Running for Charles and Jerry........

Last week was ok for the most part and it has been wonderful to run with old friends and over hills (well maybe those hills aren't so wonderful).  For the most part, it was cool in Atlanta for the week and any runs in the morning were done in 35-40F weather.  Now I haven't run in temps that warm yet in Ohio, but it is still cold enough for tights or capris, a long sleeve shirt and even a vest for a couple of them (because of the wind).  Yesterday it was cold enough that two of my fingers on my left hand were "white" from being cold and I had to wear gloves.  This after it had been warm and humid the day before (60F and 94%) when I ran two women through the Atlanta Woman's 5K to both run PRs and the day before that when I ran an awful long run (which was so hilly that I cursed every minute and I'm sure I was dehydrated from the start).  That long run took away any confidence that I had going into April 21st and I need to regain my composure after that one.  We all have bad runs, but this one was one of the epitomes of bad.  Wonder if I should have stopped at 9 miles when I still felt ok, but nope, I ran 11 more.  I have had cycles like this before, but it always throws one for a loop.  The rest of the weeks runs were pretty good, so I can probably just write it off to lots of hills on the previous Sunday even if I really thought I had recovered fine.

The highlight of the long run was that I got to share the agony with running buddies Joe and Laurie.  Joe and I ran our long runs together for several years in Atlanta and it was a regular Friday morning occurence.  Jody joined us often along with the "rabbit" (my good friend, Sally Love) and others (including Karla) in the past.  Joe and I kind of started the "Riverside Runners" by using that weekly meeting and combining it with our love of coaching/mentoring and dragging others from various training groups that we helped with into the fold. Of course, those Riverside Runners wouldn't be anywhere without us (Joe & I), right?  Laurie came to my last Peachtree training session and I love to see how she has absolutely embraced running doing ultras and trail runs and the like.  It also helps that she is funny and loves Dropkick Murphy and the Red Sox as much as I.

Saturday morning, I did have the pleasure of once again running the Atlanta Womens 5k and as mentioned above, my love of coaching came to good use when I was able to drag Mary Katherine through a 5K PR on what is a tough course.  It was almost 60F and very humid at the race start, but lucky for us it did not rain even though it was pouring during my 45 min drive down to beautiful Candler Park.  Although only 3.1 miles, the race does highlight an older, beautiful part of the city, and the commaraderie is tremendous.  Many of the women participating have never gotten off the couch until this race and many of them will now stick with it and go on to maintain that healthy lifestyle.  After the run, we once again had a great breakfast orchestrated by the Riverside Runner social director, Debbie and it was yum!

Debbie, Cristal, and I then paid a visit to Jerry on Saturday afternoon which was very hard. He has basically gone from running 6 wks ago to needing assistance to be lifted into a wheelchair.  It was hard, but he is still Jerry. He still joked and laughed like Jerry, but it is a difficult situation.  I lost it on my drive back to my friends as it just doesn't seem fair.  Definitely not sure why bad things happen to good people.  

In all likelihood, I will never see Jerry again which has made it hard to write about our visit and even harder to try to see Jerry in my mind with his wry smile.  Thinking about him brings tears to my eyes and then reading an article on facebook about former Bills QB, Jim Kelly, who is also battling cancer didn't help either.

Sunday morning's enjoyable run with many members of the Riverside group helped my mood in spite of the cold temps and the nasty wind.

Recap of the week that was:

Mon - Day off, massage.  Back hurt more after the massage than before.

Tue - Easy 5 mile Recovery run

Wed - 6 miles in cold (37F) and wind.  Not the weather I expected in Atlanta

Thu - 20.5 miles.  Started at 10 am ran an extremely hilly course that started and ended with 8.5 miles on a trail.  Weather at the start was in the mid-50s but when we finished 3+ hrs later it was in the 70s.  Dehydrated and discouraged.  Thought of Charles and Jerry and soldiered on.

Fri - Easy 3 miles shakeout run

Sat - Atlanta Woman's 5K - didn't race but did run two women from the training group I ran with last week through their first sub 30 5Ks.  Final time: 26:55.  Went to visit with Jerry.

Sun - 11 mile Fast Finish long run.  Ran first 5 with the group at 10:30 pace and then did the last 6 with Jody at 8:38 pace. Better run to dedicate to Charles.

WTD: 48.6 miles

Not all was lost as I did get accepted to the NYC marathon in November and I am so looking forward to that.  Outside of Boston, NYC is probably my next most favorite marathon.  The city is electric on that morning and that run up 1st Avenue is 2nd to (almost) none.  

For now, 21 more days.................

And Another Week Bites the Dust......

Not a terrific week as I was tired right from the beginning.  I guess in a way it is to be expected, but I am running lower mileage than I have in a while, more quality, but lower overall quantity.  I feel good today which is a plus as I have two tougher weeks with a half marathon on the 23rd in Atlanta.

Recap:

Mon - Core class, no running.  Legs better than expected as they were very tired on Sunday morning's run.

Tues - 6 easy miles outside as I felt tired.   More snow & ice than I expected on the roads/path.  Work with trainer.

Wed - 5 easy mile outside.  Still feeling tired.  Core class.

Thurs - 7 miles with 8 x hill.  Wanted a bit longer mileage as I cut my warm up and cool down shorter than expected since the path was once again icier than expected and I'm not risking it in the dark.  Work with trainer.

Fri - No run day off.  Getting ready for a hilly 20.

Sat - 20 miles over a very hilly course.  Left my running buddies at 14 and finished the last 6 With one really big climb fast(er).  Did run the 20 in just about the same time as last week's 19 which was done on the pretty flat path in the park.  Weather was really strange during the run. Started with drizzle and some slick spots on the road, then it warmed up during the first loop, but by the time I finished the second loop, temps had dropped and the snow flurries started.  Those slick spots were even slicker!

Sun - 3.2 mile recovery run.  Only wanted to do 30 min just to get the legs moving.  Should have waited until the snow melted more as it was still a bit snowier and icier than I expected.

WTD: 41.2 miles

YTD: 387 miles (24 miles ahead of last year with lots more quality and faster paces even for the slow long runs).

The 20 on Saturday was harder than I expected or wanted it to be and it has been a long time since I ran at Hinckley.  I forgot how hilly it really is and I forgot how much younger I was the last time that I ran there (Spring,2005).  Combine that with the not so wonderful conditions made for a tough run.  We did joke that come April 21st, we might want to expect snow or 90F - whatever would fit with the crazy winter that most of the country has had to deal with this year. Wish I knew how to insert the elevation chart, but the Hinckley run is definitely tougher than anything Boston can throw at you.  I would just like to be able to break 4 hrs on the Boston course one more time.  I guess we will see.

It is supposed to be rainy today and warmer both today and tomorrow, and then guess what - winter will be back on Wednesday!    Dropped my daughter and her friend off at the Megabus in downtown Cleveland this morning and they are on their way to Chicago for the week.  So if any of you see two lost college girls - it might be them.  I just hope that it isn't too nasty in Chicago with the predicted weather.  I told them to go the one of the museums that day and that way they will stay warm!.  Good thing the Shamrock Shuffle isn't until month's end; however, I do believe that the NYC Half Marathon is this coming weekend just about when the weather will arrive.

It was nice to see Shannon even if only for one night and a day.  

42 days.

Comes in like a Lion.......

Yes, it is finally March - February is over and Spring is on the way, right?  Well, not so fast as Mother Nature has tossed us another curve ball and it snowed (and will snow more tonight) once again this weekend.

I certainly can agree with Eeyore's sentiments.

I was scheduled to run the Millcreek Distance Classic Half Marathon in Youngstown, OH this morning, but with the very iffy forecast for the weekend, I decided to bail on Friday and run a long run yesterday and my normal recovery 6 on Sunday.  After all, if the conditions this morning in Youngstown were anything like the Greater Cleveland area - it was a long 13.1 mile race.

The gang at the start of this morning's run - and this was before it snowed more and basically froze our eyelashes shut in the wind.

Yesterday would have been perfect as it was in the high 20s/low 30s during our run and while there were still some snow and ice covered spots on the all-purpose trail, for the most part - it was clear (probably 85%).  I ran a bit over 19 miles and while they seemed a bit tougher than last weekend's 18, I did get them done and still in a 9:35 pace overall. My last 4 miles were quicker than the first 15 which was good but partially due to the fact that I ran the first 3 by myself in the dawn's early light and it was a bit harder to see and the snow/ice was hidden.  I was a bit disappointed in how tired I actually felt yesterday afternoon and I forced myself to get up for this morning's run in spite of the cold temps (11F) and snow.  Even though I had to dig out and run in those Icebug shoes again, the legs feel great now which is the real purpose of a recovery run, isn't it?

The rest of the week runs were pretty good considering much of it them were forced inside due to snow flurries and cold temps.  I did have two pretty productive "speed" sessions - one on Tuesday and one on Thursday.  I was tired at the start of Tuesday's run, but I did knock out 4 x (1) mile at 7:19, 7:20, 7:15, and 7:05 even on the indoor track and on Thursday, I ran a hard 7 miler with 12 1 min hard /1 min easy repeats (and I ran many of the hard 1 min segments at below 7 min per mile) again on the indoor track.  Wednesday, I did get outside for an easy 5 miler which was done once again in the cold and windy conditions and therefore not at a breathtaking speed.

Overall, I'm pleased with where I am to date, but also not sure of whether or not I'll get to where I want to be.  Need to get reading more of Dr. Stan's book for sure.

Coach Emily had an incredible run this morning in Long Island, so I'm guessing the storm has not yet reached the east coast.  My daughter, in school in Boston, says that the weather will skirt to the south of them, so LI will undoubtedly get hit with a least some cold temps and some snow.  Being out there in the Atlantic might help though.  Back to Coach Emily as she ran a 3:14:59 missing an American record by 68 seconds and shattering the course record.  A 3:14:59 would be an awesome time for anyone at the marathon distance, and she ran 8 more Kilometers.  Kudos, Emily as you are certainly doing something right!  And thanks for all your help over the past few months.

Things are not all gloom and doom here in NE Ohio in spite of the weather.  A good running friend of mine in Atlanta was recently diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor - prayers to Jerry, and Czar Putin is consistently flexing his muscles and currently having his way with southern Ukraine.  It is hard to believe or is it that Russia exercised their power so soon after they were in the Olympic spotlight, but Putin appears to be a power hungry bottom feeder - so nope, not a surprise.  The local Sunday paper also had tow wonderful uplifting articles: one about an 83 yr old woman who finally received her GED and one about a truck driver who rescues strays from the SE US and brings them to adopted owners in the NE US.  There are still lots of good things to celebrate.

Back on the running front, here is the recap of this week's runs:

Mon - Day off; Core class
Tues - 7.5 miles  Done as 4 x 1 mile repeats; Work with trainer
Wed - Easy 5 miler outdoors
Thurs - 7 miles with 12 1 min on/1 min off repeats
Fri - Core class
Sat - 19.2 miles
Sun - 6.02 miles in the snow

WTD:  44.7 miles     February finished with 157 miles which was 2 miles short of January with 3 less days.
YTD:   345 miles

I was also interviewed for the documentary for the Boston Marathon.  I expect my story to remain on the cutting room floor, but it was still a very cool experience.

50 days.

Half Way There

The title refers to the fact that we (anyone training) are half way through the plan for this year's Boston Marathon.  Week ended up as pretty successful.  Rain came in on Thursday night and washed away most of the snow and then we got a bit of a warming trend so that we were able to run outside this weekend.  There was some ice which made some of the spots interesting, but for the most part, the roads, sidewalks, and all-purpose trail in the park were clear.  I changed the date of my long run to accommodate another friend running Boston, so we did 18 together (and with her fiancé) on Sunday rather than Saturday.  It was definitely a better choice as there was less ice by Sunday.  Still some slick spots but as the sun came out, most of those turned to slush or simply puddles.  I did the 18 as calorie depleted in that I did not fuel at all during the 2:46 and relied only on water and Nuun.  It was the first time that I ran that long without eating before or during the run.  I felt good and we actually picked up the pace in the 2^nd half as again the ice had melted.

On Thursday, I did end up running a solid hill workout.  These hills were done as a steady effort up, then on to the flat and then a harder run down.  It was drizzling a little, but again, the hard rain from the day had cleared off the sidewalk on the hill, so we were in luck.  Good overall run that covered 7 solid miles. 

Here is the recap:

Mon – 4 miles in Arizona

Tues – Travel home.

Wed – Easy 6 miles in the sidewalks/roads at home.  Added in the Yacht Club hill.  A bit of slush in some areas but clear for the most part.

Thurs – 7 miles with 6 x hill – up and down

Fri –Day off

Sat – Easy 8 miles.  Icy in spots which was interesting in some cases.

Sun – 18 miles in 2:46.  So at the slower end of the zone, but the 2^nd half was much faster (closer to 9:15 average) as the slick spots were less and less.

WTD:  43 miles

Interestingly enough, I ran outside everyday this past week – no indoor or treadmill miles.  I am hoping that the snow we are seeing now is just flurries and nothing sticks so I can do tomorrow’s workout on the actual outdoor track.  It is supposed to get cold again (20s), but no snow accumulation.  This weekend will be the Millcreek Half marathon on Sunday and I am planning on running 2-3 warm up miles  (depends  on how early we get there as it is a 1.5 hr drive) and then 9-10 miles at MP with the last 3 hopefully faster.  It is a hilly course (15 hills) but that is the test.

I also bought a copy of Dr. Stan’s book on training Elite Minds.  I’ve only read the 1^st chapter and a half.  I was contacted by the director of the Boston Marathon film, so that might put a bit of pressure on me as well if he uses my story.  Let's hope Dr. Stan's book helps.

56 days.