Hood to Coast 2010!

We're in!  My team got a spot to run Hood to Coast ~ WOO HOO! 

Vaccine?

My kids have all been rotating through the flu this month, so when I was at Kaiser with one of them awhile back, I spontaneously got the flu mist vaccine.  I've never had the flu shot, which my husband swears by, but all those sick kids must've scared me into it.  I'm wondering, nearly 2 weeks later, if that could possibly be the reason I've been feeling so sluggish and bleh for the last two weeks?  Maybe not, I don't know.  I haven't ever been sick like shoot me now, but I've been sort of achy, sort of exhausted, sort of lethargic... and it just occured to me yesterday it may be the vaccine.  Right or wrong, I'm hopeful that's what it is because I should be bouncing out of that soon. 

Ran 3 miles yesterday ~ had to drag myself out the door in the early afternoon ~ and felt like every step was just hard.  I finished the run and did it pretty fast (for me), but it was tough.  Running again today with Julie, and then 11 miles on Thursday. 

Rough Week

As the title says, it's been a rough week.  We've had the flu around here, and my schedule has been upended for most of the month.  I haven't been fully sick myself, but I also haven't felt my best ~ probably a cycle that I just had a hard time escaping ~ not feeling great so I didn't run, didn't run so now I don't feel great.  Vicious!  I could go on about my woes, but blah blah blah, really.

So yesterday Julie and I ran 3 miles in the morning. We had planned 5, but I ended up with a doctor's appointment that crowded our time.  It was a good 3 miles ~ felt so good to be back out there after a bad week.  We discussed a *maybe* run for today.

Late last night I got a text from Julie asking me ~prepare yourself~ if I could run at 7:00 a.m. because her day was filling up fast.  I considered hyperventilating for a moment, then I considered a big fat ARE YOU NUTS?, but in the end I said yes.  Such a pushover.  lol

It was pitch black when I got up and left my sleeping family this morning, but thankfully not raining.  We met at Julie's and did a 6 mile loop through town, turning around at Whitworth and running back through the park. I'm really glad I said yes and got it done, but honestly it was  tough.  My body felt sluggish and heavy, like I had to really work for it.  I know that's a result of my sloppy week, so I'll be more focused this week.

Glad I did it, but glad this week is over.  Here's to a better week ahead.

10 miles - Big Day!

Double digits!  Julie and I ran 10 miles this morning and it felt great.  In the back of my mind I keep waiting for these long runs to be *too* hard, but so far they really feel good.  Of course there are moments out there where I'm pretty tired and moments when it's harder than others, but overall it's going great. 

This morning we slept in a bit and met at the Pill Box at 9.  Little did we know sleeping in was going to change the run completely.  lol  It was the perfect temperature this morning - cool, but not too cold, a little misty, but not too wet, a bit of a breeze, but not blowing hard.  It didn't stay that way, however. 

We took off running, right into the face of a storm.  We trotted along, chatting about The Biggest Loser and Tracy the psycho contestant, when the raindrops began.  Soon it wasn't just drops, it was a good old rain.  Around 4 miles we turned and were running south, straight into the wind which was no longer a nice breeze.  Headwind... not so good.  We only had about a mile on that road and then we were on our way back to town, now soaking wet.  Our shoes were starting to squish and water was running down our faces. 

Mile 6 brought the lightening and thunder.  The first few flashes were to the south of us with a few seconds between flashes and rolls of thunder, but before long the lightening would flash over our heads and the thunder would peal right behind it.  We joked about having to lie down in the ditch, but jumped out of our skins when the next one crashed.  I think we both forgot we were supposed to be tired from running ~ adrenaline, big time! 

By mile 8 the lightening and thunder had continued north while we ran to the west, but the rain kept pouring.  We ran back into town, soggy and dripping, but laughing and happy, too.  That 10 miler went by fast!  Our time was pretty good, too.  It was our longest run, but our time was better than some of our shorter runs.  I think every time the thunder rolled we ran faster!  lol

I got home and posed for a few pictures, but really you cannot tell how completely drenched we were.  I wrung out my socks on the front porch and it seemed like buckets of water came out.  By the time I made it to the shower there were rivers of water pouring down my legs.  I can't imagine how long it's going to take my shoes to dry out. 

That was seriously fun.  :)

10k this morning

I ran a 10k this morning - the Marion County Domestic Violence Awareness run. I learned a few things:

1. I can run alone and have a fabulous time.
2. I am stronger than I used to be. I shaved 8 minutes off my first 10k time from last January.
3. I might not need my intervals as much as I thought I did.
4. I am not very good at drinking out of dixie cups while running. I sloshed water down my chin, up my nose, onto my shirt, and got precious little into my mouth.

Any day you learn something is a good day.

9 miles and counting

Today was my long run - 9 miles this week. Other than my accidental half marathon, I'm way up into new distances. The 8 went well last week, so I wasn't really nervous until yesterday. There's something about knowing a big distance is looming out there in 24 hours that just creates tension!

I met Julie at the Pill Box down by the hospital with the plan of running down Miller, out to Highway 99 and back to the Pill Box. We spent the first mile with me messing with my new watch. I haven't gone the GPS route at this point, but I happily bought a Timex Ironman Triathlon because of the two interval timers. I tried to set it for the first time in a hurry this morning, apparently without success. Finally I had to just start watching the clock for intervals, got to fix that thing at home I guess.

I think we had a good, solid run all the way out to the highway, so 4.5 miles. At about mile 4 I was thinking I could just run forever. Funny, though, once we turned around and started back it all just seemed so hard. The very slight incline didn't help, but for about a mile and a half or two miles we slogged along just a bit. Around mile 6 both of us were feeling better and at mile 7.5 decided to run it all the way in without intervals. I love how that feels - like you're kicking those miles right in the rear with a good HA!

So now I'm trying not to think about 10.

foggy baby

This morning I was due for a short run and headed out alone. Up till now it's been sunny and mostly nice weather as I've been training... this morning was 38 degrees and foggy. Definitely not a let's go run morning in my book ~ more like a curl up on the couch and drink more coffee morning. I know I'm looking at 4 more months of this weather, though, so staying home was not an option. I pulled out long sleeves, long pants and my neon pink running gloves for the first time this fall and took off from my house. I ran down the long hill, over to the elementary school, then back around a couple of loops of neighborhoods before heading back up the long hill. By mile 2 I was no longer cold ~ neon pink had to go into my pockets. Discovered a couple of things this morning: 1. Dang, I breathe loud. I left my ipod behind this morning and all I could hear was me sucking wind. 2. Jumping onto the caps of acorns while running past them produces a very satisfying crunch.

So there you have it. Now, back to the couch...

8 miles

I've been doing my long runs on Saturday mornings up to this point, reluctantly. Of course that hasn't too many runs yet ~ I think I started at 5 miles, so I've done 6, 7 and this week 8. I decided to try the long run on Friday morning, hopeful that sleeping in on Saturday would feel like heaven. I was so right.

Julie ran 6 miles with me two weeks ago and we've been doing a once a week 3 miler together, too. We agreed to meet Friday morning to run 8. Our run started at the high school tennis courts where there is a conveniently placed port a potty. We stretched a little, chuckled nervously over the insanity of attempting to run 8 miles, walked a lap around the block, then took off running.

My 7 mile run the week before had been rough, so I wasn't sure how this would go. Of course prior to my 7 miler I had stayed up past midnight, eaten an enormous pile of cheese (who can resist smoked gouda?), and had about zero water to drink all day. Oh yes, I was in fine form to run 7 miles. The run was as good as my preparation, but I had a good time with Christi and was thankful to have that week behind me.

In an attempt to learn from my mistake, I got a lot more sleep for the 8 mile, hydrated more carefully and refrained from large piles of gouda the night before. I set my intervals for 5:1, thinking we could back off if we needed to.

I think to both Julie's and my surprise, the run went great! We ran down Miller, out past the railroad tracks, through the farm fields and all the way to Highway 99, our turn around point. The whole time we were chatting and occasionally snacking on little bites of the Clif Bar I had torn into chunks and tucked into the zipper pouch on my water belt. I'm not sure if the Clif Bars bites help, but at least they give me something to look forward to.

Julie and I turned around at the highway and headed back, both realizing we were feeling good. We continued our 5:1 run/walk intervals until about mile 6, when we decided to run the rest of the way in without the walk breaks. It was so great to realize we could not only accomplish the 8 miles, but finish strong! Such a high! I came home and used my energy to clean house.

Since I started marathon training the beginning of September I've been constantly squishing down the thought that I'm not really sure I'm capable of pulling this off. Out there around mile 7 this week I had the glorious thought that maybe I really AM capable of this. I feel an excitement about the weeks ahead ~ somebody remind me of that when I need it, please.