Indianapolis 500

Nick Morris wrote:

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:So my splits for Sunday's race were as follows:  

    2:12:49   First half
    2:11:30   Second half

I'd say that was/is pretty darn good.

Now that is what I call a good pacer

+1

Outstanding job!

Wow!  Great splits.  I've yet to use a pacer but I'm considering it for my marathon this fall.  I'm a bit nervous about getting a pacer that does more damage than good...

I do think it's great that you offer your time and effort to help other runners.  

Good luck preparing for you fall marathon.

Here I am with my group of runners on Sunday:



And at the finish - happy to be done!

You certainly look joyful at the end!

Nice job.

Michael Enright wrote:You certainly look joyful at the end!

Nice job.

Indeed!  Believe me, it was an much a mental triumph as a physical one for me.

On another topic, I must state my piece as I am wholeheartedly upset with the Obama administration and their lack of response to the Chris Lane murder.  Yes, there is indeed a double standard in the US these days, and I am saddened by it.

Enough political stuff.  Ran 8 miles this morning over hills and felt good - just wanted to take advantage of my last week in the country.

Hope you come back.  The Houston Marathon looks for pacers each year, so you might look into that or I could find out to whom you would need to talk for 2015.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:On another topic, I must state my piece as I am wholeheartedly upset with the Obama administration and their lack of response to the Chris Lane murder.  Yes, there is indeed a double standard in the US these days, and I am saddened by it.

I agree !!!

Great photos from the race, and nice work on the 8-miler in the hills. You're going to miss them, aren't you?

ounce wrote:Hope you come back.  The Houston Marathon looks for pacers each year, so you might look into that or I could find out to whom you would need to talk for 2015.

That would be fun as I still need Texas and a "slower" race would be welcomed in the winter.

Mark B wrote:Great photos from the race, and nice work on the 8-miler in the hills. You're going to miss them, aren't you?

Yes, I really am.  I bitched about them from the start today as we ran two of the larger ones around here, but my running buddy here has a friend visiting from Philly and we wanted to show her two of the prettiest vistas around.  From one you can see lake Erie (it is a climb from 1400 to 1600') and from the other you look out over Lake Chautauqua (which is the lake I am on here).  Unfortunately, it was (is) a bit foggy today as a front is supposed to move through, and it was a bit warmer than it has been this morning (61F with 94% humidity).  I'll come over early when I meet Chris in Erie on the Thursday or Friday, just so I can run some hills again.

I don't mind running hills, either.  They break up the monotony of running on flat ground.  Although I am not a fan of the up hills in races!!

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:

ounce wrote:Hope you come back.  The Houston Marathon looks for pacers each year, so you might look into that or I could find out to whom you would need to talk for 2015.

That would be fun as I still need Texas and a "slower" race would be welcomed in the winter.

Mark B wrote:Great photos from the race, and nice work on the 8-miler in the hills. You're going to miss them, aren't you?

Yes, I really am.  I bitched about them from the start today as we ran two of the larger ones around here, but my running buddy here has a friend visiting from Philly and we wanted to show her two of the prettiest vistas around.  From one you can see lake Erie (it is a climb from 1400 to 1600') and from the other you look out over Lake Chautauqua (which is the lake I am on here).  Unfortunately, it was (is) a bit foggy today as a front is supposed to move through, and it was a bit warmer than it has been this morning (61F with 94% humidity).  I'll come over early when I meet Chris in Erie on the Thursday or Friday, just so I can run some hills again.

You can't get much slower than me.

Michele, how many marathons have you done? I was realizing how often I read here or on FB that you've paced another one or ran one, you must have many under your belt.

JohnP wrote:Michele, how many marathons have you done? I was realizing how often I read here or on FB that you've paced another one or ran one, you must have many under your belt.

John - I have run a total of 43 marathons in 25 states.  Hopefully at year's end, I will have 45 marathons and 27 states covered.

Finished my recovery week with a solid 6 mile run with the group back here in Cleveland.  Ended up pushing the last couple of miles and running in the low 8s.  Felt good to get a little "speed" in there, but I know I have to back off if I am to survive the build up to Indy which is now only about 9 wks away (day before NYC).  I believe that I will be moving from pre-marathon into marathon training in the next week or so as I culminate the efforts with a half in Erie on the 15th.  This week I will be doing my first training run over 16 miles and I need to figure out just how to fit it in since we are bringing my daughter back to school on the 30th.  Boston is a solid day's drive, then move-in is Saturday, family brunch on Sunday, drive to NYC and the USOpen on Monday and then back to Cleveland on Tuesday (whew!).  I think I may try to get it in on my own on Thursday morning, but we will see how the week goes until then.  Today is my last off day for a while, but I may run a couple later on in the heat just to shake things out.

Another great marathon in the books.  Awesome job.  Have fun driving out here.

You know you are in trouble when the weather in Cleveland OH is warmer than Houston, but alas, my run this morning was completed in 77F and 90% humidity.  Simply joy!  I'm planning on doing my long run tomorrow morning, and I'm going to have to start before sunrise in order to take advantage of somewhat cooler temps, but it is predicted to be 68-69F with 97% humidity. I thought I left all this behind in Atlanta, but I guess not.

Last night we completed a hill run here that comprised of 10 miles with 7 hill climbs and 1100 ft of ascent.  So I might stand corrected that we actually have hills here on the west side of Cleveland.  Basically, these hills are how you climb out of the Metroparks (what is called the valley) back to the main suburbs on the west side.  We didn't run super fast (9:35 average), but mainly due to the warm weather and humidity.  I was so drenched at the end, it wasn't funny.  I was happy that I carried water as there is no way I could have done without in those conditions.  I do hope that such a run helps in November.

Since you mentioned Atlanta - I'll be there over the weekend. We were thinking of doing a run on the Suwanee Greenway, which is not too far from where we are staying.

Have you run that? Any other thoughts??

Hoping Cleveland cools off soon...

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:You know you are in trouble when the weather in Cleveland OH is warmer than Houston, but alas, my run this morning was completed in 77F and 90% humidity.  Simply joy!  I'm planning on doing my long run tomorrow morning, and I'm going to have to start before sunrise in order to take advantage of somewhat cooler temps, but it is predicted to be 68-69F with 97% humidity. I thought I left all this behind in Atlanta, but I guess not.

Last night we completed a hill run here that comprised of 10 miles with 7 hill climbs and 1100 ft of ascent.  So I might stand corrected that we actually have hills here on the west side of Cleveland.  Basically, these hills are how you climb out of the Metroparks (what is called the valley) back to the main suburbs on the west side.  We didn't run super fast (9:35 average), but mainly due to the warm weather and humidity.  I was so drenched at the end, it wasn't funny.  I was happy that I carried water as there is no way I could have done without in those conditions.  I do hope that such a run helps in November.

Oh, you poor thing.  That does really suck.  IF it's safe, I'd start earlier.  Usually, when I report the temp and dewpoint, it's usually at 3-4 a.m.  After a 77 degree morning, a 69 degree morning would be almost heaven, for the time of year it is.

On another subject, the 2014 pace teams for Houston were announced.  I don't know the process (but could find out what it is), but I would presume the attached pdf is a lot of the application.  I thought you might want to look at it.
[url=http://www.chevronhoustonmarathon.com/Upload/documents/Houston Marathon Pacer Information_2014.pdf]http://www.chevronhoustonmarathon.com/Upload/documents/Houston%20Marathon%20Pacer%20Information_2014.pdf[/url]

Michael Enright wrote:Since you mentioned Atlanta - I'll be there over the weekend. We were thinking of doing a run on the Suwanee Greenway, which is not too far from where we are staying.

Have you run that? Any other thoughts??

Hoping Cleveland cools off soon...

The Suwanee Greenway is nice - very flat and I think it is mostly a concrete path, but if I remember correctly, there are some wooden bridges and some barked areas.  The greenway wasn't finished the last time that I ran it as Suwanee was a bit of a drive from where I lived, but I know many runners who frequent it daily.

ounce wrote:

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:You know you are in trouble when the weather in Cleveland OH is warmer than Houston, but alas, my run this morning was completed in 77F and 90% humidity.  Simply joy!  I'm planning on doing my long run tomorrow morning, and I'm going to have to start before sunrise in order to take advantage of somewhat cooler temps, but it is predicted to be 68-69F with 97% humidity. I thought I left all this behind in Atlanta, but I guess not.

Last night we completed a hill run here that comprised of 10 miles with 7 hill climbs and 1100 ft of ascent.  So I might stand corrected that we actually have hills here on the west side of Cleveland.  Basically, these hills are how you climb out of the Metroparks (what is called the valley) back to the main suburbs on the west side.  We didn't run super fast (9:35 average), but mainly due to the warm weather and humidity.  I was so drenched at the end, it wasn't funny.  I was happy that I carried water as there is no way I could have done without in those conditions.  I do hope that such a run helps in November.

Oh, you poor thing.  That does really suck.  IF it's safe, I'd start earlier.  Usually, when I report the temp and dewpoint, it's usually at 3-4 a.m.  After a 77 degree morning, a 69 degree morning would be almost heaven, for the time of year it is.

On another subject, the 2014 pace teams for Houston were announced.  I don't know the process (but could find out what it is), but I would presume the attached pdf is a lot of the application.  I thought you might want to look at it.
[url=http://www.chevronhoustonmarathon.com/Upload/documents/Houston Marathon Pacer Information_2014.pdf]http://www.chevronhoustonmarathon.com/Upload/documents/Houston%20Marathon%20Pacer%20Information_2014.pdf[/url]

Thanks for the information, Doug.  I will indeed take a look at it.    I didn't start this morning until 6 am which was a mistake as I was cooked by 15 miles.  I ended up running 16.5 rather than 17 and the last two were pretty pathetic.  I maintained about a 9:20 pace for the first 15, but let that slide as I began to bonk.  The good news is that I feel fine now.

Nice running, Michele! And congrats on the excellent pacing job last week--I'm sure your group appreciated that consistency!  It's been humid in Chicago the past few days, and according to my parents, humid in Pittsburgh, so not surprising to hear that it's humid in Cleveland, too. Sounds like a busy schedule with getting your daughter to school, but great job fitting in the runs!

Nice hill workout, Michele! Doing it in such swampy conditions had to make it especially fun.

Chatted with Charles a lot this week, and he's really looking forward to meeting up with you (and interviewing you) when he comes up for his 24-hour race. Though how anyone could do endless loops on a 0.9-mile bike path is beyond me.

Charles will be happy to know that my hubby bought some Hokas to walk in yesterday. He loves them!

I'm here in Boston back at the Lenox, and I ran my last 0.2 miles yesterday at the end of my easy 5 miler. It was pretty emotional and a bit weird, but now I feel complete. The only tough thing is that it was 100% humidity. This morning I ran 8 miles while letting a thunderstorm chase me. Nothing like weather causing you to run a tempo run. Almost beat the weather but got poured on in the last two miles. It was funny to see all the runners stuck under the bridge waiting out the weather. I figured that I was wet already so I decided to finish in spite of the thunder & lightning over the river. Ended up with 8 miles at an 8:22 pace

Back in Cleveland and somewhat settled in.  Stupidly, I went to the track on Tuesday night after driving 8 hrs back here from NYC and the US Open.  The group was doing 4 x 1600, and I ended up doing 3 x 1600, 2 x 800 and some 200s.  I was not happy with the effort I put out to run the 1600s nor the time (7:22, 7:21, 7:18) as they seemed extremely difficult and it wasn't that long ago (2 yrs) that those times would have been slow for the track.  It wasn't appreciably warm or humid either - guess I'm getting old and slow.  My Wednesday morning core class started yesterday and then I ran an easy 5.  It was an ok run with the windy gusts, but I am still feeling sluggish.  Tonight, I'll join the group for an easy 7 mile trail run.  

Got my physical today for the year and it was good to see that my blood pressure was back down to normal.  For the past two years, it has been borderline high which I attributed to my woman's issues and the stress of running the household and getting my daughter out of high school and into college.  Well, it was back to 112/56 today - so I guess I'm in the clear for that. Weight is under control too as I am at my racing weight already, and my marathon is not until November 2nd.  Now as long as I don't overeat and drink on Friday night when we celebrate our 28th anniversary, I will be all set.  I can say that Saturday's long run, might be very interesting.  At least, I am a bit faster than the main group these days, so as long as I keep myself in check, I should be ok for at least the first half.

I ALWAYS have a tough time running the day of a drive, whether it's a hard workout or just an easy run.  My legs are just a little tight and not ever ready to go after a long drive, which for me is usually 4-4.5 hours when I travel for work.  I don't think it has anything to do with age, just the nature of the beast when you try to run after driving that far.

Nice job on the health check-up, Michele! Good thing they didn't take your BP as you were trying to outrun a lightning storm, though.