Mad Monday Update 7/7

Well hope all of you had a wonderful 4th! I did, thanks due in no small part to some fantastic weather!!!! YEAH!

So coming off last Sunday's 20 miler, the week went as such-

M 6/30 lunch-6 miles Ran at with downtown girls, short UBWO
T 7/1 6AM -20 Miles Biked (hills off River Rd)
lunch -6.5 miles Ran with E (hill repeats)
W 7/2 (Enjoying my sunshine!!) 8.5 Miles Ran lunch, 10 Miles Mtn Biked out at West Branch. It was Amie's first time and boy did we get a little muddy...so much so, that we went down to the lake so her bike could go swimmming to get some of the dirt off!

R 7/3 -Rest day...dead legs
F 7/4 -3 Miles Ran
S 7/5 -21 Miles Ran (4.5 on towpath, 16.5 on BT). Although I was tired I still managed the energy to play quite a bit of volleyball that day!
S 7/6- 80 Miles Biked with Cleveland Touring Club on Emerald Bracelet. Really felt good all day and enjoyed myself!

Weekly totals-

Ran - 45 Miles
Biked- 110 Miles (100 road, 10 mtn)
Swam -0
Core -1 short session

Random thoughts-
*Mtn Biking Miles on the trails should actually count 3 times with respect to the time it takes.
*Fell on the Buckeye Trail running for the second week in a row
*Between my trail running and mountain biking, I am always looking beat up!
*Got stung by a bee on the side of my right knee while cleaning gutters on the roof. It is red hard and swollen (still on Monday) and it hurt every right step of my 21 mile trail run.
*I am an itchy mess between poison ivy, mosquito bites (I must taste good cause bugs love me)and now the bee sting!
*Got called a party pooper for leaving July 5th bash early, but Sunday's ride easily made up for it!

Bonus--I got up today early for a 1550 yd swim in outdoor pool at the JCC. First swim in awhile, yet it was so awesome to just be outside doing it! Maybe I can make this a habit!

Please don't take my sunshine away...

For real, are we really going to get two days of glorius sunshine in a row???? Yipppeee!!!!

I am so sick of the rain and the muddy mess it is making of the trails!!

I am planning to take full advantage of today and get outside and enjoy today's sunshine before the rain returns tonight....will things ever get a chance to dry out???

Mad Monday Update 6/30/08

Well another week down and things are starting to feel like they are coming around a bit!

Monday 6/23 Rest

Tues 6/24 6AM -20 Miles Road Bike
lunch -6 miles Ran with the girls
6PM-30 Miles Mountain Biked on Road with Hubby

Wed 6/25 5 Mile Track w/o 1 mile repeats on treadmill...I hate these!

Thurs 6/26 7.75 Mile Run to Edgewater with E

Fri 6/27 AM 3.5 M Run ---feeling sore so kept it easy and short
PM 5 Miles Mountain Bike on Road before hubby tire blowout

Sat 6/28 15 Mile Mountain Bike on Road to Garrettsville Tractor Parade (This one deserves a post all on its own...gotta love the hillbilly town where my husband and I grew up! Let me tell ya how many times I shook my head as I watched the tractors roll down the town streets!)

Sunday 6/29 19.25 Mile Buckeye Trail Run--actuallu felt pretty good the whole way

Run 41.5 (finally over 40...now to keep moving up and not injured!
Bike 70 (20 road/50 mtn bike)

Pics from Run compliments of Chef Bill. It was quite a large group!





PS, can it quit raining already to dry out the muddy trails (for both mtn biking and running!)???

Mad Monday Update 6/23

After the 70 miles Sunday 6/15, my groin / hip flexor on my right side (which is my good side) was aggravated. So I kept things pretty easy M & T. I think when I try to attack hills on my road bike I really have a habit of pulling my pedals up pretty hard which causes my hip flexors to flare up.

So the week went as such.

M 6/16 6 Miles with the lunch girls
T 6/17 5.5 Miles with the Laura & friend (swarmed by muckleheads, one of which died in my sweaty sports bra-ewww!!!)
W 6/18 9 mile Run (1:14~8:14 pace)
R 6/19 30 Mile Road Bike Ride with allanjel AM, 9 mile Mountain Bike Ride at West Branch (2 hours)
F 6/20 14 mile Run (hot day about 5 PM and did and out and back from Mantua to Gville thinking I could hit the drinking fountain and take a gel at midpoint...but drinking fountain broken and that really bummed me out. Ughhh, guess I should have brought my own water.
S 6/21 5 mile road bike...testing out new tires (which somehow flatted twice overnight and before I took it out that day)

I had meant to do the Ohio City 5K that night but severe weather warnings were everywhere, so I decided to take it easy and get a nice dinner and to bed early for...

S 6/22 Summi Tri (400 yd swim~10 min with transition, 11ish mile bike(went wrong way and had to unclip and walk around gate gaining some extra mileage) ~37 min with transition, 5 K Run ~22ish) for a total of ~1:11.

My non-swimming butt still managed to nab first in my AG (which was the best I could do since I did not register as an elite. I am not sure where that put me overall among women. I actually felt pretty good and probably should have pushed a little harder than I did. My swim totally stunk (not a huge surprise since I have only swam about 1000 yards once a month). I really think that my time does not give e justice as I think I swam well over 400 yards with my zig-zagging!!!

All and all, it was fun to do a tri again. I only did one last year (GCT half). This race is well run (my off course jaunt that a group of us done was caused by a ranger that left post to let van in somewhere---only so much you can control) and it was so much fun to see so many familiar faces out there!!!

This week I want to focus on getting back to lengthening out the training sessions and adding some volume and focused training.

Totals
Ran-38 Miles
Biked-50 Miles (9 mtn, 41 road)
Swam-400 yds +++!

Still here!!!

Well I have been slowly trying to unbury myself! Seems I have been spending so much time running around with a variety of things going on, time has just been at such a premium...which means blogging sits in the back seat!

In News-

On Sunday, June 8, Bill and I as Co-Directors along with the Cleveland Touring Club put on a capacity filled successful event, the Sunday in June Ride which had distances ranging from 25-100 miles! It was a scenic route out by my stomping grounds.

My husband bought a mountain bike about a month ago. We have been riding about 3 times a week together and so finally last week I broke down and got myself one too. It was time to upgrade the ole garage heavy model that had trouble shifting into the big chain ring!

Monday 6/9
noon 6 mile run
eve 13 miles on mtn bike with hubby on roads

Tues 6/10
14 mile mtn bike ride on roads with hubby

Wed 6/11 track workout~ 5 miles

Thursday
6 mile run with girls
11 mile mountain bike ride at West Branch which took about 2.5 hours
This was my first time on real trails. We went with CTC Xterra newbie group...really appreciated them showing my husband and I the ropes and waiting on our beginner behinds! First 30 minutes were a little scary. I have a whole new appreciation for this sport. Husband and I definitely broke our bodies and bikes in with scrapes, bruises and crashes, yet we managed to have a blast! Now to get better!

Friday
1000 yard swim

Saturday
13 mile trail run

Sunday
6 AM-46 miles on road bike with TR. Started at River Rd and had fun climbing up and down the hills off that road!
1 PM -24 miles on mountain bike with hubby

Totals
Swim-1000 yards (I know, not my thing!)
Biked-108 miles (46 road, 62 mtn bike)
Ran -30 miles (really need to get this higher asap)

You know you are not running hard enough when these are your race pics!

Closing the Book

So the more I think about Cleveland marathon, the more irks me!!! While all you worry warts out there can rest assured that I am taking it easy these two weeks, I feel like there is a fire lit under my butt to prove something now!!! So I am closing the book on that pathetic showing and looking forward.

Yet first let's note a few of the good things surrounding Cleveland marathon.

First and foremost-Time with Friends.

The day before I spent time with my ole college roomies and E during a run, the expo and lunch!



TriSaraTops and TriShannon



Trishannon, me and E!!!



Running into friends out on the course like GV here...not to mention all my peeps out there spectating! (I am actually hiding on the other side of him in the pic.)



-THE BEST CHEERLEADERS ON THE COURSE, E & A at my side!!!!
-Watching other friends putting forth some amazing efforts duing the day like my girl BH with us!!
-The rain ending and the sun coming out!!!
-The beer afterwards!
-The afterparty with with SERC buds!

At least it the weeekend had some real highlights, even if the result was not what I was looking for!

Mad Monday 5/19

Monday 5/12 -noon-5 Mile Track Workout on treadmill, 2 mile warm up, 4-600's at 1:30 (max treadmill speed) short cool/down
- Evening weight training session with HPL ( a little less reps and lighter weights than normal

Tuesday 5/13 - 5 Mile recovery run with the girls at lunch

Wednesday 5/14 - 6 AM spin class at JCC, evening stretching session with HPL

Thursday 5/15 - 3 Mile Race Pace Run ~23.59

Friday 5/16 - Rest

Saturday 5/17 - 25ish??? min run with TriShannon, E, and TriSaratops

Sunday 5/18 - Ran 26.2 Miles

Totals-------
Core - 2 sessions
Bike-20 Miles
Run-42.2 Miles

Finishing what I started

Yeah, the marathon did not go at all as planned.

I was targetting 3:30 and was pretty to pace through 11. Then I lost some time in the with a bathroom stop and was already starting to feel a little off. I so wanted to just turn at the half course and call it a day!

When Elizabeth and Aimee picked me up at the half (~1:51), I changed my plan to target 3:40 as I was just not feeling very good.

As I approached mile 14, I glanced down at my HRM my HR was starting to really sky rocket. After reaching 180 I started walking and proceeded to wheez uncontrollably. It took forever to catch my breath and about this time, I decided my goals were out the window and I would have to take finishing as an accomplishment.

I mean if I was not going to PR or BQ, what is the difference of finishing in 4 hours vs. 4:30?

The rest of the day continued in this matter. It seemed any period of prolonged running resulted in HRs ranging from 170-185 when I would have to walk again. Thank goodness for Aimee and Elizabeth as they kept me going with fun chit chat while we pretended that I felt good for camera men!

I felt terrible. My stomach felt binded up and I thought I might hurl at any moment and my chest ached from the heart working so hard. I can't seem to put my finger on the problem.

Here is what I do know-

Contrary to my normal routine, I had taken two Excedrin pills which contain caffeine and two Immodium pills prior to my run. The week prior was insanely busy and stressful and I had not had a good nights sleep in 5 days. Plus I felt off on Saturday.

I feel pretty blah today and it seriously feels like my chest is still sore. At this point I am just looking forward to a couple weeks of downtime.

In the grand scheme of things I am obviously disappointed that I was so far from my goal, but in life things don't always go as planned. I will take some small comfort that I finished while feeling so crappy and heck at least I got in some extra girl time with my ladies! I am now just ready for some R&R the next 2 weeks or so!

A slip of the tongue!!!

Get your mind out of the gutter!!!

So I try not to swear.

However, when passion flies every now and then a flagrant word may spew out of my mouth.

So I just watched my beloved Cavs lose in game 5. On a side note they are to blame for me sleeping in and missing the swim I wanted to get in. Darn them for keeping me up late and getting me so worked up I could not fall right to sleep after already staying up past bedtime!!!!

I am laying in bed sulking the loss and I flip over to the news to catch the weather.

Fox was doing their 5 day forecast and there I saw it-Marathon Sunday's forecast.

And then it flew with emotion-

"F-ing BREEZY!!!"

I think the CAVS passion was carried over into the heat of this comment.

My husband, who sitting in bed surfing the net on the laptop, looked over at me and started laughing. "Did you just say F-ing Breezy?"

Caught red handed with my swear, I sheeplishly explain that I can deal with some light showers but what I really don't want is wind...especially coming back Marginal into town!

What can you do though? Hope the forecast changes and I get some friggin awesome weather, of course!!! If not, oh well, at least I got my secret weapons, E & A!!!!!

Mad Monday Update 5/12

Holy crap, is the Cleveland Marathon week already here???

Monday 5/5
- AM -2 Mile Run, 9.5 Miles Biked
- LUNCH- UBWO with E

Tuesday 5/6
- LUNCH-Track workout with E -6.7 Miles 6X400 repeats 1:28 dropping to 1:25 (I was totally sucking for air feeling out of shape!)
-EVE- Lower Body workout with Sean at HPL--squats and lunges galore (tail soreness kept getting worse through Thursday peak)

Wednesday 5/7
-5 Mile easy run with the girls-E, LP, JP

Thursday 5/8
-6 Mile Tempo Run 2 easy, 3 at 7 min mile, 1 easy. Between me having to go to the RR and my sore legs from HPL workout, I really struggled!
-EVE-Strectching session with HPL

Friday 5/9
-UBWO with Monica
-1000 yards swam

Sat 5/10
-10 Miles ran with TR and BB

Sun 5/11
Rest Day---Spent time with the mothers, saw Ironman, and played with the pug puppies Joey's aunt and gma got (I want one too!)!

Totals-
29.7 Ran
9.5 Biked
1000 yds swam
3 Strength, 1 stretch

The Doghouse

So Matches still has his mohawk as it has not yet grown out yet! (PIC NOT HIM, JUST WHERE HE IS IN MY BOOK AFTER LAST NIGHT!)

And last night about 4 AM, I am jolted awake by the loud thunderstorm crashing outside. I roll over hoping to go back to sleep when I hear the gate at the top of the stairs start banging.

You see we have these swinging cafe doors like a western saloon at the top of the stairs with a little clasp to keep the dog downstairs.

Yet lately he has learned that if he bangs and scratches hard enough, it will shake the hook right out of the clasp and whalla, time to eat Zippo the kitty's food! This just started this week and has now happended 4 times.

Well last night the banging was for quite another reason.

Scardy tough mohawk dog was so shaken from the storms that he wanted to come hang out with us. Despite my best efforts to coax him back downstairs it was not happening. I gave up, shut the door to our bedroom with Matches in there and went downstairs to go to the bathroom. Next it was my husbands turn as now he was awake.

He kicks Matches back downstairs and we go back to bed. A few frantic pawing moments 10 seconds later and he was back in the bedroom. My hubby and I looked at one another and I gave up and got up to shut the door to let Matches sleep in our room for the first time ever.

So after Matches quit panting and pacing so bad and settled down, I finally fell back to sleep. Like 15 minutes my alarm rang to get me up for spin class but I was now too tired to go.

I am blaming this one on my whoosy dog!!!! That mohawk did nothing to make you any tougher, you poser!

Now it is time to figure out a new way to keep the dog downstairs I suppose!

All wrapped up in one post!

OK folks I have been struggling with finding time for blogging so again, here is the short version so I can get back to the work I should be doing!

Delayed Mad Monday Update

Monday 4/28- 6 Mile run -46:59 in the rain
Tues 4/29- LBWO with HPL
Wed 4/30 (3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!)- 6 AM spin class, UBWO with MT
Thurs 5/1- Took Matches to park and ran intervals-5 Miles, Stretching with HPL
Friday 5/2 -7.75 Mile Run with E in thunderstorm, picture 2 very drowned rats
Saturday 5/3- Rest
Sunday 5/4 -Silver Springs Du -7 Miles Ran (2 5K's plus w/u), 18 Miles Biked

Weekly Totals
2 Strenth Training Sessions
36 Miles Biked
25.75 Miles Ran

Silver Springs Duathlon
WARNING--This is what you don't do!!!

The night before was the big wedding. Tons of family and friends. Everyone had a blast, as I knew we would. Yet I had more than my share of beers, shots and then Taco Bell.

Ahhh, yes, what could be a better idea after a lot of beers and a looming duathlon the next day???


Yeah, not so much...............

I woke up after a little sleep to drag my butt out of bed to the du. You see I really I had thought long and hard about not signing up, as I knew I would probably be hungover. I knew inevitably when you get these fun people together the night before at a wedding what was going to happen. Yet, for the Beast Series and for Team ER, I kind of felt obligated to participate, even if it meant not putting my best foot forward. And not being an A race on my schedule, I was going to party it up at the weddding!!!

With shades covering my blood shot eyes, I made my way to transition area and I think E knew immediately it had been a rough one (or one heck of a fun night, depending how you wana look at it).

So I haven't ate Taco Bell for like 2 years and for good reason!!!

So this is quite disgusting to me, even as I type this a few days later, but after all that drinking I managed to stuff down 2 cheesy gordita crunches and 3 soft tacos. The race was starting and even with my short warm-up I had not yet gone to the bathroom if you know what I mean....yeah, that means bad news bears.

With the horn we were off. Up hill the first mile and already the Taco Bell burps were starting. I just tried to keep myself dialed in and not get caught up in attempting to keep up with my girls E and A....like that could happen on this day anyway!!!

Around the 5K loop in 21:59 and into transition I went. After an ugly transition and taking forever to snap my helmet strap, I was off on to my bike. I played cat and mouse with one girl for awhile passing her for the final time about the half way point. I stayed about 200 yards behind one guy the majority of the ride. Up and down the hills I gulped the most quenching water of my life from my aerobottle as the alcohol gushed out of my pores as my speed ranged from 12-30. After 3 laps I pulled into the parking lot to see A heading out for her final run.

As I headed out of transition I saw E coming in on her bicycle. I was confused as to how she was behind me as I knew I did not pass her on the bike and she ran like the wind the first 5K. I exited transition behind one strong female cyclist who had passed me with about 3 miles to go, and I passed her right away. My heavy legs were not happy and neither was I, as I continued burping Taco Bell. The stomach was churning as I plodded along the first uphill mile. I knew E was going to catch me if I did not speed up, but not crapping my pants was higher on my priority list, so I kept myself in a maintainable range.

Just after mile 1, she passed me and said she had missed a turn on the bike course. Bummer for her, as she would have won! I wanted to tag along as she pulled away but I was afraid that pace might risk total taco bell meltdown, so I let her go. As I came around toward the finish line, you could hear A & E cheering me on like I was leading the olympics or something. What a way to finish the race!!!! My Team ER friends were also all on the sidelines cheering! Let me tell you how happy I was to cross that finish line!!! Heck, somehow I even manged to nab 3rd overall female (1:44:27), just behind my ladies A (1:41:56)& E(1:42:56).

Without further adieu, I was off to the bathroom. After hitting the bathroom and all that sweating out the poisons I felt like a new person! It was a gorgeous morning and I was glad I had sucked it up and came out to race after my fun night the evening before.

The whole morning was a blast (minus the hangover /taco bell issues) made possible by my two amigas, E & A (HOW FABULOUS THAT WE COULD CLEAN SWEEP THE PODIUM, if I am going to lose, I want it to be to them!!!), my CTC friends, my Team ER pals, the great RD and volunteers, and some nice weather!!!!



So next up is the big show at Cleveland. Have no fear friends, there will be no alcohol and no Taco Bell anywhere near that one (well maybe a little beer afterwards, but it is going to have to be at least another couple years before anymore Taco Bell!!!)

Mad Monday Update 4/28

M 4/14 Track Workout-6 400's -5.5 Miles
T 4/15 Worked out with Sean from HPL (squats, lunges, etc)
W 4/16 4 mile-ish run with E to find Amtrak station
R 4/17 Stretching session with Sean from HPL (really was tight from Tuesday's session and it felt great!)
F 4/18 Rest-train ride
S 4/19- 5 miles, 5X100 strides
S 4/20- Approximately 3 Miles easy

Totals-
18.5 Miles Ran
1 weight training session
Good streching

--------------------------
M 4/21 Boston Mary
T 4/22 Rest - Train
W 4/23 5 Miles Ran, felt great and actually held back...only complaint, sore toenails
R 4/24 off---outside work!
F 4/25 1.5 Miles Treadmill, Upper Body Weight Training
S 4/26 Walked around Hocking Hills State Park with hubby~ 3 Miles
S 4/27 Off ---Rode motorcycles home from Hocking Hills

Totals-
32.7 Miles Ran
1 Weight training session

One week later and feeling totally back to normal and totally inspired to get back to training!!!!!!!!

Boston continued....

Why is it when you go away for a few days, everything else sort of stacks up on ya???

So here is the shortened version so can get it down before it gets skipped altogether.

Sunday, we awoke to watch the trials! They were oh-so-inspiring. I really was impressed with Maggie running in front for the majority of the race with such a commanding league. Yet on the last loop we watched, it was obvious Deana was closing in and in the end caught her! It was fun to cheer on the girls and every now and then, get a smile like one from the chick in the Running Fun outfit!

E and I headed over to meet blogger Kurt and his wife for lunch (very nice to meet both of you!). My butt waas dragging after my late night Saturday and then we made it back to the hotel with about an hour of downtime before heading out to our final run. After a shower, the ladies headed over to to our friend's house for a nice dinner and some awesome music with our Southeast Running Club peeps. It was the perfect relaxing evening before the big show!

After a rough night of sleep, I woke up ready to run my first Boston! For a 10:30 AM start, it is still amazing how early you got to get up to start the day. We were up at 5:25 and even though I was stoked about the day, I felt so tired that I was still in zombie mode until I started running.

Luckily as Katy and I headed to the drop, the sun poked out and the temps warmed up. I made the wise choice to not wear the arm warmers and sport some shades.

By the time we weaved through a million people on our way to the 15th corral, I had did an awful lot of walking and made it there with only 2 minutes to spare. Before I knew it we were off.

I was so excited as I watched the sea of people heading down the first hill.

The plan was to run a comfortable pace the whole way. Regardless of how I felt, I did not want to feel like I was pushing too hard as I really want to run Cleveland Marathon as my A race. I planned to run around 4 hours or 9 minute miles which I thought was feasibble taking in considerastion that I wanted to be careful to avoid injury and not leave too much at Boston that I should be saving for Cleveland.

Splits-

Mile 1- 8:45
Mile 2- 8:25
Mile 3- 8:33
Mile 4- 8:36
Mile 5- 8:52
Mile 6- 8:49
Mile 7 - 8:54 Already thinking my feet hurt and there is a long way to go! Gel #1
Mile 8- 9:05
Mile 9- 8:56
Mile 10-9:07
Mile 11-9:23
Mile 12-9:55 Cherry Flavor ice popsicle munching ensued!
Mile 13 9:31 Gel #2
Mile 14-9:54
Mile 15-10:02
Mile 16- 15:03 POP stop #1, lubed up
Mile 17- 10:38-Gel #3
Mile 18- 13:20 POP stop #2
Mile 19- 9:54
Mile 20- 11:04- Strawberry Flavor ice popsicle munching ensued!
Mile 21- 10:23
Mile 22- 9:49- Gel #4
Mile 23- 9:30
Mile 24- 9:58
Mile 25-9:48
Mile 26+.2- 11:05

Total time 4:17:44

In short, I felt great all day. After I got off pace at the POP stops, I decided I was not going to try to get back on pace but to keep runnning consistent race. I know the latter half of the race my pace seemed pretty even but I was definitely spending more time than nescessary walking through water stops. I was thirsty and really was not too worried about my time!

The worst part of the day were my bruised feet. I have been plagued for some time now with some random foot issue and I knew this would be my trouble spot. I really need to get in to see a podiatrist. Pain reliever around mile 11 seemed to help. It is like I have little pinhead bumps under my skin that start down under my pointer toe on both feet. No real issues with sore quads that most Boston runners get, perhaps it was just that I was running slower???

The best part of my day was definitely eating the flavor ices (THOSE PEOPLE GIVING THOSE OUT RULED--wink, wink to Cleveland watchers!!).

We interrupt this Boston report with an email from home!

Mr. Matches, my golden retriever sweeetie pie had got quite stinky and it was time for a bath. My hubby's mom, who breeds and shows goldens was nice enough to give him a bath and get him all trimmed up for us. Imagine my surprise when my husband sent me a picture of him while I was in Boston.


Apprently she thought it would be nice for Matches to get shorter hair for the summer and a new tough look. My mother in law must have got a good laugh doing this! Good thing her son and I (and hopefully Matches) all have a good sense of humor!!!

The Boston Experience

In a word, FANTASTIC!!!

Where to start???


So we arrived to Boston after our long train ride late Friday night to stay and finally meet the infamous Locked and Loaded, KIM! After some pizza, wine and talking we hit the hay for our big Saturday!

Saturday morning we awoke early, showered, grabbed a cab, dropped the bags by the hotel, hit Starbucks and was at the expo as it opened at 9 AM. The Boston Marathon expo was jam packed with cool stuff to see and I felt like a kid in the candy store that could not get enough. I purchased an Adidas Boston Marathon black jacket, a race belt with a pocket for my gels and when I thought I was done buying I found these insane arm warmers that I just had to have! They looked like full sleeve tattoos chalk full of colors, flowers and even some lucky dice! Yeah, they were pretty cool to say the least.

Us girls all took a moment to get our gait analyzed. Apparently I have a nice clean forward gait motion and I am a pronator. That was what I thought, but good to get it confirmed that stability shoes are the choice for me.

We cut the expo a bit short to head over to Legal Seafoods for lunch, ESpeed's pick for her "cornicopia" salad of flavors. I opted for a grilled shrimp ceasar salad and about 5 big glasses of water before we headed over for our duck tour.

Now I had heard the Duck tours were quite cheesy but I got to say I had a blast and laughed a ton while learning about the city. Captain Hardly Davidson who was hiding from a local scooter gang that had too many bake sales took us around the city and into the water. About the time my bladder was about to burst we made it back to Prudential center in time for a tiny bit of shopping. Then it was time to head up to the Charles River for a nice 5 mile run with 5-100 yard strides. About this time I decided I needed to definitely sit on my butt more as my feet were tired on the run from walking around so much!

We got back to the hotel, hopped in the hot tub briefly and then showered up for the evening fesitivities. We headed to Vinny T's with Southeast Running Club peeps for some Italian food which was quite good. Then Dawn and I headed out with a couple others for some drinks and finally drug our butts to bed about 1:30 AM.

First tiring day in the city down and two more to go!!! Next up Sunday's trials!! Lots of fun pics to come!!!

-------------

I know you are all wondering how my race went? The abbreviated version is just as planned. I had planned to take it all in and just have fun while trying not to beat myself up too bad so I can race at Cleveland in 4 weeks.

I went out faster than I wanted to and was consciously trying to hold back. Then at mile 11 I hit the port o potty which took forever. Picture 2 POP with 5 people waiting in line to go and everyone is taking their time crapping! So 5 or 6 minutes later I was out with the realization that my chaffing legs needed some vaseline. Over to the med tent for some of that. I gotta say I was in no real hurry. I thought about trying to make up the time. Then, decided who cares, letz just have fun!! I ran the miles comfortably and had another long POP stop. I smacked hands like crazy, took it all in, had a blast and felt good the whole way finishing in 4:17.

Half way to Boston

Yep folks, the train is rolling and us chicks are already getting silly. Between some crazy random folks on the train, some nasty bathrooms, shady food and almost get exorcised....we may just get there yet!!!!

Stay tuned for this exciting adventure......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh and on the good chance that Elizabeth and Katy beat me marathon day, I will have you all know they did not win rummy!

My road to Boston

OK so this is my first time so I can't help but to be really excited about it!

Here is a little history of my marathon progression....

1998 - Ran Columbus marathon in the fall of my senior year of college. This was particularily hard for me to fit in the training between trying to maintain decent grades, work about 15-20 hours a week, and keep to a very rigorous party schedule.

TriShannon and I trained countless hours together and when marathon day arrived, I felt strong and ready in my cotton race wear with no real nutrition strategy. I ran the first 18 with Shannon and then ran the last 8 alone feeling really strong the whole way. With a time of around 4:40, I decided this marathon stuff was not for me as it took too much training time.

Fast forward 8 years.

2006 - Ran Columbus marathon again. After a couple years of getting back into running and realizing I was already training so much I might as well attempt a marathon again, I was back for the challenge.

I ramped up my mileage way too fast and had bad IT band issues. To complicate matters my stomach gave me the bird race day and I made 5 miserable port o potty stops and felt like crap. Ran a disappointing 4:15.

2007 - Cleveland Marathon -I was ready to show Columbus that was not me that day. I trained hard alone on the treadmill forcing myself to keep up my paces repeating "Boston Baby" over and over in my head. I trained consistent with my girls E and MT through the winter and arrived at the starting line feeling strong. I ran the first half 1:43:19 and slacked up the second half knowing my goal was simlply the BQ. Crossed in 3:38:32, victorious in my goal!

Chicago Mary 2007-My 4th marthon ever. It was more of a bonus for me. I had a BQ in the bag and was there to support and run with my cousin, Ar. In the heat, my girl accomplished her goal with me at her side!

2008--The MASTA PLAN!

Enjoy Boston Mary 4/21, Race Cleveland 5/18

Injuries feeling better and training is coming along, but that does not mean let's run harder at Boston. It will be one long training run and the goal is not to kill myself at both races, but to save myself something for Cleveland (I gotta feeling I will need to keep telling myself that over and over again Monday). That said my plan is to run a comfortable pace at Boston somewhere probably around 4 hours, recover smart and run strong at Cleveland!

Mad Monday Update 4/14/08

Can Boston really only be a week away? It is close enough I can look up the extended forecast.

Apr 21 Monday -Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the mid 50s and lows in the mid 40s.

Now if only that was indeed the actual weather Monday, I think I will be very happy! I need to try out the skirt of my new Southeast Running Club outfit before then!

All and all, things all seem to be coming together on the running front which I am stoked about.

I am forcing myself to suck it up and mentally toughen up and stay on my paces when my body desperately wants to walk.

Monday 4/7 -4 Miles treadmill, 3 ladders (6.5-8.5), 3 alternating 2 min hard/easy 6/10mph)~33 minutes, core work

Tuesday 4/8 -8 mile general aerobic run with ESpeed 10*30 second strides. Gorgeous day and loop from downtown to Edgewater.

Wednesday 4/9- 3 miles easy on the treadmill, stretched good

Thursday 4/10 - 9 Mile "Track" workout - I went ahead and did the w/o on VR site after a 3.75 mile warm-up which included running to a local track with E and realizing the kids were on it, so we went back to the treadmills to git-er-done.

2 x 800 w/ 400 recoveries (ran at 9.8 ~6:07 pace)

2 x 800 w/ 200 recoveries (ran at 9.9 ~6:04 pace)

2 x 800 w/ 400 recoveries (ran at 10.0 ~6:00 pace)

1 x 1200 @ Goal Marathon Pace (ran at 7.9 ~7:36 pace)

Friday 4/11 - Moderate Spin -10.25 miles on recumbent bike with ladder program, level 10 - 30 min

Saturday - 12.33 mile run with Nathan. Felt good and strong the whole time

Sunday-Laid on couch nursing hangover...good thing I had planned it as an off day!

Piece of sh!t car

Dear stupid car,

So you want to fight? Yeah so you thought it would be funny to leave the windshield wipers straight up saluting the sky not working the day we are trying to leave Ohio about a month ago for a week long vacation? You must have knew that part to fix you would not be in that day and you would not have to handle a 2000 mike drive. Very funny, but had a semi went by and buried us in slush and we could not see and crashed you, that would not have been very funny.

Maybe you are mad that my sister's husband backed into you two weeks ago and you had to spend several days in the shop for your hurt door. Poor baby, get over it. I was the one that had to scramble to find something else to drive!

And now this! That noice you started making was just abnoxious. Are you doing this just because my 80,000 mile warranty that I have blew through in 2.5 years is up already and you like to stress me out? I know you have become friends with the other cars at the dealership but now you are going to hang out there for at least another week and leave me high and dry again?

Car, that is it! I am done being friends with you! Get over your jealousy with my new redhead. The snow is coming back to town and I need you back to cart my butt all over the place!

Mad Monday Update 4/7/08

Alright short and sweet...if I try to get creative I won't take the time so without further adieu...

Monday 3/31 - off at Tribe Opener
Tues 4/1 - 6.5 Miles Treadmill, 800 and 400 repeats
Wed 4/2- 22 Miles Outside Bicycling!!!!! 1st time of the year!
Thurs 4/3 - off
Friday 4/4 - 7 Miles with Espeed on treadmill-59:30
Saturday 4/5 - 15.7 Miles Run with Nathan! Conquered a big climb early and a bunch of rollers! Managed to consistently drop pace the last several miles on Headwaters Trail and finished strong ~overall 8:45 pace
Sunday 4/6 - 40 Miles Bicycle with Cleveland Touring Club then followed up with incredibly long motorcycke ride (my poor lil bruised butt is mad at me!!!)

All and all, slowly getting back to feeling better....maybe it has something to do with the weather!

Totals
Ran -29.2 Miles
Biked - 62
Swam--Zilch...yeah, I know!
Core-Zilch!

Daisy got a Duc again!

When I started this blog I had a Ducati Monster 620 and played off my Duc for the blog name.

Last year I sold it in favor of my sport bike, a Triumph Daytona 675.

This year I decided to trade it in in to get a more comfortable bike with bags that I can more comfortably do longer rides with. I got me a wicked deal on this gorgeous Ducati ST3! The hubby also picked up a new motorcyle Saturday, a KTM 990 Adventurer, so he can go "adventuring." We must be excited as we spent the better part of Saturday on our new motorcyles. When we left it was 27 degrees and it warmed up to a balmy 35! I was warm except for my hands. Thankfully my handy hubby installed some heated grips yday so now I am pysched to try those out!

----------------------

Catching up, I have just been buried with work and in a state of blah with the cold weather, dealing with car repairs and frustration with trying to gain my fitness back. I am majorly looking forward to April with the Boston trip and a weekend away at Hocking Hills at the end of the month!

Two week rundown!

Oh I cannot wait this long to recap as I did not write everything down and now I am scratching my head!

So what I can remember for sure...I am definitely missing stuff but don't want to count what I am not certain of.

M 3/17 Lifted with E, Running Drills
T 3/18 Track workout, warmed up with E and Salty 12-400's on icy track 8.5 Miles
W 3/19 Went to JCC and worked out -???3
R 3/20 Ran 6 on treadmill
F 3/21 ?
S 3/22 Snowed in
S 3/23 Ran 17 miles with SERC
M 3/24 off
T 3/25 ?
W 3/26 1 hour trainer
R 3/27 5 Miles treadmill with BH, UBWO
F 3/28 20 min treadmill, 2.5 miles
S 3/29 Off---best laid plans tossed for motorcycle riding
S 3/30 19 Miles with VR on Boston Simulation course
M 3/31 Off- Home Opener ---WOOHOO Tribe!
T 4/1 6.5 Miles Treadmill, 800 and 400 repeats

Week One
Ran 31.5 Miles and ??

Week Two
Ran 27 Miles plus ??
Trainer
Lifted

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!

------------------------------------------------

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

----------------------------------------------------
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