Chasing the wall

Great stuff going on this week. It was the last week of school. Kids were done and I put in a 12-hr day to not have to go in on Friday! I started the week with a 5-mile run hoping that I would really be able to make all my runs again, or at least the mileage. I am still having an rough start so the 5 mile was work, but an easy, quick run.

J called inviting me to run a couple days this week. Both days I overslept and didn't get out. Darn it! Friday finally came. I overslept a little, but since I didn't have to go in to school I could go whenever. Rachael and I ran 10 miles. It was another good, solid run after I got warmed up. We finished in less than 90 mins.

Saturday I wanted to do 18-20. I was feeling a 20-miler, but if things got tough I would do 18. We did a quick Ethanol Loop, came back and did a mile in town, and then caught up with J and Dede. We did another Ethanol Loop with them and then a couple more miles. We finished with 4 miles west and Bill joined us to complete the 3rd Ethanol Loop of the morning. It was a beautiful morning with a light breeze. I commented to Rachael that with all the wind this year we don't know how to run in a breeze! The humidity was high, but it was a cool breeze to keep us going. The last 3 miles were really hard for some reason. I felt like I could have completed the marathon today, but I really felt myself slowing down. By the time I got to the last 1/2 mile I felt like I was really having to push myself to cross that imaginary finish line. I think I was very near the wall!

One week to Dam to Dam; three weeks to Grandma's. I am so much more prepared this year than last year. I am so excited for the run. I just hope the body is working that day...

Weekly training mileage: 35 miles

Total May mileage: 137 miles

A little cheating

I did. I finally did it! I ran ALL the miles this week. This is the first time since I started training again that I completed the full week! OK, now for the confession... I was supposed to do a 5, 8, 5, 18 week. With graduation and all the other festivities this week I knew I wouldn't get 3 runs in so I combined two of the days and did 10, 8, 18.

The 10 mile run was good. Rachael and I were a bit achy, but we finished. Lately it has taken me about 7 miles or so to get warmed up and in a running groove. After that I can just run run run. So, I was just getting into it and it was over.

Last week I had battled some quite straining groin pain that made it really difficult to walk. I thought I would do at least 5 miles and see if that would make it flare up again. At 5 miles I was fine so I kept going. I have not been able to recreate that pain all week so I think I'm out of danger on that. Still not sure what that was...

The 8-mile run was a hurry-up run. I had to get home from school, change clothes, run, shower and be ready to head out the door by 5:30! I didn't cool-down properly because I was rushing and my legs really hurt for the next few days. I definitely paid for that one.

J called again and wanted to do 16 miles with us on Saturday. We were doing 18 so it worked out well. She wore her phone that tracks her miles, tells her how far she ran and average running pace. Below are the mile splits. Yep, definitely took a bit to get warmed up! It's fun to see how our pace picked up, especially at the end. We had rain, medium wind (10-15 mph) from the SSE. The first few miles were in town and the last mile was in town, but the others were out on the highway. I'm not sure what happened on mile 6. It could have started raining on us again. It was a nice rain this morning; it felt like I was running in a fan mister. Great morning!

Here are our splits -

1 - 10:13

2 - 10:03

3 - 9.54

4 - 9:51

5 - 9:51

6 - 10:04

7 - 9:59

8 - 9:53

9 - 9:55

10 - 9:58

11 - 9:30

12 - 9:31

13 - 9:35

14 - 9:37

15 - 9:36

16 - 9:34

Weekly training mileage: 36 miles

New Pain

I didn't run so much last week so I really needed to get out pounding the pavement this week. I had to get back on the training schedule. My goal was a minimum of 30 miles. I only missed one training run so it was a good week. I ran 5, 9, 20 miles this week. YEAH!

After school Monday Rachael and I did a quick Ethanol Loop. It seemed to be a bit hard, but it was a good run to recover from Saturday's run.

Tuesday was so very hot and I took a personal day Wednesday so I waited until early Wednesday morning to run. J called asking if I wanted to run in the morning so I would get up early and go out. She was going to run 9 miles so that was perfect! I thought, what's another mile this week? I couldn't get Rachael out of bed, but figured she needed the rest so I let her sleep. We met up with a couple running buddies so we started as a group of 4. After 4 miles, one person left the group as we sped up a bit. I ran on grass for the first time since I've been training. I think I'll stick to the gripping pavement. However, running through the sprinklers on the golf course was a welcome surprise in the heat and humidity. lol I started feeling rough, but finished 9 miles at an average 9:35 pace. That felt great to be able to cut 25 seconds/mile off my time, at least for one run. They remaining two finished one more mile at sub 9 minutes.

I didn't get the last short run in due to schedule and then thought it would be too close to the big run and I really wanted to get one more 20 miler in before the marathon. Only 34 more days until the start gun! So I opted out of the shorter 5 mile run.

Saturday morning came and I knew it would be about 3 1/2 hr run so I got up at 4:00 because we had a busy schedule today. We were out the door within 30 minutes and it was about 40 degrees cooler. J called and said she wanted to go out in 1/2 hr!! Dang we didn't get the start time we wanted and were running late. I wanted to do an Ethanol Loop before picking her up. We did about 3 miles and came back for her. She wanted to do 10 miles with us so that went really fast! It took me about 9-10 miles to get in a groove and my legs felt like lead. I just couldn't get it going the first half. Finally I settled into a groove and I was off! The longer I ran, the better I felt. After 13 we stopped back to refill beverages. We finished the 20 miles and it felt great.

About 2 hrs after the run I got a nasty groin pain. It was a shooting, sharp pain under the scar where I had a hernia when I was about 5 years old. I usually get pain in my outside hip; I'm guessing it's IT Band. Today it was like the pain had shifted to my groin. Hope I didn't pull something. I feel like I can go up/down stairs just fine, but after about the first 3-4 steps, there's a pain that about makes me crumble to my knees. Good news: I didn't have much shin pain this week. Yeah!

I am still battling the scale, too. I got the pictures from Drake and was discouraged by what I saw! I knew the Battle of the Bulge was on, but woah! I look awful. My legs are really huge and the waistline is robust and I need to do something. I wonder how I can run long distances and eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and yet still not lose weight. I know the math of burn calories > consuming calories = weight loss, but this is crazy. My speed is increasing and my distance is increasing, but the pounds and inches are not decreasing. Stress and hectic schedules just might be winning this battle. :(

Weekly training mileage: 34 miles

Triumphant Break

This week was the end of the track season. Rachael had 3 track meets and a concert this week. Needless to say, training took a backseat. She finished up with a bang, however: Conference Champ in the 4x800 and the 1500. I think the speed work during the track season has been good for her. I didn't push her much during the week, but we did get all our long runs in on the weekends.

This week I only got in the 18 mile long run on Saturday. She was hurting a bit so we decided not to go the extra 2 miles to complete 20 miles. It was a good run. We ran an Ethanol Loop, met up with J for 9 miles, and then finished 4 miles in town. We were strong the whole way, making about 9:40 average mile. We finished the 18 miles in about 2:47. We felt good about that.

We also tried some shotbloks for the first time. They were good, but I can't see storing them compared to the gels. Also it's hard to chew something when you're exhausted and trying to breathe. I am also wondering about them melting in the heat this summer before you get a chance to eat them.

Weekly mileage: 18 miles

Goal: 30+ miles next week!

Drake Half

Last week I didn't run at all. :( I was rather sore and achy from the long run and then I was insanely busy again. I am anticipating this coming week to be very busy as well. My schedule is really starting to interfere with my training, darn it.

This past week wasn't awful. I was able to get a 10-mile run in on Tuesday with Rachael. I was even getting some good sleep through the week. The last couples days were not good, however, so I chose to sleep rather than run. This is probably one factor contributing to my fight with the scale this time around.

This week finished up with Drake Relays and the half marathon. It was a great run! I did this one last year with J and this year with Rachael. Last year I really really struggled with it and the hills really got to me. I hit the wall about mile 11.5 and just couldn't go anymore, but finished it running! This year I was smarter and had more experience so it went so much better. My goal was 2:05:xx We averaged a 9:21 pace and finished at 2:02:37. We had a strong finish and ran well. The body worked that day. :) Rachael finished 4th in her age group. I was one proud mama!

Today, Sunday, J contacted me after her 16 mile run and wanted to do a brick for her duathlon training. She came over when I was mowing and wanted me to run with her. She did a quick 10-15 min ride and then was ready for the run. We did 3 miles and then I did another 3 on my own after that.

Weekly training mileage: 19 miles

April mileage: 99 miles