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March 25, 2007

Weekend Update

We had beautiful weather on Saturday. It was probably about 45 degrees. I was able to wear shorts and feel the fresh air on my legs. I ran five miles with my friend Jen and then picked up Mark and we were going to do 8 miles at marathon pace. I decided to run three miles hard and then two miles easy to get ready for the long run the next day. I knew there would be a lot of fast people at the long run and I could potentially be the slowest so I really did not want to jeopardize my long run because I was tired from a pacing run. So.. I did three miles somewhere between 6.45 and 7.00 minute pace with Mark, hard to know the pace for sure, it was quite hilly and then I ran two miles easy.

This morning we got up and drove to Huntington for a long run. It is a very nice area of VT, right at the base of Camel's Hump Mountain. There are lots of nice dirt roads and it is very hilly, lots of long climbs that are straight up and over a mile long. There were about six people who showed up at a friend’s house. We picked up a few people along the way including Mark who was waiting for us at the three mile mark because he wanted to run 16 miles. The run was rolling with one long hill that was about one and a half miles long. We had lots of amazing views. I stayed with the pack until mile 19 or so and then backed off for the last three. I could still see the group but my quad was quite sore and my hamstring was getting tight. A few people jumped in the jeep with Mark for a total of 19 miles. I have to say I was tempted to do the same but knew I'd be disappointed if I didn't go for the total 22 miles. I did and was happy to finish the hilly course with a 7.40 average pace. It's really nice to have other people to run with for the distraction and for the sense of perspective you gain. When I run by myself I always feel like I am jogging and feel like I am in slow motion. Running with a group makes me feel so much stronger. I am not sure if I naturally run faster with a group or if I just get myself more psyched up and become more confident and feel better. After the run we had a great breakfast at our friend's house who hosted the run... fresh blueberry pancakes and blueberry coffee cake. It hit the spot!

Now... I am going to take a shower and hit the computer for some more analysis of my teaching. I am trying to ignore the beautiful sunshine outside because I really want to be out there with the sun shining. During our run it was overcast and damp, probably about 35 degrees. Really not bad considering the weather we have been having but it has warmed up so much since our run and the sky is blue, which is very rare here in VT! I will be happy with the sunshine hitting my foot for this afternoon and look forward to some outdoor adventures next weekend.

Posted by mary at 1:39 PM | Comments (3)

March 23, 2007

Life in VT

This week has been quite busy. My VT working environment is not at all ideal. I am working more than ever and getting paid less than ever. I try not to think about it but over tax time it's hard not to analyze the situation. Currently, I work part time at the North American Hockey Academy in the morning, an all girls private hockey school. I teach three girls a morning in three different subjects. I then go to the local high school where I work and teach three different classes. Additionally, on Monday and Wednesday evenings I teach Anatomy and Physiology at the local community college from 5:30 to 9:00. I also coach cross country and track and try to squeeze my training in all of this. This past week I have been frantically collecting a year's worth of teaching evidence to put together for my portfolio for my National Board Certification which is due next Saturday. Needless to say running very very unfortunately has not been my first priority.

In other news.. for a variety of reasons, mostly adventure Mark and I are in the process of applying for teaching jobs in Anchorage, AK. I am excited for the change and for the prospect of one much better job compared to three jobs where I work very hard but never seem to have enough time to do my best. I am looking forward to the adventure, moving somewhere new with Mark and hopefully meeting lots of new people. I have had very little luck in meeting people in VT. I can honestly say I have about three close friends and that's about it. I am used to knowing more people. I feel a part of the community, people know me, but socially it's not ideal. We are interviewing, filling out lots of paper work, and crossing our fingers.

Here is what I did this week and what I plan to do this weekend:
Monday: off - very busy getting ready for my night class.
Tuesday: 6 miles easy legs finally feeling less creaky
Wednesday: 3 miles good pace with the dog, covered in mud.. (MUD SEASON)
Thursday: 10 miles with a mile and a half hard (9:22)
Friday: 7 miles

Tomorrow I plan to do a marathon pacing run with Mark, about 8 miles at 6:48 pace
Sunday I plan to meet a group for a 22 mile run, can't wait.
In between I'll be at the computer analyzing my teaching and watching video tapes of me teaching.. can't wait to be done!

Posted by mary at 6:43 PM | Comments (3)

March 18, 2007

Weekend Update!

My weekend is pretty full because I am working on my National Board Portfolio, lots of writing, in addition to my regular weekend chores, laundry, grading papers, and planning for the week. I have been able to get some runs in but I have felt distracted while running because of the pile of work that is waiting for me.

Yesterday I worked at school all day and then met Mark at the gym. We have had snow all weekend long. Neither of us wanted to run through the snow and tire ourselves out so we did a treadmill run. I ran 7 miles on the treadmill between 7:30 and 6:47 pace and felt better than I expected after working all day. After the run I lifted for a half hour and did a little bit of stretching.

This morning we went to Richmond for a group run but only one person showed up. I was disappointed. Mark ran with the other runner and I went out on my own. It was snowing and very cold. I ran 17 miles, out and back into Huntington on some really pretty roads. The roads in sections were very slippery. I took a huge fall going down a hill and landed right on my behind. I was glad to have landed there because it was a quick and fast and hard fall. I was hoping to run 20 miles but due to the cold weather and slippery conditions I thought 17 was a good compromise. Now I have to get to work.

Posted by mary at 12:41 PM | Comments (1)

March 16, 2007

Uneventful Week of Running

This week of running has been uneventful. The biggest highlight was that I managed to run every day despite what can sometimes be an overwhelmingly long week. The warmer weather earlier in the week was so nice and made me so happy but unfortunately cold weather has returned and a foot and a half of snow is predicted to arrive this evening. I guess winter is still holding on tightly.

On Monday I ran after school with a coworker. We ran the six mile Fitzgerald loop. I felt ok but my knees and hip flexors have been noticeably stiff for awhile now.

Tuesday I ran the 8 mile upper Elmore Loop after school. I wore SHORTS which was awesome. I felt ok the first half but really slow the second half. The second half I was running on very muddy roads so that may have made a difference. I then met up with my friend Jen and ran another four miles with her for a total of 12 miles.

Wednesday I got up early and lifted at the gym for forty minutes. I then did a five mile progressive run, starting with a 7:30 mile followed by 6:49, 6:49, 6:40, 6:35. The pace felt good but my joints are just acting up a lot. I can't seem to forget that my legs are moving while I am running. When I did not think about my legs the workout flew by.

Thursday I ran 7 miles with my friend Jen and a dog that she was watching. We did see an amazing sunset. The entire sky was a bright pink. We lingered outside in the 30 degree weather for 15 minutes so that we could watch the entire sun set and see night cover the sky. That was really beautiful.

Today I ran four miles after school with our dog Seb, then I ran another five miles afterwards with a student I coach, and immediately after that I ran five miles with my friend Jen. I felt energetic but I still have this terribly achy feeling in my hip joints and knee joints. I am about to soak myself in a bath.

Mileage so far this week:
Sunday: 20
Monday: 6
Tuesday: 12
Wednesday: 5
Thursday: 7
Friday: 14
Saturday: ?

This Sunday I have another group run planned. The group is going to do a 16.5 mile loop. I think I will get there early and run 3.5 miles before hand to warm up and get a total of 20 in for the day. Tomorrow I plan to run 7-10 miles very easy.

Posted by mary at 5:51 PM | Comments (1)

March 11, 2007

Icy Long Run and A Day of Work

This morning I got up to sunshine which was so nice and comforting. The roads however were still a combination of ice and dirt and snow. The greatest component was ice. I wanted to run at least twenty miles and considered about twenty three if conditions were right and I felt ok. My legs were sore for the first half hour due to yesterday's workout but then I warmed up and felt ok. I ran a great out and back course towards Stowe almost all of which was dirt roads. The views were incredible and I had the roads nearly to myself. Going uphill on the slick roads was not a problem but the downhills were tricky and when the occasional car went by I was a bit nervous. Despite the icy conditions and very hilly course I think my pace was still decent, about eight minute pace. I turned around at 1 hour and twenty minutes because my knees were getting sore from the ice. Some portions were more runnable than others. I had company for the last five miles which was nice. My running partner, Jen, came out to meet me with five miles to go which was great. We were going to add on but I was so creaky. I am spending the rest of the day getting lots of work done. I don't think I'll have enough hours in the day to get everything done that I want to but I'll try.

Posted by mary at 2:26 PM | Comments (3)

March 10, 2007

Marathon Workout and Mark's Snowshoe Update

I received a phone call from Mark around 1:00 p.m. He was disappointed with his race. He finished 8th overall and missed the national team. The national team is top 5. He has been injured the past month and only began running last week in CA and he did a 70 mile week for his first week back. The course in Minnesota was flat, all cardiac and anaerobic. It was a 10k course that consisted of two 5k loops. The loop was a figure 8 so you could see your competitors a lot. It did not favor the strength runner. Usually Mark has speed and strength but it's tough to have a lot of speed when you are just coming off of an injury. He is bored in Minnesota and can't wait to come home, I can't wait either!

I did a pacing workout at the gym because the roads are all slush and filled with snow. I ran a mile and a half warm up and then ran 11 miles at 6.49 pace and did about a half mile warm down. My legs felt good after about three miles at that pace and I felt very comfortable, I was able to talk to other people at the gym. Unfortunately I went to the bathroom twice during the workout and I definitely should not have gone that much. I am not sure if I ate something that disagreed with me last night or the recent cereal and milk binge I have partaken in is catching up with me. I usually don't eat cereal but I have to confess when Mark is away I just don't cook and I end up eating cereal and other easy foods to prepare. My stomach is still making noises and I feel uncomfortable. I hope it subsides by tomorrow, otherwise I'll have a very long run ahead of me. I plan to go to sleep now and sleep about 7 or 8 hours and then get up and do a three hour run. I hope the roads are not too slick. We are having some rain at the moment and it could make all of the snow on the roads quite slippery. I am crossing my fingers for some good running conditions. Mark gets home around dinner time. I think I'll make some sushi for dinner.... yum!

Posted by mary at 10:55 PM | Comments (0)

Snow on Mt. Tam

Posted by mary at 10:52 PM | Comments (0)

Running in Marin

Posted by mary at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)

Catching Up

Sunday in CA: Ran 20 miles with my friend Frank in CA at 6 in the morning. Ran from Liz's house in San Rafael to Mt. Tamalpais State Park. Ran up to our favorite trails around Phoenix Lake and up to Lake Lagunitus, ran back through Deer Park in Fairfax, and ran back up and over the hill to Liz's house in San Rafael.

After the run, I ran another 6 miles with Liz's students for our first day of Experiential Learning: Running and Exploring Mt. Tamalpais. I felt very tired for this run and just ran in the back of the pack. We ran from Mt. Home Inn and did a great loop in a rain forest type atmosphere. I was overdressed for the run and had to stash some of my clothes in the bushes and retrieve them later in the day. In the afternoon, we did a four-mile hike from Muir Woods to the Dipsea Trail and back to Muir Woods’s parking lot. It was very relaxing.

Total: 26 miles

Monday: Ran six miles in the morning at 6 a.m. with my old good friends Chris and Diana. Ran easy felt good, ran on the roads, great to catch up.

Ran with students about six miles in the afternoon, ran from Pan Toll Station to West Point Inn to Mt. Theater. At Mt. Theater I turned back to help a student who turned their ankle. From this point on, I walked the rest of the way with the student. We had a lot of rain on this run and had an afternoon hike scheduled. The hike was canceled and instead we went to my sister's brother in laws ice cream shop, Three Twins Ice cream (http://www.threetwinsicecream.com/), for some great organic ice-cream.

In the evening, I did another 5-6 miles with Liz and Frank through San Rafael and up to the Ridge. Liz and Frank did a half-mile hard but I was too tired to run anything fast. The views from the ridge were terrific.

Monday Total: 17 miles

Tuesday: Ran about 10--11 miles on the west side of Mt. Tamalpais led by the great trail runner/mountain bike runner/Dipsea runner extraordinaire Roy Rivers. Roy led our group on a very adventurous two hour run in which we experienced snow on the mountain, hidden lakes, hidden spike tree forest, and garbage cans in the middle of the mountain. Great pictures of our run can be found here: http://satrun.songbirdsoftware.com/runs/February%2027,%202007%20-%20Marin%20Academy%20Run/slides/IMG_0861.html

Tuesday Evening: Ran a track workout at San Rafael track. Ran a one mile warm up and then ran 5 min hard, 4 min hard, 3 min. hard, 2 min hard, 1 min hard, and 5 min hard, and then ran a one mile cool down. I ran everything at about a 6:30 pace since I was feeling pretty tired.

Tuesday Total: 15 miles

Wednesday: Ran seven miles in the morning with Diana and Frank. Ran an easy pace, ran along the Marin bike path into Ross, to Phoenix Lake, then turned around, and came back the same way.

Ran with the students at Samuel P. Taylor Park. Ran four miles uphill and then ran four miles down hill. Very beautiful single-track trail that slowly wound its way up the mountain. Very fun downhill run. In the afternoon did some volunteer work for the park and planted some grass along an area that was experiencing some erosion problems.

Saw Astronaut Farmer in the evening with Liz and Carl. 15 miles for the day

Thursday: Ran a great run with the students from Mt. Home Inn to Pan Toll to Matt Davis to Stinson Beach. Very beautiful run, really did not want to stop running. Once at the beach we had lunch and then played ultimate frisbee on the beach for an hour. Very fun and the weather was very nice.

Thursday evening ran three miles with a pack of runners Liz invited over for a Mary's back party in Marin. Ran a good pace, felt fun to be running in the middle of the street with a pack of runners. Spent the rest of the night catching up with lots of old friends.

Thursday total: 11 miles

Friday morning: Took Mark to Crown Road in Larkspur, ran Hookekoo trail up to Roller Coaster, came down Huckleberry Trail and ran back on Crown Road. I ran very easy. It was a beautiful clear day and I was happy to be on my old stomping grounds. Saw lots of people out running that morning.

Friday afternoon: volunteered at San Quinton Prison. Helped to pace some runners there in a 5k race in the courtyard. Very interesting and fun experience. I was running with the second pack but the crowds urged me to get going so I ran to the front pack and tried to help second place out kick first place. The front pack was about to lap me so I really did not catch them. With a lap to go second place went after first place and just missed it. I did not even try to hold on for that sprint. The top times were 17:44 and 17:48.

Friday mileage: 11 miles

Saturday: ran about six or seven miles around Phoenix Lake with Jen and my friend Trisha. Beautiful day ran nice and easy. Great to be back on those trails. Caught up the entire time.

Saturday mileage: 6 miles
Total for the week: 101 miles

Sunday: paced Liz for 11 miles of the Napa Marathon. Initially she wanted me to pace her for the second half but I did not want her to drop me at the end of the marathon after she had already run 20+ miles. Pacing her for the first, half was fun. I was a bad pacer for the first four miles because I was cold and my quad was really sore but then I felt really good and tried to run one step ahead of her and remind her how incredible she was/is. We ran 6.40 to 6.52 pace. After the first four miles, I felt good but by the time, I finished at mile 11 I was glad to be done. The high mileage and high activity week was catching up with me. I tried to get to mile 17 to watch Liz but missed her and met up with her at mile 23 to get Mark who was pacing Liz. I saw Mark but he continued to run with Liz who was on sub 3 hour pace at that point. I thought Mark would just finish with her so I dashed off to the finish. I saw Liz ran a huge pr of 2:57.14 and realized Mark walked back from mile 24. I felt horrible. He was looking for me but I had already left. He was tapering for Snowshoe nationals which are today in Minnesota. I am homebound waiting for his call and the results. We spent the rest of the day celebrating Liz's race and catching up with Sage.

Monday: Jet Lagged Tired, No Running, Teaching at Night

Tuesday: Sub Zero Temperatures, Ran 7 miles at the gym and lifted for 40 minutes.

Wednesday: No Running :(

Thursday: Biked 40 miles, Lifted 40 minutes, Water Ran about 25 minutes, and Ran 7 miles on the treadmill

Friday: Ran six miles with some students I teach and then ran five miles with my friend Jen.

Today: going to do a marathon-pacing run after I get a phone call update from Mark from his snowshoe race.

Posted by mary at 12:23 PM | Comments (2)