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This is the week that never ends

Nov 19th, 2009
by gazelle.
3 comments

It just goes on & on & on & on, etc.

Everyone I talked to yesterday agreed that it was a very odd Wednesday – almost a Monday-ish Wednesday. Don’t know why – but it’s over. And now, it’s Thursday! Which makes me happy. Except for one very small problem.

Tonight is the night I am supposed to spin. I know you all said I would be fine and probably wouldn’t die. And also, I ran a marathon and didn’t die, so one 60 minute spin class should not scare me. I am a big, brave dog & all that.

But I am scared.

(Aside: that weird muscle in my leg that I pulled back in August is really sore today [and yesterday, too]. Since I ran Tuesday for the first time in two weeks, I’m guessing that’s what made it sore, but I don’t understand. It hurts immediately upon standing after sitting for a bit, and is sore while walking, but gets less sore the more that I move.  I have a sports massage appointment next Wednesday – hopefully I can figure out what’s going on & get that taken care of.)

However, I am trying to beat down my own fear. My friend & fellow PBR Jen is en route RIGHT NOW to Arizona, where she will become an Iron wo(Man) on Sunday. In case you’re not familiar with that because you’re one of the people who has arrived here by looking for “flat suede boot porn pictures that update every 20 minutes” (WTF? Seriously?), that is a very long 2.4 mile swim, 112-mile bike & a marathon (i.e. 26.2 miles) ALL IN A ROW.  So – if Jen can do that (and I know she can), then surely I can survive a spin class, right?

If I don’t post tomorrow, my above assumption turned out to be false, and I am dead.  Otherwise, I’ll let you know how it went.

I hope that light at the end of the tunnel isn’t a train.

Sep 22nd, 2009
by gazelle.
3 comments

Of the four projects that I have due starting Thursday 9/24 & ending Wednesday 9/30, one is 95% complete. One is 80% complete. the other two are 50% or less, but are the smaller, more familiar projects, and ones that I worry about much, much less.

In other news, there is still wine left in North Portland, so maybe my stress management tools have improved since last January.

In other other news, it’s a damn good thing that there’s going to be a fun party this weekend. Thanks, Emily, for planning your wedding for the very weekend I would need it most! You’re the best!

One of those days

Sep 2nd, 2009
by gazelle.
8 comments

Yesterday was one of those days. I was cranky. I deliberately skipped my morning run in favor of an afternoon run – something about the Terwilliger hills perks me up. Probably because I am crazy.

BUT – wait! Backtrack. Monday night, I headed up to Vancouver (WA, not BC – that would’ve been a looong Monday night) to do a little hanging out with bride-to-be Emily.  I finally got to see the new digs (and annoyed the crap out of the architect when I got home whining enthusing about her built-ins and our lack there-of) and enjoyed the beautiful grounds (makes it sound very lady-of-the-manor-like, right?). A good time was had by all (or at least by me, I guess I can’t speak for her).

I headed h0me like a good girl, so I could get my 8 hours before my super early run. When I got home, of course I had to talk to the architect for a long time, ’cause we hadn’t really talked for like 24 HOURS! And that’s when I decided I’d do a post-work instead of pre-work run. I took some Advil PM and was out like a light! For 8 hours! I didn’t wake up once! That is completely unprecedented. I’m thinking of starting a new Advil PM addiction. Thoughts?

Anyways….Tuesday. I wanted to get to work before 8:30 (technically my start hours are between 8:30 & 9). I rolled in at 8:35 – so not late! Just later than I wanted. Stupid early train which caused me to miss my bus connection! Totally ruined the night before’s commute where I got home in under an hour! It was magical!

At work, it was just one thing after another. I was getting more & more stressed. And I knew a run would help. I just knew it!

So – guess what I did? If you guessed went home & had a mojito, then you’re right! Gold star!

I was in bed at 9:30, asleep by 10, because I needed to get that run in!

And I did. I got up & was out the door by 5:40. It was my first dark morning run pretty much ever. It was so nice to run along the bluff & see the sky lightening in the east, just sad that I missed the actual sunrise – I turned around to run home right before.

It was a nice 6 miler – although I’m always so very slow that early in the morning. It takes me about three miles to warm up.

Mile 1: 11.27
Mile 2: 11:10
Mile 3: 10:41
Mile 4: 9:59
Mile 5: 9:59
Mile 6: 10:40

I’ve decided to pretend that this was some kind of 4 mile tempo run – in my revised marathon plan, my easy miles are supposed to be about 10:30-10:45 & tempo miles between 9:45 & 10, so the last four miles totally count. The first two are my pre-warmup miles, I guess! :)

Anyways – great run more or less, although the first 1 mile, I was debating how few miles I could get away with, but after I warmed up, I was just sad that I didn’t have more time!

After a quick shower & 1/2 of a banana (first half consumed pre-run), I hopped on my bike for my first ride of the Portland September Bike to Work Challenge.  Go team! I am going to try to bike to work a minimum of twice, possibly three times each week. Now that I now it’s possible to do a pre-work run and then bike in (and although I felt like I was dragging, I was a little faster today than last week), I think I could, conceivably, ride in every work day for the rest of the month – 15 more days. We’ll see how that goes!

Today is much better. Not sure if it’s because of all the early exercise endorphins, the half-caf that wasn’t, or just that week is nearly over, and a 4-day weekend awaits, but I’m not complaining! Now I just need to get to the pool!

Confidence Restored

Aug 30th, 2009
by gazelle.
2 comments

Today was my 2nd 15 miler of my marathon training – although in the original schedule, it was supposed to be my first 20. Funny how you’re forced to be flexible.

I did a 15 on July 26. Total time was 2:59:25 (avg pace 11:58). You know, a bit slow, but it was 1 million degrees.

Then, three weeks ago on August 8, I did a 16 miler. Total time was 3:06:24 (avg page 11:39). Better – it was cooler – but still not really where I wanted to be pace-wise for my long runs (I’d like to be around 10:45 for those – or 30 seconds slower than my planned marathon pace).

Two days after my 16 miler, I did my last track workout, and just today downloaded the stats for that:

5 miles total, 52 minutes, 10:32 pace.

Warmup, 1 mile, 11:23

3×10 pushups; 1/4 mile (2:34, 10:23 pace)
30 crunches; 1/4 mile (2:41, 10:45 pace)
3×10 tricep dips; 1/4 mile (2:39, 10:41 pace)
3×10 incline pushups; 1/4 mile (2:50, 11:17 pace)

800#1 – 4:11 (8:23)
recovery 1/4 mile – 3:08 (12:35)
800#2 – 4:12 (8:23)
recovery #2 – 3:01 (11:48)
800#3 – 3:57 (8:

Cooldown, 1 mile – 11:37

Technically, I was going for five 800s, but felt NOT RIGHT after the 3rd one, so I went home. And then, of course, it turned out that I’d tweaked my knee & pulled a muscle.

My run last weekend was a slow 10. And my great 5 on Tuesday was followed by a crappy (but fast) 2 on Friday.

I wasn’t sure what to expect today.

I certainly wasn’t expecting the fantastic run that happened!

JM & I started out ahead of E & the Ambitious One, and right away I could tell it was going to be awesome. I could also tell every time we started going faster than 10 minute miles – that’s when I could feel my knee.

We hit the turnaround at mile 7.5 (love trails that have the mileage marked) sooner than seemed possible, and although we did end up with a couple of pitstops along the way, our overall pace was pretty good. I didn’t have Leo programmed to do auto-splits at the mile markers, but the fancy graph my Garmin software makes shows us super consistant at the 10 minute mile mark.

When we hit 13 miles at about 2:13, we both had 1/2 marathon PRs!

The overall run was 2:36:27 – in other words, almost 25 full minutes faster than our last 15 miler (which also had many untimed walk breaks, and some hallucinations). I feel great, too. No knee pain. No groin pain. I mean, I’m tired, but I feel SO GOOD!

Final pace: 10:25, and if I’d had to, I could’ve gone further – which is exactly how I like to feel after a run. I only have two more long runs before my marathon taper starts – 18 miles on Friday and 20 the weekend after. Then I’m down to 13 & 10 & then I think there’s a 26.2 scheduled.

For the first time in three weeks, I’m feeling pretty good about my ability to not only cross the finish line, but cross it & feel good about it, too!

And, to top off that great, great run, we headed to brunch at Cricket Cafe, where the four of us met up with Jen (who’d run to the cafe) for the best bloody marys in town (so far) and a great brunch. You know it’s a lot of food when a bunch of runners needed to go boxes after (well, not me – although I did leave some of the eggs).

Long Run – 16 Mile DONE!

Aug 9th, 2009
by gazelle.
8 comments

Today was my longest run to date – and I’m feeling fantastico & positive and all that great stuff that endorphins do for you!

The day did not start auspiciously. I didn’t sleep well – and think I ate something last night that disagreed with me, because I was nauseated for a long time before bed last night.  This morning, I was going to make coffee, but we only had whole bean and a) I didn’t know where the grinder was and b) haven’t made whole bean coffee in about 70 years & couldn’t remember how.

BUT – I live in Portland. There is coffee. So, I headed to downtown (of my neighborhood) and both places I was going to go were not yet open! BOOO! So, I ended up at Starbucks (booo). I ordered a medium coffee and plain bagel with peanut butter. I got a medium coffee (burned tasting, of course), a Hawaiian bagel and frozen almond butter. The bagel & almond butter were fine, and the coffee did have caffeine in it, so it was fine.

I really wasn’t sure how the run was going to go. I maybe fell down the other night, and am covered in bruises & feel like I twisted my left knee. I was not so enthusiastic. But I was doing it, dammit!

I met a couple of running buddies (and Mr. Pi!) at the Burnt Bridge Creek Trail at 7:30-ish. Mr. Pi started out for his 13 miles a little earlier than we got going, but we headed out.

The Ambitious One was planning on 8-10 miles, and JM & I were going for 16 (although my marathon is two weeks earlier than hers, she’s been matching all my long run mileage, because she is super, duper awesome.

We were all feeling a little creaky this morning (JM & I were both suffering from falls & yucky knees, the Ambitious One had a better excuse – she rode her bike out at hilly Hagg Lake yesterday).

At this point, I wasn’t sure if I was going to do the entire 16. I really wanted a minimum of 14, so I could have at least 30 miles this week, but man, I did not feel like running for 3+ hours.

Miles 1-10, done with my girls:

Mile 1 – 11:32
Mile 2- 11:06
Mile 3- 11:50
Mile 4- 12:30
Mile 5- 12:07
Mile 6- 11:02
Mile 7- 11:25
Mile 8- 13:11
Mile 9- 11:16
Mile 10-11:05

Total, first 10 – 1:57:04; 11:42 pace

Then, I said good-bye to my friends & headed back out for my solo portion. I was so glad to have had company for the first 10 miles!

Miles 11-16 were HARD!

Mile 11- 11:05
Mile 12- 11:04
Mile 13- 11:11
Mile 14- 12:27
Mile 15- 11:50
Mile 16- 10:57 (I was ready to be done)

Last 6 miles-  1:08:34 (11:25 pace)

Total, 16 miles, 3:05:24 (11:38 average pace).

This is a little slower than my long run goal pace (b/w 11 & 11:30 pace, with an emphasis on 11), but I’ll take it! Readers! I ran 16 miles! That’s a long ways!

So – thanks to my running buddies -so glad I have you!