A week of extremes

Other than snow, I think I ran in about every weather possible this week: wind, rain, heat, cold. We had record heat at the beginning of the week, around 100 degrees. By the end of the week we had lows in the 40s. Overnight the temperatures dropped 30 degrees! One week to the marathon.

Because of the heat, we woke up early Monday and did a quick Ethanol Loop. I stayed out of the heat through Wednesday. Thursday evening, Bill came in the living room with running attire on so I put on my shoes and did 3 miles with him.

Friday night was the Jewell Jubilee 5K race. I ran with the babies. They have not been doing any training at all so I was prepared to walk a lot of it. Earlier this year at the Red Flannel Run a 5K took us almost an hour to complete. This was small town Iowa so I wasn't terribly concerned about them. Rachael and Bill ran ahead, Noelle just ran her pace or with whomever she wanted to talk to, I started running with the babies. After about 1/2 mile, Matt took off running and mostly didn't stop! Later I heard was a pacer for some people. He finished in around 35 minutes. I think I have a new runner in the family! Claire and I finished in about 42 minutes.

Sat was busy so Sunday Rachael and I ran with J. I have been having terrible shin pain so was trying to put off this "big" run. Anytime I run fast I have shin problems. I have been icing them and using Biofreeze. That helps minimally. The best remedy is rest. :( So, today we started slowly and then by the end were really booking along. I felt pretty good so we just kept getting faster and faster. I am hoping by Saturday I will have strong legs and a great run!

Total mileage: 20 miles

Anxiety & Excitement

This week I consciously only ran 2 runs - 5 miles on Monday and 10 miles on Wednesday. I wanted to have fresh legs and be well-rested for Saturday's Dam to Dam with Rachael.

My shins have still been bothering me, but have also been working on some speed. Wednesday's run began at 4:00 AM! My running partners wanted to run and be back before their spouses had to leave for work. We started with J for 6 miles. The 2-block run to her house was a good warm-up. It was just what I needed to get going. We went rather fast. I seem to have an untapped energy from her. It's great running with her! The miles fly by and the time is short. We met up with another friend and finished 4 miles. It was a FAST run. Love it!

I have not been looking forward to D2D this year. I don't know why, just not excited about it. Anxiety has been setting in for the marathon as well. Can I do it? Will I have a bad running day? Will I be trained enough? Can I keep going the whole time? So much worry.

So, Friday came and I took Rachael to packet pick up. We had a good time and it was just the excitement we needed to get fired up for the run! We were really hoping to break 2 hrs, or at a bare minimum, the 2:06 time from last year. J ended up not being able to run due to tendonitis in her knee. Dang! We'll have to do this ourselves. I also forgot my watch so we won't really know our pace. Double dang!

We lined up at the 9:30 pace. Oh man, there were tons of people there that really should have been behind the 10:00 min pace. I think we passed about 200 people in the first couple miles. I don't think Rachael was having a good run as she wasn't her usual chatty self. She wouldn't stop and wouldn't slow down, however, so we kept going. About mile 5 we caught up to Vardotrichic and hubby. It was nice to see them and meet some friends who will also be running at Grandma's in a couple weeks. We kept trucking along hoping to beat the 2 hour mark. Rachael had to stop so we walked a bit at mile 6. The half-way clock marked 1:02 so I knew a PR was in jeopardy. That's ok. By mile 7 she was back at it and got her second wind so we took off again. She was really going strong and pulling me along at times. At mile 12 water stop I felt "stuck" like I couldn't run anymore. I told myself, just 1/2 mile more! I took off running and we were going like crazy. When we got to the finish line, I continuously scanned the sidelines for my family, but couldn't find them. I looked at the clock as we finished - 2:01!! YEAH. I never thought we would have ever come that close. I really thought our official time would have been 2:10-2:15.

In the end, I dropped 39 seconds off my mile pace and 9 minutes off my time! I am sooo very excited, especially knowing how much we walked.

854   10 JrW  Rachael Huegerich, 12*  58:47  1:57:35    9:28   

855   82 W40  Kimberly Huegerich, 41* 58:47  1:57:35    9:28

Here's a link to Bill's blog that has some of the pictures.

The official pictures came in and I felt like I looked much better in these photos than in the Drake photos. There might be hope for me after all!

Weekly training mileage: 27 miles

WOW factor: priceless

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