April in Review + Final 20 Miler before TAPERTIME

April in Review

Total Miles:  163.6 up from 140.6 last month. Some extra rest days post-HM caused me some extra mileage.  Wah. (180 miles from April 2010.)
Total Time: 26:03:49 up from 22:32:35 (27:49:32 last April.)
Total Runs: 18 for an average of 9.09 miles/run.
Highest weekly mileage:

4/4/2011 — 4/10/2011:

50.0 Mi

7:59:5

 Highest weekly mileage EVAH!  What what?!?!? :D
Favorite run:
Most hardcore run: 7x800 repeats and see below.  (I'm still cursing my 20 mile LR in 25-45 mph winds 5 days later... no biggie....)
Favorite Race: The shiny new PR I worked my booty off for at the River Rat Half Marathon.
Bike Miles: 0.  Ooops.  Again.  I did buy a bike pump.  WIN!  However, I can't figure out how to use it.  FAIL.  My tri prospects aren't looking so hot... :/

Favorite Jams: Really digging Florence + The Machine, particularly You've Got the Love, Drumming Song, Cosmic Love.  Jeremih's Down On Me, Keri Hilson's Pretty Girl Rock, and some old school N'Sync.
__________

Saturday I had my final 20 mile before I started my beloved taper for Fargoooooooooo.  Because bullet points are fun, and I did this run a few days ago and my memory is a bit spotty, you get short fun fragments and moments of note from the 3 hours and 14 minutes.

• It was mother effing windy.  I noted the heavy late morning/early afternoon winds before I went to bed, PROMISING I would get up early to avoid it, but did I?  As if there was any question..... Then I tried to check Sunday's report to find more wind.  I started with 25 mph STEADY WINDS.  The 35 mph wind gusts quickly changed to 45 mph wind gusts.  So help me jesus.
• I wore my marathon race day 'fit.  Green under armour shirt my adorable little nephew Harrison got me for Xmas, and my new green Brooks shorts.  I wore my green Kinvaras thinking if they worked for 20, I would sport them for race day, however they did not make the cut. A few too many blisters for my liking.
• Gasp.  I saw a trio of ex-football player looking boys doing their long run.  I know they were going long (that's what she said) because one had a fuel belt and another a handheld.  OMG guys they EXIST!  If this had been later than 3 miles in to my 20 I would've assumed this was hallucinated.
• At approximately mile 7 I noticed a dog not on a leash being fed a treat from a guy sitting in his car.  I kept my eye on the dog to make sure he didn't chase after me, and in my staredown, managed to catch a corner of the sidewalk and go FLYYYYYYYYYING.  Dude got out of his car and rushed over to make sure I wasn't dead.  Color me embarassed.  Luckily I didn't hurt myself.
• You know it's windy when:  the wind pushes you UP the hills.
• You know it's windy when:  You're giving it your all and you're running an 11 minute pace.  There was a point during the final two miles that the wind was so hard that I was running my butt off and my little garmin laughed at me and told me I was running an 11:xx pace.  Eff......... you.  I then implemented a .05 walk break because I was so mad.
• You know it's windy when:  the wind knocks you down.  Approximately 1/2 mile from home I was running over a bridge.  A huge wind gust came up, throwing me off balance, causing me to catch an uneven wooden slat in the bridge and go FLYYYYYYYYYYYING.  Explicatives were shouted.  Naturally I fell on my left knee and hip as I did with fall #1.  Ouch.
• The good news is that the slower pace caused me to spend some solid time on my feet, and I wasn't exhausted at the end (no idea how this is possible...).  Somehow I managed a 9:20 final mile into the insane winds.  Another 6.2 ain't no thang..... jk  IT TOTALLY IS. :p

Despite the wind, I still ended up with a 9:48 average pace for the 20 miles.  If Fargo is in the midst of a tornado, I should be good to go. 

Final 20 Mile Run

This weekend I had my final 20 miler on the schedule.  Unfortunately for me, I had to work until 1pm on Saturday.  Extra unfortunate for me was the forecasted weather for Saturday and Sunday.  The weather report showed roughly the same crappiness level of weather for both days, so I opted for Saturday to be the day so I could hang out with my friends in the evening if I so desired.

While working I ate a burrito at about 10:30am to make sure that I would have some fuel in my belly once the time to run came around.  Yes I got strange looks for eating lunch at 10:30...no prob.  Once 1 o'clock hit I flew out of the office.  The forecast was calling for thunderstorms in the afternoon and goal A was to get home before being struck by lightning.  Random fact:  I am deathly afraid of lightning.  As in, I'll start crying if I'm stuck outside during it.  Yeah.

I decided to do a 4 mile loop around my apartment and then to hit the trail for an 8 mile out and back (the same one I do on 95% of my long runs, and the one I did for last weekend's 16).  I didn't know this at the time, but this would be the best decision of the day on my part.

As soon as I stepped outside the wind caused my hair to whip into my face.  Awesome.  I turned back around to see what the wind was at 20-25 mph wind gusts.  Excellent.  The first 4 miles were very hilly, but actually worked out pretty swell.  For all of the uphills, I had the wind at my back.  For all the downhills I was running in to the wind.  It actually worked out just great.
1. 9:15
2. 9:16
3. 9:20
4. 9:22 

At mile 4 I was happy to be back at my apartment because the sun was out in full force.  As obnoxious as I look wearing my ginormo sunglasses, it's 1000x better than wrinkles from being all squinty faced for 3 hours.  I also grabbed a sip of water because I was thirsty.  This was my first long run that I left my handheld water bottle at home for, since the water fountains have been turned on.

I knew that once I rounded back to my apartment I would begin the most difficult 8 miles of the run, because they would be 98% into the wind.  I tried to keep a steady pace and to not push too much running into the wind.  I figured my pace would counteract with the remaining 8 miles with the wind at my back.  I took my first Gu at 6 miles.  The best part of tacking on 4 miles before my normal long run route, was that I was super excited every time a new mile ticked off and it was +4 miles from what I thought it should be.
5. 9:30
6. 9:36
7. 9:32
8. 9:17 

Luckily the next four miles the wind was just hitting me from the side so it didn't interfere with my pace too much.  At this point I thought I was literally running in to the end of the world.  It was fluffy clouds and sunshine above me, but to the north-north east the sky was ominous and black.  The thunder started rumbling at mile 10 when I was taking my second Gu.  I thought, "oh great.  I still have 2 more miles running AWAY from home before I can even head back...."  I figured if I had to outrun a storm it would only serve to help me run faster. ;)  During these miles I started to get pretty warm.  During this four mile stretch there isn't much shade, so the sun was really beating down on me.  I also wished I had my handheld to wet my whistle with.
9. 9:20
10. 9:17
11. 9:21
12. 9:22 

This section was probably my least favorite because I was just hot and thirsty.  Again this was the "back" portion of the area with no shade, and since the wind was at my back instead of my face, I was sweltering.  I opted to wait for mile 15 to take my last Gu, but suddenly mile 15 appeared and the fountain I was looking for wasn't there.  If you want to know what I look like when I'm pissed, go back in time and check out my face at this point.  So.Not.Happy.  I knew the next fountain was a mile and a half away, but that seemed like forever.
13. 9:20
14. 9:16
15. 9:26
16. 9:17 

When I finally got to the fountain, I drank and drank and drank some more.  I may have also poured handfuls of water over my head, neck, and back in an attempt to cool myself off.  P.S.  Salt laden sweat in the eyeballs HURTS.  I definitely took more time Guing/hydrating than I typically do, so my hips were so sore when I got going again.  I was definitely putzing/limping along for the next 1/4 to 1/2 of a mile before my legs got their normal gait back.  Geez.  Usually I start my "kick" to the end around the 5k point.  Ya, apparently my legs weren't feeling it....maybe at 2 miles out.  Nope.  Guess we'll just do a strong finishing mile.  Well of course I had to take the normal 10-15 second walk detour around the major construction on the trail.  At this point my Garmin decides to freak out, so I have to rest it with .88 miles to go.  Stupid watch.  Then while getting off the bike trail and on to the sidewalk, 6 cars drive by so I have to slow way down to let them pass.  Also, I just didn't have a kick left in me.
17. 9:14
18. 9:22
19. 9:22
20. 9:11

I finished the 20 in 3:07:05 for a pace of 9:22.

Since I've been doing this for the past 24 hours, I would like to compare 20 Miler #1 to 20 Miler #2.  Time:  3:07:40 to 3:07:05  Super impressed with how close they are.  Makes me supremely confidant that I can be pretty close to that time pace for the marathon.
Mile Split Range:  8:19 to 9:48 (difference of 1:29) vs. 9:11 to 9:36 (difference of :25).  Very excited about this, and see this as a huge improvement from the last one.  Granted the last one was done on a much hillier route, but I always like to see consistent mile times.  Also excited that only 3 miles were in the 9:30 range on the 2nd one, and those were the 3 directly into the wind.
Temperature:  35* vs. 70*.  Yes it was TWICE as warm on this run.  I hope to hell there isn't a heat wave in Green Bay, because this body does not bode well in the heat.  I was too embarassed to even take pictures of the saltiness this week.  Look at last week's than multiply x 10.  Or 20.  My skin literally felt like I had exfoliating body was on.  Barf.
Aches and Pains:  Very intense pain in the backs of my knees which lasted for a few days post run.  Vs.  Some minor aches in my knees and major tiredness in my hips for the last few miles.  Pain=not my friend. Aches/soreness=whatevs.

And now the ugly portion of the run (I really hope that I don't have any followers that are major foot fetishers :/).

Uh oh! I spy a bloody sock....that can only mean one thing....bloody tootsie.

Close up, because I haven't heard you barfing yet.

The area of my foot that *usually* bleeds.  Now it's just 3" of scar tissue.  Try to penetrate me now dirt/sand/general debris!

Lame-o shot, but this one did bleed.  Pussy....  And you can see my post-run pizza box in the background.  MMMMMM.

Nasty blood/? blister.  When I popped it, the contents were the color of gravy/grape jam.  Now you've thrown up in your mouth, yes?

I survived the meat and potatoes (or in my case the pizza and the ice cream) of MARATHON TRAINING Here's hoping I can survive the taper!

Wind is a Swear Word in my Book

Terribly sorry for my lack of posts this week.  I've been doing the runnin' but none of the writin'.  I think I'm to that point of MARATHON TRAINING where I run, sleep, eat, and repeat.  With some serious slackatude to the bloggy blog.

Also our weather has just been attrocious.  Wind wind wind.  When I was younger (and very tiny) my dad used to tell me to put rocks in my pockets to keep from blowing away on the way to school, at track meets, going outside to play.  Well this week I'm half tempted to take his advice, geez Louise!

Monday I had an easy 10 mile on the schedule, and really, I just had to laugh.  Since when is a double digit run an easy run?  This should get to count on my long run section of my spiffy graph I like to create, right? (Sidenote: I just spelled graph "graf", my bwain is bwoken.)  Office hubby and I were a-bitchin' about the wind before leaving work, as he was getting ready to do a 7 miler.  We said our goodbyes and hoped to not blow away.

I started the run into the wind, per brilliant Glenn's suggestion (ok to be honest, this was merely coincidental that I ran into the wind to start, b/c running from any other direction from my apartment is MAJOR hills, which is a no go for Jerbear).  I swear to god there were moments that I was running at a standstill.  The American flags along the route looked like they were going to whip right off the flag poles.  Luckily, I really wanted to keep this run in the easy peasy pace category, because my legs were still tight from Saturday's 18 miler.

I was beyond excited to hit my halfway mark, because it meant that I would get to enjoy the wind.  Wheeeeee.  I jumped HIGH into the air, and was carried quickly and effortlessly back to my apartment by the wind.  No rocks here!  When I checked the weather report when I got home the winds were in the mid-20s with gusts up to 45.  NBD.

I did 10 miles in 1:36:08 for a pace of 9:37.
1. 9:34

2. 9:51
3. 9:43
4. 9:45
5. 9:42
6. 9:34
7. 9:32
8. 9:28
9. 9:27
10. 9:28

On the drive home from work on Tuesday I was smacked in the face with the worst headache ever.  Apparently all this wind is stirring up the pollen and depositing it in my nasal cavities.  Thanks!  I closed my eyes because my brain was throbbing, and before I knew it 2 hours had passed.  I popped some Ibuprofen and headed to the gym for my speed session.  Somehow the winds were even worse on Tuesday (gusts of 50-60 mph, you've gotta be joking me, right?)

I hit the treadmill to do my speed workout of 4 x 1600 m. @ 7:52 pace with 800 meter jogs in between.  I was also supposed to do a warm up and cool down mile with an additional 800 meter jog to total 9 miles, but with my brain swollen to the size of Mt. Rushmore (or so it felt) I said naaaaaaw.

This workout made me want to race in a bad bad way.  Screw this MARATHON TRAINING I want to go FAST!  My legs were definitely burning the last quarter of each mile, but it felt good to work up a hard sweat.  (It goes without saying that I sweated out an Olympic sized pool, no?)  Also, for the 1/2 mile jog, I walked for .05 then jogged at 10:00 pace for the .45.

I did 7 miles in 1:03:07, but more importantly, held an avg. pace of 7:44 for my 4 mile times.

Warm Up	1 Mi	9:40	9:40	9:40
Interval	1 Mi	7:38	17:18	7:38
Recovery	0.5 Mi	5:36	22:54	11:12
Interval	1 Mi	7:44	30:38	7:44
Recovery	0.5 Mi	5:34	36:12	11:08
Interval	1 Mi	7:48	44:00	7:48
Recovery	0.5 Mi	5:50	49:50	11:40
Interval	1 Mi	7:48	57:38	7:48
Recovery	0.5 Mi	5:25	1:03:03	10:50

I got to spend Wednesday night with N, and apparently it's been awhile since I've been to Minnesnowta.  Dude, there's no more snow!  When did that happen!?!?!?  There's weird green stuff on the ground.  Totally through me for a loop.  Also, I've never done the drive to his place during daylight, it usually is dark as I was leaving work.  It's a pretty entertaining drive.  I saw a miniature pony farm, what appeared to be a collection of windmills (ha! go figure, theme of the week=wind!) and many many windtowers.  Windtowers are kind of HUGE, how did I not see these before??

I also watched my first episode of American Idol and only wanted to slit my wrists 2 1/2 times.  Luckily N kept me entertained (and back from the ledge of jumping) with sweet Michael Jackson dance moves during commercials (the kid cracks me up...seriously...).

As I tweeted about earlier, I'm looking for suggestions on how to get him to attend my marathon.  I've brought it up a few times (probably 1,000) but have yet to push him for an answer (because the guy can't decide ANYTHING in advance, yes it's highly annoying as I plan everything to a T.  You've seen the spreadsheets!).  If you have any advice, or suggestions, I am all ears.  As of right now, I have a "sales pitch" of sorts that I'm working on.  He's out of town enjoying some Twins baseball games so I'm tempted to pitch it to him while he's happily drunk.  Jk.  Kind of.

Check out Leslie's sweet giveaway NOW!

Another 8

Since it was my cutback week (can you hear my legs sighing in relief from there?), I had another 8 miler for my "long run."  I putzed around forever Saturday morning, than finally rolled out of bed.  I made myself some toast with almond butter on it.  Now, before Saturday morning, I was an almond butter virgin.  Am I just weird, or does it have the after taste of marshmellows????  Maybe it was the kind that I had, but it was definitely not what I expected.  Whatever the after taste, it didn't upset my stomach like normal peanut butter does.  Phew.  2 cheers for AB!

I started off the run and felt like I was jogging by somehow flying along.  There was some wind at my back, but my legs felt springy.  Springy legs = happy Jeri.  Seriously the first 4 miles fleeeeeeeew by.  I couldn't believe how fast I had gotten to the turn around point.  As soon as I turned around I was smacked in the face with the wind.  Those last 4 miles were some of the toughest miles I've done lately.  Since my splits were so good the first half, I couldn't let up the second half, right?  I finally made it home after officially cursing the wind/damning it to hell (not sure that I have the ability to do that since I'm not God and all, but thought I would try at the very least).

I did the 8 miles in 1:12:13 for a pace of 9:02.
1. 8:57
2. 9:02
3. 9:07
4. 8:59
5. 9:07
6. 9:08
7. 9:08
8. 8:47

When I got home, I immediately checked the weather, to see what was causing me to run in place for 4 miles.  While it was 7-8 mph winds when I left (when the wind was at my back) it was 20-33 mph on my road back.  Uh yeah.  No wonder I wanted to DIE!  Oh well, I count running into the wind as strength training, so that knocks my ONE TIME of strength training off the list for 2010.  Yes!

In completely random news, both N and I were heading to our respective homes this weekend.  When we dated in high school, it seemed like we lived sooooo faaaaaar away from each other.  I refused to drive, so we only got to see each other when he'd come visit me.  Just for fun, I decided to mapquest how far away we live(d) from each other.  What do you know..... a small little half marathon jaunt.  Kind of funny that he literally felt hours away, when I now run farther than that on a standard Saturday long run.  I was half tempted to do a 13.1 to visit him Easter morning (since there's a MONSTER downhill for about 5 miles, I thought for sure I could break 1:50), but opted not to.  Some other time, perhaps. :)

And just because I love him and missed him oh so much, my puppy Kerby.  I haven't seen him since August.  Love him.

Check out Erica's Road ID and GU giveaway !

I went over 900 miles for 2009.

Friday.  Was.  Awesome.  I think all Fridays should be half days with the afternoon spent at the theater watching a highly anticipated movie.  :)  Really makes for a great day.  I loved the movie (as was to be expected, because I really enjoyed the books), and turns out I'm Team Jacob.  Who knew?  I feel wrong for saying this because, he's only 17, but my GOD that boy is Hottie McHotHot.  Easily the sexiest Taylor I know.  Ow ow!  Haha.  Ok, I'm done being a hormonal teen now, as I am no longer a hormonal teen, and that's just not as cool as a 25 year old lady.

I was sitting by my manager during the movie, and during the previews, she was concerned, "I feel like I'm going to have a huge outburst when the movie starts going!"  To which I replied, "Guaranteed my outburst comes with Jacob's first shirtless scene!"  Well wouldn't you know, that came true.  Hah.

Ok, focus Jeri.  This is a running blog.  :)  So the other part about Friday being so great, is that I got done with the movie at about 4:30pm and it was time to go run....while the sun was still out!  It was awesome.  I had an easy 5 miles on the scheduled, but since I was a bit lazy on Thursday, I did 6 miles instead.  I mapped out a route near my old apartment and set off in a light jacket and capris.  EXPOSED FLESH!  Hurrah.  I had to run quite a ways to the west to get to my old stomping grounds, so I was literally running off into the sunset.  The sun was HUGE and gorgeous, so you gotta love that, right?

I don't know what my deal was, but even on the crazy hills for the first 2 and last 2 miles, my legs were just flying.  If I had to guess, I would say I was running 9:30-9:45 pace.  Boy was I wrong.

I did my 6 miles in 55:05 for a pace of 9:11.

1. 9:12
2. 9:16
3. 9:16
4. 9:17
5. 9:16
6. 8:46 

Uh ya...that last mile?  WTF?  I was hoping that the speedier than intended hilly/easy run wouldn't spell disaster for my 12 mile long run on Saturday.

I was the biggest loser ever Friday night, and passed out on my couch at 8pm....then quickly moved to my bed for a glorious 12 hours of slumber.  Apparently my body forgot how tired it got from running.  Also, it's probably making up for almost 2 weeks of no sleep.  Damn you insomnia!!

Ahem.  I woke up at 7:15am on Saturday morning (and yes, that was after making myself go back to sleep).  I was actually wide awake at 5am!  I had planned on taking advantage of the mid-50 temps around noon to do my long run, but then there was some schedule rearranging where I thought I was going to have to leave town around lunch, so why not start the run at 8:30am?  Suuuuuure why not?  Wind chill of 27?  No prob.

I actually ate before this long run (+2 points for me!) and got bundled up for my run.  I also had to figure out how to rig up my normal iPod as my shuffle is dead and doesn't have a charger since I stepped on, and broke the one for it.  (-2 points for me).  I know you're not supposed to run with those since they have movable hard drives, but I couldn't imagine going 12 miles without tunes.

I started off the run, and the miles were flying by with no effort from me.  And I started to get freaked.  These are the paces I usually rock the last part of my long runs.
1. 9:01
2. 9:01
3. 9:11
4. 9:04 

What are the odds that I'll be able to maintain this pace for 12 miles?  The answer to this:  not likely.  Extra credit answer:  You will probably die a slow and painful death via long run.
5. 9:11
6. 9:13
7. 9:08
8. 9:19 


I was just not into this run mentally.  The biggest thing I've noticed from my time off for my injury is that I'm not in tune to my pace anymore.  I used to be able to run within about 5-10 seconds of a pace without fail, and now my pacing is all over the pace.  I'm not too concerned, because I know that will come back, but I didn't realize how great it was to have that ability until it was gone.

The last part of the run was truly brutal.  It seemed like every mile just kept getting slower and brutally more painful.
9. 9:18
10: 9:29
11. 9:18
12. 8:55

I finished the 12 miles in 1:50:13 for a pace of 9:12.  Not a bad pace at all, don't get me wrong, because this was easily the worst long run I've had for as long as I can remember.  I just never felt "into it" like I usually am, I never reached the zone, and I just hurt for 90% of it.

When I got home, I checked the temp/weather/etc. and saw that the wind gusts were 25+ mph, so that was definitely some of the crap factor for the run, but I saw something else interesting.  When I got home, the winds were out of the SSW, but when I started the run, they were out of the SSE.  Well when I run, I run first to the east for 6 miles, than back home to the west for 6 miles.  I literally ran almost the entire 12 miles against the wind.  NO WONDER IT WAS SO BRUTAL.  Eff.

Oh well, I survived and lived to tell about it.  When I got home I filled up the bath, and had the most amazing ice bath ever.  It felt sooooooooooo good.  My legs are still really tight and sore today, so I can't imagine how bad they would've been without.  The other thing that sucks, is that my digestive system was just tore up big time during the run, immediately after the run, and for most of Saturday day and night.  I'm sure it was just that I haven't done a long run for 3 weeks, and my body was pissssssed at me, but wow, that's never a good feeling.

The one gleaming highlight of my poopy long run, was that I went over 900 miles for the year during the middle of it.  I totally forgot until I was about 5 miles in (I hit 900 at 4.4) so I did a little booty shake on the trail while running, because...well...why not?  :)

Wild West Relay Report: Leg 3 + Team Finish

Shannon woke up and checked her twitter to see that Alesha was getting ready for her final leg. It was showtime. Everyone was up and at 'em to get ready for her to run through and do the van exchange. After getting ready, we couldn't understand why she wasn't there yet. Someone was finally able to get cell service and found out that she had just started her leg--about 45 minutes after we thought she had. AHHH! Oh well, it's not like anyone was really sleeping anyway. We handed off roughly around sun rise and Melissa got going on her almost 10k.





She rocked it pretty hard and looked STRONG on her finish.





We are all looking oh so jealous that she's finished and we still have to do our legs. :)


I started my third leg at about 10am, less than 24 hours after my first run had started. I had studied my elevation map quite a bit before the run to mentally psych myself up for my final run. I knew the last mile would be rough, but figured the adrenaline of being finished would push me through it.





Had to stretch the hamstrings before the run. Take note of the strong breeze causing it to look like I'm giving the volunteers a show. Hey ladies. ;)





The handoff from Amanda to me. 4.2 miles here I come!





Amanda looks ecstatic to be finished up with her final leg.


As soon as I started out, I was taken aback by how strong the wind was. Normally I don't mind wind because I know if I start out running into it, I'll get the benefit of it at my back at the end. Not the case with this run, unfortunately. It felt like I was climbing up, up, up for about 90% of this leg. I'd get to the top, enjoy a short downhill, and then start trekking up again.

At one cheering point (about 2.5 miles in) I was struggling to keep going up, when Amanda, like an angel from the sky, yelled out that as soon as I finished going up, I'd get to enjoy a nice downhill stretch. I almost started to cry I was so happy. I kept had kept looking at this huge mountain in front of me thinking that I had to continue up THAT, and didn't see a small fork in the run where I got to go doooooooown. I think I almost kissed her I was so happy. Luckily for her I was running low on energy so I didn't. :p
I really tried to enjoy the downhill. And it was VERY nice change of pace from the up. But I just kept looking at where the bottom was and where the up started again. I tried to look at the fields and the mountains surrounding me, but kept coming back to the Up. Stupid Up. :)

When I did have to start the final incline, I was beat. I really thought I could kick in my final gears to have a strong, fast finish since I knew I was going to be done-done, but the final gears weren't there. I started getting very winded because of the altitude, and light-headed because of how hard I was breathing, but not getting enough oxygen in. Stupid altitude. Haha. Plus, the higher I got up, the stronger the wind was.

Giving what I have left on the final stretch. Hint: It wasn't much. :p

Melissa came back to run me in. Thank God. I was about to start walking. jk. THANKS MELISSA! You helped so much. I did have to fight the urge to ask her to run in front of me to block the wind for the last few yards. Didn't want her to get in the way of any finishing pics, ya know? Hah.

Also, for some reason, I thought I got to finish on a short decline, but that was not the case. Still going up on the handoff. :p

And then it was time to do the classic-hands-on-the-knees-dear-God-I-want-oxygen pose.
Here it is in another angle. Almost looks like wow-I'm-going-to-hurl-pose. But it's not. Just to clarify.

After walking around for a few minutes, I felt GREAT (now that my brain was finally getting oxygen again) and realized how b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l it was UP there. :) I had to take some pics (from far away so you can't see what a hot mess I was at this point of running 18.7 miles sans shower).

Apparently this is what I look like in a "runners pose." I'm such a loser.

Julie was the final leg from Van #1 and us gals were ready at the van exchange to run her booty in. Well, most of us were ready. I had changed into flip flops so I could lance the ginormo blister I had on my big toe, but no biggie. :p

Here's the team (minus Julie who was still finishing up her leg) at the final van exchange.

And the whole awesome crew at the finish line about 33 hours after starting. Don't ask me what our finishing time was, because I couldn't tell you. With all the stop watch errors, plus leap frogging, I'd be shocked if anyone figured it out, to be honest.

Next up: Celebration!! Stay tuned. (yes I realize that it's ridiculous that I'm still working on these reports. leave me alone. :p)

....But I WILL do 35-45 mph wind GUSTS.

That's right, after being too big of a wussy to run an easy run in 25 mph winds, I sacked up last night and did my tough tempo run in a wind advisory. I had a 30 minute tempo run to do, and figured I'd do a nice easy 1 mile warm up, do two miles at tempo pace, and cool down until I hit 30 minutes.

I also did some research on tempo runs to see exactly how fast my paces should be for these puppies. Since FAST is the only pace I have stuck in my head for speed workouts, I figured I should learn exactly what FAST equated to. Apparently these are supposed to be done 30-40 seconds slower than your race pace. My most recent 5k was 7:50 pace, so voila I'm shooting for 8:20-8:30. I knew the wind was going to effect things pretty significantly, especially that second tempo mile since it would be all into the wind, so I was shooting for 8:25-8:40.

1. 9:40 Nice leisurely warm up (with the wind at my back, so this pace literally felt effortless).

2. 8:24 The first .75 of this was with the wind so it was a pretty easy pace, I turned around at .75 and tried to haul @$$ into the wind.

3. 8:34 This one SUCKED. There were parts that I felt like I was running my hardest and not moving. Yikes. I determined that this run would also count as a strength workout because of the intense resistance the wind provided. I just tried to run strong, especially during the points where the wind wasn't bowling me over (unfortunately these points were very VERY brief and not very often). I was still super impressed with myself in coming in *close* to my pace even against the wind, and actually coming in under my wind-restricted self prescribed pace.

.5 4:42 (9:24 pace) My time was actually up prior to .5 mile but I wasn't back to my apartment yet, and kind of hating ending on a random .456092, so I kept going. Look at me going above and beyond! :)

3.5 miles in 31:21 for a pace of 8:58. Warm up/cool down pace: 9:34, tempo pace: 8:29. BOOM! Successful tempo run. *patting myself on the back*

After the run it was off to Taylor's softball games. Surely it would be easier to watch a softball game in this wind than it would be to run in it, right? WRONG. I missed his first game, and had to sit and wait through a middle game before his next one started. His whole team and I were huddled up next to the concession stand trying to keep warm and out of the wind. I thought about leaving 1000 times, but was mad at myself for missing the first game, and thought it would be a waste of gas to have come all the way to the other side of town for his games, not to see him play. I managed to last 2 innings of spectating before I had to go home. Yikes. They were down (by quite a bit) when I left. Of course they managed to win 25-24 with a HUGE come back. Oh well, I was warm in my bed. :)

I also had a protein smoothie after my run, which was...different. I've been reading about everyone's delish breakfast smoothies, and thought I would give one a try for a post-run meal (part of meal). I made a strawberry one, with frozen strawberries, vanilla yogurt, ice, and vanilla protein powder (since I don't get nearly enough protein in my diet). It was ok. Not great. I think the vanilla yogurt is way to sweet, so my next one I'll try with soy milk instead. I'd also like to be brave and throw some spinach in there, but after my all-spinach lunch yesterday, I was feeling a lil green in the gills. Bahahaha. :p

I don't DO 25+ mph winds....

And thusly (not a real word I don't think) should not live in the Midwest.  Right now it sounds like a scene from the Wizard of Oz (one of my FAVORITE movies) outside.  Tomorrow we're under a "wind advisory" from 3pm to 10pm, where the winds will be 35 to 45 mph.  Poor Tay has two softball games that he's pitching.  It might be a rough night to be throwing strikes.

I had a easy peasy 3 miler on the docket today and could not bring myself to fight the good fight against the wind, turning it into something much more difficult than easy peasy.  So I hauled myself to the gym for my first treadmill run in 4-6 weeks.  It actually wasn't too bad.  Ok, it wasn't great.  It was muggy in the gym, and I hate running next to people who are constantly checking out your treadmill screen.  Ugh.  AND I kept staring at my screen which caused the miles to slooooooowly tick by.

I wanted to keep the pace right around 9 minute miles, as my goal for this training plan is to actually run my easy runs at an easy pace.  Crazy concept, I know.  That way I can run bttw on my speed workouts, which is really so much more fun.  :)  I ran 3 miles in 26:30 for 8:50 pace.

1.  9:05

2.  8:47

3.  8:38

I meant to do situps and pushups during the Biggest Loser, but somehow was just too lazy.  Whoopsies.  I've really been slacking on that though, so maybe I'll do them before I head to bed.  Speaking of BL, what'd you think of the show!?!?!?  Oh and the bet pre-show was that I would tear up 7 times.  I'm proud to report that I WON the bet with only 2 tear ups.  Take that.

We had the most amazing dinner tonight!  Taylor grilled some salmon and we topped it with this spicy mango salsa.  YUM!  And then I cooked up some sweet potato fries seasoned with a little sea salt and pepper baked in the oven.  Seriously, this may take the place of taco pizza night as my favorite new meal.  I swear I could eat salmon for every meal and not get sick of it.  I really wanted to take a picture to share with you, but my camera batteries are dead, and stupid me, I bought the wrong rechargeable batteries for my charger, so I need to return them to get the correct ones.  :(

And I packed my lunch up for tomorrow:  spinach wrap with spinach (apparently I'm going for the Popeye resemblance manana) turkey, muenster cheese, and red peppers, along with a kiwi and the last caramel brownie of the batch.  :(  I also through in a yogurt for a 3pm-oh-my-god-I'm-starving snack.

In keeping with the Tuesday night of reality television, I also watched the Part 1 of the season finale of Real Housewives of New York (because 3 hours of biggest loser..ok not really, I dvr'd it so probably closer to 2 hours minus commercials....wasn't enough).  I pretty much want to punch Ramona in the face and think that Bethenney is the cat's meow.  Heck I'll birth her babies in 3 years if she wants me to.  Please tell me you also indulge in this horrible reality crap??

Fingers crossed that the winds aren't nearly as ferocious as they're predicted to be, otherwise my tempo run may consist of me jumping in the air and landing a mile away at breakneck speed.  Wait.  That actually sounds like a good idea.  :)