2 Week Rundown

Well folks I am back from vacation. While the weather could have been better and our timing (as we left my husband's dad to do all the plowing ---woops!) we made the best of things.

I have been limping back into running again.

Following my week and a half off, I started into running the tail end of the week before we left and capped it off with Ytown half on 3/2.

Mon 3/3 - 8 Mile Recovery Run with ESpeed to Edgewater with 8*100M strides-9:17 pace. Is is bad when you have two stop in two random places to go to the bathroom on a short run?
Tues 3/4 - Packed, Lost Electric, No training
Wed 3/5 - Left for vacation and returned with broken wipers, left again and rode in car forever, ate fast food twice--ewww!
Thurs 3/6 -Went out for run but cut it short due to prior days fast food- 3 Miles, rode through trails with hubby on dirt bike & 4 wheeler
Friday 3/7 -shopped, went up to Chattanooga
Sat 3/8 -13 Mile run in AL, it snowed for the second time of the year there. It was in the 20's, snowing and windy. I WAS MISERABLE b/c I was underdressed and frozen to the bone in Alabama on vacation!!!!
Sun 3/9-Played outside
Mon 3/10 - Rode to Fort Walton Beach, drank at patio bars, ate steamed seafood basket-yum!
Tues 3/11 - Hit Gulferium, shopped
Wed 3/12- Drove 1001 miles, butt hurt

Home at last! Time to quit with all the southern foods and get my butt back to work!
Thurs 3/13- 6 Mile Run, 6X100 Meter Strides~50:30, lifted bi, tri, shoulders
Friday 3/14 - 5 Mile easy run ~45 Min
Sat 3/15- Saint Malachi Run 5 Miler, ran 6.5 incl 1.5 mile warm-up with Aimee. Time -37:46~7:33 pace.

Short story version. It is hard not to be disappointed after running 33:32 (6:43/M)last year. Yet, just coming back after several lackluster weeks, I need to build my aerobic capacity back up. Last year at this time I was injury free and building strong.

HOWEVER, what makes me feel better about this??? Beer with my pals of course!

I hit the race afterparty in the morning and then had a pretty big bash that night!

Somehow my liver survived after drinking until 2:30 AM and I got up at 7:25 AM to

Sun 3/16- Run 18 Miles at 8:50 pace with SERC peeps. Surpisingly, I felt pretty good and really enjoyed hot salt bath afterwards!

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Weekly Run Down Totals for week of 3/3-
Run-24 Miles

Weekly Run Down Totals for week of 3/10-
Run-35.5 Miles

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So my training has been sporadic at best. I was trying to do Pfitzinger's Advancing Marathoning Plan. Yet, since my mileage is not where it needs to be and I don't want to subject my recovering piriformis and hip flexor to high mileage, I am switching back to Furman's First to the Finish Program. It worked pretty good for me last year, I think it makes sense for me right now. I will focus on the Cleveland marathon. Boston is only a training run and will not kill myself with any time goal.

Prelude to our escape

So awhile back my husband had asked if I minded a trip south to Alabama in March. He wanted to shoot some Championship State match in Birmingham. Being that I have drug him around to a few events with me, I figured I owed him. Not only that I was ready to get the heck out of the cold!!! I even managed to sucker him into a few days at Fort Walton Beach for me!

Now for those of you who may not know, we have not had the best of luck with vacations. The trip before last we spent more time on the road than where we went due to a vehicle breakdown and a whole assortment of issues. Yet, my plan was for this trip to go off issue free like last trip.

Yeah, not so much the case.

Tuesday Joey and I were trying to get everything ready for the trip. Some laundry, some packing, oil change, vacuum car, etc. I was really busy with work that day, even though I was working from home so time was at a premium. About 7 o clock we decided to go drop the dog off at Joey's mom. On our way, we realized just how incredibly icy it was out. Joey, who plows, decided he better go hit a few places to salt and I was stuck along for the ride. This was not helping out our schedule as we had not had dinner, still had more to pack and more laundry to do.

Just before 9 we made it home. As I was packing up the bathroom stuff, the lights started to flicker. Joey, my all-knowing husband, set out to find a flashlight and no sooner did he find one, our electric went out. So I finished up packing by flashlight, ate by candlelight and so much for the laundry.

Now we were planning to leave bright and early at 5AM. So I set the battery powered alarm and Joey and I discussed the plan. Do we leave if the power is still not on?? We decided we were getting out of this icy he!!.

Joey was a bit grumpy as we laid in bed as he had not showered. We were both hoping the power would come back on so we could shower before we left. Finally I drifted off to sleep only to be awoke about an hour later. Joey exclaimed something hit the housee. While we did not know it then, a huge tree limb, a good 10 inches in diameter came down on the back deck. I hear from the house sitter that it made a nice hole in it...GREAT!

I should back up now. Saturday we came home to a cold house. We were out of oil Not good, especially since I could not even call for more until Monday. Oil was finally delivered Tuesday morning and for the first time the house started to finally get warmer. It sure did not last long because not even 12 hours later, the house already was getting cold again.

After a cold night of sleep, we crawled out of bed to get on the 10 hour drive. We left just before 6 on the icy, snowy roads. The roads were not good and we were not driving the speed limit, but we were heading south to somewhere warmer!!! Woohoo!

Well that lasted for about an hour until my car's windshield wipers decided to quit straight up in the windsheild. Now the roads were covered in crap which meant our windshield was too. We managed to navigate over to the off ramp to check things out.

Upon inspection, these suckers were just not going to work, so we turned around to head directly to the car dealer by our house. It was an awful drive there. We could not see well with the windshield and I was totally on edge. We headed down ST RT 700 through Hiram, to Garrettsville. ODOT was cutting away trees from the road as they were down everywhere. Power lines were down at least evey mile down the road.

When we made it to the car lot, we found that it did not open until 8, so we had some time to kill and went for breakfast. This is the second time on vacation that we have waited for a car dealer to open!

Thankfully we know the dealer and owner well and he told the guys to do whatever they needed to do to get us on the road even if it meant taking the part off another car.

Joey's mom came to pick us up and we went home to her house to grab a shower. No sooner did we get done with our showers, and our luck rubbed off on her and she lost power.

Joey decided he might as well go plow since the snow had kept coming. The call from the dealer came in. Big shocker...they can't fix it with any parts within 100 miles. So no car until the next day. Now what???

Joey's mom came to the rescue and said we could take her car. So finally just before noon we took her car to the dealership and switched everything into her car and finally hit the road.

We drove pretty much all day. One thing for my work got revised, so I ended up having to redo all the work that I had did the past two days in the car on the way down. After awhile I would start to get a headache and would take periodic breaks.

I am still catching up on all the work and it is Friday and more keeps coming in...uggh!

Tomorrow's weather down here is supposed to be snowing and 32....not quite the weather my husband thought it would be for his match. Guess our luck followed us.

Well I will report back with some of the good highlights later, but for now I guess I still have more work to do. Rant over...

Mad Monday Update 3/2

So coming to you from vacation on Alabama....

Last week I just started easing back into running again.

Monday -Lifted Upper Body
Tues - off
Wednesday - 5 miles easy at JCC indoor track ~42:40
Thursday-Upper Body Workout with ESpeed
Friday-5.5 ish mile run with ESpeed outside
Saturday - off
Sunday -Ytown 1/2 marathon

Not a bad week back, but just easing back into things. My aerobic capacity seems a bit off. Hip flexor is feeling remarkably better. Piriformis still tender but not as bad as it was.

Tagged

OK so I have two of these that I need to do-

First up, the tag by Mr. Skin about 7 Weird/Random Things-

1. My whole entire dad's side of the family lived on one stretch of road around the family farm. Consquently I have shoveled a lot of crap and put my hand on more rats gathering eggs than I ever care to think about! Most all my cousins were boys so we played a lot of kick ball and sis and I grew up as Tom boys.

2. I hate poison ivy. I used to always get into it growing up. I remember having it so bad in high scholl between my fingers that I would tape up my hand to try to play volleyball. I had it even worse another time, but I am not going there! My husband doesn't get it. He can weed the stuff and have no trouble. Yet I have got poison ivy from the oil on him.

3. My parents are thrifty and rarely throw things away. I think I am way better but sometimes I still have a hard time pitching stuff. This is especially the case with my clothes which leads to issues having enough closet space.


4. My sister was a class behind me in high school. We fought some over the years mainly about sharing clothes and bathroom space, but she has always been my best friend. We played all the same sports and did all the same stuff.

5. I was the salutatorian of my class but I almost failed out of college. Apparently Miami University's pre-med weed out program and me did not agree. So I followed my dad's footsteps and switched in businesss. Grades were much easier after that and I ended up doing a double major in Finance and Marketing and I use them both!

6. I love garlic. Before sports in high school we would always go for food after school, before the games. Sometimes garlic wings were my food of choice. Sweaty Janet was told by the coach to lay off the garlic before the games as I guess I smelled strong enough to keep vampires at bay!

7. I have a terrible habit of chewing my pens and pencils. I have had ink leak all over me way too many times for this reason. I just cannot seem to break myself of this habit. I chew a lot of gum to try to keep this in check. Just don't ask to borrow my writing utensil.

One down, Kim's to go another day.

Stuck in a snowglobe!

Everything has seemed a bit out of wack this week.

Tuesday morning we awoke to a mess on the roads as Northeast Ohio had gotten buried with snow. The thing was, the snow was not supposed to let up much through the day and I was dreading a 2 hour commute to work and a 2 hour commute home. The husband urged me to call my boss and tell him I would just work from home. I don't know why I feel so guilty about doing that. Thankfully just as I got on the road, he called and I was able to work from home. Thank goodness!

Wednesday I awoke to more of the same. Crappy roads, spin out reports and traffic jams everywhere. Yet, again I hopped in my car. I had made it about 1/2 way there in an hour when the boss called. I was sitting in the parking lot known as 480, not moving. He said it would probably take me another hour and to just turn around and not bother. Who am I to argue?? After a bunch of manueverving and more sitting, I finally managed to get off the highway. What a joke!

Since I was already out, I hit the JCC on the way home for a run. Did I say the JCC? Yeah I guess I had not mentioned that as I searched out a convenient place to swim, I checked into various rates at places that might be "convenient" for me. Convenience is rather relative in my world living out in the boonies. Yet, after my tirade the other week talking abot missing my old gyms I decided that the JCC was still a good option for me. I can hit it on the way to or from work and it is not too ridiculously far if I wanted to just hit it from home. I got quoted a sweet deal and it really was a no-brainer.

There seems to be a consensus that perhaps the treadmill is a contributing factor to my hip flexor injury due to the biomechanics of it and the repititive nature of the running motion without the actual forward propulsion. Apparently it is a common treadmill overuse injury.

So for the time being, my plan is no treadmills-inside track or outside! So back to the JCC, I hopped on the indoor track since the snow was so deep outside and set out to run 5 miles easy. 13 laps equals a mile there, so it was time for 65 laps.

It felt glorious to run again!!! While I could feel the dull pain in my butt, my hip flexor was not too noticeable. Nothing really hurt and I felt as good as I have in awhile! As I counted off laps on my fingers up to 13, I flew past the walkers. I felt pretty fresh and consciously tried to run a nice even pace and not push things too hard (and actually felt like I was holding back a fair amount). I finished in 42:41 with a 8:32 pace.

I must have funny shaped ear holes as no matter what ear buds for my Ipod I get, I can never get them to stay in. I usually opt for my big stupid headphones because the ear bud ones always fall out. Is it because I sweat too much? It just ticks me off because I just bought these expensive Ipod ones with all these different earbud sizes, thinking I would have a winner for sure. They seem fine until I run and then everything goes to crap and I spend the entire run re-jamming them into my ears. Yeah I screwed with those stupid ear buds for 65 laps!

At the end of the day I stretched out well and headed over to the doc for some punishment. After finally making my way home, I sat there in my desk chair looking out the window. I watched as the snow continued to drop big fat flakes outside. Someone just won't quit shaking this snowglobe I have been in!

As far as the running goes, I am just going to ease back into things and run whatever way feels comfortable. Youngstown half marathon is on tap for Sunday. I am not planning to worry about my time (repeat to self over and over) and just run how my body feels.

Mad Monday Update 2/25

Well folks hopefully this will go down as my lowest volume week ever! Thanks so much to all of you for the concern!

The hip flexor and piriformis seem to be making progress. They are not pain-free but progress has been made. This week I am taking off was not because I could not run or bike, it was so I could try to nip the injury in the bud and still get in some good training for the spring...hopefully, fingers crossed! I am thinking I will try some easy runs the latter half of the week. If all feels fine, I will go ahead and run Youngstown half marathon based on how I feel, being careful not to push things too much.

So last week went like this-
M 2/18 10 Miles Biked, Weight Training
T 2/19 5 Miles Ran, Weight Training, Abs
W 2/20 Body Sculpting Class
R 2/21 Rest
F 2/22 1000 yard swim *
S 2/23 Rest
S 2/24 Rest

* I had planned to go longer but got a major headache about 800 yards in and I was lucky to get to 1000 as I thought it might explode. Pain Reliever did not help the splitting headache, but alas a mojito did!

For the body other than the above, I just did lots of stretching, a doctor visit and tried to use my foam roller and a tennis ball a fair amount.

The good thing about taking a break is time for lots of other stuff.

Some of the other things included-

- Dinner (Bahama Breeze) and a movie night out(Jumper-liked it!)
- Lots of remodeling (helping supervise the old man, but I am good at holding stuff and finding things he sets down!)
- Circles to Lowe's and Home Depot, closest being about 25 minutes away (gotta love the boonies)
- Day of Shopping with Sis and Mom for-
- Dad's (60th) & Uncle's (70th) Surprise Birthday party
- Decided to join back up at JCC to have a place to swim before or after work (Got a sweet deal that was beyond a no brainer!!!)
- Washed a very VERY stinky dog
- Watched the Knight Rider premiere...looks pretty promising! The Hoff still rules!
- Finally hung up the shelves my cat, Zippo, took out awhile back
- Slept in and laid in bed watching 24 hours of Jackass (just can't help but laugh and cringe!)

So I have been having some fun!

I am dying to run, especially today since it is nice and knowing that another winter storm is brewing. I went to the gym today and was listening to the Warp Brothers club Blade mix doing situps crazy fast thinking this music is so much more suited to me trying to run fast! BTW, Blade rules! A couple more days...

Doctor Doctor Gimme the News!

Don't mind me and my Robert reference as I think I get more looney the less I exercise!

Ok flashback to the 80's when my sis and I would dress up and pretend we were Robert Palmer and one of his floozie ladies with light skin, pulled back dark and and bright red lipstick. Yeah us 7 and 8 year old girls would have our own music video on stage of our living room mantel singing 'Addicted to Love'. Of course, being the older sis, I made my sister be the boy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4EJkI3hN0w

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So today I hit the ART doc.

What it ART?
ART is a patented, state of the art soft tissue system/movement based massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves. Headaches, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, knee problems, and tennis elbow are just a few of the many conditions that can be resolved quickly and permanently with ART. These conditions all have one important thing in common: they are often a result of overused muscles.

What is an ART treatment like?
PAINFUL, well at least today it was!

The ART provider uses his or her hands to evaluate the texture, tightness and movement of muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments and nerves. Abnormal tissues are treated by combining precisely directed tension with very specific patient movements.

Today I informed to doc I had been seeing the extent to which things have been bothering me. He spent quite a bit of time really working on my hip flexor and butt and actually a few other muscles all tied together in there that are all pretty tight.

I was sweating from the pain, but I think at least the doc was too from working so hard on me!! At least it wasn't just me! At any rate things feel pretty tender now but the doc said he could really feel things loosen up more than usual...now maybe it is because I am tighter than usual or maybe it was that he really worked deeper into my muscles. Either way, I am hoping it helps.

The doc said try to at least rest through the weekend which was pretty much my plan...think long term, right?? Doc said call him over the weekend if I needed to even. I can't say enough about having service providers that really seem to care!!!

Mad Monday Update 2/18

Last week I started off feeling OK, but my hip flexor and piliformis were aggravating me so mileage started trailing off. I think in general I am just sick of being cold, sick of bad roads and long commutes, sick of treadmills, and sick of winter in general.

The good news is there is light at the end of the tunnel. I am leaving the 5 or 6th of March for a vacation to head south! Did you sense that I may be ready for a vacation??? It seems so long overdue...after all I have not went away since last Memorial Day.

So the week went as such-

M 2/11
AM - Snowy commute made me late, only had time for 3 mile run-24:30
Lunch-4 Miles Ran with strides at 10mph for .15 mile, recover at 6mph for .25
T 2/12
AM - 4 mile recovery run
Lunch-Yoga (overstretched lower back-ouch)
Had a fun filled 2.5 hour commute home in snow
W 2/13
Body Scultping, Meant to hit Excel but skipped
R 2/14
AM 5 Miles Ran ~42 min (sore legs)
Shopped for Vday at lunch!
Missed ART doc appt due to 1 hr 45 min commute
F 2/15 REST
S 2/16 Chili Bowl-4 Miles Ran
S 2/17 7 Miles ran with E and SERC (hip flexor angry)

Weekly Total
Ran -27 Miles
Core - 2 hours

Even with taking it easy last week, I think this week will be even easier to try to heal. I am not going to run or bike for next week or so to get hip flexor squared around.

On a funner note, here is a pic of Auntie Janet with her girls!

So I had a bad day...chili bowl update

Mad Monday report will have to wait until Wednesday!

Wednesday I did my first Body Sculpting Class at Rezults, my new gym.

It was lots of weights, squats, and reps. We did these squats that we sat on our step with 2 risers underneath and stood up, squeezed in our uppper body, then squatted down for 3 low squats before sitting down and repeating. We did this several times and I knew I was going to have sore legs.

Thursday I woke up so sore that I struggled to walk downstairs. I ran my 5 miles on the treadmill and my les just felt like dead weight. Even the owner commented that I was limping when I got off the treadmill. (Limp was my hip flexor which is a whole other issue....more on that later!)

Friday I woke up even more sore than I was Thursday and subsequently opted for a REST day. That evening as my husband and I did some shopping I struggled to keep up with him walking as I limped around.

Friday night I knew I was in trouble for the Chili Bowl the next day. My quads had the feeling of shin splints with deep pain underneath the muscles. Before I went to bed I started trying to massage some Biofeeze into my muscles, hoping that may help.

Yet I awoke Saturday still in pain. I rubbed on some Body Glide warm Fx hoping it could help.

I drove the the race and it was a chilly morning at 15 on my car, but there was beautiful sun out and it was dry so I was OK with that.

After getting my packet and chatting for awhile I went outside to warm -up. However the cold made me feel like I had to go to the bathroom before the race so I cut my warm-up short to go inside and wait in line to go to the bathroom. The bad thing was I really needed to warm up those tight muscles and now that was not going to happen.

I lined up at the start wondering how much this would aggitate me. With the start I was off.

Everything felt so tight. We took off over a bridge with an incline and I could already feel my legs yelling at me. Yet as I hit mile 1, the clock read 6:22. Not too bad, but I would later find out it was short.

As I continued on in Ohio City I really started thinking that I wanted to stop. My legs ached terribly and had just given me the bird and said, "Slow down or else!" I listened and I started to get passed left and right.

As I hit the second mile marker I felt defeated when I looked at my watch and saw 7:50. How in the heck is this pace hurting me so bad?

I finally got to the bridge where the uphill grade continued to bury my brick legs and I watched as people (who I usually beat) continue to pass me. As I pushed on waiting for my suffering to end, I ran the final mile in 7:36 for a total time of 22:46. I did not see anything over 20:45 last year (and my December 5K was 20:18) and this was disappointing to say the least.

Yet, I knew going in that I was not ready to race that day, so much so that even as much as I physically was not ready due to the leg pain, I was not there mentally either for the same reason. As I sit here Tueday and type this up my quad soreness is gone. I needed a couple more days! No more hard lower body workouts within 4 days of a race anymore!

QUIT READING IF YOU ARE TIRED OF MY EXCUSES, BUT I RATIONALIZE A LOT!

Another issue I have been dealing with is my piliformis and hip flexor which are also severerly flared up. This was also an issue before the race and after limping around last week, I finally made it to the ART doc last Thursday. I sat on the table and started to sweat as the pain deep in there was just horrible when he tried to work it out. I find that I can run through the piliformis pain but the hip flexor hurts everytime I move my left leg forward. I may need to see the doc more often, stretch even more and back off a bit until it calms down.

As I ran that race Saturday all I could think is that my legs are killing me in so many different places and I could not even tell ya what hurt the worst. Blah, this is not the way to start the year. Yet, I think it is not so much my fitness and perhaps next race I will go out and run respectable race for the standards I set for myself and that I just had a bad day due to all the leg issues.

So for now #1 goal is to fix my body! Now is the time. Then I can go back to worrying about my original goals such as running faster!

Pursuit of being a buff chick!

OK, so I don't want to be that an actual chick, nor do I want to be the muscle popping he-man looking broad. I am just in pursuit of being super fit, with a nice lean, toned body and those 6 pack abs (a girl can dream!)!



I have always been what you would call a gym rat. Weekdays I generally hit the gym (at least for my shower!) in the AM and at lunch time. My gym always sort of becomes part of my extended family and I get attached!

When I started my current job, I switched from my beloved Jewish Community Center by my Beachwood office. I was so sad to leave the gorgeous facility, the spin class instructors, the trainers and some of my friends. There was this guy, Stan, who I looked forward to seeing most days. This late 50's bald stocky man with the sweat band on his head and glasses could always make me laugh. He would walk into the fitness center, filled with people and starting bellowing out hello's to people across the room as if he was a huge celebrity that just walked in the door. He knew all the regulars and would always stop by for awhile to chat, even if I could barely breathe.

Sigh...so I switched to a new gym close to my new office in downtown Cleveland. After some time and again going twice a day, it started to feel like home. There was this lady Sandy who always worked the morning / early afternoon shift that I would see. She always made it a point to say hi, knew everyone and often was referred to by members as our mom there. There was a certain hard bodies instructor, Heather, that I took a liking to immediately. She was a cute blond chick who looked lean and fit. Then as class started and we lifted our weights, you could see how jacked all her muscles were. Back in the fall there were a few days I was the only person who showed up to class and we headed out on the city. It was truly awesome! We ran around Browns stadium and ran stairs, did suicide drills and squats along the bridge, step up on the picnic tables and just got in great all around workouts.

Then, my boss decided to be more cost effective, we should change gyms. You see I am fortunate that my boss picks up this expense for me and the gym we were going to switch to just made more sense economically. Yet again I would have to leave what had become home.

So at the end of January, I hugged "mom" bye at the old gym and got my hard bodies class gal's email so hopefully we can stay in touch. So starting in February I have started using my new gym on a regular basis. Hopefully soon it will feel like home! If only it had a pool, which is a whole other issue for another time!

Mad Monday Update 2/11/08

Even actually done on a Monday!

After enjoying a "recovery" week the prior week after the 50K, I just did whatever I felt like this week. There were some marathon training plans I could have started for Boston. Yet I figured I would wait to start my plan (one featured in Advanced Marathoning by Pete Pfitzinger) with Espeed, since we do so a fair amount of training together and it would make scheduling easier. That and the fact that I could enjoy a couple weeks just going with the flow!

So here is how things went!

Monday 2/4 Rest, Not planned. I worked from home and day got away!

Tuesday 2/5- AM- 5 miles Ran, PM 1 hour Vinyasa Yoga

Wednesday 2/6 - 2.5 hours at Excel Cycling

Thursday 2/7 - 8 Miles Ran ~8:06 pace

Friday 2/8 - 8 Miles Ran

Saturday 2/9 - 18.6 Miles Ran with VR group (http://www.trainwithvr.com)

Sunday 2/10 - Rest- Decided if I woke up in time to meet SERC I would go. By the time I woke up I would have had to leave the house in 5 Minutes. Afterwards I was sort of glad I did not go as driving conditions really deteriorated and it was a bad white-out and freezing cold. Trainer ride planned for later in the day never happened either! Had a lazy day with the hubby!

Weekly Totals
Bike 45 Miles
Run 39.6 Miles
Core-1 hr Yoga
No swim

In other news I had my first meeting with Team ER Saturday at Ritchies Sporting Goods. I cannot seem to contain myself at specialty stores and ended up buying 2 pairs of shorts, 2 tanks, a hat, a heavy long sleeve jacket and an Asics Cold Weather Running Outfit, all at very reasonable prices!

So while I am not happy about this cold, I am can't wait to go out there and try out my new cold weather outfit. I have had a couple mornings where I ran outside this year (yes, those super cold ones below zero with the windchill) and nearly froze my lil touche off, so I figured this might help matters!

Lastly I dragged my hubbby with me to the Cleveland Tri Club winter party Saturday night! Many of my CTC peeps seem to work hard and play hard! It was a blast and the only bummer was leaving!

Here is a party pic with me and two of my runner girls, Beth and Melissa!

Breaking the Law, breaking the law!

So I have used this title before, but this time I actually got caught!

Saturday morning I woke up early to head out to meet the Vertical Runner Training group for some miles. Since my husband had to wake up early too Saturday, I figured I would leave at 5:45 to meet the early 6:30 group for some bonus miles.

I hop on the turnpike to head out to Pennisula. I set the cruise to my 75 and try to wake up as I drink a Rockstar. A car is behind me. Then he goes to pass me. Then he falls back as I motor on in my morning daze. Then I realize why. Two state highway patrol men in the median. Crap! He was already pulling out as I drove by and there is no doubt who is getting pulled over. Why is it when I get pulled over I start to get so nervous like a little child who knows they are in for it? My heart pounds as I reach for my license and registration. Then he scared me as he taps along the passenger window as I expected him on the driver's side. With a shaky hand I pass my stuff out the window.

Statey: "I pulled you over for speeding."

Me: "Was I going that fast?" Come on I know the cruise was set at 75 but I thought anything up to and including 10 over was in the safe zone.

Statey: "I clocked you at 75 in a 65."

Me: I think, "I know, not that fast! Pretty please don't give me a ticket."

Statey: "But if you slow down, I will go ahead and give you a warning."

Me: "I would really appreciate that sir."

Fully awake now, I think "Yippee, thank you, thank you! You made my day! I really did not need another ticket! Now could you hurry it up so I am not late to meet my group!"

Thankfully I got going without too much of a delay (and not even a Meow like my favorite Super Troopers!) and made it to the meeting spot with a couple minutes to spare, even driving a little slower than I would have preferred after that incident!

I quickly hit the bathroom, grabbed my flashlight and headed out with the group up 303, down Riverview and up Major hill. I stopped to tie my shoe and lost the lead group on 303. It was quiet on the way up. Everyone was a little spread out and working their way through the dark up the long climb. As we hit Oak Hill we regrouped and headed back. As we ran down the hill, we started talking about run-ins with the law and there were quite a few good stories told as daylight broke and before we knew it we were back at Lock 29 for a total of 5.2 miles.

As we regrouped I hit the bathroom but my stomach was feeling off, no doubt due to the garbage I had filled it with the night before. To be honest, I think my stomach hurt before I started. Unlike the slower paced trail running, the faster paced road running demands that I pay closer attention to my intake. Mental note!!

With a couple sips of water, I headed out with the group and ran with Katy, who is heading to Boston with E and I. We headed up 303, north on Riverview. Then we headed up a long climb up Stine Road over to Major and down Oak Hill. My stomach was knotting but not a lot I could do about it.

We made a left on Everett and then south on Riverview. I was waiting to hit the farm for the RR. After a quick pitsop we headed back out Bolanz, south on Riverview and at Ira, we picked up the Towpath to head back. You could really tell how bad some of the areas were hit with the flooding, but fortunately this stretch of towpath was open.

I felt like I was working hard to keep up with Katy and started to get really thirsty. We made another pitstop at Hale Farm on the way back to get a quick drink, which was heaven.

We plodded along on the towpath and made our way back to Lock 29 to meet up with some of the original group. Our mapped route was 13.4 miles, which gave me a total on the day of 18.6 miles. I felt good all in all with the exception of my insides. Most who know me, know this is common-place for me. Now it is time to put a focus on figuring out what I need to do to keep my insides happy!

Oh and Mr. Statey, I will try to slow down a bit on the roads but don't think I plan to slow down on the roads while I am on foot!!!

Break from the ordinary

I have found for some reason that when I work from home, my workouts tend to slide. Typically when I work downtown Cleveland I wake up bright and early (5:25 AM) and drive the 48 miles into town, get in an hour workout, grab a shower and walk to the office. Then at lunchtime I sneak away for another hour workout and consequently another shower.

Yet on the days I work at home, I find myself sleeping in until 15 minutes before the start of the workday (7:45). Then I walk downstairs to brush my teeth, take care of the dog, grab some cereal. I return upstairs to flip on CNBC and plop down in the office chair to look at the computer.

And then I don't move...forever. Every now and then when I am dying I run downstairs to the bathroom only to return to my chair again. I usually have on workout clothes with the intention of getting in a workout mid-day, but typically this is not happening.

I guess I feel more pressure at home to feel as though I am getting crap done.

Then there is the problem that I just can't seem to get myself motivated to work out at home, in the dark in the AM, by myself. Oh the list is long some days! Yesterday it was rainy and all the trucks would have splashed me if I ran on the side of the road. Thankfully yesterdayt was salvaged by spending 2.5 hours sitting on my bike at Excel cycling!

Today I knew I needed help. At my normal lunch time run, I decided I was going to treat myself with some fresh scenery. I drove 7 miles down the road to Garrettsville to run on the Headwaters trail. As I drove there I looked at all the dirty water on the road and was so thankful I was not on the other side of the white line running in that ick!

I parked the car and hopped onto the Headwaters Trail and cranked up my tunes. The Headwaters trail is an eight-mile limestone-paved trail built on the former Cleveland-Mahoning Railroad line between Mantua and Garrettsville which provides a safe and scenic route for hikers, bikers, and horseback riders.

It was just what I needed. I had set out for an easy 6 miler, but decided I needed more so I ran 8. Also lately I have been running so much with other people, that I haven't listened to my Ipod much lately, so I found myself really enjoying the tunes. The trail was pretty empty (only saw 3 other people and 2 dogs) which was good as I caught myself singing and jiving to the music a bit occasionally! The surface was perfect, with just a thin layer of snow over the limestone and my legs felt fantastic as I covered the path!

I knew I was moving along a little faster than normal, but everything just felt comfortable! I wrapped up the 8 miles in 1:04:51 at a 8:06 pace feeling very good!

It was just what I needed! Hmmm, now to con myself tomorrow!

Mad Monday Update 2/4/08

Okay a day late and several dollars short again...but time for the Mad Monday update!!



Well January is over. Thank goodness as there was blood all over the streets in the stock market. Hopefully we are through the worst of the market returns and the worst of the cold!

With the passing of Groundhog day, I guess Phil says "Six more weeks of winter!" I say "booohoo" to that as I am ready for some warm temps and sunshine!!! If only Phil lived in northeast Ohio he would never see his shadow because it is always cloudy here!

To kick things off, this was a recovery week after the 1/26 Winter Buckeye 50K. I took Sunday off as a rest day and hopped back on the horse Monday as fortunately the body was feeling pretty darn good!

Monday 1/28 - AM Swim ~1 mile 8-200's
- Lunchtime 7 miles ran with Salty and Espeed ~ 1 hour
Tuesday 1/29 - AM 14 mile Bike, Core and Stretching with E
- Lunctime 6.5 Miles ran with JP and E
Wednesday 1/30 - Am 1 mile Swim with E
- Lunchtime 3 Miles ran treadmill
Thursday 1/31 - AM 5 Miles Ran
- Lunchtime Hard Bodies Class
Friday 2/1 - Rest
Saturday 2 /2 - 6.5 miles, ran 10K Dirty Dog Trail Run
Sunday 2/3 - 12 Miles with SERC

Weekly Totals

Ran -40 Miles
Biked -14 Miles ---will work on this!
Swam - 2 Miles
Weight Training / Core -2 days

Dirty Dog 10K Trail Run

On Saturday I ran in my third Dirty Dog Trail Run. This year unlike the past two years, the weather was not in the single digits (or negative with the windchill), but a balmy 30 degrees! Actually with the wind coming off the lake, I was still cold I must admit!!!

Three carloads of us met in Parkman and headed down to the run. Upon arrival we picked up our packets. Bob got a $20 gift card to Dicks and several others got random give-aways. That particular race stuffs goodies in the bags at random and does not do awards at the end. Something different that I can imagine some people appreciate...at least we don't have to wait around after the event in the cold waiting for awards!

So after picking up our stuff we headed to the car to stay warm before the start. As we lined up on the icy parking lot we were told that it was slick and to be careful. Yet with the start I saw a couple people go down before we journeyed onto the single track trail in the woods.

I started out a little faster than I had planned to go. I had been planning on treating it as a fun run, but I charged out like bull into the arena. As we ran through the woods I found that even though the snow was not deep, the icy uneven footing was really slowing me down and make me work harder than I felt like I wanted to do.

The course offers some gorgeous views of Mosquito lake where the ice fishers were out as usual. I did manage to catch a stabbing to my calf from some evil little stick...okay so it was more of a scratch, but it still hurt! As we journeyed on to the road section, even with the ice I found it to be the only time I could remotely get into a rhthym. As we encountered the long stretch next to the Route 46 where we would run through the brushy field I slowed down. I was trying to be careful of my footing and spending way too much time trying to keep my feet dry. Right before the end of this section my friend Bob caught me and I was happy to have a friendly face to run with. As we headed up the grassy hill and back down the the water stop, I was relieved to be past the worst of the footing. As we entered back into the woods we encountered a road with a slight uphill grade for some ways. Though it was uphill, I was feeling better as I finally was not jockeying so hard for foot positioning.

On the last bit of single track I was actually starting to get a nice second wind and as Bob and I came around a developement, I started picking up the pace a bit as I knew the end was near. About the half way point I had soaked my foot and from that point on I quit trying to avoid the water. That was a good thing as there was plenty of it the last mile or so.

As we hit the finish line, Bob and I finished in 50:38, which is about 5 minutes better than last year. Granted the course was changed and the snow was not deep, but I think we also ran it better. While I was not thrilled with the time, I reminded myself I was trying to run it as a fun run and I actually had managed to come in as the Overall First Female finisher!

The best part of races I have found is being done. I congratulated Bob's brother Bill who finished about 3.5 minutes ahead of us as we munched some cookies and waited for all our other pals to finish.

We had intended to all go out to breakfast in Parkman afterwards but the restaurant was closed. So we headed up the street to Middlefield to Mary Yoders for some good ole fashioned Amish cooking (which definitely trumped what I would have ate in Parkman) and then me and my full belly headed home for a lazy afternoon!

The insatiable hunger!

This AM hit the gym for 5 Miles on the treadmill with E. I was starving and after a quick shower I made it to the office to have my normal, a bowl of Kashi Go Lean Cereal, the natural sweetened muligrain clusters kind, with some organic milk. That was gone by 8:30.

By 10:30 I was hungry again so I my daily snack stand-by, some 1% lowfat cottage cheese and an apple. I usually try to have some protein and some carbs.

Then 12:00 came and I was already a bit hungry, but it was not lunch time, but time for hard bodies class.

There we are working out and this smell starting to permeate the room. Some sort of fine smelling food was starting to overwhelm us as we worked out.

The funny thing was all of us seemed to have our own idea as to what it was. The instructor thought it was a turkey club, one girl said beef, I thought for sure it had to be pizza.

All normal people are out stuffin their face with delicious food on their LUNCH breaks and here I am just working out, starving to death and just smelling it...waaa!

So with mouths drooling we continued our workout. Thank goodness the smell went away or maybe we just got used to it. Yet, my hunger did not.

I returned to the office for lunch just after 1:30 to make my normal Cambell's Select Soup. You see this is my lunch everyday as it is cheap and easy plus it satisfies the protain and carb criteria. For the last several months my way of breaking up the monotony of it all is switching back and forth between chicken noodle and vegetable. Both are around 200 calories and 2 grams of fat.

This week the store was out of vegetable. So goes my "variety" for the week.

After my 4th day in a row of eating chicken noodle soup in a row and smelling that yummy unknown food, lunch did not do it for me AT ALL! I am still starving. It is about time for another afternoon snack...maybe more cottage cheese and an apple. Thank goodness my dinners are not so boring!

Mad Monday Update 1/18

Ok so I am late again, but ya know how the saying goes! Better late than never!

M 1/21 - 4 miles treadmill at home
T 1/22 - 3 miles treadmill AM (23:45~increasing 1 min intervals 6.5 up to 8.5)
500 M Swim
45 minute kickboxing class at lunch
W 1/23 - 46 min easy run AM with E's (~4.5 miles)
2 miles easy on treadmill (~18 min), Upper Body Weight Workout
R 1/24 - 1100 M Swim AM
60 Min Hard Bodies Class at lunch
F 1/25 - 750 M Swim
S 1/26 - 50 K Winter Buckeye Run

Weekly Totals---------------

Swim 1.5 Miles
Bike 0
Run 44.5 Miles
Weighting Training - 2 sessions

Winter Buckeye 50K Report

Friday night I spent the evening carb loading at Jimmy Dadonna's in Solon with my family. Tons of penne pasta, marinara, and of course their garlic dough balls!

Thankfully I got a good night of sleep and popped up ready to go Saturday morning. As I put my waist camelback on I had the realization that I must not have shut the lid properly as water went everywhere. I was not even running but had a damp right foot. Thankfully I was more than prepared. I chucked the camelback in a bag and grabbed my water bottle belt and threw some nutrition in the back.

The morning seemed a bit warmer than I expected and I said hi to all the local trail friends I have come to know over the training and lined up ready to go. Shortly after 7, Tanya blew the whistle and we were off. Marathoners and 50 K runners out toward the Brandywine loop (approx 5 miles) and half marathoners headed toward the Pine Lane Loop (approx 8 miles). By the end of the day I would run the Brandwine loop 3 times and the Pine Lane Loop 2 times for the approximate total of 31 miles.

Thankfully with the snow and the coming sunrise, lights were not needed. Elizabeth, Amie and I started down the towpath and the talking started immediately! As we started up the first big hill we started walking. It still feels strange to get these breaks when a run is just starting, but I won't say they bother me!

Conditions on the whole were pretty good. There was a nice base of snow and ice which was not deep (thank goodness) and obviously there was no mud to contend with. The only bummer was that we could not do the river crossing on the Brandywine loop due to icy conditions. Being that I have already fell on that crossing before in icy conditions, I can totally understand why.

The first loop went by relatively quick and in that time I had worked up quite a sweat. I pitched the jacket and decided I also did not feel like carrying my water bottle as I figured I would just drink at the aid stations which were never more than 4 miles apart.

We were in good spirits and Mr. Skin thought he would be funny guy and pass us so he could say he was ahead of us...he actually remained ahead for much of the course as we took our time at the stops.

On the first trip through Boston store I had some water and caught up with my girls Beth and Melissa while A hit the RR (her first trip of many!). Beth got the line of the day as I stood around chatting and she looked at me and said, "so ughh Janet, you realize you still have a marathon to run."

E and I took off at an easy pace waiting for A to catch up. With shedding my coat and all my sweat, I needed to get running as the cold seems to catch up to me fast when I stop for a bit. We chatted along and as usual I had a little stumble which my hands hit the ground and like a sprinter I was off as if nothing had happened. So we will call that my only half fall for the day!

Upon hitting Pine Lane I hit the restroom and grabbed a half a PBJ and some water. The PBJ hit the spot!! And then A caught back to us and the us three amigas were back off again!



A had took a fall into the creek crossing and was all wet. I would later see someone almost go down just as she said she did. I particularily enjoyed the out and back nature of the course and passing everyone multiple times. It is good to see friends and also you always can tell where you are.

The course is quite hilly, some areas with steps. A few trees had come down and there was one in particular which was quite huge and on my way back from Pine Lane back to Boston store, I went to lift my right leg up over the top top and thought I had pulled my groin right there. With a few steps all was fine, but I vowed I was not about to tackle it the same way the next time through.

As we hit Boston store I chatted with the MT and BH for awhile over some blue Rockstar that I had brought. YUM!! We even took a pause for a picture. E assisted the male leader with a bandaid for a bad blister.


As we headed off toward Brandywine all things were going smoothly. It was fun watching the half marathoners finish strong (Good job Monica and Eric!)! Yet we had some quite aways to go!

As we looped back I chatted with BM from teampr for awhile and before I knew it, I was back at Boston store. After some more Rockstar, E & I started walking, waiting for A to catch up after another pitstop. I decided I was going to go ahead and start running.

I had saw Mr Skin up the way and figured I would go bug him for a bit. After catching up to him we chatted for a moment and then I just fell into my own pace. Once I hit the Pine Lane stop, I hung around a bit munching on some pretzels and decided I would have some coke too. I should note I have more trouble than anyone I know with my stomach and bathroom issues, but the whole day I just ate whatever I felt like, not my normal gels and cliff blocks. Yet, I felt great the whole time and did not even have to go to the bathroom except for #1 the whole time. I guess the ultra slower pace is a whole lot kinder to my stomach than my normal pace!

After a bit, I decided I would just start my way back on my own. I thought I would not enjoy running this by myself at all but for some reason at this point I did not mind. It is just so pretty and I was dialed in to the ground ahead of me. Sometimes my mind would wander and I would think, "geez I've already ran like 22 miles and still have 9 to go." I would try to shake that off and think just one more loop left. I was feeling fine and just kept a nice steady pace. All of a sudden I heard breathing behind me and a female passed me. She went on to win the race for the females. I knew she was tough as I watched her in the distance still runnning up some big hills.

I had gotten behind one guy and the two of us chatted the next few miles with a stop at Boston store. The Brandwine loop always seemed to go by fast and I knew the way back was mostly downhill so I was plodding along just fine. I was enjoying watching the finishers come down the other direction like Lloyd who passed with a smiile. As we climbed the last hill I saw the female who had been out in front pretty much all day...still smiling! Shortly thereafter I saw KM coming down after her and wondered who would be legging it out for the win.

As I hit the turnaround I just let things start to fly. One guy made me laugh that I kept passing. He kept telling me that I was getting stronger every time he saw me. It is amazing what a boost little comments like this can give ya. At this point I was heading into the finish line. I passed E and A, and E said if I pushed I could break 5:40. Holy crap, 5:40....I was planning to be excited about breaking 6, so that was major icing on the cake. That and the fact that I knew I was in third, so I kept running harder. By the time I hit the towpath I was thankful I did not see anyone close to me b/c I know I would have been tempted to chase, but I did not, so I just cruised it in with a time of 5:37.

As I got done I felt unbelievably fine. I did not have the aches I am used to after a marathon is this was further. Did I mention that I now really love trails???

Afterwards I grabbed my bag out of the car and came back just as E & A were finishing. I also saw Barb as she was heading out for her last Brandwine loop.

Upon finishing we got the best free race shirt ever...these green jackets!


Final thoughts-

-One thing E, A, & I talked about is that sometimes races should have an '*' by them to explain the time.

-A should get a * as that girl is tougher than nails to run a whole ultra with major bathroom issues. Even with all her stoppping, she still finished with a very respectable time of 5:53.

-E should get a * too. She put aside her competitive side for the whole race to support her friend A and with her to the finish. So sorry ladies to leave you after 18!

-Thanks to E and M, who finally inspired me to try a 50K, something I never thought I would do. There will be more of these in my future!

-Trail runners are awesome. It is amazing the support I heard and smiles nonstop I witnessed out there on the course. Training and meeting so many new people was just great and congratulations to all the other people out there on the day.

-A's boyfriend, Todd, shocked everyone with a 2nd place finish. Congrats!!! No wonder why he always left us in his dust on the trails...that kid is fast!

- Winking Lizard is a great post race venue!

The Day Before

Big day on tap for tomorrow! Weather forecast for the race is a starting temperature of 16 (supposed to feel like 8) and warm up to 23 (and feel like 13) and some snow showers of course! Yet after a few days of running recently when it has been below zero with the wind chill this should not be too bad. Actually I think it is good that we will have the frozen conditions versus the mud!

All in all I am pretty excited about the whole thing! Training is done and went good and I will be out there with my pals on the course! You get a bunch of us chatting and the miles are sure to fly by. No crazy time goals for this one, just to finish, feel good and have fun!

Tonight I got to pack up my stuff and try to make sure I bring anything I may want. I am planning to relax this evening and actually refrain from any Friday night beer. I will save the beer for after the race when we head to Winking Lizard to celebrate our conquering of the ultra distance!!!!

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Last night I hit the Don Pablos for some mexican beers/margaritas and food before heading over the check out Spirit of the Marathon. While I found it interesting and well done, my husband fell asleep a couple times. Guess it is one of those movies that mainly only runners appreciate! After watching it, I am even more pumped up about this weekend's run!!!! Bring it on!

Taper Randomness

I really wish I could run faster, so I could try to run behind Lance the whole way through Boston Marathon! Oh it was a happy moment this week when I learned my favorite man, besides my hubby, of course :-), would be at the same marathon as me!!!! I wonder if there is any possibility of meeting him.....I did not know it was possible for me to get any more excited about Boston weekend!!!!!!!!!

My typical morning is being curled up in my bed and a half hour before my alarm is set to torment my ears, I wake up only to realize I have to go to the bathroom so bad. I roll over just wanting to go back to sleep. Then PO'd I get out of bed, walk all the way downstairs, go, climb back upstairs, and pull the covers over my head. Then it seems like 30 seconds later my stupid alarm clock goes off.

I hate when I don't pack my clothes the night before. I wake up in the morning and try to figure out two workout outfits and what to wear to work while scratching my head in a total daze. It stinks even more when you are walking around trying to figure it out and you stub your toe. Then you are running late and you stub your toe again. Sh!t, at least you are awake now!

Hottubs rule! So does swimming with your friend!

Tonight my non-running husband gets bonus points. He is coming to dinner with my running friends and then we are all going to see Spirit of the Marathon! YEAH, I am excited!