Ha, I made a title that rhymes!
Looong day today. Got to work alittle after 5am, and didn't get back home till after 4pm. Exhaustion led to a couple bowls of cereal, then passing out on the couch, only to realize by 6pm that I still had to get a run in...uggghh. I really wasnt' feeling it, especially knowing I had to do my long run tomorrow morning. But, Saturday is my easiest day and the thought of having a 'blank' in my training log pushed me out the door. Plus, it was nice to run in the 'country' by my apartment. All summer, I haven't been able to because I run too early (and stick to city streets), or run from the Bakery or other places with people. 6 cloudy miles at 7:57 pace, and I was back. And happy. But honestly, do you ever regret a run?
The market downtown was really fun. Me and the guy I'm taking over for went down together. We sold out of almost everything, which hasn't happened since the first market (when I worked!) I like to think it is my sales skills, but it is probably just luck! I was really tiring though- lots of set up and heavy lifting and moving product and such. But such a nice change from being chained to the savory kitchen doing prep work all Saturday like I usually am. Plus, more hours = more $$.
The cool news is I'M ON VACATION now. I told my boss at the bakery that I needed a couple weeks off to get ready to teach, and thankfully she gave them too me. I'm really behind and overwhelmed with my prep work and I feel like I never have a block of time to work because I'm always working or driving or running, and it is hard to do 5 minutes here and 5 minutes there. Plus, I've worked since May 2009, pretty much without more than a couple days off so I really just want a mental breather to go into the teaching year refreshed and ready to go! This means that I will hang out here tomorrow, then go up north for a week and a half! I'm really excited to be up there for a block of time, rather than just 4 days in a row. My mom and I have lots of fun things planned, and honestly, I am really looking forward to getting ready to teach. And not having to get up at 4am for a couple weeks sounds pretty good. So yeah. I guess you could say I'm feeling pretty good right about now. The market on August 14th will be my next work day. Yessss indeedy.
Ok, early to bed = more sleep = long run time. I'm off!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
72- 85 degree cold front
You know it has been an amazingly hot and lovely summer, when you get excited about running in the 'cool' 85 degree temps at 2pm. Yep, I did.
11 miler immediately following the bakery shift. I did my normal 8 mile route from the bakery, but added some distance downtown and such. It went really well, except for the last mile when I started feeling pretty dehydrated. 8:13 pace overall, so decent enough. That is the bad part about the bakery- I generally drink 2 cups of coffee and nothing else. Yeah, bad call. I still finished the run pretty strong and it was nice to just have one run to do because I've been doing doubles Monday-Thursday lately. And all dehydration can be fixed by XL fountain diet coke from McD's.....
Other than that, I'm pretty pumped for tomorrowas it is my first day at the market downtown. Well, technically my second since I did it in the spring, but my first of 'taking over.' I'm going down there with the guy who's been doing it so he can show me the ropes before I start alone. Should be a nice change of pace, although it will be a long day. Gotta be at the bakery, ready to go at 5:30am.....ugggghhh
The granola bar I bought up north isn't gluten free. :(
It is pay day! :)
Happy weekend all!
11 miler immediately following the bakery shift. I did my normal 8 mile route from the bakery, but added some distance downtown and such. It went really well, except for the last mile when I started feeling pretty dehydrated. 8:13 pace overall, so decent enough. That is the bad part about the bakery- I generally drink 2 cups of coffee and nothing else. Yeah, bad call. I still finished the run pretty strong and it was nice to just have one run to do because I've been doing doubles Monday-Thursday lately. And all dehydration can be fixed by XL fountain diet coke from McD's.....
Other than that, I'm pretty pumped for tomorrowas it is my first day at the market downtown. Well, technically my second since I did it in the spring, but my first of 'taking over.' I'm going down there with the guy who's been doing it so he can show me the ropes before I start alone. Should be a nice change of pace, although it will be a long day. Gotta be at the bakery, ready to go at 5:30am.....ugggghhh
The granola bar I bought up north isn't gluten free. :(
It is pay day! :)
Happy weekend all!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
73- cross country..what!?!?
So, coffee shop time for me again tonite. Back at the internet-less apartment. So let's get to it!
Running wise, today was a designated 'recovery' day with 11 miles; 6 morning, 5 at night. I started the day with a nice run in town with my mom. We did a new route together that was actually really shaded and pleasant. Good times. Then we randomly bought sweatshirts at the old bakery that I worked at for the last 5 summers. No worries that it was like 90 degrees....that's how we roll, spontaneous purchases! Then, I took my mom on a scenic drive home because I wanted to go by the hill I ran up on my 14 miler yesterday because I thought it was sooo hard but I was worried I was just being a pansy. It was decided that I wasn't as my mom said "I want to puke just driving up this hill!" lol.
Then it was driving, driving, driving, downstate.
So in lue of Thursday night running club, my club decided to do a low key cross country race that supports a small, local college. I thought "5K, no big deal." Oye. I forgot how intense XC is- NOTHING like roads. The course was hilly, with rough footing and in ankle deep grass. My 7:30 pace felt harder than my marathon! I survived though, although Mike beat me....we then did some cool down miles before deciding we were too hungry! So, I got my milage in, but it certainly didn't feel like 'recovery!' lol.
That's all from here! More bakery fun tomorrow, (plus running of course) then I get to go downtown on Saturday for work at the market! I love being up north, but I love being here too. Let the good times roll! :)
Running wise, today was a designated 'recovery' day with 11 miles; 6 morning, 5 at night. I started the day with a nice run in town with my mom. We did a new route together that was actually really shaded and pleasant. Good times. Then we randomly bought sweatshirts at the old bakery that I worked at for the last 5 summers. No worries that it was like 90 degrees....that's how we roll, spontaneous purchases! Then, I took my mom on a scenic drive home because I wanted to go by the hill I ran up on my 14 miler yesterday because I thought it was sooo hard but I was worried I was just being a pansy. It was decided that I wasn't as my mom said "I want to puke just driving up this hill!" lol.
Then it was driving, driving, driving, downstate.
So in lue of Thursday night running club, my club decided to do a low key cross country race that supports a small, local college. I thought "5K, no big deal." Oye. I forgot how intense XC is- NOTHING like roads. The course was hilly, with rough footing and in ankle deep grass. My 7:30 pace felt harder than my marathon! I survived though, although Mike beat me....we then did some cool down miles before deciding we were too hungry! So, I got my milage in, but it certainly didn't feel like 'recovery!' lol.
That's all from here! More bakery fun tomorrow, (plus running of course) then I get to go downtown on Saturday for work at the market! I love being up north, but I love being here too. Let the good times roll! :)
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
74- 'meh' run and ant attack!
Well, it was bound to happen. After running a marathon Sunday, and having good training runs since, this morning's run was finally a FAIL. On the schedule was a 21 mile day: 14 in the morning, and 7 at night. Unfortunately, between being hot, hungry, and having a huge storm, I slept terribly. And woke up with some stomach issues that lead me to begin my run late and a bit dehydrated.....I picked a new route and didn't know that there was a 2 mile uphill between miles 5-7. I was dying of thirst and my pace was dropping fast when I came into town at mile 9. Even a powerade zero and my 'magic muffin' that I've been eating during longer-ish runs didn't help. Finally pulled myself home, but it was ugly. Ugh.....
Needless to say, I was less than fired up about my 7 miler. Butt, my excitement increased a bit when my mom agreed to pick me up from the beach. I LOVE being able to have a destination and not an out and back or a loop course. I seriously think of it like a treat! Luckily, since I was better hydrated, this run was much better. More even splits averaging 7:52. Goood times. So good to have a 21 mile day under my belt, glad I stuck it out.
On to the second part of my post title....
So I abandoned my powerade bottle and muffin wrapper in the bushes along my route this morning. Sooo, being the good citizen that I am, I drove back tonite to pick it up. I grabbed the wrapper and bottle, dumped them on my passenger seat and drove home. Apparently I'm the most unobservant person on earth because when I got home and picked them off the seat, I realized that there were TONS of ants EVERYWHERE on the wrapper! I seriously screamed, through them out the window, but there were still ants crawling in my car and on my purse! Sooo, I ran inside and grabbed the two quickest 'chemicals' - bug spray and windex! It must have looked pretty comical watching me windex down my entire front seats + purse + wrapper so I could throw it away! Yeah, I freaked out. I still feel like stuff is crawling on me, even though I took off and shook out my clothes. Ewwwww. I'm a dork.
Ok, I'm off to finish baking some muffins. Plus, have a snack so I don't wake up hungry again tonite! Have a good one!
Needless to say, I was less than fired up about my 7 miler. Butt, my excitement increased a bit when my mom agreed to pick me up from the beach. I LOVE being able to have a destination and not an out and back or a loop course. I seriously think of it like a treat! Luckily, since I was better hydrated, this run was much better. More even splits averaging 7:52. Goood times. So good to have a 21 mile day under my belt, glad I stuck it out.
On to the second part of my post title....
So I abandoned my powerade bottle and muffin wrapper in the bushes along my route this morning. Sooo, being the good citizen that I am, I drove back tonite to pick it up. I grabbed the wrapper and bottle, dumped them on my passenger seat and drove home. Apparently I'm the most unobservant person on earth because when I got home and picked them off the seat, I realized that there were TONS of ants EVERYWHERE on the wrapper! I seriously screamed, through them out the window, but there were still ants crawling in my car and on my purse! Sooo, I ran inside and grabbed the two quickest 'chemicals' - bug spray and windex! It must have looked pretty comical watching me windex down my entire front seats + purse + wrapper so I could throw it away! Yeah, I freaked out. I still feel like stuff is crawling on me, even though I took off and shook out my clothes. Ewwwww. I'm a dork.
Ok, I'm off to finish baking some muffins. Plus, have a snack so I don't wake up hungry again tonite! Have a good one!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
75- a "me" day
Do you know when you are asked (during an icebreaker or essay question or something) what your idea of a perfect day is? And most people have some extravagent answer involving being on a tropical island or traveling somewhere exotic or meeting a rockstar or something? Well, mine is none of those. Instead, it would very closely resemble today.
Allow me to explain...
First, sleep. Although sleeping in in the summer is a gamble running-wise in terms of temperature, it was a gamble I took today. I am a person who needs alot of sleep so I took today to 'catch up.' So good. After a relaxed morning, I drove into the 'city' to run. It was a perfectly sunny and hot day- just the way I like it. I ran a new route through the 'city' and around a lake there, resulting in me getting lost and making it an 11 miler, rather than 10 miles at 8:06 pace. The scenery and people watching were great and it was so nice to run somewhere different. Since I parked at the beach (of course) I swam immediately after which felt amazing. As well as getting a huge ass fountain diet coke from the gas station. yup, today I indulged in all my guilty pleasures...
Then, it was on to my favorite organic/hippy/coop cafe for lunch and prep work. Now, let me be clear that doing 'work' isn't necessarily part of my ideal day, however feeling accomplished and getting ready for the school year is a good feeling. More importantly, upon ordering my sandwich for lunch, the cashier informed me that they didn't have their normal hommade gluten free bread, and would have to put in on another kind. This was sad because their bread is so delicious and the sandwich is pricy so I wanted my money's worth! No worries though. Because this was MY day, the sandwich girl obviously was able to read my mind and made me TWO sandwiches, because she said the bread was 'smaller.' Don't even worry about it- I ate them both. TOTALLY got my money's worth!
Prep work + iced coffee + getting hit on my an old man......yeah that was weird.....
And it was off to my favorite market in town for their delicious Turkey Jerky. Mmm hmm, I saved that puppy for tomorrow.....
I decided to take the 'scenic route' back home along the water. It is a beautiful drive- the bay on one side, vineyards and cherry orchards on the other. Along the way, I found a road-side beach park. Since I needed to get in an easy 5 mile evening run, and I am a woman of crazy spontaneity, I pulled into it and changed into running clothes again (new ones, don't worry, I never travel without several running outfits!). I knew the area loosely enough and set out on a loop. I got alittle lost, and ended up running a bit extra, but it was all good. The bad part about running randomly in Northern Michigan is you have no idea about the topography. In this evenings' case, it was a VERY hilly route. I just kept repeating the quote "hills are speedwork in disguise" in my head, and before I knew it I was back at my car with a 7:58 pace to boot! Swim #2 followed, this time with lots of jumping in the waves because no one was around so it was ok to act crazy....who am I kidding, I would have done that nomatter what! Glorious.
Then, I headed home with the windows down! And here I am, reading blogs/blogging. The only thing that would make today more perfect is if I had some frozen yogurt for dinner. Oh wait! I'm going to have that in about 5 minutes! ;) What did I tell you- today was 'my' day!
Ok, that was waaay too long, so here's the recap of my 'perfect day':
- 16 miles of running in two places I dont' usually run
- swimming x2
- 2 sandwiches for the price of one at lunch
- iced coffee and accomplishing prep work
- frozen yogurt to come verrrry soon (+ chillin with my cat!)
Hope everyone's day was as 'ideal' as mine! :)
Allow me to explain...
First, sleep. Although sleeping in in the summer is a gamble running-wise in terms of temperature, it was a gamble I took today. I am a person who needs alot of sleep so I took today to 'catch up.' So good. After a relaxed morning, I drove into the 'city' to run. It was a perfectly sunny and hot day- just the way I like it. I ran a new route through the 'city' and around a lake there, resulting in me getting lost and making it an 11 miler, rather than 10 miles at 8:06 pace. The scenery and people watching were great and it was so nice to run somewhere different. Since I parked at the beach (of course) I swam immediately after which felt amazing. As well as getting a huge ass fountain diet coke from the gas station. yup, today I indulged in all my guilty pleasures...
Then, it was on to my favorite organic/hippy/coop cafe for lunch and prep work. Now, let me be clear that doing 'work' isn't necessarily part of my ideal day, however feeling accomplished and getting ready for the school year is a good feeling. More importantly, upon ordering my sandwich for lunch, the cashier informed me that they didn't have their normal hommade gluten free bread, and would have to put in on another kind. This was sad because their bread is so delicious and the sandwich is pricy so I wanted my money's worth! No worries though. Because this was MY day, the sandwich girl obviously was able to read my mind and made me TWO sandwiches, because she said the bread was 'smaller.' Don't even worry about it- I ate them both. TOTALLY got my money's worth!
Prep work + iced coffee + getting hit on my an old man......yeah that was weird.....
And it was off to my favorite market in town for their delicious Turkey Jerky. Mmm hmm, I saved that puppy for tomorrow.....
I decided to take the 'scenic route' back home along the water. It is a beautiful drive- the bay on one side, vineyards and cherry orchards on the other. Along the way, I found a road-side beach park. Since I needed to get in an easy 5 mile evening run, and I am a woman of crazy spontaneity, I pulled into it and changed into running clothes again (new ones, don't worry, I never travel without several running outfits!). I knew the area loosely enough and set out on a loop. I got alittle lost, and ended up running a bit extra, but it was all good. The bad part about running randomly in Northern Michigan is you have no idea about the topography. In this evenings' case, it was a VERY hilly route. I just kept repeating the quote "hills are speedwork in disguise" in my head, and before I knew it I was back at my car with a 7:58 pace to boot! Swim #2 followed, this time with lots of jumping in the waves because no one was around so it was ok to act crazy....who am I kidding, I would have done that nomatter what! Glorious.
Then, I headed home with the windows down! And here I am, reading blogs/blogging. The only thing that would make today more perfect is if I had some frozen yogurt for dinner. Oh wait! I'm going to have that in about 5 minutes! ;) What did I tell you- today was 'my' day!
Ok, that was waaay too long, so here's the recap of my 'perfect day':
- 16 miles of running in two places I dont' usually run
- swimming x2
- 2 sandwiches for the price of one at lunch
- iced coffee and accomplishing prep work
- frozen yogurt to come verrrry soon (+ chillin with my cat!)
Hope everyone's day was as 'ideal' as mine! :)
Monday, July 26, 2010
76- a summer day that slipped away
Seriously, where did today go?
I feel like it was such a good day, yet it went by sooo fast. Running an easy 6 miler with my mom on our 'hill loop' this morning. Reading outside. Skiing the afternoon away. Falling asleep on the couch with the breeze blowing off the lake. Running 5 miles (partly with my pops). Eating burgers on the deck from our favorite take out place with my pops. And now, watching trashy ABC family shows while blogging. Yep, good day.
In running-related news, let it be noted that I felt NO effects from yesterday's marathon. I say this, knowing that I'm usually the most sore on day #2. But, the fact that I not only ran the day after a marathon (I usually take 2 or 3 days off) but ran 11 miles (6/5 split) was very encouraging. I ate a burger tonite, just in case, to top off my iron stores...lol. So. good. I'm really hoping to still feel good tomorrow and keeping training hard.(er)
I'm also in the middle of "Born to Run" which I admit I didn't like at all at first. It was slow to start for me and I waited to really get going on it. Now, I'm obsessed. I like the story and the stuff in the book. Although I'm not totally convinced on the whole "run barefoot through the mountains for 100 miles at a time" the book does have some good points. And it has made me rethink my own running/style/reasons/form. And, I kind of do want to try running barefoot through a corn field or something when I'm reading it!
Oh! And tomorrow will be glorious! Not only can I FINALLY sleep in after lots of early wakeups, but I have a 'me' day planned. Going into town to run along the bay, swimming immediately after at the beach, my coop for lunch (plus bringing my prep work along...), and getting Turkey Jerky from my favorite market in town. Yessss, good times ahead.
Happy days everyone! :)
I feel like it was such a good day, yet it went by sooo fast. Running an easy 6 miler with my mom on our 'hill loop' this morning. Reading outside. Skiing the afternoon away. Falling asleep on the couch with the breeze blowing off the lake. Running 5 miles (partly with my pops). Eating burgers on the deck from our favorite take out place with my pops. And now, watching trashy ABC family shows while blogging. Yep, good day.
In running-related news, let it be noted that I felt NO effects from yesterday's marathon. I say this, knowing that I'm usually the most sore on day #2. But, the fact that I not only ran the day after a marathon (I usually take 2 or 3 days off) but ran 11 miles (6/5 split) was very encouraging. I ate a burger tonite, just in case, to top off my iron stores...lol. So. good. I'm really hoping to still feel good tomorrow and keeping training hard.(er)
I'm also in the middle of "Born to Run" which I admit I didn't like at all at first. It was slow to start for me and I waited to really get going on it. Now, I'm obsessed. I like the story and the stuff in the book. Although I'm not totally convinced on the whole "run barefoot through the mountains for 100 miles at a time" the book does have some good points. And it has made me rethink my own running/style/reasons/form. And, I kind of do want to try running barefoot through a corn field or something when I'm reading it!
Oh! And tomorrow will be glorious! Not only can I FINALLY sleep in after lots of early wakeups, but I have a 'me' day planned. Going into town to run along the bay, swimming immediately after at the beach, my coop for lunch (plus bringing my prep work along...), and getting Turkey Jerky from my favorite market in town. Yessss, good times ahead.
Happy days everyone! :)
Sunday, July 25, 2010
77- surprise! #9 done and done!
Good afternoon!
Finally up north with some actual in-home internet! Weee!
So I mentioned back after my Bayshore Marathon fail in May and my announcement/decision to run the Chicago Marathon on 10/10/10 that I have run 8 marathons. Anddd, since 10 is my lucky number, I wanted Chicago on 10/10/10 to be my 10th marathon. Do you see where I'm going with this?!? Yep, that's right this morning I completed my 9th marathon in Saginaw, MI at the smallest marathon I have run. And it was glorious.
Allow me to explain. I've been contemplating this marathon for awhile because I knew that I had to get in #9. There were lots of problems with finding a 9th marathon because I had so many restrictions. I have limited $$ so it needed to be drivable from one of my houses and require no hotel stay. I work on Saturdays. I wanted it to be atleast 2 months before Chicago for lots and lots of recovery/training time after. And I wanted it NOT on trails (trail marathons are popular in Michigan.) So this was pretty much the only marathon that fit those criterion. However, I also didn't want to treat it like a marathon. Hense why with the marathon I had about a 100 mile week this week. I wanted to just go out and have fun and treat it like my long run for the week. Today I had a 20 miler scheduled, so I just figured, what is a few more miles between friends? ;)
So, my day began bright and early when I woke up before my alarm at 2:45am. I actually slept really well, but awoke with the race adrenaline pumping! I arrived at the race sight (a high school in the middle of nowhere) a bit before 5am after multiple detours in the dark. Paid my $70 (gulp) for an oversized COTTON t-shirt that doesn't even say 'Marathon' on it because it was a 'festival of races' (ie 5K, 10K, 20K, and 'mini marathon' 8.66 miles) Did my normal pre-race prep stuff in the car, including changing the settings on my Garmin so that I could only see the milage and the elevation. That is how much I didn't even want to be tempted to look at my pace or time. I recently got a pair of Nike Lunarglides (I run in Nike Pegasus and Nike Triax but the running store guy convinced me I would like these). When I put them on before heading to the start they felt AMAZING. Extra cushiony and springy, even though I've wore them for a few runs. That is how I knew it would be a good day. :)
We headed to the start in the near-darkness of 6am. I lined up close to the front because there were no chips or chip start even! The course was 3 loops of 8.7 or so miles. I had stashed some crack (AKA blue powerade zero) and my magic training muffins that I have been eating on long runs, in the bushes next to the road so that I could get them on the loops. And then, we were off.
I saw one woman sprint out ahead, but otherwise it was just men ahead of me. I planned to try things during this race, foremost the idea of NOT going out hard and then dying. But no worries, I felt relaxed from the start. It started to get light, but was still overcast. The loop was very flat and paved, but was windy along the Saginaw River for the first few miles. About mile 3, the woman passed me which was odd because I never passed her. I found out later that she had stopped to use the bathroom. She was pacing with a guy which bothered me because I was basically running in no man's land with no one for the first 14 miles or so. There was also pretty much NO crowd support other than water stations every 2 or so miles. But that was somehow OK. It added to the feeling of relaxing on the run. The first loop felt great. I had no idea how fast I was running but I just felt FREE. I kept waiting to start feeling bad/tired (at Bayshore I felt terrible by 4 miles in) but it never happened. The last mile of the first loop I kept repeating "muff-in, muff-in, muff-in" in my head because I was excited to get to eat one! Not because I was in need of fuel as much as the fact that they are simply delicious!
I got to my muffin bag (thankfully no one had found/disturbed it), chugged a few sips of powerade, and took my muffin 'to-go.' At this point I had caught up to a couple of guys (who am I, actually passing people!?!? I'm the one getting passed always!) I must have looked odd biting the head off of the muffin while making 'mmm' noises. But I couldn't help it! It was so good and I just felt good enjoying the whole experience! Plus, trying to eat a muffin while running made the next mile go by fast! The second loop was great. I was dreading it originally, but I was so excited to get to the last loop that I felt energized. And suddenly, I was at the high school again and ready to start the final lap.
I wasn't feeling the muffin, so I just sucked down ALOT more powerade. I can't believe that I used to do all marathons/training runs with zero fluid. I still believe it is possible, but I think drinking provides a phychological advantage more than anything. I caught up to a group of 3 men about a mile into the last lap. We chatted it up for awhile- they too were training for Chicago and doing this as a training run. I told them my story and asked them not to devolge our pace as I still had no idea how long or fast I was running. It was actually really nice to chat with the one guy. I am a total social runner, hense why I love running with anyone. I am all for the zen "me" time of running to some extent, but I love the comraderie the most. Running the first 2 hours or so in silence with no one made me appreciate talking it up with strangers- even if about stupid things like my 10th on 10-10-10 goal. We were actually from the same town and the guys run at the running shop less than a mile from my apartment. Small world, huh? The one guy said they had planted a cooler in the middle of the loop ~ 4.5 miles to go. He offered me Gatorade when we got there. He also told me at this point that he was pacing the other guy (his friend) for a BQ. Judging by their age, I knew about what pace we were on at that point...
When we arrived at the cooler, I accepted the Gatorade. It had gotten very sunny and hot the last loop and I wanted the mental advantage. He also handed me a panty hose filled with ice (yeah, no joke) and told me to put it on my neck. This was pretty much the most random thing ever, however, I did it and it felt amazing. Him and his friend got alittle ahead of me at this point as I fumbled with the Gatorade and panty hose. Infact, this may have been my slowest mile. But, when I was done with it all I realized I felt GREAT and the last 4 miles would be lovely. I caught them with about 3 to go, yelled thanks, and pressed on. My legs didn't even feel tired.
The finish was anticlimactic. I actually went the wrong way, ie added time/distance as I started on a '4th' loop instead of turning into the high school. The woman from earlier beat me, so I was second place overall. But I didn't care/try to catch her. And the moment you have all been waiting for...
26.27 miles in 3:28:27
So. Happy. Not because this is a PR (10 minutes off of that). But because I did this with little thought/prep and I just ran so FREE. It was so liberating- it felt just like the day I PR-ed and I had *almost* lost hope that I would ever have a run like that again. And my splits (upon looking afterward) were spot-on. 7:56 pace and my miles were 7:40-8:08 which has never happened. This was my second fastest marathon ever and I have not run that fast in the last 2 years and 5 marathons. I guess today just showed me that I CAN do it, as cheezy as it sounds. 11 weeks until Chicago and I am more focused and excited than ever to train. Bring it.
3 hour drive later with my pink compression socks on, lots and lots of food, and I feel great. I was contemplating a few shake out miles, but the lake looks so inviting I may head in for a swim instead. Then, fro yo for dinner tonite. I may go crazy and get a medium! lol. And days ahead of me full of up-north-ness and not working. Yessir, I'm happy.
*disclaimer: I hope that this doesn't sound like I'm tooting my own horn, I'm just really happy with how today went and needed to let it out! I'm a very modest person in real life- honest! I still have a long way to go and a lot of work/learning ahead of me running-wise, but for today all was well.
Finally up north with some actual in-home internet! Weee!
So I mentioned back after my Bayshore Marathon fail in May and my announcement/decision to run the Chicago Marathon on 10/10/10 that I have run 8 marathons. Anddd, since 10 is my lucky number, I wanted Chicago on 10/10/10 to be my 10th marathon. Do you see where I'm going with this?!? Yep, that's right this morning I completed my 9th marathon in Saginaw, MI at the smallest marathon I have run. And it was glorious.
Allow me to explain. I've been contemplating this marathon for awhile because I knew that I had to get in #9. There were lots of problems with finding a 9th marathon because I had so many restrictions. I have limited $$ so it needed to be drivable from one of my houses and require no hotel stay. I work on Saturdays. I wanted it to be atleast 2 months before Chicago for lots and lots of recovery/training time after. And I wanted it NOT on trails (trail marathons are popular in Michigan.) So this was pretty much the only marathon that fit those criterion. However, I also didn't want to treat it like a marathon. Hense why with the marathon I had about a 100 mile week this week. I wanted to just go out and have fun and treat it like my long run for the week. Today I had a 20 miler scheduled, so I just figured, what is a few more miles between friends? ;)
So, my day began bright and early when I woke up before my alarm at 2:45am. I actually slept really well, but awoke with the race adrenaline pumping! I arrived at the race sight (a high school in the middle of nowhere) a bit before 5am after multiple detours in the dark. Paid my $70 (gulp) for an oversized COTTON t-shirt that doesn't even say 'Marathon' on it because it was a 'festival of races' (ie 5K, 10K, 20K, and 'mini marathon' 8.66 miles) Did my normal pre-race prep stuff in the car, including changing the settings on my Garmin so that I could only see the milage and the elevation. That is how much I didn't even want to be tempted to look at my pace or time. I recently got a pair of Nike Lunarglides (I run in Nike Pegasus and Nike Triax but the running store guy convinced me I would like these). When I put them on before heading to the start they felt AMAZING. Extra cushiony and springy, even though I've wore them for a few runs. That is how I knew it would be a good day. :)
We headed to the start in the near-darkness of 6am. I lined up close to the front because there were no chips or chip start even! The course was 3 loops of 8.7 or so miles. I had stashed some crack (AKA blue powerade zero) and my magic training muffins that I have been eating on long runs, in the bushes next to the road so that I could get them on the loops. And then, we were off.
I saw one woman sprint out ahead, but otherwise it was just men ahead of me. I planned to try things during this race, foremost the idea of NOT going out hard and then dying. But no worries, I felt relaxed from the start. It started to get light, but was still overcast. The loop was very flat and paved, but was windy along the Saginaw River for the first few miles. About mile 3, the woman passed me which was odd because I never passed her. I found out later that she had stopped to use the bathroom. She was pacing with a guy which bothered me because I was basically running in no man's land with no one for the first 14 miles or so. There was also pretty much NO crowd support other than water stations every 2 or so miles. But that was somehow OK. It added to the feeling of relaxing on the run. The first loop felt great. I had no idea how fast I was running but I just felt FREE. I kept waiting to start feeling bad/tired (at Bayshore I felt terrible by 4 miles in) but it never happened. The last mile of the first loop I kept repeating "muff-in, muff-in, muff-in" in my head because I was excited to get to eat one! Not because I was in need of fuel as much as the fact that they are simply delicious!
I got to my muffin bag (thankfully no one had found/disturbed it), chugged a few sips of powerade, and took my muffin 'to-go.' At this point I had caught up to a couple of guys (who am I, actually passing people!?!? I'm the one getting passed always!) I must have looked odd biting the head off of the muffin while making 'mmm' noises. But I couldn't help it! It was so good and I just felt good enjoying the whole experience! Plus, trying to eat a muffin while running made the next mile go by fast! The second loop was great. I was dreading it originally, but I was so excited to get to the last loop that I felt energized. And suddenly, I was at the high school again and ready to start the final lap.
I wasn't feeling the muffin, so I just sucked down ALOT more powerade. I can't believe that I used to do all marathons/training runs with zero fluid. I still believe it is possible, but I think drinking provides a phychological advantage more than anything. I caught up to a group of 3 men about a mile into the last lap. We chatted it up for awhile- they too were training for Chicago and doing this as a training run. I told them my story and asked them not to devolge our pace as I still had no idea how long or fast I was running. It was actually really nice to chat with the one guy. I am a total social runner, hense why I love running with anyone. I am all for the zen "me" time of running to some extent, but I love the comraderie the most. Running the first 2 hours or so in silence with no one made me appreciate talking it up with strangers- even if about stupid things like my 10th on 10-10-10 goal. We were actually from the same town and the guys run at the running shop less than a mile from my apartment. Small world, huh? The one guy said they had planted a cooler in the middle of the loop ~ 4.5 miles to go. He offered me Gatorade when we got there. He also told me at this point that he was pacing the other guy (his friend) for a BQ. Judging by their age, I knew about what pace we were on at that point...
When we arrived at the cooler, I accepted the Gatorade. It had gotten very sunny and hot the last loop and I wanted the mental advantage. He also handed me a panty hose filled with ice (yeah, no joke) and told me to put it on my neck. This was pretty much the most random thing ever, however, I did it and it felt amazing. Him and his friend got alittle ahead of me at this point as I fumbled with the Gatorade and panty hose. Infact, this may have been my slowest mile. But, when I was done with it all I realized I felt GREAT and the last 4 miles would be lovely. I caught them with about 3 to go, yelled thanks, and pressed on. My legs didn't even feel tired.
The finish was anticlimactic. I actually went the wrong way, ie added time/distance as I started on a '4th' loop instead of turning into the high school. The woman from earlier beat me, so I was second place overall. But I didn't care/try to catch her. And the moment you have all been waiting for...
26.27 miles in 3:28:27
So. Happy. Not because this is a PR (10 minutes off of that). But because I did this with little thought/prep and I just ran so FREE. It was so liberating- it felt just like the day I PR-ed and I had *almost* lost hope that I would ever have a run like that again. And my splits (upon looking afterward) were spot-on. 7:56 pace and my miles were 7:40-8:08 which has never happened. This was my second fastest marathon ever and I have not run that fast in the last 2 years and 5 marathons. I guess today just showed me that I CAN do it, as cheezy as it sounds. 11 weeks until Chicago and I am more focused and excited than ever to train. Bring it.
3 hour drive later with my pink compression socks on, lots and lots of food, and I feel great. I was contemplating a few shake out miles, but the lake looks so inviting I may head in for a swim instead. Then, fro yo for dinner tonite. I may go crazy and get a medium! lol. And days ahead of me full of up-north-ness and not working. Yessir, I'm happy.
*disclaimer: I hope that this doesn't sound like I'm tooting my own horn, I'm just really happy with how today went and needed to let it out! I'm a very modest person in real life- honest! I still have a long way to go and a lot of work/learning ahead of me running-wise, but for today all was well.
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