Number Five is Dead

Yesterday Lana mapped us out a new route for our 12 mile run this morning. We set up to meet at the Rec Center at 4:30.
I set my alarm clock for 4:00 and got in bed about 9:30.
At 1:00, I woke up and could NOT go back to sleep. I tried but by 2:00 I had given up. I got out of bed. I did 3 loads of laundry and read blogs. I wasn't in a commenting kind of mood so sorry about the lack of those. I really wanted to be asleep.
At 4:00 I got dressed (over dressed) and drove to the Rec Center.
At 4:35 I sent Lana a text message "Coming?" and by 4:41 when I hadn't heard anything, I sent another saying that I was going home to run. I hadn't studied the route very well and a don't like new routes alone in the dark.
I ran my usual 6 mile loop twice.
I must say for the lack of sleep I was feeling pretty darn good.
I had set a bottle of Gatorade at the end of my driveway for the halfway point but as I passed by I didn't feel the need to stop.
12 miles in 1:50:20. 9:12 pace
And check out these splits:
9:44, 9:27, 9:25, 9:07, 9:06, 9:02, 9:06, 9:07, 9:06, 9:06, 9:03, 9:02
Now if I can just do that Friday when I have a 17 miler with 14 at marathon pace!!

I still hadn't heard anything from Lana so I sent her one more text asking if Number five had died. She replied yes. Turns out she had alarm clock issues.

Yesterday was the pumpkin painting contest at school. My daughter's pumpkin won grand prize for K-2. It's a fish:


My son did Sponge Bob, no prize:

Single No More

Ronnie made it home about 4:00 this afternoon!!

As I was driving Casey to gymnastics I was thinking about going out to eat. Then started thinking about my running schedule for the week. Tomorrow is a rest day. Oh shit!!! I still have to do my VO2 max run tonight!!! Guess we aren't going out to eat.

I finally made it out the door about 7pm. Schedule called for 9 miles with 5 x 1000 with 2 minute jog between.

Went like this
3 mile warm up 30:56, 10:19/mile
1000's (pace)- 7:46, 7:48, 7:52, 7:59, and 7:36
1.96 miles in finish - 19:17, 9:52/mile

Still not goal pace on the 1000s but close.

Now if I could just stay away from the Halloween candy!!!

Week 13??!! Already

Man, time is flying now.
Here it is week 13, the end of October.
Ironman Florida is Saturday and Sunday I secure a spot for next year. I am nervous just thinking about it.

Anyway, marathon training...
as a single mom, today I had to ask my neighbor for a favor. Actually I called to get her daughter to babysit but she offered to just have my kids come over and play with her son. So at about 11:00 I took my kids next door and told her husband that I was running 8 miles but would just do loops of our neighborhood. If he needed me just flag me down.
I really dreaded the idea of running loops of the neighborhood but luckily there are two slightly different ways to run a mile. So I alternated. I am sure the whole neighborhood thinks I am insane, but that isn't new. At least this time I wasn't riding my trainer in my driveway with my helmet on!!!
I started slow, but really wanted to get done as fast as possible so I wouldn't have to impose on my neighbors for long.
It was fairly windy. When the sun was out and the wind was at my back, I was comfortable in my shorts and long sleeve shirt but when the clouds took over and the wind became a head wind I was cold.
I pushed a little hard for a general aerobic run and finished the 8 miles in 1:11:35 8:57 pace. My average heart rate was 159 but maxed out at 174. A lot of that last mile was at the higher end.
My husband will finally return tomorrow but not until later in the day. So my 9 mile VO2 max run will have to be done after work sometime. I have sent Lana sleepy thoughts in hopes that she sleeps in tomorrow and has to run with me in the evening. I don't want to break and enter at the track alone!!!

17 Solo

I didn't realize just how much I have come to depend on Lana to keep me on pace. For Friday's long run were were not able to do it together for many reasons.
So Thursday night I downloaded some podcasts.
Friday, I dropped the kids off at school and started my run at 7:45. It was cold and drizzling. I didn't have a route mapped out but had an idea of where I was going.
I started the run out listening to Steve Runner's Phedippidation Cheers from the World. It really helped motivate me to keep going. Then it was Results for Beyond the Couch of Doom. Cool hearing all the race reports and more motivation to keep going.

I felt ok the whole run expect for the cold drizzle which made me miserable. It became more of a rain for miles 8-12 and that pushed me to run a little faster just so I could get it done.
When the rain slowed back to a drizzle, I slowed a little too. Mile 16 was running down Maple Springs back to my neighborhood. I got run off the road three times by cars. I had to run in the grass ditch and it slowed my pace for that mile. I made it back to my subdivision for my final mile. I had to run just past my house before Garmin beeped.
17 miles in 2:44:39. 9:41 pace. Average heart rate 152 max 166.
Splits:
9:45, 9:41, 9:37, 9:44, 9:41, 9:58, 9:49, 9:48, 9:48, 9:26, 9:34, 9:29, 9:42, 9:34, 9:39, 9:51, and 9:33

I took a ice bath and a hot shower. When I looked out the window, the sun was out. Just my luck.

It is going to be tough getting in my Sunday and Monday runs, since I will still be single. I think the neighbor is going to let the kids play at her house Sunday while I run 8. Monday's run is just going to have to wait until Ronnie gets home, whatever time that may be!

Getting ready for tomorrows 17 miles

Tune Up 10K

The plan called for a tune up race this morning. 8-15k

Well, there aren't any Thursday morning races and being a single mom right now, I couldn't even go meet Mike and Lana for their "race" at 5:15am.

So I programed my virtual training partner on my Garmin with my one and only 10K race time. 52:00 at the Franklin Fall Classic September 06. I ran alone after dropping the kids off at school.

I started out too fast determined not to let that little guy get ahead of me. My heart rate was way too high but I push on just trying to stay ahead.

Garmin finally signaled the end of the race, I won!!!! It wasn't by much, 100 feet or so, but I needed the boost badly.

Final time 51:49, 8:20 pace. My heart rate averaged 170 and peaked at 184.

I Didn't Sink

Yesterday I managed to get in a few sets of weights before I got bored. Not enough to really count.

This morning I met Lana, Tracy, Amy (Happy Birthday), Mary Beth and Mike at the Rec Center at 5:15. We did our 2 mile loop twice. We talked about the strides while running then forgot to do them!! That is the second time that has happened. I HATE messing with the plan. When I don't get a sub 4, I will blame those missed strides.

Lana, Mike and I went inside to swim after the run. This is the first time I have been in the pool in over a month. I did 800 yards of pull. It wasn't pretty. I didn't time it and I wasn't even going to count but some habits are just too hard to break.

I rushed home and got the kids dropped off at school, my husband dropped off for his golf trip, and myself to work by 8:00.

Starting Over

On September 17 I started carrying around a notebook. In this notebook I wrote down everything I ate and drank during the day and all my workouts. In the beginning I wrote everything down. I ate less, some days not enough. I lost a few pounds. Then I got lax about the notebook, not carrying with me, forgetting to write stuff down. I have gained weight.
Marathon training can not mean weight gain this time around.
Time to get back to the notebook.
Eating healthy is a lot of work.

The eating has been horrible but the workouts are still happening,even if they haven't been the best.

Saturday-rest/cross train
I finally got back on my bike. It felt great to ride again. We had a good group. It is great to see all these people riding. Going to have some new triathletes come spring. My legs felt good in the beginning but after a few hills, I started to feel the fatigue and fell to the back of the pack, behind even the beginners. Man I suck. Nothing new. I need to be spending more time in the saddle. We rode about 24 miles. Then I hurried across the street to Casey's game.

Sunday- VO2 Max (8 miles with 5 x 600)
Ronnie had golf scheduled. I promised him when I got into all this that I would try to impact his golf as little as possible. He had already skipped Saturday so I could ride. So I got up at 4:15 for my run. I don't run fast early on a Sunday morning. I tried but did not hit my intervals. 7:51, 8:08; 8:30, 8:20, 7:51. No where close to the 5k pace I was suppose to hold. Lana is giving me extra credit since I didn't run them on the "flat, springy track".

Today - 11 miles middle long run
Lana met me at my house at 4:30. I had mapped out a route Sunday and once again hit it dead on. I had no big hopes for this run, just get it done. I was way over dressed and got hot quickly. Lana was kind enough to wear her fuel belt and carry Powerade for both of us. I could have made it without, but it sure was nice to have a little boost in that second half. It took us 1:48:07 to finish, 9:50 pace.

Tomorrow is a rest/cross train day. I have high hopes of doing some weights. I have tried to fit some weights in on this program but if it isn't on the schedule, it has little hope of getting done. I am just keeping my head above water to get in the scheduled workouts.

Over the Hump

After yesterdays 5 mile recovery run, all I had left for "peak week" was a 20 miler.

So last night I mapped out a route.

It stormed pretty hard during the night. As a matter of fact, I got woke up by the storm at one point and decide if it was still raining at 4:00 I wasn't running.

When my alarm went of at 3:45, there was no rain so I got ready and went to Lana's house.

It was so dark and we got blinded by headlights several times. Then somewhere in the 8-10 mile range I ran into a tree! It had fallen over onto the road in the storm. I was running along and never even saw it. Lana and I got a great laugh about that. She tried to take a picture but it was still too dark.

With about 3 mile to go, Lana was still feeling great but I was starting to fade. I told her to go on. She never got so far ahead that I couldn't see her but she differently finished much stronger then me.

The route was perfect mileage wise. I beeped 20 miles just past Lana's street. Of course, Lana's Garmin was 7 hundredths ahead of mine but she came back and then finished with me. What a great training partner. She has a sub 4 in the bag!!

No one can say we take the easy way out either. Here is the elevation chart...

And here are my splits:

All in all, it was a good run. I wish I had felt stronger the last few miles but I still held pace. Another negative split run.

Yesterday was my wonderful husband's birthday. So it is time to go out and celebrate.

Another Weekday 12

Yesterday was a rest/cross train day. I thought about going to the pool. I ended up cleaning bathrooms and going to Wal-Mart instead. Swimming would have been more fun.

Today was another mid week long run. 12 miles. I met Lana at her house at 4:20. After a scary car encounter Monday, Lana wanted to stay in some areas with more light today. So we ran toward town and then just winged it from there. Of course my Garmin was short again, so in the end we had to run a tenth of a mile past Lana's street to get to 12 on my Garmin.
Splits look like this:
9:56, 9:47, 9:45, 9:43, 9:22, 9:41, 9:29, 9:22, 9:32, 9:34, 9:58, 9:34
for an average pace of 9:39/mile
I don't know what happened on that eleventh mile. There is no reason that I can think of that we would have had our slowest mile. I am waiting to see Lana's splits and see if that is where my Garmin lost time.
Even with that slow mile, we still had a negative split and an overall good pace. I am pleased with the run.
Tomorrow is a 5 mile recovery run and then Friday is 20.

On the Ironman front...we got our assignments. Lana and I will first be doing body marking and move on to peelers.

Start of Peak Week

It is peak week. 55 miles planned!!!

Saturday - Rest/Cross Train
I went with the rest option. I was so tired all weekend. I did clean up the back yard. Put all the pool floats away for the winter. Cut the grass.

Sunday - 6 miles recovery
I ran at 5 before Ronnie left for golf. My normal 6 mile route. It was slow and easy. 1:01:32 10:15/mile. After the six, I did the required 6 x 100 strides. By the last one my form had gone to hell. Then I spent the day as a slug.

Monday- LT run 12 miles with 7 at half mary pace
I met Lana at her house at 4:30. She had mapped us out a new route. We ran a 3 mile warm up and then picked up the pace to half mary. We had a few car issues. At one point I stopped because I was blinded by the headlights. doesn't help the pace.
We made the turn off Matt's Hollow and Lana assured me she knew where we were going. It was a spooky road but I just kept up and trusted her. Then we reached the end of the road. Now what??? We made a 180. We found the turn and knew that we were going to be long. We trudged on. When we finally got back to Lana's house, Lana's Garmin said 12.88 miles while mine said 12.83 miles. Also her splits look better then mine so I am including hers. At first, I was disappointed that I had two miles at +8:40 but using Lana's numbers there is only one. I can handle that, since it was uphill and we had to dodge cars that mile.
I am concerned about my heart rate, it seems low. I think I might need to change the battery. My Garmin reports an average heart rate of 153 and a max of 172.
Here are the splits as reported by Lana's Garmin vs my Garmin. I like her numbers better so that is what I am going with.

Lana's mine
Mile 1: 9:45 9:47
Mile 2: 9:49 9:51
Mile 3: 9:23 9:23
Mile 4: 8:31 8:30
Mile 5: 8:35 8:39
Mile 6: 8:27 8:28
Mile 7: 8:42 8:45
Mile 8: 8:34 8:41
Mile 9: 8:30 8:32
Mile 10: 8:13 8:16
Mile 11: 9:50 9:55
Mile 12: 9:32 9:30
.88 extra: 8:28(9:40/mi pace) .83 extra 8:02 (9:39/mi pace)

Ten Weeks - Done!

Ok, first off, I didn't get enough of you to cross your fingers for me Wednesday. I got put on the jury. At least it was a one day case and I hope that will be it for me for the month. We will see.

Thursday, I met Lana and Mike at the Rec Center at 5 to run 8 miles. I forgot my Garmin so have to wait on Lana to get the time/pace.

This morning, Friday, Lana met me at my house at 4:25. It was cold (44) and I was waiting on Lana in my driveway wrapped in a blanket. Thankfully the picture must not have turn out because it didn't show up on her blog today. Thanks Lana!!!
The run went very good. Felt great the whole time. 14 miles in 2:11:35. 9:24 pace complete with a negative split.
9:46, 9:32, 9:39, 9:32, 9:31, 9:17, 9:11, 9:38 (drink stop), 9:26, 9:20, 9:19, 9:06, 9:07: 9:12
Funny how Lana and I were side by side the entire time but her splits are all faster then mine!!!!

Civic Duty

OK, as if training for a marathon, working, and having two kids doesn’t make me busy enough, let’s throw in jury duty.

Yesterday I had to be at the court house at 3:00 for jury pool. I picked the kids up from school when the bell rang at 2:40 and rushed to the court house. They explained how it all works. I will be “on call” from yesterday until Nov 6th. Then they told us, “oh, by the way, we have trial tomorrow. And just to show you how random and fair this all is we are going to pick the 25 people for tomorrow’s jury pool right now” And of course whose name did they pull??? You got it, me.
So, I called my boss and told him. I am a contract employee, I don’t work, I don’t get paid. Oh, except for that $10 a day jury pay. So I am really hoping that when I show up at court today, I don’t make it to the 12 on the jury and I can go to work.

Other then the hassle of jury duty life and training have been moving forward.

Saturday- 20 mile ride
I did a short flat ride Saturday when Ronnie got home from golf at about 2:00. I averaged 16.9 mph. We went to Kim’s surprise b-day party that night so I knew I wasn’t getting up early Sunday morning for my 8 miles.

Sunday-8 mile run
It was 3:30 before Ronnie got home and HOT. I ran 8 but it was slow.

Monday- 8 mile VO2 Max
Our first VO2 max run of the program. I met Lana at the Rec Center at 4:30. We ran over to the middle school, about 3 miles, and slid through the gates to get on the track. I wish I had a picture of us trying to squeeze in that fence. We then ran 5 x 600 with 90 second jog between sets. Slid back trough the gates which was harder on tired legs and ran the 3 miles back to the Rec Center.

Tuesday-5 mile recovery
I met Tracy, Amy and Mary Beth at the Rec Center at 5:00am. Lana was a no show. We ran a 3 mile loop and then a two mile loop on the greenway and town. Amy had just run her first 7 mile run a few days before so she was tired and dropped off after the 3 miles. Mary Beth thought about dropping off too but hung in there and finished all 5 miles. It is so great to run with these girls and watch as they get stronger and faster.

Wednesday- rest cross train
Last night we went out for Lana and Amy’s birthdays. So again, no getting up early think it will be a rest day.
Guess I better get to jury duty. Cross your fingers they don’t pull my name.

Week 9 - Halfway

Today marks the end of week nine and also make us halfway done with the training program. I love the halfway mark. It just always feels good to me to get to that halfway point of anything. It’s a milestone. So I was very excited to get today’s run done and reach that halfway point.

But first, yesterday...6 miles with Lana, Mike and Joe. Recovery run. We ran a slight different route and it finally worked out to be exactly 6. We finished with 6 x 100 strides. The 6 miles took 56:38, 9:26 pace. I had some slight stomach issues again.

OK, now about the long run. On tap for today, 15 miles with 12 at marathon pace. I met Lana at the Rec Center. We got started at 4:50, Lana had some sleep vs alarm clock issues ;)
The first 3 miles of warm up were tough (10:17, 9:40, 9:35) and I questioned if I could do 12 at pace. When that third mile beeped we picked it up some. I was fine for a while but in the end I just couldn’t do it. My pace was too slow and I was so mad at myself. Lana wasn’t that far ahead but I just couldn’t catch her.
9:04, 9:05, 9:12, 9:14, 9:14, 8:55, 9:16, 9:28, 9:35, 9:33, 9:33, 9:29
Goal pace was 9:09.
I am very frustrated, I was feeling really good about the training but know I am full of doubt.
I know everyone has bad runs, how many times have I left that comment, but it is so much harder to deal with when it is your bad run. And the fact that is was a goal pace run and I failed makes me really question if I have a sub 4 in me.
Either way, I am done with week 9 and have 9 weeks left. Next week is recovery and the following week with be a 55 mile week (the highest).

Fall Break

The kids are out of school for fall break this week. We aren’t going on a trip anywhere so I am trying to make it as fun as possible while just staying here. It is taking a lot of time and energy. Therefore I am way behind on my blog.

Saturday- Old Timers Day
I was suppose to run the 5K but after the 20 mile run Friday, I decided to stick with the rest day and flake on the race. The kids and I went to the parade and Casey game. Big congrats to all my training buddies who did so well at the race.

Sunday- 6 miles recovery
I got up at about 7 and ran nice and slow and alone. I did my usual 6 mile route in 59:11, 9:53 pace.

Monday-14 mile mid-long run
Got up at 4:20 and was out the door by 4:30. Once again I was alone and this run didn’t go so well. I had tummy issues right from the start. By 11.5 I HAD to stop by the house. Then the last 2.5 seemed endless. Finally my Garmin beeped 14 and I could stop. 2:21:17, 10:06 pace. I had stomach issues the rest of the day.

Tuesday-6 mile recovery
Finally, someone to run with. I met Tracy at the Rec Center at 5. Amy was a no show. We ran the interstate road route. More stomach issues. We had to lap the parking lot to get to 6. As soon as I beeped I jumped in the car and rushed home. 1:03:48, 10:38 pace.

Wednesday-Rest/recovery
I have been reading Going Long and it stresses that if you feel tired take a rest day. So this morning I slept in. I can’t say I was really tired but the idea of sleeping in really appealed to me. Then I took the kids to the zoo. I am glad I didn’t get up and workout this morning. I don’t know if I could have kept up with the kids if I had. We zipped from one exhibit to the next. As soon as they spotted the animal, off we went. After the zoo, I drug the kids to Fleet Feet. I have blisters on the ends of every toe so thought maybe I should get refitted for shoes. They were surprised that the other Fleet Feet put me in the shoes that I am running in and they put me in a more neutral shoe. I hope they help my poor toes.