Have you ever wonder

what none runners think of when they see a runner on the road, I mean a runner going out for a long run. Today was my last long run before Cleveland since I know there was no water on the route, I had my 4R speed nathan belt, arm warmer since it was windy cold but not cold enough for a long sleeve shirt and of cause my mp3 player. All this probably doesn’t face me when trail running or on the towpath but running through the suburbs is a different story of course my husband didn’t help matters much, when my friend called asking about me, he replied “she has her grenades ob, so she is probably going to be gone for a while.”

On long run you appreciates the little things, clean flushable bathroom in the middle of the Avery Park, thanks to the Village of Glenwillow. A nice safe sidewalk or asphalt path from Solon to the center of Historic Bedford, all I had to do was keep running until I get to 10 miles then turn around and a beautiful sunny day with no rain.

All the gear worked fine, nutrition will be adjusted a bit, it seems like 4 miles was fine at the beginning but after mile 12 it was getting too late. Tried Gatorade 1,2 & 3 since they were on sale, no stomach issue but a bit sweeter than I am use to.

Slight pain still on my right knee and left ache, so icing, messaging and stretching.

Active Rest Day

No running on the schedule today but I was behind on the cross training and strength training schedule so got them in

32 mins on the stepper
10 mins on the Elliptical
S90 Ultimate Ball 30  mins
S90 Tabata Inferno 28 mins cut this short since I was running late for work.

Got most of the workout in while watching the Royal Wedding , not like I really had a choice all the channels were showing the same thing.

Of cause it was raining again today which I am so sick of at this moment and I didn't feel like walking to work, so I rode my bike in the rain, bad a rain jacket and a bonnet but the front of my jean did get slight wet but I figure I run in snow, rain or sun while not start doing the same with biking, I get there faster anyway. Still need to adjust the seat back, for a more comfortable fit but need the right tools.

There seem to have been a major damage to the server at buckeye outdoors where I log my workout, even thou I have paper log, I think I have more details over there so I am really hoping they can recover the data. oh well

15 days to the Cleveland Marathon but who is counting

Didn't get a god night sleep due to all the high wind and noise, it is amazing that we are getting 65mph wind in Ohio, this has really been one of the weirdest April excess rain and cold, back to the 40s tonight with more rain.

I got on the treadmill this morning to get my workout in but after like 1.6miles we lost power, so while going at 6.1mph my treadmill came to a dead stop very weird feeling and just as I was trying to decide what to do the power came back ON then OFF then ON again.

Got in 7 miles was really suppose to do 8, but got up late, while running I was watching Royal People Product Collectors, it is amazing how much stuff most of this people have, how much money they've spent. I do have to admit it does make them happen and one woman even got teary eye why talking to a wax doll of William.

Decided to walk into walk from the transit center today, it was very windy and even walking was difficult sometimes, don't think I have enough bike skills yet.

Intention after work today was to go trail running, but I needed to go back home and take my son back to school for a study session, which means I will be driving about 45mins back to the run location then I noticed that gas was now $4.15 and decided that the 5 mile was not worth the price of gas so dropped my son off and ran the ABC streets around school for 3 miles which was all I seem capable of doing, legs tired, body cold and still very windy with sprinkle of rain drop.

Not sure what is going on with Buckeye Outdoors where I log my workout, right now the sites URL is coming up missing, yesterday it said loading but eventually failed. I really hope it is not lost that is where my most complete data is except for my paper log. ahh...

1 Mile Repeats

Still trying to get back into the full swing of things, but at least I am getting out of bed, today's workout was nice and straight forward, sometimes it is so hard to get through a mile that you wonder how you are going to get through 26.2, but in the end it is one foot in front of the other.

1 mile warmup
2x1 mile @ 8:44 (8:40, 8:37) did feel like I was going to die but my HR said I was fine, average HR 149, 150
1 mile cool down

Supreme 90: Chest & Back - Again love this workout, a bargain at $20 for very well designed 10 DVD program.

Seem to be getting better at the bike commute, the bike seat high feels better but now need to work on moving it back a bit, also the gears are still a problem but getting better, maybe there is a duathlon in my future if I can master uphill and downhill Shifting.

A great website to go to find out more about multiday races can be found HERE

Self Transcendence 6 & 10 day Race

Am not even sure most people are aware of this race, The Self Transcendence 6 & 10 day Race, just imagine how many miles can you do a day for 6-10 days on a 1 mile course in Flushing, NY. I have a friend (Fredrick Davis III) running the 10 day race, they are on day 8 and so far he had done 334 miles, currently in the lead is Kaneenika Janakovaat at 574 miles leading man Yuri Trostenyukis at 553 miles. What is so amazing is that this people are running 50-90 miles a day, recovering and doing it again.

This event is sponsored by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon team, the founder Sri Chinmoy believed  "sports can be a powerful means to unlock the true potential of the human spirit". So I guess we are all capable of more than we think we can do.

Today's Workout
7 miles easy run
4.5 miles bike commute, I think I am finally getting close to figuring out the gears on my bike and my proper seat hit

Refocusing

I can of have been slagging in my blogging lately, I think somehow I just got overwhelm with everything going on in  bloggy world, I think ignorance was bliss, when I wasn't aware of giveaways, initially when I was checking out blogs I was following people I was curious to how they train, recover, fluid their run and fit everything in but then I discovered giveaways and things kind of get out of control. It is amazing how you try to sign up for one giveaway and then before you know it you are on giveaway #3 and liking another company on facebook, then of cause you have to remember to track them all so you can know when you win. So in this process of doing all this I forgot to update my blog, read blogs an really interested in and check on bloggy friends to see how things are going. Even thou I love winning and I have won some stuff, it is time to refocus.


Am now 3 weeks away from my third marathon and my training is going ok, so needs to refocus on that too, for the last 3 weeks I have been doing what I feel like and not following my training plan, problem with this is my body needs structure without which I set myself up for injury since I really am not quite aware of what am doing and it is too late in the game to be doing that. Back to following the plan.

Next on the list is my nutrition, I have actually been doing pretty good, lost 10 pounds in the last 2 months but I need to refocus om my pre, during and post run nutrition seems to just be winging it lately which is beginning to translate into slow/longer recovery and also not being able to hit my scheduled pace.

Also, I have noticed that my heart rate is high during my warmup, I have gotten away from slowly starting my run and keeping my HR in zone 1, which also indicates to me not enough sleep, making me prone to injury.I guess all this really come down to the fact that I need to listen to my body more, all the warming signs are there is just a matter of if I want to pat attention to then or not.

Today's Workout:
1 mile warmup - starting out HR was at 172, so had to bring the pace done actually worked some until the HR was done to about 112.
4x800 with 600 recovery, using Runbayou VDOT calculator (I use this or McMillan Calculator) target for the
800 was 4:20
1-4:12:22
2-4:11:81
3-4:16:25
4-4:13:63  Even thou I was happy to hit the pace the thing I was most glad about it that my max HR during the 800 meter stayed at 155, so I am improving the pace, I can run at a lower HR.
1 mile cool down

Supreme 90: Legs This program is a great buy for $20, you really can't get something better for the price, well put together and perfect for me as a runner since it is short and to the point. I normally skip the warmup since I am doing this after a run. Available at Target, walgreens & Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Baron Baptiste: Vinyasa Level 1, really love this simple straight forward yoga, done in 30 mins but hitting every part of the body. great core work.

Oh, I am still going to enter giveaways, just not going to get obsessed with it, it is great to win since I get to try new stuff. :)

Run with Jess 10K Virtual Race

Probably the most colorful I have ever been

and Finally a day without rain in Ohio, went from none stop snow to rain but today was beautiful

Lock 29 Towpath

Jackson Laughs 25K Race

 

The race started at Kent State Dix Stadium, even thou Kent is just around the corner I have never been there so didn’t know what to expect and was hoping I don’t get lost.

I didn’t really expect much from this race, since this was a charity run and there wasn’t that much publicity for it, so I expected a small race, no crowd support and minimal volunteers.

The race was a fundraiser for Fragile X and this is Jackson Laughs. 

The route was great, hilly and lots of back roads  but since we have to face traffic while running, it meant we ran on the left side of the road and since most of the back roads were narrow it meant running at the edge of the road to avoid being road kill, which means my butt cheek muscle wasn’t going to be happy. The route was long 25k is 15.5 miles and my garmin record 16.24miles.

I was using the race as a training run and also to support a great cause, the goal was really to run around a 9:30 pace but I wasn’t expecting rolling hills so based on the hills and fine with the pace.

What needs improvement, didn’t get my t-shirt when I got my number, had to go to another location about 15mins away for the after party and my t-shirt, I wasn’t planning on going to the after party since I had other plans but I drove down to get my shirt anyway.

Not much to eat at the end of the race, banana and oranges, rest of the food was at the after party location, which meant most runners left after they came in to get food at the other location so not much people around to cheer people in.

First water stop was around mile 3.3 and the next one wasn’t till mile 8, not sure why but after that they were closer together.

The Kent Police were great, especially 2 cops around mile 13.3 when they saw me coming turned on their siren and lights and got in the intersection, to stop traffic so I could cross a 4 lane road, people were sticking their head out wondering who I was, that made my made, but they were at every major crossing helping control traffic and most of the drivers were nice enough to slow down.

The course was well marked although it could be brighter, not sure the timing was great since there was a 5k in Kent last week, a 25k/50k tomorrow, I expected more turnout even though I knew tt was going to be small but I only saw 2 runners I know.

Cardio Challenge

Woke up still with a pull on my right butt cheek so I decided to do an extended cross training before running

15 mins on the Spin bike
8 mins on Stepper
7 mins on Elliptical
4 miles using Itread 23 Fast & Flat, it was a great progressive run, the butt cheek felt fine and the run felt great after being thoroughly warmup.
Supreme 90 Cardio Challenge -this is a great workout, love the plyo and light weight challenge.

Missing my yoga needs to start working it back in.

On waking today had some pain/tightness in my right butt cheek, for work yesterday since I was walking from the bus transit center to work I decided to wear my running shoe with the orthotics in it but I stopped wearing the orthotic last year because I thought the aggravated my issue so why I will think it will be okay to wear walking is beyond me.

1 mile recovery run, 2 miles @M pace, 1 mile recovery
Supreme 90:Arms & Shoulder
Supreme 90 Stretch

It is so cold and damp today

New Adventure

With the continue increase in gas price, I bought my monthly bus pass yesterday and started taking the bus, so this means no dilly dally in the morning, I had to get up, get my workout in, shower and get ready. Getting to work which is 32 miles one way and cost me over $300 last month, now involve driving to the next neighboring city, parking, getting on the bus, napping, reading or listen to podcast while the bus takes me downtown, get off bus and walk 1.5 miles to work. The walking part has been the problem all along, don't mind the walk but not the best neighborhood, there is a connecting  bus but I do not see myself waiting around for 30mins for it when I will be almost at work already. Getting back to the terminal, my coworkers have been dropping me off not the best of options either, right now I am thinking of taking my bike and locking it in front of the terminal and can ride back and front, on the sidewalk off cause, don't think I can handle road biking yet.

Yesterday I was being lazy so only go in 20 mins of spinning.

Today:
7 miles using Itread 24 run intervals
Supreme 90 tabata inferno
Supreme 90 stretch

Run with the Sisters–Towpath

When I got back to the Boston Store, ran into the Sister’s Sheila and Shelby getting ready to go for well 6-12miles, all depending on whether Shelby finds her Mojo or not. After a quick change into clean shoes and pant, I headed off with probably not one of my smartest moves since my legs were tired but I don’t get to run with them too often.
We headed of from the Boston store


Since this was the towpath it was nice and flat

We went pass Lock 32

then  Lock 33

then was is left of the Jaite Paper Mill


then onto Red Lock.

I turned around after 3 miles since I was reaching my limit but Shelby found her mojo so they continued on. Nice running with you today ladies.
Still some lingering snow on the slopes.

Boston Store to Jaite–Trail

I really can understand how people in Ohio can easily get depress, after a beautiful sunny blue sky day yesterday, I woke up to the usual 30 degrees and grey sky, what happened to the Sun and blue sky. Oh well.

I decided to join the Fleet Feet Northfield Trail group for a run at 8am, I have never ran with them so want’s sure how fast they are and if they will be accommodating to my slow pace neither was I sure what my legs was going to do since this is a difficult hilly trail run. The group was great to run with, yes they were fast but they stop/slow in front to let us catch up before taking off again, but since we were running on the buckeye trail I wasn’t really concern, know I wasn’t going to get lost.

This is one of those runs better explain in pictures, yes the trail was still muddy.

Boston Store, side view coming back after the run.

Following the blue blaze as you can see on the right.

Nice downhill, which of cause we climb on the way back.

Lots of steps and when you are not doing that

you were doing this

and more of it, or trying to figure out how to get around this

and run across this

But at the end of the day the view makes it all worthwhile.

 

 

Glorious Sunshine

Well, after the fluke snow storm on Thursday, it was nice to have a beautiful sunny day today slight windy but still sunny with blue sky. Went out around noon for a run, I wasn't sure how many miles I was going to run, just go out and do an easy one, after 8 miles I called it a day, lots of runners and cyclist out enjoying the sun.

Got back still with some energy left so did 30 mins of Spin interval using a program by Gregg Cook at Motion Traxx then did Supreme 90 Ultimate Ball which is a great core workout using the Stability ball.

Hoping to get some trail running in tomorrow.

Recovery Week & March Review

Recovery from the Fool’s 50k went great, had a ice bath when I got back home but note to self make sure water completely cover the legs. The pain concentrated on my quads exactly where the water stop and made using the stick a nightmare. Monday and Tuesday I concentrate on eating close to 6000 calories each day, no junk, mainly some form of carbs & protein, basically my refeed days, my body tend to response to this and it help with my healing process. This time I took Monday off work just because this was a hilly race and I was not looking forward to climbing the constant 4 story stairs required, back at work Tuesday no problem going up the stairs but the quads were slightly sore when going the stairs by Wednesday things were back to normal and I got in some Spinning. Thursday back to running and Friday I started back to strength training using Supreme 90.

March went great, got in all my scheduled runs with some modifications, worked on strength and cross training but need to focus on flexibility in April, still using The Self Coached Runner by Allan Lawrence and Mark Scheid training plan for a 4 hour marathon. So far I love the plan and I have been able to train with it injury free even thou I am running more miles than I ever did and challenging myself speed wise. The only problem with running this many miles is that my shoes need change sooner and with money tight this is fast becoming a problem, so if there is any company out there that need a tester for trail or road shoe am your girl. Running is definitely not as cheap a sport as we all thing, well it could be but to really have fun with it, it is not

Year	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Jan	0	125.8	38.39	7	169.68
Feb	0	94.48	55.61	34.3	159.68
March	0	124.76	86.49	28	164.42