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May 27, 2008
Weekend Update
Vermont City Marathon
On Sunday I ran the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington. I did not really have a plan and only had some vague goals. I mostly wanted to run for fun and see what I could do on the minimal training I have recently been doing. I have been busy preparing for our move out west, coaching, and just life in general.
The Vermont City marathon is fun because there are relays happening at the same time with the potential for a team to have five relay members. During the race you constantly see relay team members and you get a lot of support. I was on a relay team with my cousins and ran the first two legs.
I was hoping to run 7 min. pace as long as it felt comfortable. I averaged about a 7.05 pace for the first half of the marathon and then my legs just felt dead. I ran easy the rest of the way and really tried to focus on being positive and finishing the race. I was so lucky because I had my own relay team members running with me and friends who were doing relays jump in and run with me. This made the marathon go by really fast. I ran 3.17.30 and was really happy to finish because I did not feel my best. My relay team finished 4th overall in a time of 3.15 which was great for us. Mark's relay team was 2nd with a time of 2.38.
Johnson to Sterling Pond Trail
On Monday Mark and I biked into the village and met some friends for an easy run. I only ran 20 minutes. My legs were really tired. We then biked to the camp for a great breakfast with our cousins.
In the afternoon I did my first practice long trail hike. I hiked about 13 miles mostly uphill from Johnson to the top of Mt. Mansfield in the afternoon. I was hoping it would take 4 hours. It took 4 hours and 20 minutes. The scenary at the top was terrific. I really love the single track trails but those are very technical. There were moments when it was raining and I was afraid it might thunder and lightening. I was able to avoid the thunder and lightening but I did not avoid the rain. When I finished I was a mess - covered in mud and pretty wet but I had fun.
I did realize I have a lot of courage to muster up before I do my long trail solo trip. I was nervous when it was getting stormy and at times I was surprised not to see anyone else on the trail. I also realize it will be very hard to get 30 to 35 miles a day.
Next weekend I have a trail marathon planned in CT. I may instead do an overnight hike/trip on the long trail to prepare for my solo hike.
This was the scenary of the last section of my hike this weekend.
Posted by mary at 11:14 AM | Comments (4)
May 16, 2008
Please Watch this Video and Vote
A few years ago when I coached and worked in San Francisco, I had the opportunity to help coach and get to know Shannon Rowbury. Shannon has recently graduated from Duke University and is training for the summer Olympics.
A few weeks ago Shannon won the 1500 at the Cardinal Invitational running 4.07.59 just missing the Olympic A Standard of 4.07.0. An article about her recent training and Olympic goals can be found here:
http://dailynews.runnersworld.com/2008/05/a-brief-chat--2.html
Shannon is an amazing athlete and outstanding person. Her Mom sent me this email about a documentary that Shannon made that is on Flo-track about the Duke cross-country team. If enough people vote Shannon's family can win a free trip to the Olympics.
The video itself is worth watching and voting is as easy as pressing a button. Thanks for paying attention to the this.
Best wishes to Shannon!!!
i Everyone,
Flotrack (a running related website) is having a contest...the winner
will receive a free trip to Beijing for two for the Olympics.
The contest involves uploading a running related video onto their
website. The winner is chosen based on the number of votes the video
gets.
Here is the favor we are asking...
It would be awesome if you could click on the link below which should
lead you to our video submission entitled "Blue Soles"...A short
documentary of the Duke Women's 2005 Cross Country Team):
http://www.flocasts.org/flotrack/080808.php?vid=43905
You are welcome to watch the video (which Shannon co-produced as part of
her undergrad studies at Duke)...but more importantly, we would
appreciate it if you would do the following for us:
1. Click on the "Rate this Video" button that will appear to the right
of the "tv screen" on your computer
2. There will be 5 stars immediately below the words "Rate this Video"
3. Position your cursor over the star that you want to use to rate the
video (1 star is poor / 5 stars is excellent)
4. Click on the star that you chose
5. You can only rate the video once
6. Forward to your family and friends....the more people that rate the
video...the better our chances of winning
7. Make sure you vote before June 9
We are currently in the phase two voting period which goes from May 15 -
June 9
The top 10 videos will then begin phase three voting which will run from
June 14 - 25
Posted by mary at 12:02 PM | Comments (0)
May 4, 2008
Spring is Here!
I am so happy that I can see the grass again and start to spend more time outside without all of the layers.
Mark and I both have secured jobs for the Bay area next year. I will be teaching at a private school in Kentfield in Marin County and Mark will be teaching at a private school in San Francisco. It is a huge relief to have jobs and to have the interview process over with. All of the flights and hard work paid off.
We are trying to make the most of our final months in VT but our every day obligations keep us pretty busy. Our school work with lesson planning, grading, and assessing is on going in addition to coaching. Our teams are doing really well. However; our schedules are quite opposite since Mark coaches the high school and I coach the middle school. We have meets on opposite days so we are rarely home at the same time.
I paced my cousin in the Boston Marathon (3.31) and had a good time experiencing Boston this way. I did not feel a lot of pressure and really enjoyed the atmosphere.
Now that the weather is better I am running more - doing some double runs and getting out on some of the dry trails. Once the trails are officially open it will be hard to keep me from running when I do have free time.
My quad is a constant bother and the pain never seems to go away completely. I am signed up for the Vermont City Marathon and the Nipmunk Trail marathon.
I did my first track workout since November last week and felt good running 6.00 to 6.20 pace but the workout was not very long. We host a Tuesday night workout which is pretty fun at the high school track especially if we get a little bit of a crowd.
I would like to run under 3.10 at VCM but a lot depends on my quad - if I have a pain free day or a pain less day. The Nipmunk Trail marathon will simply be for fun - a good way to explore my old stomping grounds in Storrs, CT. The two marathons are a week apart so I will just have fun with the trail marathon.
I have been busy planning my Long Trail solo expedition for the end of June. I plan to take about 7 days to cover the trail distance of about 250 miles. My biggest concern is the number of bugs I will encounter. This I believe could be the one obstacle that stands in my way of finishing the entire trail. I am immensely excited about the adventure and solitary time it will provide for myself.
Additionally, I am beginning the process of packing and making piles of things to keep and things to get rid of. I am very excited to return to Northern CA to be living so closely to my twin sister and her husband and their baby and to return to the amazing community of running friends I have in the area. I can not wait to share these things with Mark.
Yet - in the meantime I am taking every opportunity to explore ALL of my favorite pockets of VT and to make as many new adventures and memories here is VT as I can. We will be spending our summers in VT at a family camp so I do not have to try to do it all in the next few months.
Posted by mary at 3:06 PM | Comments (0)