August Recap

It's September 1. This morning I ran with my beloved purple plaid arm sleeves and a tank top, and this evening I will change out my summer wreath for a fall one on my front door. Summer is over. Yes, I love summer. I'm an academic--of course I love summer. But fall running is the best. The leaves. The cool mornings. The races. Love.it.all. So here's to putting a bow on a pretty spectacular August.

Early August
The first week of August led up to the Hofbrauhaus 10k, which holds a special place in my heart. Last year I ran it just to see if I was fit and uninjured enough to hold a sub-9 minute pace for 6 miles. I loved the super flat, out and back course, and the post-race party. I looked forward to race registration all winter, and was delighted when my MIL paid for my entry as a birthday gift.

Pre-race with Cathy, part of my Sunday morning crew

When August rolled around this year, I'd set my sights on really racing it, with a goal of running about a 7:30 pace. Mother Nature had other intentions, and saddled me with a terrible cold. I was not able to run my desired pace, but I was thankful for the opportunity to race.

After the race I heard an announcement about checking your finishing place at a tent. I was curious how I'd done. I made my way over and had to laugh when the guys' side had a really long line and the women's had about 5 people--it felt like justice for women's restrooms (and, ok, maybe a testament to the male ego). I checked my place and was surprised to learn I'd placed second in my age group!

I'll take it!

Mid-August

By mid-August, to focus on the positive outcome of a fairly terrible story, I had the occasion to reconnect with some wonderful ladies I used to run more with than I had recently. We planned a Dash & Dine, which is exactly what it sounds like. I had so much fun. I really missed this group.

Robin somehow escaped the photo op

Also, mid-month, I did my first speed work in several months. It was 800s, which I love doing. I was at the end of my cold and wasn't sure if my lungs were ready to be pushed that hard. I hit my target paces. I also wondered if my neighbors thought I was crazy as I kept running around the block.

Late August
By late August my Sunday morning group found ourselves in the dark at 6am. The first time this happened we just ran together until the horizon lightened enough to let us see our surroundings better. After that we decided to meet a little later.

We clean up ok! Missing Katie's mom and Cathy though

I've enjoyed my Sunday morning group so, so much. I admire and have fun with the women I run with, and the place we run at is absolutely beautiful. The last few weeks we've watched the fog lift off the river as the sun rises and watched egrets (I think) hunt over the water. I've taken in fields full of yellow wildflowers, and along the riverbank, beautiful wild lilies. This is an easy place to love.

On weekday runs, by late August I'd mixed things up by running in other neighborhoods a few times. On one of those runs Candice introduced me to one of her running friends who I'd never met. Good times!

Meeting new runner friends

Looking forward to September, I have a month full of training leading up to the Towpath Half in early October. I'd love a PR but will settle for a course PR. We'll see how this month goes.

In summary:
Miles: 124.5

Cross Training
Days lifting weights: One! Yikes! I thought I was doing better than this.
Yoga: Twice.
Ok, so clearly the bump in miles this month meant less cross-training. I will try to do better on this in September. 

So were I am in Week 2 of Highest Mileage Ever Weeks (for a while, anyway). Not sure how to introduce this, so I'll just say it: I've had a pain on my left butt bone for about 13 months. The hamstring attachment point has been one huge knot of a muscle for that long. At lower mileage weeks, it was a low, dull, yet constant ache that I could pretty easily ignore. But as mileage has grown, it's gotten harder to ignore. So in January I started fulfilling my XT workout with yoga. It was love. And last week I finally bought a foam roller.

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funny sidebar: my 2-year-old rolls his whole body over the foam roller, which he calls a "steamroller" and says, "Oh, it hurts!" Can you say parrot?
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The pain has not gone away. So I decided to go for the trifecta: yoga, foam roller, and sports massage therapy. I went to my first appointment today, fully prepared for it to hurt like a sonufabitch. And it did. The therapist started and said, "well, your hamstring is tight, but I don't feel a knot. Up an inch? Oooooooh....that's a big knot." Yeah.

I learned a lot:

1. I actually have 2 injuries, both on my left side. One at the hammy attachment point, and another on the muscle between my bottom rib and the side/back of my hip. Both contribute to the pain I've been feeling. 
2. The rib/hip injury is very likely from carrying my son on my left hip all the time. The truth is, I love having my baby on my hip. But he's almost 3. He's heavy. So Momma has to cut back on carrying the kid. He rarely needs to be carried. I just like doing it. 
3. The hammy/butt bone injury is sort of a weirdo, because the surrounding muscles that should also hurt don't hurt nearly enough. 
4. I knew I was flirting with IT soreness, but I didn't realize how closely I was flirting with it. The left side is definitely tender. I've been stretching, but will be more careful about it. 

And just so I don't leave you picture-less, Happy St. Patrick's Day, y'all. 

A new weekly best!!

SO PUMPED to tell you that I hit a new personal best mileage week: 36.8 miles! Last week was insanity on a few fronts. My running attire went from thermal tights to short sleeves and shorts. Work was totally out of control. Oh, and in case I didn't mention it, I put 6+ miles on my standing highest mileage week ever. Go me. Here's the recap.

Monday
4 miles easy. It was 34 degrees for this early morning run, so I hit the streets in thermal tights, a jacket, gloves, and, for the last time ever, my Penn State ear warmer.

Tuesday
Yoga. Class starts at 7am. By 7:15 I was ready to walk out. This chick was hardcore and I wasn't in the mood for it. But I guess she does the hardest part of her workouts first. It turned out to be a great workout.

Wednesday
By far my most memorable run of the week. I told The Redhead that if "Hills are for Heroes" then "Wind is for Winners." Yes, yes, I am laying claim to this mantra on behalf of all Midwesterners. It was gray, windy, and cold out. Every time I rounded the bend of the track and came into head-on wind, I just had to repeat that mantra and keep pushing on. I did a 1 mile warm-up, a 4 mile tempo+ run, and a 1 mile cool-down. My tempo times were 5-18 seconds faster than scheduled. I feel good exceeding my goal times consistently. And in case you're wondering, when I do tempo runs mid-day at work, I use the track because I work in a highly urbanized area and get stopped at lights too often to reasonably run a tempo workout.

Thursday
3 mile recovery run with my neighbor. I think we're going to make this a regular thing, which I'm pretty excited about. :) Also a point of excitement: the debut of my new Pearl Izumi ear warmer. LOVE it.

Friday
7 mile pace run. Went well. Not much else to say there. Debuted the new pairs of Brooks.

Saturday
16 mile long run. By far my most successful long run this training cycle. Woot! I made a conscious effort to keep the early miles at the same pace I'd expect of the later miles. I kept roughly a 10:07 mile pace, which is only about 17 seconds slower than my goal race pace. It was a gorgeous 60 degrees and sunny. Absolutely beautiful. It felt so good to do my long run in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. Eat your heart out, winter!!

I'm feeling good about the distance at this point. I build miles again next week, then cut back before Martian. Next week is also a lighter week at work. It's gonna be awesome.

Week 1: Check

Woohoo! Week 1 of training, check! See, I even checked off the days on my color-coded training schedule. 

So what did I learn from Week 1? This training schedule is awesome. There is nothing on it that I can't handle, and yet it is definitely a big step up from what I've done in the past. Pace runs? Brand new to me. Tempo runs? Usually done by accident in the past. Actually XT'ing? Haven't done that since 2007. I'm also slowly learning to be more disciplined about time management + training. It's hard! But there is something alluring about the discipline it takes to cram everything into every week. 

I should be able to get off the 'mill this week. My neighborhood still has patches of snow and ice, but closer to work things are basically clear. Time to re-test the Garmin, which last I checked was still misbehaving. 

But then I had a nice long conversation with Garmin support (in which the tech support guy openly admitted to keeping his VCR so he can watch 80's sci-fi. Nerd.) that gave me new hope. So check back for that...and also, my first giveaway! Coming soon to a JoannaRuns near you. 

On Training Eve

So here I sit, on the eve of my spring training cycle, with some concerns and some things to admit. 

Concerns--that I don't have the time necessary to train for a full marathon. That the pain where my left hammy attaches to my butt bone will get worse (the doctor wrote "buttock pain" on the MRI order. I can't make this stuff up. And I'm skipping the MRI). That other injuries will surface--which every, every runner worries about. 

Things to admit--I love my job. LOVE it. But I'm also pretty overwhelmed with my current workload. I am more than a little bit stressed out. And I hate to even blog this because I hate not to be upbeat. Negative Nancy I am not. But it's what has kept me from blogging here recently. I definitely need you guys--to tell me that no one hits their training plan perfectly, that I *can* get through this. Even, and this is my real hope, that all the running will help me deal with the stress. 

On a lighter note, my brother had a job interview here last week. He flew in a day early so we could hang out and I could show him the city. We had lunch at a fantastic place in my neighborhood. He liked his sandwich so much that he wrote down its description from the menu to read to his wife. While on the phone with her he says, "If we move here, it's pretty much going to be for this sandwich." 

And to answer a question from The Black Knight, no, I am still on the dreadmill! I am super impressed by all you Michiganders and Canadians (wait, what's the difference??) who are running outdoors still. Y'all are crazy. This was my street this afternoon. Completely gorgeous, but since the park rangers don't shovel or salt the paths through the park, I'm inside for a while. 

Two last things to leave you with before training starts tomorrow. First, I joined sparkpeople about a month ago and am quite proud to announce that I've lost 4 pounds! Six more to go to reach my goal. I am *so* excited to get back to a race weight I'm happy with. It makes me feel better, look better, and will help me lower my race times. Updates to follow.

Second, a while back I said that a goal of this training cycle is to re-incorporate XT into the week. Well, I signed up for an hour long PowerFlow Yoga class on Tuesday mornings. I am pretty excited about it. Can't wait to get some flexibility back and work on core a little bit.

I am so much better positioned to beat the hell out of my training cycle than I ever have been before. I'm more experienced, I'm not pregnant, postpartum, or breastfeeding, I'm not defending a dissertation, moving, or starting a new job. And for the first time, I have a training schedule that I put together with help from RunningFirst that's personalized for little old me. Are you ready? I'm as ready as I'm going to be. Let's do this thing.

Moving edition part 2: the importance of moving truck insurance

Ok, ok. It's been a while. I know. But, I have good news! I've found at least one AWESOME running route here in my new city! But before I get to that, I'm going to give you the blink-and-you'll-miss-it version of our move.

On the 22nd, I drove down with my Dad for the closing. All went smoothly and by evening we were unloading the cars into the new place. Over the next 4ish days we painted 5 rooms. I had to laugh at us when, well after dark, we were both crammed in this little half bath with a ladder trying to paint. The room is so small, it was comically stupid to move either of us or the ladder. And without sunlight, we couldn't reasonably tell if we'd painted well or not. All said, I think the painting projects turned out well. Even if the guy at the paint counter at Home Depot was on a first name basis with us by the end.

Living for 5 days on just the stuff we could fit in our cars (which were mostly full of the things we didn't want to put in the moving truck, like crystal) meant vaguely camping in a house. For instance, this is the extent of our available dishware.

While it was just Dad and me here, I took him to the Botanical Garden and to lunch at my new favorite lunch place, as a belated birthday present (he knew I had something planned, he just didn't know what). We had a nice time, and it was nice to learn a bit of the history of this town when we toured the "country house" at the botanical garden.

Jump to Sunday (6/27). We headed back to the old place to help round up the last of the packing, then pick up the truck on Monday. We had moving helpers come to load the truck. When they were finished I moved the truck out of our driveway and to the curb for the night. In the process of doing this I....

(Photo courtesy of one of The Minnesotans, who outed my driving skillz on Facebook)

Yep. Drove over our mailbox with a 26' moving truck. Tire tracks and everything. *$!@!!

(And a HUGE thank you to our wonderful, wonderful friends for helping us finish up the loading that night!)

The actual drive to the new town was pretty easy. A little slow, but not bad. The guys we hired to unload did a great job. And thus we commenced living in a box village.

With Pepper, my Dad, Mr. Joanna, me, and the babe (who is adorable but the opposite of helpful), we commenced unpacking. And unpacking. And unpacking. And figuring out that the guy who lives behind us can open our garage door with his garage door opener, which is sort of another comical story. All told, we're getting there. One day hopefully soonish, we'll live in something that looks like a home. I'm smiling thinking of how close we really are!

On the training front, I went WAAAAAAY too many days without a run (11 to be exact) during this epic transition. BUT, I got back to training on Friday and found an awesome path. I will post pics soon!! There is a park near my house that is almost 4 miles around, tons of trees, water fountains, non-car paths. Basically the perfect running route. I am one happy Joanna Running. So, re-commence training for Lewis & Clark! The Friday run was a little rough. I mean, 11 days off. It was a little rough. My lungs wanted to know who I thought I was kidding. But the longer run on Saturday was awesome. It felt so good to be back at it. Time to rack up some miles.

mileage: 293.3 + 3.9 + 3.6 + 5.1 = 306.1 miles (I know that doesn't add up...I've given up on reconciling and am just relying on runningahead to keep it right)

And to be clear, even though I haven't elaborated on all my goodbyes, that is not an indication that they were easy. We only moved about 3 hours away, so I'm very hopeful that we will be able to see our friends who are still there from time to time. Today was great but really hard. The Beastie and her husband came to visit for the 4th, and when they left, they left to go home and pack for their huge move back east. I wasn't ready for that.

So that's how it's gonna go down?

I apologize for the blog slacking! Here's the recap of everything you've missed.

Monday: On Monday while working from home I checked the hourly forecast for the rest of that day and Tuesday. It looked like this:

PERFECT, rain, rain, dinner/family time, dark, windy, windy, windy, windy, dark.

So I got up and went running. A good 4.8 miles around the neighborhood then right back to work. I love that my work can be flexible like that right now. It won't be like this for long.

Tuesday: Admission of truth--I am not a reliable cross-trainer. Actually, I just don't do it most of the time. Which is why I'm going to go ahead and count mowing the lawn as exercise. If Mr. Joanna can count ping pong as exercise (which he does...true story), I can count mowing. When I finished I looked back at the yard, all proud of myself. Then I saw this. One missed strip of grass between rows and no time to weed whack it. FAIL. I still cross-trained. Right?

Wednesday: RunningFirst and I decided to believe weather.com's claim that the rain was over, so we headed to the track dutifully at 6pm. The workout: warm-up, 3 mile tempo run, cool down. My mile splits were 8:04, 7:54, and 7:48. Decreasing splits! Unlike a true tempo run, I took short breaks between miles--shorter than if it were an interval workout. I'm happy to report that I was absolutely unafraid of this workout. It was one of the easier ones we've done, intentionally, since we're now close-ish to race day.

In the middle of the cool-down, RunningFirst (who ran parts of the workout with me) lamented the state of his preparation for our race and the difficulty he'd had in joining me for portions of the tempo run. So there on the spot he decided that our track workout was going to be written in the history books like this. I freaking love it. It IS true that I appreciated being paced so well. And it's also true that he's about half full of it. On purpose.

Thursday: A pigeon flew into my office through the one small window that opens. The pigeon and I were both too freaked out for a photo op. I called some people with nets who came and released it back into the great outdoors.

And now, because I'm in a really random mood, I'm going to give you a totally unrelated and unsolicited product review: Lemon Curd.

It has come to my attention that a lot of you have never heard of lemon curd. Let me introduce you. It is sort of like really thick lemon pie filling that you put on toast. You convince yourself that it's as reasonable as eating jam. It's expensive and ridiculous and pretty much the best thing on Earth. You can find it in most grocery stores next to the jam/jelly section. Give it a try!

I'm planning a FAQ post about this blog, so if there's anything you'd like to know please just post a comment and ask!

167.4 + 4.8 + 5.0 = 177.2 miles

Or not....new plan

I went to the physical therapist on campus today and together we devised a new plan that might get me to race day. The new training schedule looks like this:

Monday--EASY run (I mean it this time...I've learned)

Tuesday--cross-train

Wednesday--easy run (no more track workouts for me)

Thursday--rest/stretch

Friday--cross train

Saturday--long run (as much as possible)

Sunday--rest/stretch

This will be done with the help of Ibuprofen and ice massages for the swelling, stretches for the muscle, and a sleeve of a thing to go over my knee.

In the spirit of getting started, I did 30 minutes of pretty fast-paced cardio using our Eye Toy Kinetic. We bought it a few years ago and always had trouble using it in our living room. Fortunately, it works much better in the entertainment room in our basement, so I'm using it down there. After the workout I did some of the stretches I got at PT today. If all goes well, I'll get back on schedule day-by-day next week. Wish me luck!