Back at it!

It has been in the 60s the past two days and I have ran and worked out the past two days!  Yesterday I threw on the shoes and did 5 miles (at a pretty good pace).  Today I went to Body Pump at noon and met up with Kim for an easy 4 miles!

After a 4 day weekend, I am back to work tomorrow and am going to see if I can make it 3 days in a row.

Let's plan my workouts:
~Monday - Body Pump & 4 miles
~Tuesday - 2 miles of sprints & Body Pump
~Wednesday - OFF DAY
~Thursday - 5 miles outside (supposed to be 70)
~Friday - 2 miles of sprints and ?Body Pump?
~Saturday - Fly home

Gym Rat Month

After tapering/getting lazy/being a cold wimp for the two weeks prior to the marathon, the marathon getting cancel, being cooped up all weekend do to the ice storm it felt GREAT to get back to the gym.  December’s focus is on getting stronger.  More lifting, less running.

Yesterday’s workout was short, sweet, and tiring!  It was one of my shorter workouts, but I definitely feel it today.  My running this month is going to mainly consist of HIIT and hills.  I still plan on doing easy miles on the weekend.  At the gym I did two miles of sprint repeats.  0.25 miles at 9:05/9:13 pace, 0.25 miles at 6:58 pace, repeat.  Ended with a time of 16:13 (8:06 pace).  After that, I lifted legs.  Squats, lunges, curls, extension and press.  For squats and lunges I added weight and reduced reps.  By the time I got to the machines, my legs were already pretty spent.  I am feeling it in my quads today!

Tonight I plan on going to the gym and walking at an incline to loosen up and then doing the Body Pump class.  I thought about doing spin after, but let’s not get too crazy when getting back into the swing of things!

Dallas Marathon - canceled

Today I was supposed to run the Dallas Marathon, however, mother nature is sure pissed at everyone and dumped a ton of ICE on us.  Work got canceled on Friday, and on Friday they made the decision to cancel the marathon.

As much as I did put in the work, I wasn't all that upset it was canceled.  My heart just hasn't been in it.  After my last 20 miler, I have had no desire to run.  With the cold and ice, I didn't want to drive, I didn't want to be outside.  I'm glad it was canceled or I would have been miserable.

Megan is trying to talk everyone into a make up marathon, but I have no desire.  She is doing one in Austin next weekend.  There is one in Dallas, but A) I don't want to pay for it and B) It is 8 loops around a lake.  Boring!

The Dallas Marathon has decided to mail us our shirts, they will probably give us a discount for next years race (we will know closer to when registration opens), and if we run it next year we will get two medals - the one from this year and the next years.  I think that is more than a fair way to handle it.

Trying to decide my next goals....

Winter is coming

Today’s high is 80 degrees, tomorrows high is 39 degrees.  Better finish raking up all the leaves tonight.

November Recap             

Goals

·        Run: 100 miles – Check.  116, my highest mileage month all year (including Goofy and Ultra months)

·        Gym: 10 times.  Close – 8 times

·        Long runs of 18 & 20 miles – Check.  Did 5 + DRC half for 18 and did the Fort Worth 20 miler.

December Goals –

Goals –

·        White Rock Marathon – complete!  I am waiting to see the weather to set a time goal.  If the weather is good, I want a PR!  However the weather is not looking so good.

·        Run: 65 miles (and yes 26 are at White Rock).  Heck, I’ll have over half of them by December 8^th.  Can you tell I pretty much plan on taking the rest of December off running?

I have no confidence going into White Rock and I’m not sure why.  September, October, and November were all at least 100 mile months.  I did 2 - 18 milers and 2 - 20 milers, which is more than I have done previously.  I have a lot more running under my belt and on my legs. I ran a lot of the Chicago Marathon on adrenaline and I just don’t have that for this race.  My excitement just isn’t there.  Hopefully with Kim and Megan being here it will put a little extra pep in my step.

On the plus side, I have started getting into the holiday spirit.  Pulled all the decorations down and bought some more.  I went pine cone crazy!  I think it is from all the years cutting down the Christmas tree and always taking pine cones. 

Three Things Thursday

1.  Volleyball is officially over!!  Yay!!  Hermit mode time.  At least we went out on top.  Back to back coed Champs.

 

2. 1,000 miles - Today at lunch I went on a 3 mile run and that put me at 1,000 miles for the year.  Yay!!


3. Texas weather - 74 today, high of 46 tomorrow.  Meaning it is time to head to Illinois.  If it is going to be cold here, might as well head up and see the family.

Fall Weather

Sorry for the rant - One of my biggest pet peeves is when people do not respect my time (or other people's time).  When you have plans with someone you should be on time.  And I understand that things happen, but if you are going to be late, let them know.

Saturday I was supposed to meet a friend to run.  I got up early to get in a few miles beforehand and then meet her at 10.  I only ran 1 mile before because the legs were feeling heavy, had breakfast, relaxed.  Got to the park we were meeting at around 9:55.  At 10:05 I sent her a text asking if she was there (maybe I just didn't see her), nothing.  At 10:15 another text saying I was going to start running short loops, but stay near the parking lot to see her.  Kept running back to the car to check the phone.  At 10:25 I get  text from her saying she lost track of time.  I told her at that point to not worry about coming.  A little after 10:30 she called and said she actually had an appointment in the morning, but was still on her way and was just going to run whether or not I was there.  I left at 11 and she still wasn't there.  How can you be an hour late and not think to tell the person you were meeting....What was I supposed to just sit in my car for an hour twiddling my thumbs?...

Needless to say Saturday's morning run didn't work out the way I planned.  I completed just under 4 miles.

Sunday went much better.  I met up with Lauren at River Legacy Park.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day and almost too hot. Such problems to have in November.  I again got there early to get in a few miles before.  Managed to get in 3.5 before my watch died (oyy!!).  Thankfully I knew one route that was 1.5 miles.  I managed to get in 5 miles before Lauren showed up (10 min early - thank you!!).  We just went on an easy 4 for a total of 9 for the day.

One thing in Texas is we don't get a long fall.  The leaves had just changed and some were falling and tons of people were out and about.  One of the prettiest runs I have been on in a long time.

 

 

Fort Worth 20 miler

The weather was perfect for a long race.  Low 50s at the start, running in shorts and t-shirt in mid-November.  There was some unexpected sprinkles in the morning, but that went away and it was cool and cloudy.

My main goals were to finish and to work on starting out slow.  Both were completed, but not necessarily the race I wanted.  It was an out and back on paved trail with very little crowd support, but the weather was perfect. The first 10 miles I was very cautious and tried to keep a 9 minute pace as much as possible.  I hit the turn around at 1:29:30 and headed back.  I was feeling pretty good and was running about 8:50ish.  Had to stop at a port-a-potty at Mile 13 and just couldn't get it together after that.  I just did what I could to finish and ended right at 3:05.  I was really hoping for 3:00-3:02, but I'll take it.  The last time I did 20 miles I was at 3:07:30ish.  So it was 2:30 faster, but not as fast as I wanted and I didn't feel as good as I wanted.  I had hoped keeping a 9 minute pace early would make the way back easier.  No such luck.

I have mixed feelings if this gives me more or less confidence for the marathon.  In some ways, I know I have gotten in more longs runs than when I trained for Chicago.  I have gotten in a 17 mile run, 2 18 mile runs and 2 20 mile runs.  And I still have this weekend for decent mileage.  On the other hand, I was hoping for better out of this run, so who knows.  Some days you have it and some days you don't. 

Let's just hope I have it December 8th.  Either way, I will finish it!

Friday

How is it Friday already?  Oh yeah, not working Mondays really makes the work week go by faster.

Workouts this week have been spot on, however eating has been way off.

~Monday: Body Pump

~Tuesday: Running, lifted arms

~Wednesday: Running, lifted legs, and volleyball

~Thursday: Running

~Friday: Running

Plan to take Saturday completely off and Sunday is a 20 miler out in Fort Worth.  I am extremely excited about this run.  My first major goal is to complete, I want to get another 20 miler in.  Second major goal is to pace myself in beginning of the race.  I would love under 3:05, but that’s not a big deal.  My first 20 miler was very good, so I know I have it in me that this is just getting 20 miles in for a confidence builder.  Secretly I would love to place in the age group.  Honestly, most people are running the half or the full.  Not a lot of people run the 20 miler, so I am thinking it is a possibility.  If last year’s times are any indication, I could place.  We shall see what this year brings.

The other big thing of the week was looking into hotels for Big Sur.  Megan was going to do it, but just hasn’t had the time.  Dang, they jack up the prices that weekend.  Big Sur marathon has host hotels and preferred hotels.  The host hotel is $250 per night, no thank you.  And most of the preferred hotels got booked way in advance and are still pretty expensive, so I was a little concerned we were either going to be far away or paying out the a$$.  The great thing this race has is a FREE reservation service.  They have rooms blocked off at certain hotels for pretty decent prices.  It is kind of like menu ordering.  They have the hotels listed, options (king bed, 2 fulls, etc), and even show distances to the nearest shuttles for race morning.  Check the boxes you want, how many nights.  It sends them an email and they get back to you within 24 hrs.  They only have a certain amount of rooms at each hotel, so I wasn’t sure if they would all be booked, thankfully they weren’t.  They called and confirmed what I wanted and now all I am waiting on is the confirmation email.  Relatively easy and the hotel I picked is only 0.5 miles from the host hotel.  Meaning 0.5 miles to the expo, shuttle services, etc.  We weren’t sure if we were going to rent a car, so I wanted to stay close to everything as possible.  It also has a restaurant and bar attached.  Prices are higher Friday and Saturday night, but cheap Sunday and Monday, so it averages under $160 a night.  Whoop Whoop!!

I’m really excited about this trip because I haven’t had a REAL vacation in a long time and I have never been to California.  We are staying an extra 2 days to see some sights.  I really want to relax, see the coast, the aquarium, and maybe a few other things.  I am not excited about the money.  Yikes!

Body Pump

Since I had today off, I decided to check out the lunchtime Body Pump class at my gym.  Considering I ran 18 miles yesterday doing a full body workout that includes tons of squats and lunges may not have been my best idea.

I used to go to this class on Tuesday evening and LOVED the instructor, however she is no longer there and volleyball conflicted so I haven't been in over a year.  In group classes, the instructor can make or break the class.  I talked to a couple of girls before class and heard good reviews on the instructor.  She was a encouraging, good energy instructor. 

Man did that class kick my BUTT!!  I knew I couldn't do my previous weights in that class, but geez-o-petes.  Several times I had to drop to just body weight on the squats and lunges.  Arms started off easy and a couple times I considered adding weight, but I am glad I didn't.  Felt OK right after the class, but now, 2 hours later, my booty hurts.  And I think the rest of my body is going to follow suit tomorrow.

I'm sure it is a combination of taking a year off and running 18 miles yesterday.  However, I think I will be putting myself through the same thing next Monday.  I love how STRONG Body Pump makes me feel.  I can't make this Monday class often because of work, but will try to as much as possible.  I am also going to test out the Tuesday night class again, even though I heard less than positive things about the instructor....Gotta go judge for myself.

Weekending

This was a pretty low key weekend.  I think I managed to get 8-10 hours of sleep each night.  Both Friday and Saturday night we had a fire on the patio, one night cooking hot dogs.

 

Sunday was the DRC half marathon.  I was using this race as part of a longer run, aiming for 18-20.  Secretly I was hoping for 20, but it just didn't happen.  Got up bright and early to get down there with time to get in 5 miles before the race.  I did those much faster than anticipated and I think that ended up killing me in the end.  5 miles in 44:27 (8:53 pace).  Started the half feeling pretty good and the first 7 miles were between 8:26 and 8:48.  Again, faster than I had planned.  The next 3 were all around 9 minute pace.  After that, the wheels fell off.  I did all I could to get in under 2 hours. 

 

18.26 miles in 2:43 (8:56 pace).  If I was feeling good, I was going to finish up the 20, but I wasn't, so I called it a day.  Headed home for Whataburger and compression socks.

 

 

 

Bubba apparently didn't care for the medal as he has been beating it up.

 

I have tomorrow off work, so I am going to see how I feel and maybe try and hit the noon Body Pump class at the gym.  Enjoying the couch the rest of the day.



October/November

October Recap –

Goals

·       Run - 110 miles – Check.  110 on the dot!

·       Gym – 10 times – Boo, only 7.  Kind of got lazy a few days and just skipped

·       Long run – 20 miles – Check!  Woo hoo

Overall I am pretty happy with October.  There were definitely sometimes that I got lazy and just decided to skip a run or the gym, but the important things are: I hit 110 miles for the month, I did a 20 miler that I am happy with, and Rock N Roll – St. Louis – I was pleasantly impressed with my time vs the effort level.

November –

Goals

·       Run 100 miles

·       Gym – 10 times

·       Long run – 18 miler and 20 miler

The first three weeks I am looking to get in good mileage and then it is TAPER TIME!

~Nov 3 - DRC half marathon.  I am hoping to do 5-7 miles before/after in order to get to 18-20 miles

~Nov 10 - Ft Worth 20 miler

~Nov 16 – 17 – I am hoping to do back to back double digit runs.

Random Odds and Ends –

~Last night was Halloween – I had over 180 Trick or Treat peeps within an hour and a half

~If I scheduled it right, I will not be working a full week the rest of the year

~I am taking a lot of Mondays off and my gym offers a Body Pump class at noon, maybe I will test that one out.

~We got our department’s annual meeting agenda.  Check out where we are staying…

http://www.southseas.com/

~Volleyball is coming to an end.  THANK GOD!  I am so tired of it and am taking a break before indoor.  I am definitely skipping the first session and maybe indoor all together.  I didn’t get to go into hermit mode last winter because I played ball, now it is hermit mode time!!!!

Rock N Roll - STL

This weekend was our an annual family weekend in St Louis.  Although Nicole and family couldn't make it, we still had a great time.  Of course, my focus was seeing Kyla and Brent.  They love their Aunt Lucy!

 

Saturday they picked me up from the airport and it was straight to the expo, then back to Aunt Cheryl's for lunch and playtime.  Saturday night we went to Purina farms that has animals and a dog show and ended with a tractor ride.

 

Sunday was race morning.  Dad and Uncle Wayne took us and mom and Aunt Cheryl stayed with the little ones.  My phone played an April fools joke on me thinking the time changed happened.  We had perfect timing, getting there with just enough time to park, use the bathrooms and get to the start.

 

As the race started my goal had been 1:55-2:05, hoping for closer to 1:55, but I didn't want to be pushing it.  I just wanted an easy half marathoner.  I saw Dad/Uncle within an 0.5 mile and then I was supposed to see them just before mile 2.  However, when I got there, they were still walking up the street.  So I stopped, waited, and posed for my picture (to be posted later).  Then it was off for another 11 miles knowing I wouldn't see the cheering squad until the end.  I was cruising right along and feeling good the whole way.  Around mile 10 I had the unexpected surprise of seeing Trainer Ashley. I slowed a bit to talk to her, she was hobbling, still hurting from the Chicago Marathon, but it gave me a bit of pep.  Cruised in to the finish, seeing Dad/Uncle in the finishing shoot.  I was extremely happy and impressed with my finishing time of 1:52:40.  It was a top 10 time and I haven't been that low in awhile.  Makes me feel confident for the marathon.  Looking at my splits they were pretty consistent which was another nice surprise.

 

Then I was off to find Dad/Uncle to see Amy finish.  We were laughing and joking and almost missed her, because she had a 23 MINUTE PR!!  Which is unbelievable!  Luckily I am very skilled at finding her, so I did see her in time to cheer.  No one could believe she ran as fast as she did.  Then on to celebratory beers and back for naptime and playtime.

 

Another successful St. Louis weekend!

 

 

 

 

Now on to the toughest weeks of marathon training.  The next 2-3 weeks are going to be some high mileage!!

Three Things Thursday

1.  Merry Christmas to me - when I got home from work today, my new Dyson had arrived!  I'm loving Overstock.com.  I got the DC40 Animal normally $380 for $245 with free shipping.  With these cats it is going to be AMAZING!  I have already used it on the rugs twice.  It adjusts to different floor surfaces which is great.  Most the house is wood floors, but some throw rugs and slate tiles in the kitchen. 

2. Lazy, lazy, lazy.  This weeks is supposed to be a drop down week for me in order to get some rest and recovery before the next three weeks of training.  However, I am feeling extremely lazy and eating everything in sight.  I will still hit almost 30 miles for the week and will still hit 110 miles for the month. 

3. RNR - STL - is this weekend.  I am just planning on taking it slow and running with Nicole (who is doing the full).  Should be right around the 2 hour mark.  Again, it is a drop down week and I am just supposed to take it easy.  I am going to enjoy the weekend with family and play with the little ones!

Recovery Week

After a successful 20 miler, I was surprised at just how good the legs felt Sunday morning.  God Bless the person who invented compression socks!!  They are miracle workers.  Sunday I decided just to do 2 easy miles to get to a 40 mile week.

This weeks schedule is heavy the first few days and lite at the end in hopes to let the legs recover for St. Louis.

Monday - Lunch: run 3.  Gym: run 2, lift legs, and core (check)
Tuesday - Lunch: run 3.  Gym: run 2, lift arms, and core.  Volleyball
Wednesday - Lunch: run 3.  Gym: run 2, lift circuit.  Volleyball
Thursday - Lunch: run 3
Friday - Off Day
Saturday - Off Day
Sunday - RNR - STL

I have been debating what my strategy is going to be in STL.  This week is a 'down' week mileage wise and it is meant to let the legs recover.  As the next two weekends I have big mileage coming up.  I think I want to take it easy over STL, hoping for just under 2 hours.  My game plan will probably change 5 times over the next few days.

Sunday night I decided it was time to officially retire my summer clothes and break out the winter wear.  Brrr!  Good thing I had helpers!

Change of Place

Weather in Texas has been amazing!  Windows open, sun shining, perfect fall weather.  Meaning perfect running weather.

I was bound and determined to get in a 20 mile run this month.  I had been extremely discouraged with not getting long runs in the last few weekends and not being able to find races that fit my schedule.  Now everything is falling into place!

I had asked my friend Lauren if she wanted to meet up for a run, she said sure and that she was only good for 3-4 miles.  Lauren recommended a place in Arlington that was located between us.  River Legacy Park.  I had never been, but I will DEFINITELY be back!  It was gorgeous and scenic, tons of trees lining the paved trail.  The only downside was there wasn't a lot of water fountains, so you should carry your own water.

I got there early and was able to get in 4.8 miles prior to Lauren showing up.  All of those miles were from 8:58 - 9:13 pace.  Nice and easy.  Met her at the cars and we took off and she ended up doing a 10K with me.  The first mile was a 10:20 as she was warming up and messing with her music/iPod.  The next 5 were all at 9:51 - 10:04 pace.  That got me to a total of 11 miles.

Once I set back out on my own, I was still feeling good and I just ran by feel.  The goal was to be under 3:15 which meant I had to finish all the miles at around a 10:00 pace.  First was 9:23 and the next two were at 9:13.  At that point, I wanted to be under 3:10.  Next mile was 9:07 and that last miles were all 9:01 or under.  it was about mile 18 that I started to feel tired and had to put my mind to it and WORK. 

PERFECT RUN! 20 miles in 3:07:32 (9:22 pace).

Next several weekends:
Oct 27 - Rock N Roll - St. Louis half
Nov 3 - DRC half (+ 5-7 miles)
Nov 10 - Fort Worth 20 miler

After today I am feeling so much better about my running and about all the marathons (eek) I have coming up!  I can do this!!!!!

Motivation!

So, I have been very unsuccessful and unmotivated to get in my long run.  Mother Nature has been winning and I have had no motivation to push through.  I was feeling very discouraged because I could not find races I wanted to do that lined up with the mileage I wanted.  It is very hard for me to push myself to keep running on long runs, why not walk awhile?  Poor attitude.

White Rock Racing puts on a Marathon Build Up Series, but none of the 4 races matches my training plan.  Their Big D 30K (18.6 miles) is only 2 weeks out from the marathon.  Not much time to taper.  Three weeks out is about the time I would like to do my last long run.  Much to my relief I decided to look for races on a different website than my normal one and I found the answer – Fort Worth 20 miler.

I had already signed up for the DRC half marathon - Nov 3 and then I was planning on running a few more miles.  If I could do another 5-7 afterwards that would give me 18-20 total for the day.

Now I found the Fort Worth Marathon, 20 miler, and half marathon – Nov 10.  The 20 miler is a perfect.  Obviously 20 miles is what you want to get to in your marathon training.  It is the magic number.  And it is 4 weeks out from White Rock (Dallas) Marathon. 

That would be two weekends in a row with good long runs!  4 and 5 weeks out from my marathon.

Talk about renewed spirits!!  Maybe I can get in the training I want!

Mother Nature wins again

91% humidity....

Yeah - no long run for me this morning....
One day I WILL get a 20 mile run in, I just hope it is before the White Rock marathon.

Since I have some vacation days to burn, I will just have to pick a day mid-week and get in a good long run.

Funk Free

Earlier this week I was in a funk.  I have no idea why.  There was just no desire to do anything.  No desire to work, no desire to run and no desire to play volleyball, I was in a haze.  I wasn’t sleeping all that well.  Nothing was wrong, it was just like waking up on the wrong side of the bed for 3-4 days in a row.  The weather has been perfect, I have been getting in decent running, nothing bad happened, no one pissed me off; I was just in a funk.

I am happy to announce that I have snapped out of it.  Yesterday at work I was still funk-ish.  When I got home somehow I managed a great 5 mile run.  It felt pretty easy, the weather was good and I was working on pacing myself.  I wanted to maintain a 9 minute pace.  I was fighting some windy sections and a few rolling hills, but managed to hit my times fairly well.

9:02, 8:55, 8:59, 8:51, 9:00 and an 8:56 pace to the door.

After that it was (slow cooked) pulled pork for dinner, a bath, and homemade Rumchata ice cream.  Slept pretty good and woke up feeling refreshed.  Hopefully the funk is gone.

Even with not feeling it, I am up to 21 miles already this week.  I am hoping (pending mother nature) to get out to White Rock tomorrow and get in a long run.  I will be happy with anything between 16 and 20 miles.  That should put me at my highest mileage week since February.

Sunday is the Chicago Marathon.  This marathon will always hold a special place in my heart.  My first marathon, in my home city.  Last year it didn’t bug me that I didn’t run it, but for some reason this year, I am really wishing I was at home running it.  I have signed up to stalk track several people and am excited to get all the text alerts.  Maybe that will up my running motivation!

No 20 for me

So I woke up Saturday morning with the intent to do 10-12 miles on my own and then in the afternoon meet up with my friend Kim who was in town to run some more.  Well, mother nature wasn't cooperating.  It was cold, cloudy, windy and all together unpleasant. 

Then Kim's flight got delayed for 4 hours and she didn't end up getting her until after 4.  And Ashlee was supposed to bring over baby Reagan around 5.  And then it rained, so there was no running for me yesterday.

Today I woke up and did any easy 5 miles.  I could do more, but am not going to.  I have 2 more weekends where I can attempt 20 miles...instead I'll just watch football all day!!!

Good training week

This is the first week in awhile where I felt like my workouts were spot on.  The only day I had to alter slightly was Thursday.  I was supposed to 5 miles after work, but my left calf was extremely tight, so I decided to cut back and rest it.

·        Monday – 3 miles @ lunch, 3 miles – legs – core

·        Tuesday – 3 miles @ lunch, 2 miles –arms –core, volleyball

·        Wednesday – 3 miles @ lunch, volleyball

·        Thursday – 2 miles @ lunch, 3 miles

·        Today is a REST day.  I plan on doing some cleaning, maybe some reading and chilling out on the couch. 

Tomorrow I am going for a 20 miler!  Heading down to White Rock and going to sign up for the DRC 15K (only $10 even race morning – no shirt or anything). 

The plan: Run 2 mile warm up, DRC 15K, and then another loop around the lake. 

Also this weekend I will be making the Southwestern Crockpot Chicken.  Now that the temperatures should consistently be out of the 90s/100s it is time to get out the crockpot.  So easy and so many options.  I am looking forward to Chicken Noodle soup, roast potatoes and carrots, and some new freezer meal ideas…

Natalie Hodson is a blogger I follow and right before she had her second baby she made these prepackaged freezer meals that all you do is pull out of the freezer and stick in the crockpot.  I really want to try the Chicken Tortilla soup and the Honey Lime Chicken.

http://nataliehodson.com/healthyrecipes/11-healthy-inexpensive-freezer-meals/

September Recap/October Goals

September was a pretty good month for me.  My two main goals were to run 90 miles and hit the gym 10 times.  Well I’m batting 0.500.  I ran 100 miles – which is awesome.  I have not been that high since January and February when I was running Disney and the Ultra.  Go me, go me.  I only made the gym 8 times, but I am still happy with that.  There was one week early on in the month that I pretty much took the whole week off…

I managed to run 3 long runs of 15, 16.7 and 18 miles.  The 15 miler and 16.7 miler both went pretty well.  The 18 miler I did in 3 segments, but that made me run on tired legs.  I keep thinking I am not where I need to be for marathon training, but then I remember that I still have 2 months before the race.  That gives me 5-6 weeks of building up still.  Hoping to get in two 20 mile runs, and then some back-to-back mid distance runs. I think training for Goofy really helped my running overall, so I am going to try and fit some of those it.

October

Goals

·       Run - 110 miles

·       Gym – 10 times

·       Long run – 20 miles

One of the things I am also working on is not giving up my lifting for my running.  I have always backed off the gym during marathon training for two reasons (1) – time and (2) – I didn’t want my muscles to be too tired for a quality run.  I’m trying to switch around the days I do things to fit it all in.  I want to do it all.

Five for Friday

1. Vacation days - I took today off work just for the heck of it.  Really I took it off in order to get in 18 or so miles before this weekend.  We want to head out to the lake since we haven't been there is 3 weeks and I needed to get in a long run.  I've already gotten 10 miles done and I think I am going to do the other 8 in two runs.  I am also hoping to run a few miles out at the lake.

2. Internet - After 6.5 years of not having the internet at home, I finally gave it.  There goes my productivity.

3. Weight - Over the past two months my weight has been creeping up and up. Nothing too crazy but definitely have to get back on track with my eating.  I haven't eaten out much, but I have been snacking and have a lot more unhealthy food.  Taking chicken, veggies, and hummus out to the lake.
 
4. Running - I am finding it hard to motivate myself and push myself while running.  I think with Megan (my main running partner) being gone and not racing as much, I'm just coasting along.  I factor in a lot more walking than I should.  I know I can run 13 miles without stopping during a race, why do I find myself walking during 5 mile runs?  Right now I am just getting the miles in and on the legs no matter how long it takes.  Hopefully once the weather cools a bit more and races pick up more in the fall, I will get back at it.

5. Volleyball - My Wednesday night team won are league.  Woo hoo!  We are by far the best team out there, so yes we should have won.  The whole season, we only lost 2 games, out of 20; and in the tournament we weren't challenged except for the Championship game.  We ended up losing the first game, winning the second to force a third.  The third ended up going extra points in order to win by 2, but we pulled it off!  Yay - free T-shirts!  Best part - all the fun we were having!

What a weekend –

I honestly don’t think I could have fit a single extra thing in this weekend.

Starting off Saturday morning at 7AM, got the bobcat to load all the dirt in the trailer to take to the dump!  Bye bye dirt/yay seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on the patio project!  I actually had fun taking the dirt to the dump but I definitely wore the wrong footwear.  Flip flops is not proper dump attire.  All the older guys were just laughing at me running around.  I don’t think they are used to people enjoying the dump.

Next was straight over to the Little’s for the Alzheimer’s charity volleyball tournament where I dominated.  My team went undefeated all day and won the tournament.  First game of the knockout round we went down 6 to 1 and came back!  Then I proceeded to dominate the raffle!  I probably won about 1/3 of the prizes including: a chair for sporting events (in the carrying bag), camel pack (which will be great for riding and running), Lia Sofia gift bag, $100 Lia Sofia jewelry, oil candles, a visor, and a shirt.  The picture isn’t very good, but it is me and all the prizes!  Jack won the volleyball and Frisbee set, but said we could have it for out at the lake!

Sunday morning was the Love the Half.  I parked at work and ran 2.3 miles before the race, did the half marathon and ran 1.3 back for a total of 16.7 miles.  I was supposed to do 17 and thought I did, but realized I only ran 2.3 before the race (thought it was 2.6 until I checked my watch).  Oh wellz…

After the half marathon I came home, took a shower and headed back out to do the Challenge Nation scavenger hunt around downtown Dallas.  I wasn’t much help with the clues, but had fun running around seeing some of the sights.  I think I easily got in 3 more miles, had a few beers, then headed home.

Didn’t even watch most of Da Bears game.  I was exhausted from two full days of being outside in the sun and running around.  Made my lunches and went to bed early.  Slept like a rock and loved every minute of it!!!

Blood work

I always get nervous when I get my blood work done; my numbers have been fine for years, but for some reason I always expect the worst case scenario.  Yesterday I got my results and they were the highest they had been in years!  That means I can continue my marathon training without any concerns!

	Weight	145	142	140	158?
	Normal Range	2013	2012	2011	2010
Ferritin	10-220	43	19	16	30
Hemoglobin	11.5-15.5	13.7	12.2	12.1	12.7
Hematocrit	34.0-45.0	42.6	36.6	37.5	40.2
Cholesterol	<200	184	161	157	203
Hgb A1C (Sugar/diabetes)	4.0-5.6	5.4	5.5	6	n/a