ironfiling

IC update

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:11:28 GMT

Oops, I've been really bad about updates, so I'll summarize the last 2 weeks. Most distances are coach estimates because I keep forgetting my watch.

4/2 - ran 30 min
4/3 - biked ~5 mi (wu up and down Cima Serena, plus "figure eight" loop from Camilla to Adirondack)
4/4 - nothing
4/5 - transition clinic, 4 mi bike ride (modified Great Northern loop), 1 mi run
4/6 - nothing (went out of town Sat night and skipped swimming)
4/7 - 0.75 mi wu, 2 mi time trial (slightly under 25 min - I think it was 24:55) , 0.75 mi cd
4/8 - nothing
4/9 - core class (0.5 mi run, 10 activity circuit, 0.5 mi run, 10 activity circuit (I think my abs are still sore from this.. or maybe it's the biking)
4/10 - biked ~8 mi (wu up and down Cima Serena, Mesa fast repeats, figure eight loop)
4/11 - nothing
4/12 - transition clinic, 14 mi bike ride (45 and Mopac), 1.5 mi run
4/13 - drills + 50 swim/30s rest/50/30s/100/1min/100/1min/150 (450)

3/31/2008

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:49:43 GMT

Date: 4/1/2008

Time: 6:15 PM
Duration: 1:45
Location: Anderson High School track

Sport: Run
Workout: 1 mi wu, 10-12 laps straights and curves, 3 laps cd
Distance: 4.25 mi

Weather: humid
People: Iron Chicks

Comments:
Stupid me for taking 6 weeks off from running and having my first time back be Karen's quality workout. I expected it to be like the first day of class - stand around and chat, but don't do a whole lot - but the workout lasted a lot later than expected and I was way late for my dinner date. Between the time off, running faster than usual (I was accustomed to a very leisurely pace), and the humidity/heat, this workout was not easy. Feeling great mentally, but my hip is killing me. Apparently it didn't heal during my time off. This was probably not helped by carting my laptop everywhere the last few weeks, so I'd better start using the backpack and consider seeing a doctor.

3/30/2008

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 22:27:43 GMT

Date: 3/30/2008

Time: 10 AM
Duration: 60 min
Location: Nitro Swim Center

Sport: Swim
Workout: various drills
Distance: unknown

Weather: indoor
People: Iron Chicks

Comments:
First day of Iron Chicks training, and first day back in the pool for many months. It was nice to be swimming again, but the workout was terribly boring - lots of kicking 50s with arms by your side, and one arm in front to practice rolling. More 50s of one arm catch-up and two arm catch-up. Then 10 minutes practicing drills at our own pace. There were two groups - people who are terrified of swimming and people who aren't. I wish there was a more advanced group, instead of throwing everyone together.

This 10 week program looks to be chock full of group workouts, which I enjoy more than working out on my own, but might be difficult to make if I keep traveling so much. Monday run, Wednesday core, Thursday bike, Saturday brick, and Sunday swim.

I'm still not sure what my goals are. I don't really think I want to do Danskin again, and I don't get a whole lot of enjoyment out of events - the stress leading up to them, the waking up super early, etc. But once everyone else starts getting excited about it, I might be persuaded. The idea of doing an Olympic distance is intriguing now that I can do the run, but the bike might be an issue, and I don't really want to swim in Town Lake or travel very far. I think I'm leaning towards the Rogue Women's Tri for the mimosas.

To be reviewed over and over again this week...

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 14:51:01 GMT

[08:45] that visualization stuff really does help, though. imagine running by your family and them cheering for you. imagine chatting with maura just like it´s any other run. imagine how fucking ecstatic you´re gonna be as you cross the finish line.
[08:45] you´ll be triumphant, sarah :)

9/18/2007

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 14:49:50 GMT

Date: 9/18/2007

Time: 6 PM
Duration: 82 min
Location: TLT

Sport: Run
Workout: wu, drills, 4 mi run
Distance: 4.7 mi

Weather: hot
People: Rogue

Comments:
After feeling so great after Saturday's run, this one was a HUGE disappointment. My shin was absolutely killing me. I ran probably 25% of the first two miles and 75% of the last two. Besides the shin, I felt weak and dehydrated and like I couldn't catch my breath. I know I didn't drink nearly enough yesterday, and when I realized that at 4, decided I didn't want to have to pee the whole time and I'd probably be ok since it was cloudy. Then it got really sunny, and I drank a ton of water on the run and got uncomfortable sloshy belly. I also didn't have much protein for lunch, was really hungry when we started (and gave 2 of my 3 shot blocks to Amanda before I realized that I really need them), and stupidly sat in the sun for 30 minutes prior to the run (I actually got there early yesterday because Mopac wasn't too bad).

I can be more careful to avoid the other problems in the future, but I'm not sure what to do about the shin. I can look down at my feet while running and see that the right one lands on its side in a really screwed up way. I went to the podiatrist awhile back about pain on the tops of my feet, and he suggested I replace my Brooks pronation-avoidance shoes with neutral shoes and off the shelf orthotics. Now the tops of my feet feel good but my shin hurts. I talked to my coach about it last night, and he said that was a waste of money because those Brooks shoes = neutral shoes + orthotics, and that I should go back to the Brooks shoes if my shin didn't hurt. He also looked at the way I stand and can see that I lean towards the outer edge of my feet and that would definitely cause the soleus to pull away from the bone, which is the pain I'm feeling. I don't really want to go back to the tops of my feet hurting, either, so I wonder if custom orthotics would help (according to the podiatrist, it's lack of arch support that makes the tops hurt).

9/17/2007

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:15:14 GMT

Date: 9/17/2007

Time: 6:45 PM
Duration: 22 min
Location: neighborhood

Sport: Run
Workout: EZ 20 min
Distance: ~1.5 mi

Weather: warm
People: me

Comments:
I decided to just run down to the Scofield park and back, and walk the rest of the way after I reached 20 min. My Garmin battery was too low to lock onto satellites, but gmaps says it was about a 1.5 mi run, with another half mile walk home. The half mile walk felt nice and relaxing, and helped the calfhurt. I bought one of those TPT balls this weekend and it seems to have helped my shin already. I'm thinking about investing in the whole package.

9/15/2007

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:03:01 GMT

Date: 9/15/2007

Time: 7 AM
Duration: 109 min
Location: TLT (Runtex Riverside to I-35 to Mopac to RR)

Sport: Run
Workout: 7 mi
Distance: 7.1 mi

Weather: nice
People: Amanda

Comments:
This run made me feel much better about my crappy Thursday run. We were, of course, the slowest people in the marathon group, but I ran the whole way except for water stops. I love hitting the distances at which my below the knee area stops hurting. And then when I reach the distance at which my above the knee area starts hurting, then that's ok, too, because it's a good hurt and I want those muscles to get a workout. Luckily my knees never hurt, because that would be bad. During the last mile it felt better to run faster, but you never leave a (wo)man behind.

Two things that are probably improving my run, and making me a happier person in general: in the last month I've 1) quit smoking and 2) lost 6-8 pounds. For some reason doing it for the running inspires me more than for the general health or appearance - it's easier for me to not go out for Mexican food not because my clothes will fit me better, but because I don't want to carry that extra weight with me through all my runs.

9/13/2007

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 13:53:37 GMT

Date: 9/13/2007

Time: 6:30 PM
Duration: 68 min
Location: neighborhood

Sport: Run
Workout: 4 mi
Distance: 4 mi

Weather: warm
People: me

Comments:
Oops, I've been slacking on logging my workouts again. I mapped out a route before embarking on this run so I that I could see some new parts of the neighborhood: Scofield to Mopac to North Shields to Broughton to Singletree to Lamplight to Krizan to Magazine to Lamplight to Scofield. The whole thing kinda sucked. The transition from Scofield to Mopac didn't work out so well because the sidewalk ended and there was a lot of brush that scratched my legs. I had to stop on Mopac to stretch because my calves each felt like they had 2 large knots in them. The downhill on Krizan was nice, but Magazine was a long uphill and I walked on it. Definitely a slow, uncomfortable run that I wanted to forget because it felt like I had lost some progress.

Marathon Training - Second Quality Workout

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 15:11:08 GMT

Date: 9/11/2007

Time: 6:00 PM
Duration: 60 min
Location: Runtex/Texas School for the Deaf

Sport: Run
Workout: wu to TSD, 1 mi "fitness assessment", cd to Runtex
Distance: 3 mi

Weather: 80ish
People: Rogue

Comments:
I started the car right at 5 and decided to take Lamar to Runtex instead of Mopac. It was smooth sailing until 15th, where I arrived at 5:23. Until then I was thinking I'd be EARLY and was trying to think of what I had to read in the car to pass the time. Traffic sucked the rest of the way and I got there at 5:55... to discover that everyone had already left (Maura confirmed they started early). I don't know how I'm going to ever make it on time unless I leave at 4:45 and my boss isn't going to be too pleased by that. Since I was late AND I'm a slow runner I missed the beginning coach talk at the track in which he apparently said he wanted us to push on the time trial to see what it felt like, but he wasn't going to keep track of our times, and we didn't even have to look at our own time. After the drills he told us he wanted everyone to run the whole way if they could, but if we needed to walk that was ok. Even though I didn't need to, I was glad that he was open to the possibility. I thought I pushed pretty hard but my time was 11:56, which was disappointing since I did 2 miles in 24:06 last year, and it would have been difficult to do another mile at that pace.

9/10/2007

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 14:36:59 GMT

Date: 9/10/2007

Time: 6:30 PM
Duration: 47.5 min
Location: Northwest Hills

Sport: Run
Workout: EZ 20 min
Distance: 3 mi

Weather: mid-80s
People: Iron Chicks (but mostly alone)

Comments:
My marathon schedule said I was supposed to do an easy 20 min, but I wanted to participate in the last Iron Chicks workout. At the beginning Cecilia asked if that was me she saw in the marathon class on Saturday - I think she was rather surprised, just like my other coach who seemed to give me the "what in the hell are you doing here?" look when I saw him at the first meeting. Everyone else seemed rather shocked, because they're much faster than me and just doing HM training. But I already did that, dammit. The route was Steck to Adirondack to Hyridge to Tallwood to Camelia to Mopac to Cima Serena to Greenslope to Steck. Rather hilly, and I must confess that I walked a little up Hyridge.

9/9/2007

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 14:32:06 GMT

Date: 9/9/2007

Time: 7:15 PM
Duration: 44.5 min
Location: Crestview

Sport: Run
Workout: 3 mi
Distance: 3 mi

Weather: mid to high 80s
People: Amanda

Comments:
I know I should just let a missed workout be a missed workout, but I really wanted to make up for the 3 mi I didn't do Thursday night because my toes were still numb. We used the Garmin to do an out and back, and I ran the whole way. I'm getting good at the slow but consistent running. I was afraid I'd be tempted to take walk breaks with Amanda but I resisted.

Marathon Training - Second Long Run

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 14:28:26 GMT

Date: 9/8/2007

Time: 7 AM
Duration: 102 min
Location: Scenic

Sport: Run
Workout: 6 mi
Distance: 6 mi

Weather: sweaty
People: Amanda

Comments:
After getting my ingrown toenails phenolized unexpectedly on Thursday afternoon, I didn't think I'd be able to run at all on Saturday, but I'd promised Amanda (who just joined the group, her first Rogue class) that I would give her a ride to Run-Tex to show her the ropes. I didn't eat breakfast because I figured I'd end up waiting for her to finish from a Starbucks, and I forgot to bring food with me. Once I started running it felt ok - better than walking, actually - and we completed the whole 6 mi, but slower than my usual pace. I ran the first 5 mi but discovered that 5 mi is my threshold for not eating. I got the shakes and felt like I might pass out, so I walked most of the last mile. Then I went home, ate, bathed, and took a 4.5 hour nap without waking up.

9/5/2007

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 14:46:02 GMT

Date: 9/5/2007

Time: 6:45 PM
Duration: 30 min
Location: Scofield Ridge Pkwy

Sport: Run
Workout: EZ 20 min
Distance: 2 mi

Weather: mid-80s?
People: me

Comments:
I failed to do my very first on-my-own workout on Labor Day, so I made up for it on my off day (it's ok, the coach said we could run an easy 20 min if we felt up to it). My legs were/are hurting in strange places from the fast with good form 100s the day before. My stride is really short, so I'm trying to lengthen it a little and it hurts my quad. Is there a rule for how long your stride should be? I overachieved a little and ran for 30 min, but probably covered the same distance as people who ran for 20 min.

Marathon Training - First Quality Workout

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:53:43 GMT

Date: 9/4/2007

Time: 6:20 PM
Duration: ~60 min
Location: Runtex Riverside

Sport: Run
Workout: 8 x 100
Distance: ~3 mi

Weather: sprinkly and cool
People: Rogue

Comments:
My first marathon quality workout, and I was totally late! I left work (near Braker and Metric) at about 5:10 and, because of the rain and perhaps due to school just starting, didn't make it to Runtex until 6:20. I guess I need to leave before 5 next week. Ruth was standing in the doorway of the Annex and pointed me to the Texas School for the Deaf, so I jogged over there and joined the group at around 6:35, just as they were finishing drills. I met the coach (Josh) and then that inspired everyone to introduce themselves to me, and to each other, so it was really cool. Then we lined up in two lanes of the track and Josh stood at the opposite end while we ran 100m fast, but with the best most efficient form we could muster, and then recovered back to the other end. Afterward, we regrouped for water and then trotted back to Runtex for a group photo and some discussion of the 1 mile time trial next week. I guess we're not advanced enough for a 2 mile time trial, but I'm kind of relieved.

I really like my coach and group so far - they're all very encouraging and friendly. From the email list it looks like there are 13 people signed up, but I think a few didn't make it last night. I'm the slowest one in the 101 class (Maura is a faster sprinter), which means I'm probably the slowest one in the entire marathon group - but I'll try to think of myself as the person who is challenging herself the most.

Marathon Training - First Long Run

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 19:24:39 GMT

Date: 9/1/2007

Time: 7 AM (ugh)
Duration: ~85 min
Location: Town Lake Trail

Sport: Run
Workout: easy 5 mi
Distance: 5.something mi

Weather: nice
People: Rogue (Maura)

Comments:
My first day of marathon training, and I felt like a big fat poser. I swear my cycling coach looked at me like "what in the hell are YOU doing here?" Met up with Don and then said hi to Maura, another 101er who I ran with in Iron Chicks. I also saw another slow girl from my trail running class. Our coach is also coaching the Chicago group so he didn't make it, but he'd sent us email telling us to do 4 miles. Ruth didn't say anything about our 101 group or 4 miles, and Maura and I decided to do 5. Don ditched us about 2 minutes into the run, so Maura and I ran together the rest of the way.. and by run together, I mean we actually RAN the entire 5 miles! So I guess I can run 5 miles, regardless of pace, which is exciting.. and it was nice to be completely conversational.. but our pace SUCKED (17 min/mile). I guess it was more like shuffling, but it wasn't walking. Now I'm a bit worried about making the 7 hour cut-off for the marathon. My run/walk (3/1) pace is much faster than full running (13 min/mile for the 3M half marathon).

Iron Chicks Swim - 4/29/07

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 20:52:43 GMT

Date: 4/29/2007

Time: 10:30 AM
Duration: 60 min
Location: St. Stephen's Pool

Sport: Swim
Workout: 2 x (100 swim, 50 kick), 6 x (drill 25, swim 25 with fins), 2 x 50 swim, 2 x 75 swim, 4 x 25 swim with fewest number of strokes
Distance: 1159 m (each "25" is actually 33 1/3 yd, for a total of 1267 yd)

Weather: nice
People: Rogue

Comments:
This class is pretty full, with at least 4 people in each lane. Fortunately, 2 people in my lane were pretty good swimmers. The other couldn't swim one length without resting on the wall, and it was difficult to pass because we were on the end with the ladders. It wasn't too much of a problem because we did a lot of short distances, but I could see this becoming an issue as we build endurance. The coach asked that people not signed up for this time slot please attend their own class, and that people signed up for this class consider another class so that she and her assistant can give everyone more attention. Apparently the weekday classes are smaller but I already have something 3 nights a week and I really can't spare another. Hopefully we'll do a time trial soon and she'll split up lanes according to ability. This keeping your face straight down and rolling is still a little foreign to me after swimming for so many years without ever being told to roll. I can see how the rolling should theoretically help, but I can't keep my face straight down when I'm splitting the lane and have ladders to contend with.

The second to last set was a little weird. She told us to choose a distance we could swim twice with 15 seconds rest in between, and then the next round we would add a 25 with 25 seconds rest in between. I could have used a little more information to decide - such as if we had a time limit, what everyone else was doing, etc. I chose to start out with a 50 with another chick in my lane, and it seemed like most people in the class ended up starting with a 25 or 50.

Next weekend I'm doing the 1 mi open water swim - another one of those doing something for the first time occasions. I'm sure I can finish it but maybe I should have signed up for the 800 m so I wouldn't have to worry about coming in last.

Trail Run - 4/28/07

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 21:52:22 GMT

Date: 4/28/2007

Time: 8 AM
Duration: 152 min
Location: BCG

Sport: Run
Workout: 360 access to bottom of Hill of Life and back
Distance: 7.6 mi

Weather: nice
People: Rogue

Comments:
I love running with Deb because we chat a lot, stop to admire scenery, and walk when we get tired or the path gets treacherous, and time passes very pleasantly. But clearly, we do not cover ground very quickly. This was my longest trail run so far, and running in wet shoes is starting to take a toll on my feet. We had to make use of the Chain today, which a few of us aren't particularly fond of. While Deb was describing how she doesn't like running down the hill at the end of the Loop with everyone watching (unfortunately I have to miss it, and she was trying to make me feel better), she said it wasn't as bad as the Chain. On our way back, there was a baby snake hanging out right next to the Chain. I thought it was cute, but she doesn't like them, so now if something is really bad then it's going to be as bad as the Chain with a snake next to it. Speaking of bad, we stopped at the bathroom by Sculpture Falls and it wasn't nearly as gross as I'd expected.

I went ahead and signed up for the Trail Series (we get all three races for the price of one) even though I'm going to miss the second one and there's a pretty slim chance I'll be able to run the third 30k - but I might just do part of it, or take 6 hours to finish it. Afterwards we stopped at REI for some new bike accessories - saddle bag, CO2 cartridge thingie, all-in-one tool, bike frame pump, etc. I also got some of those shorts with the built-in bike pad.

Iron Chicks Bike - 4/26/07

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 21:40:00 GMT

Date: 4/26/2007

Time: 6:30 PM
Duration: 65 min
Location: Sports Authority

Sport: Bike
Workout: Shoal Creek to 38th to Bull Creek to Hancok to Shoal Creek, plus Shoal Creek loop
Distance: 12 mi

Weather: nice
People: Rogue

Comments:
This was the second time on my new bike, and first time riding with others or over any measurable distance, so I really got a feel for how much easier life is on a road bike. For once I wasn't at the very back of the pack, and I didn't have to kill myself to keep up with everyone. This could be partially because some of the Chicks aren't very experienced or were on hybrids, but I actually felt much faster except for downhill when I rode the brakes the entire time. I played around with the small gears but stuck to the middle big chain ring, so going up the one hill on Shoal Creek near 38th was a bit tough, especially considering I had no momentum from the previous downhill. The next few rides I'll get more familiar with changing gears and then consider putting on the clipless pedals. Time/distance are estimates because I forgot to start my Garmin.

Iron Chicks Run - 4/17/07

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 01:11:45 GMT

Date: 4/17/2007

Time: 6:30 PM
Duration: 40 min
Location: Anderson High School

Sport: Run
Workout: 0.5 mi wu, drills, 1 mi Indian drill, 2 mi easy, 0.5 mi cd
Distance: 2.1 mi

Weather: stormy
People: Rogue

Comments:
Tonight was the first Iron Chicks run. I was a bit apprehensive about having Karen as a coach, but she was still in Boston and our coaches were Joey and Lori. Joey is the bike coach, so I'm not sure he'll be there every week, but Lori might because I think she said she was the assistant. Lori seemed pretty cool, so hopefully she'll be tolerant of my walk breaks. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Kristy (G who S) and Moura (rhymes with Laura - she was a very slow 5/1er in HM training) were in my class. The rest of the chicks seemed pretty fit.

We did 2 laps wu and then split up into 2 groups - those who run 3 mi regularly and those who don't. I chose don't because I don't actually run 3 mi without walking. We did about 5 laps of Indian drill, covering topics such as names, if/how many times everyone had done Danskin (only about 3 out of the 12 people in my line had), and greatest Danskin fears or complaints. Lori kept slowing the group down when gaps formed in the line, which fortunately weren't all caused by me.

We stopped for water, at which point Lori told us that Karen had wanted us to run 2 more miles, and asked if we'd rather do it in the line or on our own, and a few people said they preferred the line so off we went again for a lap.. then stopped for water again to reconvene with the Joey half of our group.. then Karen and Joey decided that we should just pretend we'd done 2 cd laps (in addition to pretending we'd done the other 1.75 mi) and stretch. Everyone was pretty wet and cold and ready to go home anyway. So.. today went pretty well, but judging from Karen's planned workout this is definitely going to be a really tough class. The First Tri group was meeting at the same time and Kristy bailed out to join them after a lap or two of Indian drill, so I'm probably going to be the worst runner in the group.

Trail Prep - 4/4/07

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 14:36:33 GMT

Date: 4/4/2007

Time: 6:00 PM
Duration: 60 min
Location: Barton Creek Greenbelt Zilker entrance

Sport: Run
Workout: 30 min out, 30 min back
Distance: 3-4 mi? (forgot GPS)

Weather: high 60s
People: Rogue (Debbie)

Comments:
Last night was the first weekday meeting of my Trail Series Prep course. It's a pretty large group, but I don't think all 75 people who apparently signed up were there. We now have 4 coaches - Leah, Ramsay, Marty, and someone named Larry King. We met at the Zilker entrance of the Barton Creek Greenbelt and the workout was to run at a comfortably pace out for 30-45 min and then come back. I had seen part of the trail before when we ran from Spyglass to Zilker in the fall, but never past Spyglass, so I got to see the cliff climbing people for the first time! Every time I trail run I'm amazed at this who new world I've never seen before, despite having lived in Austin my entire life.

I'm so glad that I have Debbie to run with. She's faster than me but still slow, and a marathoner, and I'm definitely becoming a better runner by keeping up with her. Sometimes we take walk breaks on the trippy rocky parts, to admire the scenery, or to get unlost.

AT&T Half Marathon

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 22:55:56 GMT

· I got nervous about parking when I was stuck in traffic on 5th with just 10 minutes to go before the roads closed, but I cut across on Lamar and was able to park at Palmer just a few minutes later.

· The plan was to meet Mary Ann at the corner of 2nd and Congress at 6:15. I headed across the Riverside bridge and halfway across started kicking myself for heading towards the wrong side of the river, because I thought the race started in front of the Austin-American Statesman building. But everyone else was going that way, so I figured the bathrooms must be over there. Waited quite awhile at a port-a-potty, then decided to go back across Congress to meet Mary Ann. Walked all the way to the front of the corral and realized you couldn’t get through that way, so headed back to where the corral started and walked across on the sidewalk against a large mass of people traffic. Then realized that I was a complete idiot and 2nd street was on the other side of the bridge. DUH – you’d think that an Austinite wouldn’t be quite so stupid. I guess I was just extremely tired and nervous.

· Got to 2nd and Congress at about 6:30, and didn’t know which was the northwest corner, but luckily Lisa had decided to join us and was standing smack dab in the middle of the intersection. I was REALLY glad that I found them because I totally didn’t want to do it alone. In fact, when I was so late and doubting whether I’d find them, I was starting to think about not doing it. As I posted in my 3M report – when I’m really pushing myself physically, I start drumming up bad feelings. A few days before my grandpa had what was suspected to be a minor stroke, and learned that he had spinal cancer and maybe 2 months to live if he went through some intense radiation, so I wasn’t in the best frame of mind.

· I was also supposed to meet up to say hi to Don but he wasn’t there. By that point I thought I needed a port-a-potty for more serious business, but Mary Ann was just coming out of the line and they wanted to head up to the start line.

· I’d brought my waist bottle holder and an extra disposable bottle because I really got dehydrated during the last race with my single bottle. It might have also had something to do with all the caffeinated shot bloks, so I’d bought some that weren’t for the race. But then I ended up ditching the water bottle after about half a mile on Congress because it was a pain in the ass to run with.

· Near Jack and Adam’s we saw Mary Ann’s husband wearing a GO MARY ANN shirt. I’m going to have to look into a GO SARAH ANN shirt for Andy.

· Team in Training run-walkers wear weird outfits, and have great cheering sections.

· I busted my ass at 3M and wanted to go nice n easy for AT&T. Lisa was battling a knee injury and I figured she’d want to go slow, but her knee felt better going faster. Mary Ann and I kept telling her that we should be starting out slower or we weren’t going to make it.

· Most of the water stops only had Powerade by the time us slow folks arrived, which was really a pisser.

· It was cool to see the runners below us when we crossed the bridge, but also uncool because we were so far behind everyone.

· Lisa had to stop at the port-a-potty at the park on what I think was 2nd. I decided to go, too, and Mary Ann went ahead to the Powerade stop. Then she came back after the line had grown much longer and decided she needed to go, too. So we lost a good 10 minutes there. Lisa and I waited for her at the Powerade table and someone yelled at me: “H234!! ARE YOU OK??” I had to look at my number to check if that was me. Lisa cranked up her new cell phone radio thing and danced around in the street.

· We finally got actual water from the coolers at The Rock. Then one of the stops on Lake Austin Blvd had some, too. That was around when we saw the rollerblading yellow guy. I really liked the pirate water stop.

· I accidentally got holy water thrown at me, but it didn’t burn. The drummers at the half turn-off were cool. I think we got to the half turn-off at just about the time any marathon stragglers would have gotten diverted to the half, but we didn’t see that happen to anyone. Along the way we’d talked about how it would be cool to do the marathon, but by the time we reached the turn-off we were SO glad we weren’t – only about 3 more miles to go.

· The downhill on Windsor is nice, but the uphill at Mopac SUCKS. A little bit after where Windsor splits off from 24th street, Lisa screamed out in pain and I stopped and Mary Ann crushed the back of my shoe but I was able to mush it back into shape. A good example of why not to stop without warning, even if you’re in a small group. Don dropped to the ground to tie his shoe without warning during 3M and the people right behind us understandably yelled at him.

· Lisa’s pain was a calf cramp, and she was having major problems with her knee, so we walked some and I didn’t mind at all. It was nice to enjoy what could be my last run with them. We talked a lot the entire race, and I never experienced any mental strife.

· The hill on 15th street SUCKS, too. A few blocks from the turn-off towards the Capital I started asking Mary Ann how many blocks it was from the Capital to the finish line so I wouldn’t go to fast and have to walk at the end. I guess that’s a good reason to drive the course beforehand. Around that point Lisa told us that she was going to walk the rest of the way and we should go on without her.

· The excitement of running alongside the marathoners with everyone cheering on Congress made me want to finish strongly and pass a couple of people during the home stretch. I got to see Andy cheering as I ran by, and lots of other people were reading my name off my bib and yelling for me. That was definitely a cool experience.

· Afterwards Andy and I waited to cheer for Amy. He actually enjoyed watching people finish, but I suppose this was probably the best finish of any race to which I've dragged him. The weather was pleasant, the vibe was good, the scenery was nice, etc. I got to see Matt come through, and a whole bunch of Rogue shirts. I was starting to worry that we’d missed Amy after awhile, and was getting cold, so I told Andy we’d give up in 15 more minutes, and I think she came through 10 minutes after that. Andy said he parked closer than I did, and that we should walk to his car and then he’d take me to mine, but then he forgot where he parked and we ended up walking much further than I would have if I’d just gone to my car. Ouch!

· On the way home I saw this guy running on Scofield Ridge Pkwy. He’s ALWAYS running out there for hours at a time, but I thought I had him all figured out – he MUST be training for the marathon – so I was disappointed to see that he didn’t do it. I saw him again multiple times this weekend, running in his weird shuffly with arms dangling down at his sides way, taunting me. Why is that guy always running?

Half Marathon Training - 3M Half Marathon!

Sun, 28 Jan 2007 22:11:15 GMT

Date: 1/28/2007

Time: 7:00 AM
Duration: 2:49:53
Location: Stonelake/York to 14th/Trinity

Sport: Run
Workout: 3M Half Marathon
Distance: 13.1 mi

Weather: 36 at the start but sunny and warmer throughout
People: Don

Comments:

This morning I finished a half marathon! I can’t say I RAN a half marathon because I 3/1ed it, but considering this was my first time to even GO 13.1 miles I think I did pretty damn good. Usually we do our long runs at a 15 min/mi pace, if not slower, which would mean I’d finish no earlier than 3:15. Based on my 2 mi time trial a month or two ago of 24:06, my coach emailed me a projected finish of 3:01:32. Before our run on Saturday, I told her there was NO way I could get anywhere near that, considering that during the time trial I actually ran the whole time during the trial, and I’d be run-walking the half marathon.

But even though I didn’t think it was possible, I was secretly hoping for an under 3-hour finish. This morning I met up with Don and Vivin and we’d just begun our 1 mi warm-up when we ran into Mary Ann, and then found Lisa afterwards. I started thinking that I’ve been working 20 weeks for this, and wanted no regrets about my time, and I didn’t want to stop at every water stop to drink and eat gu as was the plan of the others – I just wanted to do the best that I could. We all started together and very quickly Don and I ended up ahead, and I told him that I really wanted to see what I could do, and he said we should totally go for it. Go for it for me, that is, because Don is a way faster runner than I am. He was a little worried about his knees (as far as I know they didn’t hurt him a bit), but he was never the least out of breath. Which made him the BEST running partner, because he could talk the whole time!

We definitely started out too fast. I think we might have done the first mile in like 11 min, but I’m not sure because I can’t figure out how to easily get that info from my Garmin. (Why does Training Center not let you plot distance vs. time? Is there an easy way to get that info? I set up 3/1 min intervals so I have a whole bunch of little distances in varying units of feet and miles that I’m too lazy to add up, and it looks like I can’t just copy and paste the info to Excel.) We slowed down a bit along the 183 access road and then turned onto Mesa. Around that point I was talking about running and peeing at the same time, and Don told me to cut it out. At first I thought Don had somehow turned into an uptight guy who shunned finding amusement with bodily functions, but really it was because I had to pee.

At the Boudloche residence I yelled hi to Laura and Buddy, and then after Laura told him who I was we had a little running hug action. Amy’s family must have had to clean up a lot of snotty Kleenex from the looks of things. Continued down Mesa and saw my brother and sister-in-law and gave them my jacket. Don decided to stop at the convenience store and catch up with me. I was pleasantly surprised to see my dad about a block later and gave him a hug. My parents live in Lakeway so that was a pretty long drive to see me for 2 minutes! The jugglers at Spicewood Springs and Mesa made me happy, ending a nice Mesa stretch with plenty of running distractions. I discovered it takes me about a mile to consume three shot blocks with heavy breathing and runny nose.

Ran down Spicewood Springs with a detour to throw away my trash at an office building. The SAG wagon drove by slowly and blew nasty fumes at us for awhile, and I started getting irritated and hoping that Don would come back soon. He caught up to me just before the bagpiper at Spicewood and Mopac. At Foster I started getting just plain tired and I didn’t think it was a nutritional thing because I ate 3 shot blocks at about 6 AM, then three more at 7 AM just as the race started, and then the 3 more between miles 3-4. It was also very windy and cold along and I expected it to continue along Great Northern. I’d briefly inspected the map and thought we’d be turning back towards Shoal Creek somewhere around Gullett, so imagine my pleasant surprise when I saw that the turn was right there at the water stop. I was running low on water, so I had a couple cups to help dissolve all the sugar I’d consumed thus far.

When we crossed the relay mat at near Northcross Mall I was feeling even more tired. The time was approximately 1:21 and I knew that my goal was reachable, but I was just so tired and I didn’t see how I could keep it up. Don cheered that we were halfway done, and I had the pessimistic thought that my glass was definitely half empty rather than half full. It was nice to see the brass band on Burnet, and cool to literally stop traffic at 2222. Grabbed 2 more cups of water at the stop to prepare for the North Loop section. Going up the first hill I started feeling some intestinal issues so we walked a bit longer than my watch told us to, and somewhere in the middle we took another 2-3 minute long walk break, and then again so I could consume more water before the turn. Then we skipped the next walk break to make up some time. I think we had about 50 min to complete 3 mi, which was doable even at my usual 15 min pace, but I was afraid we’d walk a little too long somewhere and end up hauling ass at the end to beat the clock. At this point Don told me to slow down a little – he was doing fine but he could tell I was pushing myself too hard.

Somewhere around Hyde Park Bar and Grill I really started losing it. The self doubt set in and I began to think that my body was just going to give up on me when I was so close to the finish. Whenever this happens, my mind rushes through every bad thing that has or could possibly happen to me and I can’t turn it off and just want to give up. I couldn’t really talk much, but I asked Don to please just start talking about any good thing he could think of. He started telling me that we were doing great, we were going to meet my goal of THREE HOURS, and we only had TWO MILES left, and we’d be done in THIRTY MINUTES – and then I just started thinking fuck, I can’t believe I’ve been doing this for nearly three hours, and I can’t make it another 2 miles or 30 minutes, and I had to ask him to talk about something good that had nothing to do with running. Don is as cynical as I am, so asking him to talk about only good things is about as difficult as it is for me to run for three hours. So he told me about Pan’s Labryinth, and how a friend of ours from grad school days is doing so well in London.

Along the way we’d discussed maybe running the whole last 3 miles (we didn’t) and catching rabbits and leaving everything you have out on the race course. At the beginning of San Jacinto Don asked if I was ready to leave it all out on the course, and I said that I already did a few miles back. The photographers were a nice distraction and we stopped and posed for one because our time was looking good. Around the stadium I had a brief uh-oh I might throw up feeling and asked Don to distract me again. Once we had the finish line in sight I knew we couldn’t walk anymore and I went dead silent and just concentrated on getting it done. We passed by Ginny cheering us on, and a little further up Don and I began sprinting in for a finish of ten minutes earlier than my goal (2:49:53)! It was a little disappointing that hardly anyone was at the finish line by the time we came through, and that Andy didn’t make it on time to see me since I’d projected a much later finish, but we had some nice rejoicing when he arrived.

Lessons learned for the next race: maybe bring more water, put more body glide on the underboob area to prevent heart rate monitor chafing (ouch), maybe consider shot blocks without caffeine, and don’t go out too fast at the beginning. My knee hurts, which pretty much never happens, and I’m not sure if it can be attributed more to the faster pace or the downhill running. I really think I’m going to take it easy on the AT&T Half Marathon and try to enjoy it rather than kill myself.

Half Marathon Training - Fifteenth Long Run

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 00:51:24 GMT

Date: 1/6/2007

Time: 7:30 PM
Duration: 199 min
Location: Run-Tex Riverside

Sport: Run
Workout: 12 mi South Austin Ramble
Distance: 11.69 mi

Weather: cold, drizzly, breezy (high 40s)
People: Rogue (Chrysta, Maryanne, Lisa, Vivan, and Patricia)

Comments:
According to Carolyn, we started off the run with "perfect marathon weather" but it got colder and rainy and pretty miserable about halfway through. Otherwise, this run was pretty great for me. Usually my legs hurt until about 3 miles in, but today I didn't feel anything until mile 5, and even then I felt pretty great until my arches got sore around mile 11. At first I thought it might be a sign of improvement, but then I remembered that I had some preventative alka-seltzer this morning in case the sake from last night decided to cause me a headache. Even though I haven't been completely keeping up with the workouts, Chrysta pointed out that I must have kept up better than the rest of the group because I kept running when everyone wanted to walk. The scenery on this run was mostly new to me but not too exciting. Sadly, we saw a dead kitty by the side of the road on the way back that wasn't there the first time we passed by. Apparently it was a bad day for kitties - someone posted on the forum about seeing one get hit by a car during her run, but fortunately she took her to the vet and the kitty is gonna be ok.

Afterwards I bought new pair of the same running shoes (even though I thought mine were a size 7.5, the Run-Tex person glanced down at my shoe and correctly identified them as an 8!) and met Stacy for some Chuy's. Hearing about my training has inspired her to train for a 5k, so she asked me about various gear she might need. I guess the student has also become the teacher. I love how this triathlon/running stuff is infectious. I was feeling my usual post-running hip pain at lunch and she the radiology technician identified the problem as my iliac, which is a part of the pelvis where a bunch of muscles attach, and not the hip. I wondered if I have scoliosis or some lopsided body weirdness and she said I should come by her work for a free x-ray. It was rather cold and uncomfortable to spend a few hours in my damp workout clothes but I don't really feel sore tonight like I usually do, which leads me to the possible conclusions that 1) maybe it wasn't the aspirin in the alka-seltzer that made me not sore and/or 2) maybe it's better to not rush home to lie in the bath tub and take a nap. When I got home I found multiple barfs on the bedroom carpet and felt a little less sad about the kitty.

1/03/07

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 03:28:30 GMT

Date: 1/3/2007

Time: 5:45 PM
Duration: 54 min
Location: AHS

Sport: Run
Workout: 10 min wu, drills, 8 laps straights and curves
Distance: 3.3 mi

Weather: chilly and drizzly (high 40s)
People: Rogue

Comments:
I crashed the make-up class for Monday night at Anderson rather than brave traffic to get to the Lake Austin store. As much as I like the environment of being central, I find it difficult to waste 45 minutes in the car.

We did a 10 min warm-up (5 min out and back), then drills, then 8 laps of straights and curves. For once I actually ran the whole thing. I didn't all out sprint on the straights, but I didn't walk at all and my legs felt great. I started having a bit of intestinal distress over the last two laps so I skipped the cool down. I was glad that I'd already made arrangements to stop by my brother's house a few blocks away but I felt fine again by the time I got there. Maybe my pre-workout snack should have been Clif blocks instead of Doritos.

Today I signed up for BOTH the 3M and AT&T half marathons. My primary motive was to make myself less nervous about any one event. Last night I had a dream that I showed up late to the race and didn't have my timing chip and didn't even start my watch, so I didn't know how I did but I was extremely happy to have finished. I'll have to keep remembering it over the next few weeks.

1/1/07

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 00:45:12 GMT

Date: 1/1/2007

Time: 3:30 PM
Duration: 76 min
Location: Wells Branch Trail

Sport: Run
Workout: easy 5 mi
Distance: 5.06 mi

Weather: maybe 60, sunny and beautiful
People: me

Comments:
The longest run I've ever done all by myself! The first mile was on the street to a hike and bike trail, and the last 1.5 were along a creek and some frisbee golf on a hike and bike trail. When my new Forerunner 305 indicated that I'd reached a little less than 2.5 mi (it took awhile for it lock onto the satellites when I started it up), I debated continuing on to the duck pond but decided I'd rather start back towards home. There were a lot of people out in the park enjoying the nice weather.

Impressions of the 305 so far: It takes a little longer than I'd like to establish my position. The map portion in the software is pretty bad. When I ran on the Town Lake trail there were definitely more streets represented, but for today's run I got a bunch of white space, I-35, and a dot representing Wells Branch. I looked into some additional mapping software but I don't yet know what it would buy me, like if I could load a map onto my watch. Based on the website, I get the impression you can't put it on your watch, but I might be able to use it with the software to map out a course and then load the path onto my watch. Today I used the interval feature to 3/1 and it was much nicer than glancing down at my watch constantly. It gives you a countdown beep for each of the last few seconds and then a trill so you can't really miss it even with headphones on.