Running Tidbits from 2007 + Gnat Attack

Attention!  This post was "lost" on Thursday when Blogger was down.  If you've already read/seen this post, my apologies...no sense seeing my gnat covered sweaty neck more times than necessary.  :P

Saturday after the race I was bored and not feeling the greatest (I have the tendency to feel really feverish after I race), so I was just bumming around the apartment watching Project Runway and Gilmore Girls reruns.  I decided to do something productive:  manually enter my 2005-2007 running logs on to the Runners World log I've used for the past 4 years.

Here are a few gems I found in the process:

• It's very clear I did every run as a race, going as fast as I could.  
• I was a good 20 pounds heavier 4 years ago.
• My running times reflect that, at times.  Other times I'm shocked I was able to haul that quickly with that much extra weight on my frame.
• Actual comment on one of my runs: Felt like I was going to barf up my BK the whole run. saweet. I feel like I shouldn't have been that surprised.... I stopped eating fast food a couple of years ago (with the exception of DQ...mmm.... b/c it destroys my stomach.... I can only imagine how it felt to run after eating it.  Sweet Louisiana!

Also, I'm super duper bummed that the Runners World log only goes back to 2007. I guess I'll have to hold on to my paper running log, and excel spreadsheet from 2006 just a wee bit longer.
_______________

Wednesday night I went out for my last speedwork session before Fargo. I was super amped up to do a tempo run, and I wasn't really sure why. They usually freak me out! When I realized that it was 5 miles (with 3 at tempo pace) instead of 6 miles (with 4 at tempo pace), I got even more excited! Easy peasy! The first thing I noticed is that the +30 increased temperatures from Saturday's 10k made it much more difficult to breathe properly for a hard workout. Throw in some heavy humidity, and my lungs felt like they were dyyyyyyyyying. Luckily my legs felt just dandy. I cranked up my iPod so I couldn't hear my deathly gasps for air and off I went!
The hardest part about the tempo run was the cooldown mile. I could not, for the life of me, slow down to an easy pace. I know I know... waaaaaaaaah....woe is me....... etc. etc. But to go from a low 8 minute pace, a 9 minute pace (aka marathon pace) felt like I was walking! (Yes brain, drill that in.... 9 minute pace feels like walking.....)
I did 5 miles in 43:16 for a pace of 8:39. Tempo miles average: 8:13.
1. 9:30
2. 8:20
3. 8:13
4. 8:06
5. 9:09
There was much less gnat activity of the trail than Monday night, so I sucked it up and took a picture after my run. Then I immediately scrubbed the little buggies off before I stretched. Ick.

OOOH! And I also got my hairs hacked off (maybe 4") to make me super fast, and a new darkerhue to up my intimidation factor. I attempted a pre-run photo shoot in my bathroom (AR's fave!  If only I had thrown up a peace sign pose....drat!)


Attempted pose: Intimidation.
Actual pose: Someone's lost her lips.


Attempted pose: Intimidation.
Actual pose: Eating and also smelling a sour lemon.


Attempted pose: Intimidation.
Actual pose: If a rat were a human with rage.

Plus you can barely see my hair color because the lighting in my bathroom is so poor and the shower curtain seems to match my hair. Woe is me.

Fargo Running Buddy

Uh... where the h did this heat come from?  I just knew that we'd move abruptly from the freezing cold and windy winter-like conditions to the super hot and humid and windy summer conditions, skipping right by my favorite: spring.  ::shaking fists with fury::

Return of (drum roll please.......) The Sweaty RUNNER.

Sooooooo hot.  ;)  Literally.  And figuratively.

Sunday I went out for a 5 miles shake out run.  My legs felt pretty darn good, except for the IT band giving a little bit of attitude.  Monday I had my AC cranked on the way home from work.... and was still sweating through my work clothes.  Classy... that's how I roll.  I jetted out the door for 6 miles in as little clothes as I feel comfortable running in.  Within about 17 seconds I was soaked.  Apparently the ol' sweat glands still work.  Neat-o.  I ran into the 20-30 mph winds (yes, the wind *is* getting old, thanks for asking) for the first 3 miles.  When I turned around to head for home, I realized that the heavy winds were at least cooling me off.  Drowning commence!

Most of the remaining miles had to be run with my mouth shut, breathing through my nose because the gnats were so thick, and I got sick of sucking them down after random bug #2 made me sputter and cough.  Have you ever tried to breathe through your nose while running?  If not, it sucks.  I got home and started sweating puddles on to my yoga mat while I was stretching.  And my chest/neck/face/hands/arms were a gnat graveyard. 

Attention little buggies:  you will drown upon impact.  I'm a sweaty beast.  Consider yourself warned.

However, the Fargo forecast (that I've been obsessively stalking 3-5 times per day since race day was 15 days out) is calling for rain and possibly a warmer day than what I've been running in (because I don't expect 40s like I've been training in).  So I figure either way this run will help me out.  Sweating that much has to assimulate being soaked from the rain, no? :)

And I'm super de duper excited to have a running buddy for Fargooooooooooo!  A girl that I went to college with, and worked with throughout college is running Fargo as well.  Head over to Kier's blog, she's got some great food/recipe posts and gorgo photos.  Anywhosits, she's a lot faster than me, but has dealt with some injuries this go-around for training, so her new race day goal is sub-4 (a PR for both of us, as her marathon PR is pretty darn close to mine).  I figured we might as well keep each other company!  YAYZIES!

Game plan:  Run a mile in 9 minutes.  Repeat 26 times.  Also .2 for good measure.  Throw hands in the air for totally awesomesauce finisher photo. Beer->hand.  Repeat.

While I'm on the topic of Fargooooooooooo (when really when am I not talking about it at this point?), shoot me an email if you want to meet up at the expo on Friday.  I'm so stinkin' excited to meet all you Fargo fools!! :D

Race Report: Race for the Cure 10k

Saturday I took on my first ever 10k, in memory of my friend who recently passed away from breast cancer.  In lieu of my normal Team Green style, I wore pink (whaaaaaaa??!?!?).  No worries, I still rep'd with my green Kinvaras (phew...).  I got to the race super early because this event is known to drawn major crowds.  Before too long I found my running friends/Daily Mile crew.  A few of us took off on an easy, easy warm up jog.  I proceeded to ask Tom what his goal pace/goal time would be 12,000x.  I'm sure I was annoying x 12,000. :)

Last year's race was gun timed, so we made sure to line up near the front of the 7:30-8 minute mile pace sign.  I started my watch when the gun was shot and crossed the line a few short seconds afterward.  I knew that the first couple of miles were going to be up and down, so I tried not to watch my Garmin too much.  Except when I looked down and it said 7:20s.  Uh yeah.... slow down a smidge. 
Mile 1 7:45

The second mile was more rolling hills, and I was surprised at how good I felt.  I've never done a 10k, but I've done lots of 5ks, and mile 2 is usually a shit-show.  I was running under 8 minute pace and feeling just dandy.
Mile 2 7:56

It was around this time that I lost sight of Tom's red shirt (I expected him to beat me, but wanted to keep him in my sight as long as I could).  We continued on to the bike path which was much too narrow to house all the runners.  There was one spot on a bridge where a couple was running shoulder to shoulder and I was stuck waiting until we crossed.  There was another area where I had to surge through the grass to pass someone because we had started to get some of the out and back traffic.  At the halfway point I was at 24:48 (I think).
Mile 3 7:57

Going in to the race, I figured the fourth mile was going to suck.  I assumed it would be the equivalent of mile two in a 5k.  But nope.  I kept right along, slowly passing some folks that had started off too fast.  This was my favorite mile because I got to see a lot of my friends who were running since it was the out-and-back traffic.  I only managed to rustle up energy to cheer for Sara, however.  Sorry other runner friends. :P
Mile 4 7:57

Uff.  Mile 5 was hot.  The sun was up in full force, and we were running in to it without any trees to shade us.  I started to get hot.  A couple of chicks passed me and I promised my legs I'd catch them in the final mile.  I also think there might have been a slight incline during this mile.  But really, I just wanted to be done.  Ooops, there goes my "all miles sub-8, plan."
Mile 5  8:08

I got to the final mile and started to think about Jess.  I knew this would be the toughest mile of the race, and kindly asked her to take over for me.  ;)  I imagine that heaven makes you a crazy fast runner automatically, no?  :)  I tried to do some mental math (which clearly is a bad idea because I suck at math when running, and KNOW THIS) to see what I could finish at.  I did pass the few girls that had passed me during my previous miles slow down.  Phew.  Pride avenged...er something...

There was a nice little downhill in that mile, and I was disappointed to see that there were two separate finish lines, and the one I was shooting for was the furthest away.  GAH!  I've done the 5k in this race two years previously, and the start/finish line was moved way back.  I probably should've adjusted my "kick" based on this, but my brain was tired and didn't think.  I noticed that I didn't have my normal speedy finish in me.  But I also wasn't on the verge of barfing my guts out (my concern after the half finish).  I kept my eye on a couple of people right in front of me, and passed them.

Mile 6 7:57
.25 1:56 (7:08 pace)

I'm kind of annoyed by the extra .05, since that equates to what... 15-20 seconds at that pace?  For once I ran the tangents like a mofo (thanks to Tom explaining the race route in detail before we started).  But oh well.  Also, I was treated to a nice surprise, when the official results were posted and the race was actually chip timed, not gun timed like we thought.  Hello extra seconds taken off my time.  :)

My official time was 49:27 for a pace of 7:54.

And can we talk for one moment about my insane consistency (ignoring miles 1 & 5) for the race?  If I had tried to run 7:57s they would've been all over the place.  Too funny.

Sub 50?  Goal met!
Sub 8 minute pace? Goal met!
Not barfing at the finish?  Goalt met!

Overall for women, I placed 46 out of 349.  After creeping on the 5k results, I realized that at my 10k pace, I would've finished somewhere around 20th out of 1100 women.  How in the world was the 10k that much more competitive?!?!?  Jeepers.

It was a great day, and I know with some speedwork focus (yes, last speedwork training run was April 20th, oops!) I can definitely take that 10k time down.  Plus it makes me think that my 5k time should be much speedier than it is. 

Oh, and according to Kyle I gave everyone spectating a peepshow of my cheeks on my final kick to the finish.  So maybe that's why some of those dudes let me pass them.  ;)

**Clearly my Team Green fan club aka paparazzi extraordinaire were not in attendance, and Kyle TGIT (Team Green in Training) has not yet been taught in the art of spectating AND taking hundreds of photos.  So just imagine me in pink, with my stellar highlighter yellow arm sleeves, and booty shorts with cheekage.  Also, I'm running faaaaaaaaaaaaaast.**

Surprise Running Buddy + Inaugural 10k Race Goals

Signs Kyle and I have spent entirely too much time watching LOST:

This morning, Kyle and I were waiting at a stop light.  A truck drives by with a chick with long crazy dark hair. 

KK:  Huh.... there's Rousseau.....
Me:  Well, clearly she gets off the island.  SPOILER ALERT!!!!

::maniacal laughter ensues::

Tuesday I had a shocking surprise when I texted KK to see if he wanted to accompany on my run.  Instead of the usual excuse of nap/softball/washing his hair, he asked how far.  Uh.... as far as you want to go bud.  I headed out for 5 miles on my own, and then met him back at my apartment to go out for another 2 miles.  Keeping in mind that the kid hasn't run since we started dating, he did amazing.  Seriously.  I told him we could take walk breaks/stretch breaks, whatever as long as we did the total 2 miles.  Considering he had played softball for the first time since last fall and was already all kinds of sore, it was lots o' fun.  :)

The second half of mile one was much faster than the first half.  And after our 1/4 of a mile walk break at the halfway point, we hauled some booty to finish up the two miles.  AND his heart didn't beat out of his chest like he was convinced it was going to.  AND he must not have hated it too terribly much, because he had mentioned going out for another couple of miles after work tonight.  Yay KK.... brb currently signing us up for a race together......

This morning I had a 7 mile scheduled.  I was not feeling 7 miles from the moment I crawled out of bed, so I down-sized to 5 miles.  Well those miles felt like the first miles I've ever run in my life, so somehow they got downgraded to 4 miles.  Four heavy, slow, slogging miles.  Ugh.  Luckily those craptastic runs usually mean that a stellar run is just around the corner.

Oh hey speaking of runs just around the corner.....  This weekend I'm running my first ever 10k.  Yes, I also have no idea how I've run so many races without letting a 10k slip in there.  I'm guessing that upon finishing I will again be frightened of the distance and keep it at bay, after the dry-heaving stops, that is.

Since I've never run a 10k, it's an auto PR.  YAYZIES!  However, there are so many tools and calculators out there to tell you what your time could/would/should be, so I'll let you in on some goals.

Based on the McMillan calculator for both my half and 5k time, I should be right around 50 minutes.  It's on my 101 in 1001 list to break 50 minutes, so I might as well shoot for that.  Also, I'd really love to run a sub 8 minute pace for the whole shebang, which would ensure my sub 50, and then a little extra.  And then because I've heard that an accurate 10k estimate is your (5k time x 2) + 1 min, I would maybe possibly like to break 49 minutes.  Barfaroni.  (see above).

Granted, I had all these time goals in mind before my half marathon that tore my poor IT bands apart.  Hopefully the ol' bod will be 100% on Saturday so I can give it my all, because it's pretty clear that it could be awhile before I get tricked in to running another one of these puppies...

Challenge Accepted!

Bloggy BFFs, we all have 'em.  You know... the blog friends that you beg to come move across the street from you because you just know that you'd be doodling _________ + Jeri = Best Friend FOREVER on all your notebooks during study hall. 

I have a bunch of em, but one of them is Danielle.  I couldn't even tell you when I started following her blog, but surely over a year or so.  We've even crossed over the "somewhat touchy" realm of IRL friends via Facebook (truly a big deal).  Anywhosits, Danielle and I happen to be roughly the same runner.  Somewhat similar to my running twin Jenn who's currently on the other side of the world (sniffle), our race times are eeirly similar.

<--Purple running tights make you look fast, did you know this?!?!?

Last summer we chased a 22:xx 5k time (which both of us failed at, g.d. it).  We ran half marathons this spring a few weeks apart.  I noted her time as one I'd like to beat.  When I did (just barely), she responded that it was her turn to chase me.  We're both working on a sub 4 marathon finish.  To spice things up a bit, I proposed a challenge.

The challenge:  The runner with the lowest cumulative time for your best 5k+10k+half+marathon times for 2011 wins a prize. 

The stakes:  Bragging rights, mostly.  We've thrown around some ideas (some sweet running gear with a price cap, etc.), but we're willing to take suggestions.  If someone has a super sweet idea, we may even rustle up a prize for your time and brilliance.

The rules:  There really aren't any.  We can run as many races as we want as long as they're within 2011 and we have to use our official results.

Our current PRs
Jeri:  23:55, none, 1:50:57, 4:12:00
Danielle:  23:54, 47:50*, 1:51:23, 4:15:25
*barf that's fast, but I'm hoping for a slightly sub 48 on Saturday if my IT bands feel like showing up!)

I'm willing to bet that this comes down to our marathon times (mine in 2 weeks, hers in 4 months), but I'm pretty excited to see how it plays out.

Clearly shirts should be made:  TEAM Jeri and TEAM Danielle.  Who's team are YOU on?  jk.  :p

Make sure to check out her post on the challenge, because it's way sweeter/wittier/creative-r than mine.  :)

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. 

Exciting News + Weekly Wishlist

I received some news on Wednesday afternoon that allowed me to cross of one of the most important items from my 101 in 1001 list:  get accepted into master's program!!!!!!! 

Starting in the fall I will be a member of the University of Alabama's 2011 online cohort for my masters in library and information science.  The program is completely online except for a few days late in the summer that I have to head "down souf" for orientation.  I hope to come back to the Dak with a heavy southern accent.  Like Sookie's from True Blood (yes, I do need to get out more if that's my only frame of reference for the south.)  I also hope to not die of heat stroke, as I imagine the temps in mid-August are enough to kill me.

To say that I'm super de duper excited would be an understatement of my life.  No clue how I will be juggling my full time job, part time masters classes, running and some semblance of a social life, but on occasion I seem to think I'm super woman, so we'll see.  Any suggestions are welcome.  I'm guessing marathon training will probably be out of the question, but that's ok as I'd planned to focus on some b.a. fast HM races anyway.  And hopefully a nice little library job will open up in this town of mine.... you hear that Universe!!!  Get cracking!

[If you saw any of the tornado coverage, holy terrifying....... lots of prayers heading down south.]

Switching gears very abruptly: On to my weekly wishlist!

Buy it here.

I can't stand carrying a clutch, but this has gotta be the prettiest thing ever, right?  I've been watching too much Say Yes to the Dress so forgive me for my next comment.... it'd be kind of great as your something blue... no?  Ok, moving on....

Buy it here.

I've yet to get around to buying a laptop bag for my little MacBook. Primarily because it usually stays at home unless I'm traveling. However, this bag is so stinkin' cute I would consider it. (Clearly still obsessed with yellow...blame the lack of sunshine if you'd like....)

Sidenote: When I was talking to KK about my blog last night, I casually mentioned that when it came to Christmas/Birthday he could easily peruse my blog for gift ideas, and he questioned my intent for these weekly wishlist....

KK:  So do you expect people to see these on your blog and just buy them for you???

JL:  Uh.... what kind of blog do you think I'm running?!?!?

But to clarify, yes KK, if you see these items on my blog and buy them for me, I'll be completely ok with that. :)