Indianapolis 500

So, is it a misconception of a Sun Belt habitant that the summer heat n' humidity doesn't last as long as it does in the South or that y'all don't get the full acclimation to the the heat n' humidity because y'all get a break from it, every now and then? 

In Houston, we don't look for a break before the 3rd week in September, which also happens to be the peak of hurricane season for us as well.

AND nice times, girl.

Nice work on that 5k, especially putting it in the middle of a 12-mile run! Hope you didn't mention that to anybody - it'd sound like you were just showing off.

Glad to see your hard work and heat adaptation is proceeding.

ounce wrote:So, is it a misconception of a Sun Belt habitant that the summer heat n' humidity doesn't last as long as it does in the South or that y'all don't get the full acclimation to the the heat n' humidity because y'all get a break from it, every now and then? 

In Houston, we don't look for a break before the 3rd week in September, which also happens to be the peak of hurricane season for us as well.

AND nice times, girl.

 It doesn't last as long as it did in Atlanta, but the real problem is those breaks.  You get extreme heat and humidity for 10 days or so, and then boom, you will wake up to 55 degrees.  That will last 2-3 days, and then boom, you wake up to 80 degrees.  At least in Hotlanta, I always knew what to expect and you would acclimate.  Here that acclimization starts and then it is cold again.  As my daughter says, "bipolar weather".

And Mark, only my training partner and her daughters knew that I ran the 5k in the middle of a 12 mile run.  The rest of them might have thought I was nuts.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:And Mark, only my training partner and her daughters knew that I ran the 5k in the middle of a 12 mile run.  The rest of them might have thought I was nuts.

Nuts? Well, at least we know better, don't we?  

I am so friggin mad right now that I could spit nails.  WTF Rolling Stone - are you kidding??????? The cover to the bomber - glorifying a killer.  What is this world coming to?  I guess I can except an article, but the COVER making him into a freakin' ROCK STAR.

Sorry, just ranting.

You know, 1'L'...just reading your blog lifts my spirits.  Of course, knowing you helps too.  Gotta keep up with you.  Watching you will get me going as soon as I get the okay from physical therapy.  BTW, my best marathons have always been in the late fall after training in the hot summer.  Seems like my body is expecting the worse and is excited by the cooler temperatures.  Good luck and stay healthy.

Is the Erie race on the same course we will be running in September?  I've heard flat and shaded for the marathon course.  All true?  Nice job on that 5K.  Some good speed displayed!

Paula Sue wrote:You know, 1'L'...just reading your blog lifts my spirits.  Of course, knowing you helps too.  Gotta keep up with you.  Watching you will get me going as soon as I get the okay from physical therapy.  BTW, my best marathons have always been in the late fall after training in the hot summer.  Seems like my body is expecting the worse and is excited by the cooler temperatures.  Good luck and stay healthy.

 
My experience too. Although actually my 2 fastest times were in April and May. I just feel like my training is much more solid in the summer vs winter. I enjoy fall marathons more and they seem easier even if they haven't given me a PR yet.

Paula Sue wrote:You know, 1'L'...just reading your blog lifts my spirits.  Of course, knowing you helps too.  Gotta keep up with you.  Watching you will get me going as soon as I get the okay from physical therapy.  BTW, my best marathons have always been in the late fall after training in the hot summer.  Seems like my body is expecting the worse and is excited by the cooler temperatures.  Good luck and stay healthy.

 Thanks, PaulaSue - stay the course, and I will see you soon running in Ohio again!  No more Lighthouse Half though 

That was an awesome job on the race, Michele.  Now, did you also try the caffeine deal?  No caffeine all week and then use it during the race?

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:I am attributing a lot of yesterday's success to slowing down my easy and recovery runs in the heat and humidity and to going back on the iron supplement. I have done no speedwork since May other than striders, some hill repeats and pickups within runs and I was still able to hold that 8 min pace for 12 of the 13 miles I ran.  I think the mental breakdown came as I was tiring and doubting myself a bit, but I was also proud of holding on and regrouping.


No mileage today as I am taking a recovery week even after a half.  I'm resting that wonky achilles and foot a bit too.

Rest = Good

Even for a young whippersnapper such as yourself!

Great job again on the race, Michele. Focusing on the aerobic base can make a huge difference, can't it? Sometimes I think one of the biggest benefits of speedwork is simply to reassure ourselves that, when pushed, we really can run faster. If you haven't done it, or felt it, it's easy to forget and short-circuit yourself with doubt.

Once again congratulations on the race.  You definitely deserve a recovery week.  Rest up and get back at it next week

I started taking iron supplements to coincide with my multivitamin.  I am testing it out to see if the energy level stays up.  Plus, I know that I want to make sure that I am getting enough as the training miles increase.

Recovery week has come and gone, but my coach and I are being careful with my schedule.  While it seems like light mileage now with some riding thrown in as I am pacing a marathon in 20 days or so, the idea is to get me to Indy ready to go and injury free.  It has been a tough 7 months and I just need to keep patient while I get back to my early 2012 fitness level.  Honestly, I really have until next April to get there when I'd really like to run well at Boston again.  I'm a bit apprehensive about this marathon on 8/18, but I know that I have lots of muscle memory and a 9:34 pace should be very easy.  I've even been trying to practice that pace and it feels very slow which bodes well I believe.

Can't imagine that it is almost August, but of course, the current "cold wave" would dictate that it might be October.  Woke up to 59F this morning and was sort of bummed that it was my day off.  I really need to be careful and take those days, so I resisted the urge to even run 2-3 miles in favor of the schedule.  Trying to at least start off the cycle smartly.  Hopefully the cooler temps ill prevail this week as I have the crazy (and hardest) 2.7 mile run to complete here this weekend and I so want to win my AG before all of my running friends move up over the 50 mark next year.  I was unable to run last year when I turned 50, so I'll have to try to take the AG (50-59) this year.  We will see.

There are more cool mornings ahead here in Ohio.  You should see the smile on Todd's face when he comes in from his early morning runs.  Who would think he'd be running in long sleeves and a vest?

You're going to open a major can of Whoop A$$ in your races, '1'L.  Looking forward to seeing it all happen in your reports.  BTW, just for the books, I'm glad you are 15 years behind me 

Received an email from the BAA this morning informing me that I am eligible to register for Boston (without a qualifying time) beginning on August 19th (and for that week).  The email also let me know (or all of us) that we can submit a time up until April for proper seeding and corral placement.  Yeah!!!  This bodes well with my plans to go ahead and make Indianapolis my current "A" race for the fall.   I also noted that the registration fee was $175 and I swore that we paid more last year, but I might be crazy on that one.  

The email also indicated that standard registration will begin in September, but still no dates were released.  I'm still guessing that they are waiting to see how many of us "limbo" runners register and they may still be waiting to decide on final numbers.  

On a side note, Hal indicated that the BAA liked his book and the stories within (he interviewed me and he may have spoken to Vivian as well).  The BAA will include excerpts (apparently) in the results magazine when it finally arrives.  I was assigned a time of 4:07 which in itself is extremely artificial as how was the BAA to know that I stopped to hug my daughter after the 40K mat which is the last time that they have for me.  

On another side note, I thought all was going well with training until my back seized up this morning.  I'm scheduled for a massage later today - but it is really a b**ch this getting old stuff  .

Sorry about the back. Hopefully it's nothing.  I do a lot of superman and cobra poses for the lower back. Knock on wood but it seems to keep back issues away.

Michele I will be running Monumental also with my daughter hopefully we can meet

As far as healing when you're older, you learn to anticipate earlier to lessen the damage.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Received an email from the BAA this morning informing me that I am eligible to register for Boston (without a qualifying time) beginning on August 19th (and for that week).  The email also let me know (or all of us) that we can submit a time up until April for proper seeding and corral placement.  Yeah!!!  This bodes well with my plans to go ahead and make Indianapolis my current "A" race for the fall.   I also noted that the registration fee was $175 and I swore that we paid more last year, but I might be crazy on that one.  

The email also indicated that standard registration will begin in September, but still no dates were released.  I'm still guessing that they are waiting to see how many of us "limbo" runners register and they may still be waiting to decide on final numbers.  

On a side note, Hal indicated that the BAA liked his book and the stories within (he interviewed me and he may have spoken to Vivian as well).  The BAA will include excerpts (apparently) in the results magazine when it finally arrives.  I was assigned a time of 4:07 which in itself is extremely artificial as how was the BAA to know that I stopped to hug my daughter after the 40K mat which is the last time that they have for me.  

On another side note, I thought all was going well with training until my back seized up this morning.  I'm scheduled for a massage later today - but it is really a b**ch this getting old stuff  .

 
Nope the fee was 175 last year also, so it's good to know that the fee won't be going up again this year. Still 175 dollars 10000% RIP off!!!! Just me speaking out loud!

And yes the getting old does stink! I had an issue with my back tighten up during my run today! I hate it when that happens. Right now I have my Compex machine on my back and doing an active recovery session and then will do the message. And then the real recovery for the back starts WINE drinking!

Back is feeling a bit better; however, I didn't want to risk it and run the little 2.7 mile race here, so instead I walked with my hubby and daughter.  It is after all really a family affair and not a hard core race.  I did ride 40 miles yesterday where the back/glutes/hip (it is really the piriformis and QL that are tight) didn't hurt at all.  I hope to be able to get in 10-12 tomorrow as I am still set to pace a 4:10 marathon in 15 days. 

To be continued..................hopefully successfully tomorrow.

Catching up after our busy time on the farm.  Congrats on a great race!  Take it easy and let the back heal up.  Thanks for all the advice...it's been a much better week.

I had an interesting realization today while riding for the first time in a week.  I was about halfway into my ride today and my lower back was bugging me for the first time in quite while on a ride.  It occurred to me that the biking was helping both stretch out and strengthen my lower back all at the same time.  As a side note, my sciatica had flared up a bit worse at the end of the week than it's been in well over a month.  Again, I think this was related to less riding.

I definitely don't have any irritation from the piriformis while riding and the gluteus medius has been causing me the most problems lately.