I managed to get all my miles in this week, even when I was in Kansas City. The little trail in Mill Creek Park was perfect. It was well-lit and there were enough walkers and runners to make me feel comfortable. Well almost comfortable. My pace was much quicker because I was a little nervous out there in the dark. On Wednesday I ran 5 laps, which equated to roughly 4.3 miles (although I read elsewhere the loop was .96 miles). We went out to lunch at an Italian restaurant and I felt so bloated after the most excellent pizza I had (and the baby back ribs the night before) and sore from my nervous pace (a little under 11:00 m/m) that the next morning I was only able to run 3 laps. However, overall, I did all the miles for the week, plus 8 on Saturday.
I managed to run the entire 8 miles on Saturday with the 11:00 minute per mile pace group. Only at the very end was I starting to breath heavy. The morning was so beautiful - cool, crisp and the first light of dawn. I was worried when I started because everything seemed to be against me. The city closed off the main road that I take to get to the school where we start our training so I had to take a detour (and I only live 5 minutes away). By the time I got to the school there was no Gu (which is essential for a long run!) so I was Gu-less. The batteries in my music player were dead (I probably left it on during my Kansas City trip). I had to go to the bathroom as soon as I started running. I ran my music player back to the car and when I got back everyone was gone.
It didn't take long to catch up to the 11:00 group. After about 4 miles I found one of my running friends (one has dropped out; one is still run/walking so I don't see her much) at the back of the 11:00 pack. I told her my sad story and she offered me an extra Gu. And I had someone to talk to during my run and didn't miss my music player. The running gods and goddesses were looking out for me! I still had to go to the bathroom but I was able to hold it the entire way.
After the run I had to race over to my son's soccer game. My son's soccer team won their first game! The boys are all in kindergarten and for the most part they are easily distracted and like horsing around with each other rather than focusing on soccer. This was a fun game to watch.
I have two days of five miles during this week - I hope I can fit them in at lunch. We are very nearly at race day!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Ready to Run
Yes, I am in Kansas City, Missouri, and it's 5:00 am and I'm wide awake and ready to run. I'm on a trip for work and because of time zone changes and the fact that I don't sleep very well when I travel, I just can't get back to sleep.
I was hoping to keep up my training while out of town but so far no luck. I ventured down to the "fitness room" in the hotel and tried to figure out how to turn on the rickety little treadmill. No dice. I mentioned the problem to the front desk and about 15 minutes later someone came down and checked out the circuit breaker. Still no dice. So I'm sitting in my room waiting for the sun to come up a little so I can venture outside. I'm munching on a Clif bar since the restaurant isn't open yet either.
There's a little park within walking distance with a little trail and people were jogging on it last night so I think there will be people on it this morning and it should be pretty safe. I used Runstoppable to figure out the approximate mileage and it looks like about a one mile loop. I only need to do four miles so it should be no big deal.
My training is going very well. I now run during the week at the gym at lunch time and my pace has improved. My shin splints have not gotten any worse and I dutifully do my PT every night I can (almost every night). I ran my 6 miles on Saturday entirely with the 11:00 minute/mile pace group. Of course the coach for that group was doing 20 miles so she was not pushing it but it was still faster than I have been running and I was able to do it easily. Finally, some progress! And just in time for the race, which is 4 weeks away! I have an 8 miler this Saturday, then 10 and 11 and then it's race day.
I was hoping to keep up my training while out of town but so far no luck. I ventured down to the "fitness room" in the hotel and tried to figure out how to turn on the rickety little treadmill. No dice. I mentioned the problem to the front desk and about 15 minutes later someone came down and checked out the circuit breaker. Still no dice. So I'm sitting in my room waiting for the sun to come up a little so I can venture outside. I'm munching on a Clif bar since the restaurant isn't open yet either.
There's a little park within walking distance with a little trail and people were jogging on it last night so I think there will be people on it this morning and it should be pretty safe. I used Runstoppable to figure out the approximate mileage and it looks like about a one mile loop. I only need to do four miles so it should be no big deal.
My training is going very well. I now run during the week at the gym at lunch time and my pace has improved. My shin splints have not gotten any worse and I dutifully do my PT every night I can (almost every night). I ran my 6 miles on Saturday entirely with the 11:00 minute/mile pace group. Of course the coach for that group was doing 20 miles so she was not pushing it but it was still faster than I have been running and I was able to do it easily. Finally, some progress! And just in time for the race, which is 4 weeks away! I have an 8 miler this Saturday, then 10 and 11 and then it's race day.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Robots in Disguise
We did it! The party was a success. Now it's time for some caffeine so I can clean up....
Saturday, September 15, 2007
If you want something done, give it to a busy person....
...except for keeping up with the blog, that is. Overnight the chaos in our house has practically doubled. Ever since my son started kindergarten and now soccer we've had more to do. So I haven't done a very good job of keeping this blog up to date. I'm just trying to keep everything straight at home and work.
Here are some updates:
Magazine sale
I emailed the principal. He emailed me back. I emailed him again. We did not buy any magazines but I think I can still show my face at the school. I still disagree with exposing kindergarteners the way the school did but the principal said this is the only fundraiser in which the kids are involved and when he started there were a lot more and they were much worse. Ok but I'm not buying magazines.
Birthdays
My kids' birthdays are three days apart. The grandparents live out of town. So the kids essentially get three "parties" - each time each of the grandparents visit, and then we have our own family thing. We just can't seem to get it all together. And now we are on the eve of the big "Transformers" party tomorrow. I have a full agenda with pizza, games, a pinata, cupcakes and ice cream, and I have the Transformers theme throughout. It is going to be so cool I can't wait to come.
Running
My running is going very well. I run at work at lunchtime on the treadmill and my pace has picked up a bit. Today, however, was a great milestone. I actually ended up with a pace group! All during my training with the running group I've been among a handful of people whose pace was too slow to merit a coach or a "true" group. We have generally been on our own bringing up the rear. Since I've made peace with my shin splints (although my legs are still putting up a fight) I just run through the pain and it hasn't gotten any worse. I guess my running has gotten better, though! Someone I started running with and I caught up to the 11:00 minute/mile pace group. I don't think we were going that much faster but they were slowing down because I think they had a lot of miles ahead of them today (like 18 or 20), whereas I only had 7. So I'm sure they were taking it easy. It's been a few weeks since I ran 7 miles, though, but it felt really good. And the weather was perfect - in the 40s. That's what it's supposed to be like for the half marathon in October.
That's all I can write now, because I have to go ice and see what else I need to do for the party tomorrow.
Here are some updates:
Magazine sale
I emailed the principal. He emailed me back. I emailed him again. We did not buy any magazines but I think I can still show my face at the school. I still disagree with exposing kindergarteners the way the school did but the principal said this is the only fundraiser in which the kids are involved and when he started there were a lot more and they were much worse. Ok but I'm not buying magazines.
Birthdays
My kids' birthdays are three days apart. The grandparents live out of town. So the kids essentially get three "parties" - each time each of the grandparents visit, and then we have our own family thing. We just can't seem to get it all together. And now we are on the eve of the big "Transformers" party tomorrow. I have a full agenda with pizza, games, a pinata, cupcakes and ice cream, and I have the Transformers theme throughout. It is going to be so cool I can't wait to come.
Running
My running is going very well. I run at work at lunchtime on the treadmill and my pace has picked up a bit. Today, however, was a great milestone. I actually ended up with a pace group! All during my training with the running group I've been among a handful of people whose pace was too slow to merit a coach or a "true" group. We have generally been on our own bringing up the rear. Since I've made peace with my shin splints (although my legs are still putting up a fight) I just run through the pain and it hasn't gotten any worse. I guess my running has gotten better, though! Someone I started running with and I caught up to the 11:00 minute/mile pace group. I don't think we were going that much faster but they were slowing down because I think they had a lot of miles ahead of them today (like 18 or 20), whereas I only had 7. So I'm sure they were taking it easy. It's been a few weeks since I ran 7 miles, though, but it felt really good. And the weather was perfect - in the 40s. That's what it's supposed to be like for the half marathon in October.
That's all I can write now, because I have to go ice and see what else I need to do for the party tomorrow.
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