Well, after arriving home very late on Sunday night (actually Monday morning) and being very tired and sore on Monday itself, I decided not to run. It would not have served me well especially since I needed to catch up on work as Shannon and I were set to drive to Boston and take her back to school on Tuesday. Wise decision as my quads (only a little), glutes, and calves were very tight and it made for an interesting 10 hrs in the car, but we made it. Hard to believe that my little girl is not only legal but also a Junior in college. Yes, most definitely, how time flies. We had a good and easy drive and then spent all day Wednesday moving in, setting up her room with her roomie and then have a wonderful sushi dinner on Newbury St before I had to fly back on Thursday. I did get in a run on Wednesday morning in Natick (my parents) and I loosened up over those 5 miles which was great. It was a warm and humid run even at 7:30 am as summer decided to re-appear this past week. After returning on Thursday, I ran an ok 5 in the warm temps in Cleveland, and I was a bit stressed thinking that my long run would be tough. We left for Chautauqua to close up the house and bring in the boat on Friday afternoon, and I was very pleased to have a solid 13.5 mile (2 hrs) over the hills here. I realized that the hills were now feeling routine unlike what they felt like in June (even if they are still big enough to not allow you to run them fast) and the run felt great even in the warmer temps (65F and humidity 95%). We had not seen weather like this all summer. I was happy that I was feeling good but I did laugh thinking about how "fast" I ran my legs at Hood to Coast just a week ago. It is a wonder what a little adrenaline can do for ones running. I knew I had trained well since I was feeling good the last week, but today there was no way I could have run those time.
Speaking of my four legs at Hood to Coast last weekend, I am most pleased realizing that I averaged just under 8 min per mile for the 4 of them - on 4 hrs of sleep (in a minivan) and with poor nutrition (chocolate milk, nuun, water, a chicken wrap, beef jerkie, and chex mix!). Our team ended up 469th out of 1050 which was an awesome reward for our hard work as well. I wonder just how fast we may have been without the traffic issues, but then again, many of the teams behind us would have been faster too. The criticism on FB is rampant regarding the two major exchanges (23 to 24 and 30) where things completely seemed to break down. Having run the race before, I might have to agree that maybe 1050 teams are too many for those beautiful back roads in the Oregon countryside. I know that HTC wants to remain the "Mother of all Relays", but sometimes, less is definitely more. The posts on FB seemed to indicate that even the fastest teams were trapped in the traffic and many a runner ran extra miles much like members of our team did. It was still a real awesome time and I am considering joining some of them for a Ragnar relay in the Florida Keys in early February. My only fears are; 1) that I might not get there due to weather, 2) I miht not be able to really train due to weather. If the almanac be right, it is supposed to be another tough one and it looks like I might be running a lot of miles inside once again. Just to keep the memory alive, here is a photo of the team right before our start:
You can see me proudly wearing my Run Ohio shirt just to make sure we were represented in a sea of Georgia red.
After this weekend, it will be back to Ohio for me, so it was great to get in these last couple of days of hill running. Of course, my next race is the Erie Half Marathon at Presque Isle and that is a flat course. I hope to be able to jump back into some speedwork this week as I decided not to run the 1000 m repeats on Thursday since I was so tired after so much travel and so little sleep. This morning's run proved that it was the right choice.
Unlike Chrissie Hynde, I went back to Ohio and nothing was gone - well, maybe one thing - that being SNOW. Since I left two weeks ago (March 20th), it has snowed, but it has also rained and hopefully and finally, the snow is actually gone. The lake is unfrozen and although it is a blustery, rainy day today (and a thankful day off from running), it might actually be that we are headed towards Spring. My time in Atlanta was well spent as I ran more hills in two weeks there than I have run in 2 years here (maybe not counting Chautauqua in the summer, but I went there when I lived in Atlanta too), and I saw a great number of old friends both running and non-running alike. I ran in warm weather and some humidity and I subjected myself to two killer massages.
In addition to staying with my wonderful and old (god has it really been 20+ years) friends, I also had a fabulous dinner and birthday celebration (later in the week) with two of my bestest and oldest running buddies in Atlanta. Going back to having dinner with Karla and Sally Love is like old home week to me, and even though we have not seen each other since last march, the conversation simply picks up where it left off. I met Karla back in the early 2000s when I moved from a more northern suburb of Atlanta (Alpharetta) to Dunwoody (just OTP) and we ran together for a few years. We even trained and ran Boston back in 2003 and even if Karla thinks she is a "slow" runner today, she ran a way smarter race and beat my butt good that April day. I then moved to Ohio the first time and remained for 2.5 years, but once I returned to Atlanta, she and I returned to running and we were joined by Sally Love (who was a former work colleague of Karla's). Together, Karla and I trained Sally Love to her one and only Boston (2007 - the nor'easter year) and we ran together for the next 5 years. As their lives got busier and mine got less, I even introduced them to some of my "newer" running buds and they do continue to run with them and together still. Their birthdays are this week (well, Karla's was Saturday and Sally Love's is tomorrow), so we celebrated with our traditional coffee at the Dunwoody Starbucks and made sure to take this crazy "selfie" to capture the moment.
Yes, just three 50+ ladies trying to figure out the selfie thing.
For you readers (and I hope there are at least two not including my mother), I also had a series of good runs after last weeks disasterous long run on Thursday. I managed an awesome 10 miler over a hilly course with one of my dearest friends Chris (who actually got me to run that marathon in Chicago of 2000 after a long 13 year lay off). It was to be 10 miles with 6 at marathon pace, and although I have not really dialed in that pace - those 6 miles were easily run at 8:40-8:50 with the ups and downs of the course. It felt good even though it did warm up over the course of the 1.5 hrs it took to complete. I then ran what felt like a real easy 5 miles on Wednesday over those same hills and in much warmer weather (since I did not go for my run until 11 am). The next day, I had a delightful run with Laurie and Sarah, who is also running Boston. We ran some very technical and hilly trails that I had not run in a few years and it brought back memories of when I used to feel like I could fly up and down those hills with reckless abandon. Well there is no reckless abandon anymore, but I didn't get hurt either :). That is most definitely par for the course if you ask anyone.
Friday morning, Joe joined me for a 15 miler and it felt like old times. Joe and I ran our long runs together for the last 4 yrs that I was in Atlanta, and we whipped ourselves into pretty good shape over that time frame. Neither of us wanted to disappoint so we were always there - often joined by Jody and the aforementioned Sally Love who by the way is nicknamed "the rabbit". Sally Love always had a time constraint (because she works like a crazy lady); therefore, those first few miles were always quick. Joe's granddaughter met her once and even called her "the rabbit". Neither Jody nor "the rabbit" joined us on Friday, but Joe & I finished up with a very solid run, and on the Saturday, I joined the Roswell group for the last time to have my final hurrah in Atlanta with a cool morning and good friends.
Recap of the running week:
Mon - Day off
Tues - 10 miles with 6 at pace
Wed - 5 miles (70F, 77% humidity)
Thurs - 7.3 miles of trails (65F, 77% humidity)
Fri - 15.2 miles averaging just under 9 min miles (cooler, but very humid with a bit of rain at the end)
Sat - 6.2 miles in the cooler weather
Sun - Drive home
WTD: 44 miles YTD: 550 (10 more miles than last year and a lot more quality).
Just picked up my "held" mail from the last two weeks, and there was my Boston Marathon packet. It is getting very real now, and it is weird to me that I will be leaving for Boston in just a bit under 14 days. I guess it is really going to happen and soon. Maybe I should see if I can get myself into taper mode and get rid of all the lousy runs between then and now.
Glad I went back and spent those two weeks, glad I saw everyone and didn't stay too long, glad I saw Jerry, but I am glad (at least slightly) to be home.
For now - 14 days.......................
