran with SERC

Week Totals--
Swam - 900 Yards :-(
Mtn Biked - 11 Miles
Road / Spin - 44 Miles
Ran - 46.25 Miles

Some pics from the last week!

The VR Run included lots of very cold water crossings!


I think the ski resort workers thought we were nuts when our muddy feet emerged from the woods!



Group Shot at Blue Hen Falls


Group Shot at Buttermilk Falls


Yes, it was a bit muddy!


Needless to say, the waterfalls run was a blast!

This one was Christmas at my hubby's moms. She has 10 of these lil 5 week old fluff balls at her house and I just wanted to bring this lil guy home with me!

Mad Monday Update 12/22

Dashing through the snow....

Yes, another week in the books. I have now officially made it to winter and it feels like it!!! Thank goodness days will now be getting longer!

This week old man winter treated me to a cold which sidelined me for a couple days. However sometimes I find that the best thing I can do when I am sick is to get some exercise and I start to feel more normal again as I sweat out the poisons.

Mon 12/15 - 5 miles treadmill ladders ~38:30, lifted bi's, tri's, chest
Tues 12/16- AM 7 Mile Run with BM & CV, noon 5 mile Run with E
W 12/17 & R 12/18 - OFF, felt like crap
F 12/19 - 6 Miles Ran on treadmill as it was nasty outside(forced myself to get going, almost quit after a mile and then again after two, but kept going and eventually felt better)
S 12/20 - 21 Mile Trail Run on Buckeye Trail- Still not feeling 100% and aerobic system definitely seemed to overload easier and take a little more time to recover, but just happy to get it in!
S 12/21 - Reddy Swim Clinic (no idea on the yards but definitely dig these clinics!)
- 10 Miles Mtn Biked. Yeah my dumb self decided since it was actually sunny that we should go ride outside. It was 12 outside but who knows how cold it actually was with the wind chill.

Totals (A little lighter than planned with the off days and being sick)
Ran - 44 Miles
Biked - 10 Miles (Mtn)
Swam - 2000 Yards??

Mad Monday 12/15

Thankfully the flat tire incident is behind me. The last week seems like it was a whirlwind and I have not had a minute where I was not late for something and leaving something else early. I can't wait for things to slow down and feel that I am ahead instead of forever behind the 8 ball.

Monday - off, got the tires fixed and rested!
Tuesday - 7 Miles AM
Wednesday - 6.75 Miles
Thursday - 7.2 Miles
Friday - 11.1 Miles
Saturday - 11.2 Miles on Buckeye Trail
Sunday - 11.5 Miles with SERC (8:30 pace)

Miles Ran - 54.75 Miles

For now, I am still taking a relaxed approach to the training (besides making sure my running miles are where they need to be for January's 50K) and come the first of the year, the plan is to buckle down and really add in the base miles (especially focusing on the bike) while trying to get in plenty of cross training (weights, swimming, & mtn biking).

Monday Madness 12/8

I feel like I have been caught in some sort of bad dream lately. Well suffice it to say, I work in the investment industry so times are tough. Went shopping the day after Thanksgiving and ended up losing a large amount of cash. Still haven't figured out how that happened except to know that it must have happened at lunch. Then last night we had the fun Clev Tri Club banquet and my hubby and I went to leave at 10PM. Within the mile, something felt wrong with the car and my husband pulled over and got out to look. Front flat tire. Walked around the car...make that two front flat tires. WTF? We had not hit anything. So again as it does every single year my AAA card came in handy and I made the call for a tow.

Tow was said to be an hour and a half so I decide to call a friend, BM, that lived close to wait it out. Bet he is wondering why he took that call now. We waited nearly 2 hours and finally they called to say help should be there so BM drove us to the car about midnight. Only AAA had sent a service vehicle who thought he would just fix a flat. Aghhh, that was not going to help. So another call to AAA and supposedly another 45 minutes. We got a little scenic tour around the city and waited with BM (up for good samaritan award of the year in my book). Finally about 2, the tow truck came. After getting loaded up, we were finally on the way our to Joey's parents house in Garrettsville. Unloaded the car, stole one of his parents cars and finally made it home about 3:15 AM.

Ended up texting the boss I would work remotely on Monday as this scenario was going to take some sorting out. Did I mention that I bought 4 brand new tires less th an a month ago which cost me over $800? Anyway after prying myself out of bed, the hubby got the tires off and we cannot seem to find anything to cause the issue. Now I am sitting at Borders as the tire place tries to figure out the dealio. Somebody please wake me up from this stupid annoying dream. Did I mention I am SOOO tired and I went to bed over 5 hours past my bed time? Please tell me that this is not going to cost me to fix this on top of this all. My poor hubby has been so good through all this and really is not enjoying me including him in my bad dream. Life can be a beeach soome times.

Anyways, today is looking like an off day. Last week went as such-

M-off
T - 6.5 mile run with BM
W - 4.5 mile run with MJ & E
R - 6 mile treadmill run with CV (47)
F- 6.7 mile run with E, 6 miles Mtn Biked at Rays
S -5.5 miles ran including reindeer run 5K, 5K time 21:16 (6:52 pace). Went out feeling fine and after a mile my legs again tightened up terribly causing me to slow down quite a bit. Got 1st in AG, but couldn't help to be a little disappointed. Need to figure out why this has happended the last 2 races.
S-18.5 miles ran on BT with AS and BS

Totals-
Ran-47 miles
Mtn Bike-6
Swim-- 0 - :-( mornings were not happening, I will get back on the ball this week.

Mad Monday Report a couple days late & TT Report

Things definitely got shook up with the holiday but it is the off season, right?

Monday 11/24
AM - Reddy Swim Workout-1100 yards
Noon-1 mile Run (ankles feel wrecked from Sundays long icy towpath run), 30 min stationary bike (9.75 Miles)
Tuesday - 6x400's ran 4.5 miles total
Wednesday - 14 mile mtn biked at Rays
Thurs - 1.5 mile warmup, turkey trot (6.5 Miles)
Friday (off, shopped!)
Saturday-18 mile Buckeye Trail Run with A&B, 24 mie road bike ride with hubby (TIRING DAY)
Sunday-8.25 M Run with Bob & Jim

Weekly Totals
Swam-1100 yards
Mtn Biked-14 Miles
Road / Stationary Bike-33.75
Ran -42.75

TT Report
Well I must say again that I did not perform up to my expectations. I am going to use the excuse that it was my legs. I was not sure if it was the mtn biking the evening before, the cold or what. Whatever the case about 2 miles from the end they just filled with lactic acid and hurt terribly, especially up the West 3rd hill.

After chatting with friends at the expo and warming up with CV, I lined up ready to go. Since E was not there to yell at me (just kidding) I pulled my headphones over my ears ready to rock out to a new playlist. With the start I was off. I was jockeying for position left and right with the mob of people rocking out to Crue's Shout at the Devil. I was feeling good and just running my own race. Mile 1 6:35

I wondered if it was too fast for a 5 miler as this was not a 5K. Oh well, I felt fine. Around the city and down the hill I ran settling into my pace. Mile 2 6:32, Still feeling good.

I hate the middle part of the race when you realize just how much further you have to go and I was starting to wish it was just a 5K. My legs started to feel worse and I knew I was slowing. Mile 3 7:01

Then my leg muscles starated to really tighten. Every muscle felt tight as could be. One girl in the Hermes series in my age group passed but I let her go on, knowing I still had the hill and I was secretly hoping I could catch her after the hill. Mile 4-7:30 At this point I refused to look at my watch knowing it would make me mad.

I was suffering that last mile. Aerobically I think I felt fine but my legs were quite another situation. The hill was painful and I felt like I was barely moving! CV passed and I dug as deep as I could to pick it up. At the top I was surprised to see that we were already heading into the finish instead of looping around. I tried to close the gap on CV. She must have known I was coming because before long we were both near a full sprint. Again she got me by an hair and I was lucky she helped push me to work a little harder. Mile 5 7:49, 3rd ag, total time 34.21.

Going into the race I wanted to break 34. No dice there. I was SOOO SORE after this race. I could not believe how wrecked my legs were R,F, S, S and just started to feel better Monday. One race left for 2008. Time to lay in on the line and finish the year off right.

I guess if there is a silver lining, I have raced the turkey trot for years now and even with my legs shutting down, it was still my fastest trot. Now I want my fastest Reindeer Run!

06-36:13
07-34:56
08-34:21!

Mad Monday Update 11/24...Hello Winter!

FIRST and foremost, congratulatins to my girl, Beth, who is heading to BOSTON!!! SHE ROCKS and I knew she was going to do it! She kicked butt at the Philly mary and has had quite a breakthrough year! So sending a huge HOODIHOO to her!

So winter has arrived in Cleveland to the tune of over a foot of snow at my house. It appears the snow and lingering chilly temperatures are here to stay. I miss my warm sunshine so much already!

Yet, one special fella in my house seems rather excited about this change in seasons. Oh how he loves the snow and chasing snowballs and biting snow. The one drawback is he needs an area shoved to take a squat as he will not go when the snow is super high!



I am still not hitting the targets I want to hit so I need to plan out my workouts a little better I think. My salvation is that I tell myself this is my off season so it is OK to miss some stuff and do what I want.

Monday- 5 miles 39:30, upper body workout
Tuesday- 1000 yard AM swim, 3 hours at Rays Mtn Bike Park (~12 miles)
Wednesday- 55 minute spin class, abs, 7 miles on treadmill (5 X 1000's at 6:07 pace)~57:30
Thursday - 1600 yard AM swim, 4 Miles treadmill
Friday - 3 hours at Rays Mtn Bike Park (~12 miles)
Saturday - 4.5 miles (Pigskin Run)
Sunday - 15.7 Miles on Buckeye Trail

Weekly Totals
Road / Spin Bike - 17 Miles
Mtn Bike - 24 Miles
Ran - 36.2 Miles
Core - Upper Body (1), Abs (2)
Swam - 2600 Yards (CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??)

Pigskin Run
Ran my first 5K in a couple months. Lesson learned was that I need to rely more on myself than other runners. I felt like I was really holding back the first 1.5 miles and did not taken full advantage of the downhill and wind at my back. Then when I tried to close the gap on the 6 ladies in front of me (3 of whom were ages 15,15 & 16) it was in to the wind and uphill and just too late! Even though the course is far from a PR couse I was a bit disappointed in my time and will need to work harder next time. I will call it a draw though as I beat my time from last year and was the first female from the RR series so that is good for my standing.

Mile 1 6:17
Mile 2 6:39
Mile 3 7:15 (W3rd hill)
Total Time: 21:04, 6:49 pace

I am running the 5 mile Turkey Trot in Cleveland Thursday and I think my goal will be hold that pace for 5 and hopefully break 34.

Other Tidbits-

After an incident over the weekend, I am planning to carry my cell phone on a regular basis while training outdoors. You just never know what may happen and it is better to be safe.

For my spring marathon, I am moving forward with planning to run the Pittsbugh Marathon and am pretty excited about it!

Dang Rob & Big

So my husband hates reality tv. Yet we have discovered this new show that is totally messing up my sleep schedule, Rob and Big. I just can't seem to go to sleep when this is on. I sit there and laugh non-stop at the things they come up with like netting spider man, miny horse, special buddies cereal, world record breaking and more. I can't take it. It is too addictive and I keep staying up way past my bed time and mornings are torture. Oh well, at least I am still getting up in time for my AM workouts! And thank goodenss for Rockstar and coffee!

Speaking of AM workouts (maybe you should sit down) I have already got in two swim workouts this week!!! Tuesday and Thursday morning. I am struggling with deciding where to fit in my 3rd one that I am supposed to do. I guess I will need to cut back to two spin classes (M/W) if I am going to get in that third swim. Unfortunately I definitely prefer the spin class.

Other fun lately has included Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park. I am now clearing some of the jumps and having tons of fun!!! The only bad thing is my legs are just bruised up and down. Finally I broke down and bought some shin & knee guards after a nice smack to my knee on the bruise from last week when I jumped into the foam pit Tuesday. Despite all my bruises, this PLACE RULES!


In other training news, I was pleased with my track workout (or should I say treadmill workout?) on the yesterday. I felt as strong as I have on my 1000's, which for those who know me, know that I don't like longer intervals. I think this was due in part to the fact that work has been stressing me out and banging out a hard workout helps me to work through what is on my mind.

Almost Friday............thank goodness!

Mad Monday Update 11/17

Well the last week was just another stressful busy week. Several workouts got shuffled due to life and the running mileage ended up being way down from where I had meant it to be.

Of note, I am getting back into the swing of morning workouts and not feeling so much like death when I pull myself out of bed in the mornings. Yet, last night we finally took the window air conditioner unit out of our bedroom window. This resulted in my husband accidentally flipping the surge protector button and resetting my alarm clock. I was having one of those days yesterday when I could not do things right-spilled the oil air freshener, knocked the mirror off the wall into the dog's water bowl, hurt my ankle, and capped it off with setting my clock for AM instead of PM. So I woke up too late for spinning this morning. Ughh, not how I wanted to start off the week.

Saturday, ran the Buckeye Trail with the VR group and the girls. VR had quite a large group taking off despite the rain! It was pretty warm out and was not a bad day for a run. I was quite muddy by the end and I give major props to CV who ran those trails for the first time and even braved the big river crossing which had a strong current steadily flowing over the rocks. All and all, a good run and felt great.

Sit down everyone as this may come as quite a shock.....
I have decided to spend some time focusing on swimming this year!!!
I signed up for Rob Reddy's swim training way out in Oberlin (which is on the opposite boonie side of town from mine!). BH and I met Sunday morning for the first swim training session and hit Starbucks on the way out there.

This brings back memories to my first CTC swim clinic that I attended where I did not realize I should bring a swim cap and I inhaled half the pool pretending I could breathe with my face in the water. Totally demmoralizing!

Yet this Reddy's swim clinic was awesome. I was working hard, having fun and think that perhaps I will become a better swimmer. I really find that I take a liking to sets and swimming with other people....makes it way more fun for me! So I am planning to get in the pool three times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes. (Repeat, MUST find a way to do this!) So stay tuned for more on that! I had hoped to get a run later in the day but I ended up coming home ravenous, ate a bunch of food and was lazy the rest of the day watching Street Kings and What Happens in Vegas.

Monday 11/10 - OFF, work screwed up the planned run
Tuesday 11/11 - 6 miles with E, hit the track for 6- 400's. Consistent 1:28's in lane 5 (lane 4 is accurate)
Wedneday 11/12 - 6AM Spin Class, 1 hour
- noon-4 Miles treadmill
Thursday 11/13 - 6 AM - 5.3 Miles Treadmill
Friday 11/14 - 6 AM 45 minute spin class, 10 minutes abs
- evening- Ray's-3 hours
Saturday 11/15 - 13.25 Mile Trail Run
Sunday 11/16 - Reddy Swim Clinic

Totals

Run -28.55 Miles
Bike - 33 mile spin, 15 miles mtn bike
Swam - ? 2000 ? yards

The Realization

Spring marathon maybe?

I was thinking all along that I would probably run Cleveland Marathon.

I am really not that busy and have plenty of nights without much to do, but everytime I seem to have a big event planned something big comes up the night before.

Cleveland Marathon-the night before there was a Sunday in June (which I was co-directing) planning party

Silver Springs Du-Cousin Wedding

Greater Cleveland Half-High School Friends Wedding

Akron Towpath Mary-30th birthday party and friends house-warming party

So in thinking about next year I was hoping things might change but apparently this streak is set to continue.

I was leaning towards planning to do the Cleveland Marathon because it in my back yard which would mean no travel expenses. Yet, I just got a save the date for my cousin's wedding which of course would be the night before. Sigh! It would be that weekend. How dare her for not consulting my preliminary racing schedule! Just kidding...this special doll deserves to get married whenever she wants!

So anyway I guess I will think about some alternatives. There is always Boston but that would probably get expensive. Flying Pig and Pittsburgh are both 5/3 which seem to be the closest alternatives. Thoughts anyone???

Sleepy

So it seems I have been going to bed earlier and earlier these days. About the time I finally take some time to relax and load up a favorite show on the DVR, I always fall asleep half way through. This week I have slept through Heroes and The Unit...dang I hope my hubby saved them because now I still want to see them.

Then I sleep (of course with a break to go upstairs and my mutliple bathroom trips) until the last possible moment I need to get up after giving my snooze button a workout.

This morning after nearly a week of foiled weekday attempts, I got my butt out of bed (which was sheer agony) to drag my butt to 6 AM spin class about a half hour away in Beachwood. I was sooo sleepy the whole way there.

Then I woke up for an hour and a half to sweat my weary butt off as I sprinted and climbed relentlessly before I grabbed the much needed shower.

Once again I parked my butt in the car to finish the drive downtown Cleveland and again the wave of sleepiness took hold. I fought it off as I sat in traffic and decided today I would treat myself to a Starbucks NonFat Pumpkin Spice Latte. Oh I hope it helps me wake up soon.

Mad Monday Update 11/10

Monday 11/3 -7 mile run with CV & E ~8:00 min miles
Tuesday 11/4 - 7.75 mile run with E inlc 8X100 striders
Wedneday 11/5 - 3.75 mile Run
Thursday 11/6 - 5.5 (2 mile, 1 mile, 1/2 interval) M track workout, 6 mile easy run
Friday 11/7 - 16.5 Mile Road Bike Ride, 1.25 M on treadmill, upper body weights, 3 hours at Ray's Indoor Mtn Bike Park
Saturday 11/8 - 10 Mile Buckeye Trail Run with VR
Sunday 11/9 - 8.5 Mile Run (8:20 pace) with SERC

Totals
Ran-53.25 Miles
Mtn Biked-3 hours
Road Bike-16.5 Miles
Weights-1 session

Work stress has been weighing on me greatly. I am going to go home and try to forget about it and spend the evening with the hubby who is the big 3-0 today. We did have a fun little get together for him the last two nights!

Mad Monday Update 11/3

Just going with the flow at this point. I jumed into a half marathon training plan as I am contemplating signing up for the Fall Classic in November. I am still undecided on the half or if I will just stick to my animal races the rest of the year (Pigskin, Turkey and Reindeer).

Monday 10/27
6AM Spin class (50 minutes), Abs (10 Minutes)
1PM 4 miles treadmill easy, upper body workout

Tuesday 10/28
1 PM -5.5 miles on treadmill (track workout with 10X400's at 6:00 pace, 1% incline)
-abs, streched

Wednesday 10/29
1 PM - 3 miles easy, lower body workout, 3 sets of lunges (8 lb dumbbells), 2 sets of squats, 1 set lateral squats (squats with 15 lb dumbells) OMIGOODNESS IT HAS BEEN FOREVER AND I WAS ACHING BY THE TIME I HIT THE SHOWER!
5 PM - 3 hours at Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park---so much fun, lots of breaks talking and watching others but probably got in about 10 miles or 1.5 hours of riding

Thursday (SORE!) 10/30
1 PM - 7 miles at 8 min mile pace with E (this felt waaay harder than it should have felt)

Friday (Still Sore) 10/31
1 PM -2 miles easy on treadmill, stretched with band
6 PM - 10 miles mtn biked at West Branch--great night for a ride!

Saturday (Still Sore) 11/1
15 miles ran with CV and E ~ 8:20ish pace

Sunday 11/2
9 AM CTC Du -3 miles ran, 15.5 miles biked, 3 miles ran (definitely not fresh for this)
3 PM - 7 miles mtn biked (skipped the last 3 miles as hubby and I were exhausted and hungry!)

Totals-
Ran - 42.5 Miles
Road / Spin Bike - 30.5
Mtn Bike-27
Core-1 LBWO, 1 UBWO, stretching, abs-2

---------------------
On the gossip front, I was looking forward to today to listen to Howard Stern talk about his wife Beth and the marathon. I have really enjoyed listening to him talking about her training and I think the mainstream marathon media exposure is pretty cool! Congrats Beth on a very respectable 4 hour 15 minute finish!


Also ever since Van Wilder Party Liason, I have been a huge Ryan Reynolds fan! Watching him in Blade Trinity, Just Friends, Waiting and Definitely Maybe was good stuff! Funny and good looking! He also ran NYC marathon in 3 hours 50 minutes--dang, to think I could have ran that marathon with such a nice view and did not take advantage! Talk about some poor marathoon planning on my part!


What female would not run well with that eye candy???! :-)

Mad Monday Update 10/27

Last week closed the second week since the Towpath Marathon that I was allowing myself to do whatever I felt like and it could not have come at a better time as I have been swamped. However, this week it will be time to move forward and start increasing the workouts again and I started things off right with a 6AM Spin class!

Monday-Ran 3.75 Miles to mother in laws
Tuesday-off
Wednesday-off
Thursday- Ran 6 Miles
Friday-Ran 6 Miles, Abs
Saturday-Ran 12 Miles with TR on hilly chagrin falls/ s chagrin course
Sunday- off

Ran 27.75 Miles

Sort of felt like a giant slacker having 3 off days but the plan was to do whatever I felt like for 2 weeks and I ended up putting most of my time and energy into a lot of painting and getting the house ready to Saturday's Halloween Party which led to Sunday's off day!

On the subject of Halloween fectivites, here are a couple pics!

Mad Monday Update 10/20

After the Towapth Marathon last Sunday...

M 10/13 - 5 miles outside by myself out the tailgate madness (9 min miles, felt great but made sure not to go any faster)
T- 10/14 - 15 minutes stationary bike easy, upper body workout
W - 10/15 - 7.75 mile with E at 7:58 pace...started off around 7:40 pace and eased off last few miles
R - 10/15- 3 miles on treadmill, 9 min mile pace
F -10/16 - 6 miles easy with E 9:25 pace
S - 10/17 10 miles mtn biked at West Branch
S 10/18 CTC Du 2.9 mile (6:50 pace) Run-15.5 Bike(17.8 mph incl T1 time)-2.9 mile run (7:40 pace incl T2 time), total time 1.37.30; walked some more around Blue Hen Falls with camera later in the day




In general everything feels fine and no real issues...still general tightness in Piriformis and ITB so focusing on stretching and with be seeing ART doc tomorrow more for preventive maitenance.

Towpath Marathon Race Report

Starting from the beginning, I was not sure what to expect for the marathon. It seemed a lot of the weeks were hot and cold. As I reflect now back to the training, I was basing my speed workouts and tempo runs on my 5K PR from last year so technically I should have been targetting a faster marathon time based on that training and PR. Yet, that was not the goal. I wanted to run a strong, even, boston qualifying race. From the beginning the only plan was to target a pace just below 3:40 allowing a little cushion for a bathroom stop if nescessary...if ya didn't know already this is a often problem area for me!

The week leading up to the marathon I had been real stressed out (short story here is that I work in hedge funds, stupid stock market) and E felt the brunt of that as I did my PMP 3 miles on Thursday which turned into a venting session where my pace was closer to 7:45 than 8:15. So much for her recovery run! I was real congested in the evenings and was worried the cold I felt trying to grab hold might bother me during the marathon which made me a little nervous...but I was trying to put that out of my mind. I still felt a little off marathon morning.

Friday and Saturday, I was real busy and did not have the chance to get in any exercise which was fine by me as I think erroring on the conservative side right before seems to work for me. That Saturday, I worked the table for Southeast Running Club at the expo. I really give props Kathleen Dugan and the other Towpath organizers for their work in putting together a nice little expo for this smaller marathon. I left there around 12:45 and headed to Vertical Runner to grab some Crank Gels where I tried to con MB into running with us to no avail (or so I thought!) Had a pasta with red sauce for lunch (Big Boy with my parents) and dinner (trying hard to not eat anything that might cause a problem). Hit my friend's 30th birthday party and had 2 Blue Moon Harvest Moons and crawled into bed about 11:30.

After a solid night's sleep I got up (5:45 AM)and grabbed my Fruit Punch Rockstar! My plan was to drink about half (which I figured w/b the ideal caffeine amount) and eat a blueberry bagel with peanut butter as I drove to the race. It seemed about perfect.

At the race I plopped my butt on the floor while I waited for my friends feeling very calm about the race. Before long, I saw the girls and TB and we waited to head to the starting line after I hit my inhaler (lesson learned other days with the asthma). It was a long walk and I was freezing. Poor BS was struggeling to keep up walking with us (as she had been super sick) so it seemed it may not be her day.

At the start I was concentrating on trying to not go out too fast. The first mile on the road was just jockeying back and forth and chatting away with friends. I lost AS and BS right away as I chatted away with this guy, Jim who was wearing a CTC visor he had bought the day before. I was absolutely freezing with numb hands. I am guessing it was upper 40s / low 50s at the start. Yet, I was not complaining as I froze the first 2.5 miles or so as I knew that would be to our advantage later.

As we moved onto the towapth after 0.9 miles, it was pretty tight. I trotted along talking to Jim through 2 when he figured he better pick up the pace to meet his goal but I settled in waiting for Amie ready to run our steady race. I was delighted to hit E's aide station. They were cheering and I looked at the group of volunteers who I think I knew them all by name...YEAH FRIENDS! Amie caught up to me just after that aide station and then it was on. The miles clicked off one by one as we talked about Halloween costumes, wind energy, a photo walk, you name it. As we approached the first turnaround it was fun to watch the leaders coming back as we counted off how many girls were ahead of us (I think around 15). At the turnaround (~9 Miles) we saw Brett and Lloyd and cheered loudly as I took my first gel. The cheering continued as we got a look at our friends behind us. I think it was quite obvious we were feeling good and were from around there as this one guy running started laughing at us asking us if we knew everyone.

We actually went back and forth with him awhile. It was marathon 77 for him and he is trying to hit 100 before his 40th birthday in 11 months. WOW! Amie and I came through the half in 1:48 and change feeling good and telling each other that over and over. Sort of comical when I think back...obviously we were allowing zero doubt to enter our minds that day! Again we got juiced up to pass E's group again with all my SERC and CTC friends (you know who u r...BH, MT, AH, DH, BW, PR, LD...!)

As we got closer to Boston store (~15 miles) I could feel things warming up and my chest felt a hair tighter so I was glad my inhaler was there. I saw Steve who was our sherpa for the day and I grabbed a sip of Rockstar, my gels and hit my inhaler and was off. This stretch was way more crowded with the half marathoners coming the other way. We tried to encourage some of them on who looked like they were struggeling. I think I teased Amie as I thought the turn around was by the Station Road parking lot when in fact it was a lot further north...oops. As we approached 20, spirits were still high and I told Amie we were going to get those 3 girls just a bit ahead of us. About this time, MB's group, linked up with us. It was a perfect time to have new energy. These guys just projected such a strong vibe and were there to get MB across the finish line. I liked when they said "11:45 will come regardless today, it is up to you where you will be" or something like that!!! The race started 5 minutes late so 11:45 was her 3:40 BQ pace, as was ours. I was enjoying calling MB a sandbagger and telling her I told ya so (she was the one at the store I had tried to con the day before into running with us and she said she was planning to run slower).

On this stretch there was a good amount of pavement and bright sun. It was such a relief when the pavement ended and also when we got back into the shade. I was fatigued but still trucking along strong. The three miles or so I started longing for the finish line and got quiet. I was focused on the finish line and not slowing down and was couting down the minutes. Somewhere in this point I lost Amie as she had taken more time at an aide station but at this point I was all eyes forward. As we closed in on the finish line I picked up the pace a bit knowing I had it in the bag and was relieved to cross the finish line. Then I was elated to see MB and AS right behind me!!! YEAH, three members of the Akron Mary Relay team all in under BQ pace right close together! Another strong team effort!

I smacked some hands and congratulated a few people and then I entered my 5 minute funk. I wanted to talk to my pal Bob but I needed to walk as my legs started to tighten up some. E was good enough to walk with me and then I stretched for a bit. I walked to my car to change and chugged some water and started to feel way better. Then the celebration started! We lounged in the grass drinking beer and swapping stories with a wonderful feeling of accomplishment. What a great way to cap off the race! I even nabbed a second place age group award which was a towpath picture which was totally awesome and will always be special to me!

Later I took a nice hot salt bath and stretched out and the only thing that bothered me was my one toenail and small blister besides a little soreness. Went for a recovery 5 mile run Monday and felt very good holding myself to no faster than 9 minute miles.



Pictured is Todd (who ran another solid mary after Akron 2 weeks ago, E (area's best volunteer and cheerleader), me , Bill and Amie!

Mad Monday Update 10/13 ... a couple days late!

One of these days I will write stuff down so I am not scratching my head come Monday!

M 10/6 - 5 miles treadmill, upperbody workout, stretched
T 10/7 - 1 M w/u, 6-400's at 10.0 on treadmill, 1 mile c/d-5 miles, stretched, abs/core
W 10/7 - 4 miles treadmill, stretched
R 10/8 - 3 PMP (well guess they were done at 7:45 as I was venting), total of 6.25 M, 5 mile mtn biked
F 10/9 - off, did get some exercise cleaning!
S 10/10 - off-expo-party!
S 10/11 - mary-26.4

Totals
Ran - 46.65 miles
Mtn Biked-5 :-(
Lifted-1 day
Core/ Stretching-- Grade B

Hoodihoo!!!

Towpath marathon runners were treated to a picture perfect running morning yesterday. It was nice and cool for the start and the leaves made for an incredibly gorgeous marathon course.

After a long year of disappointing race results, I am excited to report that yesterday went according to plan. The plan was to run just under BQ pace with a little cushion (in case of a bathroom stop) and run even and have fun.


Official Garmin Splits

1 8:18
2 8:15
3 8:19
4 8:23
5 8:11
6 8:13
7 8:14
8 8:11
9 8:12
10 8:12
11 8:13
12 8:12
13 8:07
14 8:13
15 8:12
16 8:13
17 8:14
18 8:17
19 8:21
20 8:21
21 8:19
22 8:15
23 8:12
24 8:15
25 8:30
26 8:09
.39 3:01

Total-
Miles- 26.39
Time- 3:37:43
Avg Pace-8:14

Other tidbits of note-
-Felt good the whole race and felt I could even push harder if need be
-My feet were the best they have ever been during a marathon thanks to the forgiving surface
-While I missed having my girl, BS at my side(who has been dealing with a sickness), I was fortunate enough to have my girl, Amie at my side. We cheered and bantered most the entire way!
-The bonus on the day was another one of my Akron mary teammates, MB, and her posse of positive energy along for the last several miles and watching her run an awesome race and BQ when she did not expect it. CONGRATS!
-Love the home court advantage of this course! There is something about running on your home turf and seeing all your local pals on the course, cheering and volunteering
-Volunteers were just fantastic and I just cannot thank each of them enough!
-I am huge advocate of the Crank Gels (had 3 during the race and just water). Good energy boost, enjoy all the flavors, and no stomach issues
-Not even one bathroom stop! It's a miracle!
-After the 5 minute funk following hitting the finish line, I have felt really good. Just one cracked toenail and small blister. Monday's soreness is minimal and will go for a recovery run.

PS-Worked the Towpath Mary expo and sat next to Tanya, who heads up the Winter Buckeye 50K. I had to sign up and now it is official! People were signing up left and right and I bet it is closed within the next week or two. If you are thinking about it, sign up now. If you are not thinking about it, you should be!!!

Random Marathon Week Thoughts

The weather fixation...

What will Sunday hold? Currently the weather states SUNDAY- High: 73 Low: 55
Sunny Warm.

Not bad, a little warm, but sounds pretty good!

The outfit?

Hmmm, what to wear?

Why is it everything keeps breaking around me?
Replaced front brakes and rotors. Why are they still screeching? Need a new front caliper...guess that will be a good time check the horredous brake squeal. Adam Sandler's, Piece of Sh!t car is playing in my head. I really need a new windshield, desperately need new tires and of course a car wash!

Built a laundry room and moved new washer and dryer upstairs...hooked it up but new piping leaks. So much for washing clothes upstairs. No big deal, replace belts in old washer so it will work. Crap, I guess the belts broke because something else was wrong because they broke again! Now I got a full washer of water and no way to wash clothes.

Will remodeling ever be done in this old house?

Is is possible to finish texturing and painting two rooms before Halloween party?

On the subject of Halloween, what would be the best costume in the world?


While Drew Cary & Mimi was funny last year, being fat was way too umcomfy and not cute AT ALL!

I hate paying for oil. So $$$

Hauled a ton of wood over for woodburning. Crosstraining?

Seriously, working in the investment industry and listening to CNBC all day is sooo depressing!


Thank goodness I can workout and have a little reprieve in my day!

Is it Friday yet?????

Mad Monday Update 10/6

Race week is here....

The prior weekend was the Akron mary relay and West Branch race. Last week between the rain, the cool temps and the darkness, I just felt in a funk.

Mon 9/29 - 6 mile easy run with E
Tues 9/30 - 2.5 mile run on treadmill (got so bored and was not feeling it so decided to wait until next day)
Wed 10/1 - 3 mile run on treadmill (was attempting to do my 1000's, but fell short of goals...honestly anytime I run on my treadmill at home I never am where I need to be.)
Thurs 10/2-6 mile run as part of CTC Fun run. Only thing is since it was just one other huy and me, made it a nice tempo run through the hills of Solon/ Bedford
Fri 10/3-off..busy
Sat 10/4-13.5 mile run on towpath (ran with LT group which worked out fantastic!), 4 mile walk mapping du course, 10 miles mtn biked at west branch
Sun 10/5-headed up CTC duathlon and then ran 4.5 mile with JC

Totals
Ran 35.5
Mtn Biked-10

Saturday night for some odd reason I could not sleep and have been feeling a little off and real congested in the evenings. Planning to rest up quite a bit this week and then run my little tail off on Sunday!!!

First athetic event in 18 years!!!!

Ok this will be brief but in the hopes of getting something down....

Saturday, Five Fast Femme Fatale Freiks ran as a 5 person female relay team again in the Akron Mary. This marathon does such a nice job of putting together this marathon! Top notch for sure!

Anyways, I ran the 2nd relay leg which was a 5K on account that I was planning to race the following day on my mtn bike. I got the bracelet from MB after her nice 10K run and took off like a bat outta hella passing people and loving it! There are several short climbs out of the gate and a mile in, I was already wheezing terribly and wishing I had hit my inhaler (dummy!). Apparently even the the morning was cool, it felt humid too me and the air felt incredibly thick. I slowed down and forced my legs to carry me forward and try not to disappoint my girls. I felt like my legs were lead weights (and they subsequently got really sore) and I wondered if my leg muscles were also feeling the effects of my labored breathing and O2 defcit. ????

As I approached the relay exchange point I saw my teammate Aime about a 100 yds from the exchange zone exclaiming she did not expect to see me so soon. I said drop your crap and hustle that butt up there! Thank goodness she did as I was happy to be done with my leg. Anyways I ran my 5K with an official time of 21:16 (~6:50 pace) which was 8 seconds slower than last year. I then coughed the rest of the day after destroying my lungs breathing too hard!

My girls all tied together great runs and we managed to finish with a time of 3:05:30 (~7:04 pace). Yet again, them darn KSU girls got us again so we ended up 2nd again! So all in all we were 2/102 5 person female relay teams and 18/848 of all relay teams. I am so proud of all 4 of my other teammates for doing so well!!! Perhaps third time will be a charm!

Moving on to Sunday...West Branch Mountain Bike Race!!!

My husband participated in his first athletic event in 18 YEARS!!!! (This time he coughed the rest of the day after breathing too hard!)

All went well for both of us. I had signed up for the novice (1 loop) class after debateing all week between that one and the sport class (2 loops). The only thing was I ended up being the only female of 10 (all of which who looked pretty experienced) that did the beginner class. They sent me off with the seniors and pretty quickly I started to pull ahead of some of them and went on to pass several guys in a few of the classes that went off before me. Sorry boys, but it is funny when people say 'Sorry go ahead man only to realize they are being passed by a chick!'

So I put in a decent effort but knowing there was no one I was technically racing against, I probably did not push as hard as I could have. I still enjoyed every minute of it!

It was amazing the amount of bikes down through the race course with flats and other mechnanical issues. Totally stinks for them! I saw one particular guy down who I knew and I was bummed as he should have done really well!

At the end of the day both my husband and I had fun out there and completed the course with no problem! We have come along ways but there is still so much work to catch up to all of those other riders who have WAY more experience than us. I need to work hard on all the technicals and getting smoother. Good thing is we are both highly motivated to keep going out there and working on it! We both met our goals and enjoyed trying something new. I hear Ohio Mtn Bike Assoc is working on a 5 race series next summer ....hmmmm!!!

Mad Monday 9/29/08

To the best of my memory....

After overdoing it last Sunday with the 20 mile run, 17 mile bike and field day activity, I could not even sleep Sunday night and felt crappy the first part of the week.

Monday 9/22 - 6 mile recovery run with E
- 5 miles mtn biked at West Branch (half of the norm but I was so tired and just making dumb errors and just called it a day while I was still ahead.

Tuesday 9/23
- 6AM-Track workout attempt take 1--total 3 miles- tried to do 800's but totally not in me, decided to try again at lunch.
- Noon-Still felt like crap. Did some 600's (still behind pace) and called it a day after 3 miles.

Wednesday 9/24
- noon-8 mile run at 8:40 ish pace with E
-10 mile mtn bike, feeling much better than Monday!

Thursday 9/25
-5 mile run with CV & E 6x25 sec striders, stretching session

Friday 9/26 -off

Saturday 9/27- 2 mile w/u plus 5k leg of Akron relay -5 miles

Sunday 9/28-10 miles (1 mile w/u, 9 mile race) on mtn bike

Totals-

Ran-30 miles
Mtn Biked-25 miles

ITZZZ FRIIIIIIDAY!

Bird Marathon Eve....

Tomorrow morning will be an early one as I meet with my ladies relay team as we prepare to tear up the course. We are all going to run good (& just maybe bring home a trpohy) and then celebrate!!! We are going to watch the many friends come in and cheer them on! An awesome day for sure!

Sunday I am sleeping in and then heading over to West Branch for my first moutain bike race which starts at 1 (weird racing not first thing in the morning). I haven't decided if I will race in beginner division (~10 miles I think) or intermediate (~20 miles I think). Either way, I am good and familiar with the course as this is where I ride on average twice a week. I guess I will bring my quarter and decide that morning. I keep flip flopping because on one hand, I am a beginner and maybe should just start with the short distance. On the other hand, I am familiar with the course and really don't feel endurance will be a problem. Hmmmm...

Ok back to get my work done before the fun begins!!!

Mad Monday Update 9/22/08

Monday 9/15 -
30 minutes -stationary bike-10 miles
Upper Body Weight Workout
6 miles ran at lunch on treadmill (ladders) ~47:15

Tuesday 9/16 -
AM -6 miles on treadmill -10 X 400 repeats with 0.20 recovery (all 1:30, max treadmill speed, used incline 1)
lunch - 15 min stat bike (5 miles), lower body workout
PM -8.5 mile run with Akron Relay team ladies and E

Wed 9/17
10 miles mtn biked at West Branch---lots of trail carnage from hurricane

Thurs 9/18
Off--exercise consisted of picking up sticks in the yard!

Friday 9/19
Off-Never put off the morning workout as too many things seem to come up later in the day!

Sat 9/20
13 miles mtn biked

Sun 9/21
20 miles ran (5 mile loop @ 8 min miles, 15 mile loop at 8:40 ish min miles) with SERC
17 miles biked
FIELD DAY at CTC picnic!

Totals
Ran 40.5
Mtn Biked-23
Stat/ Road Bike-22
Core-2

Last 20 miler done and now it is taper time!!! Loving the sunny weather and already looking forward to next weekend's Akron Marathon relay and West Branch Mtn Bike Race!

Ouchies!

Did my first lower body workout Tuesday in well over a month, maybe two. Tried to take care to keep it easy.

3 sets of 12 lunges with 10 lb dumbbells, rotate weights forward on the lunge to more effectively target my behind
3 sets of 12 squats with 10 lb dumbbells
3 sets of 12 calf raises with 10 lb dumbbells


And walla, so sore (my poor sore bootay)! Debating whether to add these in once or twice a week now or if they will make me too sore and maybe I should wait until after the marathon on 10/12.

More fun still to come!

Since a couple of you asked.....

Here is the rest of my 2008 race schedule as I see it. I am really hoping to end the year on a high note and am happy to report that I am feeling as strong now as I have all year (after starting the year plagued with injuries).

- Sat 9/27 -Run Akron Marahton 5 female relay team-Running a 5K-Goal is to run hard and hopefully post a 2008 PR.

- Sun 9/28 - 1st Mountain Bike Race Ever at West Branch Crankfest-debating whether to register as beginner or intermediate. Beginner course is 1 loop (~10 miles), intermediate is 2 (~20 miles). Pretty excited for this!

- Sun 10/12 - Towpath Marathon- Goal is to run a 3:40 or better with Amie & Bridget!!! Perhaps if I feel good late in the race, I may pick it up a bit

- Finish Hermes RR series on 11/22 (Pigskin), 11/27 (Turkey Trot) and 12/6 (Reindeer Run)

Other options I am considering-

* Another half (Stomp the Grapes or Fall Classic)
* Some du's-Clev Tri Club is putting on 3 in Oct / Nov; might participate in one but I may be too busy as I am in charge of them. Depends on volunteers.