THOU SHALT BE A COMEBACK

8.43 mile casual bike ride with my husband.  We really enjoyed it.  I was hauling Vanessa in the bike trailer so on the uphills I had to work a little.

8:25 average pace.  did one little fast .3 at 6:07 pace.  Still not ready to run fast for a prolonged period of time.  What's up with the weight gain???  It's been going up since the marathon and I swear I haven't started to eat bad all of the sudden or anything.  Alright, no sweets and lots of water and hopefully it goes away.  I am thinking it is water weight.

10 minutes abs with Denise Austin

8:15 average pace.  Felt really good running today.  Ran 1.25 in the middle at 6:55 pace. Felt pretty comfortable--the first time I have ventured a sub-7 since the marathon.  I think I will run the 10-mile in the turkey trot on the 21st.  

8:20 average pace. Ran without music.  Felt really good.  I have had good runs all week.  I think I will run with music half the time and half the time without.

8.08@8:14 average pace, with the last .3 at 6:48 pace.  Felt good.  Wow I have felt really great on all my runs this week--hope it lasts!  I have a bike ride, lunch, and movie with my husband to celebrate my birthday a few days early since I will be gone all weekend on clinicals and then have to work all next week.  I'm also going to run this evening with my cousin-in-law Jenny so this is just a triple-workout kind of day.  So, a little birthday reflection here, 30 IS the new 20, my 30th year was outstanding!  On to 31 and feeling great about it!

noon:  9.5 mile bike ride, some of it vigorous, with my husband.  10 minutes abs with Denise Austin

evening: 5.65 very easy with Jenny.  A couple miles in the 9s, a couple in the 11s, one in the 13s because we walked a little bit.  She is doing really good!

7:54 average pace.  Out of town all weekend doing my clinicals at the Larned State hospital for the criminally insane.  Today was orientation day.  Interesting.  Tomorrow will be even more interesting.  Ran as many as I could squeeze in before it was dark in a strange town.  Now we're at the hotel deciding on supper.  Happy weekend everybody.

8:05 average pace. Did some grassy hills, got a good workout.  Gross day.   This place is insane.  Pedophiles, cannibals, violent gruesome murderers, necrophiliacs.  Not kidding.  One more clinical here tomorrow and then I can go home.  Quite sure that psychiatric nursing is not my gig.

8:05 average pace.  mile 11 was 7:03 and felt comfortable.  A little extra for redemption today.  A weekend out of town eating out of stress and boredom was probably not the best for my waistline.

8:15 average pace.  Enjoyed it.  Husband took me out to breakfast and then we had to bring Vanessa to the doctor because she had the same rash she had when she had strep, and, as I suspected, she has strep again. I am worried because it recurred so soon.  Immunosuppression from the steroids she had with her breathing issues maybe?  I dunno--nobody else in the family is sick and she doesn't go to daycare so I don't know where she could've got it.

8:17 average pace.  warmed up 2.7, 2 mile tempo in a dirt route with lots of uphill in 13:56, then long cooldown.  Felt good.  

8:55 average pace.  My right knee has started to hurt the last few days on the outside, probably and IT band issue.  I made a conscious effort to keep it slow today and the knee felt much better. Stretched things out and will keep myself around 9ish miles for the rest of the week--should take care of the problem.  On the upside, my left hip is about cured and the PF in my right food is just a wisp.  It's still there but is so faint I don't think about it.  One more day of work and off for the weekend!  Can't wait.  

8:59 average pace.  Was actually mostly slower, in the 9+  miles.  Don't like running that slow, it makes the run really long but I am trying to take care of my knee.  Couldn't stand it anymore at the end and did 1/2 mile at 6:47 pace.  My knee actually felt better at the faster pace.  huh?  Off to run errands and catch up on housework and pay bills....I am not loving the bills. 

7:52 average pace.  My knee has felt perfect ever since running fast on it yesterday,so I scrapped the slow running plans and went for it.  I haven't run fast in a long time.  I need to get comfortable with sub-7 pace, know what it feels like, not be afraid of it, learn to sustain it.  Ran into the Paul's Valley edition to the north which has a nice loop which is one mile and some change.  After two miles including one loop, I started my tempo.  The goal was to run a pace which makes my breathing energetic and makes me work and gets me outside the comfort zone, but is not aerobic distress leg-burning uncomfortable like a 5k.  The loop is fairly flat with a hill on the backstretch.  Did a 180 after the first loop at tempo and ran the other two loops in the other direction.  Splits were 7:06, 6:52, 6:52, .51 in 3:24(6:40 pace), so a grand total of 3.51 in 24:16, 6:54 pace.  Good enough.  Felt pretty good, don't know why my first mile was lacking--It just take me a bit to get into a groove. Jogged back down to my dirt roads for a cooldown, but toward the end felt the itch again so picked it up to 6:25 pace for .41, then jogged to the neighbor's mailbox and back to make it an even 10.  Knee feels fine.  Happy with the workout today.

8:15 average pace.  Wind, rain, very cold, and mud.  Loved it!!!  Off to another clinical.  Blah.  December 4th is my last clinical and it is just cannot come soon enough.

8:06 average pace.  Felt really easy today although I am tired.  Ran mile 7 in 6:43 as a practice race-pace mile for Saturday.  I felt tired but strong.  My goal Saturday is to run 10 consecutive sub-7 minute miles.  I really hope I can do it because I would like tangible proof that all this mileage really is doing something with my fitness.  I seem to quickly run out of stamina over distances longer than 10k so a fast 10 miles would be a good progression.

8:29 average pace.  Legs tired and achy today. Will probably run not quite so much the next few days to rest them a bit.

8:43 pace.  nice and easy.  It felt very good.  One more day of work and then off for the weekend.  Ahhh.

9:04 average pace.  Super slow except for 6 burst of race pace--the same workout I have done the day before breakthrough PR races in the past.  My left ankle is doing some weird snapping sensation--doesn't hurt but feels weird.  I hope it is just pre-race twinges.

Disappointed.  A little.  Not what I wanted, but close.  I am making progress, it is just agonizingly slow progress, but progress nonetheless.  Fitness check reveals that aerobically I am doing pretty good but leg strength/leg fatigue is an issue.  I think as my body gets more used to 60+ weeks and I get regular sub-7 paced tempos in this will improve.  Although I am not going to do formal speedwork, I think occasional 1/2 mile bursts of sub-6 pace each week along with a once-weekly sub-7 tempo or short race will also help drive my "cruising" speed from 7:00 to somewhere sub-7.

Ate a banana for breakfast, warmed up 1 mile slow and lined up.  It was cold but not to0 cold so I ditched my sweatshirt, hat, and gloves 2 minutes before the race started and ran in shorts and a singlet.

Splits are per garmin, I really need to learn to hit my lap button and go by mile markers but I am paranoid this will break my concentration.  Per garmin I ran 10.08 and I believe this since the course was out and back on a bike path so you couldn't properly run tangents without plowing into someone for miles 3-7.  The course is mostly flat with a handful of steep but very short rollers.  I ran the first 5 miles more or less with two other gals, Tara and Margie.  We talked a bit and they were super nice.  I have met Margie before.  At the turn around Tara took off and I tried to go with her but she dropped me.  I dropped Margie in here too, but she finished only a minute behind me, and I finished a minute behind Tara.  I did beat Lacy today by about a minute and I have never beat Lacy.  She finished her 1/2 marathon 3 minutes faster than me and the marathon 14 minutes faster.  I am officially a chase-pack runner locally.  Maybe by next year I can work my way into the lead pack. :)

Splits 6:50, 6:57, 6:58, 6:56, 6:59, 7:04(I could just kick myself),7:05(grrrrr), 7:06(noooo), 7:08(hang my head), 6:56(finish decent please) , .08 in 22 seconds if the garmin is to be believed.  Take it or leave it I did kick pretty hard in the end and get a little puke-zoney so that is the only reason I am including this last little snippet in my report. 

Cooled down 1/2 mile, took my mom out to lunch for her birthday, went home, and then ran a 6.85 mile recovery run at 9:01 pace to break in my new Nikes and get 60 for the week.  I got the shoes on sale and they actually feel really good on my feet.

8.66 mile bike ride with my husband.  Hills are a lot harder on a bike than on foot.

9:10 pace.  Very slow.  Legs are still a little sore from Saturday.

9:04 pace.  Still a little tight in the legs.  Enjoyed the leisurely pace and even enjoyed the howling wind.

7:57 average pace.  Ahh my legs are back.  Felt zippy today, even in the blustery wind.  Stretched my legs out at 6:50 pace for the last 1/2 mile.  Felt great.  A mysterious Golden Retriever showed up about a mile into my run and ran next to me the entire rest of the run.  He seemed like a super cool dog, although he did cut in front of me a handful of times and almost trip me.  I checked his collar when we got back to my house and there was no tag.  I hope he finds his way home and is not lost.  I also sorta hope he runs with me tomorrow-the company was nice and the other neighboring dogs were more concerned with him and left me alone while I was running. Nice!

8:38 average pace.  Early morning run--got it worked out that if I show up at work 4 hours early today I can get off 4 hours early.  Sweet!  I may be home by 8:00 to hang out with my family on Thanksgiving!  Unfortunately, no sign of my companion from yesterday :(  Too bad I was ready to adopt him, you could tell he was a good dog.  HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!

8:11 average pace but OH what a pleasant surprise on speed.  My husband accompanied me on his bike today and it was great!  2.7 mile warmup, then turned off the gravel and onto asphalt for a one mile tempo into town.  It felt pretty fast but not completely all out so I was surprised when I ran a 5:52 mile.  That would be an unofficial one mile pr.   In fact, to my knowledge I haven't run a mile under 6 minutes since 1996.  So anyway I slowed down and jogged another 1.8ish miles through town and onto the track.  Ran an 86 second 400, jogged a lap, then an 87 second 400.  Legs seemed to handle the speed comfortably.  Jogged off the track and back up to silkknitter about .8 miles before launching another 1 mile tempo through town on the sidewalk.  I was tired but just sort of let my legs "cruise" and ran a 6:16 mile.  Slowed back down for about a 3.7 mile recovery jog home.  12 miles all said and done.  This workout gives me a little confidence for a 4 mile race next weekend. 

9:08 average pace.  Nice and sloooow but I had great company with my husband on his bike again.  He is such a trooper --his bottom is downright painful from the bike ride yesterday but he was determined to come with me again today and he did!  4th week in a row of 60.

8:21 average pace.  Did a .55 surge at 6:34 pace midway, and another 6:40 surge at the end.  I felt really good today.  Off to 1 of my last 3 clinicals.