So I ran 2.65 at camp this morning, and at least 2 was quite unsteady. I ran with my husband and he is not a steady person when he's tired. It's like we're moving really slowly and then he's sprinting. It was tough for me. When we ran the second mile he was more worn out so I ran ahead and did a courtesy loop for him, which worked well, then I ran toward home with Joy and my first two miles were exactly even, and my third was 5 seconds faster, so still quite close. The last quarter was too fast, but I'd met my neighbor during that quarter so I hurried up to finish it out so I could u-turn and then walk with her. I ended up walking just over a mile with her.
Blisters are still bad, plantar's is not as bad as it has been but not even close to gone. Need to start working on my mental game and imagining really pushing hard at MTCM, rather than running to run. I almost think I did too many marathons where I was just aiming for a PR instead of a really challenging goal. Oh well, it's a whole new ball game now!
I'm kind of ready for it to be done. Adam is also getting burnt out. He was joking the other day about maybe just starting to taper and having a really long taper. I think he's planning to hit 20 for the first of two times this weekend. I told him to stick it out, really just 4 more long runs. It's just all these weekday miles that are bogging me down. And the long runs. I'm just ready for a weekend and a few weekday mornings OFF. Maybe if the blisters don't get better, I'll end up with days off not competely by choice.
In non-running related news, I've decided to follow a fave blog's September (or should I say Sittember) challenge. NewlyWed, NewlyVeg is going to try to eat zero dinners on the couch for the month, and I think I'm going to try as well, except possibly on Monday nights (which is my night for trash tv).
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
August Miles!
So August ended this morning with a run that was both strong and fast, but painful. The blisters on my achilles are getting worse. But my plantar fasciitis is getting better I think! I've followed a couple pieces of advice pretty closely -- stretching before waking up, stretching after a run and trying to avoid going barefoot whenever possible. I think I'm even going to put those orthotics into my house shoes so I can wear them instead of gym shoes in the house. I also have a new lovely gel kitchen mat that my hubby got me for my bday, so even on days like today when I forget that I'm not supposed to be barefoot and I stand in the kitchen, it's not as painful as it used to be. I think I'm going to cancel my follow-up appt tomorrow with my ortho. The main reason for the appt was to determine if I wanted to get a cortisone shot in the next couple weeks to carry me over the marathon, but from what I've heard, it would be painful and I don't think I'll need it. Right now, I have all the pain I can handle with putting that liquid bandaid stuff on my heel blisters.
I ran on my own this morning from about 3.5 until 8.2, but I wasn't far back from the back half of the group and since I'd done race pace on Sunday as well, I had a pretty good excuse. I also think I found a buddy to run with on Saturday at the race I'm doing. As much as my ego needs a PR or an age group award right now, I know it's not the right thing to do -- going for it with my feet in the current shape, with the current temps, and with 18 the next day, it would just be a mistake. But one of the guys in my weekday group is also thinking of doing the race and we talked about running it easy together, which would be great. I hope the plan works. I'd still like to place if possible, so maybe I can hang with him for the first few miles and then kick toward the end. Because I think I'm going to hang out after the race for about an hour (because my hubby is going to add miles at the end of the race for his long run this week), it would be nice to get an award while I wait! It will all depend on the competition though, because even kicking toward the end won't be enough if I start out easy and there's a decent sized field.
Anyway, August numbers are set now. August 2010: 184.8 (barely beating last Aug., a mere 2.3 ahead). YTD: 837.9. Miles needed to meet 2010 year-end goal: 462.1 (which works out to 115.5 per month, or about 27 per week). August is traditionally my highest-mileage month of the year, but Sept. should be solid and should drive those average numbers down a bit. Assuming I do my expected Sept. runs (allowing me to skip all Saturdays except this one, figuring 4.5 on Wednesdays, 0s on Mondays, and 1.5 on Fridays), I should be at about 155. Last Sept. was just under 170, so maybe I should add in some more miles on Saturdays, but I'd rather just make up the deficit in October, when I try to make a dent anyway in the extra 15 miles I want this year. And I think there will be a few days where I go over a bit.
MTCM is one month away at the end of this week!!! I think my husband is as excited as me to have the race be over. He does most of our vacation planning and wants to nail down the dates for us to go to Europe in the spring, but I've asked him to hold off until after MTCM just in case I hit a BQ. Unlikely as it may be -- again, the mental strength isn't there for me.
I ran on my own this morning from about 3.5 until 8.2, but I wasn't far back from the back half of the group and since I'd done race pace on Sunday as well, I had a pretty good excuse. I also think I found a buddy to run with on Saturday at the race I'm doing. As much as my ego needs a PR or an age group award right now, I know it's not the right thing to do -- going for it with my feet in the current shape, with the current temps, and with 18 the next day, it would just be a mistake. But one of the guys in my weekday group is also thinking of doing the race and we talked about running it easy together, which would be great. I hope the plan works. I'd still like to place if possible, so maybe I can hang with him for the first few miles and then kick toward the end. Because I think I'm going to hang out after the race for about an hour (because my hubby is going to add miles at the end of the race for his long run this week), it would be nice to get an award while I wait! It will all depend on the competition though, because even kicking toward the end won't be enough if I start out easy and there's a decent sized field.
Anyway, August numbers are set now. August 2010: 184.8 (barely beating last Aug., a mere 2.3 ahead). YTD: 837.9. Miles needed to meet 2010 year-end goal: 462.1 (which works out to 115.5 per month, or about 27 per week). August is traditionally my highest-mileage month of the year, but Sept. should be solid and should drive those average numbers down a bit. Assuming I do my expected Sept. runs (allowing me to skip all Saturdays except this one, figuring 4.5 on Wednesdays, 0s on Mondays, and 1.5 on Fridays), I should be at about 155. Last Sept. was just under 170, so maybe I should add in some more miles on Saturdays, but I'd rather just make up the deficit in October, when I try to make a dent anyway in the extra 15 miles I want this year. And I think there will be a few days where I go over a bit.
MTCM is one month away at the end of this week!!! I think my husband is as excited as me to have the race be over. He does most of our vacation planning and wants to nail down the dates for us to go to Europe in the spring, but I've asked him to hold off until after MTCM just in case I hit a BQ. Unlikely as it may be -- again, the mental strength isn't there for me.
Monday, August 30, 2010
If I were crazy...
If I were crazy, I'd consider going for a very short run tonight after work. Less than half a mile. I should be out of the office by 7ish, and it's only supposed to get to 97 today, so it wouldn't be over 100 when I went. And then I could say I hit 830 on 8/30. My YTD miles right now are at 829.7, including the 1 I ran this morning. But I'd have to be crazy to do that. And I'm not crazy.
I had a great weekend with the 15 mile run and the rest of the time with my hubby. We got about 1 million projects done. Even things like scrubbing scuff marks out of the walls. Writing a letter I'd been stalling on for 8 months. Putting away Costa Rica travel books that had been loaned to a friend but returned 2 months ago (but hadn't had time to get the ladder to reach the travel shelf on the book shelf where they belonged). I ate a ton of cupcakes and actually baked more of them last night -- Joy's bday is today, so I gave her 16, but I still have leftovers that I brought to work. Looking at them last night, I didn't think they'd worked well -- fudge ribbon, but it had seemed like the ribbon dissolved or something. But I've eaten one and it was surprisingly good!
We watched a couple movies -- Up (animated) and an Italian documentary about Di Vittorio's life story. I cheated and read more subtitles than I'd have liked, but the language was tough. I have to admit, I had no idea how to say what the subtitles translated as "yokel" until yesterday! They used the word yokel a bunch in the movie, talking about how laborers and country folk were regarded by Rome. The Italian description (nothing in English I could find): Nel 2009 la Raiuno ha trasmesso la fiction "Pane e libertà ", che racconta la vita di Giuseppe Di Vittorio in due puntate. That means 4 hours of movie!
I had a great weekend with the 15 mile run and the rest of the time with my hubby. We got about 1 million projects done. Even things like scrubbing scuff marks out of the walls. Writing a letter I'd been stalling on for 8 months. Putting away Costa Rica travel books that had been loaned to a friend but returned 2 months ago (but hadn't had time to get the ladder to reach the travel shelf on the book shelf where they belonged). I ate a ton of cupcakes and actually baked more of them last night -- Joy's bday is today, so I gave her 16, but I still have leftovers that I brought to work. Looking at them last night, I didn't think they'd worked well -- fudge ribbon, but it had seemed like the ribbon dissolved or something. But I've eaten one and it was surprisingly good!
We watched a couple movies -- Up (animated) and an Italian documentary about Di Vittorio's life story. I cheated and read more subtitles than I'd have liked, but the language was tough. I have to admit, I had no idea how to say what the subtitles translated as "yokel" until yesterday! They used the word yokel a bunch in the movie, talking about how laborers and country folk were regarded by Rome. The Italian description (nothing in English I could find): Nel 2009 la Raiuno ha trasmesso la fiction "Pane e libertà ", che racconta la vita di Giuseppe Di Vittorio in due puntate. That means 4 hours of movie!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Four more!
Well, another solid run. The biggest issue was that I wore moleskin over the new heel/Achilles blisters and it bunched up and was somewhat painful, but I was able to run through it. It hurt a lot when I got home and we tried to peel it off, but we tried that "new skin" liquid bandaid, so it might be easier from now on. Putting on the liquid bandage hurt so much but it will be worth it if the blisters don't hurt on my next run.
15 miles this morning, 6 were supposed to be at race pace and I don't think I did that (a little too slow) but it was faster than an easy run. The course was very hilly and it was hot again, low 80s when we started. I'm so ready for more of those cooler mornings we had recently.
Trying to finish my reading for book club tonight, planning to run a few errands and then bake cupcakes for Joy's birthday tomorrow. Busy Sunday afternoon ahead of us!
15 miles this morning, 6 were supposed to be at race pace and I don't think I did that (a little too slow) but it was faster than an easy run. The course was very hilly and it was hot again, low 80s when we started. I'm so ready for more of those cooler mornings we had recently.
Trying to finish my reading for book club tonight, planning to run a few errands and then bake cupcakes for Joy's birthday tomorrow. Busy Sunday afternoon ahead of us!
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