Julie's PR attempt at Fox Cities

Catching up on the past few days, everything looks good, Julie, assuming your knee is OK now. I noticed in the week in training thread, you have an impressive number of total miles for the year, that will help you. I agree with Michele to not worry about MP, and especially when it's really hot like it is. Still, get a number in your head that you are aiming for, like the 9:22, and run a mile at that pace during a GA run, see how it feels. I'm a true believer also in occasional fast finish long runs, whether 2-4 miles at the end of a long run, or even 4-8.

John Kilpatrick wrote:Good luck tomorrow and be careful out there...

Thanks, water and I are becoming even better friends lately.

JohnP wrote:Catching up on the past few days, everything looks good, Julie, assuming your knee is OK now. I noticed in the week in training thread, you have an impressive number of total miles for the year, that will help you. I agree with Michele to not worry about MP, and especially when it's really hot like it is. Still, get a number in your head that you are aiming for, like the 9:22, and run a mile at that pace during a GA run, see how it feels. I'm a true believer also in occasional fast finish long runs, whether 2-4 miles at the end of a long run, or even 4-8.

Thanks John, my knee is fine, just has its way of telling me I needed a new pr of shoes. I've been pretty fortunate to not have any really bad injuries this year. I will definitely try the fast finish run, by that do you mean MP or faster? I think I like 9:22 in theory because it doesn't seem that much faster than 9:30 which seems very manageable. I know in the end I have to hold that pace the last few miles of the marathon too and that will likely be my biggest challenge.

I got my 15 in, a few obstacles I hadn't anticipated, though. About 10 miles into it, I was running with a friend on the sidewalk and sure enough there were enough uneven spots that I tripped and lost my balance, crashed into the sidewalk and freshly mowed lawn of whoever lived there. It took me a few minutes to get up but basically just hit my left shoulder pretty hard and scraped my knee. I was able to run again though without too much pain. I still wanted to finish my 15.

I ended up stopping at home for more water and to rinse off the grass from my arm then ran another 3 to make 15. My husband said I was tough and should just rest and stay home but I'm glad I finished. It was hot and humid but not as bad as last weekend. I think the heat index is dropping to mid-80s at night and still reaching 110-115 during the afternoon.

Tomorrow I am meeting a friend to do a jogging stroller run together. She has a 2.5 yr old girl. I am just hoping my shoulder/collar bone is up to pushing the stroller. Right now it doesn't sound too appealing.

Didn't we just have tis discussion about tripping and falling?? I am glad that I am not the only one to do it this week. I am glad you are ok and were able to tuff out the entire run!! Good luck running this week!! Drink lots of fluids...

Nice run and tough as nails. Tell your husband you are a runner and fall ain't keeping you down. Go rest and enjoy the rest of your day and stop falling!

Julie wrote:I will definitely try the fast finish run, by that do you mean MP or faster? I think I like 9:22 in theory because it doesn't seem that much faster than 9:30 which seems very manageable. I know in the end I have to hold that pace the last few miles of the marathon too and that will likely be my biggest challenge.

Julie, here is a good article on FF long runs - definitely not something you do each week. You almost have to psych yourself up for it during the week to prepare for it, it's a good effort. But it really simulates the end of marathon feeling without a ton of extra stress on your body. Note that the article talks about doing 10K pace at the end but I would just concentrate on doing a few at MP and not worry about the 10K pace. Also, hope you aren't hurt, it's nasty to fall, I did it last summer fairly hard, it's not pleasant, good thing there was some grass there.

http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/marathonlongrun.htm

Nice job Julie with the 15M. Hopefully you're ok after the spill. You're definately tough for finishing it out.

Great job on the 15! Ouch!

Nick Morris wrote:Didn't we just have tis discussion about tripping and falling?? I am glad that I am not the only one to do it this week. I am glad you are ok and were able to tuff out the entire run!! Good luck running this week!! Drink lots of fluids...

Yeah seems like we did. I felt like a big dork for falling when it wasn't even icy out.

Kenny B. wrote:Nice run and tough as nails. Tell your husband you are a runner and fall ain't keeping you down. Go rest and enjoy the rest of your day and stop falling!

Thanks Kenny! Yeah he knows I'm tough and dedicated.

JohnP wrote:

Julie wrote:I will definitely try the fast finish run, by that do you mean MP or faster? I think I like 9:22 in theory because it doesn't seem that much faster than 9:30 which seems very manageable. I know in the end I have to hold that pace the last few miles of the marathon too and that will likely be my biggest challenge.

Julie, here is a good article on FF long runs - definitely not something you do each week. You almost have to psych yourself up for it during the week to prepare for it, it's a good effort. But it really simulates the end of marathon feeling without a ton of extra stress on your body. Note that the article talks about doing 10K pace at the end but I would just concentrate on doing a few at MP and not worry about the 10K pace. Also, hope you aren't hurt, it's nasty to fall, I did it last summer fairly hard, it's not pleasant, good thing there was some grass there.

http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/marathonlongrun.htm

Thank you for the article, I read it and it makes sense. I will try this this wkend and I'm going to stick more MP runs into my week. This training cycle is definitely more focused than any other one I have done before. Previously I ran 6 miles most days, 1 10 miler at pretty hard effort and then a long run. I guess it worked but I really have been wanting to improve my time and get out of this rut I've been in.

Alex Kubacki wrote:Nice job Julie with the 15M. Hopefully you're ok after the spill. You're definately tough for finishing it out.

Peg Coover wrote:Great job on the 15! Ouch!

Thanks Alex and Peg..

Well I am basically OK, really sore still on my shoulder/collar bone but ibuprofen and ice are helping. I did 6.3 miles with the jogging stroller and a friend with her little girl too this morning. hot and sunny and humid even at 7 a.m. but we did it.

The heat advisory is supposed to lift 7 pm on Wednesday but it's still supposed to be in the 90s for highs, maybe just some of this humidity will clear out. I don't know. I'm ready for some cooler temps and get back into working on speed work and everything. Thanks all for the advice and encouragement!

10.5 mile GA run today. I wanted it to be faster but with the heat and not too much sleep last night it just didn't happen. one more run in the heat advisory then we'll have a little bit cooler temps.

Shoulder and knee are still sore from the fall but the ibuprofen is helping. Nothing that really interfered with running this a.m.

Way to stick with it after falling! These things will happen on occasion. Just don't make a habit of it, OK? Going down the stairs a couple months ago, in the dark no less, thought I'd hit the bottom but had one more step to go...oops! No major injury, but I did dent the drywall with the top of my hip. Guess a person can never be too careful!

It would be nice if the dew points drop a bit wouldn't it? Hope your week continues to progress!

You are putting in some good miles, Julie. Good work and falling down sucks!

10.5 GA run is pretty strong workout. Nice job!

Impressive run today! Way to go!

Looks like you're back to cranking it out again. Great job.

Thanks Jon, John, Kenny, Peg, Alex for the comments.

Today was supposed to be 8 miles with 5 x 600m at 5K pace with 90 sec recovery. I thought about it last night to figure out how I was going to pull it off, mostly because I wasn't sure how to measure that distance in blocks to know if I was running at the correct pace. It is also still hot and humid but I think getting better.

What I did:

1.3 mile warm up/9:50ish pace
half mile 4:01
90 sec recovery after each half mile
half mile 4:11
half mile 4:17
half mile 4:05
half mile 4:22 (but by this time I had hit a dead end road, turned, and was approximating the distance. I put forth some pretty good effort there at the end so I doubt it was that much slower than the previous splits).

Then I ran about 3 more miles 9:45-9:55 pace and made it home with 7.5 miles. I didn't mind cutting it a bit short since yesterday's was a little long. My 5K pace is supposed to be 8:06 but I am cutting myself some slack due to the humidity and just generally being pretty tired. I predict a rest day in my not so distant future. My shoulder has been waking me up in pain all week and it still feels like it is just being pulled down or something (not the greatest description, I know. I can definitely tell when my ibuprofen wears off).

On an unrelated note, today I celebrate my little girl's 2nd birthday! I will put a photo of her birthday dress my mom made her. She is having a good day so far.

Nice job on the 800s, Julie. I did 400s in much the same manner this morning - not motivated to drive to the track in the heat and the treadmills here are not calibrated well, so I used my Garmin and set it for 0.25 mile repeats with 200 m rest. It wasn't half bad either.

Happy Birthday to your daughter!

Good job on that tough workout Julie! Good for you also knowing that you will need a rest day coming up in the near future, always good to listen to your bodies signals.

Happy 2nd birthday to your daughter, hope you all are having a great day.

the birthday girl, Miss Jocelyn.

Michele, thank you, you can tell I'm not a track person, just calling them 1/2 miles and measuring out my blocks I ran. I am hopeful that this is helping me improve my speed though. I'm definitely pushing myself.

Schuey, thanks! I agree about working out in the heat making you tougher in the cool so let's hope we all have awesome fall marathons!

Yeeaaahh. Happy birthday to the little one. Those times are so fun!

Nice workout this morning Julie!! Way to take the initiative and get out there even though the conditions were not favorable...

Happy birthday to your daughter, she looks very happy!

What a cutie! I hope it was a great day!

Nice workouts and Happy 2nd to your baby! They grow so fast.

You must be sleeping on your shoulder? Try sleeping on your stomach for a couple of nights. Take the dead body weight off of it when you're sleeping and especially if you sleep on your side. Weird I know but give it a try! It's great for the hips too!

John Kilpatrick wrote:Yeeaaahh. Happy birthday to the little one. Those times are so fun!

Thank you! Yes indeed, this is a fun age.

Nick Morris wrote:Nice workout this morning Julie!! Way to take the initiative and get out there even though the conditions were not favorable...

Thanks, I almost talked myself out of it but glad I did it.

JohnP wrote:Happy birthday to your daughter, she looks very happy!

Most of the time....just catch her when she needs a nap some time.

Peg Coover wrote:What a cutie! I hope it was a great day!

Thanks Peg, yes it was! She's probably destined for many hot birthdays but at least no worries about snow.

ChasMcG wrote:Nice workouts and Happy 2nd to your baby! They grow so fast.

You must be sleeping on your shoulder? Try sleeping on your stomach for a couple of nights. Take the dead body weight off of it when you're sleeping and especially if you sleep on your side. Weird I know but give it a try! It's great for the hips too!

I have to sleep on my back or my left side because I fell on my right shoulder on Sunday. If I'm on my stomach is puts pressure on it since it's the front of my shoulder and the edge of my collar bone. It's kind of green and bruised now so I am hoping it heals soon.

I woke up just past 4 a.m. this morning, heard thunder, got up because I said I'd meet a friend at 5 to run but she said she was going back to bed. So after an hour of being up and around thinking about going for a run or not, I went back to bed too. I guess I got my rest day unless things clear off later and I take the jogging stroller out but with other things we have going on today I doubt it will happen. I was about ready for a rest day anyway so I"m not too concerned.

14 miler this Sunday then I got a 20 the following Sunday and a bunch of 17s. So this will be my shortest long run until I taper for the race! It will be here before I know it, I'm sure.

Wasn't it nice to hear the thunder? Heard it here around 4:30 and off and on all morning. By the time I go out I'm sure the sun will be out and it will be steamy for sure. Don't think it's supposed to be as hot today at least.

Love the pic of the birthday girl!

Every year since Hannah turned 5 I have tried to convince her to stay the same age. She has not listened to me yet. I'm beginning to think it won't happen.
Such is life.....