48- and so it begins...

Short and sweet tonite, because honestly I'm just not feeling it...

First day back at work today.  No students, just professional development.  Honestly, it was good.  It felt good to run, get cleaned up, put on a nice outfit, "do my hair" ie not ponytail it, and drive on the freeway for 45 minutes with my cup of coffee to my 'real job.'  Not that I don't love the bakery.  It just makes me feel more legit to be a teacher.  Is that bad?  Plus, I just roll out of bed in my sweats and go there.  It felt kind of good to actually care about my appearence.  Although the day itself was fairly boring it was nice to see everyone again and catch up.  I don't have any close teacher friends at my school, mostly because I'm so young/single/am SO different than them, but I do have a few acquaitences that were nice to see.  Plus, we basically just sat there all day which I didn't mind because both my jobs (ie bakery and actually teaching) are so active.  It was nice just to stare at the speakers for a few hours.....which is good because it will all be happening again tomorrow.  Plus, I got my pic taken for the staff board and it looked really good! :)  Just sayin.....

So how about running? Yeah, I'm honestly really not feeling it.  This morning was another pre-dawn run because I had to be at school at 8:30.  I ran 'fast' for pre-dawn, 6 miles at 8:17 pace.  I usually never break 8:30 pace because it is so early, I haven't eaten, and it is pitch dark.  So that was nice.  The last thing I wanted to do was run again when I got home at 4:30 though.  I really had to push myself out the door.  Plus, my stomach was killing me and it was windy and humid.  I did my 'country' 6 mile route where upon I saw 5 road kills in the first 2 miles.  Nice.  My Garmin died at mile 6, but I think it was about a 7:52 pace.  It felt hard the whole time because mentally I wasn't there.  I don't know what is going on lately with my running.  But it needs to stop.  Any advice out there? 

Atleast 12 miles of recovery is in the books for today.  I got alot of my stuff organized tonite too at my apartment since I still hadn't unpacked from the time up north.  So that is good.  I'm off to bed soon so I can do it all over again tomorrow....

49-finallllly blog time!

Oh man, it has been a whirlwind of a few days.  Between working and running and trying to get my life in order (fail) I have had zero time.  I hate to backtrack with life, so I'll try to make it quick....

Friday, I had to work 6-1.  I decided to do both of my 'recovery' runs after work.  The first at 1pm was terrible.  It was so hot and after about 2 miles, my legs died.  It was only supposed to be 6 miles, but I did 8 because that is my loop from the bakery. 8:16 pace felt like torture!  I seriously had to stop at 7.5 miles and debated if I could run a half mile!  Ugh.  Not good.  Later that night, I stopped on my way home at a popular park and ran 6 miles.  It was cooler and fairly scenic, so it wasn't quite as bad.  8:09 pace, which was fine for recovery.  Saturday was rough with everything from start to finish.  As much as I love working at the market, it is a 4:45am-5pm day that forces me to run later when I'm exhausted.   And have a long run to do the next morning.  Yeah, not ideal.

So today.  Long run.  I actually did something I haven't done alllll summer- I got up early to do a long run.  My running friends were running a race at 8:00am in a neighboring town and I haven't seen them in forever (especially Mike, who I train with), so I decided to run there.  I left my alarm set for 3:50am from yesterday, and got up then and was out the door at 4:50ish (I need time to eat a muffin and drink 1000x coffee).  The race was exactly 10 miles from my house, so I first decided to do a 10 mile loop back to my apartment to change my shirt and drink, then run to the race.  My normal 10 mile loop is out in the country (no lights) so I did a new-ish loop into downtown and campus, then back out.  It was pitch black the entire time which wasn't too bad because when the run came out about .5miles into the second loop it felt like I was just starting!  Despite the fact that I was wearing my ipod but never turned it on (security blanket) and that I was running crazy slow, the first loop went by fast.  I took about 2 minutes to pound some crack..aka blue powerade zero and change my shirt, and was off again.  The next 10 miles felt decent too, although even with the sun up my pace was slow.  My legs didn't feel tired at all until the last 2 miles which I think is just because I wanted to be done!  And, knowing that I didn't have to run back was nice!

I got to the race and couldn't find any of my friends, including Mike!  I had a momentary freakout because I didn't bring my phone (or anything) and I was 10 miles from home and as much as I love running, my legs were in no mood to make it a 30 mile day!  I did find them eventually and got to watch and catch up with Mike, which was good.  And, he drove me home. :)  It was pretty insane to be done with a 20 miler before 8am.  Insane in a good way.  After standing around for forever in a soaking shirt, I was freezing and so I immediately got in a hot shower, ate the world's most delicious peach, and passed out in bed for 2 hours.  And woke up starving.  Yeah, post-run sleep trumped post-run eats today. 

So now I'm busy trying to get my life in order.  Tomorrow is D-day.  Back to teaching full-time.  Meetings M-W, then students come on Thursday.  Even though it is a law in Michigan that school can't start until after Labor Day (to promote tourism), we are so lucky that we are a private school as is above the law......Plus, we get like 1000 random holidays off, so I can't complain.  I'm ready to get going.  My life will just have to get in order piece-meal. 

Here we go........

50- tomorrowwww

is when regular blogging will resume.  For now, it is 7:30pm, and i'm going to bed....

51- too tired...

...to blog.  Got in 14 miles today around work and such.  They were bad, again.  Blahh...I'm exhausted and I gotta do the market starting pre - 5am.  Perhaps some details tomorrow.....

52- home again

Well, I did it.  I'm back home in my apartment with a mountain of cleaning and unpacking to do.  Living out of a clothes basket at 2 houses all summer has left my apartment in shambles so I'm anxious to get it all sorted out!  Too bad I have to work the next two days....

Running wise, it was not so great of a day.  I got up EARLY to do my mid-long run of 15 miles up north, only to find there was storming and horizontal rain happening with huge winds.  Boo.  I waited it out as long as I could, but by the time I got out there, I knew I would only have time for 10.  Which worked out because the 10 miles felt like 15..lol.  My legs would not fire and were sooo tired. (hey, that rhymes!)  Plus, I was super hungry before I started, and even though I ate something I was hungry by 4 miles in and stayed that way the whole time.  By the last mile, I seriously felt like I was walking and felt hungry, thirsty, and zapped of all energy.  My pace ended up being in the 8:40s which didn't make me too happy.  Plus, I was looking forward to only having one run today, but now I knew I still had to get in 5 more miles....

Fast-forward my drive, unloading and it was 4pm.  And 90 degrees.  So I headed out.  It felt good to be on my old streets again, as the routes up north were kind of getting old.  I did my five mile loop which felt equally terrible as this morning.  Atleast I managed a 7:58 pace.  I rushed over to the Farmer's Market before it closed so that I could stock up.  The reason I had to be back here was my dad was in town with business and he was stopping by to help me with some stuff around my apartment.  Because I'm 24 and am not currently seeing anyone, I need to still rely on my dad for stuff-that-you-need-a-guy-to-help-you-with.  Plus, I got to see him. :)  Anddd, once we got done with everything and it was 8pm, and my dad just so happened to have running clothes with him, we did a quick shake out 2 miler.  I can never turn down an extra run, especially not with my Pops!  Surprisingly, my legs felt the best on this run, even though it rounded out 17 miles for the day.  I'm looking forward to a couple days of low-ish milage now before my Sunday long run.  I kind of shuffled my days this week in my training schedule so that I could get the milage early in the week and have less to squeeze in on my early work days.  My legs are paying for it though....

Off to read and set the alarm for 4:45am...ugh....

53- crazy busy + 18 miles

Whew!  I'm just sitting down at almost 10pm to blog- today has been crazy busy.  I'm leaving tomorrow to OFFICIALLY go home from up north, and will probably not be back for a very long time (besides maybe a day or two at Labor Day if I can sneak up between jobs)  Between shucking and poaching a boat load of corn to freeze (Michigan sweet corn is almost done :( cleaning the entire house and running errands for my parents so that things are good here when they come back, packing up all my crap, and of course running- I have been going all day!  It will make my morning tomorrow easier though, because stuff will be ready to go and cleaned up so all I have to do is run, shut the house down, and get on the road.  I am so sad about leaving and summer ending that I can't really bear to dwell on it right now.  I just need to move on......

So about running.  Yeah, not so hot today.  I think that although it has been fun to do my evening runs faster and I pretty much like just going with the flow pace-wise, I am not really using them to their full purpose- ie: recovery.  ie: 8:30-8:45 pace, not 7:25-7:40 pace as they have been.  This morning, I think that they caught up to me.  I did 12 miles with 1x2mile repeat at 7:13 pace.  I wanted to do a second repeat, but honestly, I was 6 miles into the run and my legs were dead.  I kept stopping and trying to stretch them, but nothing.  It turned out to still be a decent run- 8:06 pace overall, with the last mile at 7:42.  Just not a great workout.  Tonite, I did another 6 miler in another small town because I had to do an errand there anyway.  Pretty effortless run, at 7:55 pace with the last mile at 7:30.  I'm glad that I'm atleast doing better/working hard to negative split because that is a huge weakness of mine.  And sub-8s are feeling nice and comfortable up here where it is hilly and everything.  All in all, a decent 18 mile day, but not a great one. 

Ok, I gotta finish this cleaning up so I can get to bed!  Friday my life of 2 jobs, 6 day workweeks, and 14 hour days begin.....I miss up north already and I haven't even left!

54- PSA

My PSA tonite is this: do not go to Border's and Target for 'quick errands' before your evening run.  Those two stores are total time sucks, and you will be in them for twice as long as expected.  Especially if you are easily distracted like me.  Allow me to explain...

After a lovely morning/early afternoon consisting of a nice windy 10 mile run (8:01 pace, not bad) and prep work (half way done with Physics planning, woo hoo!) I decided to go into the 'city' to do some errands and my second run there.  I went to Border's for one book (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle) and came out about 30 minutes later and with 2 books and a magazine.  I just start wandering and looking at books and before I know it, time has flown by!  Then, I went across to Target to get JUST a cooler.  My current cooler isn't very sturdy and is old and gross so I wanted to get a new one before the year starts.  Let me tell you, I don't understand how people operate with just lunch boxes or bags.  I need a serious family sized cooler to carry all my food.  I feel silly, but I've decided this is because:
a) I am a tree hugger and pack everything in reusable containers which take up more room than plastic baggies
b) I am OCD and hate packing stuff already assembled (ie salads/sandwiches get too soggy, so I like to pack the components seperately and put together before eating
c) I am gone sometimes for 14 hours from my apartment so there is atleast 2 meals and 2 snack to pack
d) I'm a runner.  I run around 100 miles a week right now.  I'm hungry alot.  I eat alot.  Duh.
Sooo, in the end, I found a decent cooler to help with the forementioned points.  Unfortunately, I also got distracted by the school supplies section.  Yeah, I'm kind of obsessed with school supplies.  The best part about being a teacher, is that I still have a reason to buy them! 
At this point it was well after 5pm.  I pulled into a road side park at the opposite end of town, but honestly I wasn't feeling running from there.  So, I just started driving and I realized that a neighboring small town that I had never run in was only 10 miles away.  And I knew the drive was pretty.  (think lots of rolling hills full of cherry orchards with Lake Michigan on the side).  So I went.  If you are a reader, you know by now I'm pretty random and spontaneous with my running.

I love the small towns up here, because they are so proud of their sports' teams.  Pulling into town, there was a sign that said "Elk Rapids:  Home of the 1997-98 Class 4 Soccer State Champs".  Lol.  Over 10 years old, and their still proud!  That was actually a fairly recent sign- I've seen one's in towns that date back to the 80s!  Crowning glory I tell ya...

So, I pulled into a marina and was off.  I was stiff at first, so I decided just to chill out.  I have a good knack for finding my way through towns and making loops even when I don't know the streets.  This route was a good one- through the downtown area, along the water, along the main road, and back through downtown.  It felt nice and chill, my stiff legs loosened up and I felt good by the end.  I felt even better when I got done and and saw I had hit 7:39 pace on an easy feeling run! :)  And, my first mile was 8:04 and the splits pretty much were negative from there, with the last two miles at 7:28 and 6:57!! respectively.  Happy days.  Then, I proceded to find this cool little secluded part of the beach where a river hit lake Michigan that was perfect for a swim.  And I had it all to myself!

At this point it was late and I had to high-tail it back to town to go to my favorite hippy coop one last time to pick up some things.  They were almost closed, but I grabbed the essentials and was off.  I am usually a BYO-bag girl (yay tree hugging) but I forgot today.  This is the type of place that gives you the stink eye for that!  The bagger packed all my groceries in one bulging paper bag.  Now, I'm all about saving the earth, but I'm not all about my $100000/lb organic grapes getting mushed, thank you.....

Since it was well past dinner time, my only option was to get Fro Yo again...obviously.  Which I am going to eat in about 4seconds.  I keep telling myself that I need to stop eating it for dinner every night, but it turns into 'starting tomorrow.'  Honestly, I eat really healthy/whole foods other than that, but something about settling in on the couch with fro yo.....comfort in a cup!

Ok, I'm off!  I can rest easy after a productive day, including 16 miles total that averaged well below 8min pace.  I feel fortunate tonite! :)