Less than two weeks!

Yikes!  There may be some walking during the 20k :)

I did get out for a good run this morning.  It's so nice to have the light earlier in the morning!

I did a 160bpm-180bpm interval mix from Podrunner called Driving Spikes.  I've done this one before and I still like it!

I started getting a side stitch, which hasn't happened in a long time.  I worked it out, though.  I think that might be because I was tensing my upper body a bit.

The stats are that I went a total of 3.33 miles in 35:50, for an average pace of 10:45 min/mile.

My heel felt a tad funny at first, but that went away.  Now, a half hour later, I'm starting to feel a little funniness again.  I will do a little more stretching and probably ice it just in case.

12 bunnies today!

A not-so-long run that felt like a long run

Yesterday, I took advantage of a busy kid and nice weather and ran while my son was at a birthday party on campus.  Since I don't get back to campus much, I decided to run around campus.  It was a tad strange, because there were groups of people doing the stuff groups of people do on university campuses.  I was about the only jogger out and about, which was a little strange for having so many people around.  It was a very enjoyable run, though.  I ran about 4.5 miles, the longest I've run in a long time.  I know I have to increase my distance, though.  This felt like a long run, but in the scheme of things, it wasn't very long at all.  I have a 12.4 mile run to prepare for in June.  So, I have a lot of work cut out for me!

20k! The Dam to Dam is done!

It wasn't looking pretty this morning.  My brother and I left home at about 4:45am and it was looking ominous.  There was lightning in the distance and as we neared Des Moines, it started raining.

We waited in the throngs of runners (nearly 8000) for a spot on one of the dozens of school busses they had carrying us to the start line.  Eventually we got one and the ride took around 15-20 minutes to the side of the first dam.  Then we had a "1 mile scenic" walk to the starting line... and past the various pace signs that were all faster than we were planning to run.  We continued walking back to the Porta Potties.  What looked like a very long line only took 6 minutes.  My digestive system thanked me tremendously for helping it out at that point.

Then we dropped off our clothing bag with our jackets and made our way, still in the rain and wind, to the masses waaaay behind the start line.  After several minutes, we finally crossed the start line.  We were on our way!  (...at about 7:15am!  I think the actual start for the fast people was around 7:05am.)

Overall, the rain and wind wasn't too bad.  It was actually better than a hot, humid, and sunny day.  It didn't hail and there was no lightning once we got to the course.  We kept a rather steady pace, averaging 11:35min/mile over the course.  We finished in about 2:25 hours.  I'll take it!

We got a nice medal.  I'm going to display it proudly for a while, I think.  After finishing, it seems like not a big deal.  But, you know what... it is!  12.4 miles is nothing to sneeze at!  I could definitely do another half-marathon (which this basically was) but right now, a full doesn't look too attractive.  I'm starting to get sore in places and I'm rather tired, but over all, I feel surprisingly well.  I felt really good the whole race, too.

Before we left home, I had a small bowl of oatmeal, a cup of coffee, and a banana.  I had two "Just Plain" Gu gels on the course, which have some caffeine in them.  I had never tried that flavor, but it actually wasn't bad at all.  Along the way, I drank plenty of water and one cup of Powerade.  Afterwards, I skipped the beer. (Coors Light is rarely attractive to me, but at 9:30am after running that far, the thought of it made me feel like retching.)  I did grab a pork sandwich, a banana, and an apple.  That hit the spot. 

I wore my compression shorts and my shirt with the zippy pocket.  I wore my regular Saucony shoes and didn't have any blisters.  I also didn't have any of the issue with my foot that made me pause my training.  I couldn't be happier with the way my body handled it, really.  I noticed that my upper body didn't show any signs of tiredness until around mile ten or eleven.  I find it is really important for my upper body to hold good form, otherwise I get lots of aches and pains in my shoulders and back.  I think lifting has really helped strengthen my core and the rest of my body.

I'm really pleased that my brother came out to run with me.  We joked around, which made the miles past much quicker.  Wonderful time!  I think I'm already looking forward to next year!

Starting back up

I went out for a 2.5 mile run tonight.  So far, it seems to have gone well.  I might still take an ibuprofen to ward off any irritation.  Maybe I should ice, too.

I just ran.  No music.  No worry about speed.  I ended up running a 10:33minute pace, which is on the faster side for.  I felt like I was flying.  I definitely missed my runs these past couple weeks!

Now, I have to plan how I can best use these last three weeks before the 20k.  I think I'm going to try 4-5 miles this weekend.  Then I'll try a couple 3 milers during the week and maybe a 6 or 7 mile next weekend if I can.  These next few weeks are going to be crazy busy.  The main thing is I need to take care of the foot.

Long run outside

Today was my scheduled 3 mile "long run" from my 20k training plan.  Since we were visiting my parents, I told hubby, he had to go with me.  I got us up around 6:20 and hubby was not excited about getting up.  I told him I would call him lazy-butt if he didn't get up and go with me.  Luckily, that worked!  It was about 33F and overcast.  It turned out to be a nice 3.7 mile jog.  It's crazy hill here, though.

Still on track!

check another one off

I knocked out another 2 mile run from my 20k schedule.  I'm finding the draw of a schedule to be very helpful in getting myself out of bed in the morning.  My schedule is pretty tight if I want to only increase my weekly distance by about 10% per week and make the 20k in June.  The plan also includes a low mileage week in the middle.

I'm hoping to sweet talk DH into joining me on my scheduled 3 mile run this weekend.  We'll be at my parents' place, so for once, we'll have someone to watch the kiddos.  I hope the weather is good.

Today, I watched MTV while I ran.  Early in the morning I guess they assume their target clientele  is asleep (probably true) because, get this, they actually play music!  Wow.

Dreaming of running

This morning, when the alarm went off at 4:10, I decided that I could sleep longer and still get in my planned 2 miles.  So, I set another alarm for 4:45.  As I went back to sleep, I was trying to talk myself out of getting up early to work out.  My muscles were pretty sore from yesterday's lifting session.  But, as I slept, I dreamed I was getting ready to go running.  I don't think I ever made it.  I was looking for something I felt I needed.  When I woke up, I realized I needed to get up and go!  And I did!

Today's run was a treadmill run of 2 miles.  Nothing special.  The fan was off when I got there, so I moved it to point directly at me from the side and turned it on full speed.  Nice.  It was -4.5F outside when I left home.  There seems to be less ice outside, but in that cold there was no way I was going out!

I'm going to print out another SmartCoach schedule.  This time I really need to hold to it if I am going to run the 20k without increasing my distance too much.