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I just got in from blasting my pre-race 3 mile run...3.1 miles in 22:14, what the hell was I thinking?! It must be the pent up energy. We'll be getting on the road shortly, but as I perused the home pace of the marathon, I found that, thanks to the wonders of technology, there will be LIVE tracking for the race tomorrow! Here's the link: http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventLinkageID=1104

My bib # is 876. I feel really good about this number, it's my mom's birth month "8" and my brother's year of birth "76." I like it.

The forecast looks like it'll be a windy one on Sunday. It makes me a little nervous, but I've been told by a couple of people that I should just find someone tall and let them fight them wind...I'm down with that. I'll just bring some extra nutrition to share if said taller person notices that I'm "drafting" off of them. I'm all about making friends. I've done a couple of training runs in the wind too, so I know what I'm up against with 20 mile an hour winds...I just hope they don't last for the entire race. Oh, and it would be nice if they were at my back for part of the race too. I hope the Race Gods are listening.

The preparation is well under way. I added an extra Kashi TLC bar to the menu this afternoon and am planning on fish, potatoes and some couscous for dinner. Carbs are my friends. I've been working on a spreadsheet with all different paces that will get me to the finish line in 3:40. I've planned when I'll take gu, electrolyte tabs and crackers. I've studied the satellite pics of Google Maps like a linebacker studying film. I have some new lightweight shoes that make me feel like I'm flying. I'm ready. I'm excited. Question is, can I make it through the next two days without bursting?! I have so much ENERGY!! It's amazing what a taper can do....I'm bottling the energy up and will unleash it on Sunday, I hope. 

Now, off to my last visit with Irina...I can't wait to hear her bit of Russian wisdom before the race. I'm sure it will be good.

I'm officially less than two weeks away from the Dallas White Rock Marathon. That's right, friends, I'm running another marathon....this time with a goal - less than 3:40:59 to qualify for Boston. It's kind of scary, the fear of failing, but I'm trying not to stress. The past week has definitely helped in the 'no stress' department...almost a whole week with momma will do that for you. I love my time with Mom, her presence soothes me. Thanks Mom!

Now...momma's gone, I've got two agendas to compose for work meetings, a marathon in less than two weeks...I need to snap out of the 'no stress' mode and get back to work. Oh, and where in the hell did November go, is it really December 1st?!? Somebody's messing with me!

There are lots of ways to run 7 miles, here's two ways I've gone the distance the past couple of days....

Wednesday - Damn the daylight savings that made it dark at 5 PM! That only leaves me one option for getting in the miles....yep, the dreadmill. It's been a while since I spent quality time on the 'mill, so I tried to go into the workout with a positive attitude. It worked for the most part. Catching up on Paris' New BFF on MTV helped too...that show is ridiculous, but somehow it sucked me in and like a bad car accident I had to watch. After an hour and 45 seconds I'd finished my 7 miles and completed my bonding time with Paris and the 'mill.

Thursday - Drills! Always a good time. I had a mile warm up, then 4 x's 1000 fast/1000 run - pretty much 5 miles at a good clip. The 1000's went like this 4:01, 4:52, 4:03, 4:49, 4:09, 5:01; 4:13; 4:52 - Total Time = 36:04, which is slower than the last time I did this workout. Hmm. I think I have Coach Chrissie and her squats in between spin sets at this morning's spin class. A mile cool down gave me a total of 7 miles for the evening.

Nothing against Paris, but I think I prefer Thursday's 7 miler!

If I haven't said it before...I HEART IRINA! Irina is my kick ass Russian running coach and she got even more kick ass after yesterday's session. She always puts me up to a challenge and yesterday was no different: 2x's 1K shooting for around 3:50, followed by 8-400m repeats with 200m rest in between each repeat. If you say so!

I nailed the first 1K....3:50, right on the money. Irina was very happy and told me to try to keep my pace, but a little slower would be fine. Umm, no. Second 1K = 3:47! After getting a handshake from very happy Irina I set out for the set of 400's, they went like this: 1:29, 1:27, 1:29, 1:31, 1:31, 1:32, 1:30, 1:26 - negative split again! It was a great workout and I was very pleased with the effort.

But, it gets better!

Jeff has been coming out to drills for the past couple of weeks and he attended yesterday's session. He ran the second 1K with me finishing right behind me in 3:48, ladies first :o) He also cranked out 4 of the 400's with me in great form. He also got another little workout/lesson from Irina....how to massage my legs (specifically calves, which have been crazy tight lately) and back! Yep, that's right! I was telling Irina at the beginning of practice that my calves have been really sore and tight and she told me that I needed to get Jeff to massage them. Ha, we joked. But, no. She was serious and after drills she straight up had me face down on the ground massaging my legs and showing Jeff how it is done. It was great! Of course she mentioned that I could do the same for Jeff...I'll think about it, but, again, ladies first!

Things have been pretty busy! But then again, when are things not busy?! If things weren’t busy, then I would likely find a way to make things busy...I digress.

 

Had a fantastic weekend in the A-Tex and got to experience my first ever UT football game….from the 200 Club! The 200 Club would be where all the swank folk sit - complete with bar, buffet, flat screen TV’s and leather seats. Nice. Jeff got the tickets through work, so we jumped on the opportunity to see the Longhorns take on the Cowboys, what a great game! I gotta say….watching football without emotion is a wonderful thing. I mean, I like to see the Longhorns do well, but I’m not passionate about their fate. Colt McCoy fumbles, aww shucks. On the other hand, put me in Tiger Stadium on a Saturday night when the Tigers are taking on the *insert SEC opponent here* and I need blood pressure meds and Prozac. Funny how team spirit (at least that’s what we’ll call it) changes things. Here’s a pic of Jeff and I livin’ large and enjoying UT Football in high style:
 

 

I took advantage of the perfect weekend weather and got in a 15 mile run on Sunday morning. I finished in 2:10 (8:40 min/mi pace) with 1 bathroom stop and 2 water stops…I was happy with that. The cool Fall temps sure makes for nice running, but it’s another story on swimming. This will be my first Fall/Winter season swimming outdoors and I’ve already figured out that making it to the pool in the morning is 99% of the battle. The bed is so warm and cozy and the thought of stripping down to a swimsuit in 40 degree weather just doesn’t make you want to get out of bed…..but, then come the thoughts of a 1.2 mile swim in Lake Ponchartrain in April and *BOING* I’m up and the thoughts switch gears…gotta get better at the swimming, gotta get out of bed and get to the pool. This morning we did a 400 meter aerobic test and a 200 meter threshold test….twice. Here’s how it went…

Round 1: 400=7:10; 200=3:26

Round 2: 400=7:19; 200=3:32

So much for getting faster?! It’s okay….more fuel to the fire and motivation to get out of bed when the temps drop even lower. Brrr!

The story of the 10K PR last Sunday goes a little something like this....

I checked the McMillan Running Calculator last week to see about where I should be for a 10K if, say, I wanted to run a 3:40 marathon. Mr McMillan told me that I needed to come in right around 46:53...seemed doable. Well, Irina was having none of that., 42 or 43 she says in her little Russian accent...'of course, you run 42 or 43 minutes 10K'...umm, maybe no. I figured I would try to split the difference between McMillan and Irina's crazy ideas and come in around 45 minutes and that, my friends, is exactly what happened.

The morning of the race was fine. I felt good, a little nervous of the expectations, but I felt like that was keeping me on my toes. I saw some friends before the start and mosied my way to the front of the line up. I really liked it up front, no weaving to get around folks, no bottlenecks - it was great. I hit mile 1 in 7:22, mile 2 in 7:15, rolled into the 5K mark in 22:24, which wasn't far off from my 5K PR...I started to get nervous about holding that pace, could I keep it up? Sure enough I clocked at 7:15 for mile 4 and 7:30 for mile 6...all in all a 7:15 pace and a finishing time of 45:02! I was very satisfied with my effort and ended up 12th in my age group of over 100 ladies. The post-race festivites were fun...ran into some friends and did some more visiting, then hit the Performace Wellness tent for a massage....a great Sunday morning in my book. I called Irina later in the day to give her the news and she was still convinced that I could do a 42 or 43...man, I wish I lived in her world....maybe next year.

Today I ran the IBM Uptown Classic 10K for the third year in a row.....don't you love to see progress, people?!?

2006 Results: Time = 54:08; Pace = 8:43/mi
2007 Results: Time = 50:08; Pace = 8:04/mi
2008 Results: Time = 45:02; Pace = 7:15/mi

Say what?! More details later....time for bed.

 

Funny that my week started off after a night out at the So You Think You Can Dance Tour…dancers are coordinated and graceful, their bodies move to the beats and everything jives, which is so NOT how my week is going. Let me just count the ways that I’ve displayed a lack of grace this week:

 

#1) 5 AM Monday morning, up for swim and headed downstairs for s little breakfast and BOOM! I knocked over a heavy vase off of the bottom ledge of the staircase. Luckily no one was hurt and I didn’t wake my sleeping husband;
 

#2) Getting to work on Monday and what do you know…a little drip, drip of the coffee on my favorite light gray skirt.Ugh! I was able to dab a little soap on the spots to get them out before any permanent damage was done;
 

#3) Lunch on Monday…I straight up choked on a carrot at my desk. I mean, come on! This was some serious stuff, I had a co-worker give me the Heimlich and everything. What is wrong with me?! Am I no longer coordinated enough to chew?! ;
 

#4) Fartleks on a dark trail on Tuesday evening. Now this was just funny. I was trying to do my 1 min fast/ 1:30 min easy like Irina had told me to do, but I left work kinda late and ran out of daylight on the trail toward the end of my workout. I know the trails pretty well, but I was still being cautious with my step….cautious to the point of balancing myself with flailing arms. Yeah, full speed on the trail with airplane arms…that’s cool. I cranked out 10 fartleks and called it a night before I twisted my ankle on an acorn.

 

All of this on top of a crazy week at work and I am feeling anything but graceful. Good news is, I’m feeling good in the pool. I hit T3 practice on Monday and this morning - both were great swims. I guess my flailing arms are good for something. We did 3 x’s 200’s this morning and we were supposed to drop 10 seconds off of every repeat and I ended up with a 3:45, 3:34, 3:31. I didn’t quite drop the 10 seconds on the last repeat, but I was satisfied with the effort.

 

I just got in from a really goof 5 mile run around the trail - Congress Ave. loop. I was feeling like a rock star…every song that came on my mp3 player was my fave – Linkin Park, Gwen Stefani, Madonna – they were all good jams. It was getting a little dark on the trail and with a pep in my step I was thinking about singing along…I thought, ‘who’s going to see me? It’s dark. Let’s jam!’ I was just that into it. Luckily I decided against breaking out into song and was happy that I did because I ran into a friend of mine at the end of my run. I would have felt the fool if she'd have caught me proclaiming along with Madonna that I only 'GOT 4 MINUTES TO SAVE THE WORLD!' Maybe it was my return to grace that made me decide against vocalizing my enjoyment of the tunes….we shall see.

Here's your disclaimer...if you have a weak stomach and don't want to hear about how to deal with snot while cycling, then please disregard this post.

Okay, so I had my longest bike ride to date today. Hurray! I rode 33.9 miles in just under 2 hours - average speed was 17.6 mph. I did 4 loops on South MoPac and felt great the whole time. Though, I am beginning to learn some things about cycling:

#1 If I don't have caffeine the morning of a bike ride, I get groggy. I need some sort of caffeine in the morning...either I need to have it in my bottle on the bike or I need some coffee or tea before leaving the house. There were a couple of times where I just felt plain ole groggy and I know that feeling...I also know that caffeine fixes that feeling for me; 

#2 Any time I take a drink, my nose starts to run. I've sniffled and sniffled and kept it all in until today...I let it all out and perfected the snot rocket. I'm not one to take all of the credit...I've got to give props to a fellow rider who very inconspicously launched a rocket of his own, which gave me the idea. He was very sneaky, but I knew exactly what he was doing....a little tilt of the head to the side, lifting of the hand to the nose and a short head nod....I knew he'd freed himself of the sniffles. Aha! How have I not figured this out already?! I mean, I've gotten the sniffles while running, but never did it occur to me to rid myself of the problem in such an efficient manner. I decided to give it a go and sure enough, it worked like a charm!  No more annoying sniffles. For the rest of the bike ride I looked forward to the next bout of sniffles just so that I could entertain myself with my new found trick....gross, I know, but I've never admitted to being mature. In an effort to find an entertaining picture for this post, I came across this:

 
Man, I've been missing out!!

Well, you learn something new every day and I can now go to bed and rest soundly knowing that I have indeed learned something new today.