This Town

What number dead here would it have taken to give the nation real pause? There were 12 dead yesterday and none was taken.

For most of the day, while 12 people lay shot to death where they’d been trying to get into work and grab some breakfast, Major League Baseball thought it might hold a game a few blocks away. I’d like to believe dignity and reason and compassion prevailed in the late afternoon, but my gut tells me it was just logistics. No worries, sports fans, there’s a double header today.

The President walked to a microphone and perfunctorily noted that “yet another mass shooting” had occurred. He required no moment of pause to get control of his emotions, as he did at the podium after the last mass shooting, in Newtown. Perhaps because he knew that the massacre of 20 children and six teachers changed nothing when it…

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96.16

mileage for September

I actually feel pretty good about this number. The runs that make it up are another story. Pretty much all of September’s run sucked. There was entirely too much walking this month. I felt like I just could not get it together. I’ve been telling everyone in ear shot (seriously whether they want to hear it or not) that this race is not going to be pretty, but I’ll finish. Barely. I’ve logged the miles. I know I can finish it, but I still feel out of shape, so there won’t be any records broken. Well, maybe a record for my worst marathon time ever (which is saying something considering I’ve torn my calf during one and another one had me all the hills of San Francisco).

Maybe my Don’t Call it a Comeback tour was too lofty an aspiration. Going from 0-26 just 10 months post major surgery? Yeah, I probably should have had better base mileage before attempting another marathon. I feel like that’s the issue here, that I spent all of my time building miles and didn’t have the chance to work on quality (speed and hill training). So I’ll run the race. I’ll even call it a success if I can finish it, but I am just a little disappointed that I am not going to make a good show of it.

Despite all of that boo-hooing, I am still excited. I got my race shoes–the Nike Air Pegasus 29s (I didn’t have enough time to customize a pair) which originally seemed a little boring with the mostly gray coloring, but they’ve grown on me a bit and I think they’ll do just fine as a race day shoe. Stay tuned for the rest of my race day outfit….

We are now just 5 (FREAKING) days, 22 hours and 26 minutes out from Chicago!

[TODAY’S WORKOUT]
►4 miles of recovery <1 mile walk, 4 miles at 10:25 pace, 1 mile walk>

Still running,

but barely.

Just hanging on ever so slightly to guarantee a finish at Chicago…but it won’t be pretty. I’m actually kinda bummed about it, but it’s no one’s fault but my own. Maybe I’d be less bummed if someone would take the blame?

Promise to write more later, I’m in the home stretch!!

75.45

mileage for August

Another month down. Another month of reasonable, yet somewhat lackluster mileage. This is my lowest September on record in prep for marathon training…though I did take a week off to rest a tweaky calf and overcome a fever-inducing sinus infection. So, had I not been sick I would have been up at 90, which seems a bit more in line so maybe I’ll just stop second guessing everything. I needed the week off, it was a “low mileage” week since I had hit an 18-mile long run the week before and then a 20-miler the week after, and I feel good about the decision to take it off — this is the less is more plan, right? Right. Let’s just go with it.

I hit two big runs recently. I did 18 miles on my birthday (which was on the 18th, and the numerical alliteration plus the doughnut and double  Starbucks post-run reward were the best things about it). But my longest run to date was the 20 I did as September fell upon us. It was actually way worse than the birthday 18 — the humidity and the lingering sinus issues (coupled with the time off) meant a lot of taking it easy. I am chalking it up to “time on my feet” and not a real training run. At this stage I am confident that I can finish the marathon. I ran an 18 and a finished 20. Six more miles won’t be that big of a stretch on race day, but I am still unsure of how well I’ll finish the marathon. I have another big long run coming up; 20-22 next weekend, so hopefully we’ll get a slight reprieve on the weather, my upcoming work schedule/travel won’t kill me and I’ll have a stellar, confidence-boosting outing. Small steps. I see the marathon, but I am looking just ahead to that next 20.

There is just 1 month, 2 days, 10 hours and 7 minutes out from Chicago! OH MY GOSH!!!!

Nike sent me this email about how you can customize the Nike Air Pegasus and we all know how that’s my shoe and all and now I am thinking about dropping $120 so I can get a fly, custom pair of shoes for the race. What do you think of these babies?

Option 1

Option 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TODAY’S WORKOUT]
►5 mile tempo run <4 miles at 9:45s + 1 cool down mile at 10min>

Workout Wear Wednesday

Just in case you (which would probably just be refering to me later in life) were wondering, I had another crappy long run last weekend. But I don’t wanna talk about it. There is a 16 miler this Saturday that I am trying not to freak out about. So let’s talk about clothes, ok? Yeah. happy happy.

I want to introduce you to my newest obsession: Old Navy workout clothes. You read that right. Old Navy. Like the place to get $15 sun dresses, $20 jeans and $8 tee shirts can also serve up some redonk performance wear. I was first introduced into this hidden gem earlier this year when I was looking for a thicker capri pant. I already have the Under Armor Hear Gear capris, but I was looking for something a bit warmer, to get me through the later winter and spring and for use in the gym (see previous workout wear Wednesday rant about my distain for shorts).

I spotted these rusched babies among the traditional foldover yoga pants, but cotton they are not, and they had potential so I took ’em into the fitting room. To my utter surprise they were super flattering and the perfect weight. Also, they were $24. SOLD!

Now that I’ve had them for a few months they are, by far, my favorite workout pants. It feels like they have some superhero compression and seaming because I SWEAR (like really really swear) they make my legs springier and lighter. I can’t find this exact version online, but these look most similar.

Mine have some ruching detail on the outside calf area (which I happen to like) and a zippered key/phone pocket in the back of the waistband. Though I do love the compression so much that it’s worth seeing if these feel the same. I just branched out into some summer Old Navy workout gear (review to come) and now I am wondering if I would love the 3″ compression shorts too? At $15 it might be worth a try!

[TODAY’S WORKOUT]
►3 miles of speed work + 3 miles warm up/cool down

62.2

mileage for July

I’ll be honest: I switched a 5-miler originally scheduled for Tuesday (July 31, the last day of the month) with an 8-miler I had originally planned for Thursday (do you see where this is going?) so I could get the bump up over 60 miles for the month. Is that pathetic? It shouldn’t be. I mean, I was at 59 in May for crissakes.  Why has been so hard for me to bump up in mileage?? I guess it’s cuz I kept missing long runs. So it’s not like it’s a mystery. Though looking back through my archives, I see that in 2008 (the last year I ran a marathon) I ran 67 miles in June and in 2007 (which netted me my marathon PR) I did just 54 — so maybe I am right in there where I need to be?

I mean, I did have three back-to-back long runs this month; a crappy 10, a pretty decent 12-miler (with negative splits to boot!), and a fair 14-miler. It looks like I am on my way to major mileage for August. I have both an 18 and 16-miler planned for the month — the 18-miler taking place on my birthday of all days , I can only imagine the level of indulgence after that run — with a smattering of speed work and tempo runs thrown in. I am doing the Runner’s World Less is More plan, so my overall mileage should be less than previous bouts of training. I just need to stay on target and keep my eye on the prize and focus on getting quality runs in. Now, fingers crossed I get a bit more acclimated to the heat and humidity and can really get in good with the quality bit.

We are now 2 months, 4 days, 19 hours and 51 minutes out from Chicago!

[TODAY’S WORKOUT]
►3.5 miles of speed work + 2 miles warm up/cool down <7×800 at 10K pace-45-50 seconds>

Battling the heat

The heat has been killing me as of late. See rants of the previous week for proof of the sucktitude it is inflicting on my runs if you feel like reading some whine (not that this post won’t be whiny, cuz it probably will…just keeping it real here).

I postponed my Saturday long run to Sunday this week for a few reasons. One I was still feeling sore from Thursday’s treadmill tempo run (treadmill because it was so freaking hot that night–an apparatus which I hate to the deepest depths of me entire being), two, I had a late conference call on Friday and wasn’t able to get my pre-run routine done in time to get some quality zzz’s, and three I had a special birthday cake to make for a rambunctious 3 year old’s Avengers birthday party and honestly didn’t think I’d be able to get it all done in time.

So I saved it for Sunday, and due to an overnight sinus issue and the resulting intake of psuedoephedrine I was practically wide awake and totally wired when my alarm went off (does this happen to anyone else, decongestant does not make me sleepy but wires me up in a weird drugged out way — obviously I totally would not be able to take meth, you know if any meth dealers are reading this, don’t even try!). I pulled a 14-miler route off the DC Road Runners cue sheet site, one that would offer a good amount of shade and some nice, distracting trails (see the Glover-Archibold route that ends coming down Rock Creek Park), froze some Gatorade in my water bottles, wore my lightest running clothes and headed out the door.

The trail was harder than I felt it should have been…super hot…and once I cleared it at about mile 5.5 I figured out why — the breeze going on today was a big reason it wasn’t unbearable and under the cover of the tress, I got zero of that. It was so bad that I had drank up ALL of my Gatorade by mile 5 (usually I don’t take my first real sips until mile 4)! The beauty of it was that it was cold the whole way because I had frozen them solid (rather than partially frozen and then filled). Thankfully though, right at mile 5.5, when I cleared the trails, there was a McDonald’s where I snagged some ice water and Powerade for the remaining 8.5 miles. The rest of the run was pretty uneventful, I think I took a couple walk breaks on some uphills, but they were pretty small and nothing that made me feel defeated or anything. I think I averaged 11:15s for the entire run which is right about where I want to be on distance-building runs so, yay on me

~The overgrown tracks were spotted on the Glover Archibold trail
~Dirty ankles=product of trail running
~Best part of the run=The extra half mile I ran to the Starbucks where I sat outside, enjoyed my iced caramel machiato and dried off my sweaty body in the breeze

Next week though, I gotta run with people — I can’t do these solo long runs by myself anymore!

[TODAY’S WORKOUT]
►14-mile long run <at 10K + 60-75 seconds pace>;

Workout Wear Wednesday

So I missed last week’s post, which would have been only the 2nd one in this here series. Apparently I fail at everything. I thought about doing a Thursday Threads post (yes, alliteration is important to me) to make up for it, but when that didn’t happen either I just gave up entirely. Welcome to my life, where expectations are never met…or met much later than expected.

Jumping in…

Last month, I bought new shorts for the first time in forever. Seriously, I think it had been maybe 2 or 3 years since I bought new running shorts. I know. It’s just that I hate shorts. For being a runner it’s probably odd that I hate my legs, but I do, so I avoid shorts at all costs. Actually now that I am a runner I hate them much, MUCH (much!!!!) less than I ever used to, but still they are not my favorite body part. So I wear workout pants as much as possible. But when things get hot, I don’t stay insecure for long and the shorts definitely come out. All this being said, it’s basically a big deal for me to buy shorts.

Cut to City Sports, who happen to have a great loyalty program, frequent coupons and some cash money hanging out on a gift card I won last year during the bootcamp that broke my hand. [I didn’t win money because I broke my hand, even though I joked at the time the $100 didn’t even cover my x-ray bill.] Right before the Zooma half marathon last month (which I STILL have not recapped, see above fail rant above), I ran over to the storefront closest to my office desperate for a new race outfit. Now usually I would not wear brand new clothes at a race, but all my shorts were smelly dirty and no way was I racing in those. Knowing that I hate shorts in general, I brought about 37 pairs into the dressing room with me, determined to find a pair that looked decent. And lo and behold, I came out with these:

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Nike Tempo Track Short

I swear I had tried this style on ages ago and they just made my legs look like tree trunks, but I liked them this time. I did go up a size (to large) because I wanted more room in the leg hole, so maybe this is the reason? They are awfully baggy on my backside and there is A LOT of room in the leg area in this bigger size, but I like how that makes them flare out a bit in the thigh and give the illusion of a leaner leg. It's probably all in my mind, but as long as I feel good about it, that's all that matters right? I bought these in navy and white for $32 (without discounts) and I love that now that I know I like them I can snag them up in all the funky color combos they come out in (when they go on sale of course).

How to Fail at Running Without Even Trying

Operation Focus was a bust. I ran one speed workout, hit one cross training session and then kerplunked. To make excuses be fair, I did get sick. It was the kind of sick they say you can exercise through. You know when they say if your symptoms are from the neck up, “go ahead and workout!”! Well, those were my symptoms….but work out I did not. Run I did not. I did not actually do much of anything for that matter. For four days. Yes, I babied my sinus pressure and snottiness into four days of inactivity. What are you gonna do about it? I mean what are THEY gonna do about it (you know, THEY who say you should go ahead and workout when your head feels like ass)?

I can tell you what I did about it. I ran a make up long run last night, after work. [This is something I have done/do too often when I miss a shorter long run on the weekend–I just run the miles on Monday and pretend that I got them in the day before so the miles count towards the previous week.  I’m trying to get out of the habit. Obvs not doing a good job of it.] I should edit that. I walked and somewhat jogged a make up run after work. Holy sweat balls Batman! I am apparently NOT acclimated to the heat and humidity in any way, I am NOT conditioned for uber strenuous exercise and I have seemed to have lost all my lovely, cushiony callouses on the bottoms of my feet. [Did you know that can happen? That the gnarly pads strategically adhering to the hot spots on your feet will miraculously begin to disappear if you do not need them becauseyouskippedtwoweeksoflongruns for some reason or another? It’s crazy, the human body! It’s soooo evolved!]

So suctastic “run” last night. I am barely even sure I can count it as a 10 miler considering how much walking I did. Tell me I’ll get over this and be able to hit my long runs in some training-like fashion most soonest? I have deep woe for the status of my marathon training right now.

[TODAY’S “WORKOUT”]
►10-mile long run <Supposed to be at 10K+60 seconds pace, but uh, notsomuch>

Workout Wear Wednesday

As a break from the monotony of all running, all whining, all the time I thought I’d sneak in some fun gear reviews/highlights/etc.

Welcome to workout wear Wednesday! (Maybe I should work on posting this before there are less than 2 hours left in said Wednesday? I’ll try that for next week.)

I am obsessive about my running kicks–Nike Air Pegasus, size 8.5 wide. I’ve been wearing them for 12 years. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. I never stray from them. I am thinking about supplementing if I can I can find something as cushioned, but that’s a whole ‘nother post. And shhhh, don’t tell them yet.

My gym shoes, the ones that get worn for EVERYTHING besides running, well, I have never put much thought into them. For the past year I had been wearing street shoes (like, commuters) that had almost zero support. I know! I know!! So bad.

A few months ago I had this DSW coupon burning a hole in my pocket and the first place I always head is the clearance rack. That’s where I spied these babies:

The Puma Fox Trail Running Shoe.

To be honest I had no idea they were running shoes, much less trail shoes when I was in the store. They looked cool. They looked stable and supporty. I don’t mess around when trying on shoes. I walk around the store in prospective shoes upwards of half an hour or more. With these shoes I took it to a whole other level. Jump squats. Jogging down the aisles. Jumping jacks. The whole nine. They passed the tests and they were 40% off!! Score! Add the coupon and I think the end price was under $30 bucks. Loving it.

Plus I love them still, two+ months later. I even do short treadmill runs with them (like when I have little cardio intervals w/in my gym workouts). Double score! Definitely a great workout purchase.

[TODAY’S WORKOUT]
►15-minutes on the elliptical
►30-minute Nike Training App <Get Lean/Intermediate/Body Surge>