April Recap

After a successful March of meeting goals and kicking ass, I set a slightly higher April goal, and off I went. So how'd it turn out? Welcome to the April Recap.

April Goal: After successfully running my 12 mile/week goal in March, I modestly increased my goal to 15 miles per week.

April Miles: 60.7. Sixty! I'm delighted. This is basically on target, and for three weeks I surpassed my target. Actually, and this blows my mind, I ran more miles in the last week of April than in any other single week since the week ending August 3, 2015. August.  

With a goal of 15 miles/week, I should have hit about 65 miles. However, we went house hunting in Ohio the week of April 3 and, confession: I did not run at all. I took running clothes, and was bummed that it didn't happen. My excuses were plentiful. First, we were staying downtown, which was really lovely, but not super conducive to running. Second, the weather was bullshit. Yeah, yeah. I know.

Cleveland

May Goal: I think I'm ready to aim for 20 miles a week, but I am planning a cut-back week this week. I'm setting the May goal at 75 miles.  

April Highlights: Oh, easy: my two mid-week runs last week were a blast. On Tuesday I took it up a notch, hitting 8:30 for mile 4. On Thursday, my birthday, I was in a great mood and I wanted to fly. Miles 1-4 were 8:30, 8:37, 8:33, and 8:32. And I was smiling, like probably the whole time. It was easily the best run I'd had in 8 months. 

Since I was feeling amazing after a legit tempo run, I decided to go for a full 8 miles on Saturday. The distance felt easier from an endurance perspective than had a slightly shorter long run the previous week, but I do need to step back slightly this week before ramping up again. 

Other Lovely Things in Life: Just, all the words. All of them. I'm not even sure where to start. 

On the moving front, things are moving forward full steam. My wonderful parents sold their place here, their household goods shipped last week, and they close on their place in Ohio in about a week. Our place is under contract and we are working through the check list (fingers crossed it goes smoothly!). We have an accepted offer on a place in Ohio which we bought via FaceTime (Who does that?!? Apparently we do. And only me. Mr. Joanna has only seen the listing pictures. No, really. This is a frequent topic of discussion in our house.) and have our moving truck and loading crews scheduled. It's all happening! It's all kind of still surreal, to be honest, but it's happening. There will be a whole post (or three) devoted to this. While it's surreal to me, I'm welcoming the whole circus of a journey with open arms. 

And this is starting already. I love it so much.

And my birthday. I felt so loved, so full of blessings and life and a new sense of wonder about the year ahead of me. And my little boy's birthday, earlier in the month. He's so ornery, so mischievous, so cherished. 

May is our last month in Utah before our return migration to the eastern time zone. It's going to be crazy, box-filled, and a blur of motion. Stay tuned!

December Recap

Well this is awkward! I haven't said one hot word on here about running since my Top of Utah Marathon recap back in September. Truthfully, I took some time off from running for a few weeks after the race, then I took longer off from the blog. It was a great time of recovery and giving increased focus to some other parts of life for a while. I didn't run a heck of a lot in October or November. But I'm back, with some miles and some pics.

Miles Ran: 68.9. I'm really good with that.

# Runs: 12. No speed work, but some variation in distance.

Favorite Run: It's always hard to choose, but running with my friend Tessa in the snow at the Jordan River Parkway was really, really nice. It was a sunny, bright day, with mostly clear paths, but with the sound of our shoes crunching on the snow here and there. We ran 7 pretty quick miles that day.

Other Notable Runs: Just before heading out for the run pictured above, I realized that I was 20 miles shy of hitting a pretty big number (stay tuned for the year end!), and decided that was my goal. After Tessa and I ran, I had 13 to go. I planned to split them up Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week (December 29-31). Monday, 5 miles, check. Tuesday, 3 miles planned....wind gusts up to 50mph, felt like it was -10. Our pipes froze (seriously). We heard on the news that there were hundreds of accidents on the interstates, so driving to an indoor track seemed like a bad option too. So today, NYE, I was due to run 8 miles. Mr. Joanna, the kiddo, and I all packed up and headed to the Utah Olympic Oval. It's a 442m/lap indoor track that loops an ice skating rink. The boys skated while I ran. It was really fun to get to watch them. And what runner wouldn't get inspired by all the Olympic paraphernalia? So cool. (if you can't make it out, the banner in the background says "US Olympic Team Trials").

Training Update: I am still in the off-season. I've registered for a half in June, but nothing else yet for next year. I'm mulling my options for a great race season. In the meantime, I'd like to drop some weight. My clothes are all fitting well, but I'd still like to drop some. 

House Project Completed: Unfortunately it's been a bumpy road on house projects (I'm planning a whole post called "What I Learned from Renovating My House for a Year"). However, so much has happened since I last shared. I finally finished re-painting my craft desk and putting the office back together. My Mom finished the window treatment for the master bath. We chose an area rug for the living room (love!). I painted the dining room, and am working on painting the master bedroom. I found end tables for the living room (finally), and some accessorizing in various rooms has happened. We've also given away and sold a bunch of stuff, which, if you know me, you know I love to de-clutter. So freeing. Our house is coming together, finally. It's been quite a process. 

Other Lovely Things from Life: White Christmas. Sledding. Hot chocolate. Knitting projects finished. Baking lovely things. New friends and very new friends. 

I hope your December was great, too!

Race Report: Top of Utah Marathon

I left you a week ago with all the stats heading into race day: miles trained, race goals, mantra, everything. Over the course of the week I continued my preparations like clockwork. On Wednesday I transitioned into a carb-focused diet. On Thursday and Friday I took special care to hydrate and rest. On Friday, I left for Logan right after work. The 90 minute drive took 2 hours due to construction and traffic, getting me there just in time for dinner with a dear colleague and friend (frolleague? collend?) and her son, then they went with me to the expo to see what it was like (and, ok, yes, to keep me from getting lost). We stayed up until about 10 talking, after which I laid out everything for morning, emailed Mr. Joanna a picture of the spectator's guide I'd gotten in my packet, and went to bed.

I slept in fits, waking up at least 4 times before my alarm went off at 4:45am. I got up and went through the motions. I made my pre-race breakfast but couldn't eat it because my stomach was upset (this is normal for me when I get up super early), so I took it with me to eat on the bus, which my friend was so very nice to shuttle me to.

5:15am bagel & jelly

Arrival at the bus to take me to the start line, 5:30am

Once aboard the bus, I sat next to a woman who was doing the race as a training run in advance of her A Game marathon in a few weeks. After we talked for a few minutes, and I unsuccessfully tried to munch on my bagel some more, I closed my eyes. It's unusual for me, but I was having some motion sickness with the bus going up the canyon in the dark. Closing my eyes helped, and 14 miles later we pulled into Hardware Ranch.  Even in the pitch black, it was gorgeous. The stars were bright, a sliver of moon was out. And slowly, slowly, the sun started to lighten the horizon to the east.

I got through the port-a-potty-ing, stood in the warm tent for about 10 minutes, and saw my very fast neighbor, gave up on my bagel and gear checked my stuff, then lined up. I introduced myself to the pacers (who I knew I probably wouldn't run with), set my Garmin, and we were off.

The first 14 miles of the race headed down Blacksmith Fork Canyon were gorgeous. The leaves were changing colors, the sunrise cast these big dramatic shadows over the jagged rocks, and there was a breeze to our backs. Incidentally, we passed a road sign declaring the possible presence of cows for the next 10 miles. But despite it all, I just could not get myself to relax and just enjoy the morning. A few factors were working against me:

• It took me about 9 miles to get into the groove of pacing on the downhill course. The downhill isn't constant, but is down, then levels out, then down, then levels out, and I'm not accustomed to that. I got there, but it took some time. Partly as a result of this,
• I went out too fast. About 20 seconds faster than planned in the first mile, and 10 in the second, which was good because
• Garmin error (where my Garmin reads the course longer than do the mile markers) was exaggerated in the canyon, I imagine because the road curved so much. And all of that is completely unrelated to the fact that,
• My right eye duct was clogged, as sometimes happens when I run in cool weather, and I could not get my right eye to stop producing tears. Like, lots of tears. Finally, I pressed on the duct hard enough that it felt like my sinus passage (what? yeah, I don't know, I was bad a biology. That's what it felt like) opened, and the tears stopped. This took 8 miles. 

HOWEVER, my trusty pace bands kept me on track mile-to-mile, and I felt fine. I'd successfully Gu'ed at miles 6 and 12 and put a new Gu tablet in my water around mile 11. I'd ran with the pace group for a bit around mile 7, then passed them. When we exited the canyon at mile 14, I was only 40 seconds off of my 3:55 goal time pace band. 

Out of the canyon, I expected the rolling downhill to proceed until mile 18, but it felt like it leveled out a bit. The hills in miles 18 and 19 were pretty much exactly what I'd expected (I'd gone so far as to Google Map stalk them earlier in the week). It took the entire mile from 18 to 19 to ingest my third Gu, and I knew then that there would be no fourth Gu at mile 24. My friend came to cheer for me between mile markers 19 and 20 and snapped this action shot. At this point, I knew that my energy supply was not infinite, but I was feeling ok and was keeping pace with my per-mile target times just fine. 

I ran mile 21 in 8:55, and 22 in 9:07, right on pace. But by the time I'd hit mile marker 22, the miles seemed to be lingering forever on my Garmin. I was ready for a boost from my race crew, but I had at least a mile until I'd see them. That mile took me 9:26, and as such was the first mile where I really missed my goal time, by 13 seconds.

Mr. Joanna had told me to look out for him and our boys at mile 23, but when I got to mile marker 23 I knew there was no way they'd be there. It was in this very residential area with lots of streets closed to traffic, and it wasn't close enough to the downtown finish area for them to have walked. I knew mile 24 was more convenient, and figured that's what he'd meant.

But oh, was I tired. So, so tired. My quads were trashed. My feet hurt. My fuel was running low. I was over it all. And right there, right there, is where the mental element of training kicks in. I started reminding myself of how I'd sworn I'd dig deep when it got hard. And finally, and shockingly on pace, I got to the mile 24 marker, and there were my amazing boys, cheering their hearts out for me. I told Mr. Joanna that I was on track but without much of a cushion. He knew this already because I was a minute behind the 3:55 pacer, but I didn't know that until much later.

As much as my body, and even my brain, were putting on the brakes, I was at the ready to overcome them, begrudgingly. The distance was passing more and more slowly, and I knew that soon I would not be able to make myself go faster. This was my arsenal of mental tricks to power through:

• I'd trained over 1000 miles for this. There was no chance in hell I'm letting go of my goal with [fill in the number] miles left. 
• So what if my feet hurt? 
• Remember how bitter that day in Cleveland was, and how long I've waited to vindicate myself at this distance. 
• This, this right here, this running while exhausted, this is what I've trained for. This is why I've trained on tired legs. This is why I've trained 5 days a week. For this moment. For powering through when I'm spent. For this. Now. 
• Turn off the brain, turn on auto pilot. My body can handle this. I've trained it to handle this. 
• I have a small cushion. I can slow down if I absolutely have to. A little. A very little.  

I ran mile 25 about 20 seconds slower than my goal pace. At about 25.6 I saw my boys again. Please let me be done--keep pushing--I want to be done, I'm so tired--one foot in front of the other--less than a mile. All I could manage to say was, "I'm so close!" I finished out mile 26 about 15 seconds slower than my target pace. 

A few more turns and I found myself looking down the straightaway at the finish line, one turn sooner than I'd expected. I heard my boys before I saw them, twice actually, and I finally spotted them on the left, near the leading edge of the crowd of spectators. I high-fived Mr. Joanna and our older son--there was no way I wasn't going to share this with them--and barreled down, such as I could, to the finish. 

I crossed the line, stopped my Garmin, and yelled. I'd done it. I'd finished in under 4 hours. 

Garmin time: 3:56:16

Chip time: 3:56:13

Gender place: 65/309

Overall: 199/657

The uncontrollable rush of emotions and adrenaline came pouring over me. I recapped to my boys, tried not to cry, drank chocolate milk, and started to cool down and stretch. I was incredulous, but I'd really done it. 

Finally, we headed back to my friend's to have lunch, hang out, and pick up my things, then head home. I'm writing this on Sunday night and I'm sore as anything, but wouldn't trade it for the world. What an experience. Thank you all for following my journey!

March Recap

Hello hello! I know I'm late to post my March recap. The USB to connect my Garmin to my computer went AWOL for about a week and a half. Stuff happens. :)

So how was March? March was lovely! I hit triple digits, successfully moved through another 4 weeks of training, and got to know people in my running group better each Saturday. Here are the stats:

Total miles: 102. Triple digits feels great.

# runs: 18

# other workouts: Over spring break we went skiing, which is one heck of a cross-training workout! It had been about 15 years since I'd skied, so needless to say there was some falling down, but by the end of the day I was in a groove. We definitely plan to go more than once next year!

Me and the Mr. at Snowbird lookin' goofy

Otherwise, I attended my yoga class twice. I did miss cross-training the week I went to San Antonio.

Favorite run: Can I pick three? First, he 9 mile long run that included some intense hills in the early miles, then a long, gradual downhill with great views after that. And of course, mile repeats are always a favorite. Then, getting to run outdoors along the canal in San Antonio while traveling for work was certainly a bonus.

Overall, my runs this month have been delightful. It would be hard not to love running when you get to see an amazing sunrise every day.

Sunrise over the mountains

Setbacks/Challenges: My Achilles have been really tight lately. I've never had this happen before, and I have no idea what I'm doing differently that is causing it. I've started stretching them in the mornings and more diligently after each run. Here's hoping it clears up!

House projects completed: My hubby painted his man cave. It looks great!

Training update: The Salt Lake Half is in 2 weeks!! Training has been going well and I'm looking forward to race day.

Things I'm looking forward to in April: The Salt Lake Half!!! My group ran the course this Saturday, so I know what to expect. CAN'T WAIT! Then, I'm also really looking forward to stepping up my training for the Utah Valley Half in June. It's a more aggressive training schedule--looking forward to seeing how far I can push myself.

Also, April means baby boy turns TWO (can you believe he's 2 already??) and I turn a larger number later in the month. And, classes end. #hallelujah.

Happy April Runners!! 

Where I've been since June

My last post was a question about trusting race medals to a moving truck. I got answers all over the board--everything from "if it means a lot to you and they're small, tuck them in the car" to "this made me laugh--the truck has all your stuff, it's probably fine." So what did I do? Was it fine? Oh, so much to tell.

Our move started on the 4th of July when Mr. Joanna flew east with our kiddos. They were going to hang out with the grandmothers while my Dad and I drove from MO to UT, close on the new place by the 14th, meet the moving truck by the 16th and get kids' rooms put together. I left MO on July 8th. That day was insane, starting with a run with my STL running buddy and friend Rachel, then signing all the sale papers on that house, and overseeing the movers as they loaded the truck. When the truck left, Dad and I left town. Our drive across the country was uneventful, we closed  a day late but we closed, and got busy painting immediately.

Me & Rachel after my send-off run. I miss this girl.

My Dad in downtown Omaha when we stopped for lunch

Downtown Cheyenne, which is adorable

Buying paint for the boys' rooms!

Mr. Joanna and the kids and my Mom (Pepper) were scheduled to fly to UT on 7/16. All that happened, except that at 5pm on the 15th we learned that our moving truck had not yet left MO and didn't even have a driver assigned and had failed to give us adequate notice because "they were busy". It was too late to get the flights from the east coast re-scheduled.....so, they arrived to an empty house and I was helpless to do anything at all about it. My parents stayed at a hotel until they left on the 22nd, and we bought enough provisions to essentially camp in our house--not without some bumps in the road, but we made it work.

Our things didn't arrive until July 28th, and I'm 99% positive that one of the people who unloaded the truck stole a pair of my earrings (which might have looked real to an untrained eye but weren't). NEVER USE NORTH AMERICAN TO MOVE!  I seriously cannot stress this enough and will happily give anyone the full details should it be useful to anyone. They were awful.

I made a point to swim at the hotels during our drive west, and I started running pretty soon after arriving, once I wasn't painting all day every day. My Garmin's charger was held hostage on the moving truck, so I ran tech-free until our things arrived.

Running in the high desert is a totally different animal than Midwestern or East Coast running. First, there is little to no humidity. This means that people are seen running at 90 degrees or even hotter temps (not me). Second, it gets cool at night even on the hottest days. This means that if you run at dawn, even on the hottest day of the year, it's completely reasonable. Third, I'm at 4600+ feet in elevation. The air is thin. This means that while it took only a few days to acclimate for everyday activities, running left me sucking air for several weeks. Fourth, it ain't flat! My glutes and hammies have been getting a good workout here, and I can already tell it's making me a stronger runner. 

Post-truck (when we finally got our stuff), we've settled in pretty well. While it was not our intention, we have become urban farmers. We grow an insane amount of produce, from which we've made homemade blackberry ice cream, apple pie, applesauce, grape juice, grape jelly, pear jam, and a few other smaller things. On the whole, eating healthy, whole, natural foods seems really easy here. It's a lifestyle, and it's so easy to love, especially when you grow the food yourself!

Stay tuned--there are TWO big announcements on the fitness front. Welcome back to JoannaRuns, everyone! Show me some love!

The Weekend Update

This just in:

1. My Mondays....on Notice? post is officially going down as the most controversial thing I've ever posted, which surprised me. In response to a reader inquiry on the etiquette of 26.2 stickers, y'all covered the gamut of possible responses. One felt put off that the runner community might snicker at the sticker rather than celebrate the accomplishment. A few were indignant about questionable 26.2 claims. The majority were in the middle though, feeling like it was a bit questionable, but it didn't detract from your accomplishments, so let it be. I think this is a pretty reasoned response. 
2. My maternity running top (that I scored a great Cyber Monday deal on--cha-ching!) came. I was super skeptical when I took it out of the package. I was sure they'd sent me a regular top. I should never have doubted. It's wonderful! Also, my new Nathan Handheld came and I got to try it out. Pictures and reviews to come. 
3. Said review was to come over the weekend, but...that may have to wait. Today started with me falling down basically an entire flight of steps in our house, then spending the next ~3 hours in the pregnant women's version of an ER getting checked out (by doctor's orders). I am fine and the baby is fine, thank goodness (seriously, God is good). But my tailbone does hurt quite a bit and pregnant running already puts more pressure than normal on that spot. So I think I need to let it heal for a few days before I get back outside. On the plus side, my hubby met me for lunch afterward and brought me a donut to cheer me up. Because he's wonderful. 

Mondays in Love: Chicago Marathon Weekend

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love everything about October + Running. I love it all, and Chicago Marathon Weekend is no exception. Over 40,000 participants and an estimated 100,000 spectators, it is something to behold. It also holds a special place in my heart. <3

I started endurance running with Team in Training in the spring of 2007. Our group was almost entirely training for either the Chicago Distance Classic (now Rock & Roll) or the Chicago Marathon. Meg and I did the CDC and planned to go back to Chicago to cheer for our teammates running the 26.2. When the weekend rolled around,Meg, Mr. Joanna and I headed north prepared with our glittery signs and ready to cheer our hearts out.

We went up on Saturday. Meg spent the day with her best friend (who happens to live there) and Mr. Joanna and I spent the day seeing the city. It was an incredibly sweet time for me, because we had the most wonderful secret in the world: I was pregnant with my son. I so happily spent the day wandering through crowds seeing the Field Museum, taking a ferry boat ride, visiting the Navy Pier, and eating yummy food, knowing that no one around us knew. Something about being in a city and a weekend away made that feeling memorable. 

 Of course, race day 2007 turned out to be a huge moment in American running, for being cancelled part way through for heat. I actually saw the "race canceled" signs. I'd been sitting in the shade sweating as we spectated, and had seen the fire trucks spraying water on runners, but still did not really understand the severity of the situation until later, when I heard it from my Teammates and read about it in Runners World.

We saw all our Teammates and one of our coaches, and all our people made it safely through the day.

This year, being pregnant again and spectating (albeit from a distance), I couldn't help but reminisce on Chicago 2007. I can't wait to read the race recaps from my bloggy peeps who were there this weekend!

Mondays (work with me) in Love: My Love

A few posts back some of you commented on the incredible invention that is my husband's invisible bike. Did he have invisible friends to go with it? Was he doing the happy bike dance? People who knew him in college might have asked if he got an invisible bike to go with his albino alter-ego.

Sidebar: Seriously, the man is pale. And blond. And pale. Back in the days when people used AIM his user name involved the word Albino. Really.

While an invisible bike would have been a really good trick, he did in fact get the traditional visible kind. I think he was just a little sheepish about sharing it with you.

(yes, that is really my husband. We're a bunch of hams over here, and I love it)

His real bike is the Giant Escape (lol, he bought a giant escape). He's been riding through the park and neighborhood and has even used it to commute to work a few times. I love love love that he's doing this. It makes both of us smile. That's what I'm in love with this Monday (like I said, work with me)--my hubby's new bike habit.

Think I'll catch the bike bug one day? Have you??

Weekly Wrap-Up

Week Three of Rebuilding the Base: Complete. My theme here is slow and steady wins the race (well, not really. I don't think Meb's going to adopt that phrase or anything, but you know what I mean).
My WIN this week: I did build mileage on my "long" run this weekend...but I also cut out my Friday run to keep from increasing mileage too much at once.
My PLAN for next week: keep the long run distance and add the Friday run back in. That will finally get me back to the mileage I'm after.

Monday: easy 4.1 through the park

Tuesday: rest day

Wednesday: easy 4.1 through the park

Thursday: yoga. And easily a highlight of my week, I finally nailed the side plank. As a runner, I tend to neglect my abs and related muscles, and that became blatantly obvious when I started this yoga routine a few weeks ago. I couldn't even do the side plank with my arm bent at the elbow and resting on the forearm. Total no-go. Until this week. That felt like a huge victory.

Friday: Not entirely intentional but strategic enough rest day.

Saturday: 5.6 mile long run success and NO pain. It was dark and rainy this morning, so I waited for a break in the clouds and headed out while it was still on the cool side. Gorgeous day, and I loved seeing so much going on in the park--an adult league softball tournament, a wedding being set up for later in the day, tents being set up for some sort of festival, a family reunion, a church group picnic. It is so fun to see people loving on the park and having a great time.

And, and this is beyond exciting for me, my love got a bike! He's been talking about it for a while (it was to be my anniversary gift to him, and that was back in June!) and looked unsuccessfully for a used one that would fit him. Last night he went to a local bike shop and brought one home. I am thrilled that he's getting back into a hobby that he enjoys and that will let him love our park and neighborhood like I do.

Total miles: 13.7
Total XT: 60 minutes

A little running, a little mid-week randomness

My first run back

I finally got to run today, my first since Cleveland. I hit my usual 4 mile loop through the park. My legs were really heavy for the first mile, but I got into it and the pace seemed natural to me (negative splits from 9:28 to 9:00, yeah baby!). I got a little extra motivation toward the end--as I was crossing the main road back to my neighborhood, the tornado siren started going off! I don't think I've ever finished my run with such focus. :)

The storm was kinda crazy. I ended up in the basement for a while. My husband and son were ushered into the basements of their respective buildings (work and daycare) downtown. We had roughly walnut or ping pong ball sized hail. We still missed the brunt of the storm though, thankfully. Here in the Show-Me State I think we've all been mostly holding our breath and looking toward Joplin as they braced for another storm. 

....and some random

Today's accounting:

6 purses (including two I plan to deconstruct for their bamboo handles)

1 pair dress pants

1 dress shirt

1 J. Crew dress shirt for Mr. Joanna

1 J. Crew zippy sweater (which looks HUGE in this picture) for me

__________________________________________________________________

$5. 19

I know it sounds a little crazy, but remember those girls from my birthday lunch? Well, we played a little hooky from work today and got a fancy-schmancy breakfast at a gorgeous bakery in my neighborhood, then headed to the Outlets. What Outlets? The Goodwill Outlet. Yep. That's what I said. The Goodwill Outlet. Where you buy clothing by the pound. At the rate of 79 cents. Even if stuff ends up not fitting, at worst it was maybe 30 cents wasted. And you can just donate it right back anyway. Win-win.

I think we went mostly out of curiosity, and I have to say, I had a blast. We dug through these huge bins of everything and found some great items. It's definitely an experience, and an insanely economical way to shop if you have the time to dig through the mostly unorganized bins and inspect everything you think you might want.

And for those of you who do crafty things, this is BY FAR the cheapest way I've ever thought of to get bamboo handles. I'm using mine (from that light green number--haven't decided if I'm going to destroy the gray-blue one yet) to make something sort of like this. It's going to be awesome. You're all going to want one.

March of Dimes and bday recaps

The last few days have been a really happy time for me. My birthday was nothing short of fantastic and I got to run a 5k on Saturday for a good cause. {long post warning!}

Reasons my birthday totally rocked:

• My little boy held a bouquet of flowers for me and stood by the front door waiting for me to come home on Thursday. Unfortunately I came in through the back--oops! Completely adorable anyway. 
• My hubby bought me a few, small things that I would have considered luxuries to buy for myself. I think those are the best gifts! Not spending tons of money, not going over the top, but thoughtful things. AND he brought me donuts at my office in the middle of the day. He rocks my face off! (and no, I did not eat them all myself, but I thought about it!)

• I lunched with two girls I've gotten to be friends with at work, then Thursday evening went out for drinks with one of them. We had such a good time! AND, she brought me fresh eggs from her landlord's urban chickens. Because I kind of have this thing with urban chickens. I mean, honestly, people do that?!? Apparently yes. 

• I got thrown out of a colleague's office, lol. He had seized an opportunity earlier in the day and I was beating myself up for not having thought of it. He reminded me that I don't think of these things because I'm new at the job. He asked how old I was (he's my dad's age). I told him it was my birthday, actually, and told him how old I was turning. And he said, "Get the hell out of my office." I <3 my co-workers. 
• Yesterday Mr. Joanna and I went to see A Prairie Home Companion live. I've wanted to see it for years. Probably since I read Lake Wobegon Days in high school. If you're from a small town and you've never read it--do! After the show we had dinner with a group of friends and hung out with some of them until late in the evening. It was such a good time!!
• I got a ton of messages from friends on Facebook, through email, and a few phone calls. It put such a smile on my face! Not to mention the earlier celebrations I'd had with The Beastie, my parents, and my MIL. 

All told, it was a great birthday/weekend with friends near and far. And the weekend was great for another reason, too--I got a new 5k PR in a race put on by a great organization, March of Dimes. I'm pretty sure the swag was worth more than what I paid in entry fees--talk about a win-win! Here's the recap: 

The 5k was much smaller than the 2 mile walk, and started 5 minutes earlier. So the line-up was small, and there wasn't a starting mat. Everyone's start time was gun time, even though it was chip timed. They counted down and sounded a loud horn and we took off, going immediately down a short hill to start. I couldn't help myself, I just took off! I looked at the Garmin about a minute in and saw that I was under a 7-minute pace. Ooops! Had to rein it in, so I did, at least a little. The first mile ticked off pretty easily, at a 7:32 pace. 

Early in the second mile I caught up to a dude about my age. As I came up on him I saw him look over at me. He might as well have said it out loud--he did NOT want to get chicked! He picked up the pace and got about a shoulder ahead of me. He held on for about 30 seconds then "pulled over" and slowed way down and let me pass him. I'm pretty sure it was my only chicking of the day. I'll be honest--it made me smile. :) About half-way through the second mile I was surprised I was still holding my pace and feeling good about it. It started getting hillier and windy farther into the mile. Mile time: 7:45. 

At the beginning of the third mile I faced the steepest hill yet and was running into stiff wind. I was working hard and not moving very quickly. I kind of wanted it to stop for a minute, but I knew if I gave up for even a second I would hate myself for it at the end. I remembered my mantras and dug in and pushed. My pace follows the same curve as the elevation changes pretty closely. Mile time: 8:01.

In the last tenth I took off, per the usual. As I crossed the finish the timing crew started waving a thing like a ping pong paddle at me. Have any of you ever seen timing done like that? No finish mats, but hand-held sensors? It was a first for me. I wondered how they would handle the clumps of people. 

Total time (and new PR): 24:13. woot!!

I made a new local runner friend while waiting for the awards announcement. Then the awards came and something totally unprecedented happened: I took second overall for the women! Even though it was a really small race, I couldn't believe it! I got a little trophy, which my son has since confiscated and calls it the Piston Cup (since, of course, all things revolve around Cars). 

After the race, I headed out for a loop around the park to finish off the rest of my miles for the day (12 total). It's really not my favorite place to run, but the change of scenery was nice, and the weather was great. Overall, it was a great birthday and weekend. Thanks to everyone who was a part of it!

Post-half training

I noticed that JoannaRuns got a few new followers this week--welcome, and thanks for joining my journey!!


I learned a lot this week. Primarily, that I left too much on the course last Saturday. But it took me a few days to figure this out. Going into this week I had 40 miles on the schedule, which is a first for me, ever. I kept telling myself, "Sure, it's 40 miles, but it's an easy 40." Um, right. Just because there was no speed or pace work doesn't make the distance any shorter.

• Monday: 5 miles, easy. My legs felt like J-e-l-l-o for about 1.5, then it was fine. 
• Tuesday: our yoga instructor didn't show up...again. So my yoga buddy and I went out to breakfast instead. Yeah, I'm hardcore like that.
• Wednesday: 8 miles, easy. It was pretty unremarkable. Average pace 9:46. 
• Thursday: missed the 6:40am text from my neighbor saying she needed more sleep. So I waited 10 minutes then headed out to hit our usual route. Soon thereafter I went to the airport to pick up The Beastie for our epic scrappy weekend, which included this:
  
  
• Friday: due to a scheduling conflict I decided to switch my rest day from Sunday to Friday, then run Saturday and Sunday. So I rested. 
• Saturday: Friday night I stayed up late eating cake and drinking wine, so an early morning run wasn't happening. That left me 6:30-7:45pm to run. Conveniently placed right after dinner, I wanted to puke every.single.step of the way. It was a really bad decision. I finished 6.3 of my 8 mile run before it got dark and I *really* wanted to hurl. Gross. My stomach hurt all night up to and including,
• Sunday: at 4am, when I woke up to take The Beastie to the airport. I got home at 5:30am, crawled back into bed, and just fell asleep before The Kiddo awoke at 5:45 demanding chicken nuggets. WTF. Even though Sunday is my weekend day to get up with him, Mr. Joanna took the bullet and let me stay in bed. i love that man so much. 

I really never did recover enough today to be productive. It was hard enough to walk to the park and sit on a bench while the kiddo played for an hour. And grocery shopping was almost torture. It was only this morning that I accepted the truth: I PR'ed by a bigger margin than I expected last weekend. Then I didn't decrease mileage at all (just intensity). Then I ran 6.3 miles about 20 minutes after eating dinner. Then I got up at 4am and slept in snippets through the morning after that. The outcome:

the 16 miles just wasn't happening today.

I've accepted that life got in the way of my best laid plans. I also acknowledge that I have a tendency to over-schedule myself, but honestly, that's how I'm happiest. Even so, I've accepted all of the following about today's FAIL:

1. I'm afraid. I have a marathon in 5 weeks. I only have 2 more really long runs, and I've only hit 16 miles once so far this training cycle. So I'm afraid. Am I really going to be able to PR by the margin I've imagined?
2. I'm relieved that I allowed myself to rest. I needed it, and it was the right decision. 
3. I have no idea what time I'm going to pull at Cleveland. 
4. The recent heat wave (90? In April? Really?) has me scared about weather on race day.
5. I now understand what it means to "leave too much on the course" 

Tomorrow begins a new week of marathon training. I'm going to nail this week. It's another 40 mile week, and it includes speed and pace work, and I'm determined. The next 2 weeks are absolutely critical. Stick with me. 

March recap

this will be my last transmission from Earth's Central Time Zone, er, this will be my last blog post before the Martian Half. The kiddo and I head out tomorrow and we're ready for an awesome weekend. Mr. Joanna is ready for a long weekend of mostly yard work at home, sadly. But before heading out, the March Recap!


Miles planned/ran: 141/128.9
Rest days planned/taken: 5/6
Highest mileage week: 36.8
Long runs planned/ran: 4/3.5 (because this happened)
Pace workouts planned/ran: 3/3 
XT days planned/done: 5/5
Tempo or interval runs planned/ran: 5/5
Favorite run: I'm going to have to say my 16-miler. I had some fun and confidence-boosting tempo and pace workouts, but the 16-miler had gorgeous weather and I got my pacing right FTW. 
Current goal: sub-2 half on Saturday!!
Current obsession: see Current goal.
Current need: new dress pants, because nothing I own fits. See "current excitement," and no, I am not pregnant. 
Current excitement: too many to choose from~the trip this weekend, my continuing weight loss (thank you, sparkpeople!), and a visit from The Beastie next week!!
Current bane of my existence: the big toe on my right foot. Yep, still hurts. 
Current wish list: Crabtree & Evelyn lavender shower gel. I'm almost out and I always feel like it's a luxury to buy it. 
Current indulgence: As an early birthday present, my Mom bought me a necklace that I fell in love with while we were strolling around a boutique a few neighborhoods over. It's gorgeous and I love it! 


Special March Addition to the recap:
I've finally picked a name for the new Garmin: Clepsydra. This was a nomination from RunningFirst and I really like it. It's Greek for water clock/water thief. What better name for a running accessory could there be?!? Thank you for all the name suggestions! 

A lesson learned. Maybe.

I've had THREE, count 'em, three firsts on my runs recently. 

1. I saw someone I know while doing my pace run last week. I was shocked! And thrilled! 
2. I topped 30 miles last week. Believe it or not, this was a first for me! Like I said, kicking a** and taking names this training cycle! Look for a February recap probably tomorrow.
3. This past Friday night Mr. Joanna and I hosted a new city/new friends get together at our house. It was so nice to feel like we've met enough people to throw a party like this. And it felt so good to laugh with friends. Even the kiddo had a blast, and upon waking up Saturday morning asked if he could go downstairs to see all the people. Say it, collectively, awwww. He's adorable. But enough gushing. How does this pertain to running? It meant that I was not getting up early Saturday to run 14 miles. So the 14 miles got put off until Sunday afternoon. This is where the lesson learned/first while running enters the scene.
   
   I got through my 14 miles more or less unscathed. There was some fatigue in places, but nothing unusual or unexpected. When I got home I grabbed some water, stopped to put my distance into Running Ahead, check email. Then I realized that my stomach was cramping and I was freezing. Time to quickly jump in the shower. I tried. I really tried to take a cold shower to help my legs. But I was so cold to begin with that I just almost cried when the water hit me. I could only stand it for about 15 seconds before I had to turn up the temp at least a little.
   
   For at least 6 hours after my shower, my stomach hurt and all things digestive were off. So here's what I need to know--was this caused by:
1. The fact that I consumed 3 Gu's during the run--one before, one at mile 7 and one at mile 13, and all 3 had caffeine in them. 
2. The fact that I did this run on Sunday afternoon and probably hadn't eaten enough (since 7am I'd had a bowl of oatmeal and a PBJ, the run started at 1pm)
3. The fact that I'm on a zpack for the sinus infection (yes, still--it turns out I was allergic to penicillin, but that's a whole other story). 

I think the lesson learned is not to take 3 caffeinated Gu's, but I don't know. All I know is that it was an awful experience post-run, and I want to do everything in my power to avoid it happening again. Have any of you ever had this happen? What went wrong?

730.1 AND DONE

Guess what? I DID IT! Today's 6-miler put me one little tiny tenth of a mile over my yearly goal. After all the confusion and re-planning, I can officially say that this year is in the books. DONE. And as proof of this (and proof that I don't post only the nice pictures), here I am the minute that treadmill stopped. And btw, and you can quote me on this, you know you're a runner mom when you wipe sweat off your brow at 4.3 miles and realize that your hands smell like Play-Doh. 

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all of your support and encouragement, not just here at the end, but throughout the year. It's been a totally crazy year. I liked the list approach RunningFirst took, so I'll do the same. Here's a good/bad recap of the year in roughly chronological order.

1. I got to run a half-marathon with my much-missed Meg
2. I PhinisheD my PhD! And had a great big party. My West Virginians came and everything. 
3. With the Team, I ran my first trail race the morning of my son's second birthday....and had an emergency appendectomy that night. And an open house the next day. 
4. We sold said house. (well, sort of. It's complicated, but is occupied by people other than us)
5. My parents came to help finish packing, moving, and painting the new place. I drove over our mailbox with a 24' Uhaul truck. We had movers pack the truck, but still needed help at the end. Some of our good friends came to our rescue and helped us get the job done. Then I drove all our worldly belongings to our new house in a new city and state. 
6. The Beastie and her husband came to visit. Saying goodbye was really hard, knowing that they were moving many states away. We'd lived nine of the last eleven years within a few miles of each other. Thank goodness for Skype.  
7. Mr. Joanna and I started new jobs, the kiddo started a new daycare.
8. I endured the hottest long run in history (let's assume no one's ever actually run Badwater). 
9. I tripped and ate massive quantities of asphalt while running...twice. Consequently gave up wearing statement tees, such as one that might have said "Kick Asphalt" that I might have been wearing the second time I fell. 
10. RunningFirst came down to run L&C with me, my second marathon. I set a new PR by 27 minutes, which I'm still pretty proud of. 
11. I got to see some of my college girls, meet some of their other friends, tour San Francisco and run a half-marathon there, including going over the Golden Gate bridge! Not my fastest race, but fun. And I got to run it with Frank (and her "passenger"!).
12. Two trips to Detroit, one for the baptism of my newborn niece and the other for Christmas. 
13. After months of repairs and breakdowns, Mr. Joanna finally got a new car that includes such luxuries as a radio and working windows. Then wrecked mine. (I got glared at for that last part, but it's true. Although it was a minor fender bender and it's been fixed). 
14. I met my running goals for the year and did it injury free!!

I hope I'm not forgetting anything. I probably am. There were so many big moments, not just in our lives but in the lives of our friends.  

In conclusion for 2010, here is the monthly mileage report from runningahead. I'm really grateful that RunningFirst introduced me to this site this year. It's been great for helping me track everything. It's no surprise that June was my lowest mileage month, given the appy and the move. What this graph also tells me is that I clearly need to be doing more tempo and interval work. I also know from my incredible (and historically unprecedented) inflexibility that I have to do more cross-training (read: I need to do some, any cross training).  I'm on it. In the next few days I'm going to start putting together, with help from RunningFirst (aka, Coach Mike) my training plan for spring. Here's to high hopes for my spring races!!

Inexplicable popping of the deuces

Sometimes you run and you're focused on the run. Sometimes you look at the scenery. Sometimes you don't look at anything or focus on anything. Your mind just wanders. And then you snap out of it and realize several miles have passed. Today was one of those runs. My mind just wandered and processed my work week and things to do before Thanksgiving and a hundred other things. Like my header says, this is my me time.

My 4-miler yesterday and my 5.8 today reminded me that I need to pull it together and get back to the consistent running I was doing all fall. For one thing, my 4-miler left me a little sore, which is unacceptable. It reminded me how quickly endurance drops off. And, it reminded me how much more enjoyable running is when you're running consistently and it feels easy. And then there are those upcoming races. That's right.

I signed up for my first ever Turkey Trot! It's a 5k on Thanksgiving (this coming Thursday).

I am super excited about this. I haven't run a 5k since high school cross country. I'm not only pretty sure I can beat my fastest time (I remember approximately what it was), but I know I'm going to have a great time doing it. Pictures and race recap will follow!

Finally, Running Diva Mom's post about hitting her goal for the year reminded me that I haven't posted miles recently. I'm at 659 for the year. I realize this is really low for a lot of you and high for others. Back in January, I set a goal for 720 miles for the year. Just 60 to go! With just about 6 weeks left to go in the year, that means about 10 miles per week. I've got this!! How are you doing with your goals this year?? Do you already know your goals for 2011?

632.6 + 13.1 + 3.9 + 4 + 5.8 = 659.3

In non-running news, Mr. Joanna and I went out without the kiddo last night. Once a month the kiddo's school hosts a parents' night out, where the kids stay and eat dinner, watch movies, hang out in jammies, all that. They have a blast and we get a night out. We had SUCH a good time. We went out to a low-key dinner, went to a Blues game (hockey, my first NHL game!), and got ice cream afterwards (growing up, my family always went out for dessert after outings--it's a nice tradition). I think more Blues games are in our future! We only took 2 pictures at the game. I had a hard time choosing between this goofy pic or the one where Mr. Joanna was inexplicably popping the deuces.