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.

Irony, how I hate thee

I know the title begs explanation, but I'm going to leave you in suspense on the running front for ONE minute while I give a shout out to Lucky Girl Crafts (boys, stay with me, I promise we'll be back to all things athletic shortly!). Not only did my July kit (which I just ordered last week at a sale price) arrive in lightning speed, but they have some great products and blog fun going on. Not to mention a fabulous design team (that may or may not include The Beastie). :) Thank you again for doing such an awesome giveaway last week!

Ok, the irony and the running. After my 18-miler on Saturday I was feeling pretty good about things. I decided to do a medium-distance recovery run today. The weather was beautiful. I was breezing through my run, just enjoying the time. Exploring a neighborhood I don't know very well. Then, out of freaking nowhere--again--my shoe caught a chunk of uneven sidewalk and I went flying. Unlike last time, however, I got up to discover that my hand was bleeding fairly spectacularly. "Didn't anyone see me fall? Can't anyone tell that I'm bleeding?" I thought. Then I saw an older couple walking a dog, and it looked like they were heading back to their house. So I approached them for help. They seemed a little skeptical for about 4 seconds, until they saw my hand, then they helped me get cleaned up. I was so thankful that they were there.

So, what's the irony in all this? My shirt. My freaking shirt.

The bandage my neighbors helped me with, before telling me to just run in the street for safety.

And the wound itself. It's actually much worse than it looks in this picture. I'll spare you the details except to say I'm on about my 3rd set of band aids today. And btw, why in the world am I smiling?!?

Seriously, couldn't I have put on ANY OTHER running shirt today? Did I really have to tempt fate like that?

So I cut my planned 5 miles back to just over 4 and called it a day. Wish my poor hand a speedy recovery!

481.5 + 4.3 = 485.8 miles

Oh YEAH! That just happened.

I just beat my 2009 total mileage. Today. September 4. With nearly a third of the year to go. YEA, that just happened!

In 2009 I ran 463.3 miles total. Today I ran 18.1 miles, bringing my 2010 total to 481.5. Woo!!

To say I was apprehensive about today would be an understatement. My 16-miler last weekend was pretty awful, so I'd talked with Coach Paula in the middle of the week about how to handle the rest of the training cycle. I thought I should repeat the 16-miler and peak at 18 miles. She convinced me to just go for it--do the 18 and 20 milers then start tapering. She felt confident that my difficulties last weekend were more about the weather than about my fitness.

It looks like she was right. Today it was about 15 degrees cooler than last weekend, and it helped SO much. I was also running the neighborhoods/parks near my house, so I was on more familiar ground. I did three loops, each beginning & ending at my house so I could hydrate/Gu. The first went through a neighborhood a lot like mine, then through the park. The second went through our own little Beverly Hills then the park. The third loop, I went over to the Brewery (and didn't even get lost this time!) and back, with another pass through our mini-Beverly Hills. The third loop was the best, which I'm taking as a good sign that I was ready for the distance.

And the day wasn't over yet. Next up, family trip to the zoo. Featuring my favorite quote of the day, from the babe, "bye-bye elephants!"

Hit the ground running

On Monday I decided it was too nice out to run on a treadmill, so I tried a new course--about 2.4 miles from my office to downtown, turnaround and head back. It's a hilly 4.7 mile loop, with portions of shade and only a few intersections that really require you to stop. I liked it so much that I decided to repeat it this morning, but with more effort on doing it faster (hills! tempo! yeah!). So there I was, gliding along at that coveted "comfortably fast" pace (averaged 9:03/mi), enjoying the cool morning air, charging up hills and racing back down. And then, out of freaking nowhere...

BAM! I was face down on the sidewalk. I totally bit it on some uneven pavement.

So there I was, processing what had just happened and slowly starting to peel myself back up off the sidewalk. Checking to make sure all my body parts were still attached. Making sure nothing was bleeding too badly. Dusting off some of the dirt I acquired. Standing all the way up and assessing my ability to run back to the office. I decided I was in pretty good shape, so I picked myself up and continued on. I'm not going to lie. I wish I could have been all gangster and hauled my sorry carcass back at the same fab pace I'd been keeping. Yeah, not so much!

I'm not sure whether it's a sign of the times or a blessing that no one asked if I was ok. The only thing really damaged was my dignity. And my wedding ring! Apparently I hit the ground hard enough to scratch platinum. You're impressed that I bit it that hard. You know you are.

In other news, I found a local running store that carries my not-ungirly-at-all size 10/2A Brooks Adrenalines. They had to have them transferred from one of their locations out in the 'burbs. They should be in tomorrow or Friday. I'm excited about new shoes (500 miles and counting on the current pair...), but more about having a good excuse to go scout out a local running store. Nerdy running excitement? Maybe. And it feels great.

424.9 + 4.7 + 4.7 = 434.4 miles

Recap: The running date

I was so excited, I woke up 40 minutes before my alarm and couldn't really fall back to sleep. But as soon as I stepped outside I knew I was in for it. So here it is--the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Mile 0-0.65, run from my house to the neighbors to meet up.

Mile 0.65-2.5ish: Ran about 30-40 seconds/mile faster than my marathon race pace. I told my neighbor that it felt fine, but could not be sustained for the whole run. We ran past one of the very groovy landmarks of the run, the brewery. Yes, that brewery! My thoughts exactly. Until we ran past an exhaust fan and I caught the smell of beer. And then I wanted to hurl. But before I knew it we were past the brewery and headed down a gentle hill.

2.5ish-3.5ish: It started occurring to me how totally screwed I was. I was carrying Gu but no water (I hate carrying things when I run). And I was sweating unlike anything. Somewhere toward the end of this stretch we ran past a Panera, where we ducked in for a drink of beautifully cold water. (Thank you, Panera!)

3.5ish-5.8: As you approach downtown on foot or by car, the Arch is visible from some distance. Which I knew. But I had forgotten how on relatively flat land, things do look deceptively closer than they are. I kept thinking we must be close, it must be close. The Arch was our turn-around point and water stop. By the time we got there I was absolutely soaked with sweat. But, it was my favorite part of the run. It was the first time I've been up close to the Arch, and the sun glimmering off of it is captivating. Then, just as we made the turnaround to start the loop back out of the park, the sky turned dark behind us. Over the river we saw a big storm rolling in. We were sort of afraid we would be caught in it, but as we ran we saw it blow past us on the other side of the river. Gorgeous. And it brought a breeze. And then I got to run through a sprinkler. All things of beauty.

5.8-8ish: Walk breaks were becoming frequent. By the time we got back to the Panera the heat was becoming a serious problem. I felt torn. Do I do what I know is safe and not push myself in weather that cannot be reasoned with, or try not to look like a complete wimp on the first run with my ultra-running neighbor?

8ish-11: We walked most of the last mile back to the meet-up spot. As I told Mr. Joanna later, it's sort of an extreme decision for me to walk 2+ miles of a long run. But the neighbor wasn't concerned about it and by mile 10 I wasn't either.

11-11.8: I slowly ran the path from the meet-up spot back to my house, and it wasn't bad. We stood and talked for just a few minutes before going our separate ways. After just that few minutes of standing to stretch and talk, I saw that I had accumulated an impressive pool of sweat on the sidewalk. I've honestly never seen anything like it. I've NEVER come home that drenched from a run. I looked like someone had thrown me in a pool. Then I saw that it was currently 87 degrees with 64% humidity. No doubt it had been even more humid earlier, and probably not much cooler.

I appreciated the chance to go explore and the chance to get to know a runner/neighbor a bit. He seems like a good guy to know, and is very easy to run with. And I am VERY glad I got that missed long run crammed back into the schedule. But all the same, I think I'll probably head indoors for this weekend's long run. One last thing to leave you with--thank you all so much for the comments on my hill workout and the enthusiasm about my running date!

mileage: 357.7 + 2.4 + 11.8 = 371.8 miles

Quick update

I'm doing a Two Things Tuesday.

On a Monday. What, I totally knew it was Monday when I typed that.

Look, semantics. That's not the point. Two quick updates, because I have to get back to beating my forehead on my desk in an effort to make my data cooperate.

1. I spent the weekend traveling, having a blast, and being sick. I thought I was going to be smart and skip doing my 12-miler in unbearable heat & humidity and instead do it on a hotel treadmill. Until I realized I felt way too much like poo for any kind of 12 mile run. So...that didn't happen. Which leads me to my second update:

2. I have a running date for tomorrow morning to do said 12-mile run!! When I came back from my run this morning there were two runners standing in front of my house talking. Turns out one owns (& leases out, she actually lives in MD and was here visiting) the house next to mine and was the former running buddy of the other person, who lives a few blocks over. We stood and talked for a little bit and the one that lives a few blocks over and I decided to do the long run tomorrow! I'm SO excited (can you tell?). It's a path he knows and goes through some areas I haven't explored yet. So excited!!