Monday, August 27, 2007

Still running

In case anyone's wondering, I'm still running. I'll post a catch-up post soon. Our training peaked the last two weeks, and that kept us pretty busy.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Week 12, Day 3

Distance: 5 miles

Total for the week: 18 miles

Overall total so far: 270 miles

Notes: I ran out right after a fat dinner and my knee was killing me, so I had to stop for about a quarter mile a third of the way in. I was pretty down on myself about it, but then it just dawned on me that I was letting little crap bother me, and I decided to start running again. I worked on keeping my head up and smiling so that I would look as if I were having a good time (seriously, it works), and in short order I was cruising along again.

One funny thing is that I saw some people warming up to play what looked like a serious game of volleyball in Cobb's Hill Park, and I chuckled to myself, "I remember when I used to play actual sports that were actually fun." In a few weeks, that will be me again!

The first 18 happens on Saturday. It's the longest run of our training program. We do it twice. Wish us luck!

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Week 12, Day 2

Distance: 8 miles

Total for the week: 13 miles

Overall total so far: 265 miles

Notes: I was a little worried about my knee, but it didn't hold me back at all; I ran a very decent 9:15 pace for this eight miles, and I felt quite strong. (A little Ibuprofen works wonders.) Now I'm sitting here basking in some endorphins and icing my knee, looking forward to finishing this training program strong.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Week 12, Day 1

Distance: 5 miles

Total for the week: 5 miles

Overall total so far: 257 miles

Notes: Because of a scheduling fluke, Tracey and I got a rare opportunity to run a short course together. I had some annoying pain in my right knee, the kind of minor pain that I often feel at the beginning of a run and that usually works its way out after half a mile or so. This time, it hung with me the whole way. Hope it doesn't get any more serious.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Week 11, Days 2, 3, and 4

I have been pretty bad about recording my training runs for the past few weeks. I think I'm just numb to it at this point. I'm not really using the Nike+ iPod system much; I've found that I'd rather run with nothing strapped to my arm than record my pace and calories burned. It was a great incentive at first, and I still carry it in my pack on Saturdays, but I just can't be bothered on the shorter runs. Anyway, here is what happened at the end of last week.

Day 2 (Wednesday)

Distance: 4 miles

Total for the week: 9 miles

Overall total so far: 231 miles

Notes: This was scheduled to be an eight mile run, but I think I ran my legs out playing Ultimate on Tuesday—the game lasted forever, and I played a lot more points than I should have. I had some pretty significant pain above both knees on the Wednesday run, so I cut it short halfway. (I'm sure I ran the equivalent of four miles the day before.)

Day 3 (Thursday)

Distance: 5 miles

Total for the week: 14 miles

Overall total so far: 236 miles

Notes: A little lingering pain for this run, though not as bad as on the previous day. I was looking forward to a rest day by the end of it, though!

Day 4 (Saturday)

Distance: 16 miles

Total for the week: 30 miles

Overall total so far: 252 miles

Notes: The last sixteen-miler was the best! We spent the night in Buffalo on Friday at Tracey's parents' house. My mother-in-law and her father drove around during the week leading up and found us a great, flat course. Then, since we had built-in babysitting, we got up super early and left for our run at 5:45 a.m. We finished around the time we usually start! This was awesome because heat never became an issue. We are now seriously considering getting a waiver to start the marathon at 6:00 instead of 7:00. And we know that carrying plenty of gels means we are much less likely to hit the wall. That was a good lesson to have learned, even if it wasn't any fun.

Next week: 5-8-5-18. Two weeks of that, then the taper begins! We are almost there.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Week 11, Day 1

Distance: 5 miles

Total for the week: 5 miles

Overall total so far: 227 miles

Notes: Nice and easy.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Week 10, Day 4

Hey, wha-happened? Where's day 3? Well...I skipped it. Let's just say I had better things to do. And it's the only missed run in 10 weeks, so that's not too bad.

Distance: 16 miles

Total for the week: 29 miles

Overall total so far: 222 miles

Notes: This was so encouraging after our disaster last Saturday. We did two out-and-back runs in opposite directions from our campsite in Chautauqua. Four miles to the left, then back to the start, then four miles to the right, and back again. There was much scrambling and improvised bathroom breaks (I'll spare you the details), but we finished nice and strong. A much needed psychological boost for us! PowerBars are a convenient way to fuel up before a run when you don't have much time.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Week 10, Day 2

Distance: 8 miles

Total for the week: 13 miles

Overall total so far: 206 miles

Notes: The big 2-0-0. Eight miles all by myself. I felt strong and good.