Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Food = Fuel

This week has been a little frustrating on the training front.

Sunday, I pretty much slept all day and only ate a few Saltines and a small bowl of grapes. Monday was much of the same, until dinner time. I had a mad craving for PIZZA!!! JP was great and dutifully went to pick up a small Papa John's for me. I'm pretty sure it was the best pizza I'd ever eaten. :)

Tuesday, I tried to eat and did a pretty good job of staying hydrated. We headed to the gym
after JP got home from work and I was determined to get in some sort of workout in. I was scheduled for 5 miles and barely survived a run/walk combo for 4.5 miles on the treadmil. It wasn't pretty. Barely halfway through, I felt very weak. It just plain sucked.

Today, I got up and had my usual pre-run breakfast. I was schedule for 8 miles, but hoped to get through at least 4 miles. I just got through 4 miles and hope to do 4 more tonight. Not quite the same, bt hopefully it'll get me stronger, sooner. I really want to do well in Chicago and will be pretty bumed if I don't hit my goal.

After my run, I took my soon-to-be nephew to his day camp and we had a nice little chat on the drive. He's 12 years old and my buddy... we've gotten along really well since I first started dating JP. He's running cross-country for the first time this year, and he told me he missed the 5k his team did together. So, I told him I'd do one with him. I want him to get the race experience before his first actual race. He seemed pretty excited and I'm really looking forward to it!

So, I need to hurry up and get better so I can get on with my marathon training and run a 5k with my little running buddy!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

I'm running in the rain...

... what a glorious feeling...

Based on my last 3 out of 4 long runs, it has rained like crazy. I'm not sure if this is a sign that race day is going to be rainy, or hot and sunny and I won't be prepared. ;)

After taking off two weeks ago (trained on the bike and stretched like a mad woman) due to a sore Achilles tendon, I was unsure how to handle last week. I took it easy during the week with some nice and easy 4 milers. I felt pretty good and was glad that I did take some time off -- no mater how hard it is to do it. The long run was a scheduled 16-miler, which I bumped down to 12 miles. I wanted to get a decent run in, but didn't want to end up back on the injured list.

I had no big expectations for the run, just wanted to gt through painfree. I was pleasantly surprised on how it went.

Mile 1: 10:10
Mile 2: 10:02
Mile 3-4: 19:42
Mile 5: 9:48
Mile 6: 9:48
Mile 7: 9:45
Mile 8: 9:44
Mile 9: 9:35
Mile 10: 9:20
Mile 11: 9:20
Mile 12: 9:47

It was raining steadily when I started, but when I hit mile 9, the heavens opened and it POURED!! It poured so hard, the raindrops started to hurt a bit. It was kinda fun, but I was relieved to get to my car and change into a dry shirt! When I got home, I literally wrung out my shirt and shorts!

Sunday I came down with a 24-hour flu or something and didn't get out of bed. Yesterday, I was still feeling a little shaky and pretty weak from not eating anything the day before. Looking forward to getting back to it later today!