A Numbers Game

KathyK wrote:I totally understand about how you must feel about that 6:51!!! Big, BIG congrats on that! You are ~1 year younger than me but waaaay faster. I'm certain you'll be able to nail your sub 9:00 pace!

Thanks Kathy! It really was very unexpected, but I am still talking about it

Yesterday I took the day off mostly because of work, but I was due for a leisurely day.

Today was a nice easy 11.5 miler along the bike path. I ended up speeding up in the end, but I tried to keep it light and easy because I am running another half marathon this Sunday.

I was joined by my coach for part of it (he of the Michigan workout) totally by surprise...unplanned. We talked about how a lot of folks do not partake in the kind of running we were doing...easy, slow miles with no plan or outcome except having fun and being on your feet. I really enjoyed it. After a while he peeled off and ran back to somewhere. I continued on to the water fountain before heading home.

It was a great run, weather was beautiful, a bit of fall in the air. Couldn't ask for nicer!

E Greenie<--and the wine and hamburger afterwards weren't too bad either.

Today was a really easy 45 minutes. My left foot is bothering me again, so I took it easy and ran mostly on the grass, with shoes, but still on a soft surface.

It will be fine for Sunday, but I want to take care of it.

My neighbor's Jack Russell terrier is visiting for a couple of hours. It is so odd to have a dog that is the size of a cat, and does not mind jumping on you, or eating your hair....she's amusing.

E Greenie<--I knew that ice puck thingie would come in handy.

Wow, it has been a while since I posted....well...I did put up that FAAABULOUS Race report, if I don't mind saying so

This week was crazy busy at work, and the miles reflect it. As of today, I am at 30 miles of quality runs...I just did not do the filler that I normally would do. Didn't run yesterday or Thursday. I was just too exhausted

Today was a nice 10 miler with DH for part of it. A good progressive effort, from 10:30s going up and over Pre's Rock down to 8:30s on the flat in the park. It felt good to push the effort at the end and feel that everything was still responding.

Tomorrow I have a 20 miler on the schedule. I will run the first part on Ridgeline Trail with my friend who just finished her first 100K two weekends ago. She's going to do 10 with me. Then I plan to finish with two times round the familiar 5.5 mile loop. It'll get the job done and I will be able to use my car as my pit stop.

I am actually looking forward to it. I have noted how much more I look forward to my runs now that I do not worry about pushing the effort on the non "workout" days...and evidently it is working, as my race at Eugene Women's Half reflects

E Greenie<---traded in the broken vacuum for a new one...this one has a crazy powerful motor.

Today's twenty miler is in the bag. See the stats here: http://go.nike.com/02vlfbhn

As is evident from the charts, what I lacked in speed on this one, I made up for in elevation. I decided to leave the car at home and run to the meeting place, 4 miles away. Once we met up, we headed back through the middle of Eugene, and then up into Hendrick's Park, onto the Ribbon Trail, and up and over Mt Baldy to Ridgeline trail and back down to the cars. At that point I needed 5 more miles, so I ran a couple of loops on Amazon, and my watch beeped at 20 on the way back to the house. Perfect.

I can tell that fall is coming. It was cool and gorgeous the whole time we were running. And I saw rabbits, turkey hens and a deer, all right on the Amazon/Rexius Trail that runs north-south through town. Pretty amazing!

all in all a good run. It is a good way for me to get the miles in and feel challenged without beating myself up on the pavement, and the company is excellent!

50.xx for the week.

E Greenie<--coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee.....

What was supposed to be an easy recovery run turned into a nice progression run with a dead sprint at the finish (DH can be a little competitive, and well, I have new found speed).

Seven miles. 10 something average/mile with the last two in 9:26 and 8:26

Today I am filling the hot tub and cleaning that part of the patio: getting it fall/winter ready. After we finished the run, even though the sun was shining, I was cold. I love this time of year.

E Greenie<---has almost 300 miles on her lunarglides already. It may be time to get a new pair to break in before the marathon...

Cold with the sun shining, huh? It'll be sometime before it'll get like that here.

Your running is looking great! That was a tough-looking 20 miler!

Whew, that looks like a fun run. But throwing the mountains in at the end?!

Mike MacLellan wrote:Whew, that looks like a fun run. But throwing the mountains in at the end?!

I know Mike, right?! Actually, I did have some miles on the flat before the end of the run, and they were my fastest, at almost marathon pace.

I do love running up and over Mt Baldy. That morning, as we crested the top, we came upon a family picnic which we ended up running through the middle of, as they had plopped themselves right in the trail.

Thanks Kathy! I do feel very strong. I even managed to double yesterday. I wanted to go over to the Running Company Fun Run. Just did an easy 5 with the group. So I got in 12 after my 20 the day before...How Hal Higdon of me

Tonight was speed workout night.

2 mile tempo with 2:30 min rest and then 6x300 m on 100 m rest and then 1 mi at tempo.

My girlfriend waited for me to finish so that we could jog home together. I am the slowest one in the group...what are friends for.

E Greenie<--hot tub is ready! oh Yeah!

Ran this morning before work. A nice easy almost 5 miler with DH.

Since I started this training cycle in June I have run about 500 miles. It's a record for me, I am sure.

E Greenie<--cant decide whether I like spaghetti better cold or hot...

FA.A.A.Bulous run last night.

11.5 at sub-nine pace.

Weather was really warm when I started and much cooler when I finished. This has become my usual Thursday long run route, so it is nice to compare over the past weeks how I am doing.

a short run this afternoon at an easy pace, and then depending on what my house-guest-in-laws decide they are doing, I will run long either tomorrow or Sunday. It is funny that I am actually looking FORWARD to my long run, since I know I can go as slowly as I want

E Greenie<--yep, I did say "house-guest-in-laws"

Ran an easy recovery run last night.

This morning I decided to do a short-ish run. It ended up being a progression run.

go.nike.com/05ovo775

Tomorrow I will run long. If I run anything over 16 it will be a 60+ week, which is huge for me.

So, in-laws are here. I am still hoping that we get out to get a potato doughnut, but the morning is slipping away....sigh....

E Greenie<---guess I'll read a book and try not to think about doughnuts

Some great runs lately, even without a doughnut!

Enjoy your long run tomorrow. Do you head down to the river for that, or into the hills?

Mark B wrote:Some great runs lately, even without a doughnut!

Enjoy your long run tomorrow. Do you head down to the river for that, or into the hills?

Thanks Mark! We did end up going out for a coffee and croissant at Hideaway Bakery. Took the dogs to the dog park first and let them frolic off leash. Life is pretty good!

Tomorrow I plan to either start at Alton Baker Park and run out to Dorris Ranch and back and then out to Valley River Center and back (a figure eight with my car as the center) or run from home out to the wetlands and back and then over College Hill and back (a figure eight with my house as the center).

I know that of course all these names mean nothing to most folks who read, but they might to you, as an ex-Eugenian, and they help me to feel like people reading get a sense of how many places there are to run here. Even with my decidedly non-athletic, non-runner in-laws, I constantly point out where the trails and paths are It is an odd habit. I think I counted once that you could run 50 miles of connected trails and paths.

E Greenie<--naptime?

Wow, it has been a whole week since my last post. I've been doing pretty much nothing except work, sleep, eat and run.

DH left on Tuesday for a hike with some friends who had flown in from Indiana. They headed to the Diamond Peak Wilderness with the goal of staying till Saturday (yesterday). So I had the house to myself and my nights alone. I did get a lot of running in, but also long dog walks with the neighbor as well as dinner with some lady friends.

Today I ran 21 miles, starting at 7 a.m. and was home for brunch pancakes at 11. Yumm! Then we headed over to tour campus. Probably about 5 miles of walking, so I am officially tired.

The only other running related activity of note, besides the fact that I managed 60 miles and three quality workouts (speedwork Tuesday, MP run Saturday and long run today), was that on Thursday, while I was doing my 11 miler from work, I was joined by this guy during my run. It did seem a bit odd, but he was delightful, and obviously just wanted the company. It certainly helped my pace get faster, and turned what had been a boring "just get 'er done" run into a really fun one. We hit fastest mile at 8:22. We talked about marathons the whole time, and he asked my advice--I guess I just exude confidence, eh--about how to get past his problem of hitting the wall at 21 miles. I was able to give him sound advice, generic but not just platitudes: more miles, slower long runs, proper hydration and electrolyte intake, don't start out too fast but rather try for even pace or possibly negative splits. And what makes me mention it is that I learned most of it from hanging out here, and on HH's original forum.

It just made the time fly by, and soon we were at the bridge where I turned left to cross the river and he went straight.

I am almost hoping that I see him again this Thursday

I plan a step back week this week, with a Wednesday rest day and a bit less mileage. I'll be working on trying to nail marathon pace, even through the pottystops.

E Greenie<--Paradise was exceptionally beautiful today.

Nice week! Keep up the great work.

Well, since I finally have a photo where I look as if I am actually running, instead of just shufflinalong, I have updated my avatar

A nice 11 miler along the river last night. First night where it was actually "nippy" and I did not warm up well. I felt so good because I am taking a step back week that I just started right in way too fast. So this morning my left calf and ankle are really tight.

I will do a short recovery run today, slowly, and spend some time trying to get the muscle to relax. Tomorrow is 8 and Saturday is 15.

I've decided to bag the ten mile race I had on the calendar for the 30th. It just confuses things. I would rather concentrate on nailing marathon pace for that distance on that weekend than racing. I will probably volunteer or at least go cheer. Also because my Tuesday speed work and Thursday MP sessions seem to be doing the trick in terms of speed. Yesterday's 11 miler was at MP and included a pottystop.

So, revised plan is 8/15 this weekend, 10/22 next weekend with last 10K at MP, 11/16 on Oct 7 weekend, 5/12 on Oct 14 weekend, Oct 21 race.

Mostly now I am working on running when tired and being out there alone...head stuff really....the field is going to be very small, but not any smaller than running by myself

E Greenie<--FALLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!

Two more runs in the bag...damn the space bar key on this laptop...not working well:(

Anyway, last night was 6 at really slow. This morning the calf felt better, so after a few miles warm up, I pushed the pace to see what it felt like. Definitely better, so I finished my planned 8. I am going to give it another day and hopefully all will be well.

Today is chores day. If I am not done dinking around on the computer by noon, and on the road to the hot tub place to get the water tested, all is lost

E Greenie<------COFFEEEEEEEEE

Take care of that calf and ankle now - I neglected mine and look where it got me.

Thanks Michele!

I did ease off on speed for a few workouts and alternated hot tub and ice bath. Plus between now and the marathon, I will only be wearing 1.5 inch or lower heels:) And i am remembering to stretch and do my floor exercises after easy runs.

After today's speed workout, it is fine, so I hope I am out of the woods.

Today was a 2K at HM pace, 90 sec rest, then 8x400 on 45-60 sec rest at 5K pace, then 5x200 at mile pace with 200 jog. There is still a lot of smoke in the valley, and I was worried about breathing, but I pushed through. I am so glad that I did not bail. It was a good workout and I was very consistent.

Then I got home and saw the chatter on this site about Boston Marathon and got major marathon fever. Believe it or not, I really want to go back to NYC. I went to the web site and found out that even though they tightened their guaranteed entry standards like Boston, I qualified with my recent half. So, decision is made: unless someone dies or is getting married in Nov 2013, I am going back to NYC.

I also read their bag option stuff, and I actually like the idea. Both my friend and I had tiny bags, and they lost hers...temporarily (we returned for it later). By the time we got my stuff, were SO READY to get out of the park. Because of the baggage pick up, they force you to walk almost to 79th street, and most people are staying in mid or downtown (the opposite direction). I would much prefer to receive the extra warm clothing on their dime and then leave the park quickly at 66th street, grab a cab and get back to my room. All I had was a sweatshirt and grungy pants. Everything else (hat, gloves and two $10 bills) I carried with me.

Anyway, for this coming marathon, I have a few key workouts left and then taper!!!! I am so ready to hit my goal of a new marathon PR and sub 9 minute miles! I am even relishing running it alone

E Greenie<--mmmm...last of the homemade apple pie, down the hatch.

Whew! I'm glad your calf and ankle are behaving again. You were smart to ease back a little to let it loosen up.

Speaking of routes, have you ever done the famous (thanks to Kenny Moore) route out Willamette, up and over the side of Spencer Butte, hooking up with Fox Hollow Road and cruising back into town? It might not be the right time to do it now, but it sounds like a great workout at some point.

Thanks Mark!

Right now my biggest fear is getting sick, like a cold...I can't believe how many people wear it as a badge of honor that they come to work sick with no regard that they are infecting all their workmates with their presence.

All I have to say is: "get over yourself, you are not THAT important."

I might start wearing a mask to protect MYSELF....or maybe I will keep a stack at my desk and give them to people at the first indication they are sick.

E Greenie<--I may stay on this soapbox for a while...

So how many doses of Airborne do you plan to take a day between now and your race? I might want to buy stock in the company.

Nice work! I certainly expect that you will hit your goal and then some.

Hey Mark! My cold fighter of choice is Emergen-C. Lots of it. I took a box of it to work and told everyone to take it. The perp has declared that she is officially sick and I demanded that she stay out of my germ space. She is complying. I am not nice about this, I get really bossy, but golly gee whiz people

Thanks Michele. I do feel good about how things are going, and am also ready to start taper. This has been a long training cycle.

Today was a good mid-week longish run. 12 miles. I tried to make sure the pace was easy, but some of the miles crept down into the sub-nine range.

This was definitely a lesson in "what not to eat before a run." I visited the loo twice

Tomorrow is a rest day....I've run 8 without one in this cycle...and then my last long long run and MP session.

E Greenie<--A river and I run through my town.