April running is not just for Fools! - The April Dingo Thread - Page 8

[LaLaLaLa]

BBM--I'm glad the heart vase is working out so well.  The kids at my kids' school are very motivated by it as well, and DD often comes home talking about the great things that kids did that day that caused more hearts to go into their class jar.

Nic--Nice 10K!  I'm sorry the heat is giving you problems.  I feel like I'm just the opposite; I love being warm, running in the heat, baking during my runs.  You and I need to trade locations.

JayGee--Sorry about neighbor girl, but good for your DD for sticking to her guns!  I hate it when my kids get into confrontational situations with other kids, but then I love to see their strength come shining through.

JenLove--Hooray for a house that speaks to you!  I hope everything goes smoothly.

mommajb--I hope that your move also goes smoothly.  California sounds like a dream to me; I'll be living vicariously through you.

Jo--Ah, the yardwork.  It's begun again.  Today was a gorgeous day--bright and sunny and in the sixties, which seems so warm after the long winter.  The kids and I had an egg hunt in town this morning, so I was up early for a Saturday.  When we got home at 10, I started raking.  With a couple of breaks to eat and to chat with my sister-in-law when she showed up with computer woes, I raked straight until 5 this evening.  I'm very sore.  But I've made a dent in the leaves that I never managed to get rid of in the fall when the snow came too early.  I like a project that I can see getting better the more effort I put into it. 

So, no running today but I'm going to count the raking toward upper arm strength, at least, which is one of my targets for now.  I'm trying to talk myself out of jogging to a horrific hill and doing hill repeats tomorrow.  It seems like something I should be doing, and I have the perfect hill in mind about a mile away, but I know I'll just hate everything the whole time I'm doing it.  I guess we'll see how I'm feeling when I wake up tomorrow.  And whether the yardwork calls to me again.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

[JayGee]

Good Morning!  I'm heading out shortly for my run, but finally found those glute exercises I promised ~ http://www.intelligent-triathlon-training.com/glute-exercises.html

Lalalala ~ goodness woman, how many trees do you have?????  Glad you got so much raking done.

Nic ~ when training to race, I've had good luck working on increasing speed over the course of a workout.  For instance, I'll start really easy, and every 1/4 or 1/2 mile, increase speed a little bit.  Do you have a Garmin?  It's really helpful for this.  So happy you enjoyed your dinner out with DH too.  It's nice to connect like that every once in a while.

Time to go lace up and RUN!

[Penelope]

La, I'm impressed with your yardwork! I'm needing to get out and rake and weed, but also needing to grade papers...

Jen, what a great feeling about your house! A high school friend of mine recently moved into a house she's been loving on for a couple of years, and I'm so excited to see her and her family settled and gardening, etc. Hope it all works out smoothly for you!

RR: I got 10m in yesterday, and it was good to be out and getting some miles in since I have a half in three weeks, but I was slow and not very inspired. It was windy and warm, so maybe I just need to adjust a bit to the weather, but I'm expecting the race to not involve any kind of fancy time. My last half involved IT band pain that was so awful that I'm mostly just wanting to be strong and healthy, and I think I can accomplish that.

Ds's birthday party yesterday was fun - a bunch of 7 year olds running around at the botanical garden. He enjoyed it, they all wore themselves out, cupcakes were had, and although the educational piece wasn't fabulous, the party generally was quite fun.

[JayGee]

Penelope ~ for us the botanical garden is more about running around that learning anything too .

RR ~ 7.12 miles in 1:04:43.  Not bad, if I don't say so myself !

[Nemesis]

I'm not sure I've updated since my reflexology appointment...  Long story short, I feel great.  I've had NO pain in my knee (including tightness/soreness from sitting too long) since I was adjusted.  Immediately, I had greater range of movement in my knee. 

I am sure I can run now, but I am honestly kind of scared to.    If I mess something up, I can't afford to go back until next month!   But I will make time this week and just take it easy.  I've worked a couple of shifts and biked a lot, and there is still no pain/stiffness.  Usually after work I have trouble bending my knee all the way, and I wake several times at night with my leg tendons/muscles? being stiff and sore.  No more.  I can hardly believe this.  

  I will be going back next month if I can afford it, to keep on top of things.  I have lost a bit of weight, and I am feeling very satisfied with my "plan" of healthful eating and exercise.  If I can keep from getting injured, I am sure going to do it. 

Personals in a minute!  :)

[Nemesis]

Nic- Good job on the PR!   

Jen- I'll be crossing my fingers! 

Mommajb- Good luck on the move!  I hope it all goes smoothly!

JG- nice 7 miles.  I can't wait to build up my mileage again.  I'm so tired of struggling.

I'm going to finish my coffee and tidy up before work.  I've got a longer shift today, and I am hopeful that my knee will be fine.  It's raining and really windy, so I think I will drive.  It's been so nice to cycle to work! 

[Geofizz]

Back from my 10 miler -- followed by soccer, digging the garden and getting compost out, and now I'm sitting on my tush for a bit before dinner then soccer parts 2 and 3.

Whew.

Vents out of the way first:

*Is there a problem with giving out fruit at the finish line?  The last several races have bagels, sandwiches, chips (!), and other garbage.  No apples or bananas.  Blech. 

*The race went past 2 big churches at 9 am on a Sunday, 6 and 7 miles into the race.  They left it two lane traffic with cones along side the road for the runners to run along the berm!!  It was 1 long hill there, so the single file plan simply didn't work, and most of us ignored it and ran in traffic anyways.  Super dangerous, and I nearly plowed over three people who just stopped to walk right in front of me.

OK, vents and whines aside:

I drove out with my RP, we found her friends, and found the potty.  The race started on time in the fog (felt like home!), and the first three miles were mostly downhill -- a few short and steep up and downs thrown in, leading through parks along the river.  Gorgeous.  Then through downtown and another neighborhood to the end.  The first 7 miles felt easy, with me pulling my RP along.  Yup, even those hills including the 140 ft elevation gain with no down for mile 6.  At mile 5 I started squeezing the sweat out of my hair.  It was getting sunny and bright - quite shaded until we left downtown so it wasn't as bad as I thought.  Then water at mile 8 just sat badly, it got hot and bright, and my lungs gave the heave ho.  The last final hill was torture, with RP finding her strength, then pulling me along - with a mile 9 up a hill yelling at me "Get your butt up here!" To which I yelled "Yes, Drill Sargent!" to the great amusement of the people we were passing.  The last mile was hard, the last 1/4 mile I told my RP to go ahead, and I nearly caught her at the end.  Total moving time:  1:34:42 (I took out RP's bathroom break...), for 9:24 miles for the 10.06 miles.  We ran mostly negative splits, with the mile 9 that sucked so hard at 9:11 pace.  If I can keep running through the summer, a little speed work, and no hills for the fall half, I can do the 2:00 half marathon.

Afterwards, we kept running into a bunch of people we knew, stood around chatting, then drove home with the windows open.  Peeyew, we stank.

[kerc]

Still feeling like trash here. I'm told I have 2-3 more 50% days and then I should jump quickly to 80%. Let us all hope that it is one or two more days. I feel fine when I have a beer or two, perhaps that's the secret? I had a work obligation friday night and went out for beer with 5 of my colleagues afterwards and was out until 1am. That is WAY too late for me to be out. I think it set me back a good 2 days on the recovery.

Geo: I'm with you on the chips at the finish line. WTF is that? Nice run, btw.

Nemesis: I forget your exact city -- wondering if you're bracing for flooding? Admitting to myself that your state is one big state and I'm a bit of a moron for not knowing your exact location.

Jenlove: let us know how the house stuff is going.

Mommajb: that's a big move. whoa.

I have no idea what is going on with the rest of you, sorry.

Goals for this week:

• run 3 times. No mileage goal, too much stuff going on.
• clear off the heap of fabric that is all over the guest room floor.
• stay current on work.

Those are some lofty goals, LOL.

[JenLove]

Jumping in just for an update because Val is getting her 2 year molars and we are all sleeping horribly and I'm exhausted.  I haven't worked out in a couple days. :(  The offer for the house went in today at noon.  He has until Tuesday to respond.  For now it just seems like a waiting game.... Good vibes still needed!  I'm hopeful! 

[JayGee]

Fingers crossed that you get the house, JenLove!

kerc, I like your listing of goals idea.  In fact, this morning during my run I was thinking about how well my 7 swims/7 days challenge worked and I'd like to keep challenging myself to do something every day for a week.  This week, my challenge is to do my PT exercises and glute strengthening routine every day for 7 days.

My girls are washing the garage floor and it's like a skating rink out there.  They are in swimsuits and doing full body slides across the entire floor.  Good times at the Golden house!!!

[LaLaLaLa]

Nemesis--Wow, sounds like you are all healed!  I hope it lasts and that you are able to ease back into running without any further problems.

Geo--You are super-fast.  Great race report; sorry there was some time in there that felt so crummy.

JenLove--Thinking of you and the house.  Let us know as soon as you have news!

JayGee and Kerc--I'm good with stated goals, too.  Whenever I take the few minutes to sit down and write a to-do list, things get done like crazy.  I should do it more often.

And, yup, our yard has lots of trees.  We bought the house in August, almost three years ago, and it seemed so cute.  It's a log cabin, set back a bit from the road with a long driveway (nightmare in the winter when snow falls!) and surrounded by trees (nightmare in the fall when the leaves come down!).  We didn't think of these inconveniences when we bought; we were just dazzled by the charm of the place.  The raking really is good exercise and I enjoy it to a point.  And I really can't complain too much; we do have a leaf-blower that I just choose not to use, which would probably make thing much easier.

I didn't do my hill repeats today like I thought I should.  Kids crawled into our bed far too early this morning, which meant I didn't want to get up and run before church.  On the way home from church I mused out loud how I was thinking of going for a run.  DD, who is six, decided she wanted to come, then decided she wanted to bike instead of run.  DS, who is five, was mad so I promised to go out with DD, come back, and then go out with him.  He's not yet on a two-wheeler and wouldn't be able to keep up.

My run with DD was decent.  On the straightaways and downhills it felt like a good workout and I worked up a sweat, but on the hills, of which there were several, DD slowed way down.  I ended up running with my hand on her back, pushing her up the hills instead of walking like she wanted.  Mean mom.  She and I ended up doing about three miles, with two short breaks.

Then, in the interest of sibling equality, I retrieved DS and he and I went out.  He was on his razor scooter, which he is still learning how to control, so I mostly walked.  We did about a mile, even though he insisted he wanted to go as far as DD and I went.  There was just no way.

Next weekend I will sneak out, instead of stating my intentions to the kids.  I was glad that they were enthusiastic about being outside in the fresh air, though.  It felt good to be warm.

One more week until school vacation here.  Hooray!  I'm hoping for a good one!

[Realrellim]

memiles--so happy to hear the reflexology worked. Great news!

Geo--nicely done on the race.

kerc--hope you wake up feeling awesome tomorrow.

JenLove--good luck on the house offer.

La4--sneaking out sounds like a good plan. Glad you were able to get a decent run in with your 6yo on the bike.

Race report! My half went really well: 1:57:38, making it my first "honest" sub-2:00 half. (My Slacker half in 2009 was also sub-2, but it included 2000 feet of downhill so I felt like I needed a disclaimer.) This race runs a course that is slightly downhill, dropping 200 feet in 12 miles in rolling hills but that ends with an 80-foot uphill climb all at once at the last mile. When I ran this course in 2009, I finished in 2:11 so this felt awesome. Or rather, it hurt like heck, but I'm thrilled with my time.

The weather report called for rain and overcast skies on race morning, but when I woke up it was sunny and windy. I debated wearing capris instead of the lined tights I'd pulled out, but in the end stuck with the lined tights. It wasn't nearly as windy at the starting line as it was at home, so I was worried about being too hot after all. I needn't have worried, as it got plenty windy halfway through the race.

It was a bigger field than they were used to hosting, so they had us line up by expected pace. That worked out nicely. When I ran this in 2006 only 800 people ran. When tjsmama and I ran in 2009, about 1100 people ran and it was ridiculously crowded on the course. Today, 3000 were registered, 2200 finished, but because of the pacing it was usually easy to pass people on the trail and really didn't feel crowded. The pace felt a little fast when we started, but I think some of that might have had to do with inadequate fueling. I usually snack on a Luna bar before starting, but I'd foolishly left my bar in the bag that I'd checked. Anyhow, I hung in there and finished the first couple of miles through downtown Littleton in 8:43 and 8:41.

After that we were on the trail next to the river, and this part of the course was the same part I'd run my two 10-milers this year. My splits there were ok: 8:49, 8:43, 8:43 and 8:44 for mile 6. Sometime around mile 5 or 6, the wind picked up. It started out as a strong crosswind, about 20 mph and sometime between miles 6 and 10 it was just a straight-on headwind at times. That stunk. It also slowed me down, with 8:53 for mile 7, 8:54 for mile 8, and 9:08 for mile 9. The Clif shots weren't quite sitting right in my stomach either, though I knew I was hungry and worried about bonking. I was able to pick it back up for mile 10 (8:56), and after that it was two miles of fighting the wind (9:07 and 9:04). At mile 12 the race leaves the river, which we've been running along, and we head up a bridge over the river and over several sets of train tracks and warehouses. The climb is nasty but I was so relieved to have the wind at my back and to be in the last mile that it wasn't too bad. Usually this is my strongest point of the race, in part because I'm usually decent at hills but this time I was basically out of gas and once we got to the top I wanted to speed up but my legs weren't cooperating. That split was 9:14. Then, finally, we were in the home stretch. The clock was an inspiration, but the thing that really made the difference was that a woman who had cut me off repeatedly during the race suddenly tried to pass me and I was like OH NO YOU DON'T. That gave me my second wind and I was able to rally and push it to the finish line (the Garmin reported that last bit in 7:56!).

For the record, I don't mind being passed, but I do mind being passed by people who immediately cut in front of me for no reason and then slow down, almost tripping me. She actually tripped someone else during the race because I heard him say something to her. She was one of those runners who surges, moves over and slows down, and she was wearing headphones so I don't think she could hear anyone breathing down her neck every time she did it. At any rate, it was a better finish than I could have asked for. At mile 10, I'd been having fantasies of collapsing onto the pavement as soon as I crossed the finish line (and thoughts of just giving up and walking because it hurt and not all of my miles were at a sub-9 pace and maybe I couldn't do this and blah blah blah).

Also, I found myself wishing against all logic that somehow my husband would show up with the kids and cheer me on. I know he won't, but I can't help but look for them just in case. (The time I ran the marathon he did meet me there just before the finish line, but he was only there because R wanted to nurse afterward.) I don't know what it bothers me either, considering that J would probably be really excited to see me and then horribly upset when I kept running.

Speaking of J, I got the best reaction ever when I got home. DH was holding her and saying "is that mama?" when I came through the door and she was grinning with anticipation. As soon as she saw me she let out a squawk of delight and laughed and practically convulsed with excitement. It was funny.

The best news may be that my time and pace (8:58) are enough to bump me up a wave in the Bolder Boulder. I was going to use the 10M time and be in the DC wave, but this would bump me up to DB. That said I'm not sure I want to be in DB 'cause that's like an 8:33 pace vs an 8:40 pace. Wimpy, I know!

ETA: I decided to try an ice bath because tjsmama raves about them. Methinks she is a sadist. That was the most painful, awful thing I did all day! It took me two hours to warm up, despite hot drinks and three layers of clothing.
Edited by Realrellim - 4/10/11 at 11:33pm

[Nickarolaberry]

CONGRATULATIONS LISA!!!! WOOT!!!!

You're my inspiration. Awesome race report!!!

[Penelope]

Real, what a great RR! I'm in awe of you!

Also, the phrase "slacker half" has me because I think all my running is slacker running.

La, you inspired me to do yardwork for a couple hours yesterday and it looks so much better out there. My neighbors thank you.

[1jooj]

Lisa, I love your report! And I also can't stand those passers. Makes me CRAZY. Really impressed with your time. Every time I read a good RR, makes me think about doing a race...but it's just not going to happen anytime soon. I also have an emotional reaction when I race, wanting to see my family on the sidelines.

Crazy supercell storms here last night. A large part of our fence is downed, a tree slashed in half, and debris all over the place. Several tornadoes reported around the area. It was 80 yesterday, and now they are talking snow for this coming Saturday. Crazy weather.

My first weekday as a 1-car family. Dh is scheduled to leave this week, so it will be like 3 days of sharing a car. I'm so used to independently attending to my lists of stuff to do, this is weird for me. Not bad, but definitely different. :)

[JayGee]

Real ~ awesome race and  for sub-2 hours!!!!!  I also wish my DH would bring my family to see me race on occasion, but from his perspective, it's just not fun to be corralling kids and keeping an eye peeled for me at the same time.  Plus, I don't really go to his soccer games either .

Jo ~ I can't believe your DH is going in just 3 days.  How much longer do you and the kids have before you depart?  We'll miss having you on this side of the world, but I'm so excited to hear about all the adventures you're sure to have.

We also had major thunderstorms last night and it's going to rain all day today.  Nothing like springtime in the midwest.  Today is a day off!!!!  I haven't taken one in 10 days, so I think I'm due.  I'm seeing the sports medicine doctor this morning to assess my progress.  I'm thinking things are going pretty well, especially since I'm practically pain free after the 7 miler yesterday .

[MidwifeErika]

I would love to join in! I have seen your threads for a LONG time and wished to be a runner. Well, no time like now! I have lost quite a bit of weight over the past year and am now taking up running! So far, I am working on the couch-to-5k to get started and I have high hopes of running a 10k in a the fall.

[memiles]

Real, great race!  You are such an inspiration!

jooj, a little damaging crazy weather is EXACTLY what you need at this point in the game, right?  (insert incredibly sarcastic tone of voice here).  Thinking of you!

I'm just about done with this weather.  D. O. N. E DONE!  It's pouring out there, as in rivers running down the street, standing water in our yard, torrential downpour raining.

Courtney's season is over, so no 5:30 practice tonight for the first time since last June.  Ellie has practice at 7, and I work in the classroom this afternoon.   I'm thinking I'm going to wimp out this morning, reassess the weather when I get home at 4 and either go to spinning at 5 or run if it's cleared up.  It has to clear up, right?

[kerc]

Welcome Erika.

Crazy weather: yeah. I'm over it.

[bec]

I actually got a sunburn from standing outside yesterday for the 10 minutes or so that we were waiting for a table at the pancake house!  Sigh, I need to never, ever forget to cover up or use sunscreen.  I was just so starved for vitamin D, that I think the small burn was worth it!  At least, until it started chafing against my running bra today. 

Yesterday, I got a great spin class that I biked to and from, so getting a little bit extra!  Today, I did my long run!  11 miles, and it felt pretty darn good!  It had to be split up, because of kids' schedules, but I ran 6 on my treadmill at home, then took Abby to preschool and picked up my friend.  Then, we went to the gym, were we split up an hour in 15 minute chunks on the eliptical and treadmill.  So, techically, 30 minutes was not running, but I'm calling it all good!

ETA: Welcome Erika!!!