Spirit of the Marathon

Yeah! I got a run in. Not the one I was scheduled to run -- 10 miles at general aerobic pace -- but a different one. Yesterday, time and the weather conspired against me. Today it was mostly time. Fortunately, the temperature around 4:00 was about 25 degrees with barely any wind. What a difference the lack of wind makes! Make no mistake though, 25 is still cold for me.
I have to get Sarah to a ballet rehearsal (Peter and the Wolf) so I decided part of a run was better than no run at all. Instead of a GA run, I opted for 5 miles at about a 15k pace. It looked like this:

9:43
9:18
9:39
9:38
9:50

Total time: 48:13. Avg. HR 161.

So far I've only done 79% of the scheduled runs this week. With two more days to go, I'm apprehensive about finishing it up.

I saw Spirit of the Marathon last night. I ended up going alone. Scott went to the band concert. I called every running friend I have and none could make it. Then I called the nonrunning friends. They couldn't make it either. Then I tried to guilt Freddie, my 17 year old, into coming with me. No dice. I got to the theatre about 20 minutes early. After buying tickets for Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana I went into the theatre and sat down. I watched every slide on the screen. I watched previews for the Metropolitan Opera HD several times (I'd love to go to that!). Then I went to the bathroom. I must have been out of my seat for maybe three minutes. That must be when they showed the screen advising of the extra features. I'm really disappointed to have missed them because it appears they were a highlight of the movie! Every single time I go to a movie, I stay through the credits. The only reason I decided to skip the credits last night is because I was alone, it was freezing outside, and I thought I better get home. I didn't like the movie enough to see it again, especially not for $10, but I would like to see the extra stuff.

Best Laid Plans

I love to have a plan.

Today's plan was to run my 10 mile general aerobic run like this: 10:00 for three miles, 9:50 for three miles, 9:30 for three miles.

It didn't exactly work out like I planned, but the plan did keep me focused and motivated. Here is what really happened:

*Mile 4-5 involved a quick stop to remove my gloves, adjust my ipod, eat a gu, put gloves back on.

I realized right away that I was going faster than I had planned, but I decided to just go with it, as long as I didn't slow down. Now, before you are tempted to say something like "Natalie, you really should have gone a little slower because look how much you slowed down those last two miles," first take a look at this elavation chart:

Notice how the line at about 7.5 goes almost vertical and even more so at 8.75.
Now, let's hear the applause.

*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*

Busy, busy, busy

Well, it's back to being crazy workout girl. 2 mile "warmup" on the treadmill which included 1.25 miles of slow running (11:15 pace). Then an hour of upper body to rival the lower body workout I did on Tuesday. Pushups w/ one leg extended (8/8 x 4), unilateral bicep curls (10 lb dbs) 15x4, military presses (5 lb dbs) 15x4, front & lateral raise (5 lb db) 4x25, deadlifts w/ 10 lb db 4x20, dumbell rows and kickbacks. Then to top it all off, I went outside (it's freezing!!) and ran four miles. It just so happens that it was the fastest four miles I've ever done on this particular route! 37:12 or avg. 9:17 mile. Pretty cool. The elevation is basically 2 miles downhill then 2 miles uphill. I'm very pleased.

This is one of those days where you think, as a mom, you'll never get through it. Everybody has to be at a million different things and everybody's time overlaps. Plus, when I finally get done, I'm going to a play (Altar Boyz) tonight. I'm not looking forward to putting on real clothes. I'm very comfortable in my sweats thankyouverymuch!

Tomorrow is a scheduled rest day, but I may look for a spinning class since I'm still feeling a little guilty over skipping yesterday's run.

Just Run

Four miles this morning. I got up super early. Not to run, but to drive Freddie to school for the PSAT. Then I drove home, procrastinated, and finally went out to run. Four miles can be a real drag sometimes. It's almost too short to warm up.

I don't know what to do with these taper runs, so I decided to just run. It gives me confidence that I am getting faster when I just go out and "run."

Just for fun, here is a four mile run from 12/16/06:

Mile 1 9:46
Mile 2 10:01
Mile 3 10:06
Mile 4 11:02

Now, here is this morning's 4 miles:

Mile 1 9:56 (perfect marathon pace, btw)
Mile 2 9:26
Mile 3 9:17
Mile 4 8:50

Granted, I did kick it in the final .5 miles, but I was never breathing hard. I was thinking about was it Brian Sells(?) quote that "you can run faster than you think you can."

Well, I guess you can.