Three Glorious Things Thursday

1. Tonight's scheduled run?? 14x400. Wheeee!

2. These are delicious. You need to try them. No, really.

3. SO MUCH HAIR!!

But really. What do I do with it?!

Wednesday, heart attack

Before I ever ran, I hiked. There are a network of trails really close to me, that connect to TONS of great places. But with running (or eating...) taking up all of my waking hours always, I never get around to hiking. Trail running seems like it might be a good compromise, but I don't want to do my long runs on trails, and I also don't want to get eaten by a mountain lion in the evenings on my mid-week runs. I know, I'm so needy.

But, two glorious things happened to converge this week: it's staying light out longer, and my mid-week runs are long enough to justify finding a trail. I carefully plotted a route that runs from my local bike trail, to some dirt trail, some single track, and back. It was going to be amaaaazing.

The goal.....

Except that I took a wrong turn somewhere, and I'm not even sure where I missed the turn off to the single track I was hunting for.

Oh well.

It was a good run anyway - plenty of dirt, plenty of hills, plenty of power-hiking up. Hills are hard. Sandy hills are REALLY hard. Dowhills are fun (I'm not joking, for about a mile downhill every single time I glanced at my garmin {a lot} I was sub 7:30, which is stupid fast for me. SO FUN to run fast downhill). I managed to route myself for the last mile to the exact scene of the Spectacular Meltdown at mile 8 of PCRF last May.... and clocked my fastest split of the night at 9:50 (SO FAST... for me on an easy run).

Take THAT, Jeffrey overpass.

8 miles, 1:29:54, which includes stop lights (getting to the trails), stopping to remember how to breathe running uphills, stopping to check my map to see where the hell I ended up.... I told The H 1:30, so. Bam. I wanted to keep it under 12 min pace, considering the hills, so SUCCESS. (Phawk, how creepy are my skeletal hands?!)

Anyway. It was hard. It was fun. It was so pretty. I love the trails. I need to work on hills. I'll do this again next week. It's fascinating to me that all this open space is SO close to me. It never occurred to me that I could.... run there. These trails connect to some of my favorite hiking trails, so... someday, maybe.

**************************************************************

I went to conditioning class this morning. And we replaced pushups, apparently, with wall squats.

Holy HELL, do you know what's hard to do with tired legs?? Fucking wall squats.

Dying.

The end.

Plan for the Week....

Last week:
Monday: 7 crappy miles
Wednesday: Conditioning class, 800's! 1 mi warm up, 6x800 @ 4:40 (9:20 pace), cool down to 7 miles total. Actual: 1.1 warm up, 4:25, 4:27, 4:28, 4:28, 4:28, 4:13, 1.4 cool down
Saturday: 16 miles. Did you see that? SIXTEEN MILES. Finished dead on 3 hours. Felt FANTASTIC.

And that includes the final 8 miles with PCRF on this ridiculous route.

Damn. I cut off the elevation notes on the left. But, it was 400 feet, in about a mile. Not anything CRAZY. But it was fairly hard for a mile.

For my records, so I remember what worked for me: Honey stinger waffle 30 minutes before. GU at 5 miles. Half Clif bar at 8 miles (while meeting up with PCRF group, so I had a few minutes of a break in between). Clif shot at 12 miles. Nuun.

I've got time to keep experimenting. The idea of downing nothing but GU for 5 hours does not really appeal to me. So, in the meantime, I'm playing around to see what works, and what doesn't.

Plan for this week:
Tuesday: 8 miles easy
Wednesday: Conditioning, maybe a yoga class?
Thursday: Speeeed work, 8 miles
Saturday: 18 miles. EIGHTEEN.

****************************************************
I got something Saturday.

They're so pretty. They're so bright. They're so RED.

I tested them on a quick jog yesterday, and they are like MAGIC.

Also, I'm dressed in compression socks AND tights. You know. Because it was breezy and 58* here when I went out. What you can't see is the long sleeve shirt and jacket.

Shut it, I know.

And then I downed a container of strawberries, pretty much in one sitting.

Three Things Thursday

1. 6x800's last night. I loathe 800's. My warm up mile took me over 13 minutes. I'm not exaggerating when I say it sucked. But then the 800's happened, and I told my legs to just go, and... they did. Shocking. 1 mi warm up, 6x800 @ 4:40 (9:20 pace), cool down to 7 miles total. Actual: 1.1 warm up, 4:25, 4:27, 4:28, 4:28, 4:28, 4:13, 1.4 cool down. So, that was done.

2. Tonight we're going to Kindergarten Round Up for Gabby. I have no idea what this is. I have to go alone - kids not allowed (bah), and The H is working. I hope it's not as terrible as the Mother Daughter Tea Party that I attended Tuesday, wherein we discussed #2 and the Bridge to Puberty. Has anyone taken their daughter on a weekend trip to celebrate crossing the Bridge to Puberty? Anyone?

3. #1 ran a timed mile in PE. As you all know, she's pretty much a natural talent at this running nonsense. She's placed every 5k she's run.

I know.

Anyway. 6:19 mile. You know. No big deal.

Wordless Wednesday

Run Monday, 7 miles, crappy, thought about quitting for the first 4 miles, then ran faster to get done faster the last 3. No part of this was good. Except that it was over. 1:18:55, 11:16 pace. Conditioning class this morning, Coach D traded jump ropes for burpees. Eff that madness. Of course I'll be back next week. Self loathing or something.

Everyone has a special talent.

PR's all OVER the place. PFTW.

Last week:
Wednesday: Crappy 4.5 miles, crappy conditioning class

Thursday: Hill repeats (which, btw, wreaked havoc on my glutes the day after that conditioning class. I STILL felt them Saturday morning!), followed by shoulda-been-4-miles-but-was-actually-6.7 miles, total of 9.7 for the day

Saturday: Hey! I ran 14 miles <-- that's a mileage PR!! And I didn't die, and it wasn't terrible. The last few miles pretty much sucked - the weather went downhill pretty fast, and the last 2 miles were into strong wind, and some light rain. And on a slight up hill. It was SHOCKINGLY less terrible than I thought it would be. 14.14 miles, 2:41:33, 11:25 avg pace. This is a faster pace than my crappy Wednesday run. I'm not even joking. I wasn't exaggerating about awful.

Sunday: 20 minutes cycling, 5.5 miles walking on the treadmill watching the LA Marathon, with it's super beautiful, perfect weather. Cannot WAIT to run this next year!

That put me at 28.36 RUNNING miles for the week. <--That's a WEEKLY mileage PR!!

This week....

Monday: 7 miles easy

Tuesday: Mother/Daughter tea and pajama party to discuss #2 and her changing body with her a few dozen of her closest 5th grade friends, and their mothers. I wish I were joking.

Wednesday: Conditioning class (apparently we're dropping jump rope {yay!} but incorporating burpees {boooooo!}. 7 miles, 6x800.

Thursday: Kindergarten round up for Gabby!

Friday: 4-5 easy

Saturday: dun dun DUN 16 miles

Sunday: sleep, eat all the things

********************************************************

Last week, The H registered Gabby for kindergarten. When she was diagnosed with leukemia last year, we had to pull her out of her beloved pre-school. Her teachers came to visit her once, and brought some cards and balloons that her classmates collected, and Gabby still talks about them. She has been itching to get back to school, so this is pretty much the biggest deal EVER for her. Exciting times here.

Even when a donut leaves glaze all over her everything

*********************************************************

After my 14 miles Saturday (14 miles!), I promised #2 I'd take her to the mall to meet up with her friends.

I forgot how... giggly that age is, surrounded by MORE of that age. Holy crow.

Refueled on the way....

Delicious.

My quads are piiiiiiiiiisssssed. Happy Friday

Hill repeats, turns out? HARD. And awesome.

When I got my schedule for the week, and it called for hill repeats, it was very vague. 10 repeats, sprint up 60-90 seconds, jog down. What does that mean? What's a hill? What pace? I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO I NEED FINITE NUMBERS ARGH.

As I do, I overthunk it, and spent too much time trying to make this perfect.

I spent daaaays on mapmyrun finding the Perfect Hill equivalent to a treadmill at level 6-10%.

PROBLEM 1

I don't know what that means. I cannot judge things based on effort. My brain doesn't work that way, I need numbers. Everything that isn't flat is either waaaah hill or wheeeeee downhill. There is no "based on effort" in there.

But I'm searching, searching searching. Plotting, plotting plotting. And then, like magic, my friend Snork mentions that she ran a really hilly route with a friend of hers, and that she hated it, and it was in an area I had considered, but I didn't know the area OR anyone who lived there, so I nixed it.

And hence was born the plan to make her watch me run hill sprints, followed by 4 easy miles.

Since (see above) I don't really even know what 6-10% treadmill effort means, I picked what looked to be a reasonable hill, and planted my friend and my Nuun there. Ran a quick mile warm up on a slightly uphill section (this is considered foreshadowing), then got to work.

60 second sprints up, walk/jog down, repeat ten times.

When I asked about pace, I was told "equivalent to 10K effort, but will probably be slower".

PROBLEM 2

I don't have any gauge for pace effort. Everything faster than slow feels like I will die while I'm doing it, and the second I stop I feel like it was amazing and I could do it forever. It's like amnesia. I don't know how to gauge this. I NEED NUMBERS.

Paces: 8:05, 8:32, 8:56, 9:29: 9:49, 10:24, 10:25, 10:07, 10:21, 10:51

I know. I don't even know what to say. I suck at pacing? I mean, I figured it out after awhile, same as when I did 400's outside for the first time. But holy hell, those first few wrecked me. I thought FOR SURE I would be quitting after 4. Then 5. Then 7. And then I did them all. Shocked.

Jogged over to meet my friend and her friend (and her freaking cute chubby baby!). Her friend led us on what was supposed to be a 4 mile loop.

PROBLEM 3

Except that it was, like, 6.7.

And hilly. Apparently, Snork's friend has a strategy - get lost, and then run farther than you intended. Noted, for next time.

And so, I ended the 7 miles with hill repeats at 9.72 miles with hill repeats.

PROBLEM 4

And those hill repeats on a 6-10% grade?

They were on this.

Which, phawk, no WONDER I thought I was dying.

When I got home and saw that, out of curiosity, I plotted out my warm up route, and hey, guess what. That sucker was 6-8% grade for it's entirety. Good.to.know. (PS, my warm up mile was 10:31, what?!)

This is the entirety of our run...

Considering I never, ever, ever run hills, I was super pleased that I didn't feel weak or like I slowed down on the uphills. Phew. Um, also, my last mile was sub 10. Boom.

So, fine, hill repeats. FINE. I guess I don't hate you as much as I thought I would. Well, I did, while they were happening, but now I suppose I will forgive you.

So all of this, plus the conditioning class the morning before = me stumbling around with pissed quads.

But with 9.72 hilly miles done, and feeling strong. So I guess it balances out.

I guess the trick is to almost swear off running and declare yourself the whiniest runner ever. Running is a tricky critter that way.

********************************************************

Gabby learned this week that sadly, FroYo does not keep well.

I know. I'd cry too.

****************************************************************************

I've got big plans to plant my ass on the bike trainer Sunday morning and watch the (hopefully not rainy) LA Marathon this weekend. You know you're a runner when.....

Good luck to my friends running, LA and DC!

On turning corners, and being a little bitch

My long run last weekend was THE BEST RUN EVER. I felt good. I felt strong. I felt like I could have gone further, faster. I was not at ALL achy the next day. It was full of magic, and rainbows, and puppies.

I was composing blog posts in my head during miles 8-12 about maybe, finally, feeling like a runner.

I mean, I know I RUN. I know I run at races, and collect shiny medals. I felt like I finally had a pretty legit 10K time a few weeks ago. But, I don't know, it just felt like... maybe I was just a "jogger". Gasp, I know. I know. I say that kind of facetiously, but it seemed like I was running, but not a runner.

Until Saturday, when I was breezing through 12 magical miles like it was nothing. THEN, it was like I turned a corner.

Suddenly, I was a runner. Not just playing at running. A for real, actual runner.

And then I woke up Tuesday, and felt like a slug. I let myself skip my Tuesday easy 7 miles. I justified this, saying I'd make it up in the morning, before the conditioning class. I'm already getting up at 5, how bad could 4 be?

Turns out, it is REALLY, REALLY BAD.

I got out of bed with plenty of time to do 7. And then I putzed around being lazy.

I left the house with enough time to do 6. And I got to the gym, and sat in my car blasting the heater, and sitting in quiet.

I got in the gym with enough time to do 5. And then I started, and it was terrible. I slugged through 2.5 miles, with walk breaks (WALK BREAKS!). I glanced at the clock, and realized if I ran 10:30 pace I could finish with 5 miles. So I ran.

And then I stopped at 4.25, and walked .25 to cool down.

LAME.

And THEN, I went to conditioning class, and was generally a bitter, mean bitch to very nice people.

Sorry about that, nice people.

I don't know WHAT my funk is, but it's annoying even ME, so I can't imagine being The H right now.

I've spent the last 36 hours pondering WHY I would think I could run 26.2 miles. I baaaarely made it through 4, and it was ugly. 22 more of THAT? I might die.

I'm, right now, fairly certain I will at the very least suck at it.

So the only natural thing to do is book my flight to Seattle, and start hotel shopping for San Fran.

Tonight, I'm supposed to do hill repeats. I've spent HOURS dicking around with map my run trying to plot JUST the right hill, with flat allllllll around it so I can run my warm up and remainder of my 7 miles after. Do you know what's remarkably hard to find? A lone, long, random hill surrounded by flat land.

Blah.

Sorry this post is so dramatic and whiny and lame. I'm feeling dramatic and whiny and lame, so I thought I'd share. Tomorrow will be better.

"The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate."

1. I watched the Bachelor for the first time in, like, ever last night with Margot, Margot's super fun roommate, Sarah, and Shannon. Holy hell, those people are all terrible. Why is his hair so bad? Why does that chick have so much botox she can't move her face? WHY CAPES? So many questions.

2. Today is Wine and Dine registration day!! Who's in?

3. Speaking of Disney, I ordered a Disney planning DVD, which came in the mail yesterday. The H almost threw it away. It's like he doesn't even know me.

seriously. Why would he do that?

4. And speaking of Disney planning, Gabby's Make a Wish trip is on my brain right now. Not being in Florida anymore, I feel like there needs to be some research done so we don't miss out on anything. I know. I'm a little.... intense with the Disney planning.

5. Things that have led people to finding my blog in the last 30 days:

• i'm sorry i love you iphone text
• why are you here already
• meeeee hot
• my awesome boobs blog
• skinny jeans and platform sandals
• snooki 98 lbs
• sweaty sexy squash player
• african awesome animals

and, best of all.....

• vagina ponytail

6. Oh, look. Crappy weather is in the forecast for the LA Marathon. Again.

Gross. Sure hope mother nature gets her act together next year; LAM2013 is on my radar.

7. Speaking of Mother Nature (it's like a word association game in here today), I can't believe there's been virtually NO snow this year to go play in. LAME.

8. Does anyone else watch The River? I wasn't sure about it at first, but it's grown on me, and now I'm deeply fascinated.

{source}

So damn creepy.

9. I bought some new shoes over the weekend. I plan on testing them out tonight. Sure hope they don't suck, but if they do, I can go back and exchange them. Thank heavens for RoadRunner's 90 day return policy.

10. Hey, did you see how Rose kicked ass at the Pasadena Triathlon!? She's so badass.

Plan for the Week

On Sunday I met up with a few of my Ragnar teammates for brunch in San Clemente.

I've never been to San Clemente before, but it was really cute - tons of tiny shops, a farmers market. The ocean.

I know. It really sucks living here.

*****************************************

Last week....
Tuesday: 7 miles easy, 1:16:24, 10:54 pace ( < --- hey, remember when that was my hard OMG I'm gonna die pace!?)
Wednesday: 1.3 miles easy warm up for "Conditioning" class. Coach Doris introduced jump ropes this week. Turns out, I SUCK at jumping rope. So mostly I hopped around swinging a rope and hitting myself in the head. Graceful, that's me.
Thursday: Sucky 7 miles of tempo. Goal was 3 miles at 10:20, 2 miles at 9:55. Actual was 10:24, 10:19, 10:19, 9:54, 9:40. 2 miles warm up/cool down.
Saturday: Scheduled for 12. Did 6 easy on the treadmill, and 6 with the PCRF group, total time 2:11:43. Felt good the whole time, but it's kind of cheating since I had a 30 minute break in between, y'know?

That's a total of 27 miles! My highest mileage week ever.


This week....
Tuesday: 7 miles easy
Wednesday: a mile or two warm up, "conditioning" class
Thursday: Hill repeats. Whee.
Saturday: FOURTEEN MILES. Marathon training seems REALLY official now!

************************************************************

It's SHOCKING (ha) what some consistency does to your paces.

I love the Daily Mile tools.

Photo Friday....

Lumbar puncture? What lumbar puncture?

Click HERE to donate to Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation.

Hey, so, a few of my PCRF teammates also have blogs!

Jordan hates running, so obviously, he's broken. How do you hate running?

And Will is training to run his, like, millionth half marathon, AND preparing for a new baby. If he thought running was exhausting.....

********************************************************

I've got 12 miles on tap for tomorrow, followed by some extensive and exhausting shopping after that. And Sunday brunch with Team So Much Cooler Online.

Have a great weekend!

TTT: Morning runs, Tempo Runs, and Weight Loss

1. I had to work a later shift today, so I thought it was the PERFECT opportunity to get my run in this morning. 6am, I was on the treadmill for my - dun dun DUN - 7 mile tempo run. I hate tempo runs. HATE. SO hard. I take back any nice things I have ever said about tempo runs. Goal 3 at 10:20, 2 at 9:55. Actual 10:24, 10:19, 10:19, 9:54, 9:40. Success?

2. I don't want to call it success. I thought FOR SURE after my sub-60 10K, that I would nail this, easy peasy. Not the case. I mean, I did nail it, but it was NOT EASY. It sucked, hard. And, man. You morning runners are dirty liars. It is NOT glorious. It's early, and exhausting, and now I have a full day of work still ahead of me.

3. A few months back I said I wanted to drop about 12 lbs. Since then, I've upped my mileage, been pretty diligent about eating well and watching my caloric intake. And as a result...... I've gained 1 pound. Yeah, that's true. It happened. And NO, I am POSITIVE 3 weeks of strength conditioning did not gain me a pound of muscle. So, I'm kind of at a loss. I mean, I'm not really killing myself over it, but... come on, body. Get with the program.

Wordless Wednesday

7 miles, 1:16 last night. 1.3 miles this morning. 45 minute strength conditioning. If you need me, I'll be here, eating all the things.

Knoxville - The City of Dreams. Also, PFTW

You guys, I don't think Evan Dando listened when I said I was worried about him.

Because that guy, he is looking ROUGH.

I pinky-promise this is my very, very last post about ED (until their next tour...), promise.

My weekend shook down like this....

6am flight, from Orange County. Arrived Knoxville 3:40pm.

I know nothing about Knoxville, or Tennessee, but turns out? It's kinda pretty.

Met Holly from Nothing but Bonfires at the Bijou Theater for drinks and some light Evan Dando stalking...

...which works out great, because in addition to being a lovely person, she's MAYBE as obsessed as I am.

Which is how we ended up walking down the street at the back of the theater and randomly running into Evan Dando outside.

Yes, that happened, and it was magical, and awkward, and glorious, and funny, and sad, all at the same time.

He looks ROUGH. I thought he looked rough in Boulder, but man. That dude is living HARD. Also, he needs to wash his hair. And his shirt.

Anyway, to overshare, he advised us that he was really tired, that he has been touring a really long time (true), and he wasn't sure how things were going to go. However, they went magically, and it was a great, great show, and I am - I think - over my obsession. Especially because they are now heading to Europe, and according to the H, I am unable to cross the ocean to see Lemonheads.

And then the show was over, we ate amazing guacamole...

before heading back to our hotel. Delicious.

Got to our hotel, and discovered that Evan and crew were staying at the same hotel. We tried some light stalking (as in, sitting in the lobby...), but no further sightings.

2 hours of sleep later, I was back at Knoxville's tiny airport, and home by 10:30am. And then I ate, and took a 30 minute nap, and ran 10 miles. I will have to keep that memory tucked away next time I think I can't possibly do a run because omg I haven't fueled properly or didn't sleep enough.

10 miles, fueled by 2 hours of sleep and guacamole.

Then I took #1 to the magic bakery and bought all the things.

************************************************************
Plan for the Week!

Last week... 21 miles total
Tuesday: 4 miles easy, 42:37
Wednesday: 1 mile easy, 10:45; strength conditioning class
Thursday: 6 miles speed work, 1 mile warm up, 4 miles strides (600 regular pace, 200 realllly fast, repeat, 1 mile cool down). Awful. 200's suck (PS, someone asked, I was doing 7:55 pace for the 200's).
Saturday: Easy 2.5 mile walk through Knoxville.
Sunday: 10 miles, easy pace, 1:53:18.

This week....
Tuesday: 7 miles easy
Wednesday: 2-3 miles easy, strength conditioning
Thursday: 7 miles tempo (<------GROSSIHATETEMPORUNSGROSS)
Saturday: 12 miles, 6 alone plus 6 with PCRF

It's Friday I'm in Love

Last night, I was scheduled for something new - 200's. I've never run 200's. I did it on the treadmill, because I just... felt like it? I don't know.

Turns out, 200's are REALLY, REALLY FAST. I literally felt like it was hard for my stubby legs to keep up with the treadmill. That's kind of terrifying.

About 1/3 of the way through (lame) I sent a text to The H complaining.

They crack me up. My kids are the best.

Anyway, 1 mile warm up, 4 miles strides (600 regular pace, 200 realllly fast, repeat, 1 mile cool down. 6 miles, 1:04:06, 10:40 overall pace. Considering my warm up/cool down miles were 11:30 EACH.... that's pretty fast for me and the stubby legs.

***************************************

Ummm... do I know anyone in Knoxville? I'll be in Knoxville this weekend, randomly, for about 18 hours.

{source}

I don't even know what to really say. I hope it's a better show than Boulder? Do you hear that, Evan Dando? Be better.

{source}

According to YouTube, he's been wearing that shirt for approximately 6 months. I mean, I've seen it twice already....

****************************************************

Team Gab Update!

First.... Karen at la chanson de ma vie ran a freaking 50K for Team Gab! Her race report starts here - part 1, and part 2 is here.

13 members running with us in May. Over $3,000 raised. You guys rock my socks.

Then, I got an email from Sandy at BIC Bands last night.

So… you wanna be the first to know?!!
I just totaled the numbers for Jan & Feb =)

Jan donation will be $1500
and Feb will be $1100

For a grand total of $2600 for PCRF!!!!!

SOO exciting!!

You guys.

I followed that email up with a very eloquent thank you.

SHUT. UP.

Are you serious????

Holy crap!!!

Seriously.

Thank you, to everyone who donated, who bought headbands, who shared the story and donation link.

Thank you.

This kid had a lumbar puncture yesterday, and tons of chemo, and then spent the day having lunch with me at Chili's, playing outside, and going to Target.

I don't know how she does it.

Some people have commented about how strong we are, how positive we are, that they would be melting down.

TRUST me when I say, I have moments. Mostly, they're when I'm alone, driving to or from work, randomly something will cross my mind, and the next thing I know, I'm a puddle of snot and tears. Honestly, a lot of times what does it to me, is seeing how brave my 5 year old is. Thinking about how incredibly blessed we are.

We are so freaking lucky.

Livestrong posted this $hit Cancer Patients Say this week, and it's freaking hilarious. It's all true.


And, finally, the winner for Team Gab Virtual Race giveaway this week!

Thank you, random.org....

Congrats, Miss Zippy! Check out the remaining prizes, and let me know what you'd like!