From Tapers to Tornados

I won’t delude myself into thinking that more than a handful of readers even noticed my two-week hiatus, but to those of you who inquired as to my absence–thanks, it’s nice to be missed!

The unread blogs on my Google Reader may be encroaching on a thousand in number, and the overtime on my paycheck may have had me doing a happy dance in my kitchen this evening, but I assure you–my time these past few weeks hasn’t been entirely spent away from running.  I’ve been keeping to my back-to-back marathon plan, running work-sponsored 5ks, and even setting new PRs.

The 5k was an annual run/walk put on by Tuerk House.  My company sponsors me in it every year, so long as I go and shake hands with the program director and tout our company for their upcoming projects.  Last year’s race took place right after a bit of a health scare that ended in surgery and I ended up having to walk the last part of the course.  My time this year not only took almost 10 full minutes of my previous course record, but an unexpected 27 seconds off my 5k PR!  The funny part is that I actually ran the course once before the race in an effort to stay warm (it was 42 degrees out that morning), even though I knew that by doing so I was essentially saying goodbye to a shot at a competitive time.  Apparently not, though — I didn’t wear my Garmin so you can imagine how shocked I was when I crossed the finish line and saw the clock read 26:03.  Crazy!  Maybe I should race all 5ks going forward after running a 3 mile warm up?

While I missed my last long run last weekend, I made it up with a 20 miler on the treadmill after work on Monday.  I didn’t get home until after 10pm, but it wasn’t nearly as awful as it sounds.  In fact, thanks to my new work phone I spent most of the 3.5+ hours killing time on Facebook. Posting status updates every few miles really helps pass the time, and the kudos in the comments were great motivators!  Not that I recommend epic long runs on treadmills, but I’ve determined that not only is it a decent alternative to the trail when daytime runs aren’t an option, but it’s perfectly doable.

This week begins my taper for the NCR Trail Marathon on the 27th.  I’m not sure how I feel about stuffing myself full of turkey and pecan pie on Thanksgiving and not being able to run it off for three days, but I’m sure I’ll survive.  I’m excited for the race, but I’m also excited for the race to be over. I’ve been actively training for the past 6 1/2 months and my body is tired.  My brain is tired, too, and both can really use the reprieve.  I plan to keep running through the winter, but intend to drop my weekly mileage from 35-40 to about 15-20.  And, if Wednesday’s tornado (that hit just blocks from my house!) is any indication that this winter’s weather systems will be on par with last year’s Snowmageddon, I’m sure it won’t be too hard!

What’s Next?

While I’m running a race, my thoughts are usually on writing my upcoming race report.  I’m formulating the post in my head, desperately trying to contextualize all the crazy things I see and experience, because I simply cannot wait to share them with all of you and I don’t want to leave anything out.  But then I get home, exhausted and sore, and all I want to do is watch the weeks-worth of shows clogging up my DVR and eat oatmeal with bananas and peanut butter. 

My race report is coming, in fact it’s nearly there, but instead of prematurely hitting “Publish” on a rather uninspired recap, I’ll save you all the interminable boredom and wait for that stroke of genius that’s bound to show up sooner or later.  Because no one enjoys a dull-as-dirt play-by-play of 26 looong miles. 

I think I need a muse… think they sell those on Amazon?

In the meantime, let me introduce you to my next challenge.  Three days before I was set to run my first marathon, I did a crazy, impulsive thing.  I registered for my second.

 … and it’s in 6 weeks.

I know, I know… what would possess me to register for a second marathon before I even decided if I liked my first?  I asked this myself many times, and in the end, the answer was $10.  Yup, you see, the day of the Baltimore Marathon, registration for the NCRTM went up a whopping 10 bucks.  And to this girl, $10 is a lot.  For that matter, so was the $7 service charge Active.com tried to slap on my order, and so, I signed on the dotted line of a money order and mailed it off old school style.   Mock me if you want to, but I’ve got $17 in my pocket that some sad, undecisive runner that registered today, well, does’t.

The next question was, how on Earth do I train for this?  As in all times of confusion and general unrest, I turned to Google.  Trusty, Google, I love you.  Within an hour I had a plan inspired by Hal Higdon’s advice for running multiple marathons that will lead me through 2 weeks of recovery, 2 weeks of intense training, and another 2 week taper.   Side note: this isn’t a true trail race.  The NCR Trail is really an old rail line on packed gravel and it’s super flat–probably why it made the list as one of the top ten qualifying races for Boston.  

(Click to enlarge. This is also posted on my Training page)

So, it’s official,  I’ve been bit by the bug.  Again.  I’ve been scouring the  web and piecing together my race calendar for 2011.  There are so many options, and clearly I can’t do everything so I’m focusing on new races I haven’t done before.  And there are plenty.  I’m thinking of trying out a trail run, or maybe a sprint distance triathlon (you know, one that doesn’t require me to train in  a pool, or on a road bike because I have access to neither).

Tell me, what races are you running in the Baltimore/DC area in 2011?  If you haven’t thought that far ahead yet, which ones have your enjoyed that you would do again?

Don’t Honk At My Taper

The week before my first marathon, I expected to be bubbling over with anticipation, posting ad nauseum about the mundanities of tapering and preparing for race day.  I did not expect my preparation to include a 60+ hour work week that left me with a desire to look at anything but a computer monitor once I finally found my way into my pj’s each night.  

I’ve heard horror stories of athletes turning into angry, frustrated, bloated jerks during their taper and I was fully prepared to become one of them (even apologizing to my husband in advance for any undue masochistic tendencies that might crop up over the upcoming weeks), but surprisingly, and in spite of my long hours, I have been wholly embracing this taper thing.  A couple of months ago, I was having a hard time managing my one rest day, but here I am, a full two weeks into my taper and I’m noshing on Stromboli, sleeping late and loving every minute of it*.   In fact, the only thing that I’m not anxious about, is the fact that I’m not anxious.

Some might say I’m in denial, and just so you know, I’m not arguing. 

In my oodles of spare time away from the office, I’ve been pecking away at a post on drivers who honk at runners–a ubiquitous pastime of the uncivilized that got me particularly incensed this past weekend.  Apparently, not everyone is feeling as lighthearted as I am these days, as evidenced during my last “long” run on Sunday, when the drivers on the road were a better fit for the taper stereotype than I was.  Over the course of my 8 miles, I was honked at 3 times–4 if you count the air horn some jackass blasted 5 feet from my ear.

Why, oh why do people honk at runners?  I wasn’t running in the street, or wearing skimpy clothing.  I wasn’t even wearing spandex!  I was just minding my own business on the sidewalk–bum knees be dammed. 

I’m not sure why it irritates me so much, but the honking truly rubs me the wrong way (more so than the creepy guy who slurred, “Baby, you don’t need to exorcise” around mile 6).  I think it’s because I can’t figure out how all this honking is ment to be received.  Do they mean for me to take it as a “Hey, baby,  How you doin?’” a la Joey Tribbiani,  or is it more of an assertation of the  ”Atta girl!” variety?  I’d be much more appreciative of the tonal high-five rendition of the automotive honk (if that’s the case, perhaps the air horn was more an “up high” interpretation?).

The real issue is this:  If I don’t know how a honk is intended, how do I know how to respond?  Instinctively, I want to give the offender the proverbial finger, but if the driver is merely offering kudos, clearly flipping the bird is not the ideal response.    And yet, a smile and a wave of thanks is hardly the message I want to be sending to some sleaze-bucket who’s puffing up his tail feathers and trying to get in my pants.

Scott Douglas published an all together different theory on why drivers honk at runners called The Mystery of Honking.  His whole philosophy is rooted in the belief that honking stems from anger.  Be it anger at the runner for hogging the road, or anger at themselves for not being as physically active as their object of abuse.  Personally, I’m hoping Scott’s way off base, because if he’s right, that air horn was probably laced with foul-mouthed resentment.  And who needs resentment messing with the bliss of their taper? 

All I know is this:  Tomorrow I’m headed to the starting line to race my first marathon, and the only air horn I want to hear is the sound of the gun at the start.

* Well, clearly not every minute….

The Last Hurrah

This weekend was the final push before beginning my taper and I planned to make the most of it.  On Saturday I set out on my last long run – 12 miles. 

Actually, lets back up a moment, because the real challenge here wasn’t really the run, it was getting out the door.  In reality, I woke at 6 and ate a bowl of oats.  And then I went back to bed.  At 7:30 I got up again and checked the weather.  It was 50 degrees.  Not only did that incite me to don some cold weather running gear (pants and long sleeves), but it also meant that heat wasn’t going to be and issue and so … yup, you guess it, I went back to bed.  At 9:30 my husband started laying on the guilt trips and so I started making moves towards the front door.  Don’t think I wasn’t dragging my feet with procrastination though.  First I forgot my tunes, and then my sunscreen and when I finally made it outside it was hot!  Well, ok, not hot, but it wasn’t 50 degrees anymore either.  I went back inside and changed into shorts and a tank.   I was finally off and running around 9:45.   Geeze…

The run itself was amazing.  I will even go as far as to say it was my most successful training run yet.  My long runs have been slow all through my training – around a minute slower than my goal marathon pace which is 9:49 (though in all honesty, I think 10:15 is more realistic).  This scheduled run was no different and was written for 12 miles at 10:40.   My first mile was 10:19 and though I tried to slow it down my second was 10:12.  At that point I just figured what the hell, I was feeling good and I might as well take advantage of it.  It’s not like I could do any harm this late in the game.  And so that’s exactly what I did.  For the next ten miles, I dropped 10 seconds from each mile for perfect negative splits.  My route was really hilly too, but I think somehow that helped me.  I powered up the hills and relaxed a little on the decline and just focused on lengthening my stride.   My final mile was completed in 8:55 and it felt awesome.

I’m trying to mentally prepare for my taper, but my body isn’t cooperating.  The last 3 days my appetite has been out of control.  Yesterday I ate breakfast 3 times!! I’m hoping this relaxes considerably over the next two weeks because with my drop in my activity level, I could puff up like a blimp if I continue down this road.  Yikes!  Anyone else battling the munchies as they enter their taper?

There You Go Making My Heart Beat Again

As hesitant as I was to embark on yesterday’s 22 miler on top of everything else on my plate yesterday, when my eyes popped open at 5:45am I took it as a sign that I should go.   Before I could chicken out, I downed some breakfast, grabbed my gear and headed to the rendezvous point at Patterson Park. 

The run was actually a supported training run on the Baltimore Marathon course put on by my favorite local running store — Falls Road Running Store, the official sponsor of the Baltimore Marathon.  Runners could log anywhere from 10-21 miles with options to pick up extra mileage at various points along the course.  I was going for 22, my longest distance yet.

Parking turned out to be a beast of a challenge and I logged my first half mile running from my car to the meeting point.  I got there just as instructions were being relayed over a handheld mega phone to the couple hundred runners that had gathered for the run.  The gist of it was that while there would be water/fuel stops along the course, there would be no traffic control and we would need to watch for cars, stop for red lights, etc..  Everyone signed a waiver of responsibility, left a donation if they so wished, and then we were off. 

Per usual, the first few miles were the toughest.  It took me a bit to find my stride, but my pace was pretty much where I wanted it to be – I was pleased to see that I wasn’t going out super fast.  The Baltimore Marathon is notorious for its hills, which is the whole reason I wanted to do this training run on the actual course.   I’m pleased to report that they were a complete non-issue – looks like my hill training is working out well!

The water stops were at three locations on the course and were strategically placed so that we passed each of them twice – which was a very good thing.  I’m still struggling with hydration.  I took 4 salt tablets over the course of the run and drank plenty of Gatorade, but I still felt like I took in way too much fluid.   I’ll definitely be researching this in the coming weeks, but if you have any tips I’m all ears.

We were given a list of turn-by-turn directions at the start, but the crowd was pretty thick and I didn’t need them for the first 2 hours as I could simply follow the herd.  After that we started to spread out and it got pretty sparse — at some points I could maybe see one other runner up ahead.  Luckily, I know this city pretty well, so I wasn’t concerned about getting lost, only a little nervous at the thought of logging way more miles that I had intended.  When I hit 15 miles and we were still running away from the finish I made the decision to turn around. It worked out perfectly – I hit the park at exactly 20 miles and then ran around the perimeter for the last 2 miles.   Turns out some people (like me) had picked up extra miles while running through Druid Hills, while others (like the ones I was following later in the game) had not and were looking to make up the difference at Fort McHenry.  If I had followed them all the way there I would have run a full marathon by the time I got back to my car! 

Although the last few miles were hilly, they were surprisingly easy, though granted, they were also super slow.  That’s ok though, I wasn’t out to set any records.  I finished 22 miles in about  3h58m, which should put me right on track for a 4:30 marathon finish.

Oh! and I got a chance to meet my pacer for the marathon!  He works at Falls Rd Running Store and we talked briefly about his strategy for race day.  I’m really looking forward to running with a pace group.

Also, I got a lot of questions this weekend about the iPod Nano Multi-Touch I purchased on Friday.  I took it out for its virgin run on the 22 miler and met with success.  The clip worked great and didn’t budge the entire time, the touch screen was easy to use while running and I really have no complaints.  When I first clipped it to my fuel belt I was a little discouraged as the screen was upside-down, but I soon figured out that I could rotate it in any direction – awesome!  I’m thrilled to finally have an mp3 player that I can clip on while I run and not have to worry about carrying it, wearing an arm band or accidentally sweating on it and causing a premature death.

Check out my new power song – I played this one on repeat for the last mile.  The video is a little disconcerting though, no?

Lucky Week 13

With less than one month to go before the Baltimore Marathon, I realized this morning that today marks the beginning of week 13 of my training program – aka, Hell Week.  Coincidence?

(click to enlarge)

No, your eyes are not deceiving you.   Tuesday does indeed call for mile repeats at an 8:35 pace.  I’ll remind you that my “happy pace” is probably closer to 11:00.  But, always up for a challenge I’m tacking this week with gusto and in fact, plan to bump Sunday’s long run up to 22 miles, for a grand total of 42 miles for the week.  My highest weekly mileage yet.

Part of the reason I’m so enthusiastic about Hell Week is because my motivation has been waning lately and I’ve made the conscious decision to flip the switch. Last week was punctuated by three all-you-can-eat buffet events and I took full advantage.  Today I had sap peas and yogurt for my afternoon snack.  Flip.  It’s been weeks since I’ve done my interval cross training workout, but today I hammered it out and added strength training and an ab work to boot.  Flip.

The other reason I’m cleaning up my act?  Let’s just say that yesterday’s adventures at a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party involved pizza and cupcakes and while my taste buds thought they had died and gone to heaven, my waistline sorely disagrees.  

As an aside, it was dark when I woke up this morning, and it was dark by the time I got home tonight… Well, hello Autumn. Fancy meeting you here.

20 Mile Harbor Run

This past weekend was a whirlwind that included:

• A three-hour bus ride to NYC
• An afternoon searching for a T-Rex at the American Natural History Museum

• Dinner at S’Mac – a restaurant that serves only macaroni and cheese in a dozen variations (brie and figs anyone?)

(This is actually a friend’s cheddar and parm concoction–mine didn’t survive long enough for pictures)

• General shenanigans at Mason Dixon, a bar which boasts its very own mechanical bull 

(oh yes, she did!)

(hard to believe I was dead sober, eh?)

• A 5am bedtime… am I the only one that didn’t know bars are open until 4am in New York?  …ugh…

(sleepy time)

• Copious amounts of coffee
• A tour of the Times Square Toys R Us (it has a ferris wheel inside!)
• And another looong bus ride home. 

And following all of that?  A 20 mile run. 

On Labor Day I woke up bright and early at 6am and headed to the kitchen for my standard pre-run breakfast of oatmeal and banana.   And then I went back to sleep for 3.5 hours.  When I woke again at 9:30 I was groggy, cranky and not exactly chomping at the bit for a run, but then I thought about that mac ‘n cheese (and the Mexican pastries, yes plural, that I’d inhaled at brunch on Saturday) and knew it had to be done.  Before I could think much more about it, I grabbed my new hydration belt, five GUs and headed out the door. 

Since it had been 4 hours since breakfast, I sucked down my first GU on my drive to Patterson Park.  My plan for the run was to start at the park and run towards the harbor, then I would follow the waterfront all the way around to Fort McHenry and double back.  I’d never run down there before, but I felt like I needed a change of scenery if I was going to get this done and I’m so glad that I did. 

The brick and wood plank piers were so much nicer on my knees! 

Though I wanted to, I did not stop for a tour of the coolest submarine ever

Gorgeous, gorgeous day!

The run along the waterfront was not only picturesque, but it held my attention as I really had to watch my footing on the boardwalk planks and around the twists and turns of the piers.  I ran through Highlandtown, Canton, Fells Point, Harbor East, Inner Harbor, Federal Hill, Pier Point, Riverside, Locust Point and Fort McHenry.  Phew! 

When I reached Fort McHenry I was actually only at mile 8 and it was the end of the road.  Rather than turn around early and try and make up the miles eleswhere, I decided to do three laps around the fort.  McHenry is a star-shaped fort that is surrounded on three sides by the Chesapeake.  It was where troops defended Baltimore against the British Navy in the War of 1812 — the battle that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner.  The views were amazing.

Before I left the fort, I refilled my two water bottles (the two others were still full of Gatorade).  A mere 5 miles later I was running on empty and desperately searching for a water fountain, a hose, anything other than the nasty Baltimore bay water.  I finally spotted two people wearing official looking lanyards around their necks who took pity on me, allowing me to use the facilities of some private boat club to refill my bottles.  I had taken a salt tablet before I left, but running in the afternoon without shade probably warranted at least 2 or 3 of those babies.  I was feeling ok, but by the end of my 20 miles I had consumed 73oz of fluid(!!). 

Check out my dizzy stagger back to my car when I was done!!

(oopsy…)

My plan was to do a second loop around the park to bring my total milage to 22, but the perimeter of the park had absolutely no shade at 2pm and I was getting crazy hot (and clearly not in top form) so I called it a day. 

I stopped at the grocery for a banana and an orange on the way home and after my ice bath I made a yummy smoothie with spinach and vanilla protein powder.  Later we went out for burgers and ice cream.

All in all, I say it was a successful holiday weekend!  How was yours?

 

Decorating with Doors

You may remember a few weeks ago I was given my own office at work.  Ever since then I’ve been at a loss as to how to warm up my new space.  The walls are bright white and the counters, carpet and filing cabinets are varied shades of grey.  And not the warm, calming sort of grey, but that harsh grey reminiscent of a hospital ward.  My second problem is that  I don’t want to have a girly space.  I work in construction with a bunch of guys who don’t need further reason to discredit me or my ideas.  Not that they would — they’re an awesome group of guys, but I tend to downplay displays of femininity in the workplace nonetheless. 

I started browsing AllPosters.com for ideas and clicked on their “Architectural Elements”  section.  It was there the the idea for a door montage was born.  I began searching Google Images for photos of old doorways.  Soon I had folders sorted by color category, and within that arrangements of multiple images that I found aesthetically pleasing when grouped together.  I swung by Michael’s on the way home from work today and picked up 7 frames of various sizes that I can place in groupings around my office. 

I have a thing for old windows and doors and I’m so I’m really excited about the idea.  Here are a few of my favorites.

 
I’m thinking I might do a seperate, smaller grouping of shutters on another wall.  

I feel like it will really add a good deal of color to the place without being super feminine, and I will also be incorporating building elements — which is what my company is all about.  What do you think??

But, let’s get down to why you’re really here.  The running.  As, you know, I’ve been a bit under the weather this week, but after a few days off to rest up I began following the ol’ above the neck adage and laced up my running shoes.  It’s been going pretty well, and in fact, the only time I’ve really been able to breathe without the help of medication all week has been when I’ve been running.  Nothing like sweating it out eh? 

Last night’s run was the pits though.  It was a 7 tempo run with 5 miles @ 9:16 pace.  After 2 miles I was ready to quit.  I kept making bargains with myself though — if I ran for 3.5 miles I could take a walk break.  But 3.5 miles would invariably come and pass as I made another bargain in my head.  In the end, I miraculously finished the entire workout as written.   It was my most difficult workout to date, and I know that the mental obstacles I faced and overcame will serve me well at the 24 mile marker when I run the marathon next month.  Whoa, next month.  When did that happen?  Yikes!

This weekend I’m taking two days off as I traipse around NYC with these two lovely ladies! 

We’ve been best friends since we were 14.  Kaity (on the left) is coming out from CA to visit her brother in New York, and Kelly (right, who moved out to MD with me in 2005) and I are driving up to spend the weekend with her and some other peeps from high school.  Kelly and I actually work for the same company now – a long and funny story that I won’t delve into now.  

I’ll be back Sunday night and hitting the pavement bright and early Monday morning for my 2nd 20 miler.  And after that?  Bring on the Labor Day BBQ feast — I’ll have earned it!!

What are your Labor Day plans?

Tits and Ass

Three years ago I was accustomed to getting the evil eye from the sales girl on my biannual trip to Victoria Secret.    If they had simply put the DDs up on the wall with all the cute  itty bitty sizes it would have saved me the embarrassment and them the irritation, but as it stood, I was regularly caught pawing through the drawers for my size without first *gasp!* asking for assistance.  Sorry, but I’m a big girl.  I can find a bra on my own — even if you hide them, thanks.  

So you can imagine my glee when I purchased my very own B-cup this week.  Found right there on the wall between the Very Sexy plunge and the Miraculous Multi-way.  Granted, my husband isn’t as thrilled in the decrease in my bust size as I am, but I’m sure any readers out there who went directly from a training bra to a C-cup the summer before 7th grade can relate.  And really, you try running around with DDs strapped to your chest and see how well you do.  Go ahead, I’ll wait here and mock the honks and cat calls, and the difficulties of breathing from the confines of two sports bras.

Ok, enough about boobs.  How about we talk about my ass, because that really HURTS.  First, a  little back story…

My training has been off this week because I’ve got the Annapolis 10 Miler on Sunday and I’ve been at a bit of a loss as to how to prepare for it.  Obviously, I wanted to make sure I was rested for the race, but at the same time, I didn’t want to hinder my marathon training.  What I decided to do was to make my cross-training days rest days, so that I could keep my mileage base up, but still keep up some energy reserves for the race.  

That didn’t go so well.  After 6 days away from the gym, I could see the muscle loss and I missed my core training (and, I wont lie, my wannabe abs).  So when I got off work early yesterday (the presentation went swimmingly and I had accumulated almost 4 hours of overtime when all was said and done), I headed to the gym.  I started with crunches and planks, then did a circuit of weight training and finished with six slow miles on the treadmill.  I think I would have been ok with all of that if I hadn’t had added lunges to the mix.  Becuase today?  It hurts to sit.  I’m dissapointed in myself because I know better than to do lunges two days before a race if I haven’t been doing them regularly.  I should have just done one day of strength training in the middle of the week rather than attempt to skip it all together.  Ultimate taper FAIL. 

Well, at least a lesson was learned and hopefully a day of rest will do me good.  Kirk and I are heading down to Annapolis to pick up my race packet and to drive the course.  We’re planning to get lunch on the water and he’s promised we can score some frozen yogurt while were there.  Tonight will be low key too — probably a movie.

Tomorrow morning I will be up around 5am to beat the traffic and meet up with Uncle Paul who is running the course too.  After the race I will be meeting my mom and her two sisters for brunch.  Pancakes anyone?

Friends In Low Places

By low, of course, I mean The Valley because that’s where I’m headed tomorrow. 

No not that kind of valley!  Now this, this is what I’m talking about:

 

The Sacramento Valley! 

Well, actually, this time of year it will probably look more like this:

 

But still gorgeous, yes?

This Saturday is my 10 year high school reunion and I’m flying out for a full 7 days of family and friends, reminiscing and… running.  I plan to log a full 32 miles while I’m out there - including an 18 miler, my longest distance to date.  

Planning this long run gave me a good bit of anxiety before I realized I had great resources to pull from.  I didn’t start running until after I moved from California to Maryland so I know nothing about the safe pedestrian routes they have, and I’ve been gone for 5 years  so my memory of the shadier areas to avoid is iffy at best.  Lucky for me, while I know next to no runners in Baltimore, I have four friends back in my hometown who routinely run marathons!  Yes, those friends in low places came in quite handy as I prepared for this weekend’s long run in a strange once familiar city.  With their help and suggestions I have mapped out a great route for this weekend (along with several shorter distances for the rest of the week) and I dare say I’m down right excited for this 18 miler! 

A lot has changed since I moved to Maryland, and even more has changed since graduating high school.  The most obvious is that I’m 30 lbs lighter and I finally discovered the wonder that is the flat iron.  Needless to say, I’m rather looking forward to this reunion!  

Things I’m not looking forward to (in no particular order*): 

• No gym for strength training
• What? No oatmeal?! How will I survive??
• I wont have the Husband with me.    

Kirk is taking a Stay-cation this week as cross country airfare is expensive. It will be the first time we’ve spent more than two nights apart since we met!  Still, it will be nice to see my dad and stepmom, and all my best girl friends.  Hopefully my training wont sacrifice too much.    

Tonight’s Run:
4 miles/34:43
Mile 1: 8:48
Mile 2: 8:45
Mile 3: 8:32
Mile 4: 8:37

Can I just take a moment to say that those last four seconds of Mile 4 are the biggest buzz kill ever?!  I was really shooting for negative splits.  That said, I am beyond stoked that I carried a sub-9 minute pace for the whole run.  I’ve never even come close to that before.  So awesome! 

* I kid, I kid!