A Day's Worth of Twitter

11:53:58 AM - The pork we bought was the wrong kind of roast. Dave just went to the store. I wonder I'd this will make us late takes 4 hours to cook
12:58:06 PM - @DaizyCh you read it late. So your assumption that everyone will be done eating is wrong. It will still be done by 4 or 4:10
11:09:50 PM - We were gone for 7 hours and Poly seemed so sad we ditched her so long.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

4.2

Shoes: Target (3/30/12 8.98 originally 29.99)  -- Really wore my Aldo wedges though.
Pants: VS
Shirt: Limited
Cardigan: Express

Well since I stayed up too late, I was tired in the morning. I hit snooze forever. I got to work at 8am.  I took my daily picture in my new purple shoes but then after further analyzing, I realized the shade of purple was wrong so I changed into black shoes. Therefore my daily picture is WRONG!

I felt so behind at work. I started to think about all the work I had to do and my stomach started getting upset. I accidentally ate half a box of Cheese Nips at 10:30 AM.

We went to Chick-fil-a for lunch.  I enjoy their milkshakes. I got a chicken sandwich this time and it was good. Jen agreed. We were both surprised how good the chicken was.

After lunch I was so thirsty. I drank 2 20 oz cups of water. In a normal day, I drink between 0 and 4 oz at work. I'm the worst at drinking.

I went to the gym after work but I wanted to skip.  I did 10 minutes on the bike, foam roller, abs, stretching, and weights for my legs.

I went to McGuinnis Sisters on my way home.  I bought cinnamon rolls and muffins for breakfast. I bought Ciabatta bread to go with lunch meat for lunch. I bought chicken, potatoes, and pineapple for dinner.  Then I ordered sandwiches for dinner right then.  Tuesday = Telecommuting and now Tuesday != Pizza. Yay for my planning. (We had frozen vegetables in the freezer we just bought to also include in dinner).  I bought enough chicken to include Wednesday too. I hope that works out.  I do not want pizza! I am so sick of pizza.

My tuna sandwich was good but Dave did not like his Philly cheese steak.  It was on bread so that was the first mistake.

We watched TV until 8:50. Then we used the computers for a tiny bit. Then it was time to watch Rachel Maddow.  I stayed downstairs after it was over just to finish typing a blog post I was on and then read a few blogs.  Then it was off to bed.  I went into bed at 10:45. Pretty good for me.  I did read twitter and catch up in bed.  How many other people hide under the covers so the iphone light doesn't wake up their husband?  Then I read a bunch of facebook until I fell asleep reading.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

06:02:05 AM - We woke up early. Already been up 20 minutes.
07:09:23 AM - People keep talking about Easter candy. I don't get how I would even over indulge. I guess if I had kids then it'd be easier to over eat.
07:13:02 AM - Hahaha How did that happen?RT @MarnieCarlson: A blender fail is when you have protein shake in your hair rather than the cup
07:14:26 AM - @MarnieCarlson I skipped the gym. My allergy shot made me feel a bit sick (with bad allergies. Was always sneezing. Sore throat. Arm pain)
07:15:43 AM - @DaizyCh @lisafilipek just the thought of someone touching my feet has my feet being ticklish and me laughing.
02:01:23 PM - well I just napped for 2 hours. Now the day is almost gone and it feels like I got punched in the nose.
04:01:37 PM - Dave is napping now. Neither of us could sleep this morning and we were up super early then we both needed naps.
04:02:03 PM - @MarnieCarlson My arm is still swollen. I'm sneezing a little too. Not as bad as yesterday though.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

Long Run Data

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  Is a picture of a few tables worth a thousand words?
Since November 26, I have only run over 13 miles 4 times. I was just thinking this is really bad but it's better than I was 5 weeks before my last marathon.  Granted my last marathon had a sucky time for me. I wanted to do a lot better but injured my calf so changed my goal time.  I think my "goal" was 5 hours but I told everyone my goal was to finish.  Partway through the marathon I changed it to 4:45 and beat that. Initially I wanted 4:30 with a reach goal of 4:15.   This year I want 4:10. I think it worked out well not telling anyone a goal time for the Philadelphia Marathon.  It was far less pressure when running.  Adrienne always tells me I under-promise and over-deliver. She says this will serve me well in the future, but everyone will be on to me so I will have to double under promise or double over deliver.

Click to enlarge

What do you think of my times?  My marathon pace was 10:43 according to my Garmin that said we ran 26.37 miles. I'm much better than that now.  I need my 5k time to improve too. My next 5k is May 19 and I sure hope I PR at that.

Man oh man looking at all this data makes me want to run more for more data but I'm still on my week off running to try to heal. :(  Someone else run and tell me about it.

3.15

Cardigan and Shirt: Express
Skirt: F21
Shoes: Aldo
Necklace: Charlotte Russe
Bracelet: Target

I slept in again. Changing the clocks is rough. When I say sleep in I mean that I hit snooze and slept later than I wanted to. I still got to work before everyone in my area.

I was busy at work. What else is new?

After work I met Jen. We met with a photographer.  Then after that we went and ran and took pictures than people take in a year (or maybe a lifetime).

Jen even got a couple kind of showing my leg muscle. By the time you crop them, the quality isn't that good.  Next time we have to use my better camera.

When I got home, I ate dinner and watched American Idol.  After that I went to photo editing and it took forever to upload everything and make some edits. Heck it took forever just to look through all 1499 photos.

I was only up a little past 12:30 though.

3.25 - Bowling

I started out my morning heading to the South Side to run. We started over 20 minutes late which put me behind schedule.  Also I was only going to run 6 but that changed to 8. I ended up being really behind and Ibrahim and I had to book it to get back to the car and head home.

I got home and didn't even get to look at my data.  I showered and was out the door. 

I wore my skinny jeans.  Since I would be wearing bowling shoes, I just wore flats.  Dave thought I looked like I was in high school with skinny jeans and flats.

It was off to Bowl for Kids' Sake. I got a 101 the first game. Then I got a 122. My fingers were hurting by the 3rd frame of the first game and just got worse.  As my fingers hurt more, I got worse. My last game was pitiful. I got a lot of gutter balls. I did have a split once and got a spare. I Impressed myself.  I ate there because I hadn't eaten at all yet. I ate close to 2pm.

Dave was miserable.  He quit in the middle of the 3rd game.

After bowling we headed to Monroeville for Casual Male XL to find some pants and to use some coupons.  We were fairly quick. Then it was off to Johnny Carino's.  I barely ate anything. I barely finished my bowl of soup.  Boy was I disappointed that I ate just a few hours earlier.   Then we went to Sam's Club with my parents since they have a membership. We got lots of stuff. We spent $196!

After shopping we drove home. My parents also drove up to visit Poly and give her a present.  The present was that bag type thing that secures a cat instead of a cage. They can travel in it in the car. She didn't seem to like it.  She doesn't like a cage either though.  I think she'll like it better than how we normally transport her, but she definitely did not like it while sitting at home.

After my parents left, it was time for another dinner.  I probably watched TV after and blogged. It was a long and busy weekend. It was exhausting.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

01:55:03 PM - @TheNewChrissy 5 years is old. Get a new laptop.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

3.14

Running Outfit: Tank from Target in the regular clothes section. Capri yoga pants in the clearance section for $4.48.  I always run with my hair in a ponytail like this. Usually I have a headband but since this was a short run, I didn't dig it out.  Sometimes I want to try braiding my hair for the run. I have yet to do that though.

Happy Hour Outfit: Shirts and Pants from VS. Shoes from Aldo. Necklace from Sears.

I telecommuted. It was nice. I even went for my short run at lunch.  I set up the tripod and took my picture running a little after completing my run.

I wasn't even hungry to actually eat lunch until 2:30 or later.  I was still full from all the sugar puffs the night before.

I went for a walk with Dave after work. (He was being silly in the shadows so I used my phone to take pictures.) Then I headed to On the Border for happy hour with NA-YGN.

After that Dave and I watched TV. I did some blogging during some shows and then I did more upstairs. I was so tired at 9:30 that I almost went to sleep but I used the computer until Dave was ready for bed. For some reason my brain thinks that if he's still up it is too early to go to bed so then I don't even go into bed.

4.1 - Movies, Shopping

Photo location: Giant Eagle. (The one I like. Not the one that is always crowded.)
Now did anyone else notice the 2 liter on the top shelf that is angled?  It is annoying me.

Pants and Shirt: F21 (3/24/12 $15.80, $4.80)
Cardigan: NY&Co. (11/7/10 - $19.84)
Shoes: Aldo (12/28/11 $80)
Purse: Target (3/30/12 - $12.58)
Earrings: Target 3/30/12 - $4.99/3 for 3 pairs of earrings)
Belt: Target (16.99)

This is the shirt I bought to wear with the pants but I was scared about it.  I was going to wear my scarf but I rushed off without it.

I woke up and did used the computer. I meant to do my race recap but kept being distracted.  Dave made breakfast then it was back to the computer.  Poly got on my lap so she made it really hard to blog. She had 1 of my arms.  Then all of a sudden Dave tells me it is time to get ready.

I could not figure out what to wear so then it took forever.  I got out oa bunch of stuff trying to figure out what to wear. Dave made the final choice.

(Bottom left of picture above shows more colored jeans on TV.  I can't even believe how much I see colored jeans on TV.  Picture to the right of that shows Poly resting on my bag. I took everything out of it digging for something and within minutes she was camped out there. Top right picture shows my new purple shoes.)

We ended up late to the movie.  We went to see Hunger Games. We only missed a tiny bit of the actual movie though.   I liked it. I wanted to know more though. 

Then we walked around Pittsburgh Mills. I was shocked at how many empty stores there were. I was also shocked at the church inside and the medical place inside.  At H&M, I debated a dress but decided to hold off and maybe go back at the end to get it. I did not go back and am glad.

Dave got a hoodie, polo, and t-shirt at JCPenney for a total of $41. Not too bad. The hoodies at Casual Male XL were $54.  He actually wanted a spring/fall coat but a hoodie will have to do.  

I went into the Dress Barn because of a skirt I could see from the entrance. They only had the skirt in size 14 and 16. I saw a few other dresses and the smallest size they had was a 10 in any of them. I almost gave up and was leaving the store and saw this polka dot dress. They had my size! (Or at least had what I guessed was my size.)  I was trying on clothes so I might as well pick a few other things. Well other materials didn't seem to fit right. Some other dresses I liked and they didn't have them in my size so I ended up with only a polka dot dress. I did spend $40 on it. If you bought 2 dressed you'd save $10 but I have learned if I don't love a dress, I won't wear it. (I still have a dress I bought in June 2010 and I have never worn.)

We didn't quite go around the entire mall because we were parked behind the movie theater so we just left 1 exit before the one we entered.  I wonder if I missed any good stores. I just looked at the directory but noticed the stores are still listed that were gone so I can't really use that. Skimming the list it doesn't look like I missed any anyway.

After the mall we went to Steak and Shake.  We went to Giant Eagle on the way home.  By this time my feet really hurt. 

We watched TV when we got home. I blogged. Then we watched more TV. Then I blogged some more.  The day just disappeared. It might seem like I did a lot, but I had so much more that I wanted to do.  

Nobody played any April Fools jokes on me. I'm glad about that.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

01:11:42 PM - Dave is a speedy runner. I could barely keep up.
07:42:43 PM - Not going to spinning in over 1.5 years made but butt all sore from the seat. Going 2 days in a row sure made it worse.
07:47:28 PM - @mikecherepko traveling is more dangerous.
10:50:00 PM - I worked out at lunch. Then after work I did 2 exercise classes (spinning + Body Pump) and I still only beat my calorie burn goal by 65 cal.
10:50:34 PM - I really miss running. There's no way I'm not going to put on weight this week.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

3.23 - Bad Luck

Shoes: Zappos
Skirt: F21
Shirt and Cardigan: Express
Necklace: Target

I hit snooze so many times that I slept in even for a telecommuting day. I had a dream I left my power cord at work. I never had a dream like that before.  I get home and sure enough I don't have my power cord. I start working anyway.  I unplug Dave's power cord and bring it over and realize it doesn't fit my laptop.

Well that meant I had to go into work.  I was enjoying the fresh air so I worked for about an hour.   I headed into work. I put on a comfortable skirt and no pantyhose. (I put pantyhose in my purse just in case I couldn't take bare legs.)   I got to work and my power cord was not in my cube. I asked a friend to check the conference room I was in at the end of the day on the previous day and it was in there.  That meant I had to walk over to building 1 just to get it.   On my way over about 20 minutes later, my manager walks down my row and comments that he thought I'd be at home.  So then I tell him about my power cord.  What luck. But that discussion did prompt telecommuting policy discussion and my manager is changing the rules because we have a different director and now we can telecommute more.  This is good. I probably won't actually get to work from home more because I always have meetings but at least if I have a week with fewer meetings, I could take advantage of it.

But at least I came into work because when I got there I saw my running shoes on my desk. I left them there the previous day.  I was just leaving things everywhere. I spent 5 min looking at home for my shoes before heading into work so I kind of figured they were there.

Everything I worked on all day, I did was noticing I was doing it wrong. I even filled out a form and put my maiden name for last name even though I've been married 4.5 years.  I really didn't want to work on more things because they'd just end up being done wrong.

I left at 3:30 to go run with Jen. We only ran 2.5 miles because Dave wanted to walk and I was meeting him after. I will have separate posts about the exercise.

We ended up getting Supremo's for dinner. While we were waiting for it to be delivered I realized we still had leftover Pizza Hut so I ate 3 slices of that.  We watched Game Change and went to sleep.  That movie reminded me of so many things from 4 years ago and it was also pretty funny.

Just look at that face! I wonder what I was thinking.

3.22 - Cards

Shirt and pants: Express
Necklace: Kohl's
Shoes: Famous Footwear

I got to work early.  I often think I can get there early so I can get enough work done by a decent hour. It never happens.  I forgot my lunch at home too.

I went to Toastmasters for the third time. My stomach growled the entire time though.

I had meetings and was a little loopy at them. I was just too drained and could barely talk right. Sometimes I'd mix up my words.  At one point someone asked me to repeat what I just said and not only couldn't I repeat what I just said, but I couldn't even remember the topic of conversation.

I finally left work at 5. I should have left at 4:00.  I had to stop at McGuinnis Sisters on the way home to buy snacks for my Stampin' Up party.  I didn't even get to clean the house.  I didn't even have time for dinner.

Cards from class

My Stampin' Up class was to start at 6. The first people showed up at 6:15.  I was stressing.  1 person didn't show.  More stress.

Instruction sheets look like this but with all the cards.

The party was a fun time though.   I was so tired by the end.  Sometimes I just felt too stressed about work that I had issues explaining the techniques we were using.

After the party, I finally had dinner and watched TV with Dave.  It was 10 PM and I had Beefaroni.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

06:56:00 PM - I cooked too much dinner for 2 people. enough chicken for 4. 2.5 lbs of roasted red potatoes, veggies to feed 6, grilled pineapple.
07:14:10 PM - Dinner. http://t.co/6EYIPNzl

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

April Workout Goals

I'm STILL injured so these will still be different than previous months.  I feel old and washed up.

1. No running until April 7. [New and will be hard.]
2. Complete 18 cardio workouts (running, exercise bike, or elliptical)  (March = 18, met; February = 18, not met; January = 19, met; December = 18, met; November = 18, met) [This month I will allow 10 minutes on the bike to count if it is a warmup to knee exercises. Usually 15 minutes is the minimum.]
3. Complete 13 core workouts (March = 13, not met;  February = 13, not met; January = 13, met; December = 12, met; November = 12, not met) [Usually 5 minutes is the minimum or I won't count it. I will aim for more 6 minute workouts or longer.]
4. Frequency: Run 8 times. (March = 8, met;  February = 12, met; January = 14, met; December = 10, met, November = 12, met with 15) [I have 2 races this month and am injured so plan to run fewer times.]
5. Distance: Run 60 total miles  (March = 60, met; February = 60, met; January = 13, met; December = 40, November = 65, met)
6. Workout with Dave 5 times. (March = 5, met; February = 9, not met; January = 10, met; December = 12, not met; November = 8, met) 
7. Lift weights 10 times on my own. (March = 8, not met; February = 5, not met; January = 5 met; December = 5, not met; November = 4, met with 5) 
8. Attend Body Pump 4 times. (March = 4, met;  February = 4, not met; January = 3, met; December = 3, not met; November = 4, not met)
9. Have 3 double workout days (morning + evening, lunch + evening, etc) (March = 2, met; February = 2, met; January = 2, met)
10. Stretch for 10 consecutive minutes 5 times  (March = 10, met; February = 2, not met; January = 2, met)
11. Do foam roller exercises 10 times (March = 8, not met)
12. Perform yoga or a similar group fitness class 2 times. (March = 2, not met; February = 2, not met; January = 2, met; December = 2, met; November = 3, not met) - I hate this goal. I know yoga is good though.

I have a few other goals that are related to exercise but aren't me working out.

1. Have another photo shoot to get some athletic pictures for at the top of this post. (March = 1, met)
2. No more than 8 rest days all month (sitting at stretching or doing foam roller exercises means it is not a rest day)  (March<8, met)
3. Put my monthly workout goals in excel or some program so I have them all together and can pull some data based on that. (March = not met)
4. Make more collages with exercise photos and add them to my exercise gallery (March = met)

Why is that when you are injured you want to work out even more. I should make a goal not to gain 10 lbs while my knee is injured this year. It's the same injury that I had last year and during that time I gained 10 lbs and none of my clothes fit. Even after I started running again, it still took sometime to get the weight off. 

A Day's Worth of Twitter

12:04:23 AM - signs I'm crazy/tired. I just thought I heard a dog bark. Then I thought it was Poly.
12:53:06 AM - stayed up too late. But now I'm only 7 posts behind. 2 of which are written and another 2 have photos ready.
01:27:30 AM - @TheNewChrissy 10k is a good distance
01:32:39 AM - @katy_rose1 are you referring to the books or movie? I just saw the movie today.
01:36:21 AM - @katy_rose1 I was a pre posting fiend today. I have 7 ready to go.
01:38:44 AM - “@TheNewChrissy: The Internet has ruined April Fool's Day for me.” how?
01:40:00 AM - Great Job RT @missylizzylucy: Hello 10 mile PR, I've been expecting you! http://t.co/tDYm94Yj
01:43:30 AM - @mikecherepko aren't you due for a phone upgrade?
09:44:34 AM - @TheNewChrissy oh maybe the fact I was out most of the day an not reading twitter/Facebook much that helped. Also I probably believed jokes.
09:45:48 AM - @mikecherepko I was going to give you my old iPhone for Christmas. Good condition. But mom thought you'd upgrade so thought not a good idea.
10:51:26 PM - I came home today to a wide open front door. Dave opened 90 min earlier. At least I also came home to still having a cat indoors.
10:54:20 PM - @missylizzylucy I feel similar. But I ran the day after the race 2 races ago (the 20 miler). But only ran 5 miles.
10:58:45 PM - @briecs we have it recorded just sitting there.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

50k Training and Numbers

There are probably many training plans on the internet but I dug up 2 and that was enough for me.

The table above shows 2 different 50k training plans that I dug up in October.  The fact that I looked them up and saved them to my computer in October doesn't mean I looked at them.  I basically knew what I needed to do. I needed to run as much as I could. I needed to run a long run (say 20 miles) on Saturday, and then another run on Sunday of 10 miles. The only time I ever ran 2 days in a row on the weekend was the day after the 20 mile race.  I barely ever ran 10 miles on the weekend let alone a longer run + 10.  I only ran 10 miles or more 6 times in 2012 prior to the race. I ran a marathon November 20, 2011 and didn't run 10 or more at all the rest of 2011.

Sometimes I wonder why I even attempted an ultra.  I read on one of the online sites that they said don't even attempt an ultramarathon unless you have 3 marathons under your belt. I laughed at that and it is what pushed me over the edge to do the marathon.  I only signed up for the ultra on February 20.

The more I look at all the numbers, the more I know that is why I struggled so bad the last 5 miles. You can't argue with numbers.

With both training plans, I only hit 1 week at running more than 75% of the suggested miles.

You may think I get nerdy with all my numbers and tables I post here. Well, I get that from my dad. He made a few tables after my 50k and sent them to me. I figured I need to share them.  My dad created the table above because the official results didn't say if someone was male or female and I mentioned I wanted to know how I did compared to the other females.  He actually sent me a few versions of this file. The first version did not include the time over on the right.  My dad said he read somewhere that distance runners don' get good until they reach 40 or 50 or hit their prime.  I never heard that or read that but then I don't go reading about running.

My dad also made the table above. The first loop should have been 6.1 but you get the point.   The 4th loop is where I started doing run/walk intervals instead of just running. And at each water stop it took me longer to drink water because I had to catch my breath so I was stopped for longer.

On Tuesday, February 21, a physical therapist evaluated me because my hips were hurting. He said I had Trochanteric Bursitis. His first recommendation was to rest. I said that wasn't going to happen because I had a 20 mile race that weekend.  Then he gave me some other recommendations.  The day after the 20 mile race, I went to run an easy 5 miles and my knee started hurting. My knee pain was just like it was a year ago. I knew what exercises to do this time so I didn't have to waste time waiting for appointments and going to physical therapy.   I tried to take time off running but that was awful. I'd take 4 days off or something and it felt like an eternity.  Then my knee would hurt bad again.  I'd run 10 miles on the weekend and have trouble walking and going down the stairs the following morning.  A few days before the 50k, my knee started hurting just a couple miles into the race.  I didn't think I'd finish at all. I finished...but with a price. I had trouble walking the next few days in the morning. I walked with a limp. As the day went on, the pain went away and so did the limp but then each night my knee would hurt in the night and wake me up and then the morning would repeat itself.   My knee really bothered me for a good 4 days.  The day after the race my knee did hurt less than the previous Monday or the Monday before that so I figured my knee was improving a little.  I probably should not have run on a bad knee but I knew that was a good 50k to do. I'm not sure what other ones are even as close in location but also most other ones are on trails.

I can always say I did an ultramarathon. But I can't always say I was smart about it.  Half the time I feel like I can be done with ultras but the other half, I feel like I need to train more and do another to have an even better time and not struggle so much at the end.

In the future I will attempt to have pacers if I do it again and I will also not tell anyone else until after the fact. A 50k is so long that you can injure yourself and not finish easily.

I like races. They help you keep on track with training. But then a weekend race has me so nervous the day of and the night before and sometimes for more than one day.  If I just go on a long run, I am never nervous.

I should start looking up other races. Does anyone have any suggestions?  I think it might be fun to plan a vacation and a race together.

3.17

My 50k took a good portion of the day.  I ran, sat around at the race finish, came home, analyzed data, and showered which was all related to the race.

I popped the blisters in my toe. It was fun to see the liquid shoot out. I couldn't take pictures and do the stuff at the same time though. :(

Dave and I went to dinner and walked around Best Buy, Barnes and Noble, Five Below, and Dicks.  Dave was browsing a bit but I just kept walking. I heard if you walk it helps you after such a long run.  I got home and went to analyzing data more and starting my blog post. I was tired.  I went to sleep early for me. I think it was around 10:00.  You can tell I'm sunburned in the pictures to the right.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

11:26:48 AM - My head is about to explode. I can pick out my clothes. http://t.co/dhlauJqv
03:54:12 PM - I got a compliment on my nice outfit and cute jeans. My yellow jeans plus orange shirt ftw
04:55:03 PM - A taste of my outfit. Pattern = my purse http://t.co/lRBTrufP
05:33:28 PM - I had @polahbea take my daily picture in Giant Eagle. http://t.co/36tNe7Nm
08:28:06 PM - I took 30,000 more steps yesterday than today.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

Just a Short Run - 30k (3.31.12)

I ran Just a Short Run in 2011 and on Friday night I reread my old blog post to refresh my memory on what to expect.  The race director sends out an email a few days before the event outlining everything on race day to make it a lot easier.  I remembered the really long email in 2011 so it wasn't so overwhelming this time around.  I didn't plan in advance. Ibrahim even called me around 8PM on Friday night and I had no idea what time I'd get there or what I would be wearing. The weather called for 43 degrees at the start and only a few degrees warmer 3 hours later.

I didn't have my normal pre-race nervousness but I was still nervous. My nerves this time around focused on what time to get there and when I needed to pick up my packet by, what to wear, and my injured knee.  90% of my stress/nerves were about the injured knee not the first 2 things.  I didn't write in my blog anywhere what time I went to park last year so I was guessing this year.  


I knew it wasn't like a normal race when I stayed up late blogging and looking at numbers.  It was about 1AM before I went to sleep.  I thought a couple times how I ran a 5k on 3 hours of sleep and that sucked. I guessed running ~19 miles would be even suckier but I still couldn't bring myself to just go to sleep. I wanted to blog and look at pictures. {I'm a little bit crazy.}


This year it was sold out and the email said to arrive early and clarified early meant 7:30.  I decided that meant to show up at 7:30.  I got there at 7:28.  I just missed a shuttle and it was 12 more minutes until the next shuttle.  In that time almost all the parking spots filled.  I learned later that they created an extra row so 15 or so more cars fit.  7:30 was a good time. I parked at the skate rink overflow or whatever it is called.


The weather was much better this year than last year. It was colder than the predictions but still really nice. It was 39 at the start of the race and 43 at the conclusion. It should have been 43 at the start and 46 at the conclusion.  The sun never came out.  I was going to wear my compression socks + shorts for the race. I wore pants over them and planned to throw them in my bag.  I was cold so I ended up leaving them on. My bottom half had too many layers while running but it was mostly comfortable. It only got too hot a few times.  It was the first time I ever ran with pants over shorts. 

I ended up meeting Ibrahim waiting for the bus.  Talk about timing.  I was keeping my eye out for Adrienne and RL but hadn't seen them.  We warm up and stretch.  It feels cold and I can't decide what to wear but I just go for it.   We went into the corale to find the 10 minute / mile pacer.  On our way in, we see Adrienne. I couldn't believe I actually ran into her.  Then RL shows up and he wants to introduce her to the 10 min/mile pacer. It was someone he met or talked to at Leadville 100. What a weird coincidence.   

We started out right with the pacer. About .25 mi into it, Adrienne and I went up ahead a little. Someone near us had on strong cologne and we wanted to get away from it.    Running up the big hill at the beginning was much more of a struggle than I expected.  It was a lot harder than last year.   Going down the hill it felt like I was going slower than last year.  Wow my first mile was faster last year. The big hill started in the 2nd mile and I ran it faster this year. It felt easier last year though. 

We stopped at each water stop. At some point in the 1st loop Ibrahim caught up to us.  I think he was with the 10 min/mile pacer for awhile but decided to go ahead.  I can't remember exactly but think it was about a mile and a half into the loop. 

The first loop was tough. I couldn't believe I had to run around that lake again.  My last 4 races were at North Park.  That is just too many.  I couldn't believe we had more to go.  Near the end of the first lap, people were picking up the pace, but those were the people finishing 8.1 miles. It was hard not to pick up the pace too.  Near the end of the lap, I had to stop and stretch my hip for the first time. Adrienne went ahead.  Maybe a quarter mile later I caught up to her. I had said she could go ahead but since we were so close, I tried to catch up.

The second loop was tough. I couldn't get over the fact I had another full loop of this.  For some reason it was much harder doing the loops clockwise at this race and doing more loops counterclockwise at the 50k.   i had to stop multiple times to stretch my hip. I was able to catch back up to Adrienne after.  I had to stop and stretch because my hip would hurt more and more with each step but then my stride wouldn't open right. I couldn't extend my leg enough behind me. (I don't know the technical way to describe it.) Then I'd start running with a limp.  That's when I stretched it.  I probably went pain free for a quarter mile and then the pain just got worse and worse so I'd repeat the stretch.  I was pretty miserable. 

Also at the water stops I took longer than Adrienne. Ibrahim was quick at them.  At one of them, he just went ahead.  At one point I tried to drink the water while being in a hurry and I choked on it.  I need to get my water, take a couple steps and have my breathing slow then drink a little. I drink so slow. I always drink slow so by the time I start drinking, everyone else has their entire cup gone.  I ended up drinking less than I thought I should at every stop because I didn't want that to be what held up my friends. 

Partway through the 2nd loop, Ibrahim took off ahead of us. It was at a water stop when we were slower than him.  

When I stopped to stretch, my Garmin would pause. This would make me so mad. I hate having auto pause on but I always forget about it until I'm running.  {I remembered to turn it off after the race!} Stopping to stretch numerous times only caused my Garmin to be about 45 seconds faster than the clock time. I only stretched for sometimes 5 seconds. I wonder if I would have stretched longer if it would have helped. 

I always feel injured but I realized I only get maybe 2 injuries a year but then I don't rest enough so they last over 1 month each so then I really am injured for a good portion of the year.  My hips/knee have been bothering me this time around for 6 weeks. In those 6 weeks I ran a 20 mile race, a 50k, an a 30k; That is definitely not considered rest. 

The third lap wasn't so bad because I thought about it being the last time I had to do certain hills.  I remember noting when we had 4 miles left.  Then at 3.5 left, I thought we might have a shot of getting the thing done in under 3 hours. I never thought about that before but thought it might be possible.  With 2.5 miles left, Adrienne told me to go ahead and push it to make 3 hours. I did that. After .75 on my own kind of pushing it, I noticed she was 5 feet behind me.  So much for running on my own. We were almost together.   Then I noticed myself slowing down and just running versus pushing myself like a race. I thought the end felt so far away.  The last mile coming in always feels like an eternity.  I just got it done. I beat 3 hours. (Official results)  It was close but I did it.  I didn't play bonus seconds a single time during the race. As we got up there in miles, I kind of wished I knew my mile splits because I was forgetting to add together the 4 numbers or forgetting what set of 4 to add together.  When I was coming in to finish, RL cheered for me. That gave me a little extra push to finish.  I wonder how many other people set their goal time with 2.5 miles left in a race. I was over 86% done with the race before even thinking about a goal time.  Overall I was 24th in my age group and 273 overall. Officially my pace was 9:39, but I finished ahead of the 9:30 pacer.

My garmin said 18.85 mi at the finish not 18.6.  Adrienne's Garmin said 18.85. I even lost some mileage because at each auto pause, it took awhile to get started again. 

My slowest mile and fastest mile were only 26 seconds apart (not counting the last partial mile).  I cannot believe how consistent my times were.  Last year my range was 2:26 between my slowest and fastest mile. 

This year the medal is bigger but I kind of wish the medal was circle like before.  I really wish the medal itself said the distance and not just the ribbon.  This might now be difficult to display in my shadow box I make each year.

After we hung around for awhile with Ibrahim waiting to get stretched, I had someone take our picture. I had her take 2.  Good thing because in the first picture, she cut off the top of my head.  I forgot my headband was around my neck. My race photos are going to look silly with it like that. I took that off around mile 2 too.  I took off my gloves around mile 2 and held them until mile 7 or 8 then wore them for a couple miles then took them off again.  I put them back on right before the finish so that I wasn't holding gloves in finishing pictures.

After the race, I checked Elite Runners & Walkers on facebook to see if they mentioned when the pictures would be loaded.  I didn't see anything about that but I did see that a photographer canceled and they needed someone to take them.  This bummed me out. I thought the photographers were lacking. I really hope they had people there.  I only saw 1 photographer at the finish so I might only have that picture versus pictures of me completing each lap or even pictures along the loop.

Overall I disliked this race more than the 50k.  It was difficult for more of the race than the 50k was. I had a good 20 miles in at the 50k before I struggled.  I started struggling up the hill but then was fine until mile 5 or so. My hip hurt worse than my hips or knees hurt during the 50k. The weather was nicer for this, but my aches and pains made it worse.  Also it was more understandable to be miserable during a 50k so when I was running and felt miserable at this race, I thought that made it EVEN worse.  While running my feet hurt. It felt like my plantar fasciia was stretching too far with each step. This started during the 2nd loop.  I was just full of complaints. I didn't actually voice them out loud except when I had to mention stopping to stretch. I hoped if I didn't mention them they would go away.  They would have probably been worse if I talked about them.

After the race I was limping a little.  I kept getting stiff sitting with Ibrahim. I got up and walked around. That helped.  Ibrahim said he couldn't move.  He was so sore.  He normally trains doing run for 4 minutes and walk for 1 minute. He ran the entire thing.  He was afraid if he stopped to walk, he wouldn't get going again.

I ran the entire thing except walking at water stops. In the 20 mile race, I think I took 2 walk breaks but I planned to walk:run it more and after I took one, I decided against it. Then the next loop, I repeated that.  I walked A LOT during the 50k.

Now I'm taking a full week off running.  Will I be able to do it? It's already killing me and I want to go run. Today I didn't workout at all. I figured I should rest.  That also killed me.  I need to train better. 5 weeks until the marathon.  I need to create a good training plan for me. I need to get myself healed. I have to figure out what is going on.

There you have it. Another race recap. Another really long one.  If you made it to the end, I'm impressed.  If there is anything else you'd like to know, ask away. I LOVE comments.

3.10 - Race photos

I took race photos for the first time ever. 5k, 5miles, and 10 miles.  It was quite exciting to be around when people were finishing but it was also killing me to not be running.  I uploaded the photos to my other picasa since my normal one will get full. But then I made a new picasa for the race people.
It took a long time to get the photos uploaded onto one of the race directors laptops. The only card reader kept breaking with the eye-fi card. I took over 1700 pictures. Kevin (bright jacket in the top right) also took race photos but he only took 1 picture of each finisher and I tried to get as many as possible.  I also got pictures of people going around their laps because I always wish I had them when I run long races. I created 4 albums and the 5th has 24 photos and that's what the student photographer took that they posted. (I logged in and there were 6 albums but they had one as private. I changed it to share because they were other race photos. Good thing they never changed the password) Since I took so long to write this I ended up finding a blog of someone who ran this race and she photo credited me. Boy did that make me happy.  She also ran the 50k that I ran and I remember here there. I'm even in one of her photos on her blog!  (Getting the photography credit made me so happy so I thought on the March Mad Dash albums, I should say the photos were by me.)

Taking photos at the race made me want to take photos at all races that I'm available for. It was killing me not to run it myself though.

After I got home, I had some pizza for lunch.  At the race they had tons of food, but I was busy taking photos. By the time I was done, I was trying to get the pictures loaded onto someone's laptop and they already started putting everything away.

Dave and I went to Target and then Lowe's. We spent $119 at Target even though we only had 5 things on our list.  We bought 2 new light fixtures so that we could replace the keyless fixture that is nothing but a light bulb hanging down as a ceiling light.  Dave wanted to install them when we got home but I said we had to watch Dexter. There were 3 episodes left in the season and he thought I would wait. All I think about is Dexter so I don't want to wait.

We watched Dexter. We made quesadillas for dinner.  We watched some other TV too.

I fell asleep on the couch fairly early. It was a little after 10 and that's early for me on a Saturday. Usually Dave falls asleep by then on a Saturday.