Good strides: November 2004 Archives

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November 29, 2004

Day Off

Well I set my alarm for 7 to get up and run for an hour but when the alarm went off my legs were feeling pretty tired so I decided to wait until the afternoon to run. I figured once they had 24 hours to rest from the long run they'd be feeling better. Well I had 2 hours off this afternoon without any scheduled work, meetings, or events for me to attend. I thought this would be the perfect time for my workout. I just was not feeling inspired today. I decided to do some academic work during this time and thought maybe I'll be anxious to run after track practice today with the team. I had to time the sprinters today so I did not get to run with the distance runners. After practice I headed home to put some warm cloths on and did not feel like running in the dark. I decided after about 10 hard days of running in terms of duration I needed a day off. I went to the gym just now to do an exercise for my exercise physiology class. We had to do 6 exercises and come as close as we could to our maximum effort for 1-3 repeats. After completing that I did about 10 minutes of sit-ups and called it a day. I was tempted to do more but I thought I should use my time to do some work and really give my body a break by not doing anything else. Tomorrow morning I plan to get up and run one of my favorite ten mile loops, the Arcadia loop. I think I'll be feeling more inspired tomorrow or at least I hope I do. I just feel really heavy and slow and a little sad today. I am not sure why. I had a nice weekend and a great run yesterday. Perhaps it is accumulated fatigue and a little pressure I have to get some work done this week. I really hope I have a great run tomorrow. I did miss running today but I know I needed the mental break. I just wish it had been a planned day off so I didn't have to spend a lot of my day today worrying about when I was going to run. Oh well, now I'll just move on.

Posted by mary at 6:46 PM | Comments (4)

November 28, 2004

Wendell State Forest Long Run

Sunday's Long Run

I slept in on Sunday and took my time before I left my house to do my scheduled long run. I wanted to do my run all on trails to prepare for the 50k and I wanted to run in a new place to explore the area. I knew I wanted to go to Wendall State Forest but I had to double-check the directions on line and study the maps of the area before I left. I also stalled because by the time I left my house to go over to the lab where my computer was it was raining out and very gray. I was not 100% inspired to run three hours by myself in a new area alone while it was raining and so gray. I took my time reading the maps and checking my mail. Finally at 11:30 a.m. I left to drive to the Park.

The park is in Wendall, MA, which was about 16 miles or so north of Northampton. It took me about 40 minutes to get to the area where I was going to park. I did not park in the designated park parking lot but instead parked at a side trail that hit the main road.

I had about 8 peanut butter and jelly crackers for breakfast with a bottle of water. I also had half of a cliff bar on my way to the park. Since I was starting the run so late (12:30 ish) I wanted to be sure I ate enough so I would not be starving on the run. I also drank another half a bottle of water on my way to the park. I decided I would do an hour and a half loop then come back to the car to get some water and do another loop. I would have carried the water bottle but I felt fairly hydrated and my hands were pretty cold and yet again I forgot my gloves. The truth is, that I just can't find my hind gloves. They are really thin and I don't get hot in them but they definitely keep me warm and allow me to hold my water bottle. I really should find them or just get another pair. I will before my 50k race.

The forest is really beautiful. There are a lot of tall pine tress in the area and two ponds, Ruggles Pond and Wickett Pond in the area. I ran on fire trail roads, which were mainly nice gravel roads, which had grass in the center of the trail, for the first hour and a half. I did two different loops and ran mostly on the grass in the middle of the road because it was softer than the gravel. The dirt and gravel were nice to run on but the grass was more enjoyable. The roads were all rolling. I hardly ever ran on a flat surface for more than 300 or 400 meters. There were some nice longer hills and it was very serene. I did not see anyone the entire run.

I returned to the car at the half way point and had half a bottle of water. I decided to explore some of the single-track trails on the second half of the run. I ran on the roads for the first 10 minutes and then hit the Monadnock Trail, which traverses the forest boundary. Parts of this trail were very runnable and I really enjoyed it because it was a single track and it curved a lot and had lots of nice little rolling up hills and downhills. Other parts of the trail were rockier and a bit more technical. I ran on these parts for only 10 minutes or so. If I was on a shorter run I'd explore these a bit more but I wanted to make sure that I was running a steady pace for most of the run.

I ran for exactly three hours in the forest. I felt really good for the first two and a half hours. The last half hour my legs were starting to feel tired and I was not as peppy as I was when I started. Since I am coming off of a high mileage week I was not too disappointed. I know my body is getting used to the longer distances now that this is my third long run in four weeks.

I only saw two animals the entire run. I ran right over a pretty big toad that was just sitting in the middle of the trail. I was thinking that the toad was lucky that I have such a bouncy stride otherwise I might have clocked him on the head. (Hopefully not but had I not seen him and had I had an efficient stride it could be possible) A huge deer also startled me. What struck me about this deer was the huge white tail it had; I have never seen such a large deer in the woods before. It was only about 5 feet from me in the trail. I think we both surprised each other. It did not take off like they usually do when startled. Instead, it just stood there and starred at me. I gave a nod, sort of an apologetic nod, to excuse myself for startling her. I then carried on with my run.

I was really surprised not to see anyone out during the run. It was a pretty miserable day in terms of the rain and grayness of the sky. Initially I was very bummed to have to run alone but after an hour I was enjoying the solitude and enjoyed the time to think. I was inspired by the thought of imagining my twin sister also out for her three hour run at the same time I was running. This week I will see if I can run 85-90 miles again and then I will back off the following week to 70-60 miles, and the following week cut back to 40 miles (race week).

Posted by mary at 6:24 PM | Comments (2)

90 mile week finished

My goal for this past week was to run a 90-mile week. I fell short by 10 miles but I am ok with that because I think I was able to get some quality runs in and I think it is silly to stress about every single mile when ultimately I just want to get my legs used to being out there. My legs will be tired with 90 miles and 100 miles. I had no problems with my calf this week so that was great. My quad did bother me on my trail run on Wed. morning and in the Manchester Road Race on Thursday. I think when my legs are fatigued it acts up more than usual. I was disappointed by the presence of the pain but not really surprised. I plan to do some massaging on it tonight.

Friday's Run

On Friday I ran the Christmas tree loop from my parent's house. I started the run pretty easy, I check me first mile and it was 8.15 but I decided just to run how I felt and not worry about my pace. Towards the end of the run I was feeling much better and was able to pick it up. I was freezing by the end of the run.

Again, I misdressed. I wore shorts and a long sleeve shirt. My right wrist became frozen again. I think it is funny that my wrist gets so cold and not my fingers. My wrist will become really cold and I can't bend my hand because I don't want to move my wrist. Once the sun comes up and I warm up it usually goes away.

I did my run at 7 a.m. on Friday with the hopes of doing an additional run in the evening of about 5 miles. As it turned out my day became quickly booked with visits to friends and family chores. My second run did not happen. I did get to see two very good friends on Friday. I met one for breakfast and also got to visit with her family after our breakfast. And then in the evening I met another good college friend out for pizza with her family and her fianc�. I had no problem ditching my second run in exchange for seeing some good friends.

Saturday's Run

On Saturday I was supposed to go to the Footlocker Regional meet in New York. However, when I started to leave for the race my muffler finally fell off my car. I had to spend most of the day waiting for the car to be fixed at the dealership. I did not actually wait at the car shop. I dropped the car off and ran home. I ran the long way home to make the run 10 miles.

I wore tights on Saturday because I did not want to get too cold. By the second half of the run the sun was out and it was about 60 degrees and I was feeling pretty warm. My legs felt really tired on Saturday. I recorded my last mile to just gauge how my pace was, I ran the last mile in 7.45, which was faster than I thought I was running, but it did not feel really smooth. I thought about doing a second run on Saturday while I was waiting for the car and visiting with my Grandfather but then decided against it. I decided 90 miles was enough especially considering the fact that last week I probably only ran half of that distance since I was nursing my calf.

In the evening I had the pleasure to attend Alison's party. I was really looking forward to the event because I still feel like I don't know that many people in the area. I arrived a little late because I had to wait for the car repairs to be done. When I arrived everyone was there. I got to meet Alison's twin sister, which was really fun. They are not identical but they have so many similar characteristics such as facial expressions and hand gestures. She was really nice and very friendly. Even though they are not identical I think I could mix them up if I just glanced quickly at them. I also met two other couples from the area. One couple lives right in Northampton and they both run so I enjoyed hearing about their training routes and styles. The other couple is living in the Midwest and going to graduate school and medical school. I saw some old high school race results. I was not in the results but my twin sister was in the results, which I was not at all surprised by. We had great food and very good company. It was a nice way to end the evening.

Posted by mary at 5:55 PM | Comments (0)

November 25, 2004

Manchester Road Race

This morning I got up and drove to a couple's house in Manchester, CT who just moved here and bought a nice brand new home about two miles from the race course. They literally moved in about 10 days ago so it was great to see the place and catch up a bit before the race.

I jogged to the race start with one of my friends from the house. We ran two miles of the course and I felt pretty good. Our warm up was a decent pace, 7.20 but I felt pretty good. I met up with a friend from school to give her the race number I had picked up for her the night before.

I then went to the coral area to see if I could sneak into a faster starting time. I had no seeded card because I never got my act together to send in a qualifying time. However, the security was pretty tight at the gates and I decided it really wasn't fair to sneak into that area. I also decided that starting with the masses could add to my list of excuses for the race, high mileage week, no racing flats, bad start, etc. I hopped into the general racing area and had to wait about 20 minutes for the start of the race. The temperature was so mild, it must have been about 60. It was also pretty humid. I had my shorts and t-shirt on and felt fine. It was nice not to be freezing.

Once the gun finally went off it took me about 2 and a half minutes to get to the starting line. I could not believe how long it took. It was a bit hectic. I then spent about 2 and a half miles trying to find a clear area to run. I was dodging in and out of people and running up on the grass and sidewalks. The crowds of people were awesome because of all of the customs and positive feelings. However, I definitely was not getting a workout in. At about 2.5 miles I was able to open it up and start to race a bit. However, I realized that my legs were actually really tired and I found it hard to run really fast. I was only running about 6.30 pace. I did not feel like I was breathing hard but I felt like my body was really heavy and my legs were so stiff. I felt strong like I could bring my legs up but I just felt like my legs were slapping the ground and I had no turnover. I was discouraged about that but then decided that I'd just try to make my goal to break 35 minutes so I could get the sub-seeded start time for next year. The race is 4.75 miles so I knew it would not be too bad. I decided to enjoy the crowds and take it all in since I knew this was not going to be a stellar workout day nor was it going to be a surprise feel good day. I finished in 33.35 and my splits were: 7.45, 7.39,6.51, 6.28, and 4.50. After the race I saw a lot of people I know from my college days at UCONN, my high school days at Mercy, and just local runners from CT who I remember from road races. It felt like a reunion to see and catch up with so many people.

When the race was over I ran another 7.5 miles for a warm down. I ran about 3 miles back to my friends house. He was very happy to break 30 minutes. He ran 29.01 and was really happy but pretty tired. The run to his house was really slow. On the way to his house we passed a reservoir and I knew I wanted to check it out. After saying goodbye to him I ran over to the reservoir and ran on some great trails and found a nice loop around the reservoir itself. After running with thousands of people, about 12,000 were in the field, I felt so relaxed and calm running all by myself along this trail by the water. It reminded me of why I love ultra races. I had a lot of fun in the race today. However, I felt really slow and I was frusrated with my pace early on due to all of the runners. Yet, I know that if I have no intention of running hard this is a great environment to run in so I guess I enjoy it for a social aspect of running. I love the trail running for the sense of peace I receive from being out there in the woods and getting a chance to let my mind wander and get lost.

When I got home and was able to check the results I was so impresed to see the top three women: 24:47 Kim Smith, 25:14 Amy Rudolph, and 25:19 Laura O'Neil. I am a big fan of all three of these women. Kim Smith just won the NCAA collegiate cross country championships on Monday! I am so impressed that she was able to pull off this win as well. Her collegiate eligiblity was up so she was able to accept the prize money. Not too bad for her first elite racing experience.

Now, I should go visit a little bit more with my family. I hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving! Thanks for all of your support and friendship. Good strides!

Posted by mary at 9:56 PM | Comments (1)

November 24, 2004

Amethyst Conservation Trail Run

I had the greatest morning today. I met up with Alison at 7:45 a.m. and we headed over to meet a great mountain runner who lives in the area and who just recently ran 2.54 at the NY marathon. We all introduced ourselves to each other and then began a 10-mile run in which we ran about 1 mile on the road to get to the Amethyst Conservation.

The Conservation area had tons of trails all shooting off from each other. The trail was nice and soft and damp and muddy. There were lots of leaves on the trail and the trail markers were barely noticeable to me. Although, I have to admit I was not looking for the trail markers that much I was just trying to keep up with our new running friend. She knew the trails like the palm of her hand and just easily flew along the trails.

The first 20 minutes or so of the trail portion of the run was relatively flat and gradually winding and slightly rolling. We were running along the Amethyst Brook through woodlands of pine, oak, hemlock, and maple. It was beautiful. The temperature was nice and cool - probably in the 50's. I felt fine in my shorts and long sleeve shirt.

After 20 minutes we started to run up some steep short hills one after another. A lot of the hills had big slabs of rock that you could run on or scramble onto to get to the next level. Some of the hills did not have this type of assistance and those were a bit harder to climb. We climbed up to what I think was the top of Mount Orient. On the final half-mile stretch up the hill my quad was really sore and I was practically walking and feeling really bad that I was holding Alison up who was patiently waiting behind me while I was trying to quickly hike up the last portion of the hill.

Once we reached the top and started to run down the rocky trail to the base my quad loosened up a lot and I was able to relax and enjoy the scenery. We had to cross portions of the trails that are being clear-cut to thin the woods out. These parts of the trail were worn down with tractor tire markings and were very muddy. It had the sticky kind of mud that just adheres to your sneakers and makes you feel stuck in the mud. This region also had a lot of chopped down trees that we had to hurdle over adding to the challenge of the run. It is sad to see the trees being cut down but from what I heard the area would remain a conservation area. The Conservation area extends into private land that is owned by a logging company that does not plan to build in the area, which is good for trial users.

We descended the downhill portion of the trail and found ourselves back onto the flat portion of the trail that follows the brook. We hit the road again for the last mile and a half. On the way back we added on a small loop around Alison's elementary school. I saw the track where Alison ran one of her first 400-meter sprint races which was neat. We wondered if the cinder track was actually accurate. We finished the run in an hour and twenty minutes. I am guessing it was around 10 miles. I felt so much better than I did at the end of the run yesterday. My legs were a little tired especially in the first half of the run. However, by the second half of the run I felt like I could keep running. It was really nice to have two people to run with and to hear a little bit about the National meet that Alison just attended. If only I had more time for socializing.

When I got back to campus I had to finish up some recruiting letters that I am working on to send out today. I then met the head coach for a pool run. I was in the pool for about 50 minutes. I was going to lift but I am really not that motivated and would most likely just rush through it and not get much out of it. I find it really hard to lift while I am doing a high mileage week. Perhaps when I return to campus on Saturday I will lift. I'll see how I am feeling. Tomorrow I am running the Manchester Road Race. I'd like to run it as a workout and run about a 6.30 pace for the 4.875-mile race. I'll see how I am feeling. If I can run faster I will but I will just take it mile to mile. It has been five years since I have run the race. Prior to that I had about an 8-year streak on the course. I am excited to see old friends and participate in the exciting event. Now I am off to see my family.

Posted by mary at 1:35 PM | Comments (2)

November 23, 2004

Up at 5:30 for 21 miles!!

I was so happy that I managed to get up this morning. Originally I was planning to get up at 5 a.m. but I slept an extra 15 minutes and managed to get out of the door by 5:30. It was so so cold and I was poorly underdressed. I had shorts on, a long sleeve polypro shirt, and my vest. My right wrist hurt so much because it was frozen. I had my hands in my sleeve the entire run. I started off with a five-mile loop on the road the makes a big circle around campus. I was worried about not being able to see but I was lucky enough to be running on sidewalks with lots of streetlights near by. I was also incredibly surprised to see two other runners out before 6 a.m. This made me feel so much better. Once I was out the door and running and realized that I could still see the time issue was not such a big deal.

There was so much fog out this morning. I did not wear my contacts because it was so early I did not want to have to put them in when I felt so sleepy. If I wear my contacts too long my eyes get irritated. In retrospect I should have taken the time to put them in because I had to keep cleaning the fog off my glasses to that I could see more clearly.. it reminded me of my running days in San Francisco. The first loop I ran I felt great and was looking forward to the sun rising. After my 5-mile route, I did my 8-mile Amherst Bike Path loop. It was still pretty foggy out but I was beginning to see more signs of life with more cars on the road and a few cyclists on the bike path. On the way back to campus I was getting thirsty so I was happy I hid a water bottle in the bushes on one of the main roads on the campus. I returned and got my water bottle but realized it was freezing cold. Once the sun rose I saw all of the frost all over the vegetation and car and saw that there were icicles beginning to form on my hair. I decided to carry the bottle anyway because I need to get used to carrying it for my cold run in Indiana. At this point in my run, my stomach started to act up and I was worried I'd have to use the bathroom. I decided to do the last 10 miles or so on the trails around campus in case I needed to hop to the side to take care of my business. I felt ok for the first 3 miles on the trail but then my stomach was acting up more and more. I did have to go to the bathroom, which I did, and I felt some relief for the next three miles. After another 3 miles my stomach was acting up again so I decided to run three more miles along the pond path and call it a day. I ran for 2 hours and 40 minutes. I would say the first 2 hours were pretty good quality and the last forty minutes I was distracted by my stomach. My legs felt great and I was not fatigued. I am wondering if I ate something disagreeable yesterday. I was disappointed about this but I did decide to run through it because you never know when you might have to deal with that in a race.

The best part of the run was getting up and doing it by myself. I have to admit it has been a hard transition learning to do my long runs by myself. I was very spoiled when I lived in Marin County. I would just send out a group email to my friends in the running club and indicate how far I was going and where I was starting and anywhere from 2 to 20 people might show up for the run. Running alone this morning really wasn't so bad and I liked breaking the run up into the different courses that I knew. I felt more comfortable doing that in case anything came up. My stomach is still really achy and sore. I had some cereal for breakfast but I did not enjoy it that much. I am crossing my fingers and hoping this clears up by later on in the day. Sometime this afternoon I am looking forward to a nice long nap.

Posted by mary at 10:41 AM | Comments (6)

November 22, 2004

Calf is Much Much Better!

Saturday Afternoon Run!

On Saturday afternoon I ran another 5 miles and felt my calf a little bit. I felt pretty good on the run and enjoyed a break from the field house. I worked as a supervisor in the field house all day on Saturday because there was a basketball tournament going on and they needed extra help. In the evening I had my graduate friends come over to the house where I was house sitting and we had dinner together and did some of our reading in front of the fireplace. The dog at the house rested on my stomach all night long in front of the fireplace. It was very nice.

Busy Sunday!

On Sunday morning I originally planned to do my 25-mile run. However, I had an appointment with a podiatrist sometime between 10-12 and did not think I'd have enough time to get 8 hours of sleep, walk the dog, and complete my run before 10 a.m. I was right. I got to the appointment and had to wait until 11:30 to be seen. The good news is that there is nothing going on with my calf. The doctor quickly identified the strain, a tendon that lies right below the ankle, which is commonly overworked when wearing racing flats. He recommended that I ice and use alleve. I was very happy to discover that nothing major was happening.

After the appointment I only had time for a ten-mile run. I felt great during the run. I ran the Arcadia loop and added on about 2 and a half miles by running the cross-country course first. While I was running on the dirt roads along the cornfield I opened up my stride and really started to feel good. I was happy to be feeling better after so many tentative days of running. When I got back I had to quickly pack up my things to drive to CT to attend my nephew�s induction into the Honor Society. Following the induction we had a birthday party for my other nephew. Apart from the meat concentrated dinner (corn beef and cabbage all cooked together) I had a great time. I am a partial vegetarian, just recently about 7 months ago I started to eat fish again, after not being any type of meet for over 10 years. At the party I had some mashed potatoes and tuna fish. It was a bit plain but the dessert was very good - a chocolate mini cake.
After the party I had to drive back up to MA to get some work done for school.

Monday's Good Day of Training

I had intended to get up at 5 a.m. and run 25 miles but it was so foggy and dark out that I whimped out. I was so aggravated. Instead I slept in and got up at 7 and began a 5-mile run. After the first mile I realized I had an additional assignment due at 9 a.m. for one of my classes that I had not even started. I turned around and sprinted back and got the assignment done before class. After my morning classes I worked at the library and completed a 10-mile run in the afternoon. I ran the cross-country course to start with because I want to run on trails as much as I can to duplicate the 50k championship course in December and then I ran the Northampton bike path loop through Florence. I felt pretty good and tried to get myself to slow down and relax so that I would feel fresh later in the day. I had a meeting at 3 that I had to attend and when that meeting was over I did another 4.5 miles. This week I am trying to do a 100-mile week as my longest training period before the 50k race. I did not want to mention that in my blog until I thought I could complete it. However, after my three runs today I am feeling fine. I took the alleve and had no problems at all with my calf today at all. Tomorrow is going to be my hardest day - I have to get up at 5 to do my 3 hour and 20 minute run. If I can make it past the first hour in the dark I should be fine. I really hope I can report a completion of this run tomorrow. Once I run that, I will have half of my mileage for the week completed.

Posted by mary at 9:29 PM | Comments (3)

November 20, 2004

I think my calf is improving?

Unsure about my calf.....

Well, I took four days off from running and ran 5 miles on Wednesday to test my calf out. It was not extremely sore but I just felt strange running. My body felt stiff from being in the pool and cross training or maybe it was just psychological - hard to tell. My calf did not tighten up badly and I was able to keep a normal stride the entire run. However I did still notice that it was tight so it was not 100% better. I decided to pool run on Thursday morning and do another run Thur. afternoon to see how it felt.

Thursday Pool Running and a Good 10 mile run

On Thursday I got up and went pool running with three of the rowing coaches in the program. We did an interval workout in the pool for about 20 minutes and then just ran in the pool for another 40 minutes. I felt pretty good. Thursday afternoon was very beautiful, great weather, nice and warm, just a bit gray. I decided to start my run on the cross-country course and then determine how I felt. I ran about 20 minutes on the course and felt really good so I decided to do my Arcadia nature loop. I felt really good the entire run and was tempted to pick up the pace. I decided not to so I wouldn't strain anything in my calf or quad. I was very pleased after this run and was able to lift for a half hour after the run.

Friday - Noticing the Calf Again and General Fatigue

On Friday morning I ran three miles with one of the field hockey coaches. We ran really easy and just chatted the entire time. After this run I did another five miles on my own. I felt extremely dead. My body felt heavy and weak. I could feel my calf. It did not hurt so much that I wanted to stop but it just did not feel loose. I only ran five miles because I was limited in time and had a lot of activities going on during the day on Friday. However, I was also so tired I decided I better not push my luck. I was disappointed that I felt so sluggish and thought that I might be a bit dehydrated.

Saturday Morning - 5 mile run with Kaula

I am house sitting for a friend in Conway this weekend, which is right near Deerfield. It is out in the woods and there are a lot of nice dirt roads that are actually a bit hilly to run on. This morning I got up and ran about 5 miles with the dog, Kaula, who lives at the house. I actually felt like I was running today and felt pretty good except that I can still feel my calf. I know I have not been reporting much this week on my blog because I am pretty depressed about how my calf is feeling. I don't want it to get worse. I have been icing three times a day which definitely helps and it does not hurt during the day at all anymore so that is an improvement. Stretching seems to help a lot as well. I just feel a lot of pressure because I want to train pretty hard over the next two weeks without jeopardizing my chances of running the 50k in December. Tomorrow I am going to try to run for about three hours and I think that will be the big test. If I can do that without increasing the pain and actually finish the run I'll be feeling much better. If I have to I'll definitely cut the run short if I feel that the level of discomfort is improving. This afternoon I am going to do another 5 miles and lift. I am hoping tomorrow I will have a more optimistic report.

Posted by mary at 2:36 PM | Comments (3)

November 16, 2004

Cross Training!

On Sunday I did not run even though it would have been a nice day to go out for a long run. I decided to take at least four days off from running to let my calf heal up. On Sunday morning I made breakfast for my Grandfather and then met my Mom for lunch. I was hoping my nephew would be there so I could celebrate his recent report card in which he got all A's and one B+ but he was unfortunately not there. After lunch I had to head back to school to work at the gym. I was able to do an hour and a half on the versa climber on Sunday and it did not bother my calf. Afterwards I lifted for about a half hour. I also iced my calf. The calf hurt walking around on Sunday, which was frustrating so I knew I made the right decision about not running.

On Monday I was going to get up to pool run but I slept in instead because I was feeling pretty tired. As it turned out my friend Dave was actually at the pool waiting for me to show him how to pool run. He has recently hurt his back while rowing and is looking for an alternative while recovering. I felt really bad and promised him that I'd be there on Tuesday morning. Monday afternoon I was able to do an hour on the versa climber before meeting with the head coach to do a little bit of post season wrap up. I thought the versa climber would be really boring but it was not too bad. After my meeting with the head coach I did another hour on the versa climber and then stretched my calf really well for about fifteen minutes and did fifteen minutes of ab work. My abs are so weak these days because it is the last thing I usually do on my lifting days and I usually skip them because I am pretty tired by that point of my workout. Today I have another lifting day so I am thinking I should start with my ab workout so I don't skip them because I think I need to work on that the most.

This morning I got up and was able to meet both Dave and Alison. It was really nice. Dave is training for the Honolulu marathon, which he intends to do with his fianc� during his honeymoon. Hopefully his back will be better soon so he can do some training on the road. However, in the meantime the pool should be very good for him. I was able to catch up with Alison on her half marathon that she ran this weekend and just chat about things in general. If I did not have to go to class I could have stayed in the pool much longer. We were in the pool for a little over an hour. It is definitely nice to have a consistent training partner at least once a week. Later on today I will do the versa climber for about an hour and then do my lifting routine. I am also going to try to stretch my calf at least 4-6 times today. It is feeling a lot better and I only slightly notice it when I am walking down the stairs. I would love to try to run three miles tomorrow. We'll see.. originally I told myself I'd take four days off but already I am getting antsy.. I guess if I don't feel it while I am walking down the stairs I will give it a try otherwise I'll hold out one more day.

Posted by mary at 10:31 AM | Comments (1)

November 13, 2004

Pre Race Preview in Cumberland ME and Early Morning Sat. Run

The team arrived on the racecourse site in Cumberland, ME around 2:30-3:00. We had plenty of day light time left to preview the course and discuss strategy. Many teams were already there previewing the NE Regional Course. It was not snowing in ME but it was pretty cold. I wore a hat and gloves, tights, a long sleeve shirt, and a vest. The course was really awesome. I was wishing I had the chance to race it the next day. The course follows along an open field for the first half mile and then shoots into three wooded areas, loops B, A, C for some fun rolling hills that are on dirt and woodchips. The final 1400 meters or so is back on the fields, a little roller coaster section of two rolling hills, around the soccer field, and then a 500 meter climb up a grass hill followed by a turn and a 500 meter downhill to the finish. The women really liked it. It was the first time all year I have told them to slow down on a run.

After the run we went to our hotel, showered, and got ready for Freeport shopping and dinner. We had a team meeting before we left and then had about 50 minutes to shop in at the outlets before dinner. I was able to get some nice warm mittens from L.L.Bean, a new water bottle, and presents for my two nephews who have birthdays coming up right around the corner. We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner and I had a delicious mini Greek pizza. The head coach and I had to go to a team meeting afterwards where we spent most of the time listening to other coaches complain about the chosen timing method. The athletes had to wear two chips around each ankle attached by a velcro wrap. The ruling about which body part counts as first when crossing the finish line was also heavily debated. Since timing chips are used it would seem that the foot should be counted. Traditionally however, the chest or whichever body part crosses the line first is counted. The finish area would have the mats and the camera to record both. After much discussion it looked like the chips would be counted and if it was close the first body part would be counted. Apparently next year at all national races the foot with the chip will be counted even in photos. This discussion took much too long. When we arrived at our hotel we passed out the numbers and chips and hit the sack.

I woke up early to get a run in before the race. I wanted to run about 9-10 miles. I ran out along Rt. 1 towards Brunswick. It was not the most scenic run but I just wanted to run easy and have the opportunity to turn around whenever I wanted. I felt good the first half of the run but about 5 minutes into my return trip my lower calf started acted up again. It became really painful. I had to stop and walk it off. I started running again but each time my pace increased it hurt. I decided to jog in to the hotel, which was ok. However, as soon as I increased my stride to push off with my calf it got really sore. While I was at the cross-country meet I could feel it if I took off fast to run after the pack of runners. I am really concerned about it. I plan to take at least three days off from running to give it a break. The calf muscle is really tight from the marathon so I imagine it needs a break. I hope 3-5 days off will loosen it up. I am going to cross my fingers because I really want to be out there training. The pool should be a good break.

The team did pretty well. Our top finisher was 25th overall and missed qualifying for nationals by 4 individual places. The team finished 17th which was an improvement from last year (20th place). We also had to run without our second place runner. She has had very bad stomach pain all season now, which has escalated as the season has continued. My sister's alma mater had a fabulous day, the Colby Mules, took 3rd place overall to qualify for Nationals. The coach and team were just ecstatic. I was very happy for them. I saw my sister's biology professor at the meet that asked me to remind Liz that he was still the spitting champion. Apparently in college Liz gave this professor the Spitting Award for runners. Her professor was a runner and an avid follower of the Colby Cross Country team. All in all it was a good day. Although, I'd be lying if I did not admit that I am really sad and worried about my calf. However, it is just one day and maybe each day it will improve. I plan to rest tomorrow and hit the pool in the evening. Now I am off to CT to meet my very good college friend to reminisce about the old times and celebrate the new times.

Posted by mary at 7:28 PM | Comments (5)

November 12, 2004

Quick Update Before I Leave for ME

This morning I had a great run! It was the first official day that it was snowing out while I was running. Last Thursday it was sleating but I was not running in it. I met Alison this morning at 6:30 in Amherst for an hour run. It was so exciting to be going somewhere new to run. I got to meet Alison's very friendly cat which was very exciting. The cat was purring a lot and seemed to be very happy. We had a great run in which we ran on the Emily Dickinson trail which was very nice. The trail meandered along a little stream and then cut across some fields. At points we had to cross over bridges and run across boards of wood that protected us from the muddy walkway below us. Everything had a light covering of snow all over it and the air was crisp and cool. Once we started running we warmed up and did not feel so cold. The second half of the road was run on the road through quaint streets and we finished coming into downtown Amherst. Running in a new neighborhood is always an adventure and exciting for me. The pace felt a little fast but it was really smooth. As always Alison and I were talking the entire time so the run just seemed to fly by. I was wishing I had more time to run and hang out after the run. However, I had to quickly get back into the car to drive to Northampton to make my 9 a.m. class. Class actually starts in 5 minutes so I have to make this quick.

After my first class I will leave for Cumberland, ME with the team to preview the NE Regional Course. Our cross country team competes at the DIv. III Pre-Nationals on Saturday. It should be really fun. I am exciting to see the competition. I hope to run about 8-10 miles before the meet tomorrow morning. Sunday I am hoping to run about 15 miles - we'll see if I can make time for it. I want to take my nephew out to lunch on Sunday afternoon to celebrate his awesome report card. I'll just have to make sure I get up early to finish my run.

I am looking forward to more runs in Amherst. It has been so nice getting to know Alison. She has been a huge help to me since I have moved to the area. She has really motivated me to get to know the area more and keep me inspired with my daily running. No time for spell check.. today so sorry if there are errors. More on Sunday! Good strides...

Posted by mary at 8:47 AM | Comments (1)

November 11, 2004

Easy Workout

This afternoon I ran my favorite 5 mile pond path loop and added on in the cross country course to make it about 6 miles. I then ran onto the track to do a quick track workout. I did not want to do anything long after having run the marathon but I wanted to feel like I was turning my legs over a bit. I decided to do 8 200's at 45's seconds and run a 200-jog recovery so that I would run 2 miles continuously in the workout. My left quad was still a little sore but once I started to run hard it did not seem to bother me. My quads also did not bother me. I ran 46 seconds for the first 200 and wondered if I would get slower because the effort felt a little harder than I wanted it to. I jogged really slowly on the 200 meters in between each interval. I did the last 7 all between 45 and 42 and felt like I was working but did not feel exhausted. I guess I just did not feel really speedy. It felt like work but I guess it should just a few days after a marathon. The good news was that my legs did not feel sore and I felt in control of my breathing. I was happy to maintain my Thursday as a workout day. I jogged about a half hour when I was finished.

In the evening I headed to Hartford, Ct with my two roommates to meet my two friends who just moved here from CA. We wanted to go to an Ethiopian restaurant for dinner but unfortunately the restaurant I know of is no longer there. I was very disappointed. We did find a good Indian restaurant to go to which was nice. It was fun to get out of the house and leave work for a while and my housemates were happy to meet some new people. Tomorrow I am running with Alison so I should hit the sack soon.

Posted by mary at 10:18 PM | Comments (1)

November 10, 2004

Two Easy Days and Finally Some Running

Thanks to everyone commented about my recent marathon. It was a great experience and an exciting marathon. I highly suggest running it or watching it live if you have not already done so.

Monday's Day of Rest

On Monday I took the day off from running to rest up from the marathon and give my blister an extra day to heal. The blister already looked about 50% better by Monday because it was only one layer thick.

I took the 9:07 a.m. train back to Milford and drove to my parent�s house to visit my Grandfather before heading back up to school. My Grandfather wanted to know if I won the marathon. I told him that I let Paula Radcliffe win this one and maybe I could try to win the next one. It was really nice to visit with him. I then picked up some sandwiches and met my Mother and Brother for lunch and told them about my weekend in NY. They wished they had been there with me.

I arrived back on campus around 3 p.m. for our cross-country practice. The women were doing their last hard workout of the week. They were running 4 hard 800's on the gravel path that goes around the athletic fields. I walked around the gravel path while they were warming up to shake out my legs and they felt pretty good. My left hamstring was a bit sore as well as my calf but otherwise I felt fine. The women had a good fast workout.

I stayed up much too late on Monday night finishing up some assignments for Tuesday that I had not worked on over the weekend. By the time my head hit the pillow I was sound asleep.

Tuesday - Power Walking and Lifting

Tuesday's are my busy day at school. I have three classes in a row, followed by work, and then coaching. I usually am not finished until around 7 p.m. This Tuesday however, we did not have practice. I was so thankful because it meant I could get to bed early.

When I finished working at the library I came home and was about to go running. One of my roommates thought I was crazy to be running two days after a marathon and convinced me to go power walking with her. I decided that was probably a good idea and we power walked the cross-country course. It was very cold outside and my lungs were actually burning a bit from the cold weather. When I finished the walk I went to the gym and lifted for a half hour but did not do any leg exercises. I felt really good after the power walk.

Wednesday - Pool Running and 50 minute P.M. Run

On Wednesday morning I met Alison for a very relaxing and enjoyable pool run. We were in the pool for about an hour and I got to hear some first hand reports of the marathon week in New York City. The time flew by this morning and I wished I had had more time to catch up with Alison. I am going to be running with Alison in her hometown on Friday on some trails so I am very excited about that event.

After practice with the team I decided to go for an evening run. It was dark and very cold by the time I went out for my run. Initially I was not that motivated to run because of the cold temperatures and the darkness. However, I then realized that I'd be getting good experience running in the cold weather in preparation for the 50k race in Indiana. I decided I needed to figure out what type of cloths to wear when it was about 30 degrees out. I wore some tights, a long sleeve shirt, a hat, and a vest. I felt comfortable in this and was able to run for about 50 minutes. The first 15 minutes I was running much faster than I intended. I had to remind myself to slow down. I think I was trying to warm up. I slowed down a lot in the second half and in the last 10 minutes of the run I realized my left calf was pretty sore. I stretched it really well when I returned from the run. Apart from the tight calf I felt pretty good and by the time I was done with the run I was very warm.

Posted by mary at 10:23 PM | Comments (4)

November 9, 2004

Marathon Day

The alarm went off much too early, 5:30. I was not ready to get up so I procrastinated as long as I could. It did not last long. I was on the living room floor on an air mattress and my friends needed to make coffee and get going so I decided I was probably in their way and should get up. I got up and was pleased to find out that it was not freezing outside. I decided to definitely wear my short sleeve shirt and started to drink some water. We left the apartment at 6 a.m. and caught a cab to the library. Once we arrived at the library we had to wait in line for about a half hour before catching the bus to staton island. The bus ride was very relaxing. The friends who I was with asked me some advice about marathon running and I gave them a bit of advice about drinking water vs. Gatorade and about taking gu. I then fell quickly to sleep. It was probably a 20-minute nap. It felt really good. We arrived at Staton Island around 7:30 a.m. and quickly found a place to lie out and relax. I took another nap for about 45 minutes but did not sleep as soundly as I had on the bus. I did feel pretty relaxed which was good. Before I napped I ate my wheat bagel with peanut butter, which hit the spot, and I finished my water. I got up around 8:30 and started to walk around and loosen up. I found a secret place to go to the bathroom behind some trees that were next to a building. It was much easier than waiting in a line. I dropped off my drop bag and did a slow jog for about 10 minutes. At 9:15 I had to head over to the women's orange start. I said good-bye and good luck to my friends and made my way to the chorale area. I made my way to the front of the line. We were in this area for at least 35 minutes while they called out instructions about where to throw unwanted clothing and water bottles. At 9:50 we made our way to the Staton Island Bridge. Again I maintained my position in the second row of the starting line. I was shocked to see the women around me sit down and go to the bathroom right there at the start. I have seen men do that but not women. We waited around for another 10 minutes while the announcers welcomed runners from all of the foreign countries in their native languages. A little after 10 the gun finally went off. I felt that the pace was not too fast and I felt relaxed. This first mile however, was slightly uphill since we were going over the bridge. I recorded all of my splits for the marathon. For the most part I think the splits accurately reflect how I was feeling or how the course may have changed in that mile. I had my ups and downs in the race but for the most part really had an amazing time.

Mile 1: 7.11 Mile 14: 7.16
Mile 2: 6.26 Mile 15: 7.26
Mile 3: 6.55 Mile 16: 7.45
Mile 4: 6.59 Mile 17: 7.27
Mile 5: 6. 58 Mile 18: 7.13
Mile 6: 7.00 Mile 19: 7.10
Mile 7: 6.57 Mile 20: 7.32
Mile 8: 7.02 Mile 21: 7.29
Mile 9: 7.12 Mile 22: 7.26
Mile 10: 6.53 Mile 23: 7.41
Mile 11: 7.13 Mile 24: 7.45
Mile 12: 6.55 Mile 25: 7.33
Mile 13: 7.04 Mile 26: 7.21 Last .2 = 1.37

For the first 10 miles of the race I felt very relaxed. I really enjoyed just running with the women for the first 8 miles of the race. The men were racing on the other side of the median in the road. The area where I was running was not that crowded and the pace was pretty consistent. At mile 10 I realized I was getting a horrible blister right on the ball of my right foot. I was pretty surprised. I hardly ever get blisters on the bottom of my feet when I run. The more I thought about it the more it bothered me. I decided not to think about it. By mile 13 my foot was numb and it barely bothered me. When I did think about it I wondered why I got it. I figured it was because I had not worn my light training shoes in so long. When I finished the race I would discover that I had no insoles in my shoes so my feet were rubbing against the lining of the shoe. I was so mad at myself for making such a dumb mistake. I used to wear orthodics so the insoles were out for that reason.

After 13 miles I found that my motivation to stay at 7 minute pace was not as high. I knew I had run the first half faster than I expected but it felt pretty comfortable. The course seemed to be harder the second half of the race. When I was running on the city streets between miles 14-20 I felt great but as soon as I hit a bridge I felt like I was jogging. The bridges were hard to run on because they were rolling and the surface was so hard. I did not feel like I was moving at all and there were no crowds. Running over the Queensboro bridge was the hardest. However, once I hit First Avenue and heard the crowds screaming like mad it was very difficult not to get excited. I felt the rush of excitement through my entire body and forgot about my blister completely. I just soaked up the entire scene.

My hip flexors felt very sore around mile 17 and I felt like my stride was becoming weaker. I felt like I still had a lot of energy but I was very tight. I decided that this was the result of not doing any quality long runs since the summer. My longest run since the 100k in September was my 2-hour runs, which I ran back to back the past two weekends. By mile 17 I was over the 2-hour mark and starting to feel some tightness. I noticed it mostly when I was running uphill so I tried to shorten my stride and not raise my knee up so high. I just ran mile to mile and was hoping not to run over 8 minute pace. Once I hit mile 20 I was no longer worried about my hip flexors. I knew that even though they were tight I could run the last 6 miles with the tightness.

I drank water at every single mile and had Gatorade and water at every other mile. I had a gu with an hour to go and a half hour to go. My energy level was high the entire race. The two main problems were the blister and tight hip flexors.

The final 4 miles were really fun even though I thought they were challenging. Running up 5th Avenue was tough. I did not expect the hill to seem so hard. On a normal training run I thought I might not notice the incline but after 22 miles I noticed it and was waiting for it to be over. Once I hit central park I was so excited. The park was so pretty and there were so many people lined up cheering for the runners that I could not help it but to be really happy. Once I entered Central Park I saw Alison photographing and saw one of my college teammates cheering for me along the course. Seeing both of those two people was really exciting and made me want to push a little harder to get to the finish. I saw that the time on the clock was close to 3.10 so I decided to push a little harder for the last 0.2 to make sure I was under 3.10. I was really surprised to exceed my "dream workout goal pace of 3.10" for the day. I had no idea what kind of shape I was in and was planning on running somewhere between 3.10 and 3.20 for the race.

Once I finished my foot ached where the blister was and I sat down to remove my shoe. Officials rushed over and told me to start heading up the hill. This was the only negative of the entire racing experience. I had to walk what seemed like a mile to the family greeting area before I could sit down. I had no one waiting for me there because my friend who I stayed with had VIP seats at the finish. My friend lives a block away from the family and friends meeting area so I went to her house and showered and then returned to the race course to cheer people on. I met up with my college friend Miguel who I have not seen in ages and we caught up for about an hour. It was really nice.

My two friends who I went to the marathon with were very happy with their race and finished in 4 hours and just under 5 hours. My friend's boyfriend did not expect to finish so he was ecstatic. I was really happy for him. We all met up at the house and shared our racing experiences.

In the evening I met up with five running friends from CA and went to an exquisite party in Brooklyn Heights that was being held for one of our friends, Joachim Bechtle, who won his 60-year-old age group at the marathon in a smashing time of 2.54. He gave a toast at the party to thank his friends and coaches for their support. He talked about how he ran the race 20 years ago in 2.55 and was so happy to be faster 20 years later. He also told us how he learned about negative splits and how that analogy could be carried over to every day life as well. I was so happy for him. Joachim has worked very hard and is very talented. In the past year, he has won his age group record at Boston and New York and last year he won his age group at the Chicago marathon. He won the Triple Crown in marathon races.

I was beat by the time I got back to my friends place on the West side. I went right to bed and woke up at 8 the next morning to take the 9:07 train back to Milford. I had a lot of work to do when I returned to school and took the day off from running.

Posted by mary at 12:58 AM | Comments (6)

Saturday Morning Team Run and New York City Travels!

On Saturday morning I had to drive the students to a nearby reservoir near the Holyoke Mall to do their last long run of the season. Their long run by this point is very abbreviated. The farthest distance any group had to run was 75 minutes. The short group ran an hour. I decided to run with this group. We left the campus at 8 a.m. and arrived to the reservoir by 8:30. The reservoir has trails all around it make of crushed gravel that is very very small. It is extremely flat and very pretty. It would be a great place to do a fast tempo run. There is a large five-mile loop around all of the lakes and then there are trails that cut across the five-mile loop that intersect different parts of the reservoir. It is nice because you are on one single stretch of trail with water on either side of you. There are huge pine trees on the perimeter of the main trail, which makes the area very scenic. Our pace was very very easy and when we finished I had not even gotten my shirt or sports bra wet. I felt relaxed. We stretched for about 20 minutes before jumping into the van, which felt really good. We arrived on campus by 10:15. I was excited because I wanted to leave for NY by 11 a.m. I quickly took a shower and jumped into the car with all of my baggage. When I was in Springfield I realized I forgot a very important thing at home. I forgot my race confirmation form. I had to turnaround and drive 20 minutes back to Northampton and pick it up. I originally wanted to make the 1:07 train but due to this error had to take the 2:07 train. I was really annoyed that I failed to pack that the night before but so thankful I realized in Springfield that I had forgotten it rather than in Hartford.

I was really worried that I would not have enough time to pick up my race number when I arrived at Grand Central Station. I drove to Milford and parked there and was scheduled to arrive in NY at 3:40. I do not know NY City very well at all. I decided to pay the cab fare once I arrived to ensure that I would make it to the expo by 5 p.m. to get my race number. I made it to the expo with time to spare, at 4:10 and picked up my number. I was disappointed that I had no interest in walking around the expo but I am sure it had to do with the fact that I was lugging around my backpack and shoulder bag. I felt pretty weighed down. Once I had my number I was relaxed and was able to call my good friend and let her know I had arrived and would be able to meet up with her.

When I left the expo I was so happy to get out in the fresh air and decided to walk to the subway station, which was about 6 blocks away. I took the train north to the upper west side where my friend lives. As I was getting off the train I received a phone call from one of my friends who used to live in CA. He took a guess that I'd be in NY for the marathon and wanted to know if I wanted to meet him sometime that evening. I suggested we meet after dinner for some tea. I was really happy for the surprise phone call. I got off the train at the Museum of Science on 81st street and walked one block up to Columbus where my friend lives. It was so nice to drop all of my things. My friend's boyfriend and cousin were both running the marathon so I was relieved to have fellow runners to go to the start with the next morning. For dinner we went to someone's house for dinner. We had a delicious pasta dinner with great salad and topped it all off with a very tasty and rich slice of cheesecake. It was very divine. I was really hungry from traveling all day long and the food definitely hit the spot. It was really relaxing to have dinner in a family setting the night before the race.

After dinner we walked back to my friends house and got our bags ready for the next day. I pinned my number to my shirt and picked out my shoes to wear. I then got a phone call from my friend, Corey, and we decided to meet for tea down the street. It was about 10 p.m. at this point. I thought I probably should go to bed but I had not seen my friend in ages and I knew I would not really fall asleep. I caught up with my friend for a little over an hour and then met my friends back at the apartment. They were already in bed and I jumped into my bed and fell asleep in no time.

Posted by mary at 12:42 AM | Comments (1)

Friday's Run

On Friday I had to squeeze in another quick workout. The cross country team was scheduled to do a workout which I was not going to run with them. I decided to sleep in all week and wanted to do afternoon runs so that I would feel fresh and get the chance to sleep in. I had about an hour to do a workout in the afternoon before the team showed up.

I decided to run my favorite five mile run and finish on the track with a mile at 7 minute pace. The five mile run felt really good, nice and smooth. I ran my Pond Path loop that finishes on the team's cross country course. I finished on the track with one mile at 6.46 pace. It was faster than I wanted but each lap was consistent, around 1.42 to 1.41. I felt good and had a quick 400 meter jog and stretch before the team arrived.

I was up a little later than I wanted to be on Friday night packing my bags for my trip to NY and finishing up on classwork. By the time I went to bed I had everything packed and most of my school work completed.

Posted by mary at 12:39 AM | Comments (0)

November 4, 2004

Another Quick Update

I have a lot of work to do this week getting ready for my trip to NY for the weekend. I know I will not get any school work done while I am away so I am trying to get all of my necessary work done now so I won't be stuck completing it late Sunday night.

Today I only had an hour to squeeze in a workout. I stuck with my Thursday workout plan and decided to do a mile on the track followed by 5 x 1200 on the gravel path around the track (it is just about 1200 meters, slightly rolling, really good for tempo pace runs). I warmed up for 20 minutes and then wanted to run a mile at 7.15 pace. I ran too fast and ran a 6.36. It felt nice and relaxed. I then ran 5 x 1200 with 1 minute recovery. I wanted to run them at 4.50. I ran 4.51,4.51,4.47,4.45, and 4.44. I felt better with each 1200. It was pretty cold. I wore a hat and a long sleeve shirt and vest. I only had time for a half mile warm down which was really bad but I was so lucky to finish my workout right before it started to hail. It was hailing for about 20 minutes this afternoon and it then started to rain. It is still raining now. Tomorrow I plan to run for an hour at an easy pace. I am started to get nervous and excited about Boston. I would love to run under 3.20 and the closer I am to 3.10 the happier I will be. However, I can't be that picky because I have not been specifically training for this race. I really want to use this race as a tune up for the 50k Championship race in December which is why I did a workout today.

Posted by mary at 8:31 PM | Comments (8)

November 3, 2004

Quick Update!

Monday Running!

On Monday morning I got up and ran my favorite 5 mile course but turned it into a 7.5 mile course by adding some extra miles on the trails. The course goes out along the pond path, then runs on the road for about a mile and a half and finishes on the cross country course. It was a nice crisp bright 7 a.m. morning, thanks to the change in clocks. I felt pretty good and ran for an hour.

In the afternoon I ran another hour with the team. We ran the Amerhest bike path loop which is an out and back course with an extra loop in the middle of the bike path. I felt really good on the second run of the day and was accused of picking up the pace by the team. I apologized and stepped back to let them lead for awhile. It was a beautiful afternoon but we were in a rush to get back before it got dark out. We started the run at 4 p.m. and by the time we were finished it was getting dark out.

Tuesday Runs

On Tuesday morning I got up and ran my favorite 5 mile course again but did not add on to it. When I finished I was hoping to lift but I did not have time to do that before class. I did a quick set of sit ups and then went to class.

In the afternoon before the women's workout I ran another five miles on the cross country course. I felt tired at the beginning of the run but felt much better towards the end of the run.

In the evening I drove back to my parent's house in CT to have dinner with my Grandfather and watch the election results. It was a Loooooong night. I stayed up until 1 a.m. waiting for some positive news and then decided to go to bed since nothing encouraging was coming through.

Wednesday - Day off - Most Likely

I got up at 6 a.m. and realized I left the light on inside the car. I thought I'd have to jump start the car but luckily I was fine. My morning was off to a late start and I still had to drive an hour back to Northampton. I thought I might have time for a morning run but I was moving slowly from getting so little sleep. By the time I got to school I had to go straight to class.

I had my swim lesson for a half hour after my morning class. I was working on lengthening my stroke. I managed to decrease the number of strokes over 25 meters from 21 to 19 in the session. I had a stroke rate of 16 but realized I was doing the catch up drill so that did not count.

Tonight I have to go to a NEWMAC meeting (our school's athletic conference) so I don't think I am going to have anytime to run. The head coach and I will get the women started at practice and then have to take off. I am disappointed that I won't get to run today but I think it will be good to rest a day as I will be running the marathon on Sunday in New York.

Posted by mary at 12:23 PM | Comments (3)