Marathon Mom

Today I decided to head out for a longish run, the original plan was 10 miles, but then before I started I changed that to 12 miles since I haven't done much in long runs lately. I always tell my runners not to add distance in the middle, but to add the miles at the end in case it gets tough or they decide the longer run isn't such a good idea anymore when they still have a few miles to run. As I got to my planned turn around I was felling good, so I added on another mile to make the run 14 miles. Not only did I lengthen my run, but I had started out faster then my long run pace. Around mile 8 I was starting to feel it in my legs, which are still sore from the relay this past weekend. I now had 6 miles (instead of 4) left to run on tired legs. Next time I should follow my own advice and add the miles at the end. 14.16 miles in 2:03:20 for 8:43 average pace, still faster then my long run pace should be by about 15 seconds per mile, only 20 seconds off marathon pace. This is why ...

Started my relay weekend by meeting Tessa, Jeannie, and Krista at the airport car rental, which is a chore in itself. I don't think they often see people drive in to the car rental. Went to get our car and saw that there was a Toyota Prius in the spot, uh no. Finally got the van issue figured out and we were on our way. Jill (the GPS) directed us down to LaCrosse, good thing since I was the only local and am terrible with directions. Made a stop for lunch and learned of Krista's love of baked goods and desire for a tattoo, although Jeannie never let us stop. Met up with the Elizabeth, Janice and Mickey in LaCrosse headed to the hotel and planned out dinner. I was excited to see an old favorite of mine is still up and running in LaCrosse, so it was an Italian dinner. We headed back to the hotel to consume wine and beer and wait for the rest of the group to arrive. Elizabeth and I made an attempt to watch the Olympics, but quickly learned that NBC is nonexistent in LaCrosse. Fran...

I debated even writing this, but I'm admitting my defeat and I learned some great lessons at my 1st real tri. A few years ago I did an indoor tri, but this was the first real outdoor tri. I felt ready had done OW swimming, plenty of biking and running, but things were not going to go as planned on Sunday...500 meter swim/15 mile bike/5K run. Arrived at the park early on Sunday to set up my transition area and then sat with Matt down by the lake until the pre-race meeting started. The swim course didn't look too bad. I was in wave 3 and had decided against a wet suit since the water temp was 77* and I was fine during my OW swims. This morning the air temp was much colder then during my past 2 OW swims. When I got in the water to start I was shivering. I swam about 100 meters (1/2 way to the 1st turn) and felt my lungs tighten up. I just couldn't get any air. I tried to backstroke for the next 100 and take some deep breathes which only slightly helped. At this point I had 300...

In one week I will turn 30! What am I doing to celebrate, well only something a runner would do...Ragnar starts on my birthday this year so I thought of course I've got to do that! Myself along with 11 other women will be running 206 miles from LaCrosse to Minneapolis. We each take 3 legs and rotate until I get to cross the finish line! We'll start Friday morning and finish Saturday afternoon. Then the celebration starts. In the mean time, I am celebrating tonight with friends, food and wine at our house. Oh, yeah and my first tri on Sunday. Since you race tris in the age group you will be at the end of the year, I will be doing my first race with the 30-34 year olds. No more racing against the college or even high school runners.

I went to yet another doctor (sports podiatrist) today and finally some potentially good news. He did say my orthotics that were custom made in April are completely wrong and he can't do anything with them, but the store orthotics I bought he likes. He added some support which he thinks will really help. I am trying out these changes and going back next week to see if anything else needs to change. He also thinks that if we get these right then I probably won't need to stop running after the fall marathons, just keep lower mileage for the winter. I also learned why I have been having such crappy runs, my work shoes offer no support making my ankle, hip, knee work hard all day that by the time I try to run they are already tired, duh! So next week I need to bring in my work shoes and see what we can do with insoles for those. He did say that on my MRI from April, there is fluid around the tendon sheath, but not enough to need to remove at this point. We'll just watch this.

Back in late May Morgan had a photo shoot done to be part of a website dedicated to black dogs since black dogs are often the last dogs to get adopted or are even left behind. Maybe I'm the odd one, but I searched out a black dog when we were looking and got my boy... Check out the Black Dogs Blog or http://www.startseeingblackdogs.com Here are a few pictures of us running at the lakes from the photo shoot and a couple of him relaxing and eating sand afterwards... How can you resist that face? What a sweet looking boy...

On Tuesday I went back to the sports doc for a recheck of my ankle tendon issues and didn't get good news. I wasn't expecting anything great, but was hoping. After 6 weeks of decreased mileage (20-25 mpw) and PT I had made no progress and my performance at last weekend's Half only proved this. He knows I am coaching and have 2 full marathons (no longer 3) to run in October. Other then that I only have 2 other races left this year, a sprint tri next weekend and the Relay in 2 weeks. I have been cleared to continue running through Dublin Marathon and then I am done until this thing is healed for good. In the mean time I am being sent to yet another doctor who can possibly fix my worthless orthotics that were custom made in April to fix the problem but only made it worse. If this doesn't work I may need to buy an entirely new pair. The good news, at this point he still does not think that surgery is the best plan. So when Matt and I return from Europe in November I will be...

This has not been my year for distance and since G'mas my running has been limited to 20 mpw (I'm trying to keep it close). No speedwork and real training, just easy miles and hills which I can't avoid. This was my 1st half since April 2007 and I was hoping for greatness after my 10K PR last month. Despite the forcasts all week saying that it would be 90*, at the start of the race it was nice and cool which I took as a good sign. My goal was to run 7:45-7:50 pace, to PR I would need 7:53 pace or better. Mile 1: 8:01 (A little crowded) Mile 2: 7:34 (Oops, maybe a little fast) Mile 3: 7:50 Mile 4: 7:58 (Crowded, narrow trails, couldn't pass or run faster for miles 3-6) Mile 5: 7:54 Mile 6: 8:09 (Took a Gu) Mile 7: 7:56 Mile 8: 8:00 (Stupid water stop in the middle of a downhill) Mile 9: 8:10 (Ankle started to hurt, figured I would be smart to slow down) Mile 10: 7:54 Mile 11: 8:02 Mile 12: 8:29 Mile 13: 8:12 Mile 13.1: 0:45 Final:1:44:59 8:01 Pace, I think 19/215 Age Grou...