Letter to my Legs

Dear tired and fatigued legs,
I very much appreciate how well you held out for me on Saturday during our brutally tough workout. You both held up as well as you could and for that I'm ever so grateful. I have tried so hard to pamper you with a soak in the magical mystical waters of Barton Springs and even treated you to a separate ice bath on Sunday to help rid you of the leftover aches and pains. I understand that Sunday's three mile run was a test for you and please understand that I really did go as slow as possible for the shortest distance I could muster. Even this morning I cut the distance in half so as to try to further appease your aches and pains.

Please make the soreness go away before tomorrow's workout. I promise we're not doing any part of the tempo run. Really, I promise no speed. I would just like to get through the full mileage with my friends without any more aches and pains.

Warmest regards from your ever grateful owner,
Sadie

P.S. (I'll even try to stop calling you guys 'squatty' if you could please cut the soreness already.)

34 days and counting

Thirty-four days. That is it. Here we are at the end of August and we only have one more month to get through plus a few days until race day. Just September. That is it. I can't wait!

Some things I will be thinking about over the next 34 days -

• Only two more 20+ miles left to run this season.
• Resting is a priority
• Everyday nutrition is a priority
• Hydration is a priority
• I rehearse in my mind what it will be like the 3 days before I race. Travel times, items to pack, checking in hotel, sleeping comfortably, creating a tentative schedule in advance, reviewing the course, visualizing the race, visualizing myself rested and ready.

I am feeling more confident that I can run 3:20 in Portland. I will continue to make that my goal. At this point, anything under 3:30 is a great thing, especially under 3:25 but my fitness indicates that I can run faster than that in Portland.

This whole season I have been the 'slowest' person to declare that 3:20 is my goal. I feel like I'm always behind the others, trying to keep up. After Saturday's Soul Buster however, I'm confident that my goal is realistic and attainable...I just need to put it all together with a decent race day.

Oh yeah..other details about today's Soul Buster

Similar to last week's theme, I had a new song stuck in my head today for the entire run. Renee got to hear me sing it out loud while we were cruising through the Westlake hills.

Now Playing - Little Boxes by Malvina Reynolds (the theme to the show Weeds).

Chad and I have seen every episode of season one and a few episodes of season two, all in the last couple of weeks. We like the show, but watching the episodes back to back certainly did me wrong by getting the song permanently implanted in my brain.

Other details about the run...it was hot. Not during the first 20 miles, where we had shade and a breeze, but during the final six miles on the track and the long walk back to Barton Springs. Really, being one of the slower-paced runners in our group, means that I ran almost all of our six miles in the full sun with no shade. The folks who were able to get there 30-45 minutes ahead of us had it a little easier...I think Sisson would agree.

I ran in my sports bra after 20 miles because of the heat. I hate running in a sports bra and showing my belly, especially when I have a full sweat going and my shorts are also clinging to my butt and thighs and riding up into my crotch. It is really weird to run past people who are standing still and cheering for you...they watch you running and see your form and how your body moves when you run. I was a bit self-conscious about being so exposed, but decided I didn't really care.

The Big One

This morning was our biggest workout of the season. I consider it a big personal success in the bag. Here is the dirty -

• Warm up to the Anderson HS track
• One mile HARD on the track (start at 10k pace and build to finish with full speed effort) - 6:53
• Easy miles to mile 4
• 5 miles of MGP (my goal is 7:38 pace)- I don't wear a Garmin, but my total time for this stretch was 37:51 (7:34 average pace - woot! but better stay conservative on the next set)
• rest 3-5 minutes and get water
• 4 miles MGP (the tougher, little hilly section that I decided to run more conservatively) - total time 31:20 (7:50 average)
• Average for all 9 miles MGP was 7:41 (yay!)
• 5 miles of difficult hills as easy as we wanted for pace (Redbud in both directions, a few less strenuous miles in Westlake, and Stratford, ugh!)
• closing miles - 6 miles on the track - 2 miles MGP (7:38), 2 miles HMGP (7:20 for me), 2 miles 10k pace (7:00 for me)

I struggled a bit during the track part, but most people did. I nailed the first two miles at MGP. I ran one and a half laps of the HMGP miles perfectly, then started to crash. At that point, I asked Steve to help me get through the mental barrier. He said to take one easy lap, then get back into MGP pace and hold on as long as I could. At any point I felt like cratering again, I had permission to run an easy lap, then get right back into MGP.

Did I finish it out? Yup, and I think I did pretty well. I took the remaining three and a half miles lap-by-lap just trying to hit the right pace and found that I was able to recover for a lap and then latch right back onto MGP. I also recruited Chad to run some of the laps with me to help keep me going forward. (sigh...he is the best)

Of the 14 laps remaining, I hit 6 of the laps right at MGP or pretty darn close (1:54-1:56 per lap). Four of the other 14 laps were between 1:57 and 1:58. I ran one lap at 2:00 (3:30 marathon pace). So that leaves three laps of slower running - the first recovery lap, the third or fourth lap at the end of mile four (where my watch malfunctioned due to user error), and the last lap of mile 5 (which was only at 2:10 because of a side stitch that brought me to a walk for about 30 meters). The last mile was at 7:50 and my last lap was at goal MGP pace. My favorite part of the track miles was when I yelled out with one lap to go - "I know I can finish this one!!"

Total distance - pretty darn close to 26.2 miles.

Total time - estimated 3:43:42 because of the missed time during mile four on the track.

That is pretty good in my book. If I was 35 years old, that would be a BQ on a hot day, through some tough hills. Had we run a flat course for those 5 hilly miles, I think I would have been at least 7-10 minutes faster, even with a conservative pace...PR baby! Had we run in 50 degree weather and on a flatter course, there is no telling how much faster I would have been. :)

Things I learned about myself today that I don't usually experience with the team - I was able to focus on my pace beyond what my friends' paces were and how fast they were running. I learned how to hit a mental barrier without letting it upset me and making me cry. I learned how to push beyond the mental barrier in a Soul Buster workout to achieve some sort of success. I ran with Chad and did not get emotional when I felt like crap (damsel in distress syndrome). I learned to find my 'happy place', even when I wasn't feeling all that happy. I learned how to relax my face when tired...at the prompting of Coach Sisson.

Good times...but I really am considering less painful hobbies.

BFL

Breakfast for Lunch. In preparation for tomorrow's Soul Buster, Chad
and I went to Magnolia Cafe for lunch to load up on our favorite pre-
race meal. The order for me is the #11 The Economical - eggs
scrambled, home fries, fruit.

Fur Face -> Scar Face

Beans had surgery yesterday on his right cheek to remove a cyst. This was the same cyst from the spring that the doctor drained fluid out of. After the cyst returned to a hard pea size last week, we decided it was best to take it out.

Poor Beans looks like Frankenkitty, but he is feeling okay. We have his pain meds mild enough this time so that he can still function without feeling like a zombie cat, so he seems to be relaxed and happy.

Get well little handsome boy.

Portland Baby Names

Looking forward to next month, Chad and I had a funny conversation the other night about baby names. If we were lucky enough to concieve in Portland, we could be one of those couples who names their kid after the region or city where they were conceived. See, I used to have a student whose name was Austin, who had brothers Phoenix and Rio. I thought at one point he or his mother made a little joke about their names being the cities where they were conceived, but maybe I'm not remembering correctly.

Anyhoo, our brainstorming session went like this, plus a few more that I have giggled about in my head since then...

Portland Jones
Nike Jones (chuckle)
Columbia Jones (from the Columbia River Gorge)
Willamette (Willa) Jones
Hood River Jones
Rogue Voodoo Jones
Portland Rogue Jones (PR for short)

Then we got to giggling about what if we had twins...

Duck and Beaver Jones (gah!)

and my favorite of all...

Twin Boys - Lewis & Clark Jones
or just Boy names
Clark Lewis Jones (matches Chad's initials)
Lewis Clark Jones

I guess as long as we don't have a girl and name her Beaver Jones, most of the other names could be considered.

Any others we should consider should we have a Portland baby?

I Get Around

Today's workout was on the track. I normally don't care for the track, especially for repeats over 400m, but since we have been doing so much road work this season, it was really nice to do something different.

In honor of the workout , now playing- I Get Around by The Beach Boys

The workout - warmup, 6 x 1 mile (800 HMGP/800 10k pace) on the track, cooldown.

According to the McMillan Calculator, I should be running 7:15 pace for HMGP and 6:51 pace for 10k. Since I have yet to run a 10k faster than 7:15 pace in real life, I decided to be a little conservative this morning with the goal times. I aimed for 7:20-7:24 pace for the HMGP and as close as I could get to 7:00 for the 10k. For the 800s, this would mean doing the workout alternating between 3:40 and 3:30 every two laps.

Here is how it went -

Mile 1 - 3:35 (too fast)/3:39 (too slow) - note, I'm usually a rock star at hitting paces consistently on the track, so it was very frustrating to start out the day like this.

It got better right away.
Mile 2 - 3:39/3:30
Mile 3 - 3:40/3:31
Mile 4 - 3:40/3:30
Mile 5 - 3:41/3:28
Mile 6 - 3:44/3:32

I'm pleased with my performance. I felt like I locked in on the proper paces pretty well and mostly maintained my efforts throughout the workout. I really expected to alternate between 3:42/3:32 the whole time, so the fact that miles 2-5 were so consistent and fast makes me feel really good about the workout. The last mile really wasn't all that slow. It was pretty close to the paces that I wanted to hit from the beginning. I refuse to see it as getting tired because I wasn't.

I am not supposed to do the workout on Thursday because I'm on my own special program...woohoo! Next up on my plate is the Soul Buster this weekend. I'm going to try to channel today's consistency on the track to make it through.

For Mom - Happy Retirement!

This morning, my mom is sleeping. While lots of households across Austin are waking up this morning to prepare themselves, their children, or their classrooms for the first day of school, I really hope my mom rolled over a few extra times and cuddled up with the pillow.

If you count her own very first days of elementary school, through jr high, high school, university, and through a long teaching career, this is the first first day of school in 50+ years that my mom doesn't have to go back for another year of the classroom.

I can't imagine many people in Austin will have a bigger smile on their face today than my mom.

Congratulations Mom! Today is the real first day of your retirement! :)

Taking Nominations

I'd like to take nominations for 'Worst Song to Wake Up to by the Alarm Clock Before a Long Run'. You know, those songs that get stuck in your head, only to play over and over again while you are stuck on the road with nothing to think about except that stupid song!

My nomination??? I'm Gonna Be (500 miles) by the Proclaimers

You would think that any song with 'I would walk 500 miles' in it would be positive motivation....not so much. It is the most annoying song in the world to have stuck in your brain.

Now Playing :) I'm sharing the love.

I'm not holding my breath...

...but the NOAA Weather forecast for Austin says that after today we aren't going to hit 100 until sometime after next Wednesday. The sad thing is that the NOAA folks are typically big fat liars who change their minds after I get my hopes up for cooler weather. :) Like I said, not holding my breath.

Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 76. South wind between 5 and 15 mph.

Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny and hot, with a high near 99. Heat index values as high as 102. Calm wind becoming east southeast around 5 mph.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74. East southeast wind between 5 and 10 mph becoming calm.

Saturday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 99. Calm wind becoming east southeast between 5 and 10 mph.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 73. East southeast wind between 5 and 10 mph.

Sunday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 99. East wind between 5 and 10 mph.

Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 72. Southeast wind between 5 and 10 mph.

Monday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 97. South southeast wind around 5 mph.

Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 71.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 97.

Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 71.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 97.

Gah...technology!

I spent an hour this morning trying to get an internet connection. I bet it was the router...is almost always the router. Unplug, replug, boom it works 90% of the time. Nope. Unplug router, shut down computer, replug, restart, nope. Security software check - firewall settings, nope, not the culprit. Checked the network settings, nope. Unplugged the cord from router and directly into modem...yup, that worked. I can get internet now, so I know it is not Time Warner that is the problem, but I need internet to work through my router so that my work laptop will function wirelessly in addition to my home computer. Check security settings and firewall again, nope. Try modem reset again, nope. Plug directly back into modem again, okay, but now I better read up on the internet how to best troubleshoot. I checked my IP address through the run/CMD box. I pinged. I did all of that. All checked out A-OK, but alas, no internet when I plug through the router. I told you it is almost always the router that causes the problem.

Solution? Shut down computer. Power off router. Power off modem. Wait a little while. Cross fingers. Power on modem. Wait until all the lights are on and then just a little longer for good measure. Power on router. Wait until all the lights are on then still a little longer. Power on computer. Still crossing fingers...my work laptop acknowledged the wireless signal before the home computer was fully powered up, so I test Google. Hooray!!! Work computer online! I try the home computer...success!

As much as I love technology, I hate it hate it hate it when it doesn't perform like I expect it to.

Smell-o-vision

The roses Chad brought home for me on Monday are opening up
beautifully. The white ones and the bright pink ones are quite fragrant.

Music Change - Black and Gold

This song has been on my running playlist since last year, so it was a great pleasure to hear it used in the trailer for Fame that has been running on TV recently. According to Wikipedia, Sam Sparro confirmed in a video interview that the subject of the song is his religious faith (he is not under any kind of religious/Christian music label, btw). The song is lovely. If you don't own this song, I suggest you get it and add it to your playlist.

Sam Sparro - Black and Gold

If the fish swam out of the ocean
And grew legs and they started walking
And the apes climbed down from the trees
And grew tall and they started talking

And the stars fell out of the sky
And my tears rolled into the ocean
Now I'm looking for a reason why
You even set my world into motion

'Cause if you're not really here
Then the stars don't even matter
Now I'm filled to the top with fear
That it's all just a bunch of matter

'Cause if you're not really here
Then I don't want to be either
I wanna be next to you
Black and gold
Black and gold
Black and gold

I look up into the night sky
And see a thousand eyes staring back
And all around these golden beacons
I see nothing but black

I feel a way of something beyond them
I don't see what I can feel
If vision is the only validation
Then most of my life isn't real

'Cause if you're not really here
Then the stars don't even matter
Now I'm filled to the top with fear
That it's all just a bunch of matter

'Cause if you're not really here
Then I don't want to be either
I wanna be next to you
Black and gold
Black and gold
Black and gold

I wanna be next to you
Black and gold
Black and gold
Black and gold

the yogurt spot - Austin - 5th & Lamar

You may have noticed the yogurt spot going in at the 5th & Lamar location where the Ben & Jerry's used to be. Apparently this new store has been open for a week or so and I have been itching to try it. I didn't realize that we already had one near UT, but I really like this new location. There is parking available and it is easy to get to from MoPac.

When you go in, you'll find a wall of frozen yogurt machines in 16 different flavors from plain (tart) to strawberry, to pistachio, to cookies and cream. We were greeted and given taster cups to sample a few flavors straight from the machines. It is a pretty simple concept. They give you a big cup, you fill it with the flavors you want in the quantities you want and then choose the toppings you want. Oh, I haven't mentioned the toppings. There is a counter for you to choose whatever toppings you want and put them on your yogurt for yourself. They have everything from strawberries, to mini m&m's, to sprinkles, to small Heath crumbles. It is somewhat like the selection at Amy's, but you get to put as much or as little as you want because you are serving yourself.

Everything is weighed at the end (yogurt and toppings together) and costs $.39 per ounce. For those of us who understand portion sizes, it is perfect. Chad and I spent $6.75 together for our two yogurts with toppings and I consider that a great deal. We would easily spend that much at an ice cream or gelato place with a small plus topping for each of us. Here at the yogurt spot, we get the added benefit of combining multiple flavors and toppings exactly to our specifications and know that what we are eating has less fat and calories than the ice cream. Hurray!

Here is my concoction - The white is the plain 'tart' yogurt with mini gummy bears on one side and mini m&m's and sprinkles on the other. The brown is cookies and cream yogurt with white yogurt mini chips. It looks like a lot, but it is smaller than it looks.

You should try it out. Mmmm....I want to go back already, but will wait until next week.

Four Years Later

We still eat out at Moonshine to celebrate our first date. I love
this man.

Yes, that subject

Time to talk about weight. I'm a bit neurotic with my weight. Mostly I want to look cute in (or even just to fit in) my clothes. For summer running needs, I weigh myself first thing in the morning, after a run, and at night to keep track of my hydration. It seems like a bit much, but it keeps me on my toes about the number of water bottles I drink each day. If I see the number on the scale after my uber-sweaty run, it helps me know when I'm back up to my fully-hydrated weight at night.

I'm determined to get to 'race weight' or under this season so that I'm not carrying around too much extra come race day. I'm not the kind of runner who just naturally drops off the pounds when the mileage increases. I even eat a healthier, more balanced, diet than many of my running friends and still struggle with keeping my weight down. Part of it is a thyroid issue and part of it is a love for tasty food.

At our house, I've made a conscious effort to be strict about how our food is prepared (less oil, more steam), the balance of protein, carbs and calories, the quantity of portions, and what we splurge on each week. Yes, I still have a glass of wine or two each week. Yes, I ate one dessert last week. But, the weight is starting to come off and I'm getting closer to the weight I want to be at for the last month of training and for race day.

Training for a marathon is really not the time to try to drop weight, but that is where I am. I will admit that my performace on Saturday might have have been partly affected by my nutrition on Thursday and Friday. I didn't bonk, but I think my water/salt balance was affected by the small changes in my diet this past week.

I just wish I could be like Sisson and only have to stop drinking beer to lose weight.

Saturday Fail?

Everyone else in the group seems to have blogged about this already, so I might as well. Here is how I planned to do my run and how it went -

Plan - warm up easy, 1st lap conservative MGP (7:40-7:45), 2nd lap conservative HMGP (7:25), 3rd lap MGP (7:38), 4th lap HMGP (7:20-7:25), 5th lap MGP (7:38)

The results -
I don't wear a garmin, so each lap was based on where the mile and half mile cones were placed. I found the counter clockwise cone placement (1,2,3) to be fairly accurate, but the clockwise cones (.5, 1.5, 2.5) to be a little bit off.

Lap 1 (clockwise mgp) 7:41, 7:38, 7:43 - average 7:40 perfect

(took off my tank top because of the heat after this lap and ran in my sports bra)

Lap 2 (counter clockwise hmgp) 7:54 (wtf?), 7:09 (wtf?), 7:38 - average 7:33 - weird lap with the cone placements

Lap 3 (clockwise mgp) 7:40, 7:44, overheat...

Yes, I felt like I was overheating. Not in a 'I'm running hard and it is hot out' kind of overheating, but like I wanted to rip the rest of my clothes off and jump into an ice bath or go to the hospital kind of overheating. I felt faint, sick, goosebumpy, and had the overwhelming urge to sit down. I thought I needed to stop running, so I backed way off the pace. I thought I might have a medical emergency and needed to walk for a little bit to cool off.

At the end of lap 3, I felt a little better from jogging easy and gave lap four a chance, just to get in a few more miles. I wanted to recover, cool off a little bit and see if my body would respond. I felt a twinge of a migraine headache/blood vessel pain in my head and panicked a bit in the middle of lap four. I thought about stopping and calling Chad to come get me right then and there. It passed and I started to feel a little better.

With the heat, it felt like the Nashville marathon kind of day to me. I really wanted to quit after lap four, but I saw Keith starting his last lap and felt guilty. I think he probably wanted to stop running worse than me, but he was out there committing to the last lap. Grrr...I needed to suck it up and keep moving.

The last lap turned out to be better than expected. I got into a groove and felt a cool breeze from time to time. The pace wasn't all that great, but at least I got in the miles. I know people's Garmins said 19 miles or 19.5 miles or 20 miles for the end of the five loops plus warmup. I'm counting it as 20 miles.

I failed to complete the workout successfully, but the part that I did run at pace felt good, especially considering the weather. I really think if the weather was different that I might have run the whole workout correctly.

Other notes - Our group smells bad. I have a very sensitive olfactory system and can smell people's breath, their lotions, shampoo, deodorant, laundry detergent, and BO. When the whole group is together, breathing, sweating, talking, the scent is incredibly strong and almost made me sick a couple of times on Saturday morning. I think I might have to run by myself on the next big group workout so I can focus on my running instead of how everyone smells. If I was a dog, I would be a bloodhound.

Miko Loves Fridays

I have likely blogged about how much Miko loves telephones at some
point in the past. When one rings or when you pick up the handset, it
acts like a magnet and pulls her close to where you are. She seems to
love the beeping of the number buttons when you dial and listening to
the conversation.

Most every Friday morning I have a conference call that I have to put
in loud speakerphone and record, so it quickly becomes 'Miko heaven'
in the home office. Here is her normal Friday morning position,
purring away in the windowsill.

Pics to Prep

This is not really something that I consciously do to prepare for a race, but looking at a few pictures lately is helping me to focus on our upcoming Portland Marathon trip. Click on any of the photos to see a larger version if needed.

My first trip to Oregon was in the summer of 2001. I went to Portland (really Gladstone) to visit my Aunt Debbie, Uncle Jerry and my cousins Megan and Samantha. They were nice enough to let me borrow a car and drive around the city one day, so I really have a feel for the city and its offerings. I was also a baby runner then (about to train for and finish my first marathon a few months later) and was able to run a bunch in the Gladstone area near their house. It was a great trip, and I always wanted to go back. The first pic is of my cousin Samantha and me standing by the water downtown. We will run very near there on marathon day. I was twenty four at the time, and Sam was either going into or just finishing her freshman year of high school. The second pic is of us this June of this year when I had dinner with her in San Diego. We have both grown up a bit.

The next time I ran in Oregon was August 2005, when I was on a Hood to Coast team with MollyO. I'm in this pic about to take the handoff for my first leg (leg 2). It was approximately six miles of downhill steep grade and I hauled ass. I remember what it felt like to run 7:00- 7:15 pace feeling so fantastic. My second leg of that race was later in the night through the warehouse area of Portland that we are going to run on during the marathon this year. I am familiar with that part of the course and am looking forward to having the mental advantage of positive memories there. Another thing I take away from this picture is overcoming injury. Hood to Coast was in the middle of my summer training of 2005, when I met Chad for the first time and attempted to qualify for Boston in St.George. My IT band was flaring up right about that time of the season and I hobbled my way home from Portland to a week of rest and an awesome end of the season.

The next two shots are from the first time I qualified for Boston in St. George (October 2005). I still run in those shorts on a regular basis. That is also when I weighed 137...my 'race weight'. I'm almost there again this year. St. George is the first weekend of October like Portland is, so I also take away the experience of running 'early' in the fall marathon season.

Of course this next pic is from Boston. 2006 - Athlete's village. There is a cropped version of this in the picture header on this blog. I just had my name written on my arm for the crowds in Boston to cheer me on. It was so much fun! (You can also see Cindy S on the far right.) This pic is taken just hours before my all-time marathon PR. I'm hoping that PR is smashed at Portland. I remember how hard I trained for that race. It was the first time I hit 70 miles in a week ever, and I did it one week. It is funny how much I run now compared to how I used to train.

This last picture is to remind me of all of the work that I have put in since Boston 2006. I have not had an ideal training season combined with an good race day since April 2006. The pic is kind of dark, but if you click on it and look at the person in the orange jacket, that is me. It is August 2006 and I'm almost to the top of Pikes Peak climbing during the marathon. It was the worst season ever of training and I was so miserable during most of the summer. I did the race and admittedly liked a couple parts of it. I remember being on that damn mountain for 7:19. That is seven hours and nineteen minutes, folks. I remember thinking at about five hours in - 'Get me the hell off of this mountain!!'

If I can endure that, I can endure just about anything. The funny thing about this pic is that when I look at it, I think - 'No matter what, your next marathon will not be as long or as painful as that day.' Even if Portland does not turn out the way I want, it will be better than this day.

Music Change - Bad Things

The opening theme from the series True Blood on HBO. Dangerous, sexy, mysterious, bold - The series and song are both highly addictive.

Bad Things by Jace Everett

When you came in the air went out.
And every shadow filled up with doubt.
I don't know who you think you are,
But before the night is through,
I wanna do bad things with you.

I'm the kind to sit up in his room.
Heart sick and eyes filled up with blue.
I don't know what you've done to me,
But I know this much is true:
I wanna do bad things with you.

When you came in the air went out.
And all those shadows there filled up with doubt.
I don't know who you think you are,
But before the night is through,
I wanna do bad things with you.
I wanna do real bad things with you.

I don't know what you've done to me,
But I know this much is true:
I wanna do bad things with you.
I wanna do real bad things with you

Wednesday Runs

Oh how I love Wednesdays. The team workouts on T/Th/Sa are great, but I think Wednesday runs just might be my favorite of all. Tara and I have a pretty regular schedule of meeting at 5:30 to run 4-5 miles together, usually from her house because she has to be at work crazy early. She is one of very few people that I will get up early for on a regular basis.

Aside from the good girl time that we have chatting about what is going on in our lives, it gets both of us extra mileage, and is early enough that I can still have a leisurely morning before my workday starts. Sometimes I run a few extra miles after Tara has to go in and shower for work so that I can get in my required total for the day, but other times 4-5 miles is just about right.

I have had two separate conversations about running in that area with Nedra and Keith (who both live close by). Apparently that area is popular with some of the team as they spot each other and a few other teammates from time to time. Tara and I don't usually see other people other than two other ladies who are often in the Hyde Park area.

Where do we run, you ask? We typically do one of a few routes from her house on 40th. Sometimes we go in the Shoal Creek, Hancock, Bull Creek direction. Sometimes we go Lamar, 38th, Hyde Park area. Sometimes we go Bull Creek, Jefferson, Harris, 29th street areas. Today we went Rosedale, 49th, Triangle, Hyde Park area and managed to get 46 minutes. I did another 30 minutes up Sinclair and Shoal Creek to get a total of 8 miles in for the day (woohoo).

Ah, Wednesday. I love you Wednesday. You are my fifth day of running in a row. You are the hump that I am so glad to get over to see the slide to the end of the week. You bring good conversation and a leisurely morning. Now it is time to work. Sigh. See you next week.

Mid-afternoon Snack

Some morsels to think about. All questions that I have asked others, asked myself, or have been asked of me since I woke up -

• Do you keep secrets well?
• Can you feel good about completing a task, knowing that the result is not going to be what you want?
• If you know you are going to have to do something that you don't want to do, do you remain silent or complain and do you comply or avoid?
• If you are offended by someone's ambiguous comments, what is the window of time to speak up?
• Is it better to have loyal friends or interesting friends? (assuming the two qualities are exclusive of one another)
• When does thinking about things become a hindrance?
• Is it possible to get what you want by thinking about it?

Chit Chat

Hey...how are you? Oh, my weekend was good. Did you have a good weekend? What else did you have going on?

I DID find some cute things at Anthropologie. I know, I love that store, too. They have the prettiest clothes. I got a lightweight wrap sweater in mustard yellow that is going to be great when fall comes (like in November, I know, but I'm crossing my fingers). There was also this really cute embroidered shirt that I got. It's cream with red stitching and sort of looks like one of those shirts from Mexico. The dress that I found was the best, though. I was just in a conversation in the last week or so about how great the color purple is. Love purple! The dress is the best shade of deep purple with these delicate open decorative panels at the top and bottom, floral decorations and a little purple slip with lace trim at the bottom. It looks really cute on.

Mmmhmmm...I did try out The Coffee Bean on Lamar. I was impressed with the menu. They seemed to offer a good selection of coffee and especially tea. I like that they have 'create-your-own' yogurt parfaits and oatmeal, even steel cut oatmeal as an option. Yeah, you should try it. I would wait until it gets cooler, though, because their wasn't much indoor seating. The place is really small. Yeah, I guess you could get your coffee to go and it would be good and all, but don't expect to sit around and lounge there until the weather changes and it is comfortable enough to sit on the patio. Even still, you'll have to listen to the traffic at Lamar and 38th.

No, I didn't stay long to read my book. I was lucky to get a chair at a table to eat my yogurt parfait and drink my tea, but my butt was uncomfortable on the hard chair after a while as I tried to get into my book. Ugh, you should have seen how many people were there waiting for their coffee. I went to Epoch on North Loop instead of hanging around at The Coffee Bean on a hard chair with people's butts by my drink waiting at the counter. Epoch? Yeah, we do run by that place all the time. I had been in there for a mid-run pit stop, and a couple of times to get some to-go coffee, so I knew there was plenty of space. Even still, the parking lot was full on a Sunday and there were hoards of folks on the patio braving the heat.

Oh man, it was so crowded at Epoch. I was lucky, though. There were several cushy chairs open inside, so I was able to sip my iced tea and bottled water for a few hours while I got into my book. It was great. Uh huh, yeah the new book is pretty good. I got about 100 pages in at Epoch, and then got to 150 later in the evening. So far there has been mystery, murder, betrayal, and a love interest that seems never-to-be.

Yeah, this summer has flown by so fast. I can't believe September is around the corner. What else do you have going on this week? I've got running and work and an outing on Thursday. Friday night we've got no plans because we have one of our monster long runs on Saturday. Yikes, I'm so hoping to run well and not bonk. Yeah, I'm feeling pretty healthy. My hamstring did really well last week and I made it through just shy of 60 miles for the weekly total. I know, it sounds like a lot, but it isn't the 70-80 that I wanted to be at this time of the summer. Eh! Whaddya gonna do?

Okay, I gotta go, too. Alright. Have a good one! Talk soon!

Sadie Time

I'm taking some 'Sadie time' today. Usually Chad and I spend the entire weekend together other than our long run time on Saturday mornings or if Chad has to work on Saturdays. I would like to spend some time doing things that he wouldn't necessarily like to do, so I have decided to take some 'me time'. Here's what I have on my plate for today -

• shopping - will likely go to Anthropologie and Barton Creek Mall. I plan to spend time in the dressing rooms instead of just window shopping and browsing around. Yay! I may not buy anything, but then again if I find the right thing at the right price, I just might.
• coffee - will likely visit The Coffee Bean today that has just opened up on Lamar. I'll likely spend some time drinking coffee or tea and reading today. I've got to sleep later, so it better be decaf. Anyone been yet?
• reading - our house doesn't really have a good spot to curl up and read. I could sit in the living room and read, but the TV would likely be on. If I read on the bed, I'll fall asleep. I finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society yesterday, and have our newest book club selection, The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon ready to start. I'd like to get a big chunk read today so that I can get hooked in. I haven't read The Shadow of the Wind (Zafon's previous novel), but everyone I know who has read it, plus some unsolicited recommendations at the bookstore, says that they loved it and are looking forward to this new book. Love, murder, obsession...let the game begin - It's a good enough hook for me.

Saturday 20+ miler

just the basics -

• 5:00 start - 3 mi w/Nedra, Renee, Michael
• 10 mile Eastside route w/8 mi out and back
• got carried away with group pace between 7-12 mi
• end of run painful
• 2 Gus
• 2 cups Accelerade, 12 oz chocolate milk, peach mango smoothie w/yogurt, 2 potato and egg tacos (too stuffed to eat the tortillas), big glass and a half of Dr. Pepper
• after all of the food and drink, still 5.5 pounds lighter than when I woke up this morning
• probably lost 7-10 pounds of water weight due to sweating this morning...crazy
• overall pace under 9:00/mile - without a Garmin, predict much of the middle of our run was 8:45 or under

Song Change - Endlessly

MUSE - Endlessly

from the album Absolution

There's a part of me you'll never know
The only thing I'll never show

Hopelessly I'll love you endlessly
Hopelessly I'll give you everything
But I won't give you up
I won't let you down
And I won't leave you falling
If the moment ever comes

It's plain to see it's trying to speak
Cherished dreams forever asleep

Hopelessly I'll love you endlessly
Hopelessly I'll give you everything
But I won't give you up
I won't let you down
And I won't leave you falling
If the moment ever comes

Hopelessly I'll love you endlessly
Hopelessly I'll give you everything
But I won't give you up
I won't let you down
And I won't leave you falling
But the moment never comes

Office Takeover

Miko attempts to force a day off by blocking the desk space for my
laptop.

flaw -> fast

flaw-

1: a defect in physical structure or form

2: an imperfection or weakness, especially one that detracts from the whole or hinders effectiveness

Steve watched us run uphill today with an exaggerated stride and pointed out a flaw in my form. My left arm tends to lift up and pull across my body when I get tired. He suggested I focus on my armswing straight forward, even if it seemed a bit robotic at first.

When we got to the top of the hill to the flat part of the workout to do the tempo pace 800m, I ran at a slightly faster than easy pace, but purposely did not go fast enough to tax my hamstring.

We ran up, then down, then up, then around and down, then up, then down, then up, then around and down. On my third trip up the hill, I must have looked strong (I sure felt strong) because coach told me I looked good and was better more and more with each repeat. Running up the hill four times focusing on the prancing stride and my arms moving straight forward was more of a feat of focus and control rather than a feat of fitness. I felt good, strong, and in proper form for once.

The group dynamic was terrific with support this morning as well. It seemed like a love-fest at times with all of the positive messages of encouragement shared back and forth.

Hopefully, this new hill phase will work for me to make me fast up the hill with better form and less effort. Either way, workout today was fun, the company was good with Nedra, Renee, Michael during the warmup, and the entire team on the hill.

(change one letter game)

flaw

flat

feat

fest

fast

flaw -> fast

(looks like I'm heading in the right direction)

whew!

It is crazy how fast a week can go by. If you are keeping up with the time posted on this update, you'll notice I'm up kind of late. Three family dinners with the in-laws in four days, waking up early to run two out of the last three days, the roughest time of the month for my job, plus all of the regular stuff I normally try to do during the week has me kind of tuckered out. It is 10:45. I plan to be up at 4:25 for the group run tomorrow (we're doing our first big hill workout of the season).

G'night and good morning!

Running Update a la Forrest Gump

"Now you wouldn't believe me if I told you, but I could run like the wind blows."

That was the attitude two weeks ago. In the middle of trying to recover from my hamstring, I tried to continue running with the group like the doctor suggested. In hindsight, that was probably a bad idea. Running like the wind blows proved to be a problem.

"Stupid is as stupid does."

Running hard two Saturdays ago during one of our 'Race Prep' long runs is stupid. I knew better than to go for my ultimate MGP. I should have been a little more conservative and tried for 8:00 or 8:15/mile. Nope, I went for 7:38 and suffered a setback. I cramped up big time in my injured hamstring and made training difficult for the next week.

"My Mama always said you've got to put the past behind you before you can move on."

I'm trying so hard to move on from this hamstring injury. Got my official discharge from the Airrosti doctor yesterday. Seems like I need to focus on where I am now, not where I was a month ago in my fitness and do the best that I can from here on out until Portland.

"When I got tired, I slept. When I got hungry, I ate. When I had to go, you know, I went."
Elderly Southern Woman on Park Bench: "And so, you just ran?"
"Yeah."

That pretty much sums up what training has been like for the past few weeks. The good news is I have run for four days without any pain and this morning's fourteen miler was the best run I have had in a while.

"That's all I have to say about that."

Blog Lust and Jealousy

Aww man. I don't get really jealous about things. (That is a lie.) There are different levels of jealousy and lust, and mostly I just get insignificant waves of jealousy over another woman's clothes or lust after my husband's dessert choice instead of mine. (can't help but be jealous of most of my lady runner friends' legs - okay, okay, I'm even jealous of some of my guy runner friends legs as well - seriously unfair the squat legged genes I inherited - and yes, Chad knows who I think has nice legs besides him - ah! I digress)

But the real things I am jealous of in life have to do with natural talent and artistic ability. My latest item of jealousy - people who can write. Thanks to Erin H. for passing amalah.com to me. It is definitely a mom/life blog, but the woman can write a good blog post (the one I linked to today is a perfect example). Even if you don't know her, you get her point of view and laugh with her because of her writing talent.

Jealous of people who use their brains that way. My over-analytical, math-science dork brain strives to let its inner artist out every once in awhile.

Uprising - New MUSE single

The new single from Muse, 'Uprising', from their upcoming album, The Resistance, is getting its first worldwide plays today and tomorrow, so of course it has been leaked on YouTube. We'll see how long the video above stays up.

I really don't know what I think about it, yet. People are saying Blondie, Goldfrapp, Marilyn Manson, football chants ('hey'), and I hear all of that in the new song. With Absolution and Black Holes and Revelations being such awesome albums to listen to beginning to end, I wonder how 'Uprising' will fit in with the rest of the album. Muse is very much one of those bands that releases a great album sound rather than focusing on individual songs, so hopefully the new song makes sense with the rest of the album's sound.

I'm not sold yet on MUSE's evolving sound. In the meantime, I will try to ignore my inner 80s child that wants to belt out 'Call Me' every time I hear this song. It's a bit distracting. That, and the rebellious teenager in me that wants to chant "the beautiful people, the beautiful people" as a background voice.

Pudding Nastiness

Whatever happened to good old vanilla and chocolate? Buttered Popcorn
pudding? Really? This is why I prefer Whole Foods or Central Market over HEB where this pic is taken.

Disgusting that this is eye level to children.