Yes I know two days ago we just ran a marathon, but now is not the time to be taking days off! We have the routine down so well! Tuesdays 10.5 miles before work, Thursdays 6.2 miles before work, and Sunday anywhere from 13 – 22 miles. Maybe if work gets less busy I would throw in an extra day of hills or something, but right now that is all I can muster up the energy for. We can’t stop now! There is 1 month and 22 days and 22 hours until Boston and I don’t want to throw away all the hard work I did through the cold busy winter! So we did it. We got up this morning and ran 4 miles. It felt no different than any other run. There is almost no lingering soreness. The legs just want to keep on moving!!
Fundraising news – I haven’t been able to envelope my letters and send them out yet. I tend to spend the 8 or 9 hours a day that I am not at work running and sleeping, so everything is all set and ready for action. I have the letters, the envelopes, stamps, pretty pens, address labels, printer to make them, and my list of who gets them. I’m hoping to carve out some time this weekend to do at least some if not all. In the meantime, I’ll just use the good old internet to spread the word through email.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
A beautiful day for a marathon!
You couldn’t have asked for a better day! Actually the perfectness began the night before when Glenn made the most delicious eggplant parm for Michelle and my pre-race dinner. After sufficient carbo loading, we woke up Sunday morning and we ready to go! We each had our own little pre race rituals……Michelle needed blueberries and a banana and I needed a bagel with cream cheese from Dunkie’s. Once that was taken care of we were off to Hyannis to get our numbers and run 26.2 miles. We had good timing and were able to park right across from the hotel where it was starting. It was absolutely gorgeous outside! That is until we got out of the car. It was so cold and windy! We were a bit concerned, but didn’t really have time to worry about it as we had to get our numbers and race goodies (t-shirt, snack bar, and some pamphlets) and get back to the car. We were numbers 85 and 86, obviously we had been pretty excited about signing up for the race (we signed up in November I think). So we dropped our stuff off at the car and got our timing chips securely on our shoes and our numbers securely on our outfits and were ready to race….
The race started probably around 10:10AM and the weather was absolutely gorgeous! We crossed the starting line and the countdown to mile 26.2 began. The marathon consisted of two 13 mile loops and the race was also a 10km and half marathon. The first few miles were pretty crowded but we managed to carve out a place for ourselves and stick to a pretty consistent pace. It took about 6 or so miles to finally get in the groove. You know…..the place where you legs just move and you feel like you could go forever. The first loop was pretty uneventful, consisting of basically an 8 mile warm up and then 5 more miles of running. It was funny coming to the end of the first loop. Everyone was yelling “you’re almost done” because about three quarters of the people were only running the half. Then the half marathon people turn into the parking lot of the hotel and us few marathoners just ran right by and started up loop number 2.
Loop number 2 was very different from loop 1. Shell and I thought it would be terrible, having to run the same loop over again. It ended up being fine because I’m pretty sure by the time we got to the second loop we had completely forgotten running the first loop haha…so much so that we were actually concerned that we had missed a turn or something! No worries though, we managed to stay on track for the whole time. The miles in the second loop seemed to go by much faster too amazingly! My parents were also out for the second loop! By then the roads had opened so the paparazzi (aka my parents) could follow the route and snap photos all along the route! It was like nice little surprises every few miles! Mile 14 photos, mile 15 advil, mile 17 more photos and some power gel, miles 18-23 just keep running, miles 23-25 music and sing-a-long, and before we knew it we were done!! Finishing time: 4 hours 44 minutes and 27 seconds! I think I even got a little sunburn on my nose! That’s what a perfect day for running it was! The post race meal consisted of a cup of chili, turkey club sandwich, French fries, and a big Miller Lite followed by another hearty helping of Glenn’s eggplant parm 4 hours later!
The race started probably around 10:10AM and the weather was absolutely gorgeous! We crossed the starting line and the countdown to mile 26.2 began. The marathon consisted of two 13 mile loops and the race was also a 10km and half marathon. The first few miles were pretty crowded but we managed to carve out a place for ourselves and stick to a pretty consistent pace. It took about 6 or so miles to finally get in the groove. You know…..the place where you legs just move and you feel like you could go forever. The first loop was pretty uneventful, consisting of basically an 8 mile warm up and then 5 more miles of running. It was funny coming to the end of the first loop. Everyone was yelling “you’re almost done” because about three quarters of the people were only running the half. Then the half marathon people turn into the parking lot of the hotel and us few marathoners just ran right by and started up loop number 2.
Loop number 2 was very different from loop 1. Shell and I thought it would be terrible, having to run the same loop over again. It ended up being fine because I’m pretty sure by the time we got to the second loop we had completely forgotten running the first loop haha…so much so that we were actually concerned that we had missed a turn or something! No worries though, we managed to stay on track for the whole time. The miles in the second loop seemed to go by much faster too amazingly! My parents were also out for the second loop! By then the roads had opened so the paparazzi (aka my parents) could follow the route and snap photos all along the route! It was like nice little surprises every few miles! Mile 14 photos, mile 15 advil, mile 17 more photos and some power gel, miles 18-23 just keep running, miles 23-25 music and sing-a-long, and before we knew it we were done!! Finishing time: 4 hours 44 minutes and 27 seconds! I think I even got a little sunburn on my nose! That’s what a perfect day for running it was! The post race meal consisted of a cup of chili, turkey club sandwich, French fries, and a big Miller Lite followed by another hearty helping of Glenn’s eggplant parm 4 hours later!
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Almost Hyannis
Well my sickness dragged on through the weekend so I did not get any running done between Friday and today. It peaked on Saturday and Sunday and so I had to actually call in sick on Saturday. Yes it’s pretty pathetic that I had to call in sick on a Saturday but it is busy season and I just keep telling myself that everything will balance out when I don’t have to work very much over the summer.
We adjusted the running schedule a little this week due to the Hyannis Marathon being on Sunday and my still lingering sickness. So this morning we ran 6 miles. It was cold and Michelle and I were beat (of course we had both been working until around midnight last night), but with the morning run as the highlight of our days we couldn’t pass it up. The runs are like our little therapy sessions. I would say about three quarters of the time we complain about work and the last quarter we complain about other stuff and play catch up! It’s really good to get it all out in the morning and usually, it makes for a much more pleasant day. I was a little concerned about the run after taking 4 days off, but it was fine. And I am pleased to report I think we are both ready to knock out 26 miles on Sunday!! Yeah that’s it. I don’t really have too much to say today.
We adjusted the running schedule a little this week due to the Hyannis Marathon being on Sunday and my still lingering sickness. So this morning we ran 6 miles. It was cold and Michelle and I were beat (of course we had both been working until around midnight last night), but with the morning run as the highlight of our days we couldn’t pass it up. The runs are like our little therapy sessions. I would say about three quarters of the time we complain about work and the last quarter we complain about other stuff and play catch up! It’s really good to get it all out in the morning and usually, it makes for a much more pleasant day. I was a little concerned about the run after taking 4 days off, but it was fine. And I am pleased to report I think we are both ready to knock out 26 miles on Sunday!! Yeah that’s it. I don’t really have too much to say today.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Fighting it....
So it happened. I got sick. It as inevitable really with all the sickness around me so as much as I was fighting it and doing everything I could to prevent it, it still happened. It started Wednesday. No coughing or stuffy nose or anything just really tired and achy body. I continued with my cold prevention strategy though hoping to stop it in its tracks…..lots of water, three a day doses of airborne, frequent hand washing, tea, etc. We left work a 9:30 and I went straight to bed when I got home. Michelle and I had decided earlier to push our Thursday run to Friday this week, which was perfect because there was no way I thought I could drag myself out of bed at 5:15. I woke up Thursday with a little bit of a sore throat, but other than that I felt fantastic! Oh I was so good! I was convinced that I was the only person in the world that could cure the common cold in one day haha. Not so much luck. Yesterday was runny nose day. I kept fighting though with the same remedies as Wednesday PLUS some cold ez and cold medicine that I found in the first aid kit outside our audit room. I felt pretty good all day and was ready to get back to running Friday.
The alarm goes off tis morning and I get up with the worst sore throat (I think the air is just extra dry in my apt.) but I wasn’t sleeping that well anyway so I figured I would go for my run anyway, you know, to get the blood flowing. The run went really well. We were one and half minutes faster than our next fastest time. Even though the breathing was a little tough and the throat was a little sore, I’m glad I went. We’ve got the Hyannis Marathon coming up next weekend and now is not the time to throw away all that hard work we have been doing!!
The alarm goes off tis morning and I get up with the worst sore throat (I think the air is just extra dry in my apt.) but I wasn’t sleeping that well anyway so I figured I would go for my run anyway, you know, to get the blood flowing. The run went really well. We were one and half minutes faster than our next fastest time. Even though the breathing was a little tough and the throat was a little sore, I’m glad I went. We’ve got the Hyannis Marathon coming up next weekend and now is not the time to throw away all that hard work we have been doing!!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
What to wear??
Today it was cold again like it was at the very beginning of January. Running in the cold isn’t so bad. Surprisingly, you warm up quite a bit when you start running. Unfortunately, I have yet to master dressing for the temperature. For some reason I just can’t seem to get it right. I had checked the weather before I left work last night and the forecast a 6AM was 20 degrees feels like 1 degree so at 5:15 I figured if anything it would be a little colder. This is what I ended up leaving the house in: a long sleeve shirt, a light fleece pullover, my reflective jacket, running tights, sweatpants, 2 pairs of gloves, a headband, and a hat…oh and a scarf for my face. A little excessive I now know, but I kept picturing how cold I was yesterday and I couldn’t help myself. The rule is that when you go outside you should feel cool. I felt comfortable so right away I knew I should have run back in a dropped off a layer, but I wasn’t ready to give up any warmth. By the time I met Michelle (who I think was wearing 3 times as less layers than me), I was pretty warm.
The scarf was off within the first mile. Other than that I did ok. I definitely would have been fine without the fleece pullover, but truthfully, I could have used another pair of gloves! I keep saying that I am going to start wearing big ski mittens when I run, but I always forget until I’m mid-run and my hands are freezing. I could have used them today. Even wrapping the scarf around my hands (which mind you were each inside 2 gloves) was not enough to warm them up. I’ve decided that my fingers just can’t keep themselves warm on their own. They need each other, so mittens it is! We knocked out our 10.5 mile run for the week almost 3 minutes faster than our next fastest time! And I managed to make a few mental notes about dressing appropriately for running in the winter. All in all I would say it was a pretty productive morning!
In fundraising news…..I sent my letter to staples to get copied yesterday. My plan tomorrow is to stop and get the letters, some pretty pens, and lots of envelopes. I already have the stamps and the address labels. Then hopefully by this weekend, I will start stuffing the envelopes!
The scarf was off within the first mile. Other than that I did ok. I definitely would have been fine without the fleece pullover, but truthfully, I could have used another pair of gloves! I keep saying that I am going to start wearing big ski mittens when I run, but I always forget until I’m mid-run and my hands are freezing. I could have used them today. Even wrapping the scarf around my hands (which mind you were each inside 2 gloves) was not enough to warm them up. I’ve decided that my fingers just can’t keep themselves warm on their own. They need each other, so mittens it is! We knocked out our 10.5 mile run for the week almost 3 minutes faster than our next fastest time! And I managed to make a few mental notes about dressing appropriately for running in the winter. All in all I would say it was a pretty productive morning!
In fundraising news…..I sent my letter to staples to get copied yesterday. My plan tomorrow is to stop and get the letters, some pretty pens, and lots of envelopes. I already have the stamps and the address labels. Then hopefully by this weekend, I will start stuffing the envelopes!
Monday, February 11, 2008
Mother Nature and her funny jokes
Ok so yesterday (Sunday) was my big long run day. I was a little disappointed that once again I spent Saturday at work and then I had to spend 3 and a half hours of my one day off running, which then actually causes the remainder of my day to be a complete waste as I spend much of it sitting on the couch recovering and feeding. I got over it quickly though because the weather was absolutely gorgeous! It was 45 degrees out and sunny. I couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather.
I set off on the same path as last weekend, to the bike trail, this time running out 10 and a half miles before turning around and heading back. Yup 21 miles was the plan. I left around 11AM to find many people out walking and biking on the trail. In an unusual fashion I actually decided today to have my music playing on my ipod (very low of course so I could still heard everything around me, but just loud enough that I could make out what song was playing). I never ever listen to music while I’m running but due to the length of my run and the fact that I had just run the same place last week, I thought it might be necessary. I run along uneventfully until I get to about mile 8 where it seems that the sun is gone. Then I notice some rain drops, but nothing too concerning, so obviously I keep going and the sun comes back. I get to the turn around point (Seaview Ave. in Brewster) and head back noticing that the sun is going away again. Its getting eerily dark and I begin to wonder what I am in for just hoping with all hope that it is not thunder and lightning (yeah I’m terrified of it). I get back to the same spot as it was raining before (so I have about 8 miles left) and it just starts downpouring coupled with some nice wind gusts. I’m pretty sure I was not dressed appropriately for rain, but I stick my ipod in my back pocket, wrap my freezing hands in my shirt and keep going. The only way to get out of the rain is to get home and the fastest way to get home is to keep running. To my extreme delight about 2 miles later I can see the sun up ahead. Its still raining on me of course but there was hope so I try to pick up the pace (just a little because at this point my legs just plain hurt, not like muscle sore, just aching). I finally made it to the sun and it was awesome. It actually even stayed out until I finished 3 hours and 24 minutes after I had started. Boy was I happy to be finished with that run! And yes I did spend the rest of the day on the couch eating anything and everything that I could find!
I set off on the same path as last weekend, to the bike trail, this time running out 10 and a half miles before turning around and heading back. Yup 21 miles was the plan. I left around 11AM to find many people out walking and biking on the trail. In an unusual fashion I actually decided today to have my music playing on my ipod (very low of course so I could still heard everything around me, but just loud enough that I could make out what song was playing). I never ever listen to music while I’m running but due to the length of my run and the fact that I had just run the same place last week, I thought it might be necessary. I run along uneventfully until I get to about mile 8 where it seems that the sun is gone. Then I notice some rain drops, but nothing too concerning, so obviously I keep going and the sun comes back. I get to the turn around point (Seaview Ave. in Brewster) and head back noticing that the sun is going away again. Its getting eerily dark and I begin to wonder what I am in for just hoping with all hope that it is not thunder and lightning (yeah I’m terrified of it). I get back to the same spot as it was raining before (so I have about 8 miles left) and it just starts downpouring coupled with some nice wind gusts. I’m pretty sure I was not dressed appropriately for rain, but I stick my ipod in my back pocket, wrap my freezing hands in my shirt and keep going. The only way to get out of the rain is to get home and the fastest way to get home is to keep running. To my extreme delight about 2 miles later I can see the sun up ahead. Its still raining on me of course but there was hope so I try to pick up the pace (just a little because at this point my legs just plain hurt, not like muscle sore, just aching). I finally made it to the sun and it was awesome. It actually even stayed out until I finished 3 hours and 24 minutes after I had started. Boy was I happy to be finished with that run! And yes I did spend the rest of the day on the couch eating anything and everything that I could find!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
It's an obsession...
Today’s run flew by! It is the one month anniversary of the kick off of marathon training 2008 and I am still completely motivated and not too exhausted yet! Other than that, nothing out of the ordinary to report. We got about 6 and a half miles in and I still managed to get to work by 8:15 all geared up for a solid 12 hours at least of work.
In other news, I am completely obsessed with tracking my training. I have this blog, various maps, a spreadsheet, the Nike+ iPod tracker thing, and I write it in my calendar. I am a huge fan of the Nike tracker thing except for the fact that it overstates my mileage by about 12% (that’s the average variance of all my runs which I also track on a different spreadsheet). I need to take it to a track a fix it, but for now Nike thinks I have run 128 miles since January 8th when I really have only run 114 miles. Yes I know that it is off because I am crazy and 1) there is no way I am running as fast as it says I am to complete all that extra fake miles and 2) I definitely go on the internet and map all my runs after I am done (even if I mapped it out before I ran and even if I have a map telling me how far it is). Back to the Nike thing, it’s really very cool. It keeps track of all my runs with pretty little charts and graphs and you can enter different challenges that people set up. Right now I’m in two challenges: the light beer challenge and one called bragging rights. In the light beer challenge you pick your favorite light beer and then all your miles and everyone else’s that picked that one go towards it and the first beer to 800 miles wins. I of course picked Nick Lacheys otherwise know as Miller Lite, the best light beer there is! Up until today, we were winning but somehow bud light just pulled ahead….The other one is an individual challenge where the person that runs the most miles in the month of February wins. Right now I’m in 4th place, which is pretty cool. Ok well now that you all think I am a total dork, I’m going to get back to work!
In other news, I am completely obsessed with tracking my training. I have this blog, various maps, a spreadsheet, the Nike+ iPod tracker thing, and I write it in my calendar. I am a huge fan of the Nike tracker thing except for the fact that it overstates my mileage by about 12% (that’s the average variance of all my runs which I also track on a different spreadsheet). I need to take it to a track a fix it, but for now Nike thinks I have run 128 miles since January 8th when I really have only run 114 miles. Yes I know that it is off because I am crazy and 1) there is no way I am running as fast as it says I am to complete all that extra fake miles and 2) I definitely go on the internet and map all my runs after I am done (even if I mapped it out before I ran and even if I have a map telling me how far it is). Back to the Nike thing, it’s really very cool. It keeps track of all my runs with pretty little charts and graphs and you can enter different challenges that people set up. Right now I’m in two challenges: the light beer challenge and one called bragging rights. In the light beer challenge you pick your favorite light beer and then all your miles and everyone else’s that picked that one go towards it and the first beer to 800 miles wins. I of course picked Nick Lacheys otherwise know as Miller Lite, the best light beer there is! Up until today, we were winning but somehow bud light just pulled ahead….The other one is an individual challenge where the person that runs the most miles in the month of February wins. Right now I’m in 4th place, which is pretty cool. Ok well now that you all think I am a total dork, I’m going to get back to work!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Wild Weather
This morning started out like every other Tuesday morning. The alarm went off at five and I hit snooze, but then got up because I didn’t want to be late for meeting Michelle. I had heard it was supposed to rain today so I peeked out the window. Oh yay! There was no rain and it didn’t seem too cold out. This was especially good because I forgot my winter running hat on the Cape and the only other hat I could find in my apartment was a mesh camouflage Toyota trucker hat. (Of course I wore it!) Then I headed out the door to meet Michelle.
The first half of our 10.5 mile run went as usual. They did try to more securely close the section of our running path that was under construction, but we managed to squeeze our skinny little selves right though the gate and keep on course. We got to the half way still moving along……and then it started. The precipitation…..It started as hail. Getting pelted with little tiny pebbles wasn’t so bad. It could have been worse. Of course it didn’t hail for too long before turning to rain. The rain went back and forth between heavy and sprinkles basically for the rest of the run, which meant wet heavy feet and cold hands trying to stay warm in wet gloves. We managed to not let the rain get in our way (plus the faster we got home the faster we were out of the rain). Mother Nature was not yet impressed with our resilience though so she got us for the last few miles with some very strong wind in our faces. Nevertheless, we obviously kept running and made it home 3 minutes faster then our next fastest time. Take that Mother Nature!
So it was quite a morning. It was one of those days that makes you feel like a really hardcore runner, as you are running 10 and a half miles through puddles in the hail, rain, and wind before the sun has even come up. I’m pretty sure I loved every second of it though! (except for maybe the really cold hands…..next time I’ll wear my super mittens.)
The first half of our 10.5 mile run went as usual. They did try to more securely close the section of our running path that was under construction, but we managed to squeeze our skinny little selves right though the gate and keep on course. We got to the half way still moving along……and then it started. The precipitation…..It started as hail. Getting pelted with little tiny pebbles wasn’t so bad. It could have been worse. Of course it didn’t hail for too long before turning to rain. The rain went back and forth between heavy and sprinkles basically for the rest of the run, which meant wet heavy feet and cold hands trying to stay warm in wet gloves. We managed to not let the rain get in our way (plus the faster we got home the faster we were out of the rain). Mother Nature was not yet impressed with our resilience though so she got us for the last few miles with some very strong wind in our faces. Nevertheless, we obviously kept running and made it home 3 minutes faster then our next fastest time. Take that Mother Nature!
So it was quite a morning. It was one of those days that makes you feel like a really hardcore runner, as you are running 10 and a half miles through puddles in the hail, rain, and wind before the sun has even come up. I’m pretty sure I loved every second of it though! (except for maybe the really cold hands…..next time I’ll wear my super mittens.)
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Super Sunday
What a fantastic day for running! What a difference a week makes! The plan was for 15 miles and I even mapped it out ahead of time. When I am running out and back by myself, I tend to forget that I actually have to run home. I left around 11:40 after a fantastic breakfast made for me by my Glenn. I definitely wore too many clothes. I still have winter on my mind and left in 2 long sleeve shirts, a winter hat, and gloves. After about 10 minutes the gloves were off. I ran down to the bike path and then headed around the bike path rotary towards Brewster. It took me about 4 miles to warm up and after that I was running at a pretty good pace. I got to the turn around point 4 minutes after crossing Underpass Rd in Brewster at 1 hr. 13 minutes, thinking that I had 7.6 miles under my belt. I headed back keeping up my pace. I think my legs were excited about how nice out it was. With about 3 miles to go though, I think they (my legs) decided that they were done and were no longer interested in running. I didn't listen to them and kept on going. That's the fastest way to get home. I got home at 2 hours and 29 minutes. Not bad but I felt like I was running a bit faster than that so I hopped on the internet and mapped it out. It ended up being 16.2 miles! So pumped!! Here's a quick recap of things I saw on my run: lots of runners and bikers, 3 rollerbladers, 8 dogs, 2 groups of troublemaking kids, one creepy looking guy with a mustache smoking a cigar, 3 cranberry bogs, 5 ponds, and 2 Patriots shirts! What a day! Now I'm looking forward to stuffing my face and watching all the new funny super bowl commercials. Go PATS!
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