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July 18, 2006

Another New Update

This week is very hectic as I am helping to clean the camp for all of the guests for this weekend's wedding, getting some last minute paper work in for my National Board Application, wrapping gifts, packing, and all the little details that seem to arise at the last minute. I am still dedicated to my running and it is keeping me sane and very happy despite the oppressive hot weather.

Sunday's Run: This Sunday was the Stowe 8 miler which I had no interest in doing. I might have considered doing it as a tempo run but I have been so busy that I decided to arrive early and do a tempo run with my friend Jen on the bike path a few hours before the race even started. Jen and I ran a 2.5 mile warm up and then ran 2 miles at 6.52 pace. We intended to do three miles but we were both feeling flat and already soaked and still had 6 miles to go before we met up with the racers. We just ran easy for the last 6 miles. I wanted to do an evening run but did not get a chance. Mark ran in the race but had to drop out after six miles. His hip has been very sore lately and the physical therapists believe it is bursitis. He is taking about 4 days off this week in hopes that it will clear up and he will be ready for this Saturday's Race to Tie the Knot ( our pre-wedding race).

Monday: Yesterday morning I ran a very easy hour run in Cady's Falls. I ran at seven in the morning and managed to run the second half a bit faster than the first half. I felt better than I expected. I again planned an evening run with Jen but canceled it when I realized I still had about three things to do on my list.

Tuesday: This morning Jen met me at 8 a.m. and we did a 1.5 mile warm up. We then ran 5 x 800 on a measured section of a dirt road where I live. I love doing the repeats on the road compared to the track. We were exhausted when we started and said lets just do a 3.30 for the first one. We ran 3.10 followed by 3.03, 3.03, 3.02, and 2.52. I felt really good except that my quad was really tight by the last 200 of each repeat. We then ran about 2 miles cool down. I should note that I take a lot of recovery, almost full, in between my intervals to give my quad a decent recovery. It helps a lot. Again I want to run tonight, if I have time, but we'll see, one of my brothers and his family is arriving tonight so I want to help them get settled in.

I have easy runs planned for the rest of the week with maybe a bike time trial for tomorrow.

A big race that I am training for is in NY. It is the American Zofingen duathalon. It is a 5.5 mile trail run, 85 mile road bike, and a 16.5 mile trail run. It is extremely challening. Last year no females finished so I am definitely setting my sights high.
http://www.americanzofingen.triathletesonline.com/

I have been biking on a regular basis this summer but will need to do a lot of gap rides from Stowe over to Johnson in September and October to attempt to get ready for this race.

I am also training for the Cal International Marathon in December and hoping the training for the duathalon will make me very strong for Cal. My great running partner, mentor, former coach, Frank is making his marathon come back in that race and aiming for sub 3 so I figure I might as well give it another try and shoot for sub 3 or at least a marathon pr. My former pr is 3:06, I can't remember the seconds of the 3:06.

It will be nice to focus on those two events when I come back from my honeymoon in Mexico. (Sayulita).

Posted by mary at 12:36 PM | Comments (3)

July 15, 2006

Busy Summer and Update

Since I should be running the VT 100 mile race today I thought the least I could to was update my blog. My summer has been quite busy. I am teaching at a community college on weekends, attending a few summer classes, applying for the National Board Application process, and planning my wedding which is exactly one week away. I have not had any free time for lounging around. I can't wait for my honeymoon with Mark in Sayulita, Mexico! I have been able to run, bike, and/or paddle most days. I have not really done much racing. I did one triathalon that turned into a duathalon due to water conditions on Lake Champlain on 4th of July weekend. I ran 20:40 for the 5k which I was happy about since my quad always hurts when I race. I then raced 12 miles on my bike and ran a half mile in 3.10 or something like that. I did this with my friend Jen. This past week I have been able to train with my twin sister Liz who is quite fit even though she is 8 months pregnant. She was in VT Mon-Wed helping me and I was in CT with her on Thur. and Fri. helping her recover as she got her wisdom tooth pulled. I thought this would be the first time someone could tell us apart because she's pregnant, NOT so, people can hardly tell she is pregnant. This is what my week has looked like in terms of running:

Sunday July 9th: Ran 2 hours with my friend Ben in Manchester, CT on great trails that led to Glastonbury. Liz ran a bit over an hour with us. I did not wear socks and got very bad blisters. Liz had a surprise shower on Sunday! :)

Monday July 10th: Ran 1 hour with Liz and Jen at the Cady's Falls bike trails. Ran another 20 -40 minutes with Liz in Burlington near the Ethan Alan house on trails.

Tuesday July 11th: Ran up Elmore Mountain with Liz and Jenn in the morning. Ran/Hiked 30 minutes with Liz on the Long Trail in the afternoon.

Wednesday July 12th: Ran around Elmore Mountain again with Liz for an hour. Ran around The East Hampton Reservoir in MA with Liz on the way to CT, about 4 miles.

Thursday July 13th: Ran 4 miles with Pauline and Liz in the morning, very easy. Ran an hour with Liz around the Yale Golf Course and Reservoir Trails in Orange/New Haven.

Friday July 14th: Ran 4 miles with Pauline and Liz in the early morning. Ran another easy 4 miles with Liz in the Reservoir Trails in New Haven before driving to VT. In the evening ran a 1.5 mile warm up with Jen and then ran 4 x 800 with Jen at 2:57, 2:57, 2:56, and 2:56. Ran on dirt roads! It was great, ran a two mile cool down. Quad very sore at the end.

Saturday July 15th: Today! Ran 56 minutes at Cady's Falls with Jen in the morning. Biked 25 miles around Stowe in the later morning. Tonijght I may do a kayak around the Lake!

Tomorrow: Plan to do a three mile tempo run on the Stowe bike path before the Stowe 8 miler so I can cheer for Mark while he is running the race.

Posted by mary at 5:37 PM | Comments (2)