Music in Motion 5K

Race: Music in Motion 5K
Goal: Use as a speed workout and hopefully better my 2008 5K summer
time of 24:27.

This was the first time I've run this race. I've wanted to run it the
past 2 yrs. but I was always so close to harboring an injury at this
stage of the season training for the Chicago marathon.

It was an out and back course with a long gradual incline
(shhhhhh...don't say HILL) somewhat before the turnaround. There's a
story on this. My running friend and I both looked at the map online
and thought the turnaround was just after the incline. Boy, were we
wrong. We get to the top of it and realize we still have more to go
before we can turnaround and come back down.

I felt pretty good the first mile considering I didn't go to bed until
after midnight, had no warmup running and only stretched a tad. Oh,
did I mention that it was pouring down rain as we stood there at the
start listening to the National Anthem. We were all just standing
there laughing, feeling like little kids on a rainy summer day, waiting
for the song to end so we could start torchering ourselves.

First mile was right on cue.....7:50....right on the money for me. Got
into a nice, comfortable, yet taxing breathing pattern. Started to
gradually pass some people, yet I just couldn't seem to reel in this
one woman that stayed about 20 ft. ahead of me the whole time.
Hmmmm...I wonder if she's in my age bracket?(40-44). Never
mind....just run your own race Weebs!!

After staying pretty composed on the "incline", got to the turnaround
and headed for the finish. After getting back to the bottom, at the 2
mile marker they yelled 16:00 even. Oops....kinda slowed way down
there...time to step it up a notch.

This is where it got ugly. It seems that sometimes when I run a race
with a downhill, my breathing pattern must change enough that I get a
sidestitch from hell. I felt it coming on between a 1/2 mile and 3/4
mile to go. I tried to concentrate more on my breathing as I reeled
more people in. I was getting closer and closer to the "woman" ahead
of me and was about 3 ft. behind her when out of the blue, Brian(a
fellow runner I know) came up to the "woman" and started pumping her up
saying you're gonna reach your goal...come on you can do it. All the
while I'm thinking...I'm not gonna make it...I'm gonna puke....this
knife in my side is gonna kill me!! ACCKK! I just can NOT catch
her...and it's pissing me off! I got a tenth of a mile away from the
turn to the finish line and I SERIOUSLY wanted to walk. I thought, why
the HELL amd I doing this? My goal at this point was to NOT
stop....forget the girl in front on me!

Btw, not only did she finish 4 seconds ahead of me, she pr'd by 2
minutes from her previous 5K AND she was in my age group. Yeah, nice
huh? lol

My official time was 24:30, not my best but pretty much average for
me. Got 2nd in my age group....yes...she got first. I talked to her
after the race and congratulated her(yes, I'm competitive, but I was
polite and kept my hands in my pockets all the while envisioning
yanking on her hair and beating the crap out of her) while smiling.
Just kidding on that last part....kinda! ;-) Brian apologized to me
and said he knew the other "woman" and I were in the same age group,
but she was his running partner and he had to ride home with her!! lol

My running friend, Jocelyn, finished in 22:47, average for her but 1st
in her AG(25-29).

The male overall finished in a new course record of 15:20!!! The
female overall finished in a new course PR of 1 second, 19:29.

I was told this is a pretty competitive race and draws fast ones from
towns further away, which showed by the first place male finish!
Geez, 15:20???? That's rockin' fast!

After the race we went out for breakfast, got groceries, and then went
home to take a nap.

Weebs

Here I go again!

I'm getting the itch to do a longer mileage race again. So I've chosen a half marathon locally on Sept. 28th. My official training started yesterday with intervals at the track. Temp. was 84 degrees at 6:00 p.m. Why, oh why, didn't I get myself out of bed early in the morning to do my run. Oh, that's right....it was Monday and I drag myself out of bed on Monday mornings.

Getting up early is highly overrated when one has the day off from work and can sleep in until.....say......9:00 a.m.? Ackkkk! Talk about most of the day already gone.

Okay, so I am motivated and dedicated(borrowing from the U.S. Marines) to follow my training schedule. I really need to start working on my speed.

Next up I will start looking at another marathon for next year. Maybe one in the spring this time. Training should be interesting to say the least the way our Midwest winters have been.

Almost without pain

I can say that as of today, I hardly have any pain from my cracked ribs when I run. It's been almost 4 weeks since the accident so it's coming along well.

I have succumbed to running every other day. The other days I walk. It just takes alot more stress off me. Sometimes if I run every day my body starts to rebel. I can tell I'm running more again because my appetite has picked up once again. Damn, where did I put the lock for the frig?

Now it's time to start picking up the mileage.

Haopy St. Patrick's Day!!!

So some people say St. Patrick's Day is a day to celebrate saints. I say it's a day to celebrate beer.....green beer that is. I actually had my quota of beer on Saturday night. I won a door prize too, but it was only stationery. I guess I'll have to snail mail more of my friends.

The older I get, the bigger it seems that St. Pat's Day becomes. It's almost like I notice more and more people celebrating it.

I'm gonna celebrate the rest of it by taking a pain pill and getting some sleep. The rib is kinda sore today. I think I did too much. Too much lifting of things around the house yesterday and a busy day at work. I couldn't even get myself to run tonight after work.

Gotta start feeling better. It's like two steps forward, one step back.

Back in the saddle again!

Okay, so I'm happy about running again albeit ever so slowly. I still have to stop and walk a little if my ribs start to hurt too much but at least I'm able to run.

I'm keeping my mileage low(3-4) miles/daily just to get exercise. I'm sure I'm making myself slower, but I don't think it can be helped.

There is a local 5K next Friday. Don't think I'm gonna be able to make it. Oh well! This is just not a good time to be laid up.

Well, I'm off to a St. Patty's Day bash. It should be a long and eventful night starting off with corned beef and cabbage and all the spirits you want to drink. Get this....it's put on by the local Catholic church. We went last year and I felt so out of place drinking in the basement of a church. After about the second beer I'm like, "Oh well....cheers!" We also win door prizes as well.

Oh and I won a door prize of a goatee trimmer last weekend. So Geo has another one for the downstairs bathroom. Funny thing is....when I heard the prize, before they even called my name I said, "Oh God, that's probably something I'll win!" And sure enough my friends were about rolling on the floor after they called my name. Too funny!

I hope everyone has a good St. Pat's Day.

Ouch!

Still hurting in the ribcage area. Got to laughing with some friends last night and ended up in a coughing fit that sent me over the edge. Damn, it hurts to inhale now.

On a side note, I found an old picture of me when I was a lifeguard. Cracks me up to see it now. No wonder they called me "Omar's sister"(the only black kid at the campground).

Bad news and more bad news!

Yesterday morning I found out that one of my old family friends committed suicide by hanging himself in his parent's garage. He is my oldest brother's age, 49, and no one can figure out why he went back to his parent's to do it. He's married with two older girls and left a note for both his family and his parents not blaming them for anything and apoligizing in advance. Never in a million years would I have thought He'd do this.

And on top of that his mom has cancer and is going through some experimental treatment not approved yet. They originally had not expected her to live past Christmas.

Then last night I tripped over a low chain in a dark parking lot and landed on my side, shoulder and head. The head is doing better than the ribs right now, but going to see the doc this afternoon to get some xrays.

Another try!

Okay, since it's been forever since I posted a blog, I figured I'd better get to it and get busy. The main reason is because I couldn't remember my signin and password and didn't want to start a new acct. The other reason was just plain busy.

We're going to be getting into the running season again so that's something to look forward to. I was scheduled to run a 5K race tomorrow, but it was canceled due to the streets being covered with thick ice. I was looking forward to seeing my running friends since I haven't run with them all winter, but it looks like we may be trying to get together tomorrow night anyway just for fun.

I'll try to be more active in responding to my friend's blogs to...Dani, Kelley, Kathy(doesn't look like she's too active either, lol), Leslie and Trizilla.

Peace out!

Town and Country 5K

This race is in my hometown so I don't like to miss it. Last year when I ran it, I was still in the 30's age category. Not this year!!!

The day started out rotten. I had tapered for a couple of days so I would have more energy. I guess staying out until 2 a.m. isn't a good thing when one has to wake up at 6 a.m. in time to get dressed and drive to the race. I was BEAT!

I had so many striked against me. Not enough sleep for one. Had I not already signed up and paid I would have hit the alarm off and gone back to bed. This.....the reason why I DO sign up in advance.

Secondly, it was going to be one hot race!! I just knew it. Thankfully, I had some friends running it too, one who was out just as late. Although she beat me by 30 seconds. Heck, she's 26! What did I expect?

Anyway, the race was supposed to start at 8 a.m. but there were so many people registering late, we didn't start until 8:15. I decided this was a race warm enough to wear the bare minimum......running bra and shorts.

I think I started out too fast but I wasn't sure because I had forgotten my GPS and there were no mile markers. But hey....there was an unmanned water station halfway. One big water jug with cups sitting by the side of the road.

By the time I had gotten up the long gradual hill and gone onto the limestone running path with high humidity and no air....UGGGHH....GASP! I felt sorry for my friend who alREADY had breathing issues. The air was so "close", by the time I got out and started running on the road again, my breathing was totally off. You know what that means.....SIDE STITCH FROM HELL!!!

I carried that damn side stitch for the rest of the race damn it! I couldn't shake it. Damned if I was going to slow down.....no way...no how!!!

With about 400 meters to go I was closing in on a member of a new running club I subscribed to. They weren't sure who to cheer for. Actually, as I passed him, they started yelling to him to watch my fast feet turnover(woohoo...didn't know that was possible)and to match it. Well, needless to say, I showed NO mercy. I continued on and finished ahead of him.

I cross the finish line and my mind is saying, "Breathe, not puke! Breathe, not puke!" I was nauseous and gagging, but thankfully, I didn't puke. But someone please tell me why in the hell do they make us tear our own tag off our bib? Do they even know how much effort that takes to lift one hand and RIIIPPPP? So here this girl is chasing me down and trying to be nice and asking for my tag. I was nice enough to stop and let her take it off.....hehe!

Found out the route was 100 yds. too long. Has been for years. No WONDER my time has always been about 30 seconds slower here. Of course, my finishing time was 24:53, and taking 30 seconds off was not going to even get me close to last years time. Not my worst time though and considering my odds, I was happy with it. Besides I got first place in the 40-49 yr. old women. Fourth woman overall. Not bad considering they were all younger than me. Damn, where are those races with grand masters?

Now on to this Friday's Raging Road Rally 5K. It's a 6:45 p.m. race so it's always nice and humid for this one. Did I mention one big hill and one LOOOONGGGGG seemingly neverending hill? Grrrr!

I have GOT to get myself a new HR monitor. I'd love to see what my HR is on some of these races where I'm just about puking.

Long ago

Okay, so I haven't updated my blog in.....well.....a very long time. Part of the reason is because I got busy and just kind of forgot about it. I'd like to try to keep up again but I'm not making any promises. I'm still working full-time as a dental assistant and running, running, running.

My next major goal is a BQ at the Chicago marathon this October. At my age that would entail a 3:50. I'm not sure I can do it, but I'm sure going to train for it.

Considering I rustled up a 4:01 last year with minimal training, I figure with good, consistent training and barring any injuries, I may be able to make it.

This Saturday I have my annual 5K in my old hometown. I've gotten a major portion of my marathon training mileage in already this week, so I have decided I'm going to taper the next two days for this race. I really want to do well.

Considering I'm in the old ladies bracket now(40), well......who knows.

Weebs

CMM Marathon report.....finally

April 29th, 2006

You know, this is really hard to report. My mind is STILL jumping all over the place.
I just don't know where to start and I know I'm going to leave out some very good stuff.
I debated whether I wanted to just start with my race day report or with Thursday morning
at 9:15 a.m. when Marty picked me up. Looks like I'm gonna opt for the latter.

First of all, I can't even express to all of you my feelings about Marty's help during the race.
Marty is the KING of pacers and deserves a medal just for being so AWESOME! A big one! A special thanks
to you my friend. The whole time he was paying attention to my breathing and when he could
tell I was giving it too much too soon, he told me to back off. It was constant, constant feedback.
We talked the night before the race about my game plan and it was to set out at an 8:30/mile pace
at first and then maybe increase as time wore on. Dan was also right there throughout and was wonderful
but his main goal was to stay ahead of me about 5-10 yds. He said something about that being his plan
all along for a mental thing for me, but I still think he had ants in his pants from day one and you just
couldn't hold him back. ;-) But I digress! Let me get back to my "story".

Thursday morning dawned clear and sunny as I waited for Marty to find my house....or get lost. I figured if
it was the latter, I would have received a cell call. His plan was to pick me up somewhere between 9-9:30 and
he was right smack in the middle at 9:15. I loaded up(with WAYYYY too much stuff) and we were off.
Marty, Dan and I had talked about bringing music for our road trip. Funny thing, I think between the drive down
and the drive back home, we might have listened to a handful of songs. We would listen for a while, but
just couldn't get into....too many things to talk about. Marty had packed a big cooler of "good, healthy" food
and warned me about his penchant for eating on the hour. Well....maybe not ON the hour....but pretty darn
close! I think that man has not one but two tapeworms. He and Dan both were bringing food and told me
not to worry about a thing. They would handle it all. Well, they both did just that. Not only with the food on
the way down but back home. Even going so far as to covering Jen and my tab which was a real blessing
for me as they well know. Yeah, and I told Marty "the check's in the mail". lol Just kidding.

So we made it to Dan's and found a note on his door about putting the garbage out. Marty was getting
ready to look for the garbage when Dan opened the door. We loaded up and headed on down to Nashville.
We arrived around 7ish, checked in and then scoured the main drag. We found a GREAT brewery
with AWESOME food! I'm still craving their spring rolls. We had a sampler platter of some of their brew
which probably wasn't a smart thing to do on an empty stomach, but the food came fast, thankfully.

We headed back to the hotel to hang out and talk before heading to bed. For some reason, Thursday
night started some weird exchange between Marty and Dan. I couldn't figure out what they were doing
for the longest time. Something about lines from a movie called "The Jerk"??? Or something like that.

We talked for quite a while and then hit the sack. In our own rooms, I might add ,lest some people get
the wrong idea. ;-)

In the morning I hear a rap at the door and Marty and Dan saunter in all chipper and
dressed in their running best, ready to face the world and conquer Nashville
with a nice, easy fun run. Didn't anyone ever tell you it's illegal to have that much energy
so early in the morning. But it was a sign of things to come. Too dang early for this girl.
I groan, throw my covers over my head and say, "Have Fun". I hadn't really planned
on running at all before the 1/2 considering I had just raced a 10K the week before
and knew I needed all the rest I could get. Finally got up, took a shower and was ready to
go to pick up Jen at the airport when they got back.

Uh, Jen, did Dan not ever see a pic of you before CMM because as we were waiting for you to come down the
escalator, there was a gal that I guess sorta looked like you, but I know it wasn't. Dan didn't believe me so I quietly
said, "Hey Jen", but she didn't turn around. Besides, she just wasn't as cute as the "real" Jen anyway.
So we went back to our hiding places to wait for Jen. I guess we did a pretty poor job of hiding. Hugs were
exchanged. I had never "met" Jen before, but I felt as if I had known her for years. She is one sweet lady.

Took Jen back to the hotel, got her checked in and set off for the expo. Now I had heard from Jen that she
didn't like crowds but I felt she was a real trooper with the expo. As we made our way down the escalator,
we were told from some loud barking where to go. These people were so rude and curt that Marty says to us,
"They sound like Soup Nazi's,'No soup for you!'" Whereupon, one of the ladies turned around and said, "that's
right, no soup for you!" I don't think Marty said it that loud but we got a good laugh out of it. Then as we entered
the expo area, lest we get lost....lo and behold, they had little shoe prints to walk on just so we wouldn't get lost
in such a BIG expo(insert tongue in cheek here). I couldn't resist!! I started to follow the "yellow brick road" and
stopped to see if my counterparts were obeying the rules and following suit. Then I heard, let's go ladies, there
are people behind you! Geez! Give me a break. And that was about the last time things were strict much to
our surprise.

At some point we met up with Leslie and her hubby and Letty and her gang. We opted to eat eary, which was a
very good decision. We had a 10 min wait at 4:30. When we left the restaurant, I think the line went around the
corner. I was afraid to ask their waiting time! We found a great ice cream place. Yes, Jen, I agree, birthday cake
ice cream ROCKS!

We headed back to the hotel to once again sit around and talk and talk and talk........

With Jen, Dan and marty it just felt like being around family.

Jen and I proceeded to lay out our race clothes and go through our goody bag. A little later I look over
and Jen is lying on her stomach on her bed looking at her pile of race things with this look of
adoration on her face. I just couldn't resist that and had to take a picture. You'd think she was looking
at a feather pillow after lying on a bed of nails for a week!
Race day begins!!!! I way up to the sound of rain....no wait....that's Jen in the shower. But then I hear a crash
and a scream. I run to the bathroom door and ask, "Are you okay?" She's laughing hysterically, as I'm looking
at the palms of my hands with globs of hair clenched between my fists. I told her in so many words to, "KNOCK
IT OFF!" I think she pretty much covered it.

Not one for having ANY pre-race rituals of ANY sort, I proceed to eat a couple of ch.chip muffins made by none
other than our eat-every-hour food guru, Marty. Not bad! What? No oj? That's okay....Gatorade will do.

I think we're all pretty calm, especially our marathon virgin. But the goofiness begins from either being nervous,
excited or just plain up too early. We wait a bit for Letty and her gang, but they didn't show. We head out the front doors to pretty balmy weather considering Jen and I have just spent the last couple of months training in sub 40's weather. To wear short sleeved shirts at 5:00 a.m. is not a good sign of things too come. I still had to wear my garbage bag....of which came in handy at the starting line(right Dan?)

For some reason our little group was wound up. Everybody else on the shuttle to the start was half asleep. We
started getting some pretty strange looks. Got to the start at around 6 a.m. where there was lots of pre race food.
Everything even down to Starbucks coffee. We sat on the grass chatting while Marty continued to stretch. I wanted
to start calling him Gumby. I don't know what he did more....eating or stretching.

We looked over at these blue boxes all in a row and figured something in them must be worth seeing because the lines
to get in them were very long. So we decided to get in those lines too. We walked Leslie and Jen to there start and then Marty, Dan and I lined up in my corral #6. There were so many people out of the corral they were supposed to be in. Marty wondered where the soup Nazis were now. They played the National Anthem(dang, can't ever get through that without tears coming to my eyes) and we were off.

Marty was very good at holding me back the first couple of miles. He knew that I was worried about that and decided that was his main job. The course started pretty flat at first and I thought, "Hmmm, not bad!" Boy, did I regret that thought. From mile 2 on it was one rolling hill after the other. I was either going downhill or uphill. Amazingly, our splits stayed between 8:20/mile and 8:40/mile the entire race even with the hills. Like I said earlier in my first post, Marty did a great job listening to my breathing. He knew when to tell me to slow down and I think he literally saved my
butt.

After looking at the course map in the morning, Jen and I figured we'd probably pass each other while I was going up the long incline around mile 6-7 and she was coming down around mile 4 for her. Dan, being the one continually a little in the front saw Jen first. I guess I never realized how many women runners run in aqua running shirts. There were hundreds. The look on Jen's face was great as we high-fived each other. She looked happy and full of energy.

I took my first and only gu at mile 8. In hindsight, I wish I would have taken one earlier and then another one later. Around mile 8 Marty told me whenever I felt like it I could increase my tempo a hair. I told him it was too early. I was thinking realistically, "I wanna know how many more freakin' hills we have first!" But I knew with the hills I was better off waiting until around mile 9-10 to increase.

Mile 10 arrived and I knew I had to start kicking it into gear. I THOUGHT I was, but it seems my pace stayed the same. But that was okay too. We ran into Dan's wife's friend, Liz and she stayed with us until the finish. At one point, I believe it was around mile 11-12, Marty and Dan were continually trying to talk me up and encourage me. I had to tell them that this is the part where I dig down deep and their distracting voices were driving me crazy. Well, maybe
not in those words, but at least I didn't tell them to "shut the f**k up" like Dan said I should have.

Mile 12 my legs and lungs were telling me to quit and I told them they could both go to hell. I was feeling really weird, like I may pass out or that my legs were going to cramp up. I figured the pain would only be temporary and the finish line was near. I could see the stadium and hear the music. As I approached the last turn to the finish, Liz sprinted past me. And as most of you know, that's all it took for me. It looked as if someone lit a fire under my butt as I sprinted past her towards the finish. She threw out a challenge that I was more than ready to take. I didn't see Marty until later. It seems he was doing tricks to get the crowd roaring behind my back. What a ham. Dan and Marty both could get that crowd yelling and screaming so easily the whole race.

As I crossed the finish line, my chip time was 1:52:19. I couldn't believe it! My goal from the start was to get under 2 hrs, but during my training I figured that was a given. So my next goal was 1:55. Little did I know I would run such a good race. Even splits and a PR by 10 minutes. But I don't think my race would have been as good had Marty and Dan had not been there for me. Marty at my side and Dan just ahead enough to make me want to stay within visual contact. A psychological twist, or so Dan said.

Thanks so much you two! You're the best! I can't thank you enough!

After getting our goodies, of which there were tons. Nashville actually puts Chicago to shame on the spread of food at the finish. But the sandals they gave out to us. What was that? I think they were made for elephant feet. They were grotesquely wide. As I found out later when I tried to wear them while trying to walk to a place where we could see Jen.

Dan went to mile 20 to run Jen in and Marty and I went back to the hotel to shower and change. The walk back was just right to keep the legs loosened up. As Marty and I were crossing the foot bridge, we both noticed how much the
wind had come up. It seems it becames very gusty and we worried about that for Jen. High winds and heat do not a good combination make, especially for a marathon.

Marty and I made it back to mile 21 later but no Jen. Dan didn't have a phone so we didn't have any idea whether we missed her or she was behind her goal time. So I proceeded to go to the finish to wait for her as Marty jogged to mile 20. Marty caught up with Dan and Jen later and reported back to me as Jen made her turn to head out of town. I wasn't real happy hearing that Jen was hurting already. Not a good sign. But I knew she was tough and wasn't going to let that stop her. I can just hear her cursing at her legs.

It was so exciting seeing her come in. I had goosebumps and had to fight back tears(yeah, Jen, I didn't tell you that). It was even more special knowing what she had to go through to achieve her goal.

Jen, you rock! You are and will be an inspiration to many for what you overcame out there on the CMM course. You are up there in my book.

You are not only a great runner but I consider you a great friend too. Until we meet again I have just two words for you! ROCK ON!!! lol Yeah I just had to say it one last time.

OSF Heritage 10K

This particular race brings out alot of the good runners. Last year I didn't even place in the top 5 of my age group. Sixth to be exact with a time of 52:40.

So on this day my goal was to just set a new PR. My goal was to get under 50 minutes. I knew it was possible because I was in another 10K in January with slippery roads and near white out conditions. Plus there were more hills. This course was completely flat and the temps were good....mid 60's.

The only thing that I could see stopping me was the extreme wind. But last year it was the same so the conditions were equal.

Going out my first split was 7:35 and I knew I needed to slow down. But it was on a slight decline so I figured that was it. Little did I realize that the wind was to my back.

I felt really good during the whole race. Even when I had to dip my head like a horse coming back against that headwind. But it seemed to help.

The turnaround point was 23:38 which wasn't much slower than a recent 5K for 3.1 miles.

At this point is where I slowly picked person after person off. There were plenty of distractions along this bike path because it was such a nice day. I almost ran over a little girl on her bike with training wheels. I don't think she saw me coming and she cut in front of me.

As I got closer to the finish there was one man that I just couldn't catch. He stayed about 20 feet in front of me and the more I sped up, the more he did too.

As I turned the corner before the finish line I had two blocks to go. My friend that came with me yelled,"It's 49 and change, if you kick it in you can still make it under 50." So I gave it all I had even though I was hurting. I figured there was NO WAY I was getting this close to my PR and not get it. As I got closer I could see the clock ticking....49:35, 49:36, 49:37. I didn't even realize I flew by the man that I couldn't pass earlier I was so intent on beating that clock.

Finishing time was 49:51!!! A new PR and UNDER 50. I reached my goal! What a great feeling.

I was surprised to find out that they were giving medals out to 5 places and since I got fifth in my age group, I received one. It looked like all the good runners, men and women, were within the 35-45 age bracket. Figures!!

On to CMM 1/2!

Here I am!

Okay, so I've been a little nonexistent lately. I can't help it. Things have been very crazy for me lately. I'm still doing little things here and there to the house when I can afford them. I should have the house ready to sell by the end of May. Now if I can only get my husband to sign those divorce papers. Oh, that's right....I have to be able to FIND him first! JERK! And to make matters worse, he not only has dropped off the face of the earth, the last child support payment I received was 3 wks. ago and was postmarked Las Vegas, NV!!! Alright, I'm done venting now about that.

It's a good thing that I've never minded change because that's all my life has been about lately....change. I seem to be able to take it in stride. Maybe it has something to do with my personal life and loving the job I have now. Things in those two areas couldn't be better.

Running is still going well. I have begun my two week taper prior to CMM 1/2. I have a 10K race on Sunday on a flat, fast course that I ran last year in 52something. My goal this year is under 50. I know I can do it....I KNOW IT!!!!
I'm pretty excited about it. I don't feel as if I'm ready for CMM yet. I'm ready as far as running it...just not as far as packing and getting there. Have you seen the frickin' price of gas here? $2.95?????!!!!! What's up with that? What, did the oil rigs all shut down? If I could only find a way to use my garbage for fuel. Now THAT would be nice!

I'll try to be more consistent with my blogging, but what with working more hours and having busy nights and weekends....well...let's just say it's probably not going to change soon.

Ciao for now!!

HOT HOT HOT!

Whew! What's with the unusually hot weather? Did we even have a spring or have we gone to summer already?

I had my last midweek long run of 8 miles Wednesday of this week and I can tell that this body needs a taper. I ran a 4 mile recovery Thursday and it felt like I was crawling, but the HR was up there.

My last long run of 15 miles before I taper for the CMM 1/2 is tomorrow. I'm probably not going to get out until around 9 a.m. I suppose it will be unseasonably hot then too, but I guess that's good training for warmer temps in Nashville. My thick-blooded body is rebelling

Since my mileage is up in the 40's, I'm not really sure how much to taper. I've basically been going by my own schedule.

I can't wait until two weeks from this weekend. Trigal, are you ready?

Here comes the storm!

Today I woke up early to beat the storms that are gonna be hitting us soon. I didn't want to be caught out in a lightning storm during my run. Can you imagine? Out minding my own business trying to do my business of running and getting struck by lightning? Not the way I wanta go that's for sure.

I'm getting a handle on a few of the TO DO list. Bathroom ceiling is almost done. Just another coat of fresh white paint on it. Leaves in the ditch are all raked up and ready to burn. Stain on the new base in living room is on. Trim around garage door is replaced. Next up is transplanting some perennials and mulching. Doesn't look like I'm gonna get to that in the next couple of days.

Hey, some good news! A while back I posted about a neighbors dog that was harrassing me on one of my runs. As luck would have it, they filed bankruptcy, got a divorce and moved out....dog and all! Woohoo! I still think I'll carry my mace with me though. Some of those upright, two legged animals are more than I can handle.

Today is Thursday and my last day of work for the week. Three day weekend....alright! No houses to clean tomorrow...except maybe mine, but mine doesn't take very long.

Arny Johnson 10 Mile Classic

Okay, so I've postponed this report long enough.

Some minor changes though. I looked at the updated list of names from the race on the website and saw that my time was 1:23:48, not 1:24. Also, even though they gave me a second place finisher in AG medal, it looks like I was third. I wonder what happened to the woman that took first. I didn't see or hear her complaining at the awards ceremony that she didn't get anything. Maybe she was disqualified for some reason? I hope not.

I was a little concerned at the start of this race because as some of you know I was approaching burnout all week. I toned my running down to taper for this race(hadn't planned on it prior to last week, but knew I needed it), so I only ran Tuesday and Wednesday. I stayed up late again the night before and was very tired. Slept on the way over to the race which was an hour away. I REALLY didn't feel like running this race let alone racing it. But I knew once I started I'd be fine. I just didn't know how much energy I'd have.

The night before the race was very, very windy and I was hoping it would die down before the race but I don't think it would have made too much difference since most of the race was through the woods. It was overcast and mid 30's. Perfect day for a race. Donned my baseball cap, gloves, long-sleeved wicking shirt and shorts and I was good to go.

The first 3 miles were pretty uneventful and fairly flat. Eighty percent of the race was on a paved running/biking path. We were told to stay to the left of the path and watch out for bikers which I thought was rather strange. Why the left side? This race wasn't in Europe!

Since the race was through the woods, my Garmin wouldn't register at all. I'm sure the cloudy day didn't help in that dept. either. I do know my first mile was 8:08(whoa, slow down Nellie). Not what I wanted to hear. But after a couple more miles I settled into a groove. I knew last year my pace was around 8:30/mile so this year I wanted to do a little better than that and ended up with a 8:21/mile pace.

After mile 3 the course started to get interesting. I knew by the elevation chart that we would be steadily going up and down hills. A gal pulled up beside me and we talked for a few minutes. Seems she had just started racing for the first time after her son was born.....four years ago! I guess her hands have been full? She was keeping a pretty good pace so I told her good luck and have fun. My goal was to try to keep her in my sights if I could. After she passed me her pace must have slowed a bit because she stayed ahead of me by only about 10 yds. I ended up catching up to her at about mile 7 but she could really fly down the hills and I ended up getting way behind her again. She said after the race that she slowed way down the last two miles. She finished approx. 1 minute ahead of me.

I really didn't mind the hills because this is where I caught up to most people. I guess it pays to train on hills. The only time it really bothered me was towards the end of the race when I was tired. One of the last hills I had to run on my tiptoes it was so steep. I can't say I'm used to THAT steep of hills.

At the one mile marker there was a fellow runner that is in my running group. I noticed him and said hi. He has recently been coming back from an injury so he wasn't running the race. Towards the end of the race around mile 7 I saw somebody running towards me in jeans. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw it was him. I told him he was going to get so chaffed but he didn't seem to care. He told me at mile 9 marker that he would let me finish by myself since he could tell how I was breathing that I still had alot in me. I didn't feel like it....but maybe I wasn't working as hard as I could. I had pointed out to him that I wanted to keep this other woman ahead of me in my sights and that I had spoken to her for a while. He asked me if I had asked her if she's in my age group. I said no, that didn't concern me. He laughed and said, it may later! Well, he was right. The woman I let stay in my sights but didn't make a move on was in my age group. Grrrr! Oh well, I really don't feel like I could have run it any faster anyway.

I was very happy with my race and my 10 mile time. It was a nice surprise when I finished.

I know there was probably more, but I guess I should have written this report after the race and not several days later.

Sleep....I need sleep!

Okay, so I've totally screwed up my sleep schedule. This week has been so messed up.

It all started last week when I inadvertently ran all 7 days. I hadn't really noticed this until a fellow runner friend(Kelley) pointed it out to me in a post on a running board we are both a member of, WeLoveToRun. It was all downhill from there.

I haven't been getting much sleep on the weekends....week DAYS for that matter. All a choice on my part, but nonetheless. Something has got to change or I won't last until CMM without getting injured.

So I've toned my training week down this week to almost no running.....at least it feels that way....so I can recuperate for my 10 mile race this weekend. Why, oh why, would someone schedule a race at 8:00 a.m. when it's still cool out? It's not like we are trying to beat the heat for God's sake!! At least my 10K in 3 wks. won't start until 1 p.m. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

Then this week went from bad to worse when I stupidly had WAYYYY too much caffeine yesterday. I guess it was my chance to catch up on the many emails I was behind in replying on. Up until 2 a.m. and STILL laid there in bed waiting for sleep to overtake me.

Luckily after getting up at 9:00 a.m.(yeah, I slept in because I took the planned day off of running) I was refreshed and ready to go.

Now, I have to get to work.....if I can only last until 5:30. Oh crap, I still won't get to relax...I have a banquet to go to. Hmmmm! When will it end?

Holy Crap!

Okay, so I KNOW the 10 mile race will be tough this Saturday. I am just BEAT! I took yesterday off from running due to a 7 day(40 mile) week last week(spaced that one out) and went out for an easy 6 miler. If I wasn't so stubborn I would have turned around after .1 miles and called it quits.

I have another easy day tomorrow with low mileage and then I'm definitely taking Thursday and Friday off before the race Saturday. I know I probably shouldn't taper this much because I'm still in training for CMM, but this body is trying to tell me something.

Alot of good it will do me if I don't even get to run CMM because of an injury.

Is anybody else getting burnout, or is it just me? I seem to go through this towards the end of a training session right before a big race.

On a side note, I've been getting alot done around the house getting it ready to possibly sell. I made a list and checked it twice. And now half of it is crossed off. Woohoo! The biggest project is yet to come....painting it! Ugh! I have alot of volunteers that said they would help me though.

Exfoliating run!

Last night as I was getting ready for bed, I heard that we were to get 5-8 inches of snow. I wasn't sure when it was supposed to start, but when I woke up at 8 a.m. there wasn't anything on the ground but RAIN. Ewwww! I wanted the white stuff. I had an 8 mile midweek run and I so wanted to run it in snow.

So I bundled up(too much because I had to ditch a layer after the first 2 mile loop)and headed out the door. It was misting a little at first but then it turned into sleet. Owwww! Talk about major facial exfoliation. I felt like someone was doing acupuncture on my face.

Now I know what it's like running blind, because some of the time I had to turn my face away from the wind and sometimes close my eyes. Thankfully, not much traffic out here around my neighborhood.

By the time I got to mile 6 the sleet turned into heavy, heavy snow. I was completely white by the time I was finished.

It was actually a pretty good tempo run despite the weather. I was hoping to run in a couple of inches of the white stuff at least, but I got it done anyway.

So now tomorrow everything that accumulates on the ground today will be melted. Ahhhh, that's spring for you.

Running on empty

Well, this week has been rough. I went out for my tempo run on Monday after eating out with some friends for Chinese. (Note to self: Never run a tempo run an hour after eating a huge plate of Chinese food.) Of course, I was too stubborn to quit or slow down and there were a couple of times where I thought I was going to lose my lunch, but I got it done.

After my run I had to lie down on the floor. I just didn't feel very well. Luckily, I had the day off from work and didn't have to go in. I had plenty of things to do, so I never got a nap in of which probably would have made me feel better.

The next day I still felt bad. I almost felt like I was coming down with the flu. I ran a recovery run Tuesday, but decided to take the day off from running on Wed. I just didn't have it in me.

Back to normal(whatever that is) on Thursday for a 7 mile run around the neighborhood. Halfway through my run I ran into Richard, one of my neighbors who runs(he usually runs in the afternoon when I'm working) and finished with him. It was nice having someone to talk to while running. It doesn't happen very often.

Well, gotta go. Leaving in a few to watch "Failure To Launch" along with about a million other people. Matthew McConaughy, here I come! :D I think I may need to take some napkins along! (drool)