Tight

I ran 30 minutes tonight on a beautiful evening. My hamstrings are TIGHT!! No...not because of my hard run on Wednesday. Surprisingly I wasn't sore from that rough run. I'm sore because of what I did last night. One of my goals for this week was to pull some weeds. So I bent over and yanked really stubborn weeds out of the really dry soil for about an hour last night and my arms and hamstrings are sore! and I thought I was in shape!

The goal for Saturday's run is to start very early and get it over with. The goal for tomorrow is 19 miles. Craig is making his chicken parmesan for dinner to prep for the run. The track Olympics are on. Hopefully I'll get inspired for tomorrow!

un-fun-run

So I don't know how to start...I just ran 4 miles at a 8:43 pace and it wasn't fun. The goal was to run 10-15 seconds faster than race pace (9 minute miles.) During my run I really started to question if I should change my goal of running a 4 hour marathon to a slower pace. If I feel that bad for 4 miles, how can I run 26.2 miles at that pace? Next Wednesday I run 6 miles at the same pace, so I guess I will re-evaluate at that time. I will also make sure that I run in the morning (tonight was a little warm) and make sure I use some energy gel in my water.

Btw - yesterday was 2 months till the marathon!!!

Great weather

Today was a beautiful day! I'm calling it "allergies," but my throat and nose kept me awake some last night. So I didn't make it out of bed this morning. Fortunately, it was beautiful enough after work today to run this evening! It feels like fall. I pray that we have this weather on October 12th! Craig rode around with me for a 40 minute run.

Short Run

First of all...2 more donations to the American Cancer Society! THANK YOU!

I knew this Saturday was a shorter run and I guess I forgot to give the run the respect it deserved. Mistakes: 1.) I didn't eat dinner Friday night. I was really busy with finishing up a class and just forgot about it. So my body wasn't fueled up with the energy it needed. 2.) I didn't get up as early as I should have, but the weather actually was pretty mild. 3.) I didn't use any carb gel in my water. I thought, "Oh its just 10 miles, I don't need it." After all, I never used it when I trained for the half marathons. But because I didn't have dinner last night, I'm sure anything besides plain water would have helped.

It wasn't any certain part of my body that hurt, it was just an overall tiredness and lack of energy. My throat started getting sore last night and I'm hoping that it doesn't get any worse. My boss was sick all week - coughing and hacking, so hopefully I'm not getting what he had.


Side note: Opening ceremonies for the Olympics were amazing!

Count your blessings

The humidity broke and it was a beautiful morning for a run. My left calf was pretty tight, but it loosened up and felt better as I ran. I always get nervous that I will have an injury or set back that won't let me train. I am grateful for my health.

I have a co-worker whose husband, Warren, is battling cancer. They have a blog set up to make family and friends aware of their prayer needs. Here is an brief idea of what he is going through:

"For now you can pray for some struggles that have surfaced since my marker has risen. I have very labored breathing. The simplest task can tax my breathing. Now how am I supposed to keep up with the little boy in this condition? I also have pain in my side (the liver). If I over do it I'll become very uncomfortable and it takes some pain medicine and a lot of rest to get past it. Spencer thinks it's his superior boxing skills that causes the pain. I can't have him growing up believing this. Also, today I stayed home from work because of all of this and then some. I found it hard to keep my food down today. This could be a passing thing for today or something I'll have to deal with in the days to come until we figure out our new course of action. Pray for these things to subside so I can continue to function."

Wow! I can't imagine what he is going through. (Spencer is their youngest son of 3 children.) I can only pray that Warren maintains hope as cancer research progresses and methods of treatment are discovered.

1/2 way

The weekend really wore me out so I made some modifications to my training this week. Translation: Mainly I was lazy this week and busy in the evenings, so my training for Monday (40 minute run) and today- Wednesday (16 x 400 at 2 min pace with 2 min rest) got combined. I ran to and from the track where I completed the 400s. This is the last week for 400s and the last week of the "endurance" part of my training. Week 9, I start the "stamina" phase. Not a lot changes except for the Wednesday run where I will run consecutive miles at a pace that is about 10-15 seconds faster than race pace. I'm excited to be half through training!

A scary incident happened this week about 3 blocks from our house. It is really startling to realize how meth affects people and how this situation could have ended much worse.

On a lighter note, my dad emailed the Commercial Newspaper in Danville, IL and made them aware of the cause that I am running for. They ran a story this week and I think it turned out very well. I'm really hoping it creates some more donations!

17 Miles

Based on the previous 2 weeks experience during the long runs, we got up very early to try to beat the heat on Saturday. We headed to Heritage Trail again this week and started the run around 5:30. We got about 500 feet down the trail before I was gripping Craig's bicep and whining! It was pitch black and I was scared! Once we got on the trail and inside the trees it was just way too dark to see to run. Craig had a flashlight, but it didn't illuminate much of the trail. So we turned around and hung out in the car until the sun starting coming up around 6:15.

I had a lot of doubt hanging out in the back of my mind before I started the run. 17 miles just seemed...not impossible, but...very long! We ran the full length of the trail - 5.8 miles and then added almost 2 more miles running around ISU's campus. There were several areas in the shade with a cool breeze that made the run really enjoyable. By the time we were running back by Rose Hulman there was a lot of fans eagerly waiting for the Colts, but we didn't get to see any players this week. When we got back to where we started, I still had another 2 miles. When my watch said 17 miles, I started walking - I could hardly walk straight!

I used my fuel belt for the first time. It has 4 bottles that hold 8 oz each. I used a carb gel diluted in the bottles. I liked it pretty well, but the bottles must have hit my hip bones because they are sore today. My heart rate monitor also rubbed a spot raw. There are certain issues that arise when your body is in constant motion for 3 hours! I am slightly sore today, mainly in my legs, but also a little bit everywhere.