readysetrun

race recap -- by abby

2007-01-11T12:37:00.002-07:00

it's hard to figure out what to say when you know you are supposed to have something to say. you want a beginning, a middle, an end, and a thread or two hope will tie it all together. you want a neat, tidy package, something with imbued beauty and meaning: dulce et util.

you find yourself staring at a blank screen, cursor winking teasingly. and you realize that there are no words to adequately represent what it is that you want to say, just like there are no words to describe why you do what you do, what you're searching for, what nuggets of wisdom you hope you will glean ...

gerlinda and i spent saturday night arranging and rearranging our marathon stuff. the hotel beds were littered with gels, clif shot bloks, protein bars, sports beans, race numbers, race maps, tie thingies for our championchips. the air in the hotel room was heavy with our nervousness, which we tried to laugh off, and with the humidity of mid-florida, which i tried not to let drown me. my skin prickled with every breeze and my stomach lurched with each new minute, until i finally fell asleep trying to remind myself not to forget the Gu gels i'd stuck under my running pack.

at 4:45 sunday morning, we made our way down to the monorail, hoping we were in the right spot, hoping we had enough time, and well, just generally hoping. gerlinda worried about her championchip and ate a bagel while i sat on the train trying to think of encouraging things to say, trying to not to let the banana i'd eaten make its way back up and out.

at epcot, we followed a trickle of other runners who were winding toward the start. the lights were bright and the portapotties plentiful, and we stopped to pee and get our bearings. as we moved into the big parking lot full of sponsor tents and throngs of people, we got the overhead instructions to begin the 1/2 mile walk to the start area. in front of us, bodies parted the heavy mists like the opposites of ghosts -- alive, solid, breathing. strangers bound in the strangeness of this moment.

the road to the start led us along lush vegetation, and bright lights shown in our eyes. the starting corrals began to take shape in front of us, and we found, to our dismay, that there were only a few portapotties available, and those had long lines already. after a quick detour to take care of business in the woods, we trudged forward looking for corral G, and i was struck by a worst-case scenario moment: i leaned over to gerlinda and said, "what if this is, like, a death march or something? i mean, what if they are just lining us all up to shoot us?" which, roughly translated, means the worst thing that could happen would be that we die. but we aren't going to die. it's only a marathon. only.

and then, just in case, i sent up the last gasp of a prayer -- a misshapen pearl of a breath that wavered, floated, then disappeared into the heavy air of exterior disney world.

we stood in those corrals for a while, shifting and twitching as someone sang the star-spangled banner, tearing up as the wheelchair start when off with a bang. then, we began shuffling forward collectively -- a mass of likely and unlikely runners telling each other we'd be okay and messing with the chrono features our our watches. and finally, we crossed the start line, the electronics of our championchips beeping. i felt gerlinda trotting behind me. "have a good race," she said, as i turned around and shrugged, a grin of relief spreading over my face. the race isn't really all that bad; it's the anticipation that will kill a girl dead.

i don't really remember much about the race itself. i plowed forward, passing folks and trying not to think about how many miles were left. by mile 5 or so, i'd found my groove. i sent a little mental message to gerlinda, imagined the words flying back to her. around mile 10 we entered the magic kingdom and it was cool to see the crowds cheering. i took some energy from that and made a mad dash for the halfway point, where i ate a gu and took a quick walk break. by mile 18 i was feeling the fatigue of heat and sun, and 8 miles still felt like a really long way to go.

by mile 20 though, i noticed that a breeze was breaking the heat. i ate another gu and a banana and felt good enough to kick it up a little. by mile 23 i knew i was going faster than i should, but i didn't really feel like slowing down. i skipped through a water stop and just kept running. by mile 25, i could feel the finish, and when i finally rounded the last curve and entered the finish "chute," my heart was pounding with exhilaration instead of exhaustion. i threw my hands over my head as the announcer called out my name. someone cut off my championchip and steered me to the right. as i received my finisher's medal, i choked back a few tears, and sent the rest of my energy gerlinda's way ....

when i saw gerlinda a few minutes later, i gave her a sweaty hug and we stood there dripping and smiling for photos, looking slightly dazed but feeling pretty good, our sweat turning into tiny salt crystals. what else can i say? i'm proud of gerlinda -- for finishing, for training well, for starting this whole process in the first place. i'm proud of myself too, for staying on task and remembering to have a good time.

in the end, it's hard to say why we do the things we do. marathons? crazy. testing our bodies physically is bound to bleed some emotional result ... but what is it that we really crave?

i suppose we will always be seekers. answers might come to us as races or feathers or the way the light glances off a morning peak at sunhit or the way a wave curves itself into the shore ... but we'll never quit looking for whatever it is we're looking for. as for me, i can only keep hoping and believing. i can only keep culling from the stories and poems and songs and people that i love. their wisdoms become my wisdoms, grains of sand lighting up the darkest parts of me. to do my best is to continue to praise the mutilated world, to listen to the wild geese telling me that the world is open to my imagination, to reach out to my misfit and accomplish -- for the hushed breath of a moment -- some semblance of wholeness.

The Marathon - Gerlinda

2007-01-10T20:44:00.000-07:00

My Asics sneakers lie on the ground, one bowled over on its side with the laces flapping. There is something I should have perhaps learned by now, something solemn and hallowed – but those sneakers defy me. They’re so light, with their orange piping and dayglow threads.

They ran a marathon last Sunday.

I put them on at 4AM, in the amber light of Disney’s Contemporary Hotel. My training partner, Abby, and I both had tension rising off our skin like steam, as we posed for pictures on the predawn balcony. We ate bananas and double checked the ticky red cable ties that bound our champion chips to our shoelaces. We talked about how we were clearly insane.

The monorail belched us out half a mile from the starting line. The air was liquid and velvet, perfect for lazing in a hammock at the beach – except it was shot through with portable streetlamp light and cluttered with laughing and footfall and the chatter of thousands of ordinary people.

Runners. Reedy, thready, ropey anemic runners. Outsized santa-bellied, Garmin-watch sporting runners. Runners looking out of place without their baby joggers. Tanned, muscled, compression shirt wearing runners. iPod Runners. Nervous, over-wrung runners. Tell-you-a-thing-or-two runners. And then, Me and Abby – two unlikely, songwriting, over-thinking, fish-out-of-water runners.

We told each other we’d be fine.

The lines at the port-o-potties were half an hour deep. At 15 minutes to race time, we abandoned the queue and joined the renegade bush-squatting contingent, even though it felt slightly sacrilegious to be relieving ourselves on naturally manicured landscaping in the Happiest Place On Earth. At least it was only #1.

We made our way to Corral G – the 2nd to last corral, home to those of us who predicted we’d finish in 6-6 ½ hours. Abby was there out of sympathy to me. When I’d registered, the only race I’d ever run was Disney’s Family Fun Run 5K the previous January, which took me almost 45 minutes to complete.

Since then, however, training for this marathon, bored one November day on the treadmill, I’d logged a 27:13 5K. The leaps I’d made were amazing, actually. I ran the Virginia Beach Rock n Roll half marathon in September (2:22:12) but, more recently I routinely ran 13.2 miles in just over 2 hours – if the spray painted mile markers on Atlanta’s Silver Comet Trail were accurate. (Authors Note: they are decidedly not accurate.)

True, there had been setbacks. For one thing, my band had a show the night before my 20 mile training run, and I forgot to eat dinner. I couldn’t understand why running was such a horrible drag the next morning. “Why” I asked myself, “Are you doing this?” And suddenly it was very clear how idiotic I was, how I could be nestled under a blanket on my couch, reading. I never recovered from that training run. Since early December, my training had gone to hell. I was terrified to lace up the Asics sneakers. What in the hell had I been thinking? Obviously, I would never be able to run 26.2 miles. I would collapse. I would cry. I would give in. I would give up. The last 3 weeks of my training were riddled with potato chips and holiday chocolate. I went out with friends, stayed up late, slept in, missed my training runs. My weekly mileage dropped to 15, then to 10, then to 5 – and not because I was tapering, but because I was scared out of my mind and doing everything within my power to numb myself, psych myself out, ruin everything.

But, I had trained too well for that. Until that terrible 20 miler in early December, I had trained relentlessly. If I missed a run, which was an extreme rarity, I made up for it later in the week. When I absolutely had to do a run on the treadmill, I punished myself by making myself run it faster than I’d ever run before. I didn’t think of it as a speed workout. I thought of it as payback for being a pussy. And I didn’t think I was being tough either – I thought I was a ridiculous sham of a runner, weak and slow. It made me feel like pounding my chest and roaring, to force myself to run to exhaustion, until my heart rate topped 180 and my head was light from panting.

I had a vague sense I was doing something good for myself. I got panicky sometimes, wondering what exactly that “good thing” was – that something solemn and hallowed I felt I was supposed to learn. After a long run, I wiped salt off of my skin and touched my toes while my leg muscles quivered and shook, and I felt calmer, for having tried, at least, to listen.

And now, here I was at the starting line of the 2007 Disney World Marathon, with everything happening in slow motion. There were fireworks. Corral G began walking forward. Abby leaned over and said, “What if this is, like, a death march? What if we’re all about to be lined up and shot dead?”

I looked at her and smiled, relieved that there was – at least – someone weirder than me in this world. We reached the starting line and broke into a jog. Way back in Corral G, it was a very easy jog indeed. It calmed me down. As Abby pulled away from me, I felt like maybe I would do this after all. As the 1 mile marker approached, I wasn’t even breathing hard. But then I looked at my watch – 11:56. Egad! I wasn’t even on a 5-hour pace to finish, and I would be damned, after all that work, if I didn’t finish in under 5 hours!

I started passing people. It wasn’t easy. Folks were walking and chatting, sometimes 4 abreast in the road. I said “Sorry” without looking at anyone, as I squeezed myself in and out of little breaks in the tide. I felt like I was spreading bad karma. I told myself to be nice, to get outside of my head, to look around, so that I would remember, so that I would feel a part of this experience I’d chosen to have.

But the first 6 miles passed in an utter blur. By mile 7, I was on pace to finish in 4:40, but I knew I needed to slow down. The down comforter was creeping in: the voice that says, “Why in the HELL are you doing this?”

But, I couldn’t slow down. I couldn’t look around. I couldn’t smile. I couldn’t feel anything. I couldn’t take it in. At some point, the sun came up and it was an unwelcome thing – hot and beating down, illuminating mile after mile of pine tree barricades planted alongside highway cloverleaves. We did run through Cinderella’s castle, didn’t we? I don’t really remember anything until Mile 18.

I’ll call Mile 18 “The Lost Mile.” I think I walked almost half of it. I’d been trying, fairly successfully, to keep my pace, but suddenly I realized I had choice: I could kill myself trying, but I was still going to fail. Or, I could slow down, get out of my head, and try to remember why I signed up for this race in the first place:

My father was dying.

I don’t know what it felt like to him, but to me it felt just like this race. I couldn’t open my eyes. I couldn’t stop to take any of it in. I couldn’t feel anything. I couldn’t think. I knew there was something solemn and hallowed that was happening to me and my father and everyone in my entire family. I trusted somehow that one day I would understand. For now, I was showing up. I was putting one foot in front of the other. I was doing the best I could, and if it wasn’t good enough, it felt right – at least - to try.

That was three years ago. Dad died three years ago last November, and I still haven’t figured out the solemn, hallowed thing I’ve felt like I’m supposed to be learning. I’m still numb and scared, and I’m still hopelessly myself – with a fondness for potato chips and feather comforters and fiction novels. But somehow I know now, whether I want to or not, that it is up to me, to take matters into my own hands. My hands, after all (and I mean this metaphorically,) are a gift from God to me, and to the world.

It would be nice, perhaps, if God could be a bit clearer. A girl like me could use a set of instructions. Left to my own devices, I’m apt to do something overdramatic and crazy, like attempting to run a marathon.

Midway through Mile 18, I force myself into a trudging jog. It occurs to me that I have an Alleve in my pocket. I’ve never taken a painkiller on a run before, but what the heck? I pop it in. I open my eyes, I look around. There are a lot of other people walking. Most of them don’t look particularly dejected. In fact, they seem to be rather enjoying themselves. There are conversations, even giggles. One girl is dressed as Tinkerbell.

As Mile 20 comes and goes, and I realize I’m now running further than ever before, I do a gut check. After all, if I’m about to have a heart attack (there was that heart murmur, after all, that they detected in college and which I haven’t had looked at since,) I should really just stop this nonsense. But, truthfully, I feel fine. I feel good, actually - relatively speaking, of course, as my clothes are wringing wet and I can feel a sunburn taking root on my skin.

At Mile 22, I strike up a conversation with a guy who fell off training when he had to spend a month in Costa Rica, and is “paying for it now.” But he seems cheerful enough – I know he’ll finish the race.

Around Mile 23, I chat with a crazy woman who ran the half marathon yesterday and now is running the full marathon today. She’ll get a Goofy medal in addition to her Donald and Mickey medals. She, clearly, is bonkers. But she has a nice smile and we chat our way past Mount Everest in the Animal Kingdom.

At Mile 24, I’m drafting off Tinkerbell who has visible knots in her calves. We jog past the Boardwalk Villas, where I sat the previous January flush from completing my first 5K, and watched the marathoners go by. I remember I saw an apple-shaped woman jogging determinedly along in her purple Team in Training shirt, and I thought to myself, “I could do that.”

Who is looking at me now, I wonder, thinking the same thing? Wearing my own white-and-purple Team Hope, Pancreatic Cancer Action Network singlet, I am crossing over into Mile 25 of my first Marathon. Abby and have raised over $4,200 for PanCAN: Me in honor of my father, and her in honor of her Uncle.

We enter Epcot. I notice my breath is suddenly thready and slightly gasping, even though I am still jogging slowly. I feel invincible. I barely hurt. But maybe this marathon is taking its toll on me after all. I decide to walk a moment and a kind, older gentleman asks me if I’d like a gel. I break into a jog and pass him. I round Spaceship Earth and head out of the park, and suddenly, there is the finish line, straight ahead.

I take my Dad’s picture out of my pocket and hold it in my hand as I cross. I’m crying. I’m pressing my fists to my eyes. But I feel good. 4:57:43. Never once did it cross my mind that I wouldn’t finish.

Someone clips my champion chip off my Asics Sneaker with the orange piping and dayglow threads. Someone puts a medal around my neck. Someone hands me a bottle of water. I get a banana. I stretch. I wander through the tents, and there is Wendy – Abby’s partner – grabbing me by the fanny pack, seeming gleeful that I’m still alive. She guides me to Abby. We look at each other and look away, because we’re shy like that, and we haven’t been shot, after all. My hair has stiffened into a salt bush, and hers is a mass of curls in the back.

Just put one foot in front of the other, I guess. You’ll get somewhere soon enough.

eeeep! -- by abby

2007-01-04T18:32:00.000-07:00

i talked to gerlinda a bit ago, and i think we agree that we are equally freaked / trying not to be freaked / glassy-eyed / committed.

sunday feels like a long way away and not so far away at all! personally, i have been trying to eat well, taking deep breaths and reading artemis fowl books for a distraction.

wish us luck -- in a few days this'll all be a history i hope we look back on fondly!

:D

not much - gerlinda

2007-01-02T08:03:00.000-07:00

between the holidays and whatnot, it was all i could do last week to just get my booty out of bed for crossfit. Which is CRAZY! we had to do this thing last week that was almost like dancing like choreography:

from a deep squat position, grasp a medicine ball using fingers as stabilizors only - b/c the momentum of exploding from the squat will actually lift the ball for you (in theory)
continue upward exploding motion quickly and fluidly until you are on your toes with your shoulders shrugged up to your ears
release the medicine ball
drop down into a deep squat again FAST while flipping your hands palms up to receive the ball
the above move is called "The Snatch"
raise from the squat and bring the medicine ball to chest level (still holding it from the bottom, palms up)
scissor your legs powerfully out while thrusting the medicine ball powerfully straight upward

there is a name for the second part of the move, but after about 100 false starts on this, b/c i am too uncoordinated to remember the "dance" and kept scissoring at the wrong moment and dropping the ball ... my legs were too wobbly and my brain was too fried to care or remember what the exercise was called...

i finishised last in the class on the speed time trial of these - mostly because i was getting remedial squatting instructions the whole time. in between sets of those, we also had to do jumping pullups and dips...

i woke up so sore the next day that i decided to bail on crossfit this week and just do some slow, easy runs instead... :)

i'm excited about the marathon because, this time come next week, it will be OVER. because of inconsistencies in my training this past month or so, i have no real idea what i can expect of myself in terms of race times, etc. i know it's going to be very difficult. i am prepared to break down in tears, if necessary. but i am as determined as ever to complete the race - even if it takes me the entire allotted 7 hours to do so.

like abby, i only have one appropriate pair of shorts... Our PanCAN shirts, which arrived in the mail last week, are white singlets with purple side panels. I get chaffed on my inner/upper arm when i wear sleeveless shirts, but i will remember to slather the seams and also my arm itself with body glide and hopefully i'll be ok! like abby, i'll be wearing my asics 2110's. i'm hoping the weather will be a little cloudy so that the sun isn't beating down on us... but, starting out at 7am should help with the heat. I predict Abby will be crossing the finish line around 11am!

when i was at disney to 5K last year, i walked down to the boardwalk saw the some of the marathoners. there was this one in particular who looked pretty out of shape - but she seemed strong and determined, and she was trotting along at a slow jog, while others around her were walking. it was then that i thought - if she can do this, then maybe i could too... flush from the victory of running my first 5K, i felt invincible. the rest is history: want it, check. go for it, check. do it - i'm checking that one off the list next weekend!

8º, 8mi -- by abby

2006-12-30T12:44:00.000-07:00

i was going to start this post by saying hurrah! and three cheers! for the last long(ish) cold run of the year. because it was freezing! but i felt great anyway. and, in truth, it will be the last long(ish) cold run of 2006. but also in truth, i plan to continue running and keeping up a 10 mile long run base after the marathon, so 2007 will likely see many more freezing-cold, icy-eyelash, slippery-road runs ........

anyway! the race is one week away. i'm nervous and anxious and exciting and freaked and worried and thrilled all at once, and i am trying to channel all of that into a nice positive vibe that i hope stays with me until the race is over, and that i hope other runners will pick up on too.

regardless of all that though, i have gobs and gobs of anxiety! i started worrying about my shoes on wednesday, about a month too late. so, i'm committed to the asics gt 2110 that have seen me through the last 3 months of training. they'll be fine, i'm sure, and i'm not going to worry about that anymore. so just when i get over the shoe thing, i start worrying about my shorts. i have like one pair of shorts that i like ... and i've been running in tights since october, so i only ever wear the shorts when i run on the treadmill, really. so i freaked out and ordered another couple of pairs to try out this week. probably i'll stick with the shorts i already have. they have two side pockets and a small pocket in the back, so i could carry a few things. but we'll see.

i'm not as worried about the shirt -- that'll be fine, i think. socks? i'd like to carry and extra pair to change out at the 18 or 20 mile mark, but that got me worried about some kind of belt pack to carry. and plus, the weather? i keep hoping that training at altitude will offset any negative effects of humidity and heat. i hope i don't melt into a puddle like the wicked witch of the west. arrrrgh!! all these little details just creep up on you in these last few days. so i decided to take today off from worrying.

instead, i started trying to be proactive and think of all the things i need to remember not to forget -- like my form i need to pick up my packet, and some gels, and maybe some clif bloks, and a few extra second skin things for my foot. and to pack my running gear and shoes in my carry-on so in case i lose my baggage i can still run. and stuff like that. i'm going to take a good couple of looks at the marathon course and try to remember where there's first aid and where there's fuel and where i can station people to cheer us on.

and other than that i'm going to enjoy an easy week of easy runs. i'm going to remind myself to go out easy at the race ... it's not really a race, after all. to go out easy and relaxed and comfortable, and to not push myself at all for the first 20 or 22 miles, because i will be pushing myself a lot for the last 4 or 5 miles. to respect the distance. to not have any expectations other than finishing feeling decent, and to remember all the people who've helped me raise over $1,000 for PanCAN -- which is way more than i would ever have been able to give on my own -- and gerlinda for being an inspiration, and my family and friends who have helped me during these last 6 months or so by riding SAG or picking me up down the road or making sure i eat right or just telling me i'm doing a good job .... amen.

and happy new year!

christmas run

2006-12-26T07:59:00.000-07:00

well - i feel much better about things this week.

i ran pretty consistantly (if lightly) all week, thanks to having to get up anyway for crossfit. i ran 2 on monday, 3 on tuesday, and 2 on thursday - all at the gym, squeezing in runs during lunch breaks or after crossfit/before work. friday, a work emergency that turned out to be nothing left me with a free and unanticipated hour of daylight. i grabbed the chance and set out for my 4.5 mile loop around Grant Park, which i've come to love because its the antithesis of running the Silver Comet Trail. it's very hilly and urban, whereas the SCT is flat and rustic. they both have their charm!

anyway, i felt good about myself for making good use of my free time (rather than wrapping gifts, or housecleaning, or any of the other 10,000 things i also needed to do.) feeling good about myself bubbled over into motivation for my christmas eve long run. i have no idea of far our schedule said to go, but i set out to do 16 miles, and that's what i did.

i just really felt like i needed another true "long run" under my belt to prove to myself that i could still handle distance. and for the first time in more than a month, i really felt good. i was able to settle into that space in my mind where i'm drifting and thinking and dreaming and pondering, and not saying to myself every 5 minutes "when will this end?"

i felt great physically - no knee issues or leaden legs. because i was solo, i ran 6 miles out and back, so that i could refill my water bottle at the trailhead fountain. then without really stopping, i headed off for another 2 miles out and back, for 16 miles total. once i hit 14 miles i started to "feel" my quads and calves. i wonder if that's psychological? to start feeling pain when you know you're only a couple miles from the end? i wonder, if at the marathon, i'll be able to stave off noticing my stiffness, etc, until i've hit 20-24 miles?

i guess i'll find out in 2 weeks!
2 WEEKS?!?!?!?!
and speaking of the big event - i've *almost* reached my fundraising goal, but i'm still a couple hundred bucks short. help me out! http://www.firstgiving.com/gerlindagrimes

training stalled by dog bone injury -- by abby

2006-12-24T08:25:00.000-07:00

friday night frida got me up at about 3am to go outside. as i was stumbling and groping back to bed in the dark, i stepped on a dog bone -- not a rawhide, but a real honest-to-god piece-of-cow-leg dog bone -- and it put a nice gash right in the meaty part of the ball of my left foot.

it's a nasty wound, about 3/4 an inch across and about 1/4 inch deep. i was able to cover it with the still-attached skin, so it's not as bad as it could have been. still -- ack. so. my mom made me take a picture to send her.

yesterday i could barely put weight on it (and i am tough, people! i could saw my own arm off it meant saving my life! i do not complain about injuries!). i covered it with two second skin bandages and this morning it's slightly less tender, but i think there's no way i'm running on it. the roads are snowy/icy, and it was already going to be a tricky run without the hole in the bottom of my foot. i'm kinda bummed. it's actually going to be above 10 degrees and kinda sunny today and i was looking forward to my run despite the road conditions, and plus it's christmas eve and all. and, i feel like a couch potato already for missing what will be 4 days in a row. nevertheless. i guess i better play it safe/smart and let this thing start to heal so i have at least one more good week of running before the big race. maybe i'll do pilates or something.

in other news, i've been eyeing these "icebug" shoes for a while, but i've only been able to find them starting at size 7. what gives?

*******2 WEEKS TILL RACE DAY!!!!!!*********

winding down - gerlinda

2006-12-22T08:05:00.000-07:00

i have nothing much to report.
my running has been challenging - mentally. i went to a toys for tots bootcamp funraiser on the 16th (after a pathetic week of running around doing errands, but no actual running.) then friends & i went on a short run afterwards. i intended to run 12 miles the following day, but woke up so sore from bootcamp i could hardly move!

still, shaking things up a bit seems to have helped my mental outlook. starting on the 19th, i joined this program called CrossFit with the bootcamp instructors (which, i'm supposed to become one of them starting in february!!) it's short bursts of intense activity - totally the opposite fitness program than endurance training. i ran monday, tuesday & thursday this week - just short little runs of no more than 3 miles each, and i did CrossFit on tuesday & thursday.

I'm going to try one last long run this weekend. I'll call it my "Christmas Eve Challenge!" I hope to do 14-16 miles. I hope i can bang it out and feel good, like i did with my last 16-18 milers. for some reason, ever since the horrible 20 mile run, i just feel deflated. and running has been difficult. even to go 2-3 miles at a 9:13 pace (which a few short weeks ago felt easily manageable, if not effortless), feels difficult. it's harder physically. and its really hard mentally. i'm not sure what's going on with me, whether its because i'm out of shape from not following the schedule strictly enough these past couple of weeks, or whether i've just got some sort of mental block.

abby has already given my a kick in the pants, so everyone else - just wish me luck!

g.

ps-abby our PanCAN shirts arrived! they're white singlets with purple side panels made of 100% polyester...

20 -- by abby

2006-12-18T07:32:00.000-07:00

i have to say, it really was a pretty decent run. my mom rode her bike to keep me company and carry all my junk. it was nice and warm in denver, about 40 when we set out and about 65 or so when we finished up 3 hours and 30 minutes later. the run itself actually probably took about 3:20 when you factor in all waiting at stoplights and one bathroom break. we ran on the highline canal trail, which goes all over denver for about a billion miles. it's this nice crushed gravel trail, and it was a lot more cushy for my hip than the road.

i felt pretty great. really the biggest thing is i just got kind of bored with running around mile 15 or so. my mom talked a lot and that helped. i ate my gels and sports beans and listened and talked some and enjoyed the weather. i stopped to walk for about 2 minutes at mile 11 and again at mile 16. in mile 19, my mom counted down every 10th, and then i took a victory lap around the parking lot. we were using the computer on her bike to mark miles, and later my dad said it's pretty accurate, so i guess that's that. my legs were tired, but i feel confident i could have knocked out another 6.2 right then if i'd had to.

i was sore saturday and a little on sunday, but today i feel great. not quite fully recovered, but almost. i was just looking at the rest of the schedule up to the race and it's like there's hardly any running left to do! i'm glad to have this run behind me (last week i was a ball of knots and worries and anxiety, lost inside my own head and hard to be around), and i'm looking forward to an easy few weeks before the race ---

back on track i suppose - gerlinda

2006-12-11T07:59:00.000-07:00

I ran 5 miles @ the gym last friday, and then 14 on the silver comet trail saturday, so i am back on track, i suppose!

The 14 miler felt pretty good, although i'm still battling a bit of mental sluggishness: the annoying voice in my head that goes this is stupid! i'm tired! whine! But, proper nutrition & rest seems to help with that, as does changing up the music on my iPod, or looking up from the ground and actively trying to find something to Behold! along the way, or any number of other mental tricks i am slowly developing.

This week, my schedule looks pretty tough:5-10-5-20. I'm still anxious about my knees & contemplating trying some Ace knee braces. But, i was telling a friend about my first 5K @ Disney World Marathon Weekend last january, where i ran the race in something like 44 minutes & felt so amazingly proud of myself for running the whole way, with no walk breaks. Now, not even a year later, my PR in the 5K is 27:13, and running 14 miles last weekend seemed easy in comparison with the 20 or 22 miles i'll do this weekend... My friend was, like, all jaw-droppingly telling me i should be so proud of myself. And maybe she's right. Maybe i should be.

hmmm. :)

12 / 5 -- by abby

2006-12-10T18:16:00.000-07:00

a funny thing happened on my run on saturday ... the SUN CAME OUT. i mean, when we moved here, we understood that there like 340 sunny days a year, or something like that. and that was massively important to me because i am some kind of sun freak. it's the vitamin D, i swear it. anyway, it turns out that you can call it a "sunny" day as long as the sun is out for like a minimum of 2 hours or something. so in other words, it's not really all that sunny here, necessarily. like maybe it's clear at 5am when you take the dogs out, but by the time you actually have coffee and wake up it's cloudy. this is mostly in the winter. in the summer it's pretty much always sunny. and i can't really complain about the winter because i LOVE the winter and obvs you have to have clouds to make the snow and whatnot.

ANYWAY. this is all just to say that i have been missing the sun. it went somewhere, like australia, and it's been weeks since i've seen it. so saturday, behold: sun. meow sun meow!

so i ran 12 miles and it was fine. i went out easy and light on my feet and came back full of sports beans but still feeling light. today (sunday) i went out early in the (sunny!) cold and knocked out an easy 5 since tomorrow i can't run due to the long and hideous inteview process at MSU (i'm interviewer, not interviewee, thankfully), and this week is all wonky because i have to run my 20 miles on friday instead of saturday since i'll be in denver will all my family and etc etc etc. so i've had to move everything up some i'm ready/rested for friday.

the 20-miler will happen on denver's highline canal trail, which is a nice crushed gravel trail that goes all over denver metro for like a billion miles. my mom's going to ride SAG on her bike so i don't have to carry anything, and hopefully neither of us will freeze to death (forecast looks good, but ya never know).

and that is the story/plan.

mental blocks & lazyness - gerlinda

2006-12-07T07:37:00.000-07:00

without really meaning to, i seem to have totally fallen off the running wagon this week. i haven't run a single step since the 20 miles, unless you count my trot across the street last night to fetch the car...

part of me is okay with that. the 20 miles really took it out of me, mentally. it was a terrible run and in a way, i'm okay cutting myself some slack. plus, my knees are acting strange. almost like they want to give away under me. when i round corners (not even especially tight ones,) i sometimes feel a wrenching sensation on the inside of my knees - as if the slightest twist could cripple me without warning. the good news is, my knees aren't making the clicking sound when i go up stairs this week...so maybe the 20 miles ground away whatever bit of cartiledge was grating against my bones....

so, part of me too, is okay with giving myself a break because - well - if i'm feeling suddenly a bit weird about my knees, maybe i should heed that warning? at least that's what i tell myself...

but, truthfully, there is another part of me that knows i'm just being lazy and whiney. this is the part of me that is scared to death about the marathon. i'm scared of crossing the finish line to whatever does (or does not) exist on the other side. i've been focusing on this goal for so long, knowing that it means something more than just a difficult road race. it's for my father. it's for myself. it's for a million things. but i can't really articulate any of that. i've trusted all along that, by the end, i'd be able to put all of this into words. but now the end is looming and i still feel as scared and as numb as i did when i started all of this.

last night, i told myself it was okay that i'd taken a break this week. but, it's time now for me to get back on the road and take control of myself again. i don't think i can run today, but i'll plan to run tomorrow, and this weekend. i'll run as far as it feels right to run, and i won't worry about anything more than that.

18: further proof that hal higdon is a scheduling genius ... by abby

2006-12-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

a long time ago, when gerlinda signed up for the marathon, and then i signed up for it too, i went scrounging for the training schedule i'd used in my last marathon. because: well, it worked the first time, so i figured it would work this time too. and my run on saturday was proof of just that. i think the reason the higdon training works so well is because it builds you up and steps you back in good intervals, so that you are ready for the next big push.

i also like that he only has you do 20 miles before the race. gerlinda -- i've been reluctant to tell you not to do more than 20, because you gotta do what you gotta do, but really, i promise you, you will not be any better off for having done more than 20 before the race. you might even be worse off, because it will take your body longer to recover from those runs. after reading about your 20-miler, i would encourage you to do 14 as scheduled this weekend, and then 20 again as scheduled the following weekend. you are going to make it through the race -- you are, even if i have to drag you across it with my own two hands, which won't happen b/c you'll get there on your own -- so you shouldn't abuse yourself too much beforehand. you've trained well, and the last thing you want to do is get injured this close! i swear if you don't cross that finish line with only 2 20-milers under your belt, you can hold me personally responsible.

anyway. this past week say below zero temperatures for most of the weekdays, so i did 4-6-5 on the treadmill (6 miles being the most i can tolerate on those things). the higdon schedule has like 10-milers on wednesdays now, but i'm not doing those. i'll do 7 or 8 at most. i just don't have time to work in the longer runs, and plus i'm not sure they really benefit me that much.

my 18-miler was really as great as an 18-mile run can be. it was FREEZING cold, about 8 degrees when i started, and probably about 12 when i finished 2:51 later, with a wind-chill of who-even-knows-how-cold. anyway, i dressed warmly, but my right hand would not warm up, so i kept balling it into a fist and pumping it like that to keep blood flowing. the cold made my eyes water, so i kept getting these ice balls frozen to my eyelashes, and i was slowed considerably in places by bad road conditions -- snowy/icy patches that are tricky to navigate in sneakers. i broke the run up into 3 6-mile segments and took splits for each. my last split was only about 3 minutes slower than my first split, so i feel pretty good about that.

i stopped to walk for a minute or so at mile 8, planned to eat a gel at mile 10 and actually remembered to eat it at mile 11. i really felt pretty good. my iliopsoas/hip is still an issue, but i can work through it. at mile 16 i realized the tube of my camelback was frozen, even though it was *inside* my vest. so no gatorade for the last two miles. then i started getting this weird opthalmic migraine thing that i get, with repeating geometric patterns across my field of vision. it's never a headache, it's like this weird eye thing. it lasted the rest of the day, but i think it was more a stress thing than a running thing, since i don't get them very often. when mile 18 came, i felt like i had a good 2 or 3 miles in me still, and that's a good sign.

i ran faster than i thougth i would, so my ride didn't show up for another 10 minutes, which was actually good, because i walked some and stretched and worked out a kink in my right calf. i was so cold though, that i couldn't stop shivering. my hands and feet were without any color -- these totally sick-white appendages. it wasn't until i got in the shower that i started warming up, and i just stood there forever under the hot water, which was so hot it hurt but also felt good at the same time. yesterday i was a little sore, and today my calves still protest at certain activities, but mostly my muscles feel okay. i was already fighting the beginning of what feels like a nasty sinus infection, so i'm sure spending 3 hours outside in arctic conditions only furthered that and i fully expect to fall out with a cold any minute now. my ears are gone already; i can barely hear.

anyway. i feel good about the run. i feel ready for the 20 coming up in two weeks, even though i'm freaked that i have to run it in a different city. i feel like my training is working and that my body is responding the way it should. it's supposed to be warmer this week, so hopefully i can do some of my weekday running on the road instead of the treadmill.

20 Miles, Doubt and Despair - Gerlinda

2006-12-04T07:07:00.000-07:00

Last week's running kind of sucked. I was supposed to do something like 5-10-5, 20. or 6-8-6, 20. instead i did 6 miles on wed. and another 6 on thursday...

i ended up not running at all on tuesday (airport delays monday trashed my tuesday.) wednesday, i knocked out 6 fairly decent miles. thursday, i had an awful day spent in traffic court, after which i really needed to run... but when i got out on the road, i felt terrible - leaden, slow, just not into it. i kept having to stop and walk, just to get through it. friday i had a show & couldn't run...

saturday's 20 miles was the hardest run i've ever done. i got a late start, around 2pm (thanks to the show the night before, and to putzing the morning away.) the weather was beautiful - sunny and cool. by all rights, it should've been a good run, but ... i just wasn't into it. i felt ok physically, i guess. i gave myself short walk breaks every 3 miles. after the 6th mile, running across the "bridge of optimism" which i've described in previous posts, i got a bit of second wind and actually enjoyed myself for a few miles - but it was short lived. by mile 9, i was desperate for mile 10...just so i could turn around and go back. at mile 10, i stopped and stretched, ate a gel, walked for a minute, etc. by mile 12, i really just wanted the run to be over. by mile 14, i felt kind of dead on the inside and i really, REALLY wanted the run to be over. i kept telling myself "just 6 more miles to go..." but i wanted to punch myself, b/c i didn't (&)(*%&% feel like looking for )(*^*&%&% silver linings... at mile 15, i gave in and started letting myself take a short walk break at every mile, rather than every 2-3 miles. at mile 17, i actually stepped off the trail and had a bathroom break at this coffee shop along the way. (i could've sat on that toilet forever, by the way.) at mile 18, i tried to distract myself by thinking up a nationality for every letter of the alphabet. A = Argentinian, B = Bolivian, C = Canadian. Etc. At mile 19, I started counting my footsteps, but I couldn't concentrate and kept losing count...

Finally, I finished the *(&^)*^(&% run (3:19), and immediately my calves seized up in excruciating knots. I think I actually fell to the grass in a moment of melodrama, while my "crew" (who was actally tired and sore herself after biking 20+ miles, hauling my extra powerade and cliff blocs) grinned and say "way to go, grimes! you did it! 20 miles!) Somehow, I managed to haul myself back to vertical long enough to stretch. on the car ride home, it occured to me to take some advil. later, i had a hot bath and some excellent pizza...

i honestly don't know how in the hell i'm going to run 26.2 miles. don't get me wrong, i'll cross that blasted finish line if it kills me. but, i'm banishing all thoughts of race times and goals from my mind. i just want to finish and not die in the process. why was 20 miles so much harder than 18? was it that i stayed up late the night before? that i've been vacationing and my training & eating/sleeping schedule has been all out of wack? are (2) 20-oz bottles of powerade not enough hydration along the way? should i have eaten more than 1 gel and 1/2 pack of sports beans? was it that i switched to powerade instead of gatorade (cuz that's what they'll be serving on the disney course)? it wasn't that my body gave out, although i did have small aches and pains (my left ankle/arch is sore, my calves were tight, my hips got sore, whine, whine whine). but the physical stuff was nothing to the mental anguish - i simply couldn't get my mind off how difficult the run was and why anyone would be stupid enough to agree to run that far.

scheduling-wise, i was planning to run 22 miles this coming weekend, then 24 the next, then step it back a couple weeks before the marathon. now, i don't know. maybe i should ramp back to 14/15 miles this weekend, and then push ahead to 22/23 miles next weekend ... then call it quits with the heavy training and just rest up for the big race?

in which i take a week off - gerlinda

2006-11-28T08:07:00.000-07:00

well, ok, so, i didn't take a WHOLE week off, but at 15 miles total, it was the easiest running week i've had in a while. it was a "step back" week, so of course i went overboard and just stepped out entirely...

i forgive myself because i was on vacation in NYC! and, it's not like i didn't run at all. i got in a 3 miler at the gym before i left for the big apple. and i did 2 6+-mile runs on vacation. (ok, well, the first was a 3+ interrupted by a cup of coffee at starbucks and then 3+ back.) my 2nd 6+ miler was a good hour's jog in central park, which i loved. the weather was perfect; all the runners, bikers, walkers, roller bladers, and tourists were out & about. the city was gorgeous as usual, through a thicket of leafless winter trees. i ran past hot dog stands, cigarette smokers and balloon men.

fantastic.
now, back to the grind. i have to somehow run 20 miles this weekend... plus another 20 split up through the week... 40 miles in one week; that's intense.

tofurkey day 12 -- by abby

2006-11-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

actually, it wasn't tofurkey day, it was the saturday after, and there was no tofurkey this year, for the record. those things are gross. anyway, in a moment of clarity (they are rare and precious these days) on saturday morning, i had this thought that maybe my long runs of late have been so tough because i've been under-dressed and have therefore used up a lot of energy just trying to stay warm. so i decided to test this theory. i put on the usual long tights and long-sleeved shirt, but added a windproof vest and warmer gloves. it seems to've worked. this run was the best i've had in a few weeks, and i don't think it's just because it was shorter, since it was better than the wednesday 7s and 8s as well. i settled in earlier, felt strong and not grouchy, and ran the course in 1:51 something. i also let myself stop to walk a few times, and ate a bite of powerbar at the half-way point.

anyway, i deduce that more clothes = a good thing. this week's 18-miler has me all anxious and twitchy, but i'll knock it out somehow!

16+ in which i hallucinate death & ospreys -- by abby

2006-11-20T18:13:00.000-07:00

well. on saturday, i ran from my house to the conoco in manhattan (15+) and then turned around and ran back until my ride showed up. actually, i waved my ride on to the next mile marker. so it was 16-ish let's say 16.5 just for fun. time was 2:32. i don't know what that equals in min per mi.

it was a crappy run. my 4-miler thursday was so crappy that i made it a 3-miler, and the weight workout sucked that day too. i dunno if i was fighting something off or didn't eat right or what. it's too much working -- that's what it is.

i spent the first half of the run saturday trying to stay warm. there is this tricky cold here where it's warm when the sun's out even if it's only 15 degrees, but as soon as a cloud comes by or any wind comes up, then it's cold. so it's difficult to dress properly. my hands were cold. and then they were hot. and then they were cold again. and then there was a rock in my shoe. and then the cable going from my ipod to my headphones was all wonked and basically Everything Was Annoying. this makes for a very crabby abby, emphasis on the very. and then my hands were hot/cold/hot again again again.

plus, i'd cleaned out the bladder of my camelback with a bleach/water mix because it was getting all mungy, and even though i rinsed rinsed rinsed it and rinsed it again, i was totally paranoid that i was ingesting bleach the entire run, and therefore slowly dying from the inside. i had my histrionic collapse all played out in my head .... me, staggering and gagging until i'm an orange lump on the side of the road, barfing up black junk a la madame bovary only in tights instead of all those hoops and whatnot, all balled up and dead out on a country road with no one to find me for hours and hours. what is WRONG with me? honestly.

also, i hallucinated two ospreys onto a phone pole around mile 13. i thought "no way" and then "way" and then "No Way" and then "WAY!" and then ... oh. it's just black knobs and white things and wires and Whatever. (in my defense, i hallucinated the same ospreys onto the same phone pole in a car ride the next morning, so obvs there's something going on there ... some osprey raptor hawk trick ju-ju thing.)

anyway. i'm looking forward to a step-back week. i've taken the rest of the week off *real* work because this morning i lost all ability to deal. except, there's still this gianormous freelance project. ah. so back to proofing that ...

18 ?!?! - gerlinda

2006-11-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

last week was full of weird running ju-ju. on tuesday's 4 miler, it got dark after the first 1/2 hour and i got kind of lost and ended up running for 50 minutues before i could get reoriented.

wednesday's 8 miler just ... didn't happen. i meant to do it, but then i overslept and there was no time to fit it in.

i was going to make it up on thursday...but then i overslept and ended up just having to do 4 miles at the gym during lunch - AND, i forgot my sports bra, so i had to run the whole time bouncing and popping out of my lacy victoria secret bra. perhaps you're smiling, reading that, but I WASN'T.

then, i found out my trusty LSD running partners had come down with colds and were going to have to bail on our 18-miler. this send me inexplicably into a tailspin. saturday, i was a royal beeeyatch - slamming stuff around, cleaning my house like a maniac. finally, i realized i was just TERRIFIED about doing the 18 miles...

i mean, 18 miles is A LONG FREAKING WAY.

once i realized why i was so veclempt, i calmed down a little. sunday, i got up and knocked out the run in 2:50 - a 9:27 pace. a friend came along on her bike and "crewed" for me, so i didn't have to ration out one bottle of Gatorade over the 18 miles. i ate 1/2 a Zone bar & stretched at the midway point. i let myself take 30-45 sec. walk breaks every 3 miles or so. i listened to music for the first 10 miles, then abadoned my iPod shuffle and ran to the sound of my own footsteps and breathing.

it wasn't easy. i had a calf cramp that took the first 3 or so miles to work out. my knees felt good, but my hip sockets (not the muscles, but the actual, like sockets) were hurting the last couple miles. but - thanks to my "Crew," i honestly felt more fueled and less rubbery than normal. i still had a couple of en route hallucinations - like the little field mouse i saw 4-up-and-hard on the side of the trail, which turned out to be a dried up leaf... but that can happen to anyone, right?

i'm proud of myself, but still very intimidated by the marathon distance... still totally unsure how i'll *ever* run 26.2 miles... still waiting to hit the wall and crap out... still waiting to not be able to keep the pace (which is fine - i'm running way faster than i ever imagined, and i would be happy to just finish in under 5 hours...or honestly, to just finish, period.) wish me luck!! the training is getting very difficult, very intimidating mentally, and very demanding in terms of the sheer amount of time and preparation it's taking. at this point, i'm just really looking forward to running the race.

ouch my lungs -- by abby

2006-11-15T09:58:00.000-07:00

i would just like to post for the record that 10º F is almost too cold for running. and breathing. though, then again, i would rather run in 10º temps than 90º temps. in fact, this morning i considered the possibility of a lifestyle that would allow me to live in a fallish/winterish climate all the time: oct-may in bozeman and june-sep in ushuaia, argentina .... i mean, a girl can dream. oh yeah, and what about the antarctica marathon? fantastic!

my 8-mile run early this morning can be summed up by the following bruce cockburn lyrics:

nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight
gotta kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight

16 miles + last week - gerlinda

2006-11-13T14:36:00.000-07:00

so...
i ran 16 miles on friday?!?!! that freaks me out! and i was FAST too! i did it in 2:30 (give or take...i was using my cell phone to time myself.) in fact, i was so fast, i don't trust it. the "mile markers" on the silver comet trail have been spray painted on by someone. (there are official pylons with markers as well, but these occur at irregular intervals - like 4.2 miles, or whatever.) someone has gone through and marked the trail off with spraypaint in what i assume are quarter miles. every so often there will be a line with a dot over it, or a line with two or three dots over it. and then every so often there will be a line with a number over it. after puzzling over these a few times, i realized one dot is followed by two dots, and that is followed by three dots, and then comes the number... so, i think it's logical to assume these markings indicate quarter miles. BUT ANYWAY - i ran out to spray painted #8, and back, in 2:30. freaky.

as for the rest of the week, i stuck to the schedule but changed up my running days - due to work stuff. so, this week went:
4-7-16-3.5

i feel good about it.
this week i'm going to try 18. i'm deviating from the schedule b/c i want to work my way up to 23-24 miles, vs. the 20 mile pinnacle with which my training schedule ends. we'll see how it goes. 16 miles felt ok. really, really tough. but my body felt ok. i need to make sure i have meals planned out afterwards, though... i followed my 16 mile run with a 5 hour car ride, several small bottles of water, a few handfuls of trail mix, a chicken sandwich from wendys on the road - i thought that should be enough food, but i swear, i wasn't right until after i ate a proper dinner at 7pm that night. i was really dragging, quiet, and perhaps a little delirious...

a Very Windy 15+ -- by abby

2006-11-13T07:46:00.000-07:00

since my dog frida wakes me up at about 5:30 every morning regardless of what day of the week it is, there's really no such thing as sleeping in. so i was up early saturday, but had to wait for it to get light enough to run. i hit the road at about 7am and ran from my house to the conoco station in manhattan (the littlest apple!) – which is just over 15 miles – in about 2:25 or so.

it was a good run. i was nervous about it! it took me awhile to settle in – i didn't really relax until about mile 7, but after that i was fine. it was ridiculously windy, especially on the highline and in the flood plain just before manhattan. i actually stopped to walk about 1/4 mile between miles 10 and 11 because it was so windy; it seemed like a waste of energy to try to run when i wasn't getting anywhere. after that the road curved and i had the wind at my back so i got blown forward for a couple miles. i heard later that we had sustained winds of 45mph with gusts up to 65mph. yeesh.

so that's the long run of the year so far, and hopefully i won't be as nervous for the 16+ next week. i found out that i'll be running my 20-miler in denver ... which will be interesting because it'll be a course i don't know. which i guess is good practice for the marathon.

10 & a sigh of relief - gerlinda

2006-11-06T11:10:00.000-07:00

i got my bootie up early saturday morning & ran 10 miles on the freedom parkway trail. it was cold! i wore a long sleeved shirt & hat for the first time - and i wish i'd had gloves! but, thank goodness, it was a great run. i was pretty fast too...i ran it in 1:32 and i'm pretty sure i did the whole 10 miles...i was within a 10th or so, at least. i like running in the cold. and i like seeing the sun come up.

the training is starting to get pretty intense now...my schedule this coming week is 4-7-4-16 (the long run is actually 15, but i'm going to try and go longer b/c i want to work up to at least 23-24 miles before the actual event, even though the schedule only goes up to 20...)

i've realized, in order to make it work, i'm really going to have to focus on the running - the way i focused on boot camp back in the day. i'm going to have to force myself out of bed early, eat right, sleep enough, moderate... so, wish me luck on that!

wormhole -- by abby

2006-11-06T08:54:00.000-07:00

saturday i got up early and did a relatively easy 10.4 miles in 1:36 or so. it was cold and clammy out, and my breath froze in little clouds that took a long time to disappear. i imagined them like thought bubbles hanging in space as i ran through it.

speaking of running through space ... there is this one mile that i swear is a wormhole. it's the same stretch of road -- sometimes it's mile 6 or mile 8 or mile 10 depending on how far i run and the route -- from the dairy farm to river road heading east. anyway, i call it The Longest Mile, because it seems like it takes forever to run it. even though it's only a mile like every other mile, and even though i run it in the same amount of time that i run all the other miles .... it just feels like it takes ages to get from one end of it to the other, and time seems to stop and i can never remember what songs were on the ipod and i can never remember what i thought about or how the road was or if any cars passed. it's like i just end up at river road, and can't remember how i got there, but can remember that it seemed to've taken a very long time. and then once i'm there everything's back to normal and the miles seem right again and my mind's back in my head and i realize i am breathing.

see: wormhole. or else: aliens?

------- squared - by gerlinda

2006-11-03T08:35:00.000-07:00

this week sux....

my busy life has finally overtaken me; i officially do not have enough time. abby & i emailed yesterday & she said running is her refuge, the one thing she puts above everything else, the one thing she always makes time for. she even said she does longer-than-scheduled mid-week runs just to have more of that quiet space for herself.

er. not me.
i ran my required 3 miles at the gym on tuesday. wedensday, i was supposed to run 7 miles but i only managed 45 minutes after work through the beautiful emory campus before night descended...its not that i couldn't have continued in the dark, but (whinewhinewhine) i didn't wanna! yesterday, i had 1,000 errands to do after work & didn't get my booty up to run before work and thus, didn't run at all. today may well be the same...

i could try and blame it on daylights savings time - but abby is proof that you make time for the things that are important. this marathon is important to me. but the truth is, i get sick of running sometimes. i'd like to just sit and read a book, you know? so - i need to give myself a swift kick in the ass and get back on track next week. my long run this weekend is going to be crammed into the early morning hours of saturday, before i have to hop in the car and head to a friend's cabin for the weekend... it's "only a 10-miler" but still - - -

i need an attitude adjustment.

----- by abby

2006-11-01T08:16:00.000-07:00

gerlinda, wow, that's awesome that you ran farther faster. and, the church of optimism sounds nice.

i ran 13.2 or so in 2:02 or so on sunday. i spent part of the day saturday moving hay, and i know better than to do something like that before a long run, but i did it anyway because it needed doing and the weather was okay. so i was a little sore starting out sunday. but it was a beautiful day -- sunny and in the 50s -- and i had a decent run. i savored the sunshine -- seems like there's not much of it these days -- it was really really windy and my lips are so chapped beyond repair, there is not enough carmex in the world, i swear.

church of optimism - gerlinda

2006-10-30T08:03:00.000-07:00

last week was pretty ho-hum, running-wise. i was supposed to do 3-6-4-13, and instead i did something like 3-3-5-14.

but the 14 (!) was awesome. my friends rama & lauren went with me to the silver comet trail. the leaves are in full color, and they were snowing down around us as we ran. the sun was out, really out, for the first time in a couple weeks. it was so toasty and lovely in the sun and so cool and pine-needle quiet in the shade.

my friend lauren has started her own "church" called the church of optimism. we are the 3 charter members, and we meet occasionally, usually on sunday mornings, to hang out in nature and talk about stuff-that-is-not-so-trivial. lauren called our 14-miler a church of optimism meeting, and indeed, as we passed mile 6, there was a gorgeous, long, peeling-paint bridge drenched in sunshine, overlooking a golf course. lauren was a few yards ahead of me and i saw her reach out her arms like she wanted to hug the world. the whole run felt good like that...there was never a moment where i wanted to quit, even as i took my occasional walk breaks. i finished in 2:21, and so beat my 1/2 marathon time + ran 9 extra 10ths... my legs felt rubbery and well-used for the rest of the day.

12 blazing yellow gold miles - gerlinda

2006-10-23T08:17:00.000-06:00

it was overcast, damp and in the 50's when lauren & i headed out on the silver comet trail for our 12 mile run. autumn this far south is a quick, brittle affair - but because of the damp air, the yellow, orange and red trees looked luminous. the silver comet trail crosses several scenic bridges, and i almost felt like i was in the country sometimes - running past peeling white wooden rails, over a carpet of wet and scattered leaves.

lauren & i are so idiotic that we ran off and forgot to carry our water! luckily, some genius has opened a really cool little coffee shop at mile 3.5. we stopped the watch and scurried in for some free water. then we looked like dorks carring our 16-oz coke cups with lids and straws down the trail. but hey - it did the trick. we ran a couple 10ths over 12 miles in 1:59 & change. a respectable pace. even though lauren is way faster than me, she held back and we chatted the whole way. it felt pretty effortless until the last mile, and then i started really feeling it. we talked our way through it by playing word association games. today, my calves are sore - but other than that, i feel great. i might try 14 next weekend... i'd at least like to go 13.5, just so i can feel, again, like i've achieved something i've never done before...

12 in a snowglobe by abby

2006-10-22T15:08:00.000-06:00

it was very cold, and it was very snowy, but it really was beautiful. i lost the horizon a few times, which is a dizzying thing, but each time i just plowed through my own sphere of visibility, the pavement black and shiny, giant gauzy snowflakes clobbering me, accumulating on my hair, eyebrows, eyelashes. snow has a way of quieting down the raging world, of cancelling out sounds, of creating the illusion of peace. maybe that's what it's like inside a snowglobe: silent, and kind.

i had measured out this route last weekend with the GPS, which claims to be accurate to within a few feet. my time was 1:50:36 == 55:39 for the first 6 miles and 54:56 for the second 6 miles, or about 9:10s. that seems fast. it makes me question the distance. but then again: how do you argue with satellites? i finished cold and soaking wet but feeling good and strong. i squeegeed off my face with my fingers, shivered my way into the warm car and promptly steamed up all the windows. i'm not sore at all today; i guess i'm getting used to all of this. next week: same route plus one mile.

and, my mid-week - gerlinda

2006-10-19T12:39:00.000-06:00

well.
the training schedule is starting to really crank up now. i'm still @ 3mi 2x wk, but then i throw in a 6mi mid-week, and my long run this week is supposed to be 12mi. Yikes!

so...i broke my 5K record again on this weeks 3m run - 27:13 is my new PR. woot.

yesterday, i ran 6 miles from work then looping back to piedmont park where some friends were playing ultimate.

my legs feel sore today, so i'm taking the day off & i'll do an easy 3 miles tomorrow. 12 on sunday...wish me luck! it's funny...this all feels so routine compared to this point in my 1/2 training schedule. i guess because i've done these distances before, so it's slightly less intimidating...

mid-week by abby

2006-10-18T13:28:00.000-06:00

i have been slightly *off* all week ... or, as my grandmother would say, "half a bubble off plumb." speaking of my grandmother, it was the cutest/funniest thing ever when she called me to ask me to walk her through sponsoring us on the firstgiving.com site. grandma rosie is ever-so-slightly web literate, which is actually pretty decent for a 76-year-old. she has email and everything. so she called me and i was walking her through and she'd say, "ok, hold on," and put the phone down. and then i could hear her talking to herself going "ok, enter name, okay rose ann edwards, okay there's that, okay address, okay ...." etc etc etc for every blank. then she'd pick up the phone and say "ok. i did that. i'm sorry that took so long sweetie, it's dark in here." me: "well turn on the light." grandma: "oh ... ok. hold on." puts phone down. shuffles to light, talking to herself. then: "ok. well. that's better. i should've done that 15 minutes ago." so it went like that for 20 minutes or so. my grandma is the awesomest :)

as for training, i'm on schedule. yesterday i did a fast 4 on the treadmill and then worked out with a trainer for 45 minutes. he's a distance runner, and he had some good tips. like he said since i'm not doing any real speed work, i should do striders on 6-8 reps during one of my week runs. so i did that today. which is basically fartlek .... i did approx. 100 m (i just pick phone poles) sprints with full walking recovery 6 times during the middle of the run. and i hated those, but whatever, it does break up the run. anyway, i wanted to change up my weight workout for the T-TH short runs, so he helped me come up with some stability ball and medicine ball stuff and weight stuff that will keep things interesting. and there ya have it.

7 and brrrr - gerlinda

2006-10-16T07:45:00.000-06:00

it's cold this morning! (laughable since 'cold' down here in atlanta is like 50 degrees, whereas poor abby is already running in truely cold weather...)

anyway, i did my 7 miles yesterday at an easy pace. prob. a bit slower than 10 minute miles... i'm still not quite able to wrap my head around my time for the 10 miles last weekend. had to have been a fluke...

this week is more of the same... a couple short runs, a slightly longer run, and a 12 miler on the weekend... so far so good with the marathon training.

ps - abby send photos of the black hair! :) oh, and i think my inability to view your photo was due to the fact that i was reading the editing page, not viewing the actual profile...my bad!

goth 7 by abby

2006-10-14T09:58:00.000-06:00

see, friday i dyed my hair black. and then this morning the only clean running clothes i could find were a pair of black tights and the black long-sleeved shirt we got for the lewis&clark half, which is actually a really nice workout shirt. i hit the cold road around 8am and it took about a mile and a half for me to really warm up. a few cyclists (BURR!!!) in bright clothes passed me and i suddenly felt very goth, dressed all in black and the distillers raging through my headphones. awesome.

anyway, it was a good run. it was a true 7-mile course and my time was 1:05 something. (my regular running watch needs a battery and my heart-rate monitor watch doesn't count seconds.) oh, and i dunno what was wrong with the half photo. i think i fixed it? (yours is great btw -- you look happy and confident and strong. i look like i'm ready for the dang thing to be over!)

i had a decent week -- 4.4-5.4-3.4 for T-W-TH, friday off (much-needed; as much as i say it makes me feel lazy ... that's the wrong word ... maybe more like lethargic, like i *should* have done something. but off days are important and i need to learn to make myself take them as scheduled). i'm kind of nervous about the 12 and 13 coming up the next couple of weeks, but i reckon i'll be okay ... now i gotta find something to eat. something hot; i'm freezing.

step back week - gerlinda

2006-10-13T10:20:00.000-06:00

what happened to your photo in that post? i can't see it!

as for me, i have no trouble whatsoever taking days off! maybe it makes me lazy, i dunno. i guess if i had a less hectic life, i would use the extra time to crosstrain. But hey, it's hard being a rockstar marathon runner.

anyway, this is a step back week, so everything's pretty chill... i kinda feel like i need it after last week's crazy fast times, which were a gift from the running gods. i did 5 miles on monday, nothing tuesday or wednesday, 3-4 yesterday. i'm planning to knock out a quick 3 on the treadmill tonight and my long run this weekend is supposed to be 7 miles. i've been feeling ok - but a little beat up. and yesterday, my left knee was hurting a bit, so i walked some of the last mile.

new route, geeky photo -- by abby

2006-10-10T13:07:00.000-06:00

i have a hard time taking days off. it makes me feel lazy. so yesterday i did a group cycling class at the gym. i haven't done one of those in a while ... it's a decent workout, that. not like riding on the road, but still, alright. i like that i can sort of go easy. it's dark until like 7 now, so i can't really get my runs in before work. so today i went to the gym at lunch and just ran outside for about 20 minutes and then ran back. i discovered this nice, quiet little road called flanders mill. it follows this little creek and then goes over to a new subdivision off baxter, but the streets are so new that they aren't even on favoriterun.com yet. so i know it was at least 4.2 because that's where the map ends, and i think more like 4.4 miles. my watch said 40:48 or something like that. i have to quit running this fast. i felt pretty good, though it was a bit of an effort.

anyway. and here's my geeky half-mary solo finish photo. i had to wear my number on my leg because it was 25 degrees at the start and 55 degrees at the finish and that meant shedding clothes during ...

My geeky 1/2 mary photo - gerlinda

2006-10-09T09:25:00.000-06:00

i keep meaning to post this picture of my crossing the finish line @ the Half Marathon. I'm such a geek! I was going for the whole chariots of fire pose...and the fact that i was thinking about such things probably means i could've been running faster!

10 and Woah! - gerlinda

2006-10-09T09:00:00.000-06:00

Abby - it's funny you mention the Atlanta Half b/c i think we've got quite a crew brewing for that one... For one thing, I think PanCan is going to run it, with an "official" running team - which means our entry fees and whatnot (maybe even your travel expenses) would be covered (i think) in exchange for us raising a certain amount of money or something. I'll have to check into that. Plus, I know Gina's thinking about doing it. And I've got several friends contemplating it...

I skipped the 5 miler I was supposed to do on Saturday and plunged forth with the 10 instead. I went up to the silver comet trail. i dunno if it was the beautiful, flat, shady trail...the gorgeous early autumn weather...or maybe the new music on my iPod.... but i ran the 10 miles in 1:33:07, which is a 9:18 pace, which is just CRAZY FAST for me. actually, abby, if your "10 miler" is technically 10.4 - you probably ran the same pace. I'm still thinking there must have been some sort of snafu with the mile markers. I don't see how it's possible for me to suddenly run that fast, when my half marathon pace (a mere month ago) was 10:54. ??? i guess time will tell.

Today's a stretch/strengthen day, but I think I'm going to try to do the 5 miles I skipped. I was too sore yesterday, but I feel good today. :)

10 -- by abby

2006-10-08T11:06:00.000-06:00

i meant to run this week's 10 miles yesterday, but yesterday dawned rainy and cold. the old me would've gone out and done the dang run anyway, but the new me said "there's always tomorrow" and went back to sleep. today dawned cold and cloudy but not rainy, so i hit the road and had a swell run. shuffle is an excellent ipod function :)

my 10-mile route is actually more like 10.4, but it's just easier to run to rose's red barn and then turn around and run back than it is to figure out where the 5-mile-mark really is. there were potatoes all over the road at highline, and the kingfisher's back on the bridge. 2 burros and a goat talked at me around mile 3. i love my rural routes!

my time was 1:38, just under 10-minute pace, and i ran every step of it, even the 1/2-mile hill up to rose's. i felt really great the whole time. i think i'm finally recovered from the half-marathon and from the stomach junk that's been plaguing me on and off for the past 10 days or so.

meanwhile, i've been looking at other races ... there's nothing around here except ski racing! i'm trying to talk myself into the pole pedal paddle in jackson, wy, in april, but -- BURRR! and it looks like atlanta has a half marathon in march .... hmmmm? i gotta find the next goal ...

heheh - you said 'saddle' - gerlinda

2006-10-05T13:06:00.000-06:00

i am so not even doing the stretching & crosstraining days on my running schedule....is that horrible? it doesn't seem to have effected me; i'm still getting better the more i run...

that said, i've had a good running week so far. my schedule has me doing 2 3-milers and 1 5-miler during the weekday, and 10 miles this weekend. i ran a 5K on tuesday for a PR of 28:26 and i decided i could totally break 28:00 with a little effort...so today i did another 5K for a PR of 27:42. it was definitely an effort; i was completely soaked in sweat afterwards...and i did both on the treadmill; the faster one i did at zero incline - so quite frankly, they don't really "count." But, hey, it's still a PR! tomorrow's 5 miles and then 10 sometime saturday or sunday. the weather here is really helping make for a good running experience. crisp cool mornings and evenings.

back in the saddle again -- by abby

2006-10-05T10:32:00.000-06:00

one of the really nice things about running is that you can basically do it from anywhere -- all you need's your shoes. well, and some clothes, i suppose. having said that -- i ran not near enough over the last week. but what can i say?!? gerlinda and i had a fine 9-miler, despite me drowning in all that humidity, and despite us losing her car for awhile.

this morning i got up and ran 5 and it was great -- the kind of run i love best, where the air is cool and the leaves are falling all around and things smell good and it feels like you have wings on your feet and you just get lost in your own thoughts. looking forward to a 10-miler this weekend.

9 Lazy Miles - gerlinda

2006-10-03T07:48:00.000-06:00

just documenting that Abby & I actually did our 1 1/2 - hour more-or-less 9 miler together on saturday! it was effortless, another gift from the running gods. :)

the perfect run - gerlinda

2006-09-28T10:29:00.000-06:00

i had one of those runs yesterday that was so amazing it's hard to describe. why can't you bottle up that mood and take a shot before every run??? i don't know what it was... the perfect weather? it was dusk and the air was cool and almost autumn-y. i did my 4.5m loop around grant park, varying the route slightly to avoid having to go DOWN the monster hill at the beginning. i had put some new music on my iPod - some cure and radiohead and this song called "metal and steel" that i love. i somehow managed to pace myself and not get all exhausted in the beginning. there was this one moment at about the first mile, where i had to cross the street & i found myself face to face with oncoming traffic, so i turned up the gas and sprinted across the road, and it was like i had never felt those muscles before - they were so strong all of a sudden, it was like nothing to just keep going faster and faster. i mean, it was only crossing the street - but i surprised myself. i felt like i could outrun the traffic! i kept getting faster and faster as the run progressed and the music pumped me up. i think i did the loop in 43 minutes and felt so good at the end that i ran right by my street and had to turn around...

???
i dunno what it was - a gift from the running gods, i suppose! tuesday's 3-miler sucked; i went too fast and then had to stop and walk for a bit. i need to do another short run today or tomrrow & then this weekend, abby & i are going to run around for an hour 1/2 or so, trying to get in 9 miles. IF SHE'S NOT TOO SORE!!!!! :)

sore -- by abby

2006-09-26T10:39:00.000-06:00

i took monday off because you're supposed to. this morning i ran a little recovery 5k and felt okay running, though going down the stairs poses more of an issue. the truth is: i'm sore. more sore than i would like to admit.

i always hate the "taper" week (the week right before a race) and the "zero" week (the week right after a race). i feel gross because i can't get in as many workouts but i still eat like a little piggy. i know it's normal, but still. poo. tomorrow i want another 5k or so ... since i'll be off thurs and then who knows how this week of being in atlanta will look, aside from 9 miles with g on saturday?

and that is all. see ya in a few, g.

Woah! You're FAST Abby!! -gerlinda

2006-09-25T13:09:00.000-06:00

WAY TO GO on the half mary!!!! that is so, so, so awesome!! You must feel really good about yourself!!!!!! and such a challenging course, too! I bet you could've broken 2 hours on the flat va. beach course! Wow. I'm very stoked for you!!!

me? not so much. i was good about my runs last week...i ran more miles than i had to, generally. until yesterday's 8-miler. i dunno. it was hot and really muggy. they had been calling for rain, and i'd expected overcast skies ... but no. anyway, i flaked out at the halfway point for no reason other than i couldn't get my mental game on. i ran a hard 4 miles at a 10-minute pace, and maybe that's why i found myself unable to resist the temptation to stop. "after all," said the devil, "your schedule calls for a step back week, you're only doing 8 because you decided to..." and that was the end of that. ah! gotta work on that mental toughness!

i'm gonna need it, becase this week is going to be hard! great! but way too busy - and fitting in quality runs will be a bit of a logistics nightmare, requiring early mornings and such... but i'll do it! and i get to run this weekend's 9-miler with Abby The Speedster, so at least i'll have the company of her backside, as she leaves me in the dust! :)

it musta been the pesto -- by abby

2006-09-25T12:17:00.000-06:00

the lewis & clark half marathon is a really pretty, grueling course that takes you from kelly canyon where lewis & clark camped to the MSU track complex. it starts downhill, and then hits some serious rolling hills, and then hits some serious technical trails and then hits a long uphill followed by a long downhill and then finishes pretty flat on trails for the last 5k.

i was ready for it to be over before it started. the hype is ... well, hype, i guess. i mean, you get on a bus with a bunch of strangers and everyone's all nervous and twitchy and has to pee alot and stuff. and i just want to be running, already! so, when the horn went off, well i guess i'd had enough hype. and def enough standing around in the cold grass. it was freezing at the start, and my feet were numb. i ran the first mile in under 8 minutes and the first 5k in under 25 minutes (wha ...?). all i have to say about that is it must have been part fuel (can anyone say more pesto please?) and part anxiety. then came the hills, where i decided i better slow up or risk dying.

but, something about a race gets in you, you know? it's like, it can't be just a training run, no matter how much you want it to be. so i mountain-goated up and down the steep switchbacks before burke park and then there was this kid, like an 8th grader, sitting on the sidewalk playing his trombone. and that was excellent. (this is a small-town race. nothing but aid stations every 2-3 miles to keep you going ... and the occasional bystander cheering you on. so the trombone kid -- everyone loved him.)

the scenery was excellent and running's a nice way to see your own town. anyway, i felt pretty good until about the 10 mile mark, and then my body started with its usual complaints. i fueled, walked a hill, got inspired by the people running around me, by the two marathoners who passed me, and just kept going to finish feeling pretty good in 2:08:59, which is like 9:52 pace. it was fun. really. in the way that races like this are.

today, i'm a little sore but basically no worse for the wear. so, check that one off, kids. only 13.1 more to go!

run abby run! - gerlinda

2006-09-21T15:01:00.000-06:00

i can't wait to hear how your half mary goes!!!

me, i'm hanging in there.
i'm a day behind this week because of falling off the wagon, but i did between 4-5 yesterday - ran from my office to my friend's office after worked, and then helped her put together some Ikea furniture. i'll be running a bit tonight, and a bit tomorrow. and i think i'm supposed to do 8 this weekend. i haven't been very anal about the distances. i've been more, like, picking a destination and just running it. ususally it's a little farther than my schedule calls for, but i'm never sure on the mileage.

i'm grateful to be at the beginning of this training schedule...already it feels like it takes up a lot of my time. i can't imagine how it'll be once the miles start piling on!

almost there by abby

2006-09-21T08:31:00.000-06:00

monday ... who remembers? tues i ran 5 and felt fine. yesterday was just ... well, unhealthy all the way around. i ran 4 this morning in the rain/wet/cold/burr. it was okay, but i felt starving for some reason. i'm sort of ignoring the taper for this half ... because really it's just another training run, since i continue to go up in mileage after it's over. but, i am going to take it easy tomorrow and saturday, and -- most importantly -- eat.

i love winter, and i'm glad it's basically here. it's absolutely my favorite season, hands down, no matter how much i'm ready for spring and summer, no matter how good the air smells in fall. the peaks are snow-covered and it's not long until the valley floor is too. really, this time of year, the transition away from summer and into winter (we have like 3 days of fall), it's renewing and refreshing. but ... i have to say i'm sad to see the bikes get put up (as much i like seeing the skis and snowshoes come down), and i'm sad that we're losing daylight like crazy, and, although i'm enjoying splitting wood now, i know i'll be sick of it by december. anyway, i'm rambling.

on the wagon - gerlinda

2006-09-19T12:24:00.000-06:00

i sucked it up & did my 7 miles last night after work. it was fantastic, one of the best runs i've ever had. 1:15, which i think is a little shorter than the last time i ran 7.

off the wagon - gerlinda

2006-09-18T09:18:00.000-06:00

Abby - good luck in your half this weekend!!! I can't wait to hear about it.

Nothing much to report. I ran around Grant Park for 45 minutes friday and felt good about it. I was supposed to do 7 miles this weekend, but i had a very long and interesting weekend and ended up not working out at all. So, sometime today, I need to make up the 7 miles. Which I *will* do, come hell or high water! :)

10 again by abby

2006-09-17T11:16:00.000-06:00

crazy week. i think i left off at monday.
tues -- 5 mi run
weds -- pilates; 12 mi mountain bike ride (50 mins)
thurs -- 5 mi run
fri -- pilates
sat -- 3 mi walk w/ dogs
today -- 10. felt great. i dunno what my problem was last week. probably just anxiety. today's run was cold and very windy, but i had on the right clothes and really felt fine. time was 1:41, so i should be able to pull off a 2:10-2:15 half next week, although i know it's a tough, gravelly and hilly course so who knows? i'm just going to go and run it and do my best and have no expectations (as much as i manage that). today i played with food a little. food has a tendency to be my worst enemy during races, mostly because it get myself all worked up and then my insides revolt. but i know it's important to figure out what will work and what won't, thus the beginnings of experimentation. today i ate a clif bar shot block organic energy chew at about mile 6, just to see how that went. it went fine. maybe it helped. maybe it didn't. i've never really been an eater on runs. gu and other gels make me gag, though admittedly i have the gag reflexes of a 2-month-old. power bars and the like are okay if they're softened enough, and that's the road i've gone down in the past -- 1/2 a powerbar before a race, the other 1/2 during. recently i've found the clif bar nectar bars to be my energy bar of choice -- they're soft and date/fig/nut-based and all natural and easy to get down. so these shot block things are interesting. they're chewy and sweet and organic, which i like. they come in a few different flavors and today's the first day i tried one and like i said, maybe it helped, maybe it didn't. anyway. food. gah. whatevs.

pilates is a new introduction into my workouts, and i'm using it mostly for strength and stretching. and plus i can do it from home, for free, which is good. i wanted to be in bikgram yoga again at this point, but right now i can't afford that, so, pilates it is! and i like it -- it's fine. i can get a good workout in in 30 minutes before work and it's a good way to wake up, i guess. so anyway. i plan to do it M-W-F. that's the story. next week's the half marathon!

just checkin' in - gerlinda

2006-09-14T14:40:00.000-06:00

Abby, i think we must be on different training schedules at this point...
after the half, my schedule switched over the Hal Higdon's novice marathon training schedule - which has me running 4 days per week, instead of the 3 + cross that i was doing on the half schedule. also, my long run is slated for saturdays instead of sundays (but i'll prolly be switching that.)

ANYWAY, at this early stage, 3 of my 4 runs this week are 3m each; the 4th is 7 miles. i've done 2 of the 3 milers so far, and hopefully will do another 3 miler tomorrow. again, i'm having trouble forcing myself out of bed in the morning...so i've been doing the 3 milers at the gym, on my lunch break. Good news is that i shaved my 5K time down to 28:45! i still feel like i could go faster - but i seem to lack the mental character to block out the "pain" of pushing myself that hard.

i'm not competitive and there is a large part of me that finds it incomprehensible that anyone would ever want to hurt so much just to get a faster time...when its so rewarding just to run, period.

swim, run -- by abby

2006-09-12T10:29:00.000-06:00

so, my mountains are back. all last week, they were gone. obscured by smoke. i think that might have been part of my problem last week. my sense of place is key to my sense of self, and the mountains are such a key part of my existence that it's like a part of me got obscured too. mountains help me escape the anxiety and tedium and heartbreak of trying to live a normal person. without them, i guess i'm sort of just adrift and tense and missing pieces. i know they were still there, despite their invisibility. but i just felt claustrophic and closed into some weird world where everything i could count on was just beyond my reach. so. obvs, i am glad to have them back!

anyway. monday i did pilates in the morning and then swam 1500 at lunch, which broke down to a 300 warmup and 200 cool down, with a mess of 50, 100, 150s and 50 kicks mindlessly strung together. it was a short workout, only half and hour. i haven't been in the pool in forever, and i'm feeling it in my arms and upper back today. i need to pull out my old masters swim binder and put together some workouts that make sense. then, this morning i got out early for 5 miles and felt great. it was dark and the moon was bright and the stars were big and the mountains were silhouetted against the sky. i was kind of worried since last saturday's run was so icky, so i was relieved when i settled in easily and the run went off without a hitch.

this weekend, the weather's calling for snow in the mountains and rain/snow mix in the valleys. so i guess i need to find my tights. speaking of tights, these look interesting. they're expensive, but knowing that i've got three months of long, cold runs ahead makes me think they might be worth the investment.

this week sucked X 2 - gerlinda

2006-09-11T08:31:00.000-06:00

Abby - I have no earthly idea why some runs just feel...off, and others feel great. I don't seem to have any kind of consistency with my runs. I can't seem to find connections between sleep or food or stress or anything as to why one run would feel so much harder than you think it should... Maybe i should start keeping a written record of food & stuff, like when i was in boot camp. Maybe there *are* patterns, but I'm just missing them. I dunno.

Anyway, I kind of took last week off as a reward to myself for finishing the 1/2 marathon. I did a little swimming on Monday, mostly to work out the soreness I had in my quads. I lifted a few weights on tuesday - enough to make me sore the next day, but nothing too harsh. I didn't do anything at all Wed or Thurs. Friday, I went on a 13ish mile hike, but it was moderate, and I stopped for about an hour in the middle to eat a sandwich, read, enjoy the view, etc.

Saturday, I tried to run for the first time since the half. I had one of those "off" runs you were describing, Abby. I was on vacation w/ my family in W. Va, so I took advantage of the opportunity to run on trails. I meant to just head out for about an hour long run, but, I only made it 45 minutes. And I had to stop and walk a few times. I just felt, flat I guess. I was wearing my heart rate monitor, and even though it read in the 150's, I was breathing heavy. I amost wonder if I lost some of my aerobic conditioning by not doing anything this week? It was nice to run on the trails, though. Would've been nicer if I'd felt good about the run. Onward & Upward! Today, I have to get back on my program!

ashes, ashes, we all run 8 - by abby

2006-09-09T13:42:00.000-06:00

this week sucked!!!!!!! it was sooo smokey by weds and thurs that there was ash in the air here. thursday i planned to do 5 on the treadmill, but i loathe the treadmill so much that when it came time to actually do it, i didn't. argh!!!! so, that means i missed wed and thurs, which meant i had to do *something* friday. or course, there was still the ash issue, which means no outside exercise, etc, etc, WILL SOMEONE PLEASE PUT THE FIRES OUT????

i'm a bit rigid when it comes to scheduling and time. i admit it. i like getting my run workouts done in the morning, because i don't like having them hanging over my head all day. if something happens to inhibit my schedule – like, oh say 300,000 acres go up in flames about 30 miles away – i have a really hard time dealing with it. it's an ocd thing, and it will always plague me, i'm sure, but i just need to be okay with things going differently. SO. that said, after throwing a brief tantrum and being inconsolably grouchy early friday morning, i put my on my run clothes, shoved some jeans and a tshirt in my gym bag, and hit the gym. and it wasn't that big of a deal, i told myself. FINE. so i did 4 on the treadmill at about 9:30 pace and was at work by 9, which is when everyone else shows up, so no one even noticed that i wasn't there at 8 like usual. so .... in the future, if there are environment/weather issues, i know that i can be okay with the gym as an option. of course the gym is always an option -- it's my own stupid stubborness about wanting to be outside that's the issue. but see ... i'm becoming more flexible by the minute!

ANYWAY. today was not quite as smokey, and i felt okay about running outside. i did 8, in about 1:20, and honestly, i felt horrible. gerlinda has asked if i feel bad if i don't run well, and i've always said i try not to judge myself. but today, something was just off. i mean, i felt great about last week's 12. so why would 8 be an issue suddenly? maybe it was because my schedule got all wonked and i missed more workouts than normal and got myself all worked up about that. maybe it was because i had a show last night and ended up eating dinner at 10:30, and just a measly salad at that. maybe it's 7 days of breathing ash. i dunno. gah.

holy smoke! by abby

2006-09-07T07:38:00.000-06:00

yeehaaaw g! congrats! i bet it feels good to have the 1/2 behind you!!

i've been sort of slacking .....

we took a spontaneous trip down to jackson hole over the long weekend so i had sunday and monday off unless you count walking around the town square and teton village.

it's so smoky from the fires here that everyone's been told not to exert themselves too much outside, lest we die. nevertheless, i did 5 outside on tuesday. it wasn't that bad, really. until about 10 am when i started coughing and wheezing. dang smoke. yesterday i meant to swim, but got conned into a "work" lunch .... and today it's still smokey .... so i'm planning on banging 5 out on the treadmill. this weekend i'll go down to 8, then 10 next week, then my 1/2, finally! i'm actually kinda looking forward to it .....

i survived the half marathon - gerlinda

2006-09-04T13:33:00.000-06:00

So, mainly... I DID IT!
i'm not sure yet how to put it into words, how to make you feel what it meant to me. so - i guess, just, pick something you'd never in a million years think you could do. maybe even something you don't really even WANT to do. and then try to imagine how it would feel to do that thing. and then try to imagine how it would feel to do that thing for someone else, someone who has known you your whole life and who would be so startlingly proud of you. Whatever words that would describe that, that's how it felt.

as for the race itself ... i went through various iterations of emotion. friday, before Rama, Lauren and I left, i was a HUGE bitch. and i realized, even at the time, it was because i was nervous. everything in me just wanted to back out of whatever it was that i was about to experience, because i was afraid.

but, i had to maintain and not freak out ... and luckily, the logistics of getting to the race kind of drove the fear underground. we flew into Richmond, VA to have a little mini-vacation before the race. saturday, KerriAnn and Eileen (Lauren's Mom & Sister) met us and we all drove to Va. Beach together. There was unexpectedly awful traffic, and we only made it to race registration with 45 minutes to spare. Then, it turned out that the hotel had lost power to half its rooms. They managed to move us into the presidential suite (which deserves a post in and of itself.) We hadn't planned ahead about food or anything, and all the pasta places (of which there were only 3 within walking distance) had long waits. We finally sat down to eat at around 8:30, and Lauren was so starving that she got a little, um, assertive, with the wait staff. I think they finally served us around 9:30, by which time Lauren's anxiousness had been surpassed by a sad desperation ... she sat and silently stared toward the kitchen while her body slowly ate itself from the inside out. But - our spaghetti finally arrived; we ate and went back to the hotel to sleep. Except, I was too excited and nervous to sleep. Maybe I dozed a little.

Race morning, everyone was kind of in her own head. Rama had laid out all the race fodder on a counter - GU gels, blister bandaids, enduroshots, amino vital, bananas, bodyglide (the awesome anti-chafe lube,) advil, excedrin, even aspircream. Rama was methodically going down the line, taking care of her pre-race medical and nutrional needs. KerriAnn was tying and untying her shoes. Lauren was doing the dynamic stretches we learned in boot camp. I was obsessing about the giant, painful blister on the back of my heel. I finally dealt with it by putting bodyglide under a bandaid and then more bodyglide over that. It still hurt like crazy when I put on my shoes, but - what was i going to do? Not run because of a stupid blister? i don't think so.

Lauren and KerriAnn were in corral 7, having both put down anticpated finish times around 2 hours. Rama was in corral 13, and I snuck in with her. It was cool and breezy - perfect weather. Rama and I stretched and bounced and chatted nervously and it felt like forever, but finally, they let the elite athletes go...and then one by one, they let each corral surge forward.

Rama and I stayed together for the first 3 miles, doing an almost dead-on 10-min. mile pace. At mile 3, Rama stopped off to eat a GU and that was the last I saw of her. By mile 4, I could feel that I needed to slow down if I wanted to have any hope of finishing strong ... but it was next to impossible. The runners surging around me, some darting past, some falling back; the crowd lining the sidewalks, cheering; the bands playing every mile or so; the water stations every couple miles; the flat course leant itself to staying on pace - almost so that it was wrenching to speed up or slow down ... all those things pushed me past my "Long, Slow, Distance" pace.

I had put vinyl letters on the back of my shirt that said "4 U DAD," and I really could feel him with me the whole way. Around mile 6 or so, we ran past a golf course, and I smiled to myself, thinking that if he were with me, he'd have booked a round and chosen that spot to come cheer me on, so that he could support me, and still get in a little golf. Just past that point, there was a band playing Bon Jovi "Living on a Prayer," and half the runners around me started singing "oooooh, we're halfway there!" Runners are so stupid! (And I'm grinning as I type that.)

The neighborhoods we ran through were competing against each other for "best cheerleader" bragging rights. I think the pirates won hands down. This neighborhood built an entire pirate ship, dressed in kerchiefs and eyepatches, and sprayed us down with hoses yelling "Give me an Arrrrgh!." I even saw some of them handing out beer! Mile 7, Mile 8, past the pirates, through tree-shaded neighborhoods...

Around mile 9, once we were on Atlantic Avenue it started feeling a little harder. The sun had come up just as the race was starting, and by now, it was beating down on us without any relief. There was no shade and no breeze either, even though the beach was visible to the right, in between hotels. I was really looking forward to the GU station at mile 10. I knew 100 calories of carbs and vitamins would push me through to the end. But mile 10 came and went, and no GU!! Argh!! Mercifully, there were a few "misting stations" where you could cool off. Up till this point, my strategy had been to walk through the water stations that cropped up every couple of miles, and then run the rest of the way. By now, my pace had slacked off to 11+ min. miles. I was still feeling strong, but I was tired and it was definitely an effort, especially mentally, to keep going.

As we turned onto the boardwalk at mile 11, the sun was beating down harder than ever - but at last there was an ocean breeze. And there was a band playing something really LOUD and FAST, so that helped. At mile 12, I turned on the gas a little - and ended up having to stop and walk for a bit. I had some sort of weird pain in my left foot that I hope is not the beginnings of a stress fracture. At 12.5, there was an unexpected water station! Praise Jesus! I picked up the pace again, and when I saw Mile 13, I started sprinting. I ran that last 10th full out ... and suddenly - i had done it, it was over.

To my left, a guy was puking over the rail. To my right, another guy was holding up his girlfriend, who had literally fallen out and could barely stand up. Me? My muscles were seizing up and I felt kind of foggy and light headed and I had my hands on top of my head, trying to slow down my breathing. the crowd pressed all around me; we were all herding slowly, slowly toward I don't know where. Someone handed me a bottle of water. A few minutes after that, I got a little towel soaked in ice, which I draped over my head. Then somone handed me a bottle of Amino Vital, which was good because without remembering doing it, I had finished off my water. Then, a man smiled at me and put a medal around my neck and I would have cried, except I was too dehydrated to have any tears. Then I saw Lauren, and she gave me a banana. And soon after that, the colors got sharper and the world started making sense again. We found Rama and KerriAnn, and Eileen and we all kind of slapped each other on the back and hugged and talked gibberish about what we remembered from the course.

My time was 2:22:12, a 10:54/mile pace, if that matters.

Things I learned:
1) make a reservation for your pre-race pasta dinner!
2) carry your own GU!
3) it's difficult to conceive how i will ever run 26.2 miles, when 13.1 was such a challenge. i am backing off my goal of finishing in under 5 hours. if i can finish at all, it will be *something.* And that's all I want to do.
4) blister, schmister. the bodyglide and the bandaid worked.

12 by abby

2006-09-02T10:20:00.000-06:00

***GOOD LUCK SUNDAY GERLINDA!!!!***

i'll be thinking of you and sending you good vibes from afar. :)

i did 12 this morning, and feel pretty good about it. i spent a lot of the day friday moving rocks, so my hamstrings were pretty tight, but i just ran through it. my time was 2:03, which means i should be able to do the half in 2:15, though i am setting a 2:20 goal for myself just in case. this was a hilly run ... the same course as usual, but with 1.5 more miles (3 round trip), and those are hilly miles --- lots of ups and downs, steep, neverending, argh. i ran them all, though. i did walk one hill toward the end of mile 7 ... mostly so i could strip down to less clothes. anyway, i feel like i could have managed another 3 miles if i'd had to, so that's good.

the rest of the week went as normal -- 5 on tues, 18 mile road bike on weds, 5 on thurs, rest fri (except for the above-mentioned rock moving and other gardening.) i took a GPS to my routes on friday ... and it turns out i've been running about .3 miles over each distance ... so that means i've been just under 10-minute pace, which is kind of encouraging. now that i know exact distances, though, i'll be running just those ....

the half marathon is this weekend! -gerlinda

2006-08-31T12:27:00.000-06:00

the half marathon in Virginia Beach is this sunday! i can hardly believe it...

have i trained hard enough? am i prepared? who knows. yes, i have followed through with all the "running" days on my schedule. sometimes i've moved them up or back a day or two, but i think i've knocked out every single one. the stretching and crosstraining days, however... well, best to not talk about that! abby says i'm okay, that i've worked hard enough.

the 11.6 miles i did last weekend helped a little with my confidence, even though - as runs go, with the walk breaks, the uneven pacing, the occasional certainty that i might die at any moment, it was a sucky one.

my schedule had me running 4 miles on tuesday...but i left my running shoes out in the rain sunday night, and they still weren't dry. so, i ran my 4.5 mile Grant Park loop yesterday. it was my first "evening" run. i set off at about 5:45. i felt like i was running slow, but after about 2.5 miles, i had to walk. could i have pushed through it? probably. the rest of the "run" was more of a run/walk. i'd run fast for a bit. walk for a bit. in the end, i stopped at the foot of the gruesome hill and did lunge walks up it. definitely one of the suckier runs i've ever been on. was it the heat? the humidity? were my legs still tired from last weekend? who knows? i'm not dwelling on it, and i didn't even wear my watch. i feel good that i got out there and tried to run, at least.

per the schedule, i'm supposed to run 2 miles tonight and then rest for the next 2 days. thanks to the large blister on my left heel (thank you 10-mile run two weeks ago,) i think i'm going to skip the 2 miles and just do yoga instead. i feel as ready as i'm going to get for the 1/2 marathon. barring breaking an ankle or something, i expect to at least be able to finish the thing.

my PanCAN shirt is probably not going to arrive in time, but that's OK! i will find a way to post Dad's name on the back of my shirt, and i will be thinking of him while i run. i know he would be proud of the fact that i've made it to the starting line.

ow...eerff....by abby

2006-08-28T18:14:00.000-06:00

hey, gerlinda -- very excellent of you to get up and out and do the run. you will kick major half-marathon butt and i will be thinking of you next weekend. three cheers for you! and rama! and lauren! hoorah! also, wheeeee --- it's almost september!!!! which means we get to see you soonish. :)

my mother is part bunny, part mountain goat. i am 22 years her junior, and i can't keep up. you have to understand that she is this wee tiny little person, only about 110lbs, with the personality of the smart high school cheerleader you were actually friends with (mom, in the unlikely event that you happen to be reading this, that is actually a compliment) and this massive metabolism that neither me nor my sister happened to inherit. it's sick, really.

i got my schedule all whacked out. but. friday i got in 10 miles on the highline canal train which is this super-cool crushed gravel trail that goes for like 80 miles all through denver. i envy denver its trail system. make it come to bozeman! my mom rode her bike and we chatted (read: i talked nonstop) and since i normally run alone, that was nice. i went a bit slower than normal because of the talking, but i'm fine with that. she got me a heart rate monitor for my bday, so now i know things like 10-minute pace is about 160-164 bpm for me. i have no idea what my max heart rate is or should be. that 226 - age thing is crap. but there are ways to figure it out and i have a book now, so i will learn. anyway, i wasn't too sore or tired or anything, so that's swell.

saturday was the cancer 10k and that was fun. it was pouring down rain in the morning, so we went to the registration and got our stuff and mae's stuff and then went to breakfast to wait for the rain to break (this was a non-competitive race; you could start whenever you want). only .... we had to take this little bus thing from the parking to the start, so when we got there, really early, at like 6:30am, there was no one there because of the rain. so we loaded up back on the bus (plus mae) and went back to the parking place. when the bus door opened, i got up to get out and put one foot on the top step of the bus. it was wet and so was my boot and so out went my foot and up in the air went me and then down hard on the top step on basically my left kidney and then slide slide slide down all the steps ouch bruise pain ouch.

so i popped right up because i hate stuff like that and walked it off and whatever don't touch me. but i have a majorly large massive hematoma on my back, plus what looks like mountain lion claw marks since the bus steps had this corrugated pattern (which doesn't work to keep people from slipping, obvs). still. i went and ate breakfast and then came back and did the 10k hike which was fun and the weather cleared and later i ached and thought i would barf but oh well. at least nothing broke. my family is quick to laugh at my constant gracelessness ... but this was really just wet shoes and wet bus floor and it could have been anyone, not just the capital-K Klutz of the clan. so there. :P i'll see the chiropractor and he'll put everything back where it goes.

and, my mom is getting into running, which is cool. i told her congrats on her first 10k, even though it was a hike. she is hoping to do a 5k run in september and maybe work up to a 10k for next summer. good for her! she's always told me i'm crazy for running, so i'm glad to see her getting into it. more running converts!

sunday we did a few miles on the mtn bikes on the canal trail again and that was easy and nice. and today i drove and i swear if i have to spend one more second in the car i will scream. i am sore from that and sore from falling and sore from hauling around my neice (optober! (october) rapumzel! (rapunzel) deer tractors! (deer tracks) and all the other groovy things 3.5-year-olds say). my mom says i need more weight training. thanks, mom.

tomorrow, 5.

last week - gerlinda

2006-08-28T06:00:00.000-06:00

sounds like you & your mom have a bunch of fun stuff planned, abby! how'd it go?

last week was kind of blechy for me... i dunno if i'm a little burned out or what, but i couldn't seem to motivate. i didn't do anything at all wed. or thurs. friday, i did 5 miles at the gym out of guilt. saturday, i took the dog on a 4-5 mile hike, but it wasn't all that vigorous or anything - we took lots of breaks for him to swim or sniff stuff, etc.

i went to a friend's birthday party saturday night and stayed out late and woke up late. i really had no intention of going on a "long run." but then i thought of my dad and of everyone who's donated to PanCAN to support these runs, and i got my bootie out to the freedom parkway trail. lucky for me, rama & lauren had a hard time motivating yesterday too, so i met up with them around 10am and we ran the trail twice. it's about 5.8 miles from ponce de leon to the street just past boulevard & the rusty MLK statue and back to ponce. so we did that twice, for 11.6 miles. i ran it in i think 2:10, with many a walk break and stops to fill the water bottle. i didn't feel the sun as much as i thought i would. the run kind of sucked, overall - the heat, the humidity, the unshaded sections of trail. but it felt great to follow through, you know? i was really proud of myself for not flaking out.

next weekend is the half marathon! now, having run 11.6, i feel confident about getting through the 13.1. it would be awesome to knock it out in 2:29, so that i'm on track to do the full marathon in under 5 hours. we shall see... it's getting exciting!

this week by abby

2006-08-22T13:08:00.000-06:00

i ran saturday and took sunday off. saw my homeopathic dr on sunday and we talked long and hard about my hip. so i'm trying some new things and we'll see how that goes. one thing i'm not trying, ever, i think, no matter how bad my hip hurts, is liver enzymes. okay. 'nuf said. i've got some collagen junk to start on, and ruta grave and calc flour and a very huge dose of arnica. my hip's been holding out, so this stuff is to try to keep it that way, and also to address the weakness and try to correct it.

this week's wonky cuz i'm going out of town.
MON i ran my usual 5 on cameron bridge. i felt just swell.
TUE is today and i meant to do backyard bootcamp but that didn't happen. so i thought i would swim at lunch but the pool's closed (!) and so now i might (but probably won't) get a bike ride in after work. bah.
WED i will run the usual 5 and hopefully feel swell again.
THU will be off cuz i'm driving to denver to hang w/ my mom,dad,sis,bro-n-law + neice for a few days.
FRI my mom and i are driving to summit county to ride bikes from frisco to vail and back, or something like that.
SAT i am running my 10-ish miles on the highline canal trail. my mom figures i could run about a zillion laps around their neighborhood, but the canal trail sounds way better. mom also figures that she will skate with me while i run. thaaat should be interesting.
SUN mom, my dog mae and i are doing the denver climb to conquer cancer at lookout mountain. mae gets a bandana and everything!

next weekend i am planning to run from my house to somewhere in manhattan (mt), which will be about 12 miles, i think.

5ish - gerlinda

2006-08-22T10:25:00.000-06:00

i did my "gruesome" 4.5m run around grant park this morning, and then i ran around for about 5-6 more minutes, trying to get in my 5 miles. i finished the 4.5 in 44 minutes, and i finished the total run in 50 minutes. i could feel, right from the start, that i was pushing the pace. i could tell, because when you push, there is less zoning out: your running mellow keeps getting harshed by thoughts of "this sucks" and "damn, i sound like a sleestack huffing up this hill" and "ok, at that telephone pole, i'll let myself walk for 10 seconds."

based on my time, i seriously have my doubts that i ran 5 full miles. but it was close to 5. and fast for me. and, it was out in the real world, with 1,000% humidity drenching my clothes in sweat even though the temperature was only in the 70's. still, i feel good about it. go, me!

hike - gerlinda

2006-08-21T10:32:00.000-06:00

due to a slight comedy of errors, we didn't get to hike saturday (although, it was end of day before we conceeded the hike wasn't going to happen.) so, we hiked sunday instead - 8+ miles up slaughter gap trail and then up blood mountain (georgia's 2nd highest peak @ 4,777 feet! gasp! hahahaha. georgia is no bozeman.) it was nice and restful, good exercise.

of course, the mix up meant that i didn't get to run my 5 miles sunday, so i missed a run last week, which i hate. but, i'm letting it go! today, i'll do some yoga, and tomorrow i'll do the usual 5 miles.

zen and mellow by abby

2006-08-19T09:16:00.000-06:00

i try not to stress about the long runs. i do get a little worked up and nervous, of course, but i really try to be all zen and mellow with it .... if it turns out to be a horrible run, it's not the end of the world. you can always walk. you can always park your butt on the side of the road and call your friends to come get you. i usually get more worked up about the weather or worry more about catching the nasty cold that's going around than the actual run itself. i just try to give it my best shot week after week. the way i see it is: if i respect the run, then it will respect me. that's supercheesy, i know, but hey, it seems to work.

excellent work on your 10-miler, grimes!!!! you really do only need to run 10 before your half .... the momentum and excitement of the race will carry you the rest of the way. it's the same reason you only run 20 (in fact, it's recommended that you do not run more than 20) before the marathon ....

i let myself go backwards today ..... after a hard 5 on the treadmill (in just over 45 minutes) on thursday, and a full day of blobdom on friday, i felt okay letting myself step down to 8 in preparation for stepping up to 10 next week. i am still 5 weeks out from my half marathon, so i'm being careful and trying to not be overprepared for that, if there is such a thing. anyway, today i set out to just run 8 miles at a truly comfortable pace. no pushing myself. just 60% of my max heart rate, the way they say you're supposed to do long distances. 'course i don't have a heart rate monitor, so i have no idea if i was at 60 % or not, but i felt excellent. normally i set a 10-minute/mile goal for myself ... but today i just ran whatever pace i felt comfortable at, with no expectations. turns out that pace, at the 8-mile distance, anyway, is just over 10-minute miles. hmmm. i finished in 1:21:15. why does 10-minute pace feel like such a challenge sometimes, and feel so easy other times??? 'tis a mystery.

double digits! - gerlinda

2006-08-18T08:11:00.000-06:00

i was at band practice last night, in a totally foul mood, a) because i haven't been practicing and so i sucked at practice and i don't feel ready for tonight's show b) because i knew i was planning to run 10 miles in the morning!

abby - do you stress out about the long runs? i totally do. especially after tuesday's crappy run, i was getting tense whenever thoughts of "the big run" crossed my mind. that + being tense about the show made for a very grouchy gerlinda at band practice last night. i guess i build things up in my mind (dreading them) and the only thing that helps is to just force myself to get them over with.

so, that said, i forced myself out of bed at 5am to do my run today - and it was fine. the 1st & last 2 miles were through the ghetto (it's probably not smart of me at all, to run alone through these neighborhoods. then again, i felt like i had no choice.) The 3rd & 8th miles were through the upperclass ghetto (ie: $300,000 "shacks" in a trendy part of town.) the middle miles 4-7 were on the freedom parkway trail, where i've run many times before. i felt good. i took it easy. i walked the worst of the hills and took brief little walks whenever i drank my gatorade. i finished in 1:53:28, so my pace was 11:35. i feel pretty confident i ran 10 full miles. it may have actually been a couple 10ths more.

i switched my long run to today b/c i'm going to the mountains this weekend with friends and couldn't stand the thought of "the big run" hanging over my head the whole time. (yet another thing i was tense about - squashing so much stuff into a small stretch of time.)

anyway, i feel really, really good that i forced myself up and out this morning. my body also feels pretty good post-run. i'm slightly sore, in a way that feels really good; i have a blister on the back of my left foot (i think a piece of muck from the trail got inside my sock,) and the ball of my right foot kind of hurts (this has been an ongoing, but not yet debilitating, thing that also stresses me out - kind of like your hip, abby.)

so - onward & upward. in the spirit of resting up, i didn't do jack on wed. or thurs (unless you count walking the dog.) tomorrow, we're planning a hike. it'll probably be several miles of fairly moderate east-coast, forrested, terrain. sunday, i guess i'll try to do the 5 miles i skipped on thursday. Next week is my last full training week before the 1/2 marathon! i plan to try 11-12 miles next weekend...but i haven't made myself any promises. my training schedule recommends a 10 mile run as the longest one before the half... i dunno. i guess i'll wing it, like i've been doing all along!

mtw by abby

2006-08-17T08:22:00.000-06:00

monday -- 16 mile bike ride. i meant to do 20. but it was super windy and i wussed out. (and happy bday to gerlinda!)

tuesday -- the usual 5 mile run. nice and cool. 50 minutes.

wednesday -- i started out doing backyard bootcamp, but then i was like, hey, it's my birthday, i'm over this, so i quit after 30 minutes. but i did get a 4.5-mile hike up beehive basin to make up for it. that might be my all-time favorite hike -- it's got every kind of terrain and the views are amazing, and it's a good workout but not too killer.

today -- hmm, i seem to have a hard time w/ thursdays. i swear i tried to get up. so i've got a gym bag packed and i'll either knock out 5 on the treadmill or the road, depending on the weather.

so .... i was reading through some old running stuff, and it basically says that you should go down in distance everything third week in order to kick up the next week. i think gerlinda and i have basically been progressing steadily up and ignoring the down weeks, despite the fact that they show up on our schedule. so maybe this week i'll go back down to 8 and then jump up to 10 the following week and 13 after that. or something like that ....

4.8 blechy miles - gerlinda

2006-08-16T10:53:00.000-06:00

EDIT: HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY!!!!!

i think i had my first truely horrible run yesterday. i went to the gym as usual. i set the treadmill on the usual pace. the first mile was fine, the second mile felt great. and then i got ambitious. i decided to "fartlek" the rest of the run, so as mile 2 rolled over into mile 3, i cranked the speed up to about an 8 minute pace and i forced myself to run that fast for a quarter mile. you know...it wasn't so bad...it went by kind of fast, and i didn't die, and i was still somewhat in control of my breath.

but then, when i slowed back down to my "usual" 10 minute pace (which is still fast for me, but i punish myself, see, for cheating by using the treadmill,) i got a side stitch AND the dreaded "lung cramps" - which are difficult to describe, but basically feel like there is a bubble of air trapped between the ribs near my right lung, and it's a piercing kind of pain, like a stitch, but in your lung. i tried to push through it but it kept getting worse, and finally i had to walk for a bit. it was all downhill from there.

i honestly wanted to quit because it was such a bad run...but i was mad at myself (apparently cabernet and carrot cake don't make the best nutrition for a runner, despite the carb load. and even though i was celebrating my birthday - c'mon! i'm pursuing a goal here! i owe it to myself to push through the rough patches.) anyway, i ended the run 2 10ths short because there is a time limit on the treadmills at the gym and a cue was forming, vultures circling as the counter on my machine clicked ever closer to the limit...

onward and upward. i was actually supposed to "ramp down" last week, but instead i pushed ahead and did 9 miles. and then celebrated my birthday in huge style. and my body is paying for it now. i still feel ache-y and tired, despite eating right and getting plenty of sleep yesterday. maybe i should go easy on myself this week? today's a crosstraining day, so maybe i'll just walk a couple miles with my dog, rather than doing bootcamp or cycling.

9 and a kingfisher by abby

2006-08-13T09:13:00.000-06:00

yesterday was a lovely, amazing day. i woke up to a grey sky and cool temps. i hit the road around 7am feeling great. i got rained on for about half a mile between miles 2 and 3, but i'm not sweet enough to melt, so that's good. the rain actually felt good. it wasn't enough to make me cold, but it was refreshing and cooling and lovely. then, as i came off the bridge on cameron bridge, there was a mama and baby deer in the road. the baby was still in spots and so curious as i ran by. naturally i wanted to bring it home.

i have been basically running the same route from my house, and just adding distance. because we don't have sidewalks, running on the road can be a major undertaking, and because we're in the country, well, it's sort of a double risk since people ignore speed limits, etc. so this route is the safest, and has the least amount of traffic and the most amount of animals. so i ran all the way to highline, which seems really long when you drive it and not as long when you run it. there are a fair amount of hills, though the killer hills will start coming with 10+ miles.

anyway, i turned around at the 4.5 at 45:34, still feeling great. crossing the bridge on the way hope, i spotted a kingfisher sitting on a wire. i don't see kingfishers regularly, so i looked them up in my animal speak book when i got home. the keynote (a synthesis of the bird's energies based on the author's observations and study) for a kingfisher is "new warmth, sunshine, prosperity and love." interesting, since i saw it in the rain. the cycle of power is "winter solstice and season." interesting, since it's still summer (though "wintery" enough that we ended up building a fire :) ). anyway, the kingfisher is "a long-time symbol of peace and prosperity." good. because i need some of both of those. there is an old legend that tells how all kingfishers used to be grey. when noah released it from the ark, it flew toward the sun and the blue sky. as it rose up toward the sun, it was burnt and changed in a brighter new color. kingfishers are different among birds because the females are more colorful than the males. kingfishers prefer northern climates. they will go as far north as possible as long as there is open water for hunting. (north: teaching, abundance, balance, sacred wisdom and knowledge, gentleness, thankfulness, drawing forth inner treasures, empathic intuition, trust, alchemy.the element associated with north is earth: wisdom, patience and prosperity, and being true to yourself, freeing yourself from limitations.) "if a kingfisher has come to you, prepare yourself to dive into something new ... if a kingfisher is around, you won't drown. in fact, you will find that, as a result, you will have a new sunshine and prosperity unfolding within your life." (this is from "animal speak" by ted andrews -- a great book about animal totems and myths and legends and the role of animals in our lives, etc.)

so now i know about kingfishers. i finished the run up feeling as fine as i had when i started, in 1:32:23, which means the second split was 46:48, just over a minute off the first split. 10:12s, about. good. and today i am not at all sore. i wish every run could be as peaceful as yesterday's run ... as relaxing and invigorating all at the same time. i thank and honor the kingfisher, my totem for the day. and i am actually sort of looking forward to the 10.

hey, it's fun to read about running! that part of why this blog is alright, even if it's nerdy/obsessive ... because it's interesting to get another opinion. for me, anyway. i don't know what my next big goal will be after this marathon. i'd love to be done with running, but it seems to keep creeping back into my life. even if i started focusing on triathlons again, there's still running (though admittedly, not as much). a half-ironman would be fun. i was to do one once but had to injury out with a badly sprained ankle. totally different sport, that. i dunno. maybe i'll just keep doing half marathons, all over the country or world. though, climbing mountains is fun too .... what about a multi-day backpacking trip at high elevation? like hiking across rocky mountain national park, or the crazy mountains or something ....

11:17 & another math check - gerlinda

2006-08-13T07:29:00.000-06:00

woah! i can't believe my math was that far off!!
and, speaking of incorrect math, my 1st 5K wasn't in 2005 - it was in january, this year - 2006! it's just that so much has happened since then that it feels like a lifetime ago. So, i think it's pretty cool i've gone from a 43ish 5K to a 29ish 5K in 8 months.

Rama, Lauren & I did our 9 mile out & back this morning. I chose this route b/c there weren't a lot of twists and turns and most of it was scenic. we ran from the corner of McClendon & Clifton (at the Flying Biscuit Cafe) to the corner of Briarcliff & Clifton - so, basically, we ran through Candler Park, then crossed Ponce and into whatever neighborhood that is - North Druid Hills?, then past N. Decatur Road and through the Emory University Campus. If you cut right on E. Clifton and loop back to Clifton, the course is exactly 4.5 miles one way, 9 miles out & back.

Rama was cursing me because of the hills... and honestly, it's impossible to find a flat route in Atlanta, but this particular course had 2 long, slow hills that put you on at least a 20% incline for quarter to half-miles at a time - Each Way. Somehow, these hills were more gruesome and brutal than the steeper (but shorter) ones on my Grant Park route. Alas! At least it's good training, right?

I ran the course in 1:40:54, which is an 11:17 pace, and as i've said - this was a slow, hilly course. So, I guess I'm on track for my 11:20 MRP (marathon race pace.) I've been totally geeking out, reading whatever I can find about running. I just finished Pam Reed's book - she's freaking insane. She ran 300 miles without stopping; she's won the badwater ultramarthon twice. I respect her accomplishments, but, seriously lady - you're a nutcase. after i'm done with my marathon, i have no idea what i'll try to accomplish next. but...i'm thinking something a little less monotonous than running...like climbing a mountain, or doing one of those outback experiences. even a half ironman or something. but please, god, no more running! :)

as you can tell, i'm still riding my endorphin high. blabbity blahbity bloobity boo! hoo-rah. hope your hip holds out abby! i feel pretty good after the 9 miles...the real test comes once we get up in the 15, 18, 20 mile range - or so i'm told.

bike ride, math check by abby

2006-08-11T14:09:00.000-06:00

i'm not super at math or anything, but hey g, i think it's like 11-minute miles to run in under 5 hours. you are there! and you can do it! my math goes like this (and could easily be obviously wrong to anyone but me): 11-minute miles x 26.2 miles = 288.2 minutes / 60 (minutes per hour) = 4.8 hours!!!! which is def under 5 hours!!!! and 5 hours is a fantastic goal!!!!!

and now i have exceeded my allowable exclamation point use for the next 5 years.

anyhow ... i ran the phoenix marathon in something like 4:20, and i know i was running pretty much 10-minute miles. although it was more like 9:30 for the first 10k because it's terribly exciting at first, and then 9:45s for a while as the excitment wore off, and then some 10s and 10:30s (plus walking through water stops) until about mile 24 and 25, which were probably closer to 11 or 11:30 (my feet hurt, and those were the hardest miles) and then a 10 for the last mile because i got inspired by seeing the finish line .....

the thing is to not get disappointed if you set a goal and don't quite make it. i set a personal best at the half-marathon marker in the phoenix race (and was also the happiest i have ever been to see a person holding a giant bowl of orange slices out for the runners), and at that point i realized that it was possible that i could finish in under 4 hours, and i got all excited about that. but then i had to tell myself that i probably wasn't going to make that, and that i should focus on my first goal of 4:30 and, no matter what, to just be pleased to cross the finish line in whatever time i could manage.

so. i think 5 hours is totally doable for you. and, it's totally great that you've shaved off so much time off your 5k! you're a rockstar ... and you're a runner, even if you think you aren't. ;)

anyway. i hurried home to squeeze in a bike ride before it got too windy, but it was already windy so it was good strength workout. now, of course, it is dead calm. oh well. i think i'll do my 9 tomorrow morning. here's hoping the ball of my hip stays put.

the treadmill is my friend - gerlinda

2006-08-11T08:43:00.000-06:00

abby, i totally understand how you feel about the treadmill ... i wish i shared the sentiment, because i can't quite shake the notion that it's "cheating" to run on the treadmill. then again, i seriously doubt i would run at all if i had to do it in the heat and humidity. i'd like to think i'd suck it up - but i know myself well enough to know that i'd start feeling like a hypocondriac, and then i'd let myself quit - you know, so that i wouldn't actually die. but then i see all these superstars running out in the middle of the day, glistening and looking oh so tough. and then i feel like a wuss.

but hey - whatever works, right? if it has to be the treadmill or nothing...then at least i'm not doing nothing.

ANYWAY. so. yesterday was one of those days that was just packed end to end with stuff. and the only time i had to run was at the crack of dawn. but of course, i couldn't pry myself out of bed. so then i had to take time off work to run; i asked if it would be ok to take some sick time so that that i could pack in everything i needed to pack in (i still worked about 3 hours,) and my boss said, "well if it's for something important then fine - but if it's just to go workout then..." and that's when i realized that, actually, running IS something important, to me. apparently, more important than work, actually! but - i need to get my priorities in order. its not fair of me to take time away from work, or my band, etc, just to run. instead, i should take time away from, oh, staying up late reading or going out to have fun, or any of the countless things i do that make it hard for me to get up in the morning and run... balance, gerlinda! balance...

i'm working on it.
that said, i didn't have time to do 5 miles yesterday. so i told myself i'd just do a 5K, and i'd do it in under 30 minutes. and so i did. 29:14 - i've shaved almost 15 minutes off my 43:45 5K time from January 2005. and i really think i couldn've gone even faster. almost every time i run, now, i set a personal record. i know this won't continue, so i'm trying to savor these moments as they come.

26.2 miles still feels like such a long way to run. secretly, i'd like to do it in under 5 hours - but that's at least a 9:45 pace, and i'm just not there yet. i've got this weekend's 9 miler looming ahead of me, and even THAT still feels reeeaaaaalllllly long. the thought of 26.2 miles is pretty intimidating. i try to focus on the next goal and not think about what's coming up in january 2007! honestly, the most important thing about that race will be showing up at the starting line in the first place. sometimes i still can't believe i'm doing this. and that's a good thing. i keep surprising myself.

remind me not to do that again by abby

2006-08-10T14:46:00.000-06:00

i could not peel myself from bed this morning. so, i thought i would just go the gym and do my 5 miles on the treadmill at lunch. but as i was pulling into the gym parking lot, i was overcome with a sudden loathing for the treadmill. so i said to myself, well, 5 on the treadmill in the a/c, or 5 on the road right now, in the heat and sun and wind. you choose.

i am dumb, so i chose #2. yeesh, it was hot. and gross. i managed to knock the thing out in 50:40, and then, because i am prone to hyperbole, i was pretty convinced i was going to die. i staggered in the house and downed an entire 1000ml nalgene full of water. i whined to the dogs and i whined to the cats and finally i got in the shower where i whined some more about the heat the heat the heat.

like i didn't choose it? dumb.

treadmill, you are my new best friend on the days i can't wake up.

m-t-w no cop involved by abby

2006-08-09T09:41:00.000-06:00

holy smokes, a real live chase! nothing like that ever happens here. they print the police report in the paper every monday, and it's always like baby ducks in the road or a woman who called in because her dustpan had been moved and there was a black hair in her sink ....

monday i had an easy, 50-minute road bike ride. tuesday i ran 5, down to the bridge on cameron bridge road, and back. it was a good run, and i finished about 3 minutes faster than normal, which i attribute to cooler weather. this morning i did my own little backyard bootcamp thing. my cat thinks it's fun to wind all around me while i do planks. i hope for a bike ride this afternoon, but it will depend on the wind.

5 miles & boot camp - gerlinda

2006-08-09T07:29:00.000-06:00

a funny thing happened on the way to the gym yesterday...

i had just stepped over the curb & into the courtyard of Ansley Mall when I noticed a handsome, well-built dude wearing a white T-Shirt jogging toward me. I figured he had just worked out, and was now jogging to his car. "Way to go," I thought.

But then I noticed a cop also running toward me with much more difficulty, huffing and sort of wobbling. and then, in the way that things get all slow-motion sometimes, i noticed that the cop was in the process of gender reassignment. "She" had a purple streak in her long, pulled-back hair, and she was talking (gasping) into the little radio clipped to her shoulder. i heard certain words: "black male," "white t-shirt," "on foot." And that's when I realized, hey neato! there was a bona-fide chase in progress! As the cop ran past me, I turned to watch. Gee! I thought, This is just like TV!

White T-shirt man jumped into the driver's seat of a black truck that was parked, running, at the curb. Transgender cop planted herself in front of the truck and pulled a full-on, gun-out, Charlie's Angels pose. Her voice dropped a couple octaves and when she shouted "TURN OFF THE CAR! TURN THE CAR OFF NOW!" she no longer sounded even remotely like a "she."

it was then that i realized perphaps this wasn't just like TV! after all.
so i walked, rather quickly, away and into the gym.
and then i ran 5 miles in 48:45.

this morning, i got up @ 5am and went to boot camp, where we did a bunch of leg work - lunges and hamstring exercises and leap frogs and hills and sprinting.

PS - it turns out White T-Shirt Dude had tried to rob a bank!!

last half of the week runs - gerlinda

2006-08-06T16:26:00.000-06:00

abby,
i gotta say...that workout you inflicted upon yourself sounds harder than most of my full-on boot camp days! i didn't mean you have to do EVERY exercise!! we usually on do three or four per day + jogging and usually some sprinting & hills, etc. i bet you were sore for your 8 miler!!

as for me: i ran my gruesome-schrmroosome 4.5er around grant park on friday (maybe i already told that part?)

the 8 miler...actually, that went well. i left from my house at about quarter till 7 yesterday morning and ran through cabbagetown, through old 4th ward, across ponce into whatever section of virgina highland-esque neighborhoodage that is - up charles allen - around the 10th st. / piedmont perimeter of piedmont park...and according to my internet sleuthing...that was supposed to be about 5+ miles or so, and then i ran around in the park, getting lost, until 1 1/2 hours had passed...which is just over an 11-min. mile pace, which is more or less what i've been running. i may have run more, or less than 8 miles - i really have no way of knowing. but i felt really good; maybe it was the fresh route; maybe it was the new music i put on my iPod. ??? i dunno. it was easier, mentally, than the 4.5er.

next week...9 miles...that feels REALLY far. hey Abby - i'm with you about bootcamp, though. it's a fantastic workout. i'm planning to do that on my crosstraining days as well. (either that or the bike.)

splits by abby

2006-08-06T14:50:00.000-06:00

i didn't get back from camping in time to do much of anything besides take a nap and shower before i had to go to a dinner, so i had yesterday as an off day.

in terms of bootcamp, my sides and lower abs are a little bit sore, but the rest of me has been fine. so it's possible my core is in decent shape after all, or else my muscles just remember how to recover from that kind of workout, which is probably the truer option. so next time, i'll push myself more.

so, okay. 8 miles. definitely longer than 7. i was on the road by about 6:45am.

somehow, i remembered to dig my watch out of my gym bag so i could clock my splits today. i have to admit that i don't know *exactly* where each mile ends/begins, but i would say i know within .05 miles, which is pretty close. so some of these could be .95, while others might be 1.05. anyway, my total time was 1:20:10, and it breaks out like this:

1 -- 9:37
2 -- 9:54
3 -- 9:43
4 -- 10:06
5 --10:32
6 -- 9:51
7 -- 10:51
8 -- 9:37

since i ran a 4-mile out-and-back, miles 1 and 8 are the same mile, as are 2 and 7, 3 and 6 and 4 and 5. obviously the terrain's slightly different since i go down hills i came up, and vice versa. it's interesting to me to compare them. for 1 and 8 -- wow, dead-on the same. for 2 an 7, nearly a whole minute's difference. i know that in mile 7 i was having a hard time with my hip, and i know i was freaking about that. for 3 and 6, only a few seconds' difference. for 4 and 5 (which include the longest hills of this run), about 30 seconds' difference and my shorts were falling off in mile 5, so i had to stop and untie and then retie a stupidly-complicated knot, so that's probably where that 30 seconds went.

it's good that i started and finished in the same time, although i know i upped my pace over that last 1/2, and that was easy to do, which, according to all of my coaches over time, means i didn't "leave it all on the course." according to them, if you are able to kick up your pace noticeably in your last mile, then you didn't run your best race. whatevs. i've always liked having a little bit left; it makes the finish more enjoyable.

i ended with some good stretching. i got my hip to pop and hopefully that's taken care of whatever the issue was today. the good news is that just the joint bothered me. soft tissue and muscles felt fine. i know i'll continue to have this discomfort occasionally, but i sure wish it would just stay in the socket where it belongs. it's probably worth another trip to the chiropractor, just to be safe. which i've sort of been avoiding, because i think there is a bigger stability issue at stake and i'm sort of afraid of finding out what that means ....

DANG, g! by abby

2006-08-04T09:27:00.000-06:00

grimes, i am 100% scared of you if you can do all that bootcamp junk you wrote up.

*whimper*

today i did homemade bootcamp, lite, sort of. basically i didn't want to kick my butt too hard before an 8-mile run sunday, but i did want to kick my butt some. so here is what i did:

.5 mile warm-up run including the stairs in my house x 3 (including tripping over dogs x 3)
toe walk, heel walk, butt kick, running butt kick for 20 yards each (ah, memories of track and x-country workouts)
rowboat x 15
firehydrant x 15/leg
burpee x 10 (could not manage 15)
leap frog x 10 (5 forward, 5 back)
plank x 30seconds (one minute laughed at me so hard)
side plank x 30seconds (those seems kinder to me)
superman x 1 minute
pushups x 10
then i did a ~3-minute run and repeated everything starting with the toe walks.

i did this 4 times, and ended with the 3-minute run and 100 crunches and stretching. so, in total: 1.7 miles, 60 rowboats, 60 fire hydrants/leg, 40 burpees, 40 leapfrogs, 4 30-sec planks, 4 30-sec side plank/side, 4 60-sec supermen, 40 pushups, 100 crunches. it took 40 minutes and my heart rate stayed up for the whole time. i found burpees, leapfrogs and planks the hardest, planks the x-tra hardest. i like the burpees and leapfrogs. it took awhile to get my balance and i tumped over a few times in the first set, laughing at myself the whole time. and then once i got up to 8, the last 2 were h-a-r-d.

let's just say that i thought my core was in pretty good shape. clearly, though, my core is just a fleshy pole to which my arms and legs and head attach. so, this was a great workout, and i plan to incorporate it into the rest of my training, so that i do it once or twice a week, maybe on bike days, when i can still get the bike in in the afternoon. i am also going to resume a medicine ball workout that i used to do a few years back. right now i'm not that sore, though i suspect i will be in a few hours. i think i won't be too sore though, just a little, just enough to remind me that i have muscles i haven't been using. which is always a good thing, i s'pose.

4.5 by abby

2006-08-03T15:44:00.000-06:00

4.5 schmore-point-five. i mean, it really is pretty easy. only, it's not. there's still the breathing and the heartrate and the general discomfort of running. but still. it ain't no thang.

i am totally crafting my own boot camp at home. it is exactly .5 miles around the inner loop of my neighborhood and probably .75 around the outer loop. my neighbors will think i've gone nuts. a fence would come in real handy about now. i'd run down the road instead and stop for the anaerobic stuff, but that would involve hurling myself into a ditch or river, and that sounds a little bit too much like *real* boot camp. so.

tomorrow i will attempt my first homemade boot camp. it should be a rest day but i'm going camping and who knows when i'll get back on saturday, so saturday might end up being an unplanned rest day. probably homemade boot camp is going to kill me. my hip adductors or abductors or whatever they are are already tensing up at the thought of those fire hydrants .....

recovery day -gerlinda

2006-08-03T14:19:00.000-06:00

i was supposed to run 4.5 today...but i am SO FREAKING SORE from boot camp that i can barely move. so, i'm taking my rest day today.

anyway, abby, yes totally, you can do bootcamp in your back yard. it mainly consists of high-intensitiy aerobic exercise studded with anerobic exercises that you can do using the resistance of your own body. the instructors tell me that there is nothing better for "strengthening the core."

anyway, if you wanted to do boot camp on your own, start out with a brisk jog around the block up your street and then back inside your house & run up and down your stairs 3 times. then do a few minutes of "dynamic stretching" - walk tiny steps on your toes, then on your heels, then do butt kicks, then running butt kicks, and finish it up with something like "inchworm" (from pike position, walk you hands out into pushup position and then walk your feet back in until you're in pike position again.)

then comes an endless variety of exercises like:
-rowboats (you balance on your tailbone and then put your legs out in front of you and "row" them back as if your arms were holding oars...)
-fire hydrants (on your hands & knees, lift one bent leg until your thigh as high as you can like you're a dog peeing on a fire hydrant)
-burpees (leap into the air and then squat as low as you can in a single motion, do this over and over)
-leap frog (feet wide, butt low, jump forward or back or alternate)
-plank (balance on your toes & elbows, keeping your body stiff and level off the ground for 1 minute)
-side plank (same as plank, but on your side...lift your arm & leg into the air to make it harder - 30 seconds each side)
-superman (lie on your stomach & lift your arms and legs 6 inches off the ground for 1 minute)
-bicycles...pushups...dips...jumping jacks.

Jog or sprint between each set of exercises (usually 15-20 of each)
sometimes we do plyometrics (look those up online! those KILL.)
sometimes we do just sprinting, sucide drills, etc. (sprint for 20 seconds, jog for 30, sprint, jog - try it for half an hour!)
oh, and they love to make us run hills...up and down, snaking up and down...until we all wish we could die.

You keep your heart racing for 45-50 minutes, and then you do 5-10 minutes of stretching.

as for the flat stomach thing...i've never had one, so i can't personally help you out. BUT, the bootcamp instructor always says if you have very little body fat but still can't seem to get a flat stomach, you should try more stuff with your hip flexors. like this stretch: http://www.exrx.net/Stretches/HipFlexors/KneelingHipFlexor.html

run-bike by abby

2006-08-02T13:50:00.000-06:00

i think i need to know more about boot camp. like, what is the routine? can i do it in my backyard? i know what pushups are (loathe) and dips (tolerable), but what're rowboats and firehydrants? and so do you just mix it all up and repeat ten times or something? is it like the x-country exercises i used to have to do ... where you leap for 20 yards, and then run backwards, and then sideways, and then doing high kick/leap combo things? is there a magic exercise for abs? because i swear i could do 1000 situps a day and eat nothing but grapefruit and i would still not be able to get a flat stomach.

ANYWAY. yesterday's 4.5 went fine. i did the same old gravel run. nothing to report by barking dogs. today i was going to go for a bike ride when i got home from work at noon. but i got caught up in a few things and sort of lost motivation. it's a little breezy, and i kept glancing out the window to see if some cantankerous clouds might've puffed up a storm or something. alas, nothing but blue. so i got over myself and did 18 miles on my road bike. it was windy, really ... windier than i usually like for a bike ride. but i told myself that it's just a long slow slide into winter at this point, and in a few months my bike will be hanging sadly on its hook in the garage, and i will be pining for a windy but nice day like today ... so. there.

boot camp - gerlinda

2006-08-02T11:47:00.000-06:00

ow.
that is all i have to say.

crosstraining via bootcamp is gonna kick my arse. today we did 110 each of pushups, dips, rowboats and firehydrants. plus running in between. it was even harder than i remember!

4.5 - gerlinda

2006-08-01T12:11:00.000-06:00

ah, ye olde 4.5...seems like forever ago that this was a 'difficult distance' to run. i went to the gym & knocked it out during my lunch break. i ran at a 10 MPH pace, and it felt almost - easy. (!!!)

this weekend, i'm supposed to do 8 miles - which is officially longer than i've ever run before. to keep things interesting, i go to mapmyrun.com and plot out a course through some area of town where i've never run before. this weekend, i think R&L and I are going to do a loop from their back door to Piedmont Park, around the park and back. it feels *really* far away and it's hard to believe we can get up there, loop the park, and get back in only 8 miles...we shall see!

cold snap by abby

2006-07-31T13:55:00.000-06:00

i know a person can only complain about the weather so much before it starts to get old. luckily, today seems to have brought in a cold front that very well may be the end of the Infernal Heat Streak of 2007. It's 70 out right now, and slightly overcast, and i'm sitting in front of my computer at home, with the windows flung open and a fresh breeze whipping papers around the room. this makes me one happy gal.

actually, everyone's in a pretty good mood. my boss suggested that last night was finally cool enough for all of us to get some real sleep. that's a good point.

so i did a 15-mile road bike ride. i was going to do 20, but then it occurred to me that i should probably begin giving my legs a little rest on the day after longer runs. i think i will start swimming on mondays. i know i've said that before, but i think i mean it this time. it's just that today, with the nicest weather we've had since may, it was hard for me to justify being inside.

anyhoooooow, can you believe that i might actually have to wear long sleeves for my run tomorrow morning? and also, have i mentioned how ready i am for fall/winter???

yoga

2006-07-31T12:26:00.000-06:00

today, for "stretch & strengthen," i took a yoga class at the gym. yoga is good. but weird. but good. but i creep myself out thinking 'namaste' all thoughout the day afterward...like maybe i'm joining a cult or something.
(i'm just kidding, by the way.)

abby - absolutely we must run when you are in town! i think you and i have kind of done the same thing, where we combined the half marathon training schedule with the marathon schedule so the whole thing is kind of janked up...BUT, according to the calendar i made for myself, i'm running 9 miles on 09/30, and then 3/5/3 on the 3rd, 4th & 5th. I guess actually it will be good to get the lazyfest run out of the way BEFORE lazyfestivities begin....

th-su by abby

2006-07-30T08:09:00.000-06:00

where i'm at is tired of complaining about this heat. but i'm mad about it. i didn't move here to be hot All The Time. whatevs.

anyway:
TH i did the same 4.5 mile run as tues, with one mile of gravel. i felt great, way better than on tues. but i did the run in the same amount of time, just under 45 minutes. so at least i'm being consisent, whether i feel great or not.

FR i burned up and threw a temper tantrum and finally found reprieve at about 8,000 feet in a mountain stream too cold to stand in.

SA i hopped on my road bike for a 20-miler, which will probably be the 20-miler i run in december. i love my road bike. this running stuff is okay, but i'd rather ride my bike any day.

SU i was out on the road before 6 am for the 7 miles. it was nice. i felt great and got to see the sun rise and everything. i am running pretty much dead-on 10-minute miles; my time today was 1:11. i meant to wear my watch so i could clock my splits, but i forgot. so hopefully i'll remember that next week. i'm about 3 weeks ahead in training since my half marathon's not till 9/24, so i'm looking at the half schedule and the full schedule and trying to figure out what to do. i think i may just work my way up to 13 by the first week in september and move forward with the marathon training. that way the half can just be a training run.

gerlinda -- what distance will you be at the last weekend in september? maybe we can get a run or two in together while i'm out there ....

7 miles - gerlinda

2006-07-30T07:42:00.000-06:00

where you at, abby???? i hope you haven't burned up in the great fire!

i did my 7 miles without incident this morning in 1 hour 16 minutes. my friend kathy ran with me and we chatted, which made it all go by pretty quickly. my left ankle is a bit stiff, but i'm otherwise unscathed...

next week, i start boot camp again (i'm doing my make up days through the session, so i'll be going M&F for the 1st 2 weeks, and M, W, F for the 2nd 2 weeks.) I'm substituting boot camp for crosstraining & "strength" since i seem to feel l can skimp on those...

the half marathon is only a month away!!

procrastination - gerlinda

2006-07-29T08:16:00.000-06:00

i was totally dreading my "gruesome 4.5 miler" around grant park...maybe that's why i invited friends over wednesday night to "get the dogs together to play." i knew it would give me an excuse not to get up thursday morning!

of course, friday morning, i had no such excuse...

finally, this morning, lauren & i met @ 7am & knocked out the run. turns out it's not so terribly gruesome after all...the first 1/4 mile is downhill, the next mile or so is rolling hills - not too terrible, the next mile & 1/2 is pretty flat. then comes a leg that's all uphill...but it's only one leg. then it's flat again. then back to the rolling hills. and the last bit is actually a gruesome hill - but at that point you're a 1/4 mile from the finish so - BOOM!

i feel really good that i finally did the run.
too bad i flaked on all my crosstraining.
tomrrow is a 7 miler. a group of friends is running with me, including kathy who is actually doing 9 miles as part of her training for the Marine Corps marathon. Hoo-Rah!

la-Z by abby

2006-07-26T11:44:00.000-06:00

monday i freaked out and decided not to go to work, so i got in a 17-mile road bike ride in the late morning, which was awesome except for the part where the road construction crew almost ran over me.

tuesday i hauled myself out of bed despite all protests from my brain, and did a 4.5-miler which included 1 mile of gravel. it was a good run. i did it in just under 45 minutes which, given the gravel section, feels like a good time. i hated the shorts i was wearing, and they are going in the goodwill bag as soon as i wash them.

today i think the weather is getting to me. it's so hot, and there's just no relief, and i'm over it. i'm ready for snow. i really really am. i've been sluggish and lazy and gross and blah all week, and the only reason i got up to run yesterday is because i've learned the importance of getting in at least the training runs. anyhoo ... i'm hoping to get in some kind of bike ride this afternoon or tonight, but who knows? i might just under a hose.

tomorrow i have another 4.5-er and i will probably do the gravel run again, because it's harder than the pavement run. gerlinda -- good luck with your gnarly course!! when i have really hilly courses (which i will starting with this weekend's 7-miler), i usually let myself walk the hills, or at least part of the hills ... so i don't kill myself too early on. since you work against gravity, your heartrate stays up and it's not really important to get up the hills fast ... just to get up them. it's kind of nice to switch to different muscles for a few minutes too.

M-T-W - gerlinda

2006-07-26T10:05:00.000-06:00

monday - "stretch & strenghten" is just a fancy way of saying "rest".... i'm just sayin'

tuesday - i slept in & thus had to do my 4.5 @ the gym...but i was smokin'. after running in "the real world" the treadmill feels so easy... i kept adding speed and hills. i seem to get mentally tired around the 2nd mile and thoughts of 'i wish i could just stop now' cross my mind. i hope the mental stuff doesn't mess with me too much as the miles continue to increase. physically, i feel great.

wednesday - i have custody of the dog this week, so i think my "crosstraining" will include taking him on a long walk.

i've mapped out a gruesome 4.5 course from my house around Grant Park and back for tomorrow...gruesome because of the hilly terrain, and because it *feels* like a really long distance. wish me luck...or at least, wish me help in getting up at the crack of dawn so that i'll actually attempt this course...

sat-sun by abby

2006-07-24T08:27:00.000-06:00

i got home pretty late from my show friday night, but i have these fool-proof dog alarm clocks who like to wake up with the sun, so i got up and was running by 7:00. apparently the mid-90s we were having last week were actually a cold front of blue triangles ... as it was in the 100s all weekend. so it was already hot at 7:00am, but i was grateful for a southerly breeze. i did the same run as last week and felt slightly less strong, probably due to a week of anxiety-ridden sleep. at any rate, i feel ready to move up to 7.

my hip is doing okay. it gets a little twingey every now and then, but i command it to stop with my brain and that seems to be working for now. in the past, the real test has come around 10 miles, so i guess we'll see. for blisters -- that second skin stuff is good and easy to carry for a quick fix. if you're just getting them on your ankles/heels, that should work fine. if you're getting them other places on your foot, you might consider thicker socks. i can tell you that the bottoms of my feet, right at the ball, were close to blistering at around 24 miles. they never actually blistered, but they were pretty raw and sore. so i plan for thicker socks this time around.

then i spent the rest of the day saturday and all day sunday in livingston helping my friend ashley build a fence. ashley's an architect, and she designed her fence and milled all the wood herself, which is pretty cool. we built the framing on saturday and cut and installed the boards sunday and all that was possibly the hardest manual labor i have done in ... well, pretty much ever. we rewarded ourselves with a late, lazy float and it was even hot on the river.

so my hamstrings are extra sore and tight from digging, and my arms are sore from drilling/cutting and everything else is sore too. but you know, i kinda like it. in a way, i would give up my day job in a heartbeat for the chance to be building stuff. ashley's got some wood left over, so i think i'll build a coffee table with some of that and some of our big old pieces of firewood that are aging awesomely.

the weekend - gerlinda

2006-07-24T07:03:00.000-06:00

friday - blissful rest...

saturday - nice bike ride downtown, past the hotdog stands at underground atlanta

sunday - i crushed the trail that crushed me last week! i was out there running in the cool of 7am, rested and properly hydrated. i'm not saying it was easy - but i did it. i didn't have a watch, but i think i made good time. there are a couple fairly hellacious hills on that trail that kind of force you to slow down. but it's good training.

hey abby - been meaning to ask - how's the hip since you got the new shoes? i remain knockonwood injury free, except for some small and ignorable blisters - but i worry those will become problematic at 26.2 miles...

no off day for me ... by abby

2006-07-21T15:02:00.000-06:00

since i had an accidental off day on wednesday, i made myself work today. i did the bike ride i've been doing lately, only instead of passing the church in churchill and riding on to amsterdam, i turned around at the church and made it an out-and-back. this means i got my 30mph downhill and then had to turn around and ride up it. which i did at about 9mph. basically it's a long, steep hill that appears to flatten out but in reality just becomes a slight but frustrating incline before going straight up again. anyway, and then it was over and the rest of the ride was just nice rolling hills.

now, i just bought a pair of running shorts which i am nerdily psyched about.

tomorrow i hope to do my long run, but i have a show in butte tonight, so it kinda depends on when i get home.

four for thursday - gerlinda

2006-07-20T17:26:00.000-06:00

well. show went late, so i didn't make it out to the real world this morning at dawn. but, i did do a strong 4 miles in under 40 minutes at ye olde gym. still on track! and tomorrow is a day off!! yeeeeeeeehaw.

t-w-th by abby

2006-07-20T08:51:00.000-06:00

tuesday: 4 miles. easy. felt good. stretching. weights.

wednesday: got up at 5:30 to let out the whining dogs and fully intended to go for a bike ride. but something picked me up and put me back in bed, where i slept for another 1.5 hours. figured i would get the ride in after work, but decided to paint instead. so. no cross for this sleepyhead.

today: i slept horribly last night and woke up feeling grumpy. and ... with these pains. like growing pains. remember when you got growing pains as a kid? like that. must be arthritis or something. or maybe i am actually growing. anyway, i did my 4 miles. it was a partly a new course for me, and includes 1 mile of thick gravel, which is like running on marbles. i felt okay. i guess i even felt good once i got going. then i did pushups and situps and weights and painted some more and came to work. now i'm sitting here with a grouchy stomach, dreading the day ahead.

one pussy's crosstraining - gerlinda

2006-07-19T07:14:00.000-06:00

this morning, i hauled out the old bike, rode over to a nearby park and did a few sets of pushups, dips and core exercises.

hoo-rah.

four for tuesday - gerlinda

2006-07-18T09:23:00.000-06:00

well. i'm proud of myself. i set my alarm for 5am...and actually got out of bed before 6. i arrived at the trail only 20 minutes later than i'd intended. the air was pearly and dewey rather than thick and wringing. it was probably in the upper 70's - perfect. the sun was just dawning as i started, and i felt really good.

it is - significantly - more difficult to run in "the real world." for one thing, there are hills. and even though i've been careful to always have *some* incline on the treadmill, actual real life hills are much more daunting. i hate them, so i try to muscle up them faster than the flats, and then i slow down until i catch my breath. also, there is a certain drag (i guess what abby calls 'resistance') in real life that doesn't exist on a treadmill. my body, overall, feels heavier and harder to pull through the air. but, i ran and ran past the first mile marker, then the second, then i turned around and before i knew it i was at the 3rd...and then there was the finish line - and i didn't die; i ran strong the whole way.

my car was parked maybe a 10th of a mile past the last mile marker - and i was interested to see what my time was, so i kept jogging, wanting to turn on the key & look at the clock on my dash (having no sports watch - alas.) It turns out, i did the run in under 40 minutes. so, i guess i go faster when i'm out in the real world. i should probably slow down a bit on the longer runs. maybe that's another reason why last week's 6-miler was so difficult.

i had a little "Chariots of Fire" moment in my head as i finished the run today. it was just so great to know that i can do it, that i can run in the real world and not loathe every second. the key, for me, is to do the runs at dawn when the world is a little quieter, a little darker, a little cooler, a little kinder.

could it be hotter here? by abby

2006-07-17T14:12:00.000-06:00

let's just say i'm glad that the bulk of the marathon training will be over the fall/winter when the weather's a little more conducive to being outside. 'course, we'll probably have a blizzard the day before my 20-miler, but whatevs.

today i did my new favorite road bike ride -- from home to churchill and back home as a big circle with big descents. it's about 14 miles, and it takes about 50-55 minutes depending on the weather. i rode at noon. the weather channel says it's 93, but i'm sure it's more like 103 on the blacktop. i had a nice tail wind going out, which made for a nasty head wind coming home. hate wind. especially when it is a hot wind, like today. anyway, it was a good ride. it will probably become a run once i get up to that distance.

6 brutal miles - gerlinda

2006-07-16T20:59:00.000-06:00

saturday should've been a crosstraining day, but i continue to slack on the crosstraining in favor of working on my house. saturday, i sanded all the wood putty off the floor i'm refinishing - a task i'd envisioned as quick and simple...but it ended up taking 3 bloody hours. then i had to shop vac the whole house. then i had to scub the floor by hand. blah blah blah. and it didn't end there! anyway...

today, my friend julie & i ran 6-ish miles on the freedom parkway trail. there is debate among my friends whether its 6 miles or 5.7. anyway, it was 10AM before we started - NEVER AGAIN. the heat and humidity were brutal. it was a terrible run. i had to run/walk a bunch of it. still, i made good time. i'd made an iPod mix that was exactly a 12 minute mile pace if i finished the whole thing. i finished the run in way less time, even with the walking. that could be because it wasn't really 6 miles, though!! in fact, i bet it was closer to 5. i need to track it better next time.

anyway - i've been avoiding running outside because i KNEW it would be difficult. today i discovered, it was nearly impossible. i had the juice, i had the stamina - but i lacked the mental will to push through the environmental toxins, the heat, the humidity. so...this will be a challenge. i need to change my actual lifestyle so that i can wake up early enough to knock out my runs outdoors. lately, the only time i have to myself, when i'm not slaving on the house is late at night, so i've been staying up late playing my guitar and whatnot. if these marathons are the most important thing to me right now, something's going to have to give.

thur-fri-sat by abby

2006-07-15T09:12:00.000-06:00

thursday: 4 miles. felt good. stretching, weights, yoga.

friday: should've been a rest day, but i went for a road bike ride. i rode harder than i normally would on a rest day, because i needed to get my heart rate up over something besides my friend's dog getting killed, an icky situation at work and the little black rain cloud that's been puffing itself out inside my brain these days. thanks to the newly paved cameron bridge road, i can get in a pretty killer ride in under an hour, which includes a massive 30mph downhill that i for one am scared to try to ride up. i averaged 17mph on this ride, which is a little above what i usually average, so i know that was mostly the adrenaline of the day catching up to me.

saturday: 6! actually 6.2! a 10k! this is my longest run in over a year. it was a good run. about 63 minutes, and i stopped to walk out a cramp at mile 4.5. i started a little later than i wanted, and it was already hot, but i felt good and settled in easily. then i stretched and did some yoga. the 6-miler always feels like a big jump up to me. from 4 to 5's not so big, but from 5 to 6 has always felt like an accomplishment. maybe it's because i know i'll be out for an hour, and an hour feels like a lot time. maybe it's because it's almost 1/2 of a 1/2 marathon, and almost 1/4 of a marathon. i dunno. i did the long run today because tomorrow i hope to sleep in and then hit the river for some paddling and floating.

hey g -- the yoga could have made you a little sore before your run, w/o you knowing it, maybe. was it bikram? the first time i did that i could barely walk the next day. i don't go regularly right now (though i will start up again in the fall) but the yoga i do at home after running is of the bikram set. i like it best for the kind of deep stretching that i seem to need.

wed, thurs, friday - gerlinda

2006-07-14T14:09:00.000-06:00

wed - supposed to be a crosstraining day, but i continued the endless painting of my house instead

thurs - supposed to be a 4-mile run, but i worked my booty off on a long-neglected project at work, and then came home and crashed early...because

friday - i have the day off today, so i gave myself (yet another) break & did the run today. but before that, i went to my first ever yoga class. i liked it! but the run afterwards, was difficult. i think it was because i forgot to eat dinner last night, and i hadn't eaten anything yet today either...so by the time i was running, around noon, i didn't have all that much energy. i mean, i felt OK. but mentally, it was just tough. i didn't feel like playing little fartleck (sp) style games with myself, and finishing the 4 miles felt like a total chore.

but i kept thinking about the sushi i was going to reward myself with afterwards, and i got through it. even better than the sushi, i came home and found a lovely housewarming gift from abby & wendy in the mail. thanks guys!! me and my new place are in much need of a smudging - that will totally come in handy. :) also, by the end of this weekend, i'm hoping the refinishing of the floor in my bedroom will be complete, and maybe i'll even have my shelves up and be able to unpack the rest of these boxes...

lack of sleep is really starting to get to me at this point...
i feel like zoning in front of the TV, but instead, i need to continue sanding the edges of my floor. ::sigh::

run, ride by abby

2006-07-12T10:05:00.000-06:00

tues -- 4 mile run. felt great. listened to the waifs. stretched, yoga-ed, pushups, situps.

wed -- 60-minute hilly mountain bike ride. i would much rather haul my road bike up those hills, but today the mountain bikes won out.

gerlinda -- w/r/t strength and stretching: honestly, i never did it the last time around. but, i'm getting old now, and stretching's important, so i've used monday as a workout lite -- where i do a walk or easy bike ride, and then spend about half an hour really stretching and doing some lunges and weights. sometimes i through in extra stretching after other runs as well. it just depends on how much time i have.

w/r/t faster running: it's not really important for you to be faster .... unless you just want to be. i would focus on being comfortable ... settling in, finding a pace that works for you. in the case of the marathon, it's distance and not speed that really matters.

if you want to do some sprint workouts to push yourself, that might be better than trying to run a whole workout at a faster pace. so maybe you do a mile warmup at a slower pace. and then you do a half-mile on, and a half-mile off for the rest of the workout. or maybe start with quarter-miles. or whatever works. usually the "on" pace should be the pace you want to run at -- say 30 seconds to a minute faster than your regular pace. and the "off" pace would be 30 seconds to a minute slower than your normal pace. the point is to use the "off" pace to recover. you should be recovered (breathing at a regular rate, not your anaerobic threshold) before doing the next "on," even if that means you have to slow to a walk. maybe you do this for one run workout a week. an easy way to do it is at a track -- where you run the straights and then walk the curves for the sprint portion of your workout. of course you can also do it on a treadmill and just measure your distances (though i believe the treadmill gives you a bit of a push and doesn't emulate the resistance you get on the road). it's good for building up your fast-twitch muscles and also for teaching your body to recover faster. but it's not imperative for distance running. it's more important to be comfortable.

so i guess i would say that it's not important for you to be faster on the shorter runs unless you just want to be. it won't really make a difference in the end. well, it might make a very *slight* difference ... but i never did any sprint training when i ran my last marathon. for your first marathon, i figure it's just about getting through it. if you want to do more after than in an effort to improve your time, then sprint workouts might be more important for you. of course, i am also biased. i'm a lousy sprinter -- on the road, on the bike and in the pool. so. and now i will hush up.