10/31 long run

I met up with a friday long run group today to run 16-18 miles, closing at mgp. I think we ended up closer to 16, but I was ok with that. We ran from Jack and Adams to the 10 mile loop on the trail, but then cut off under the scary tunnel by the dam and ran that back part of the trail. Mandy's GPS had us at about 15 when we parted ways. Angie and I were supposed to close the last 6 miles, but it probably ended up being closer to 4.

I was pretty worn out today from the workout yesterday. The closing part actually didn't feel bad, it just felt like the rest of the run was really dragging on slowly. Good company and conversation, but really heavy legs. I went for a massage at 11am and that was probably a smart choice. My left calf muscle was pretty knotted up...and having that worked on was a less than pleasant experience. I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow but I'm hoping my legs start to feel like they're ready to race within the next 16 days!

pluses: going to Mason today to go hunting

minuses: not enough sleep this week

10/30 The Burn

The goal was 40 laps on the track alternating mgp pace and 10k pace. If we were 2.99 seconds slow or 2.99 seconds fast on any of the laps, you're done. I'm pretty sure Steve's words were "If your slow, I'm pulling you off the track. If you're fast, I'll pull you off the track and shoot you." And he said he didn't want to motivate us...

I started the run pretty sore. My shins, calfs, and ankles are still feeling kind of beat up from the hill running. I really appreciated the opportunity to run on the track instead of pavement. I knew we'd be successful as a group because no one wanted to fail. The "train" has really turned into a strong team...and it's great to be a part of. Whenever I felt like quitting, I knew there'd be one other person in our group that was feeling strong and could carry us. Sometimes I was the strong person, and sometimes I was the one being carried.

Are splits are as follows (and yes, I did steal these from Mike. I wore a watch, but, uh, had some problem with it).

MGP ... 10K1
1--1:48 ... 1:38
2--1:47 ... 1:35
3--1:43 ... 1:35
4--1:44 ... 1:37
5-- 1:43 ... 1:37
6-- 1:45 ... 1:38
7-- 1:45 ... 1:37
8-- 1:45 ... 1:37
9-- 1:44 ... 1:38
10- 1:45 ... 1:38
11- 1:45 ... 1:37
12- 1:44 ... 1:37
13- 1:46 ... 1:37
14- 1:45 ... 1:37
15- 1:46 ... 1:37
16- 1:46 ... 1:37
17- 1:46 ... 1:37
18- 1:47 ... 1:34
19- 1:45 ... 1:36
20- 1:46 ... 1:36
total:
35:13 ... 32:23
7:02Pace ... 6:28Pace

Feeling great about the workout...but need to get myself in gear for the long run tomorrow. 16-18, closing the last 6. It doesn't sound hard at all...but I know my body is tired and sore.

pluses: new sunglasses

minuses: sick of spending time in my car

10/29 recovery run

Today I did the 7 mile loop at town lake. My ankles, shins, and feet are feeling really stiff from all of the pounding on the concrete downhills yesterday. I started to notice that a bit on the long run on Saturday. Yesterday just seemed to make things worse. It felt good to run on the trail today. I went a little under 8 min pace and feel like I got a good recovery. Looking forward to the burn tomorrow...

pluses: feeling positive about racing

minuses: feeling torn about big decisions

10/28 Stratford Loops

Today was pretty interesting. I started out the run with a pretty negative attitude. I'm not sure why, but I just wasn't feeling it. I think I am still in recovery mode from yesterday, where I did a whole lot of nothing. I had a pretty slow warm-up and then almost immediately got dropped by the 3:10 train on the first loop up the hills. That's when I started getting really down on myself. We recovered on red bud, mostly steep downhills. Then we hit tempo pace on Lake Austin. Actually, it was way faster than tempo pace. Geezer told me he was trying to drop me the whole time...and I was trying to hang on. We ended up at 6:31 pace. On the second round of hills I was a lot more positive. It felt easier. I was running by myself so I wasn't thinking about who was behind me or ahead of me...which was nice. I just kind of hit a nice stride, and stopped thinking. That seemed to solve the problem with the negative mind-set. On the second tempo I spotted Ramon so decided to try and catch up to him. I caught him towards the end of Lake Austin. I'm not sure what my pace was, but it felt like 10k pace, but felt good.

So although things didn't start out well, I think I ended things on a positive note. Now I just need to keep that positive thinking going for the next 3 weeks. I see the light at the end of the tunnel!

pluses: great weather

minuses: teens stink at turning in paperwork

10/26 pumpkin run

I went to help out at the pumpkin run this morning...and was very thankful that I didn't have to do the 7 or 10 mile run :) My legs are really feeling that back to back quality workouts on Thursday and Friday and then the long run yesterday. I ran an easy 4-5 with the pumpkin run crew and was glad to call it a day. I think I'm going to take tomorrow off. I don't have to work...so I'm envisioning a day with a lot of rest. My body feels tired and I'm a little overwhelmed with wedding stuff, etc. I'm looking forward to the much needed recovery and I'm hoping that puts me back on track for the rest of the week!

pluses: easy night at church

minuses: too much to do and not enough time to do it in

10/25 mgp long run

Today's run was meant to help me determine whether I'd go out at 3:15 pace or 3:10 pace in SA in three weeks. Unfortunately, I don't think I have my answer. My goal was to run right on 3:10 pace (7:15 a mile) and see how that felt. If things felt good, then my plan was to go out at that pace for SA. I ran with the "3:10 train", but somehow we turned into something closer to the 3:06 train. I'm waiting for some splits from Bruce to see what they really were. Every mile was about 5-10 seconds fast, with the exception of mile 5 on the loop (uphill). We did a 5 mile loops x 3 with about a two minute rest between each set. The rest was a nice time for lactic acid to build up before we started running again. After looking back on the run I'd say it was kind of up and down. Sometimes things felt pretty easy, other times I felt myself fading. I'm not sure where this leaves me as far as the marathon. Yes, the run was a bit harder then I'd like for it to have felt, but there was more than one factor affecting how I felt. First, I ran back to back quality workouts on Thursday and Friday. Second, I've only had 10 hours of sleep combined in the past two days. Next, I went to bed at 1am and had a few more drinks than I should have...and lastly, we were running faster than 3:10. So in a way I think all of those sounds like excuses, but when I think about it, those are all things to consider when figuring out my goal. Hopefully some office hours on Tuesday will help me decide...

10/24 CV, again

Being a good friend won out over being a smart runner today :) Angie missed the workout yesterday and was looking for someone to run it with her this morning. My legs feel totally recovered, so I figured why not. We were shooting for 1:45s per a quarter. We weren't totally consistent...but that probably ended up being our average. We started at Jack and Adams and ran to the Austin High track (about 14 min warmup) and took the long way back (20 min). I felt good. I was a little worried about feeling tired by the end of the workout but fatigue never set in. I'm going to aqua-jog this afternoon and hopefully that'll get the legs ready for tomorrow's long run!

pluses: corey morrow concert tonight, weekend!

minuses: can't find my cell phone

10/23 quality workout

I loved today's work out. We did 4 x 2k at critical velocity pace (15k pace). I didn't time anything, because I figured Bruce and/or Mike would do that. I ran with Mike basically the whole time, so I'll just copy and post his splits:
1.38
1.41
1.38
1.37
1.38
-- 1.15 rest
1.33
1.37
1.37
1.37
1.36
-- 2.0 rest (water was far)
1.34
1.39
1.37
1.35
1.37
-- 1.15 rest
1.35
1.36
1.38
1.38
1.35

I think I was a little faster on the last set because Damon and I pulled a way a bit. I felt great. I definitely could've kept going. The weather was nice and all in all, it was a good day!

pluses: lunch w/ a good friend

minuses: stepped on glass

10/22 recovery

Easy 4 with Brian this morning. Nice weather, nice company.

pluses: getting married in 1 month

minuses: drove like 200 miles and didn't really go anywhere

10/21 short/medium long run

I ran 9.4 miles around my neighborhood today. It was nice to sleep in a couple of hours later than usual. I decided I'd run for 75 minutes and then when I got back to my house I put my course in to mapmyrun and it told me I ended up with 9.4. I felt really good on the run. The weather was good and my attitude was a bit better than it has been the past few days. I think I've gotten over being frustrated with myself for a poor mental performance on Sunday. I'm getting really excited about the marathon and I feel like every run I do by myself ends up being a visualization exercise of race day.

pluses: finished my paper...yesss!

minuses: my desk is a mess

10/19 IBM 10k

Inconsistent is the word of the day for my race. All in all, I can't be upset with the end result, but I know I did not run smart or tough. My first mile I went out at a 6:17 which was a bit faster than the plan, but not too bad. Steve said before the race that this should feel hard because we haven't been training for too much speed. So in the 2nd mile when I was feeling good, I figured that meant I wasn't pushing hard enough because I thought it would feel harder...so the 2nd mile ended up being a 6:08. Not really a good idea for the first third of a 10k, considering my original plan was to go out at 6:30s. So the next split ended up being inaccurate because I hit my watch at the 5k marker...so my 6:47 was really for 1.1 miles. If you convert that to miles/min it is about a 6:10. So for the first 5k I was about 15-20 seconds faster than I was planning. The fourth mile I was a headcase because I thought my previous mile had been really slow...I ended up not slowing down too much, running at 6:20 pace for the 4th mile. The 5th mile was the same pace...but much harder. I had people passing me instead of gaining momentum. Jason ran by me and told me this was where the race started...and another woman passed me who I wanted to run with, but I was just feeling really defeated. I also started feeling kind of light-headed...most likely b/c I didn't eat before the race, bad choice. The last mile avg out to about 6:40 pace...so that is where the mental toughness completely lacked. I really don't think there was any excuse for running my last mile 20 slower than I ran on the track at the soul buster II last weekend. That kind of ticks me of in retrospect b/c I know I was capable of a better performance. I want to train myself to actually run even/negative splits, but I still have a lot to learn. I did place 1st in my age group which was nice. I'm pumped I got $50 to Rogue as a prize as opposed to the 2nd place jump-drive :) Lots of running things on my mind...ok with where I'm at now, but I am curious and uncertain about how far the bar needs to be raised.

pluses: gift card, REALLY succesful youth night...about 400 kids from 4 churches...yes!

minuses: tired, really really tired

10/18 not so long run

We left from Rogue and did the 7 mile loop. It felt fine...I just wasn't in the running mood. Usually when I feel stressed out, running helps...but yesterday was just one of those days where I knew I had stuff all day and I could've used the time I was running to be productive with my paper I'm supposed to be finishing up. I should've run another couple of miles...but I was in a rush to get to a middle school youth rally. I have know idea what the pace was. It felt comfortable and I was trying to save my legs for the 10k.

pluses: ut game was a lot of fun, ms rally was a success

minuses: way behind on paper

10/16 4 mile tempo

Steve mentioned last week that we may not realize how tired we were until we tried the tempo today. I was pleasantly surprised. My legs felt pretty good and I was faster than hmpg...not sure how much, but Bruce said him and Keith were a little fast and I was a bit ahead of them. It was windy on the first mile, then hilly, but I felt good and things were clicking. My mileage has been low this week (only at 26) so I feel like I should run tomorrow. This weekend should bring about 22 miles total which will put my at 48. I guess that's not too low. I have been hitting about mid-high 50s each week. Maybe I'll take it off and just push hard at the 10k on Sunday.

pluses: took a two hour nap after the run, feels great out

minuses: still have to write a paper

10/15 recovery run

Today was supposed to be a medium long run, but I whimped out and made it a recovery run. The main reason was that my body needed sleep. If I wanted to get in the whole 12 miles, I would've had to get up earlier than I wanted to. I finally got up, only to realize it was pouring out. I decided to go to the gym and run on the treadmill (another reason a medium long run was NOT going to happen). I ran 7 miles on the treadmill and then called it a day. It's weird that was almost as mentally hard as anything we've done on the track so far. I hate treamills.

Pluses: first teen Bible study went well, get to go to UT game this weekend!

Minuses: friend upset at work today, have to write a paper

10/14 speed day

The workout for today was 20x 200 at 5k pace at the east side track. We were supposed to go until we felt tired, so if we didn't make 20, no big deal. The recovery was 100 diagonal across the field back to the start. I treated these more as strides rather than worrying about a particular pace. I wanted each one to feel smooth. I was running faster than 5k pace, but as long as my stride felt good I was ok with that. I ran the first 15 with no problems. Then I was feeling a little tired so I grabbed some water, and finished with the group. I think I ended up with 19. I felt good, but the cool down was a bit of a struggle.

pluses: rogue people are coming to the SA marathon!

minuses: skipped class...but in a way that is a plus

10/13 recovery run

This is the run I should've done yesterday...but didn't find the time to do. I did an easy five. My stomach felt like crap, but my legs weren't too bad. They were a little stiff to start, as I was expecting. I am still feeling pretty positive and I'm looking forward to the remaining weeks of training before the marathon. Track work tomorrow...yesss. Steve made one comment in office hours today about how I should've run track in hs/college. I never did because I was always playing softball and aau basketball. In high school, I just ran the 1600m and 3200m because we didn't have anyone else to run them. I didn't train all season, and just ran the races in districts and regionals. Obviously, I wasn't in shape for them...so I really never knew if I had any potential. In college, we had a decent distance team and I was really focused on softball so I didn't even consider track. Of course, looking back, we often have questions about how things would've been if we'd made different choices. I really wonder what kind of track athlete I would have made. I guess I won't know...but I do know I had a lot of fun playing softball and made some really great friends and memories. I remember my senior year of high school the track/xc coach from Sam Houston called the house to offer me a full ride...I didn't even want to talk to him because all I wanted to do was play basketball in college. Then, as it turned out...I played bball for half of my collegiate carreer and ending up way more focused on softball...obviously I had some trouble making up my mind :) But who knows...maybe I wouldn't enjoy running as much as I do know if I had completely focused on it all through out college. I guess I've missed my opportunity to see what kind of track athlete I could have been, but I definitely don't want to miss the opportunity to see what kind of marathon runner I can be....

10/11 Soul Buster II

Nailed it! I've been so nervous about this run all week! Steve told us on Thursday he didn't think any of us could run 10k pace for the last two miles. I took it as a challenge, but was hesitant to voice that because I didn't know if I could back it up. I started out running less than most of my teammates...just going 16 to the track. Then on the track we did 2 miles at 7:15 pace. Nailed it. Then we did 2 miles at 6:48. Nailed it. Then comes 10k pace. I ran the first mile at 6:23 and the second at 6:18. I was really happy with the way things went. I was tired, but felt mentally focused the whole time we were on the track. Having Mike there talking crap about letting Sisson "break us" was really helpful. I was able to stay focused and run exactly what I wanted to. All in all, great day. I feel better about this workout than any of the other ones I've run in the program thus far.

pluses: it's 3:26 and OU still sucks, bachelorette party tonight

minsuses: need some sleep!

10/9 speed

We did the texas 10k at the east side track today. Again, I felt like I was taking the easy route as far as pacing. I just stayed right on the "3:10" train. We did 96 sec quarters for basically everything. We started the ladder with 6 400s, then did the 2 800s, 1 mile, 2 800s, and ended with 8 400s. I definitely felt like I could've kept going. The pace felt smooth and comfortable. I noticed I do like going a little slower on the recovery then the others I was running with...but it was easier to skip out on the slow recovery and run the repeats with them than to run by myself.

pluses: going to Mason for the day, lunch with grandparents tomorrow

minuses: tired

10/8 recovery run

Today I ran an easy five miles. It felt good to get some of the kinks out from the medium long run. The weather was amazing and I enjoyed the run.

pluses: no work on Thur and Fri

minuses: have to go to meetings all day

10/7 medium long run

Left from Barton Springs and ran 15 miles this morning. The run was a little tougher than I wanted to be...and it was not because Angie and I were pushing the pace. My legs were tired from the long run and long bike ride, but I guess that is expected. I was really glad we were doing the medium long run as a group because I know I'd have little motivation to do it by myself tomorrow. I've been trying to run them on Mondays, but yesterday was a much needed day of rest. I'm looking forward to the next two workouts, although I know they'll be a big challenge.

pluses: new running shoes, no cavities!
minuses: slept horribly last night, wedding details are annoying

10/4 & 10/5 MS 150

Wow. I survived the weekend! I was so worried about the 25 miler and then 157 miles of biking. My body handled it a lot better than expected. The ride was a two day ride. We rode 97 the fist day, spent the night in Beville, then rode 60 today. My legs felt much better than expected. I really thought the whole 97 miles would be miserable...but I didn't have any problems with my legs being tired. The biggest issues were my neck and shoulders being really tight...most likely because I've only ridden my bike twice since the same ride last year. Today was tough because the wind was very strong heading in to the coast. The last part of the ride was the best. We rode over the huge bridge going into Corpus. It was really hard...but the whole time I was struggling up the bridge I was thinking about the people who have multiple sclerosis who suffer from much more pain than that every day. I'm feeling accomplished for getting through the last three days...and I'm exhausted. I'm bummed I missed the team meeting but I'm looking forward to meeting up with someone on the team to see what's in store for the last phase...

pluses: finished the ride, lots of time with Brian, great dinner at Trudy's
minuses: exhausted, lots to do in the week ahead

10/3 long run

Angie and I ran somewhere between 24 and 25 today. It felt really long, but overall I feel positive about the run. We started out a little faster than I wanted to and I felt like I hit a wall about 9-12 miles. Steve told Tausha and I the other day to try to avoid fueling up unless you absolutely need it. That way, you don't use goos as a crutch and you can teach your body to fight through that empty feeling. At around 12 I started to feel better on the run. We ran from Barton the long way to the mopac bridge, then we did the 7 mile loop, the 10 mile loop, and the 4.5 mile loop and headed back to the springs the same way we came. I was anticipating that the last loop at the lake would be hard...but I actually felt pretty good. The only hard part was stopping for water and then having to get started again. Overall, I feel good about things. It took us about 3:35 (Angie has the exact time). Once I get the time from her, I'll be able to look at the pace. Some time throughout the run it felt like we were at or below 8min/mile but others I could tell we slipped above that.

pluses: long run done for the weekend; great post-run breakfast; get to see Brian today and for the weekend

minuses: 150 miles on a bike still to come over the weekend....

10/2 speed work

Today we did 4 2k repeats at 15k pace. I wasn't really sure what to expect for the workout, but it ended up going very well. We were warned to stay focused and disciplined on this run so we would blow up towards the end. I feel like I almost cheated on the disciplined part because I just followed Bruce the whole time. There was very little thought on my part with regards to pace. I felt fine after the fourth repeat and felt like I could have kept going. My 2k splits were 8:19, 8:19, 8:17, 8:11.

I'm still a little worried about the long run tomorrow...but in 22 hours I'll be done with it :)

pluses: ice cream party with the 5th grade girls I'm mentoring, happy hour at work today
minuses: had to fill my gas tank for the 4th time in 9 days :( and i need new running shoes

10/1 recovery run

I ran 5 miles this morning. Although it was a relatively short run, it felt kind of long. I ate a pretty late/crappy dinner last night, so that most likely added to the trouble on the run. The weather was nice...and I spent most of the run worrying about the speed workout tomorrow, 24 miles on Friday, and MS150 over the weekend. I question whether I can do all of that without feeling bad all of next week, but I guess I'll figure it out. Also, I thought a lot about how I should do a better job of keeping my nutrition in check. My best friend just passed her RD exam so I can use her as a resource...but the real problem is a lack of discipline. I do want to be a lot stricter with myself with regards to training and nutrition as I prepare for the next marathon. As of now, I only have 6 and 1/2 weeks left until the marathon so I'm not going to make any drastic changes in the way I've been training. I do have much higher hopes for the next time around though.

pluses: nice weather, relaxing morning
minuses: tired, lack of motivation regarding grad school work