Get'cha Head in the Game

I know I'm not supposed to focus too much on the number on the scale, but I was happy to wake up this morning to see 123 on the bathroom scale. The additional mileage is finally catching up to my calorie intake which means I must be in the middle of the training program. Cool! It works! I'd like to be at 120 for NYCM, but if I'm not, then I'm not. I've made so many monumental gains this year that I can't expect to keep improving at the same rate. Now I really have to fight for the extra seconds.


Today was 4 miles recovery -- my least favorite run of the week. 45:25 nice and slow. One whole episode of Fresh Air. I was looking forward to the Judas Priest and Metallica interviews and they did not disappoint. Well, Rob Halford was a little boring, but James Hetfield was fascinating as always. I highly recommend the movie Some Kind of Monster. Even if your not a Metallica fan, it's a totally cool inside look into the band's creative process with the additional fun of a therapist hanging around the scene.


Yes, I went to the gym too. Nothing easy there. I warmed up on the bike and did some stretches for my hips and glutes to start.


Reverse lunge on bosu 4x30 SS Military press on bosu (10lb db) 4x20

Pikes (on ball) 3x10 SS Push up row (10lb db) 3x10, 10

Military pull-up 4x10 SS Push ups on inverted bosu 4x15

Stretch

This is entirely random, but hey, my blog. So, now that Zac Efron is on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, I had to (finally) sit down and watch High School Musical. I've tried before, just like Harry Potter, without success. It's weird, because I have always liked musicals. But High School Musical, I don't know how else to put it, seems so much more contrived than other musicals. And it's so chaste! Even Oklahoma! has a dark side. I do confess that I've become quite fond of Ashley Tisdale. She's actually funny. She's on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and I also confess to a sick fascination with that show too. It's completely inappropriate for the Disney Channel. Zack and Cody are complete horndogs. Hey! Maybe High School Musical should take a few lessons because I think what's missing from East High is HORMONES. Harry Potter had now become an obsession with me and I'm plowing through the series. I'm sorry to say that I'm not so anxious to catch up with High School Musical 2.

MTD: 142:88 (second highest month of 2007)

I threw it down

In the words of Matt M. I "threw down" 9 miles on the treadmill this morning. I was feeling the mid-marathon program blues and decided I needed an attitude adjustment. Dare I say, the miles flew by?

I warmed up for 2.5 miles then cranked it up for 7x800 repeats. I walked .25 then ran mp for .25 in between each repeat. 800s were at 4:20 but I sprinted the last .10 of each.

When I finished, Miss Argentina power lifter said "you were running for a really long time." Yep. 90 minutes. I even walked an extra quarter mile at the end because I wanted to hear what Dr. Drew Pinsky and James Carville had to say about the foot-tapping, hand waving senator from Idaho.

Grind

Looks like Monday's are becoming another rest day by virtue of my schedule changing and having to move my strength workouts to Tuesday. Try as I did to find the time yesterday to go to the pool, it just didn't work out. I thought about getting on my bike, but by the time I was able, the temps were up in the mid 90s. What can ya do?

I'm so, so, so, so, so tired of getting up early to run. I know the weather will change soon, but can't we just have a little taste of cooler weather? Even 10 degrees will do.

I got up at 6:15, which was still not as early as the boys have to get up to go to school. I was out the door by 7:02 for a 4 mile "tempo" run. I ran easy the first mile, built to about a 10k pace for about 20 minutes, and tried to resist walking the remaining half mile. My splits are almost identical to last Tuesday: 10:00, 9:29, 9:38, 10:08.

Then it was off to the gym for an "easy core workout." Ha! Whose definition of "easy" are we using?

I started with some stretches then it was
Squats (45) 3x20
Split squats (5) 3x15 SS Kneeling ball rolls 3x10
Rev. lunge bosu 3x20
Uni deadlift (Body weight) 3x15
Pushups on bosu 3x15

41 Down

17 Miles in the bank! Whoo Hoo! The last couple of miles were a little rough -- my legs were really feeling the cumulative effect of this high mileage week. The weather was gorgeous and I finished in 3:07:22 which averages 11:01 minute/miles. I kept thinking "I wish I was done!"

Now that I am done, I still haven't showered. Once I do, I can't wait to get into Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (No. 5). I am enjoying the series very much now. It's funny because when they first came out and I was reading them out loud to my kids, I couldn't stand it. I was so glad when they could read them on their own and I gave up after the third installment. Now I can't wait to see what happens next. They are so clever! For example, what language do Goblins speak? Gobbledygook! How funny is that?

I'm going to go come up with a race report. Click on the "41 Down" for more boring detail on my out and back 17 miler.

WTD: 41
YTD: 949.35

24 Down

Saturday pace runs are my favorite runs. Even when it's hot and I'm tired and not feeling great, I still like them. They are a "reasonable" long distance and I don't have to hold back too much.
I thought it was supposed to cool off by today, but the newspaper must have been mistaken. At 7:30 it was stiflingly hot. I gave it all I had and Scott said he was proud of me for getting out and getting it done. 8 miles in 1:21:38 (Avg. pace 10:11).

Sometimes I wonder if I can hold onto a 10:00 min. pace for NYCM but I'm pretty sure that it wont be 80 humid degrees and I won't be wearing a four bottle amphipod and I won't have my period (1st day -- the worst!). As you can see by the splits, the higher the sun rose, the slower I ran.

9:49
9:32
9:52
10:08
10:14
10:55 (potty stop)
10:32 (saw the village mayor and his wife taking a sticky morning stroll and used the opportunity to express my views on the need for a bike path). :)

Tomorrow is 17 miles. I'm looking forward to it for a couple of reasons. First, after finishing last weeks ridiculously hilly 16 miles I know that I can run 17 flat no problem. When your quads are shredded after 8 miles and you still find the heart to run another 8 that's a sign that all the "toughen up training" has worked. Second, it will be the first high mileage week that I have completed per the plan -- no interruptions. I'm looking forward to writing it down in the log.
_____________

I looked ahead in the calendar and saw that Yom Kippur falls right during the long weekend runs. It's a stepback week. Friday is supposed to be a rest day, Saturday is Yom Kippur. My fast will begin Friday evening. I think I'll run Saturday's 6 on Friday morning and play Sunday's 12 by ear. If the weather is cooler, maybe I can run it later in the day. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to attempt it after a 25 hour fast.

16 Down

I'm finding it much easier to get through the week just by taking it one day at a time. The heat is oppressive. Schools are closed!

I forced myself out of bed at 6:30 so I could run 4 miles recovery. I finished in 43:06 which is one minute faster than I was aiming for. Pace is all relative though. It was still 4 minutes slower than I ran the route on Tuesday, which is a good thing.

Shower, breakfast, and then it was on to the gym for a stength/core workout.

Squats (45) 3x25
Split squats (10) 3x10 SS Deadlifts (power band) 3x15
Lateral raises kneeling on stability ball (5lb db) 3x10
Seated row (straight bar 12.5) 3x20 SS Sled calves (90) 3x20
Stretch

Kneeling on the stability ball is unbelievably difficult. I don't know how other people do it. It also put alot of stress on my knees, so obviously I'm not doing it right and that's also probably why I have such a hard time staying on the ball.

Sarah's having a birthday party today and she also has a checkup. I think she gets a few shots today -- Gardasil for sure and maybe meningitis too. Bummer for her.

Extra Bonus Mommy Points

Today is Sarah's 11th birthday and I made her a cake. I haven't done this in years since I'm a snob and I only like cakes made from scratch. It's very time consuming so I usually just put it off and end up buying an ice cream cake. For some reason I felt creative today. Voila!

12 Down

Working my way through the week. 8 miles today on the treadmill because it's insanely hot here again. I did 6 X 800 repeats at approx. 4:20 each.

Then I sabotaged the whole thing by taking my daughter Sarah to Cheesecake Factory for her 11th birthday. I started out like a good girl and ordered the tuna carpaccio. But I was still hungry after eating all of those paper thin slices of raw tuna and scarfed down one of Sarah's sliders and some fries. No cheesecake though. I made, from scratch, a chocolate layer cake, so I'll kill myself with that instead.

It's amazing how many fat people eat at Cheesecake Factory all by themselves. They are all seated next to each other on the banquette. One woman was eating a full order of bbq ribs with all the sides PLUS a bowl of baked potato soup. I'm sure she had cheesecake for dessert too.

Now, I must sift confectioners sugar for the frosting.

One Day at a Time

Ok, let's try this again. It's a new week. The achilles is holding up and I'm not going to miss any runs this week.

4 Miles. Tempo. Weather was disgusting. Humid, hot, gross.
10:19
9:33
9:44
10:11

Despite the weather, it looks like I held up pretty well. A little sluggish, perhaps, but I hung in there.

My new strategy for the "new" Garmin is to turn it off. My old strategy was to just leave it in the charger when I wasn't using it. I wish I could figure how how to make my virtual partner slow down. It would be nice to have someone to run with occasionally, LOL.

My strength workout didn't go as planned because my trainer was a no show. Last minute personal problems. Sigh... I guess I could have done it on my own, but I'm feeling like a slug today.

WTF?

16 miles. 3 hours. If I ever decide to run the Alps Marathon I may run this course again. Otherwise, Who's crazy idea was it to map a new route today, anyway? This course was ridiculous. I mapped it on Logmyrun and imported it into my Garmin so I wouldn't get lost. I thought it might be a little hilly, but for God's sake! I didn't plan on climbing any mountains today! I should have worn my crampons. From now on, I think I'll stick with boring even if it means driving 20 minutes to the bike trail. I need me some FLAT.

P.S. It looks from the chart that I only did 15.5 miles, but I actually did the full 16.1. I turned my timer off while waiting for traffic and it was at least a half mile before I realized it. What happened to the "smooth" feature on the Garmin? What's that mean, anyway? Also, I guess I need to work on this but for the second day in a row, my virtual partner finished when I was only half-way done. Doesn't seem like a very fair race to me.

Back on the Streets

Today was my first real run since Tuesday. My achilles is a little sore, but when you run as many miles as I do, a little aches and pains are normal I guess.

The weather is absolutely gorgeous. Chilly actually. I took me a while to get going. I had to set up the Garmin, load the ipod, fill the bottles -- since I fell exhausted into bed at 9:00 last night I didn't do any of this the night before like I usually do -- went to the bathroom like five times. Then once I went out the door, I started noticing weird things as I walked down the driveway. First a chapstick, then the "Big Fat Liar" DVD, then the cars "ashtray"/moneyholder. I picked up the DVD and ashtray thing and turned to put it into the car. That's when I noticed the doors slightly ajar. "Damn teenager!" was my first thought. I threw the DVD into the back seat and when I looked in the front seat that's when I noticed the big hole where the XM radio receiver used to be. Uh oh. Car was broken into. "But I can't deal with this now -- I'm running!" Quick, back into the house to wake up Scott. Let him deal with it. He's the man, LOL. Back out of the house, and I see something else on the lawn. Evidence?! It's an album of CDs. About 100 of them. I scan them quickly looking for a clue. They are all CDs of Indian music. "Bollywood's Greatest Hits" and others with titles I can't even read, except to know they are definitely Indian. Back up to the house. "Here Honey. I think our neighbor's car has been broken into also. Why don't you ask them?" Of course, there about seven Indian families on our block! Scott now has a mission to occupy his morning. And I'm finally off for my run.

I used my Garmin and an 8 mile course I set up and imported from Logyourrun.com. I realized at the one mile mark that I had forgotten to set up the mile alerts, so I just kept running and never had any idea of pace. Unfortunately, I thought I was going pretty fast, but it turns out that I wasn't at all. My average pace was 10:15. I was aiming for 10:00. No wonder I felt so good the whole time! I thought it was just the weather, but it was a combination of weather and not running as fast as I usually do on Saturdays.

When I got home, the police had been called. The culprits had been caught in the act at another neighbor's. They had broken into a bunch of cars. (See? This is why I always lock my door) Bunch of teenage boys between 14-18 years old. Scott found the owner of the Bollywood music and they were so, so happy because they are having a big party tonight and need the music. When they have a party, it usually means it's some kind of holiday and there will be hundreds of people in attendance. All of the women will be in saris. I wonder if this is the holiday where they play the drums? I've never had the nerve to ask.

Tomorrow: 16. Can't wait.

Muscle Release Technique Massage

First, FYI on the Garmin, when I connected to my computer, since it's a different unit, I had to associate it with a different user. So all my old runs for the year are logged under the old me and from tomorrow forward, my activities will be logged under the new me.

____________________

Muscle Release Technique Massage

This morning I had a Muscle Release Massage. It's the second time I've had this type of massage. The first time was two days after running the Cleveland Marathon and I had no residual muscle soreness from the marathon after the massage. I was able to walk up and down stairs and get back to my running routine very quickly.

Having become a believer the first time, I scheduled another one. I've been feeling a little bit creaky after the heavy summer of running and weight training, and now the miles are starting to build as I get into the meat of the NYC Marathon training program.

As usual, the therapist, Kevin, started by asking me if I have any trouble spots. I told him about my achilles. He showed me where the tendons connect between the calf and somewhere else, blah, blah, blah technical muscle stuff let's just get started.

I layed down on the table face up and Kevin strapped me on with a couple of seat belts. This is so when he stretches my legs, my hips stay square and I don't try to compensate by using other muscle groups. First he stretched my hamstrings by lifting up my leg to a 90 degree angle to my body and massaging the muscle as he did this. He did about ten leg lifts, each time pushing my leg further back and I told him if there was any pain on a 1-10 scale. As he stretched the muscle, I breathed as I would while lifting weights. He stretched and massaged my quads, hip flexors, ITB, inner and outer thigh, calves, I don't even know the names of all the muscles he worked. All the while I'm breathing and telling him 1-10 if there is pain (there wasn't). The whole lower body part of the massage is like this. I lied face down for hips, buttocks, feet, more hip flexors. Upper body was a typical sports massage.

I highly recommend this type of massage for all kinds of athletes. I just lucked into finding out about it, because I already went to Kevin for my massages before he got the Muscle Release certification. I imagine it would take some calling around to find someone certified in the technique, unless you're in Colorado which is where the originator of the method, Michael Young, holds his workshops.

Tomorrow I'm going to hit the pavement again and see how the achilles holds up.

Is Pool Running Boring?

liz reichman - 8/15/2007 7:24 PM "Aw man, I am sorry. Pool running is incredibly boring."

Kathy N - 8/15/2007 9:45 PM "you could do some kicking stuff to break up the monotony."

Todd-O - 8/16/2007 7:41 AM "Pool running is boring, Boring, BORING! Good luck with that"

Natalie. "I know it's not any fun".

Joel H - 8/16/2007 10:42 AM "Man pool running sounds boring... I don't think I could stand it... I am not jealous that is for sure."

Meggan Ann - 8/16/2007 12:11 PM "Pool running is boring, I agree with everyone else."

And Amanda said "it sounds awful."
___________________

Well, now that we know that POOL RUNNING IS BORING, let's get on with DAY 2 OF NATALIE'S ACHILLES RECOVERY PROGRAM shall we?

This morning I did my strength workout. Without boring you with the tiny details, I did

Leg extensions

Lateral squats over the bosu

Squat into military press (8lb)

Seated rowsbicep (pulley)

Bench press

Stretch

All done with that, I took my daughter with me to the pool and did 40 minutes of pool running. After 20 minutes, my daughter was even saying she was bored. I entertained myself by watching the summer action on the neighbor's zinnias. Goldfinches, butterflies, and hummingbirds this morning.

My achilles is feeling much better. No running tomorrow (scheduled rest day), but hopefully I'll be able to run again on Saturday and Sunday. I plan on finding a flat place to do my 16 miler as I wonder if the hills are taking a toll on my ankle.

Here's my view from the pool:

Everybody into the pool!

Today was the first day of "Natalie's Achilles Recovery Program." I'm a firm believer in pool running as the next best thing to simulating real running without the impact. The only thing is, pool running can be mind-numbingly boring. Fortunately, by sticking the ipod under my hat, winding the headphone wire around it a couple of times, and plugging the earbuds in my ears through the back, I was able to listen to some music. A one hour episode of podrunner goes a long way when you've got eighty minutes to kill.

That was my plan. I'm supposed to run 8 miles today, so instead I pool ran for 80 minutes to at least simulate the length of time I would have been running. Even with the music, it was more boring than a treadmill, so every 10 minutes I alternated between high-knee jogging and "cross-country skiing." I was the only soul in the pool. Just me, two yellow swallowtail butterflies, a few cicadas, a pair of mourning doves, and various other little birds.

At the end of the workout, my legs felt like jelly and I was starving. I've now negated the entire thing by drinking a protein shake (good) and snacking on cheez-its (bad).

Tomorrow will be 40 minutes of pool running in addition to my morning strength workout. Thank goodness I can take care of this injury now rather than after Labor Day. I'm lucky to use my parents condo pool since I don't belong to the Y and the JCC is still under construction.

2fer

Yesterday turned into an unscheduled rest day, so I doubled up the workouts today.

Running: A brisk 55 degrees and sunny morning. I had no problem getting up early since the boys started school today and they were up earlier than me. 4 miles in under 39:00. Avg. pace - 9:49.

Strength: I was a little sluggish.
Warmup: bike and leg extensions
Squats (45)(bar only) - 3 X 15
Rev. lunge on bosu - 3 X 30
Seated row (one arm) (12.5) 3 x 20

Sled calves - 2 X 90lb/ 1 X 95lbRebounder (7.5 ball) 3 X ALOT

My right achilles is bothering me. It has been bothering me for a couple of weeks now. I'm going to ice it and hopefully it won't get any more bothersome.

This is the first day of my 40 mile week. I plan to take it one day at a time. The weekday runs are only a one mile step-up each and Sunday's long run is only a 2 mile step-up from my longest this cycle.

When You Fight Fire with Fire

As I write this, 10,000 Maniacs is blasting through our house and patio speakers. This is my husband's idea of funny, although to his credit, he did admit to being embarrassed to do it, but after all, it's almost 10 AM. Why am I listening to Natalie Merchant at a screaming decible? I mean, I like her, but it's even loud enough to be annoying to me. The reason is that last night, our next door neighbors had a party. Not just any party though. It seems they hosted a fundraiser for their church last night that included a "live band" (if you call an off-key singer/electric guitar strummer a band) that played on their deck until after 2 AM. This guy sang ear bending covers of Neil Young until I thought I would have to go over and bring them a CD of the real thing. Hey, I realize that not everyone gets up early to go running. I think midnight is reasonable for a loud house party with whatever kind of band you want. But we don't live next door to a nightclub!

Despite the late night, I did get up at 6 AM with the alarm clock and was out for my 10 mile run by 7:00. Nothing exciting to report. Average pace -- 10:59 which is about exactly where it should be for a long run. Next week is a huge step-up and I'm feeling apprehensive about it. I'll feel more confident once I'm writing about it on Sunday afternoon.

This was a successful week. No runs skipped. No workouts skipped. Diet could use some improvement.

WTD: 30.1
YTD: 876.40

Today I am Muhammad Ali

10 degrees makes all the difference in the world. The temperature was below 70 when I started out this morning before 7:00. It actually felt a little chilly! But it's all relative when you're used to 90s.

I downloaded a 155 bpm episode of podrunner last night and it kept me moving at about a 10 min. pace which is my goal marathon pace. I'll definitely download some more episodes at varying tempos. For once, I actually felt like my feet were just going.

Since I was feeling so good, I did a few other technical things on this run. First, I maintained marathon pace throughout, finishing 7 miles in just under 70 minutes. I can't analyze splits because I'm without my Garmin for a while. Next, I counted the steps in my stride for a minute at three different times in my run. I was 145, 160, 156. According to this article, optimal turnover is 180 steps per minute. Anyway, I have a ways to go to get to 180. Maybe a faster episode of podrunner?

Finally, I practiced my hill running. The course I run is very hilly, as is anywhere I run in Cincinnati for the most part. I read what Hal Higdon had to say about hill running, and I think I do it correctly on the downhill already. Today I tried to lighten up on on the uphill. I shortened my stride and looked to the top of the hill so that my posture was more upright. Then I thought "float" to the top and suddenly, I was saying "Float like a butterfly" on the uphills and "Sting like a bee" on the downhills. I think it had a significant impact on today's run. Maybe as much as the lower temperature. When I finished up I had a smile on my face and I felt like I could have gone further.

That hasn't happened in a long, long time.

Jumping Jacks are for Sissies

What a great workout!

This morning when the alarm went off at 6:30 I hit the snooze button. I decided an extra half hour of sleep was worth toughing it out on the treadmill. 3 miles was on the horizon and I figured I was woman enough to get through it. Let me remind all you readers that the treadmill at my low tech gym is in a little darkened room and faces a blank wall. There is a little fan that I can aim up at my butt. When I'm wearing my skirt, I'm like Marilyn Monroe in running shoes. (Think The Seven Year Itch).

As I was warming up I thought about Matt M. and his ladders. Ok, I'll give it a shot. The treadmill was set at 1% grade throughout the workout. Every 1/2 mile I increased the speed:

9:34 Warmup (.5)
9:01 (.5)8:45 (.5)
8:32 (.5)
9:17 (.5)
9:34 (.25)
8:18 (.25) I just wanted to get it done. Impatient!

3 miles. 27 something minutes. Stared at a blank wall and sang along with Donna Summer to MacArthur's Park.

After the run, it was time for the strength workout. My trainer earned his fee today, that's for sure. He came up with some core work on the bosu that I would never have imagined on my own. Next time I'll take video. These are some awesome exercises.

Uni leg one arm row (15 db) 3 X 15
Split squat on bosu 10 - 10 (Need 2 bosus for this)
Explosive split squat on bosu 2 x 20 (alternate legs)
Leg scissors with pushup (2 bosus a little more than hip width apart. Start with legs straight back and do one pushup than hop both feet onto the bosus 2x) 10 X 3
Crab walk on bosu 3 X 20
Spiderman mountain climber 3X :30
Bosu squats (flat side up) X 15 SS Stairs 5(every other) X 4

After that workout, I felt ready to conquer the world!
____________________


In other exciting news, my Official NYCM Handbook arrived today. I hope I don't get lost before I make my way to Staten Island. It looks like it would be a very fun marathon to be a spectator. I hope I can convince my husband that it's a big adventure. I, for one, love an adventure. I would love to be a contestant on The Amazing Race. I get a rush of adrenaline figuring out the details! A better deal? A better flight? I'm on it!

Ugh Part 2

Thanks to Vivian, Ken, Peg, Tea, Breen, and everyone else who ran longer miles than me in yesterday's heat, I had no excuse to wimp out today. In sticking to the schedule, I planned to run 7 miles. I had actually planned to include 4 or 5 800 repeats, but given the weather, I decided last night that I was better off just getting the miles in. Plus, without the Garmin I'd have to go to the gym and use the treadmill and I wanted to avoid that scenario as well.

I got up a 6:00, drove around and stashed gatorade and water (it's too hot to wear a fuel belt) and was out the door by 7:00 AM. The temperature was 77 degrees already. Not that it really matters. The low for today was 72. What's 5 degrees when you're gonna sweat anyway?

Knowing I had no excuse to dwell on the misery of running in the sweltering heat and humidity, I decided to listen to an episode of Fresh Air. Sometimes music gets on my nerves, but I still need a little mental stimulation.

I also ran for the first time in the Brooks Glycerins. I really, really like them. They felt like they were part of my foot. My achilles felt good with the support of a new pair of shoes and I didn't feel slow and plodding like I sometimes do in new shoes. So far, I'm happy with my choice.

I'm also happy to report that all four of my bottles were exactly where I left them. I wondered briefly if I would panic if one of them was snatched before I got to it. This run went well and I finished with a burst of speed at the end. I'm not totally sure of the mileage, but it was probably a hair longer than 7 miles which kind of made today's run a marathon pace run. Nice that it ended up serving a purpose other than "logging the miles."

New Shoes

I finally did something about a nagging achilles issue that I've had for a couple of weeks and some hip pain I'm starting to experience. Both are on the right side. I lost track of mileage per shoe, but I figure all three pair are long past their prime. I started favoring the PI Shines at the start of summer because they had the fewest miles on them, but, they're all about even now. I promise to do a better job of tracking the miles. I've started logging my runs on logmyrun.com and it has a feature that lets you track your shoe mileage.

Here's what I got:

Another pair of Pearl Izumi Syncrofloats 2. They are orange. I know. No comments, please.

And for something completely different, Brooks Glycerin 5. I wanted to try something other than the Pearl Izumis and the Brooks felt like they were part of my foot when I ran in them.

I also called the podiatrist and made an appointment to have my orthotics adjusted. They've always been a little short for my shoes and I get blisters where there is a gap. Time to remedy that situation!

Ugh

3 miles. No watch/no time. I started out thinking I would do my Tuesday Tempo, but I have to admit, there was some walking involved today. It's 75 degrees and disgusting out there. I was in need of water before the 2nd mile even though I never carry water for a 3 mile run. Next time, I'll set out a bottle at the halfway point.

I feel like I'm losing some motivation. I'm hoping it's just because the weather has been a drag. My Garmin is on the fritz, hopefully not dead. The clip on my ipod broke so now I have to carry it or buy a new clip. And a weird thing happened on Sunday's run.

I stashed a Nalgene bottle with ice water under a large evergreen tree. On the bottle was a note I attached that said: "Natalie Wolf is running 14 miles this morning." When I reached my bottle after 7 miles, I stopped, filled my small bottles, and stashed it again. After my run, I went back to get it and the bottle was gone. The tree it was under was very old and large and it was in somebodys front yard, but by the street. I knocked on the owner's door but no one was home.
I'm thinking, I can't believe someone actually took my bottle -- with a note on it -- and it was pouring down rain!

Yesterday when I drove by the house, I stopped again. I knocked several times on the front door. I knew someone was home. No answer though. Then I went to the side door and knocked. A woman with a baby answered. I explained that I had left a bottle under the tree and she said, "Does it say Natalie Wolf?" "Yes, it says 'Natalie Wolf is running 14 Miles." So, she turns around and takes my bottle off a table behind her. It is still filled with water and it still has my note on it.

So, I'm asking myself, why did she take the bottle inside the house???

I guess it will remain a mystery. But I'm glad to have my bottle back.

Now That's More Like It!

I woke up at 5:00 -- Yuk. I was out the door by ten till six. It was dark. It was muggy. It was 72 degrees. The air felt gross. The condensation on my frozen Gatorade bottles on my amphipod started dripping down my skirt. By the first mile I was soaked. This is beating the heat?

As it started to get light, I picked up a slight breeze. Thunderstorms were predicted today. Still, when I stopped to fill up my bottles at the hospital, I was completely drenched. I told the receptionist that I didn't think I would be much wetter if I'd gone swimming. Four more miles to go.

At Mile 12 the rain came. This was the kind of rain that comes out of the sky all at one time. Big, splashy raindrops -- almost, but not quite -- like a million little needles. It's okay though, I'm already soaked. Now I'm just a little more, um, soaked. The thing that worried me was that thunder came with the rain. Loud and close. I don't carry a cell phone, so I cut over to a strip mall where there's a neighborhood coffee shop. What? Closed on Sundays? What's with that?
The rain let up a little, so I continued on home. By the time I got there, the sun was peeking out, but it was just a ruse. There's no sun today.

14 miles in the books. Not bad pacing for a long run. My goal was 11 minute miles and my average pace was 10:56. Almost right on the money. 2:33 minutes.

WTD: 30.1 (4 miles short of training plan)
YTD: 846.30

I don't want to talk about it.

I don't want to talk about it.

Ok, well it is my training blog, so I guess that I should talk about it.

My 7 mile run was a disaster.

I think I have become a creature of habit, and when things go awry, I can't always overcome them. Here it is. A few months ago, I agreed to read Torah at my synagogue this morning. I've been practicing all summer, literally, for hours. Though maybe not as many hours as I've been running.

A couple of weeks ago, I realized that today was also the morning of the Fleet Feet Lady Distance 10k which I had planned to race instead of my 7 mile pace run. Obviously, I couldn't do the race. All week long, I've been aware of the high temperatures. I knew I couldn't do today's run like I usually do -- early in the morning -- because I had to get up and get ready for synagogue. Ok, in retrospect, I could have got up at 5:00 AM, BUT I'M DOING THAT TOMORROW!! SHEESH!

I knew I'd have to hit the treadmill this afternoon. (By the way, I did a fine job on the Torah reading -- snaps for me!) I drove to the gym. Put on my ipod. Starting running on the treadmill. First, the music at the gym was so loud I couldn't hear my own music. It was cacophony! After a mile, I got off the 'mill and asked that the music be turned down. Every single other person was wearing headphones anyway (it's a small gym). Went to the bathroom. Back on the treadmill. Mile 2 -- had to go to the bathroom again. What's with me and the treadmill? I have to go all the way downstairs just to do this! Ok, back on the treadmill. Cramps. Shit. This is really not working.

I walk to the 2.75 mile point and call it a day.

Tomorrow I'll get up at 5 to run 14. No treadmill.

Me at Camp

Well, I took my oldest son to camp today to visit his friends. I ate grilled kosher hotdogs on frozen buns. PJ&J on super thick sourdough bread. Starved most of the afternoon. Kept myself busy in 90 degree heat. All because I love my son. See, if he hadn't had to have surgery this summer, he would have stayed at camp for eight weeks. But, because of the surgery, he only went for four weeks. Today was all about him. I did get to see my other son though and we got a picture taken, just the three of us. I just needed an excuse to post it. Thank you Blog!

Steam Heat

I got a hankering to listen to Jimmy Cliff's The Harder They Come album today after reading another blog titled "Limbo Time." I scoured the house for the CD. I know it's here somewhere, but I can't find it. I love that album. It's one of my "had it as an album and now own it as a CD too" CDs. Nice peppy reggae with sing along lyrics. It'll turn up somewhere.

In the meantime, I found The Pajama Game. I bought this broadway soundtrack last year after seeing Harry Connick, Jr. star in The Pajama Game on Broadway. I was in NYC at the time for the More Marathon. I haven't listened to it in a long time and I wasn't looking forward to today's run -- a recovery run -- so I thought, what the hell? It could spice up my run!

And spice it up it did. After two days of intense running workouts, a tempo and hill repeats, I was due for a recovery run. Recovery runs are meant to be sloooww in order to let the muscles recover. One thing you are not doing is Racing With the Clock! In fact, I would have left the clock (Garmin) at home but for the fact that I want to log the exact mileage on logmyrun.

Hey There, we've been having some Steam Heat in this part of the country all week. I wasn't able to get out early this morning, so I've been waiting all day for the sun to go down and the temperature to drop. So, this was my Once a Year Day to run at night. I still haven't truly done a nighttime run though, as it was actually dusk when I went out. There Once Was A Man who went running when it was entirely dark outside, but since I don't have any reflective running gear I wanted to play it safe and be home before it was completely dark outside.

My laps were nice and easy: 10:33, 10:11, 10:33, 10:15 for a total of 3.36 miles/ 34:59 minutes. It would have been a good run for Small Talk if I ran with a partner. I don't, but Think of the Time I Save by doing most of my runs right out the front door!

Thanks for reading my Seven-And-A-Half Cents, even if it is dorky today.

Hills

7 miles this morning. No, make that 7.32. I hate when I realize that I'm going to go over just as much as I hate when I realize that I'm going to be under! I want it 7 exactly without having to add on or walk home.

I ran 3 miles to a the point on the route that is a fairly steep incline. Then I did 5 hill repeats. Afterwards, this put me right in front of the Jewish Hospital in Kenwood so I stopped into the Emergency Room hoping to get some water out of the drinking fountain. The nice nurses took my water bottles from me instead and filled them with crushed ice and cold water. Then I went to the bathroom. I've stopped in some pretty gross pitstops before while running right past the hospital and the fire station. That's got to stop. This was an awesome pit stop!

After that, I ran home. We're having a spell of hot, hot weather and I can't get up early enough to beat it. I don't know what the temperture was, but it was 82 when I finished and the sun was beating down. Not a single cloud in the sky.

My average pace for the run, including the hills, was 10:15. Very good. In fact, they are surprisingly consistent considering the hill repeats and the heat. 10:08, 9:48, 10:11, 10:56, 10:03, 10:15, 10:36. I stopped my watch after each repeat and at most (not all) of the traffic lights, so there's a little inconsistency but I'm ignoring it.

Now it's off for a much needed pedicure.