Well, that was...okay (Half of Quincy RR)

Half of Quincy is in the books.  And although I did PR, and hit exactly halfway between my B and C goals, it doesn't feel very good.

Let's start with the day before.  I was feeling good that day, very excited to be running.  I had a lovely lunch of a leftover half meatball sub and was feeling good.  At night I had a lighter meal - english muffins, one with PB, one with butter, green beans, and a yogurt.  Then I had a serving of chocolate.  Then another.  Only two servings, but that second serving was out of mental desire not true hunger.  It happens, but this time it happened when I was already feeling a bit overfull. 

So - off to bed feeling vaguely queasy.  Slept well, which is good, but it also helped that I had slept well the night before.  Woke up - still feeling a little off from the sugar overdose.  Got up, toasted my bagel, PB'd it, and was out the door on time.  I will pause here to say that on the days that I don't want to do my long runs it's really the bagel that gets me out the door.  Not so much the fueling (which it does), but the mental thing - "ate the bagel - let's go run!".

Drove down to Quincy to a gorgeous, sunny morning.  It was in the forties but I knew it was going to warm up so I was in a long sleeve tech shirt and shorts.  The shirt was from the Tufts Women's 10K from last year, and it was really funny how many other women I saw wearing the same shirt! 

Lined up for the bathroom (of course), and as I was waiting a woman wearing a jacket that said Security came over to the line and tapped the woman in front of me, me(!), and the two women behind me.  She said "Come with me.".   I was mentally like - "What did I do?".  She walked us over to the other side of the hall (we were in a high school), and unlocked another bathroom!  She said since it was only four stalls she wanted to manage the number of people going in....

Did some more stretches, lined up for the bathroom again, got in just in time, and lined up outside.  It was interesting because this was the first year that this half also was doing a 5K.  They both started at the same time and lined up at the same place, but the 5K people were splitting off to the left while we went straight.  I do wonder how well it went in terms of traffic management. I didn't see any issues, but I might do a check to find out what people's experiences were.

Started out feeling...ehn.  Not fast like the 10 mile race, more like just running was an effort.  I fought from the start and it didn't get any better.

And as a note - never believe a race director when they say the course is "mostly flat".  Mostly flat.  Like I'm mostly Nicole Kidman.

The run itself was mostly uneventful.  I did have a mini cheering section in my cousin and her boyfriend.  They were at mile 4.  What's awesome is that I had started out wearing gloves because of the chill, but by mile 4 I was so hot that even though I had taken them off and tucked them into the front of my shorts I even felt hot with them being there.  Just as I was thinking that I saw my cousin ahead of me; she was cheering, I veered over towards her, and tossed my gloves.  She caught them.  Good thing - wouldn't want to lost 67 cent gloves that I had multiple pairs of at home!

As alluded to above there were definitely some hills on this course.  I mentally wasn't feeling them and had to fight to not walk.

I've gotten this far into the race report and haven't mentioned the major problem yet.  My right hamstring/piriformis?   Killing me the entire race.  Literally the entire race.  Luckily it's not the kind of pain that throws off my stride, but it was not fun. 

So even with the oversugaring, painful glutes, overheating (yes - even though it was a light tech shirt I was still hot), I still feel that I gave all that I had that day. 

 My old PR for the half was 2:29:45; this new one is 2:12:00.  So - good.  But just not mentally good.

Goal time!

In less than 12 hours I will be getting up, getting dressed, and pinning on the below #.

I'm already trying to make up why this # is good luck.  It's my 10 miler # + 20?

I'm excited for this half because it's the first where I really plan to race.  This is my third half.  My first was "I am in intense pain and sick, but I will cross the finish line".  My second was "Let me see if I can run the entire thing".  (Spoiler - I did).  This one is "I have trained my butt off - let's DO this."

I definitely have goals.

a.)  PR.  This is inevitable.  My current PR is 2:29:45.  The training runs that I've been doing - at easy pace - are faster than this.

b.) 2:15 .  This is a safety goal.  I really feel that I can get here with no issues, but it's still working hard.

c.) 2:10.  This feels right?  Sort of?  McMillan has me at 2:07 which seems too much of a stretch.  Or am I underestimating myself...

The thing is, even with my goals I'm very much in the mile when I run.  I'm very bad at the mental math, so I really won't know until I get towards the last few miles where I am.  Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration - I will have my mile splits, so I'll have some idea.

I'm excited and nervous about this race.  It's ~1,300 people, which compared to my other two halves (Disney) is distinctly smaller.  On the plus side I will have my cousin cheering me on - she said she will be at two places on the course, plus at the end.

Love ya lots, Pammy!

I was a lazy bum today, fueled myself wonderfully (what - meatball subs are awesome the day before a race), the weather looks gorgeous...I'm ready to dominate.

Watch out Half of Quincy - I'm comin' for ya!

Holy...! (Black Cat 10 Miler RR)

Quick update - I did not make it streaking through February as planned.  That's okay - I think that the effort got me more comfortable with my legs which is enough for me.

I also got exceeding lazy about posting my goals for my first race of 2012, which was this morning.  So call this a goals and post mortem at the same time.

First of all the race was the Black Cat 20 and 10 miler.  I did the 10 miler; this was my second 10 miler ever. It doesn't seem to be that common a race distance so I don't know how many I'll end up doing.  Randomly I saw someone posting about doing an 8K, and I couldn't even believe that was a distance.  Makes no sense to me.

Anyway, goals.  I was having a hard time getting A/B/C (absolute/probable/stretch goals) because one that I was considering seemed like good practice more than a goal.  What I did have were:

A - PR.  Considering my PR from my prior 10 miler was slower than my current slow run pace, I figured unless I slammed face first into the pavement (sneak peak - I didn't) that I was safe with this.

B - 1:40.  It's a nice round number, exactly 10 minute miles.

C - This is where I ran into trouble.  I was torn between setting a goal of hitting McMillan prediction (1:39:47, based on my last race) and trying to negative split.  I don't think I ended up on a decision, so I really went in with A and B goals only.


So - race.  The race was in Salem, MA, which apparently I only visit to race?  It's not that far away and it's full of historic interest - get on the ball, chick!  Anyway - I was 90% prepared when I got to the race.  The missing %?  My stupid brain which forgot blister band aids that I've been living on recently (new shoes are needed desperately) and my sunglasses.  Luckily I ended up not really needing either.

I got to the race location half an hour early with the expectation that I would do an actual warmup mile or two before the race, instead of taking the first couple miles in the race at a slower pace.  That decision went out the window when I saw that I could wait on line for bathrooms inside instead of using port-a-potties.  Once I was done peeing I did some stretching and went out to the start.

It was a bit chilly but not that bad.  I really didn't hear the start announcement and only knew what was going on when people ahead of me started moving.  I also was very lucky that I kept my eyes on the road, because giant pothole right at the start!

Not much going on during the actual race.  ~mile 2 the voice in my head piped up, right on schedule - "Do you really think you can do this?  Maybe you should slow down.  Walking sounds good.  You're breathing pretty hard...".  Ignored.

Also around mile 2 there was a woman with disturbingly tight shorts ahead of me.  Serious wedgie.  She had incredibly awesome legs but those shorts... I really was glad when I passed her because they were seriously creeping me out.

The description of the course said  - "The only big hill is entering into Marblehead, there are a few other hills on the course but nothing major."  I don't know when they imported Mt Everest to MA, but it must have been right before this race.  It was a big hill alright but I felt good powering up it.  I was also happy that the course was a loop so I got to run down it on the way back.

This was the first race where I didn't walk through the two water stops that I ended up using.  I splashed myself pretty good on the first, did the squeeze sides of cup on the second which worked well.

Mile 8 the voice came back - "You still have two miles to go - maybe you should slow down?  You're going to trip yourself".  Stupid voice!  I don't listen to you!


I wanted to kick it up in the last mile.  I didn't kick it up as much as I have before, but I think that's a good thing?  I didn't leave much on the course?

My result - 1:35:40.  Almost 4 minutes faster than I was going for.  Wow.  Where did that come from?  So goals A and B definitively met, as well as beating McMillan.  Did negative split - first 5 miles were 48:28.

All this makes me excited for my half in two weeks.  I'm gonna bring it!

K.I.S.S.

I tried to find the right video to go with the title of this post, but nothing showed up that I liked on YouTube.  Kids these days  - no respect for the classics.  In my day our bands wore Kabuki makeup and WE LIKED IT.

Anyway, just to keep you all up to date I'm still on a running streak.  I will be running every day until Feb 29, and then taking a day (or maybe 2!) off.  I have a race March 3 that I will want fresh legs for.

Thinking about that race brings me to the title of this post (ah-ha!).  It's the mnemonic for Keep It Simple, Stupid.  It was probably stupid to spell it out because I'm sure most folks know it, but I like to be clear, just in case.  Anyway in my case the simple part is focusing on one thing at a time.  For example, that race March 3?  It's not my goal race for training - it's a 10 mile race 2 weeks before my goal half in Quincy.  I'm lining up race strategy for the 10 mile race, (including trying to do negative splits - but that's another (soon to be posted) post) but I'm not even 100% focused on the half marathon. I'm already mentally skipping ahead to the marathon in November.

Now I know that it's understandable - first marathon, so of course I'm thinking of it.  But it's something that I do a lot; focus too much on what's in the future and not enjoy what's here.  I do it with vacations and visits, special occasions... I also do it with the bad stuff which can get me into a perpetual anxiety spiral.

My goal for this upcoming race is to race smart for what it is - a warmup/tuneup race - but still stay within that race and not think too much about the half marathon.  I'm looking forward to PRing at both races, even without truly racing the 10 miler.  It's been a year since my last 10 mile race and I know that I can pull more out of myself.

Nothing useful

Nothing really useful here, but I thought I'd share a couple YouTube videos that have been my obsessions the last couple weeks.  I have no idea who any of the people in these videos are, I just love the pretty and the dancing.  And I think I have a total crush on the lead guy in both these.

I love dancing.  Love, love, love.  

It's been a long time...

I shouldn't have left you, without a dope beat to step to....

In other words, hi!  I'm not dead!  Hope you all are good as well.

In running news I kicked off a running streak January 4 that continues through today (February 4th).  I ran at least one mile every day.  A whole month!  Of course when I looked up running streaks I found this page - United States Running Streak Association, Inc .  43 1/2 years of running every day?  Now that's hard core.  Still, I'll keep my streak going for a bit longer.  It gives me something to do every day to clear my head.  I also believe that it's been giving me more confidence in my endurance and power.

On the racing front it's four weeks until my next race.

Image cropped from http://www.blackcatroadrace.com/

I haven't raced since early December so of course I am excited.  I am doing the 10 mile race.  It's actually going to be a warmup/time trial for my half marathon two weeks later.  With that in mind I am going to do my best to go in with a race strategy and execute on it.  It's totally different from my usual "hold on and pray I finish" strategy.  I've run and raced this distance before so there is no excuse for not getting out there and pushing (wisely).  I'm working out my A/B/C goals and will post them soon.  Promise! 

Other than that stuff has been stuff.  I visited my mom a couple weeks ago to help with her first cataract surgery (she came through great), and will probably be visiting her again in the next couple weeks to help with her second.  On the job front I'll be getting a bonus payout in a couple weeks.  I will be banking most of it but am considering splurging on a new purse with some.  We'll see.

I've got some other things to say but am too damn lazy today to say them.  Oh - except for if you want to follow me on Daily Mile, please go ahead and do.  Hi!

More later.

Just plain nutz

January has been an interesting month in running for me.  I'm trying to streak through January (run at least  a mile per day every day), started the effort on the 4th.  It's 11 days later, and I'm still going strong.  I'm hitting my miles and even doing some speed work.  I get lost in my runs and my body just handles it.  I'm not tripping over my own feet or kicking myself in the ankle (which I've done frequently before).  Everything is...good.

Today was an interesting run.  Temps were going to hit a high of 21.  With windchill - it was going to feel like it was in the low negatives.  I bundled up in my new Underarmour set (yay birthday gift from Dad!) and started out.  I probably should layer up more next time because I definitely felt chilled for a large portion of the run.  I also think I made the mistake of stopping for water/fueling at mile 7.  Even though the water was room temp (thank god!), I think my body was sending blood to the stomach to digest and it probably made it more chilly.  Also I had stopped about a mile earlier to go to the bathroom and I think my glove got a bit wet next to the sink.  I looked down at a little over mile 8 and the tip was frozen stiff.  At that point I could have stopped; I was next to a T station and had cash, I could have hopped on and finished my run on the treadmill in comfort.  I seriously thought about it but in the end kept going.  Mostly because I knew if I took the T it would be the T and a bus because of construction on the line.  And I still don't like the treadmill.  Not hate as much anymore, just not my favorite.  Definitely warming to it for speed workouts, however.

Anyway, like I said I kept going.  Around mile 10 my fingers started feeling numb.  It was definitely scary, but I kept moving them and putting my hands in my armpits when I was at stoplights.  I got to mile 11.5 and that's where I was supposed to turn it on for the last 5 minutes.  Amazingly I did.  Even after 11.5 miles I had something in me and I poured it on.  It felt good.

I'm a couple months away from my next big race and I am already excited for it.  I'm going to be careful in my training and eating going forward.  I have high hopes for a great race and for a great 2012.  Don't forget - I already called it as my year!

Food, as simple as that

Remember when I used to blog about my cooking?  If you've read my blog lately probably not.  If you look at the url for my blog you can see I started it centered around cooking; specifically cooking five new recipes a week.  This was years ago and a prior job and I actually did pretty well at it I think.  But times and hobbies change, and, well...

But this weekend I cooked.  It's actually not a surprise I cook most weekends but I just don't take pictures.   I think pictures are more critical in a post about food than a regular post so, no pictures, no post.   But - I remembered to take pictures this weekend!  Yay!

Sunday night was Classic Beef Chili from Eating Well .  I stuck pretty firmly to the recipe but declined to buy scallions just to act as a garnish/topping.  It's a waste because I never use the rest of the scallions before they go bad.  Anyway, result is below.

I don't love the result.  It's an interesting recipe in that it includes shreds of sweet potato which are meant to melt into the chili.  Mine ended up with most melting in but some still around which gives the deceptive appearance of having cheese in the result.  It's kind of disappointing to expect cheese and not get it.  Other than that it's kind of a generic chili.  Not spiced strongly enough for my tastes, and the meat wasn't meat-y enough for what I am used to.  Definitely not a repeat.

I was in the mood for chili after New Year's because my brother made some on New Year's Day.  It's our traditional family meal for the day.  This chili satisfied that craving but didn't make me long to eat the leftovers in my fridge.  I'll definitely keep and freeze what's left - squeezing in to my freezer (pictures will be with post tomorrow), but still on the lookout for a good beef chili.

Use it or lose it

Hello!  Been a bit since my last post.  Not as long as a lot of the gaps in this blog in the past, but more than I wanted to have given my recent posting history. 

It's long enough since Christmas that I can't believe I ever went away.  It's always a funny feeling to get off a plane and be home after being away.

I think I'm past the post-holiday doldrums; advent calendar is away.  That's about it for my Christmas decorations this year.  I can get exceedingly lazy when I am decorating just for myself.  If I had folks visiting I would do it up a bit more.

My next race is a the Black Cat 10 Miler, but my next goal race is the Quincy Half Marathon.  As I said before I am aiming for a 2:15:xx in the half which I believe is a non-stretch goal.  This is my third time through a half marathon training program but I decided to choose a more challenging one.  My first two I went with the Hal Higdon Beginner program; this round I went with an 18 week schedule from Brad Hudson's Run Faster.  Definitely more challenging, as my attempt at a ladder workout today will attest.  It's higher volume and includes more speedwork.  I am pretty sure that I will use his plan when I start my marathon training in a few months.

Other than running nothing major going on.  My PM work is getting more smooth (as far as I can tell) but I'm still working which is always good.  My company hit 2 out of 3 of our bonus goals (unofficially) so I will get a bonus, just not the full one we would have gotten if we hit 3 out of 3.  But hey - a bonus is  a bonus!

So with that catchup I'll say what the post title means.  I'm someone who buys stuff - in this case food - because I love it in concept but then get it home and don't eat it that fast.  It mostly comes from years of limiting myself when I was losing.  I don't have anything but good things to say about my experiences losing/maintaining with Weight Watchers, but there is no question in my mind that it gave me a lot of reluctance to eat outside of the bounds of "the list" of healthy foods.  Now that I'm eating more in tune with my body and mood I actually allow myself once in a while to buy non-wholesome snacks!  Wow!    So I buy them and now I have a full shelf of snackiness just for me.  With that said my goal is to buy less of the stuff while I do some more eating from what I have. Not a big goal, but meaningful to me.  I have such wonders hiding in my kitchen too, so I'll probably be sharing what I've found.  Look forward to it!

All good things...

Home again home again, jiggity jig.  Not so happy to be home after a wonderful trip to see my brother's family.

Oh how I miss this little sweetness

It was a very relaxing trip.  We got out some more after our day at the zoo, including going to the botanical gardens.  They had a train exhibit which of course fascinated my niece.

After the garden it was time for lunch at a diner that has fabulous desserts.

Family!

My partially decimated reuben

The highlight of the rest of the week for me was my birthday!  It also happened to be New Year's Eve, but we all know that my birthday takes precedence.  My brother and his wife had some friends over and we all had dinner and played Cranium.   Definitely a lot of fun and laughter.

Yay cake!

Morning after

I flew home on the first.  I really miss my family right now.  It's really hard to get back in to the swing of things - definitely some post-holiday depression.  It's only natural after so much joy.  So - I guess I'll take it. The trip is worth the let down.

Hope to see this lovebug again soon!

Zooooooooooooooooooooooo

I seriously cannot remember what it feels like to work.  I have off until January 3rd and am enjoying every moment of peace.

I've been getting in my runs for my half; so nice to run on bike paths.  I will have to use the one near me when I get back home.  It's also been nice for winter in Wisconsin, which is a great benefit.

It's also been fun to spend more time with my family.  Not concentrated time - we usually do our own thing most of the day - but we are doing some fun stuff together as well.

Like - cookie baking!

And the zooooooooooooo!

*roar*

The rare purple-hatted polar bear

An entire lion family!

How wide are your arms compared to an ape's?

Mama and baby chick!

It was pretty much perfect.  It was a relatively warm day but there was hardly anyone there.  And as you can see, the animals were all out!  

After the zoo we hit the Original Pancake House, where I proceeded to clean my plate.  Which was alright as I was fueling for the 8 mile run  a couple hours later.  Do not ask what I am fueling for with the cookies/licorice I ate tonight

With all that excitement there is always exhaustion, as modeled by sweet Luna below.

I'm exhausted and happy, and have 2+ more days to enjoy this feeling!

Mo' pittures!

Christmas is over, time to relax.  I'm especially lucky that I'm able to relax this week.  I was expecting to have to work the week between Christmas and New Year's, but last week our CEO sent an email to the company giving us this week off!  Yay!

The extra time has been spent in very relaxing ways.  Yesterday we didn't do much, just going to the park and out to lunch with my niece.

Hazel and Grammie

Push, Daddy, push!

Start of lunch

Mom and me

Dessert!

End of lunch. =)

I also managed to squeeze in a run that afternoon - back on track for training after my cold!  It was kind of awkward to run; I ate more than usual at lunch, and I could feel it!  Very successful runs the past few days - Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, day after Christmas = total of close to 20 miles!  Back on the horse!

Last night my brother, his wife, my mom and I played a new game.  It's called Forbidden Island and it is challenging, not only to play, but also to even understand the instructions.  It was a co-operative game so we all had to work together, but there were still arguments over how to play.  In the end we won, but barely.  I think we might play it again sometime this week and will be better at it.

Today was a rest day, and boy did I need it.  Actually most days have been rest days; I've been napping post-lunch.  I'm not alone in that.  My niece takes a nap right after her lunch, and it seems that all of us want to join in.

Mom and Luna reading on the bed

But not all was laziness today.  There was minor adventure - a trip to Old Navy!

Best dressed of us all

Clothing and jewelry were bought at ridiculous prices, then it was home for stir-fry. 

Tonight there was some work to be done so no games, but there are still plenty of days of fun to come.  Tomorrow's plan - cookie baking.  Can't wait!

Merry Christmas!

Very late in the day but still officially Christmas in Madison, WI, so I say - Merry Christmas!

My Christmas was absolutely a blast.  Sure, the presents are nice, but that's not the point.  It was spending the time with my brother, his wife, their little girl, and my mom.

Won't say much about the details, because that probably won't be that fascinating.  We woke up, opened presents, I went for a run, and we had a wonderful Christmas dinner of prime rib.  I'll leave it at that, and just share some pictures of the joy.