Ready Made

Homemade Olympics




Yesterday's song:
We Belong - Pat Benetar - Barbie2be

Peace

We Belong

Tonight's track club workout was supposed to be 7 X 800 meters, with 400 meter cool down jogs between each 800 meters. I only did 4, and ran one 400 and couldn't run the next 400. I'm not sure what's going on but BOTH front of my hips are hurting. I could barely keep up with the back of the pack of C group, and I usually run at the front. I was so frustrated having to stop so soon. I'm not a big cry baby, but I really felt like crying due to sheer frustration. I have a scheduled chiropractic appointment tomorrow morning, thank God,and I hope Dr. Carl can help. For now, I've downed a couple of naprosyn, took a cold shower and used ice. I'm still hurting. I think I've just attended my last Tuesday night track workout until the marathon is over, which is just 4 weeks way. It seems like I get more beat up at the track workouts than I do on the long runs. *sigh*

I'm still deciding about TNT and the Nike Women's Half Marathon. If I could figure out how to get some corporate sponsors, I'd go for it. I have a couple of weeks to decide.

Guess who's headlining the concert with Neil Giraldo after the marathon this year? I hope we're not too tired to attempt attending the concert. Last year we missed out on Seal.




Yesterday's song:
TNT - AC/DC - Barbie2be

PEACE

TNT

Tonight I attended a Team in Training meeting for the Nike Women's Marathon and Half Marathon and two other events. The presentation explained why they are raising money for lymphoma and leukemia, and the people who are affected. They showed a video of TnT participants and the excitement of being a part of events, people cheering, etc... They talked about training, mentoring, a person with leukemia or lymphoma who you are running for, and the part about fundraising. I would need to raise $3,300.00. Yes, $3,300.00. A portion of that goes to training, transportation, lodging, and a couple of TNT pre and post event gatherings. They also discussed how they would guide us with the fundraising part, and they also mentioned that most people find that to be the most intimidating part of joining TNT. Yes, I am intimidated. The presentation itself was nice, and we met with some of the coaches. My coworker attended as well, and she had more training questions than I did, since this is her first long distance run event, and she is running for her husband, who has just been told he is in remission of lymphoma. Right now everything they presented to us seems very cut and dry. You do the fundraising and you get to be a part of an event that is sold out. I won't know how it is, exactly, until/if/when I sign up. I'll decide in a few days. I've heard from some people that TNT makes you feel like a rock star, but I've also heard from several track club members who have participated in TNT is that the training isn't as organized as what the SDTC has, but SDTC isn't a fundraising group. (In fact, one of the favorite routes TNT runs is actually a route that one of the former SDTC coaches designed). When I brought home the TNT information to my husband, he was floored with the dollar amount. I also brought up something they told us about corporate sponsorship, if his office donated a certain dollar amount, his office logo would go on my singlet. He replied with "I can go to Staples and get a computer generated iron-on transfer thing and put my logo on your singlet for $5." GAH! I told him that wasn't the point and that if I was going to do this TNT thing I would need his support.

As I had stated in my last post, I had/have mixed feelings about TNT. Fundraising was the biggie. I feel weird about asking friends, family and colleagues for money, but I do understand the reason behind it. It's horrible to lose someone to cancer. I know first hand. It rips your life into a zillion pieces when you lose someone you love to an untimely death due to cancer. Raising money for research, treatment and awareness will help to wipe out cancer. The other mixed feelings part is that, even though training is offered, many TNT particpants are not completely prepared to take on a marathon. Many are newbies who didn't put in enough training. I've talked to an RN who volunteers at the SDRNR Marathon medical tents that the majority of the injured she treats are TNT members. It is honorable that they want to step out of themselves for a great cause, and perhaps the pain is worth the effort, and I do applaude that. There are some other touchy points with non TNT runners, such as race ettiquite - like when trying to pass and you say something like "On your left" - and none of them move over so you can pass, and feeling left out of the groups only cheering for the "Team." I cheer for everyone, not just people from my own little group.

The only way for me to find out about TNT is to do it for myself. However, as of right now, I am still undecided.

Yesterday's song:
Reach For Tomorrow - Ella Fitzgerald

PEACE

Reach For Tomorrow

Photo from SDTC - Run on 4-26-08, near Sunset Cliffs.

I was looking back at last year's run stats, and I've become faster, even though I feel I'm going at a snail's pace at times. I'm thinking that running with the track club has given me that extra push to be just a little faster. Since I'm running with other people who are so phenominal in their running abilities, I feel slow, but I've made improvements just by being around these people. I know I can't compare myself to others, but I have gained great perspective. Yesterday I ran at talking pace with a lady who is going to be the 4:30 pace person for the marathon, and I could have easily stayed with her if I had decided to run the 20 mile route. I never felt uncomfortable running at her pace. Of course, most of my wall hitting happens towards the end of the marathon -- last year it was around mile 22, so I am planning some buffer time just in case that should happen. Last year, about this same time, I pretty much predicted that my marathon time would be around 5:02, and that's exactly what it was, even though I was hoping for better. Right now I actually do see a 4:45 to 4:50 marathon, and that's including that extra time buffer. The plan for the next month is staying healthy, watch my nutrition, remain injury free, and run conservatively.

I'll be attending a Team In Traning meeting tomorrow evening. One of my coworkers wants me to at least check it out before I decide to go or not to go for the Nike Women's Half Marathon in October of this year. Her husband is just now in remission from lymphoma and she's running for him. I have mixed feelings about TNT in general, but I shouldn't judge it until I get the facts. I'll post about why I have mixed feeling in another post. I just want to get the info first. I want to see if it's the right route for me.

Yesterday's song:
Runnin' Away - Sly & the Family Stone

PEACE

Runnin' Away

Activity: Run
Date: 04/26/08 06:48 AM
Distance: 17.84 miles
Time: 2:58:53
Speed: 6.0 mph
Pace: 10' 02 min/mile
Calories: 1688

The stats above should reflect more of a 10:15 minute mile, but when I did a GPS clean up, it took out all stops I made, not just stops for traffic lights, but stops at the water stations. What this time reflects is the average pace I ran between stops. Even with a 10:15 m/m pace for about 18 miles, that's still a pretty good pace for me.

The name of the run is Tour of San Diego, and is normally a 20 mile route, but this year it was changed with an 18 mile option, to accommodate more of the C group runners, so that everyone would be back from the run in about 3:15 hours. I supposed I would have been OK if I opted for the 20 mile run today, as I was doing well with my pace, but it was rather warm out and I didn't want to chance burning out before the end. I felt pretty good through out the run, but towards the end, with less than a quarter mile left, I could feel the middle toe nail on my left foot pop up, but not completely off. It didn't hurt, it just felt weird, and I was able to finish that last part of the run with the same pace I was holding. I expect the toenail to come off sometimes next week.

Anne was there , greeting everyone at the finish, and was in charge of the after run festivites, such as the post run pot luck and welcoming everyone back from their run. Popsicles never tasted so good! It was great to actually catch up with Anne with more than just a minute at a water station. I also met more people today. I chatted with one of the long time SDTC members who is a wealth of information when it comes to running injuries and issues. I asked him about my toenail, but he didn't really say anything I didn't already know, but he did give me a little tidbit about carb loading, and that was helpful.


Yesterday's song:
Water's Edge - Seven Mary Three

PEACE

Water's Edge

Today we were shocked by the news of a local man who was fatally attacked by a shark. This tragic event happened right off the coast of Solana Beach. The man was swimming with a group, training for a triathlon when he was attacked. Lifeguards are suggesting that the public stay out of the water until Monday, however, the die-hard surfers are disregarding the lifeguard's suggestion, saying that their chances of getting killed on the freeway by a drunk driver are much higher than getting killed by shark. Still, a life was lost today in our waters.

My heart goes out to this man's family and friends.

Yesterday's song:

Think - Aretha Franklin

PEACE

Photo from Photobucket.com

Think

Yesterday's Song:

It's Not Easy Being Green - Kermit the Frog (Jim Henson)

PEACE

It's Not Easy Being Green

I, like many, shop on line. I worked in retail too long to get a thrill out of going to the mall. Shopping no longer floats my boat. I like shopping on line because I don't have to deal with crowds, waiting in line, undertrained sales people - if any are available, overly zealous sales people who are on commission, and mall food. I have a few sites I frequent because the service is great and sometimes I even get free shipping, and with today's gas prices, free shipping is worth it.

This week I orderd 3 small cosmetic items: two lip liner pencils and a powdered eye liner/eye shadow. The lip liner pencils are about 5" in length and about 1/4" in diameter, and the shadow/liner is 5"in diameter, 3/4" high.



These products, which I've used before, came in a timely fashion. Guess how they were shipped? Here's a few options:

A) 8 1/4" X 11" puffy envelope, made from recycled material.



B) 11 1/4" X 15" puffy envelope , made with recycled material.



1) All three items arrived in envelope A.
2) All three items arrived in envelope B.
3) Each item arrived separately, in three separate A envelopes.
4) Each item arrived separately, in three separate B envelopes.
5) Each item arrived separately, first packed in envelope A, then placed in envelope B.

You've probably guessed, already, but it's choice #5. I can understand if the company pre-packs an item for shipping, which makes handling inventory of smaller products easy, BUT why don't they ship the three items together, instead of three separate large envelopes for such tiny products? The items come from the same company, the same warehouse. Now, in addition to three new cosmetics, I also have 6 shipping envelopes that I really don't need. Yes, they will be recycled.

Yesterday's song:
Pace Is The Trick - Interpol - Barbie2be

PEACE

Pace Is The Trick

Activity: Run
Date: 04/22/08 05:46 PM
Distance: 4.33 miles
Time: 0:40:43
Speed: 6.4 mph
Pace: 9' 24 min/mile
Calories: 414

Tonight was the track club workout. It was tough because I'm still recouping from 17 miles yesterday, but I was able to stay with in my predicted range for running 800s, so I guess I wasn't too bad off. My quad just suddenly stoped bothering me, which I'm happy about. I'm not sure what changed, perhaps it was waiting until Monday to run, more rest.



Yesterday's song:
Redemption Song - Bob Marley - Miss Rachel


PEACE

Redemption Song

Activity: Run
Date: 04/21/08 09:58 AM
Distance: 17.00 miles
Time: 3:05:59
Speed: 5.5 mph
Pace: 10' 56 min/mile
Calories: 1612


I redeemed myself and ran 17 miles along the bay today. The advantage to running along the bay are the restrooms and water fountains along the way. I would have been toast without those water fountains. I needed more than my four water bottles contained, plus I needed an extra Gu. It's amazing how those things work. I was on the return part of my out and back run, around mile 13 and my left calf started to cramp up. I took a Gu and I was back in business. That pesky quad muscle didn't bother me so much today, but it did take until mile 4 to feel really good on it. Temperatures today were in the low 60s, with a cool bay breeze, and that made for a nice run, especially on the return, when I needed that little nudge to finish strong.

Yesterday I had a major cake craving. I usually don't crave cake, but since my boss put out these little bottles with vanilla scented oil and diffuser sticks, I've been craving cake. The scent in the office is of fresh baked vanilla cake. I actually prefer chocolate cake, but that warm vanilla scent just got to me. I made vanilla cupcakes with butter cream frosting for dessert last night. After a couple of cupcakes (OK, it was several) my craving was squelched. I guess I can chalk it up to come carb loading. Come to think of it, my run was decent today, so maybe those vanilla cupcakes helped.

A big shout out to blogger buddy Elizabeth (Run With Me) who ran in the Boston Marathon today. She even had a PR. I'm completely in awe.

Yesterday's song:
Your Mama Don't Dance - Loggins & Messina - Be A Good One

PEACE

Your Mama Don't Dance

Unless you're Evan's mommy, she does dance.

Last night was my daughter's college dance performance. She was in a ballet skit about the happenings at a coffee shop. She was one of the uniformed high school students. This performance was her first with pointe shoes. This was also the first performance her son has seen her in. It was hard for a wiggly 4 year old to stay still until his mommy's group was to perform, but once he saw her he was so excited and blurted out loudly "there's my mommy!" After that, he was amused with a few of the dance numbers, but kept asking to go home. I don't have pictures, as we were not allowed to take pictures in the theater. I'm not sure if this was her last performance at that particular college. She's quite close to having enough credits for her associates degree to transfer to SDSU or another college.

Yesterday I came across an article on the front page of the San Diego Union Tribune about a local man who ran his own course to join the Boston Marathon. The article is fascinating because he actually planned out the course, had his course certified, ran it by himself with his daughter and grandchildren supplying water and electrolytes along the way. He even joked about not receivng a medal for his marathon. The thing that amazes me is the mucky-mucks for the Boston Marathon took his single man marathon as legit. They also implied that it is highly unlikely that they'll OK something like that in the future.


Today
Activity: Walk
Date: 04/20/08 11:11 AM
Distance: 3.51 miles
Time: 1:02:14
Speed: 3.4 mph
Pace: 17' 39 min/mile
Calories: 327

OK, it's not 17 miles, but the point is we got out and walked in the neighborhood. We did something. We were both close to getting in that hole of doing nothing. Walks are a good thing. We found a little park hidden in one of the little valleys, looked at landscaping ideas at some of the homes, and enjoyed the sunshine. Even though we walked, it still took some time for my left quad muscle to warm up. We even walked up and down a few hills. I'm still baby-ing that left quad, though -- I'm afraid of making things worse if I push myself too hard by going too far or too fast. I want to be able to run the whole way in the marathon.

Yesterday's song:
Fix You - Cold Play - Be A Good One

PEACE

Photo from Photobucket

Fix You

Today was a scheduled long run with the track club. We were supposed to run 17 miles from yet another lovely coastal community. We were pretty much set to go, even with the knee issues I had during the week, I figured I wouldn't have to run the whole way, and if we didn't run with the group we'd run a little closer to home.

HOWEVER...

Yesterday I noticed a small water puddle between the kitchen sink wall and the sunroom wall. I called my husband to notify him of the puddle and potential pipe leak and he said he knew what needed to be done. He figured it would be a removal and replacement of one small pipe and some PVC glue, and that would hold us over until we could get all the old 1947 cast iron pipes replaced. He began working on the pipes, thinking an hour would be sufficent time to fix the pipes, but the entire pipe broke off. The pipe was so old it had just rusted through and broke off with the smallest of movement.


At that point he called it a night and decided to tackle the project in the morning after we run.

Well... The run never happened. We both woke up too late, going on 9:00 am... It was a matter of getting breakfast and going to work on the pipes, which is now an all day project.

That's my excuse for not running today. I figured "the dog ate my homework" doens't work in this instance. Tomorrow is another day!

By the way, I had a whole other post planned about a local guy who ran his own marathon to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I'll post about that tomorrow.

Yesterday's song:
Year Of Tha Boomerang - Rage Against The Machine

PEACE

Year of tha Boomerang

Blog 365



I'm still at it... Is it December 31st yet?

Yesterday's song:
Proud - Richard Niles

PEACE

Proud

Today a patient came in to pick up her new prescription eyewear. She was just beaming, not because of her clearer vision and stylish frames, but because her son will be running in the Boston Marathon on April 21, 2008. He qualified last year at the San Diego Rock 'N' Roll Marathon in just a little over 3 hours. It was great because she didn't know that I run and I was thrilled to listen to her gush about her son well before I mentioned that I run. I loved listening to her talk about her son and what he had gone through in his life prior to running. I really can't say much more than that, but the story truly is inspirational. He's hoping to finish UNDER 3 hours. Wow.

In case I forget, best wishes to all those who worked so hard to make it to the Boston Marathon this year!!!

Yesterday's song:
Haven't Got Time For The Pain - Carly Simon

PEACE

Haven't Got Time For The Pain

Happy Wednesday!

No workout or run today.

I had a scheduled chiropractic appointment this morning. My knees were not happy and I was thinking I would need to take a couple weeks off from running, and with about 6 1/2 weeks left until the marathon I was feeling doomed. That long run last Saturday DID offset my right knee, which was causing most of my running problems and my left quad issues. Dr. Carl put everything back. Talk about relief! I walked out of that appointment a happy camper and pain free!

I also did my usual post-chiro appointment routine and went to Costco for the standard home supplies. Today they had things I'd never seen before, such as lactose free Muscle Milk, Adidas running shorts IN MY SIZE, swim goggles, Perfect Pushups Grips with instructional CD, and seasonal goodies, like blown glass solar lights for for the garden. Yeah, I scored, but I also had their annual rebate check and it was my turn to choose how to spend it.

I haven't mentioned here, but I'm participating in another challenge over at Pinkdumbbells.com. My goals are to maintain my current weight or slightly lower and to continue marathon training for a 4:45:00 finish time or better. This includes tracking my caloric intake with even carb/protein ratios, and low fat. 1500 calories is the target number, except for Friday and Saturday, which will be arond 1800+ calories and with a higher whole grain carb ratio. The reason behind the weight maintanance is that I've gained weight in the past with marathon training. I want to maintain, not gain. If I'm dillegent now, it won't be a problem later. Sounds easy enough, but it isn't always as easy in real life as it is in writing.

I'm on day 3 of logging in my food intake on Fitday. Monday I was under my caloric intake and not hungry. Yesterday I felt like I just couldn't eat enough while trying to stay around 1500 calories for the day. It was tough. I'm trying to be good about getting in more protein on Monday through Thursday, then getting in more whole grains (carbs) on Friday and Saturday. Today I'm slightly carb heavy, but the day isn't over yet, and I picked up a nice salmon fillet for dinner tonight, and that should even things out.

Yesterday's song:
Used to the Pain - Keith Urban - Barbie2be

PEACE

Used to the Pain

Activity: Run
Date: 04/15/08 11:09 AM
Distance: 5.68 miles
Time: 1:01:16
Speed: 5.6 mph
Pace: 10' 47 min/mile
Calories: 542

Since I'm not attending the track club workout tonight, I went out for a run at the bay. It was a beautiful day to be running, however, my running was anything but beautiful. I was going for about 5ish miles with a minute/mile pace between 9:45 and 10:00, but it wasn't until about the 4th mile that I started to feel good and I was able to go a little faster. I'm not sure if what I need to to is back off running for a couple of weeks, or just take things super, super slow and cross train (with swimming, recumbent bike, more weight training, yoga) instead. My left quad was feeling better, but it's still tight -- especially after Saturday's long run, and the right knee is tight and twingey as well. I know one side is over compensating for the other side being off, which is why I'm feeling tightness I shouldn't be feeling. I'm not really worried, yet. I still have time to resolve these issues and be marathon ready.

Yesterday's song:
Changed My Mind - K.D. Lang


PEACE

Changed My Mind

Activity: Run
Date: 04/14/08 10:50 AM
Distance: 3.17 miles
Time: 0:34:41
Speed: 5.5 mph
Pace: 10' 56 min/mile
Calories: 298

Abs - Crunches, 5 sets of 50

Today I was thinking about walking, but once I got outside I thought I could handle a slow run, so that's exactly what I did. I'm still a little stiff from last Saturday's long run, but once I got going I did OK. The first mile, as always, was a dog, and everything felt tight, but once I got past that it was OK.

Here's a few photos from our Low Tide Run on Saturday morning...

Just north of La Jolla Shores, at Black's Beach. What a great way to start the morning!

A beautiful scene but so hard to run or wak on!

Michael on the uphill with someone to chat with, which helps the psyche on those long runs...

Almost at the top!!! (Just in case, that's me in the red hat.)

Finished and relaxed! The hard part was getting up to go home.
Photos courtesy of the San Diego Track Club

Yesterday's song:
Who's That Girl? - Madonna

PEACE

Who's That Girl?

This photo of Madonna was posted on the internet last week, and the article with the photo went on about her "guns" (arms) as she and her assistant were walking home from the gym. I was more surprised to see the comments than the picture of Madonna. Most comments were shocked about her muscles, and that she looked too muscular or manly. Very few supported her fitness. I wonder how fit the people are who made the comments that she looked too muscular/manly? My guess is that they're probably not very fit. Madonna will be 50 this year. I'm impressed. Is 50 the new 30?


Yesterday's Song:
Weird Science - Oingo Boingo - Run-DMZ

PEACE

Weird Science

Activity: Run
Date: 04/12/08 06:50 AM
Distance: 38.62 miles
Time: 2:56:12
Speed: 13.2 mph
Pace: 4' 33 min/mile
Calories: 1542

Take a look at the above stats. Not even in my wildest dreams can I run THAT fast, and I've never gone THAT far in one running day. The time is correct and the calories burned is probably close to correct, but everything else was thrown off by GPS bouncing. I probably ran somewhere between 15 and 16 miles with an average minute/mile pace of around 10:30 to 11:00. I sent an e-mail to the my contact over at Bones in Motion, so I hope he's able to edit my run without me having to enter everything manually.

That huge, purple triangle should not be there. I'm guessing the GPS transmission bounced because we ran past a TV station van with it's own GPS antennas up, on the way up the coast and on the way back. (I'm sure they were reporting on the unseasonably wonderful weather we've had today.) Another speculation is that we ran under the flight path for NAS Miramar. There's also UCSD and several other well known buildings in the area, which could have contributed to the bouncing. I've had some minor GPS bouncing before, but it would be just within the street I would be running on, and it would never really add to the mileage.

Back to the run...
We actually ran on the beach. I'm not fond of running right on the beach -- something about the sand sifting into my shoes through the mesh fabric, we're running at an angle, and we had to slow to walk over a stretch of boulders and rocks, BUT it was absolutely gorgeous. I hope someone took a picture of the beach this morning so I can post it here later. I also met a couple of runners I hadn't met before, and that's always a treat. This run was also hilly. You know the hill in my neighborhood I always discuss? By comparison it's nothing compared to the hill we had to tackle today, while going up hill at Torry Pines State Park. Yikes. I walked up it, and so did the majority of our group. As I had mentioned before, it was warm out. Thank goodness we finished our run at La Jolla Shoes, and several of us took off our shoes and went in the (cold) ocean water to cool off and recoup. Ahhhhhhhh...

Yesterday's song:
Roll With It - Steve Winwood

PEACE

***THIS JUST IN***

Per my contact at BiM, I was able to fine tune the GPS on my own, without having to manually enter the route, and now the stats look right:

Activity: Run
Date: 04/12/08 06:50 AM
Distance: 15.38 miles
Time: 2:46:48
Speed: 5.5 mph
Pace: 10' 51 min/mile
Calories: 1466

Hooray!

Roll With It

Today was supposed to be an off day, off from working out or running, but it was anything but off. I spent part of the day pulling weeds. It seems like the more weeds I pulled, the more weeds there were to pull. I put a small dent in what actually needs to happen, but at least I was able to get something done. I never thought I would actually want a tractor... This is the first week in a while that my shoulders have not bothered me. I could get out there and spend more than fifteen minutes pulling a few weeds. I was out there for a few hours. Did I mention the fabulous weather we've had today? No? It was remarkable. Even the dog took advantage of the warm weather for a roll on the lawn. The forecast has warm weather for at least the next four days. Oh yeah, we did work on taxes.

Tomorrow is the long run with the track club. I hope I'm able to endure this run because my quads are still sore from last week. The knee seems OK.


Yesterday's Song:
Walk On - U2 - Barbie2be

PEACE

Walk On

Activity: Walk
Date: 04/10/08 10:25 AM
Distance: 4.77 miles
Time: 1:23:26
Speed: 3.4 mph
Pace: 17' 39 min/mile
Calories: 448

My husband had the day off today, so we opted for a slowish, long walk in the neighborhood. We took on the hill and then some, but walking up that hill isn't as tough as running up. The quads and knees are still a little tight from last week, but no real pain. DH was supposed to take this week off and we were supposed to take a trip some place tropical, like Cancun or Acapulco, but he never could decide where, since this was supposed to be for his birthday. We're doing taxes instead. Yay us...

Yesterday's Song:
Handlebars - The Flobots - Run-DMZ


PEACE

Handlebars

Ever get a song stuck in your head ALL DAY LONG?



Yesterday's song:
Feeliln' Stronger Every Day - Chicago - Barbie2be

PEACE

Feelin' Stronger Every Day

Track club workout
3 lap warm up, 6 x 800 meters with a 400 meter recovery jog.

I left my cell phone at home, so I didn't track my distance. I'm figuring we ran about 5.25 miles, total. It was a little blustery out, and it took a while to warm up. I did my first 800 meters in about 4:30-ish, and it was tough. By the time I did my last 800 my time was more like 4:15, and it wasn't hard. I could have easily run another 800 meters.

Here's a photo from a portion of the 16 mile run on Saturday. I believe we're approaching water stop #2, probably around mile 6, that's why we're starting to smile. Just in case, that's me in the black and white, just behind the lady with the light orange top.

Photo courtesy of the San Diego Track club

Yesterday's song:
Fifty Candles - Boys II Men - Barbie2be

PEACE

Fifty Candles

Activity: Run
Date: 04/07/08 09:58 AM
Distance: 3.20 miles
Time: 0:35:51
Speed: 5.3 mph
Pace: 11' 13 min/mile
Calories: 307

Today was definitely a recovery run. I ran in the neighborhood, which includesd some hills. I purposely went out slow, but in all honesty, I would have been in trouble if I went faster, even though I wasn't going that fast to begin with. I'm feeling that deep arthritic knee twinge I'm too familiar with, but this is not a twinge I can ignore. I really need to pay attention to getting in those high rep, low weight leg extension and leg curl exercises on my non running days and STICK WITH IT. Now that my work schedule isn't so weird will be easier to fit in all the necessary workouts and be in a pain free state of ready for the marathon on June 1.


Other stuff...
I scored a Far Out
100% on the
Was there ever any doubt???


Finally...
Today my husband is 50! Happy Birthday Michael!


Yesterday's Song:
Stones - Neil Diamond

PEACE

Stones

This photo shows just part of what we ran past on Saturday:

Photo courtesy of the San Diego Track Club.

Yesterday's Song:
Sixteen Miles - Gordon Lightfoot

PEACE

Sixteen Miles

Activity: Run
Date: 04/05/08 08:09 AM
Distance: 16.02 miles
Time: 2:44:30
Speed: 5.8 mph
Pace: 10' 16 min/mile
Calories: 1523



Today was the Train Run with the track club. We took a train 16 miles up the coast to Solana Beach and ran back to the train station. (Check the purple line on the map above.) The run went through a few beach communities. We had kind of a cool and blustery day, and the clouds never really burned off, but the cooler weather might have been more of a help to some runners. Many runners have never run 16 miles before, so this was a landmark run for them.

This is my first run in about 13 days, and it went a little rough for me, as I didn't feel as strong as I thought I should, and my time and mile/minute reflects that, but I still ran the whole way, except for hydration stops and for traffic signals. There were a few good hills on this route, but it wasn't the hills that got to me, it was the flat parts where we ran on side walks. I suppose my mind set is a little twisted when it comes to hills. Perhaps it's wrong, but a hill is my invitation to kick things in gear and dig down hard. My quads got a good workout with those hills, and no twinges. The only twinges I felt were in my knees while running of the flat parts, but it's not debilitating.

Some of my fellow runners who are new to marathon training have improved by leaps and bounds. One lady who was always behind me finally passed me by today, and another caught up with me towards the end of the run. It's quite exciting to see everyone's progress, and the sense of satisfaction they feel. The long miles aren't so daunting any more.

I did see Anne (Run-DMZ) and her sister at water stop #3. It's kind of funny how much catching up people can do in under one minute. Sure, one minute isn't long enough, but it was still great to catch up a little.

Our group had to share the route with several others today. There were a couple other large running groups on the route today, as well as large groups of bike riders, which made for an interesting run.

After the run, as smelly and dirty as we were, my husband and I went over to Road Runner Sports to buy him new running shoes. His were beyond gone. I encouraged him to have the foot/running analysis done while we were there. No real big news on the shoes, but he learned that he should take a full size larger than he had been running in. Three pairs of shoes were suggested. We went over to the RRS outlet center, in the same area, just in a different building in the back, and he found HIS shoes for $25 on the clearance rack. I just don't get it. Every time we go running shoe shopping for him, he always finds HIS shoes on clearance for under $40. I almost always have to pay twice that, even with my discount cards. Oh, I have been lucky a couple of times with clearance shoes, but that's rare. The particular model, a Nike, is still a current model, and still selling for retail in the main store for around $90. His shoes must have been a non-worn return because they were perfect. He was pretty happy.

The great people at the track club did take pictures today, but they were not finished posting them at the time this blog entry was written. I'll post pictures later.

Yesterday's Song:
Right For Me - Justin Timberlake - Barbie2be

PEACE

Right For Me

I found this over at One More Mile:

In case the words don't show up, it says "Running is a mental sport and we are all insane." Yeah. I'm thinking I like this shirt. I've purchased their "Find your happy pace" t shirts for both me and my husband. It's one of our favorite running t-shirts.

Yesterday's song:
Again - Lenny Kravitz

PEACE

Again

Today, April 3, marks the 8th anniversary of the actual day I took my fat butt to the gym and changed my life. I still keep in touch with my former first personal trainer. I should give him a call and tell him "happy anniversary." He no longer trains people but I still call him with fitness questions.

Who else didn't get into the Nike event? I'm thinking about running either the San Jose Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon or the Big Sur Half Marathon, both in the Fall. I'm leaning towards the San Jose event because it's flat, although Big Sur is gorgeous. It would be kind of fun to get a contingent of "Not Selected For Nike" runners together for one of these events.

Yesterday's Song:
Answer The Phone - Sugar Ray

PEACE

Answer The Phone

I found this over at Barbie2be's blog:



Yesterday's Song:
Ironic - Alanis Morisette

PEACE

Ironic

Today I checked again on the Active.com website for the Nike Women's Half Marathon and found this:

M Irene San Diego CA Not Selected Half Marathon

Bummer.

Yesterday's Song:
Not The Doctor - Alanis Morisette - Barbie2be




PEACE