Another New Personal Distance: 18 Miles

As previously toyed with, I ended up doing my 18 mile long run Friday afternoon.  After putting in a looooooooong day Thursday, I was more than ready to get out of work at noon on Friday.  Thursday night, I had every intention of waking up early Friday morning to eat cereal and toast for breakfast and to make a green smoothie to make sure I was properly fueled for my long run.

When I hopped out of bed, I was shocked to see that my blender was still filthy.  Uh...looks like someone forgot to turn the dishwasher ON.  Ooops.  No time to scrub that caked on crap.  Quick!  Cereal.  Forget to grab toast.  Excellent.  Protein bar, that'll hold me over.  [This my friends is why I plan things ahead, because my brain is mush in the morning.]  Cereal + protein bar is enough fuel to hold me over til lunch time.  NOT enough to hold me over for an 18 miler in lieu of lunch time.  Dodo brain.  On top of it all, I was fighting a two day headache.  Poop nuggets.  In fabulous/awesomeness/ohmygoshness news, the weather was glorious.  We're talking 30 degrees with wind gusts up to 21 mph.  Ok, I hate wind, but at least it wasn't Frigid McFrigidPants.

When I was getting ready to head out, I had to laugh when I grabbed my sunglasses.  Nothing says "legit runner" like fake D&G oversized sunglasses.  I've been rockin' these puppies for my last 3-4 long runs, and look like a complete fool, I'm sure.  You try running for 2 1/2-3 hours staring into snow banks reflecting the snow rays!  This chica does not want any extra premature wrinkles, k?

I started the run with the intention of running 9:40-9:50 mm.  Per Glenn's suggestion, I shouldn't be doing these LRs faster than +:30 from my goal pace.  Um...hi.  This pace HURTS.  I don't know what my deal is, but this is a horrifically uncomfortable pace for me.  Somewhere in my brain relaxed easy pace = form goes to hell.  I took my first GU at 4.5 miles and was so stinkin' excited for it.  Tummy so hungry.

1. 9:25

2. 9:37
3. 9:59
4. 9:49
5. 9:43

I kept plodding along during the 2nd quadrant of my run (yes I like to break up my run into quadrants, I also like to factor fractions and percentages while I run.  I'm the epitome of a number's nerd, danke!)  Highlights of this quadrant was an intense skunky smell.  I started looking every where to make sure that it was just the smell and not the offender, when a black squirrel darted in front of me!  I've never seen a black squirrel before, it was crazy.  [Sidenote:  When asking Mr. Nature aka Nick about it, turns out I'm not crazy, black squirrels are very uncommon in our area.  Made me feel better to not be 100% loco.  Perhaps just 80%.]

It was also during this point that I ran farther on the trail than I ever have before, and let me tell you, I will not be again.  I ran in a very not-so-super-safe area.  Eek.  I accidentally ran just below the bluff that the State Penitentary sits on.  :s  As in, if I'm a prisoner and I make a break for it, I'd be heading for the trail that Jerbear is cruising along on.  I will tell you that I have never been as alert of a runner as I was during that 1-2 mile total.  iPod off, head swiveling, high tailing it (ha! ok, that part didn't happen, I was tired.)  I had to chuckle when I saw a sign with a bike going up a steep incline.  Now you're just toying with me and my hatred for inclines/hills. :p  Awesome.

6. 9:46
7. 9:36
8. 9:57

9. 9:57

At the turn around, I pretty much just wanted to be home.  9 = 18, right?  Told you I was a math nerd.  Instead, I trudged along.  Going back over hills that I had previously cursed.  [Yes Jeri, it is a good idea to plan 4 miles of hills in the middle of your 18 miler.  Genius lovebug.]  It was during this time that I realized I still had two GUs left and only one planned GU break (one every 4.5 miles for 18 miles does NOT = 4, again excellent math skills, good thing I'm practicing!).  To my delight, this meant I could take MORE during the remaining 9 miles to hopefully combat my shitty fueling.  Math fail = win!

Highlights of this one sixth (3 miles) of my run:  seeing a dude running along in shorts.  Now I realize it's above freezing (by 2 *whole* degrees) but really??  Now you're just showing off your super human insulated skin.  Fool.  It was also during this portion that I was running into those lovely up to 21 mph wind gusts.

10. 10:03

11. 9:48
12. 9:43

When I started the remaining third of the run, I pumped myself up:  less then an hour of running to go!  You know you're a runner when you can get pumped about that on a LR, eh?  I also was getting myself pumped up because all day I had it in my brain that I had to work for 4 hours + run for 3 hours + shower/get ready/pack + drive one hour to see the boy.  Hustle lady! 

At this point the extra GUs really did help.  Once I rounded the corner at mile 13, the wind was somewhat at my back and I said a big F you to the slow LR pace.  I let my legs do their thing, and it felt goooood.

13. 9:36

14. 9:27
15. 9:28

I had a pleasant run in with my alma mater's cross country team with about 2.5 miles to go.  Coming up on a highly muddy/puddly area I see mud and yuck a-flyin' into the air as the boys were whizzing by me in the opposite direction.  Most girls would probably be excited by this, but unfortunately I'm not very attracted to runner boys.  Gasp.  I know.  Sorry runner boys out there, but give me a boy who played college football, or looks like he played college football, and I'm pretty much guarenteed to be gaga and googly eyed.  I love me a big muscular teddy bear, what can I say?

With a couple of miles left I hadtogotothebathroomrightnow hence the faster than necessary paces.  GUs make you go...  Who Knew?  They probably shouldn't steal that for their marketing campaign any time soon.

16. 9:33

17. 8:59
18. 8:40
 
I finished the 18 miles in 2:53:15 for a pace of 9:38.
 

Needless to say my shoes don't look nearly as *new* as they did a few weeks ago, prior to seeing anything but the treadmill.  My socks:  Also not so pretty.  Immediately after the run, the only thing I noticed hurting was my lower back.  It was tiiiiiiight.

Major downfall of the excessive puddles and mud:  running almost 3 hours in wet socks = mad blisters.  Oy.  We're talking water blisters, still the sole (thankfully) blood blister, and air blisters.  Yeouch.  When I finally got to Minnesota later that evening, I requested that Nick carry me everywhere because my feet hurt so bad.  He declined.  Rude.

Things I learned (or in some cases relearned) from 18:

1. Fuel you dumb @$$.  Fuel and then fuel some more.  Just to be safe, fuel on top of that.
2. It is necessary to have more time elapse between a hard tempo run and a long run.  36 hours does not cut it.  2 1/2 days at least.
3. For runs over 16 miles, I should probably have more water than my 12 oz. handheld. Must stash water bottles in the future.
4. Focus on form with a slower pace.  Your knees will hate you otherwise.

Speaking of complaining, I pretty much spent the whole weekend complaining to Nick about random aches and pains, because I'm a *bit* of a complainer.  At one point I said:

J: maybe I'll just become a marathoner and call it good.  One is probably good enough, right?

N:  Or you could just do them once every 6 months, that wouldn't be so bad, right?

J:  Or I could do 3 in 3 consecutive months to be a Maniac!  Or I could do 2 in one weekend!

N:  What?!?!?!?  People actually DO that?!?!?!?!?

Heh heh.  It's kind of nice to see a perspective that is removed from the crazy runner world every once in a while. 

I *may* have seen Alice in Wonderland this weekend, hence the many references.  More on that to come.

New Camera Take 2 + Tempo Time

Wednesday morning I was a woman on a mission.  Mission:  Replace digital camera.  Well I suppose the mission actually began with some research Tuesday night.  I scoured Walmart/Target/Best Buy for their cheapest digital cameras (as mine seem to have a 4 month life, apparently).  As Slomohusky gracefully put it, "Uh...you're kind of hard on cameras..."  YUP!  Mental note:  Camera's do not like to be dropped.  I was planning on having a fun weekend with the boy toy, and have a race next weekend, so no time to spare before getting a new camera.  Lucky for me, I saw my exact same camera, but 50 bones cheaper. 

Now you may think it's silly to buy a camera that broke after 4 months of use.  Well if you had saw how hard I had dropped the camera on Saturday, you'd be impressed the thing was still in one piece.  "I am She-Ra Warrior Princess!!"  Or something like that.  My logic was:  a) already have a memory card b) extra battery and charger and c) back up parts!  Ok, seriously I hope it doesn't come to C because then I officially suck-o at life-o.  Before work I headed to Walmart to pick up my new BFF.  Did you know that they don't staff the electronic section at 7:30am?  Well now you do.  Of course as soon as I got to my car, I had to check out my pictures from Saturday night's shenanigans that led to said camera distruction.  As promised, please enjoy.

I thought the randomness of this one looked similar to a pic in the opening credits of HIMYM so I played around with the coloring a bit.

Yes, I'm getting bunny ears at the age of 26. My friends are mature. Who am I kidding, if they were, I wouldn't be friends with them. :p

Wednesday night I had a tempo run on tap.  All day long I had thought it was a 7 mile run, silly Jerbear, it's actually 8.  That seems kind of long, no?  Then I got to thinking about it....I completed a full 13.1 miles at a quicker pace.  I should be able to handle 6 tempo miles.  Genius.  

Anyways, I hopped to the gym wearing the least amount of clothes possible that would still allow me admittance to the fitness facility.  Best believe that if I had the body for it, I would be wearing a sports bra and bun huggers a la college track & XC studs to eliminate attempt to eliminate my excessive sweating during these tough runs.  None the less, I did dig out a very light running tank to aid in the not-sweat-so-much department.

My goal pace for the tempo miles was 8:40.  After my warm up, I was off and feeling good.  I don't know what my deal is by lately my tempo runs have been feeling awesome (yes count that up to jinxing my next one fo sho).  I do this fun little trick where I convince myself I have one less mile to run than I really do, since my final mile never "counts" because its the one that I get to go all out in.  Doesn't make sense when I type it out, but it tricks my brain like no other.  The unfortunate part about tempo runs is that after the "I don't quite count final tempo mile" there is still an easy cool-down mile a-creepin'.  Luckily I had a celebrity mag to read while I was clomping along.  Yes, I officially feel like I "clomp" when I run at that speed.  It's attrocious.

I ended up doing 8 miles in 1:11:01 (ten seconds slower and I could've been sooooo cooooool, drat).  My pace for the run was 8:58 and my pace for the tempo miles was 8:36.  Uh..heck yes.  My hammies were tiiiiiiight during that final mile so I made sure to stretch extra well afterwards.

My treat for an excellent tempo run?  Coldstone ice cream.  If I was a food blogger, I would insert my glorious foodie picture here, but instead I just ate it.  Yummy tummy.

February in Review

It's that time of the month again (not that time of the month...eew... like I would declare that for the whole world wide web (WWWW?) to read....) my month in review.

February in Review
Total Miles: 124 which is up from 81.5 last month (compared to 54.37 in 2009). This is my 3rd highest mileage month of all time.

Time spent: 19:17:08.  I ran almost a full 8 hours more this month than last, and we were even cheated with only 28 days this month.  Heck ya.  (Last month was 11:25:01.)

Total Runs: 16 for an average of 7.75/run.  (whoa! that seems like a lot!) (Last month was 5.82/run).

Highest weekly mileage: 2/22/2010 — 2/28/2010: 35.0 Mi 5:30:49 (11 miles farther than January)

Favorite run: My tempo run where all was right with the world, the birds were chirping (I'd imagine, I was inside), the heavens were singing, there was a beam of light from above as I frolicked along on the treadmill effortlessly at neckbreaking speeds (ok not quite, but go with it).

Most hardcore run: I'd have to say my longest run to date of 16 miles was pretty hardcore.  Not only was it the farthest I've gone, but it was done with 3-4 miles of loose snow and roughly 1-2 cumulative miles of ice, and I *still* managed to have a faster pace than last weeks 14 miler.  Winner winner, chicken dinner.

Favorite Race: The Knights Classic Sprint (ha, just made that up) aka the footrace where I raced Nick for the length of the basketball court and *almost* beat him.
 
I'm contemplating doing a major switcheroo with my schedule this week.  I may be working a 12 hour shift on Thursday so I can leave work on Friday at noon to do my 18 miler.  This would free up my weekend (other than an easy 5 miler that would need to get done) for going out of town for fun shenanigans.  Could be worth it.  Or perhaps I would fall asleep at the wheel after running that far.... we'll see.
_________________________________
Monday afternoon I was itching to get out of work.  SUNSHINE.  It was a'beamin' into my office window and my body was craving some of its awesomeness.  I rushed out of work towards home, and even toyed with the idea of digging out my capri pants for the run.  News flash Jeri:  30 degrees is still below freezing.  Also, you're dumb.

Luckily, I opted to wear pants (as opposed to capris, not like running around without pants was an option...ya) but failed to grab a headband for my ears.  They were a little on the bright-red-and-burning-with cold-side by the time I got home.

I headed out for 6 easy miles and was so excited to see so many people out enjoying the beautiful weather!  Within a 1/2 mile of my doorstep I saw my buddy Todd running, a mile and a half in I saw a girl I went to Bible camp with as a grade schooler and have still kept in touch with.  YAY for seeing people while running.  And the best part of the run was when I randomly followed a running duo around a loop around the park vs. through the bike trails per usual.  This loop was the exact same distance as the trail is and got me to the portion of the trail that wasn't covered in snow and ice!  Remember the hellacious loose snow for the first two and last two miles of my 16 miler?  Yeah, totally avoided.  WIN! 

I had thought I was running easy, but apparently I was running a smidge faster than that.  Luckily there were still some random patches of ice/huge puddles I had to go around/mud to trudge through to slow me down in some areas. 

I did 6 miles in 56:44 for a pace of 9:28 and made it home while the sun was still on the horizon.
1. 9:08
2. 9:18
3. 9:29
4. 9:47
5. 9:24
6. 9:34

After my run, I noticed something dark on my toe, and had just assumed it was some black lint from my work socks.  Post-shower I realized it was my first blood blister.  EEW!  I swear I was just boasting about how "prissy little Jeri is oh so blessed not to have to deal with gross blood blisters and only has to handle little dinky water blisters."  Well, I guess that came back to haunt me then didn't it?  Naaaaasty ---->

Might be the runner's high talking, but I'm loving marathon training.

Saturday I had a new long run distance to explore:  16 miles.  I crashed pretty early Friday night (after watching a couple episodes of Lost, obvi) and was up way to early Saturday morning.  I was planning on running around 11, as that's when it was going to start warming up, so I ate right away hoping that I would be fueled properly for the long run.  (YES!  Fueling!  Go me!!).  I ate some pb&j toast and a nana (while watching some more Lost).  A friend had offered to be my unofficial pacer for the run via mountain bike or cross country ski, but we realized that neither apparatus (apparati?) would work for the mixture of dry trail, puddles, loose snow, and sheets of ice.  Excellent.  I told him I would take a rain check, and cash it in on the 18 or 20 miler coming up.

I started off the run too too fast.  Every time I checked the pace on my Garmin it was showing 8:50-9:15 range.  Oops.  Apparently I've been running on the treadmill too much.  Miles 1.5-3.5 were h-e-l-l.  Oh my goodness.  The snow was so fluffy/wet that I felt like I was running in sand.  I had to be really careful where I stepped to avoid the harder areas of snow to make sure I didn't turn an ankle or anything.

1. 9:25
2. 10:05
3. 9:57
4. 9:41 

Unfortunately, after stopping momentarily to take a GU I accidentally dumped out half of my 12 oz. handheld.  DRAT!  12 oz. isn't even enough for a 14 mile run, let alone 6 oz.  Oy.  Sooooooo I filled it up with some clean looking snow.  I know.  Gross.  Whatever, I'm sure I've ingested worse.  Doesn't the average person eat a spider or two a year?  Ya, that's way worse.

The next four miles were much clearer, but into the wind.  Ugh.  There's not much worse than running outside in the cold (mid-20s) with the wind in your face.  Brrr.  Luckily the clearer paths helped me forget the fact that I couldn't feel my face.  My pace was truly all over the place, because I tried to run strong when the path was clear so it would compensate for my snail's pace on the snow and ice.

5. 9:33
6. 9:42
7. 9:45
8. 9:38 

The 8 mile turn around point was close to Falls Park, which is one of my favorite places in the city.  I was surprised at how well I fell halfway into the run, and decided I would try to up my pace for a few miles.  After doing some reading about marathon training, I saw the suggestion to try to run the last 25% of your run at marathon pace to simulate how your legs will feel running that pace when they're tired.  Well, since I know how atrocious the last 4 miles of the path are, I wanted to throw them in here.  Whatever.  It's not like my pace has been consistent yet anyway.  These miles felt so good.  There were still some random areas of ice that I had to walk/shuffle on so I didn't break a hip, but the quicker miles felt great.

9. 9:22
10. 9:07
11. 9:31
12. 9:13 

By the time I hit the snow/shit show I was ready to be d.o.n.e.  Who wants to run in sand for 3 miles after running 13?  Not me.  Blech.  I refused to walk, and took this part of the trail as a mental strengthening.  I imagine I'm going to hate running that much during the last 6 miles of the marathon (or 10, who knows) and at that point it's totally going to be mental to keep putting one foot in front of the other.  There were points when I looked down at my watch and my pace was 11-13:30 mm.  UGH!  The effort I was exuding was equivalent to 8 mm at LEAST.  When I got to the final mile that was clear I just went.

13. 9:12
14. 9:40
15. 10:08
16. 9:04

When I finished the run my knees HURT.  Oof.  They definitely took a beating during the sliding around portion of the run.

I finished the 16 miles (16 miles holy crap!!) in 2:33:09 for a pace of 9:35.  (Last week's 14 miler was a 9:37 pace!!)

I walked in the door and immediately got the tub going for an ice bath.  I promised myself I would ice for anything longer than 14 to make sure my legs recover as quickly as possible.  After stretching and warming up slightly, I hopped in the tub, and immediately (ok 2 minutes later = immediately) I had to get out.  I was gasping for air and on the verge of tears.  I hadn't even put in the ice/scoops of snow (yes I shoveled two small buckets of snow to add to my bath) in yet.  I think my body temp must've been pretty low after being outside running for 2 1/2 hours in 20 degree temps.  I'll just have to make sure I ice well until Monday's run.

I had waited to post this until after Saturday night because I knew I would have some fun Saturday night adventure photos.  Unfortunately, I dropped my camera on the ground last night and I'm sad to report, she is no longer with us.  RIP camera.  It was a solid 4 months we spent together.

3 Run Recap Thursday

In what's coming to be my slacker format, this post will be my recap of all my runs since my last one.  Pretty soon I'll be blogging once per week, then only race reports, than I'll slowly fade off into the distance.  Just kidding.  I'll never leave you kids.

On Monday I was having a terrible horrible no good, very bad day.  I was crabby/cranky/bitchy/etc.  As soon as the clock hit 5, I stomped out of my office knowing I needed to hit the treadmill to blow off some steam.  After cursing at all cars while on my route home (horrible drivers!  all of you!  pay attention!), I stomped into my apartment and into some running clothes; turned back around stomped out and headed to the gym.  And then like a sweet sweet angel N called.  I think he sensed my severe distress from afar.  After giggling/laughing my face off, I was at the gym and a whole new person.  Smiley McSmilerson here to do my 6 miler! 

Unluckily for me, my legs felt like lead and roughly 900 pounds a piece.  So yeah, that run was FUN.  (But still run 98% with a grin on my face).  I need to start hitting up ice baths post long runs to help cut down my legs recovery time.  I did the run at a very leisurely pace and caught up on my celebrity gossip a la US Weekly.  I did my 6 miles in 57:34 for a pace of 9:36.

Tuesday I had a 7 mile tempo run with 5 at 8:40 pace.  My legs felt fresh as a daisy after getting out all the kinks the day before, and I literally had *one of the greatest runs of my life*.  These are the runs that we live for as runners.  I felt like I was running effortlessly, fast, and I was definitely in "the zone."  Every time I would lift my magazine to see the distance run I was shocked that it was that close to another mile completed.  Tick tick tick, the miles flew by.

I did the 7 miles in 1:02:28 for a pace of 8:56.  Tempo miles pace 8:37.
1. 9:39
2. 8:36
3. 8:41
4. 8:41
5. 8:41
6. 8:28
7. 9:39 



Wednesday was sweet sweet rest.  And do you want to know what rest looks like in Jerbear land as of late?  Season 1 of Lost.  Now you may be thinking that I'm turning into a television junkie....and you would be right.  First How I Met Your Mother, now this?  Yes.  When Lost first came on tv, I was in college and was busy studying hard and didn't really have time for tv.  After most of my friends were obsessed with the show, I knew I would have to watch it at some point.  I had planned to start watching it once the series was over or once it was on its final season.  Well the final season started a few weeks ago, and what better time to jump in, right?  After spending a solid 5 hours watching after work yesterday, I just finished Season 1's finale today.  Whoa.  I almost want to take the next week off of work just to watch it from start to finish.  Insanity.

This morning I woke up (3rd morning in a row without using an alarm, btw) and headed to the gym for another 6 mile easy run.  After a day off, my legs felt good.  I grabbed a Cosmo to read, and before I knew it 6 miles were done.  I'm really digging this week of MARATHON TRAINING!!!  I did the 6 in 57:38.  Yes, only 4 second difference from Monday's 6 miler.  That's almost Lost-esque in its creepy/eerie factor, no?  :p

Post run, I was excited to make a smoothie. I like to have smoothies on Thursday because it's the one day I run before work, and I hate feeling like I'm s.t.a.r.v.i.n.g while I'm at work.  I had some strawberries, blueberries, a banana, 1/2 an avocado, some protein powder and a splash of juice.  Holy guacamole this was amazing.  The avocado gets the smoothie the smoothest texture, its seriously like melted ice cream.  I was licking the inside of the container after it was all gone.  And it made me FULL. 5 stars smoothie.

In other delicious food news, I've jumped on the greek yogurt bandwagon.  I've gone back to eating very very limited meat, so I'm making sure I'm getting my protein in other ways especially now that MARATHON TRAINING!!! has begun.

[Sidenote:  Maybe I'll do a video clip of what MARATHON TRAINING!!! actually sounds like in my head each time I type it.  It's pretty fun.]

Also, I got this awesome SUNSHINE award from Glenn who said:  "Just look at that smile. Enough said."

So stinkin' sweet.  Thanks Glenn!
I'm supposed to give this out to 12 people, but that seems awfully limited.  I would like to bestow it to anyone who needs a lil sunshine in their lives.

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!  I can't wait to read everyone's race reports while I'm in my 16 mile post-run/pizza refueled coma.  (Yes, I've already decided the meal I will eat post run 2 days in advance.  Are you telling me that's not normal?!?!?)

New Personal Distance Record: 14 Miles

I had been looking forward to my 14 mile long run all week.  Finally a new long run distance to conquer.  (Yes, you know you're officially a crazy runner when you're excited about a 14 mile run, you can relate right??)  However, I was not looking forward to the possibility of having to do it on the treadmill, especially after the crap-fest run from last week's 12 miler.  After looking at the weather report all week, I thought it just might work to do it outside.  I had been eyeing the part of the bike trail that is visible from the road on the way to my gym, and it seemed to be clear of snow.  Once 9:30pm hit on Friday night, it was light's out.  (Crazy runner sign #2:  going to bed before it's dark out practically).

I woke up to 18* temps with a light breeze.  The wind chill was showing 15-16.  I figured I would give it a try, and if it was too unbearable, I could always come home, hop in my car, and head to the gym for the remainder of the run.  I set out in tights, running pants, an under armour wicking LS, a fleece, a light jacket, and a dorky stocking hat.  Turns out that after I returned the Nike running hat this fall, I never actually purchased a new one.  Ooops.  I had also spent time creating an awesome playlist for the run.  Unfortunately, I just plugged in my iPod and then unplugged when I was ready to leave the house.....without actually loading on the new playlist.  Grrr.

I started off on the run, and the trails were 85% clear and I was happy.  Look at me, I'm running outside! Wheeeeeeee!  Of course after the first mile was done, the trails were covered 100% in loose snow.  Miles 2-3 1/2 were horrendous, but the rest of the run was probably about half and half for snow coverage.  Of course on the way back (since I did an out and back course) Miles 11 1/2 to 13 were also horrendous.  You can tell by my splits exactly where the roads were clear or not.  The good thing about the snow is that it did help me to slow down my pace, otherwise I think I would've tried to fly through the 14 miles.  I can not wait to be outside in a tank and shorts though.  Ahhh spring, can't wait.

The sun.  Oh sweet sweet sun.  I had forgotten what the sun even looked like, let alone the extra 2-3 degrees it gives you.  If there wasn't 4-5 foot snow drifts lining the bike trail, I might have even thought it was spring.

I kept expecting to get really tired during the run, since I was exerting myself way more than normal just by slipping and sliding around, but I was pretty much ok except for the final mile, which makes sense because I was pushing the pace because a) it was the last mile and b) the trail was clear.  Overall, I was pretty happy with the run.

I did the 14 miles in 2:14:28 for a pace of 9:37.

1. 9:25
2. 9:51
3. 10:03
4. 9:33
5. 9:34
6. 9:34
7. 9:43
8. 9:33
9. 9:36
10: 9:28
11. 9:35
12. 9:46
13. 9:51
14. 8:50

I did see about 1,000 golden retrievers during my run and it made me want one soooo baaaaaaad.  I had a golden retriever growing up and have wanted another one forever.  N is planning on getting one once he buys a house and I can't wait.  I may already have a sweet "running dog" name picked out for him, and can't wait to have a running companion.  :D

Post run instead of an ice bath, I waded in the snow drifts outside my apartment.  It was cold.  To say the least.  I was impressed by how sweaty I got during that run for the temp;  I must've bundled up correctly, because other than the times I was running into the wind, I was perfectly content.  There were even times when the wind was at my back that I was HOT.

After getting showered up and eating some soup (which my stomach did not take to) I felt sick.  My face was extremely wind burned, causing my body temp to feel extremely warm.  I was on the verge of a headache and my stomach just hurt.  Oy!  I laid on the couch as long as possible and then eventually got some energy mustered up to get all gussied up for the belated-Valentine's Day date.  Yay!  I can't think of a better way to eat back 14 miles worth of calories, can you?  Luckily my stomach started feeling better (perhaps it was the wine, not sure....maybe the snuggling, as that cures all) so I could enjoy my eating and company.

This morning I have some tenderness/soreness in the back of my knees which is to be expected after all the slipping and sliding around that they endured yesterday.  Being the resourceful chica that I am, I stuffed some snow in a ziploc bag and here I am icing away.  :)  While eating some leftover Coldstone ice cream.  Does that kid know the way to my heart or what?  Ice cream = <3

Beth at Shut up and Run is having another giveaway.  Check it out here.

Just Call Me Lance With My Needle

I failed to mention, but on my not so fun 12 mile treadmill run , I had forgotten to bring my running shoes to the gym.  I was wearing my next most recent pair:  Asics Nimbus 10, pink. (see running shoe chart for reference) and decided it would be too big of a waste to drive all the way home.  Big mistake.  I got blisters on top of blisters next to blisters.  Apparently there was a reason these shoes were retired, eh?

Unfortunately, after you have blisters, it doesn't take much to re-aggravate them, even if you have switched back to your oh so great running shoes.  Today after my run I decided it was time to get out my sword aka my trusty blister popping needle.  I lined up all the supplies:  peroxide?  Check!  Sword?  Check! Cotton ball? Check! Bandaids?  Check!  And it was on.  Pop poke puncture. P^3  I guess I am lucky (lucky?) that I only get water blisters, I can imagine that blood blisters are a little more gross and painful.   Usually after I pop mine they'll refill themselves a couple of times, but then they'll be gone for good (assuming I stick to good shoes).  Until then, I think I'll leave my P^3 station set up on my coffee table.  Man it's a good thing I don't have roommates. :p  (P.S. I hope you can't see the fur on my legs, they're like chia pets, I swear.  Also, I really hope none of my readers have foot fetishes, because, um..gross.)

Now that you've all emptied your stomach contents due to my brutal overshare (what? I thought there was no such thing as TMI for runners...pussies....), on to some runs.  Tuesday I had one of my least favorite workouts:  mile repeats.  Blech.  I had 6 miles total with a one mile warm up, 2 x 1600 m. @ 8:02 pace and 800 jogs, and a one mile cooldown.  After going through the workout in my head, I realized that it was going to end on a 2 mile cool down, and I knew I would be tempted to skip it, so instead I did a 2 mile warm up.  I'm a genius sometimes.  :)  Honestly I tried to cut this run short in so many ways and I'm pretty proud that I ended up with all 6 miles.

I did the 6 miles in 54:53 for a pace of 9:09.  Mile times, 7:54 & 7:55, HECK YA!

Warm Up	1 Mi	9:39	9:39	9:39
Warm Up	1 Mi	9:39	19:18	9:39
Interval	1 Mi	7:54	27:12	7:54
Recovery	0.5 Mi	5:04	32:16	10:08
Interval	1 Mi	7:55	40:11	7:55
Recovery	0.5 Mi	4:58	45:09	9:56
Cooldown	1 Mi	9:42	54:51	9:42

I was pretty darn proud of my sweat fest and speed session.

This morning I woke up and headed to the gym (pre Jeri Lance-a-lot) to do my easy 6 miles.  As soon as I stepped outside I questioned why I was going to the gym.  It was in the low 20's, which in my brain=cold.  But I forget what cold minus wind feels like..... not bad at all.  I checked the weather report for Saturday, and with a high of 25 and little to no wind, looks like the Jerbear is OFF THE TREADMILL and on the trails for her 14 miler (PDR right here, whoo!)

Anyway, I wasn't too hyped up about my 6 miler, as I tend to get annoyed by the easy/junk miles in training programs.  Right after I jumped on the treadmill, a guy jumped on the one next to me, who had a prosthetic leg from the knee down.  Seeing him bust out his mile next to me almost brought tears to my eyes.  Not only was he truly inspiring as a runner, but it put my run into perspective.  There should never be a time that I dread doing a run, I should be thankful everyday that I lace up my running shoes that I'm healthy and capable of running.  So anyways, thanks random dude for giving me some perspective and inspiration this morning.

I did 6 miles in 56:51 for a pace of 9:29.

1. 9:38 2. 9:38 3. 9:40 4. 9:30 5. 9:26 6. 8:56


After completing the first 5 miles at a nice and leisurely pace, I had to kick up the speed on the 6th mile.  I also played around with the incline.  Definitely made the run more interesting.

Have a great weekend kiddos!  Be sure to check out RunZoeRun's Champion giveaway.