A Long Overdue Update

Here is a much needed and long overdue quick update for any of you readers still left out there. It's been a month since Hartford and I'm feeling back to 100%.

The first week back was some light running just to stay loose and monitor any little body issues. I ended up having some nagging hip/hamstring issues in my left butt muscle area (that's a technical term) so I called it quits after 2.8 miles into the second week.

The hip/hamstring/butt muscle felt better for the third week and I got in just over 20-miles and started to do some lower body strength. The fourth week was much of the same.

This week I'm doing a little strength for the lower body, a hill workout (more strength for the lower body) and a long run of 10-miles. Longest since the marathon! When I saw that on my schedule, I got a kick out of it because right now I'm thinking of that as a long run, but when Sarah and I were in the marathon and we hit just past 16 I remember her saying that we had a 10-mile training run left - nice and short.

The first weekend in November I spent at my parents home with my family. My grandfather (my Dad's Dad) passed away so it was an emotional few days. On the bright side, I saw all of that side of my family - even met some that I didn't know previously - and I got in some good running - even one with my little sister. It was really hard running there. We were both out of significantly out of breath after one mile. Sad, isn't it? I swore we were at higher elevation than I'm used to and in fact we were. My parents house is about 1450 feet elevation while my place is only 14 feet. That combined with the much colder (and much denser air) probably combined for the crazy out of breath feelings at mile one.

So that's really all I have to catch you up on. Oh and I got my Boston Marathon card in the mail last week. How did I forget that?! It has my BQ on it and everything. I can't wait! I'm happy that I've started building strength for my marathon training.

And now that's really it.

She Out-Did It

My little sister ran her first marathon yesterday. Her time goal was 4:00. 

She finished in 3:49:14.

I can't say much else. I can't describe how proud I am of her. She ran an incredible negative split. The first half was in 2:06:22 and the second half in about 1:43 (I'm not good at calculating seconds so give me a break and let me round.). I had such a great time watching her. It was worth all he questions and the insane state that she put me in for her taper. If she decides to keep it up there is definitely a BQ in her future. And I'm sure much more than that.

Thanks for a great time in DC, Heather. Congratulations!

Oh... and I'm sure my readers would like a race report so you should probably e-mail me one so I can post it. And... now do you think there is a difference between 20 and 26.2? Do those extra 6.2 really make a big difference? (Prior to the race Heather couldn't grasp that 20 and 26.2 were really that different.)

Little Sis

My little sister is running the Marine Corps Marathon in DC on Sunday. This will be her first marathon. I'll be there to watch and hopefully jump in with her for a few miles. She has been absolutely annoying hilarious these past couple weeks. I've almost killed her died laughing a million times. Here is a synopses of the effects of Heather's taper on my sanity.

I've received about 567,834 e-mails from Heather over the past two weeks. She's asked me kazillions of questions probably close to the national debt. Oh and half of those questions were the same, "what should I eat the night before?" Yes, she's been driving me insane. In fact, I may have even ignored a couple phone calls. Sorry, Heather.

As crazy as she was making me, it was worth it last night. She has so much excitement in her voice. I can tell she is really looking forward to this. She was even telling me about some of her race strategy for the hills and parts when it gets tough.

Heather plans to tackle the hills by singing to herself, "I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas... I like to ate ate ate apples and bananas... I like to ote ote ote opples and bononos...." I never said Heather was sane. 

She also plans to attack the difficult parts my singing to herself. Except for these sections she'll switch it up between "My humps" and "Baby Got Back." 

I told her she should start blogging. I mean people have to know this crazy stuff!

Hopefully I won't hear Heather singing "My Humps" or any other song she calls on when it's tough. She has a 4:00 goal and I know she can reach it. The thing with Heather is she will do anything to prove to someone she can do it. She has more mental focus than a lot of people I know.

Good luck, Heather!

First Run Back, Losing It, and Not Too Late

First Run Back

Last night I did a short 20 minute run and I have to say I felt great! The blister on the back of my ankle was a little tender, but that was it.

Losing It

After Hartford I had a blood blister the top of my toe next to my pinky toe on the left food. I popped the blister using a sterile needle on Monday and I thought I had saved my toe nail from falling off. On Tuesday, I noticed the skin from the blister peeling a little so I started picking at it (I always pick at stuff like this). Next think you know all the blister is peeled off and that's when I noticed that my toe nail was dead. It was all floppy and pulling away from my toe so I just clipped it right off. It definitely looks like it hurt, but it didn't at all because the nail was already dead. Gross, I know. But I lost one when I did Boston (or did I lose two?) too so I'm not grossed out.

Not Too Late

I was reading some articles about the women who came in second and third at Hartford, Sheri Piers and Shannon McHale, and I found this article about McHale really interesting. She didn't even start running until she was 25 years old and look how fast she is! Also of interesting note is that Sheri Piers stayed in the same Hotel that myself and my running crew did. I saw her before we left to go to the start. I didn't know who she was until I saw her coming back through as the second place woman.

In Need of Improvement

I've been thinking about Hartford and all the ways I can improve my performance. The list below is what I think I need to work on to do so and as a double benefit some even improve my lifestyle as well.

• Hill Strength. I definitely need to improve my hill strength for Boston. I'm not weak on hills (for proof please see the Cape Ann race report), but I will need to be extra strong on them given the challenge of the Boston course on the Newton Hills. My coach and I will be working on this during my training plan.
• Endurance at Race Pace. I'd like to see my endurance at race pace improve because I really felt like I was loosing it in the later miles of Hartford. With improved endurance at race pace I really think I will have more confidence in the last 10K of the marathon. My coach and I will also be working on this during my training plan.
• Decrease Body Fat. I don't think I'm fat. I don't think I'm overweight. I do think that I'm carrying extra body fat though. I will not post any of those numbers here because well, you don't ask women those questions so I won't say those answers. With less body fat, I will be stronger and may be lighter on my feet and thus might be able to move faster. The main thing here is that I won't have to spend so much extra energy carrying around unnecessary extra weight. I believe I can decrease my body fat by improving my nutrition and adding strength training to my routine.
• More Efficient Water Stops. I had a hydration plan and I did stick to it for Hartford, but I would like to see myself move better through the water stops. I'm not sure how I should try to improve this exactly, but it is something I'd like to do better.
• Mental Focus. I really think I lost my mental focus in the last miles, which I suppose is bound to happen in a marathon, but as a yoga teacher and practitioner I was disappointed that I was able to lose that mental focus. I would like to better mentally prepare for my next race. I think I can do this by adding more meditation into the last phase of training.
• Strength Training. I know I'm supposed to strength train and I do. However, I only do legs and only when my coach says to. I don't do my upper body stuff and I rarely do my core. I am really lazy in this sense. I would like to see myself improve here by doing core work 4 times per week and upper body 2 times per week.

I'm sure there are other aspects of my running I would like to improve, but this is my list for now.

The Express

I'm a Syracuse University alumni and as a result of that I am totally psyched about The Express starting this Friday. The Boston Alumni Club is going to a preview of the movie, but I won't be here because I'll be in Hartford so I can't go, but I definitely want to see it when I get back. 

Yes, I know the football team is horrifically bad, but I still love them just the same. I bleed orange - although it certainly looks red from this experience - no matter how good or bad the 'cuse teams are doing.

Go 'Cuse!!

Taper = Grrrr

I started my taper and I'm already annoyed, anxious and frustrated. I cannot wait to run the marathon next weekend... whoa shit... next weekend! Wow... um... I mean I cannot wait for the taper to be over. I guess that's pretty much saying the same thing, but without verbalizing the fact that the marathon is next weekend (although I've managed to verbalize that twice so far). 

I just want to run it. I don't want to to taper and wait to run it. I eat more. I sleep more. I move less. I work more. This is all a bad combination. 

I'm already debating what my goal should be. I don't even know. I want a BQ. I want better than a BQ. What if I don't even come close?

I'm off for my run now - 3 x 1200m intervals with warm up/cool down, strides and drills.

Migraines

I hate migraines. I get one every month (the ladies will get that gentle hint). I wish I could just crawl in a dark hole and stay there for an entire day. My migraines always last for 24 hours give or take an hour. They always hurt wicked bad and almost always make me feel nauseous and almost always make me lose any appetite I would normally have (which is usually a lot of appetite).

Tonight I took my migraine for a 5 mile run. It was miserable to say the least. I ran 9:25 min/mi. The slowest I've run in quite a long time. 

Now I'm going to bed so I hopefully feel better in the morning.

Fall Update

Not autumn update. Fall update. That's fall as in my episode from last week's long run.

Monday and Tuesday coach left my plan up to me, but he gave me a couple of ideas if I felt up to them. If I felt up to it on Monday I could do 20-30 minutes easy and then on Tuesday if still feeling OK I could go out for 5-6 miles. 

Monday I wasn't so sure that it would be a good idea to go out. My knee, hip and thigh were not bothering me at all, but I developed this terrible pain in my right oblique. I believe when I fell my fuel belt may have inadvertently punched me in the stomach. I didn't feel that pain until Saturday night when I was sleeping and trying to roll over. I never really realized that I absolutely needed that right oblique in order to roll myself over in the middle of the night.

So I wasn't sure that I should head out on Monday, but I did and just agreed with myself that I could always turn around if it didn't feel right, even if that meant turning around after running the 0.10 miles to the end of my street.

Once I got out there I was totally fine. The side did hurt, but only when I was checking for traffic or running uphill (apparently I pump my arms more then).

Tuesday night I also went out and did the 6 miles prescribed to me. I felt great again. Although I did have a little scare with my Garmin and thought I would have to make a blog entry for its obituary. I took it off the charger before I went out and it just wouldn't turn on. I pushed the on button as hard as I could and it just wouldn't turn on. I put it back on the charger and took it back off and nothing was happening. So I sent an emergency S.O.S. email to my co-worker running buddy and he told me how to reset it - this happened to him right before the Cape Ann 25K this year. To reset your Garmin when it won't turn on hit the button left button and the lap button at the same time and hold them down until the silly little thing turns on. Phew! Lifesaver!

All in all, a good Monday & Tuesday and I'm back to normal. Hm... normal... I'm not sure that I'm normal, but I'm back to running form at least.

The Faster I Run, The Harder I Fall

The Plan

Saturday 9/20/08 - Long Run: 6 minute warm up, drills, stretch, 14 miles at 8:20 min/mi, 6 min cool down and stretch.

The Reality

I was schedule for my weekly long run today and was ready to get in another goal marathon pace workout. Dave took me out for an awesome dinner on Friday night. I had penne pasta in white wine sauce with shrimp and he had the biggest piece of lasagna that I've ever seen. He wasn't doing a long run with me Saturday, but I think he enjoys carbo-loading with me. We woke up late Saturday morning and lounged around watching the rest of South Park Imaginationland (I don't even like South Park that much, but these three Imaginationland episodes are hilarious!) and then we watched the first part of Street Kings. Dave had to pull me away from Street Kings so that I could get my run in before we went to a memorial mass and dinner with his family in memory of his grandfather and grandmother. I had enough time to run, shower and get in the car to go to church. That's how much I had procrastinated.

So I headed out.  I did my 6-minute warm-up, stretch and drills as planned. After that I was moving right along very comfortably with the 14-mile workout. I had set my Garmin with a slow and fast pace so it would beep to warn me whether to slow down or speed up. I had hoped that it would help me keep the steady 8:20, but it only started to annoy me because every time I went in a shady area it dropped my pace and beeped at me. It drove me nuts so I just turned the warning beep off and went by feel. I felt great through mile 6 pacing myself at 7:47, 8:10, 7:59, 7:59, 8:21 (it took me awhile to find my 8:20 pace, but I did at mile 5), and 8:29. My watched beeped for the auto-lap at 6.00 miles. I looked up and then... 

I fell, belly flopping and skidding down the road! When I was getting ready to go out I remember tying my shoe and thinking, "wow my laces seem really long." I believe the fall occurred when my right foot got tripped up in my left shoe lace. I'm telling you, I've never really fallen, but now I have twice in this one training cycle. What the heck! And this time I fell as a car was driving by and not surprisingly, given my last experience, no one stopped to see if I was OK (well Janette, you're not in Upstate New York anymore).  I sat and cried for just a moment then stood up and used some of the water I had to clean up. As I was cleaning up, a man walked by pushing a stroller with another child walking beside him. He asked if I was OK, but just kept walking with no interest in stopping if I had said no. I assessed the situation. Bruised, dirty and bloody were my right thing, right elbow and left knee. My hip was also bruised and scraped. I was 7-miles from home. I had no cell phone. I was four miles from the fire department. What is a girl to do except keep running? 

So I kept running. Nothing was hurting me to run, but I really just wanted to get home. With all of the falling, tears and trying to compose myself I messed up my watch and mile 7 came in at 10:29. I estimated I covered abut .3-.4 miles with it turned off and was standing for about 2-3 minutes with my watch running. Startin with mile 8 splits were 7:53, 8:07, 8:12, 8:04, 7:51 and 8:01. I really was trying to do 8:20, but I also was bleeding, uncomfortable and just wanted to get home and get cleaned up. I ran an additional half mile for 13.5. My knee was pretty swollen when I stopped at that point so I decided it was best to just call it quits.

When I got home I immediately called Dave and asked him to get me some peroxide to help clean out the scrapes. My elbow was ridiculously swollen and my knee looked like someone cut a racketball in half and stuck it on my knee. My upper right thigh was very swollen and had some road rash. My thigh had started to bother me toward the end of the run, but I thought it was just from the fast miles and not the fall. I was wrong about that.

Dave got me the peroxide and got me cleaned up and wrapped up. He left me to get to church on time. I skipped the church because I had to take extra time to get cleaned up and I met him later on to go with his family to dinner.

In hindsight, I wondered if I should have stopped when I fell, but honestly I felt fine running. I actually felt great. I was so focused and determined to get home. I don't believe that I caused any additional problems by continuing the run. 

I was disappointed that I didn't get in the full planned workout. I'm also disappointed that I couldn't keep it at 8:20. Then again, I'm sort of happy with the fact that I was comfortable with the run being faster than that. With the stopping/starting/falling issue I estimate the total distance of the workout at 13.5 miles in a total time of 1:49:29 averaging 8:07 min/mi.

I have pictures to put up not to gross all of you out, but just so that I can remember how crazy that fall was after the fact. I just have to get them on my computer to post so give me a day or so and I'll get them up. If you're like me and into all that crazy medical stuff then you'll love them.

____________________________

Updated 9/25/2008... Photos as promised.

The Knee w/Blood Trickle (Awesomeness)

The Hip

The Elbow Wrapped for Church/Dinner

The Elbow with Crazy Swelling

The Elbow With Blood

Fall 2008 Has Officially Arrived

Fall 2008 has officially arrived... at least according to me. My short three mile jaunt tonight was a very chilly 54 degrees. I wore shorts out with a light long sleeved shirt. I was warm mostly, but the backs of my legs were pretty chilly when I got home.

The air was just super chilly. You know the first few days when the weather starts to change and you can fill maybe a nice cool breeze, but the air is still generally warm? Well that was a week ago and now the chilly air is here with the even cooler breeze. 

I'm not complaining. I love racing in fall. I love the smell of the leaves (although those haven't really started to change much yet). I love an outfit of a sweater and jeans. I love where a fleece jacket. 

This year I mostly love that in just 22 days I will be running the Hartford Marathon!

Training Recap for Week of 9.8.2008

I hit my most weekly miles ever this week... 42 miles! Here is how it all worked out...

Monday: 5-mile easy run

Tuesday: 8x800m Intervals with warm up and cool down for 6.25 miles total

Wednesday: Relaxing

Thursday: 7-mile easy run

Friday: 25 minutes easy

Saturday: 20-mile long run

Sunday: Sleeping

The easy runs this week went really well. The intervals were a blast. I love 800 meter intervals. I did these at 3:40-ish trying to go a little slower than I did about a month ago when I was hitting 3:30-3:35 so that I was fully recovered and ready for Saturday's 20-miler. I woke up Saturday morning ready to go into town with the crew for the long run, but my stomach was just not agreeing with that idea. I didn't eat anything out of the ordinary the night before and I got plenty of sleep, but when I woke up my stomach was... well... let's just say it was a little overactive if you know what I mean. I had to call the crew and let them know I wouldn't make it out. I decided it was best to just run some loops near my place in case of bathroom emergency (is this too much detail?! - sorry!). Everything ended up working out well and I got in the 20-miles. I averaged 9:05 for the run too so I was happy with that.  This is the farthest run I've had since I ran the Boston Marathon in 2007 so needless to say it felt good having crossed this one off the training list.

Saturday night I got to go out to dinner with my parents who were in town visiting from upstate New York. I like when the come to town. They like to come out here to go fishing on the ocean. We had a great time at dinner and they had good luck on the boat so everyone made out well.

Mantis Found Praying

When I was growing up in Upstate New York, I used to find Praying Mantis and Stick Bugs (I don't know what they're called, but the look just like a stick) all the time. They would always be sitting along the foundation of our house. At some point, I just stopped seeing them. I'd say I was probably about 9 years old when that happened. I had no idea where they all went. 

Last night, I was walking into my apartment building and got a little startled by whatever the giant bug I saw outside the corner of my eye was. I turned around and there it was... a Praying Mantis! I could not believe it. I was so excited! I took a picture with my Blackberry - it didn't turn out well, but here it is anyway.

This moment really brought me back to my childhood. It was really incredible. I am totally fascinated by this creature for some reason. It's not even the fact that the women bite the man's head off after sex. It's something more than that. They are just so original looking. I'm not even really a bug person per say, but these ones got me. 

I was so psyched by this that I just wanted to share it. Hopefully I didn't gross you out with the picture.

Beijing & Other Updates

I've been missing for awhile because I've developed a new addiction called the Beijing Olympics. I was basically pulled in at the opening ceremonies because they were absolutely spectacular. After that night, I've pretty much been running and then coming home and watching the Olympics (my dishes and laundry have been completely neglected). I've watched Michael Phelps win 8 gold medals to beat Mark Spitz's record. I am still amazed watching the athletic ability necessary for water polo. I saw Nastia Lukin and Shawn Johnson go one two, respectively, in the women's gymnastics all around final. I also was an unfortunate witness to Deena Kastor getting a DNF in the women's olympic marathon due to a broken foot before the 5K mark. A 38 year old woman ended up winning that event - the oldest woman to win that event. A 41 year old woman, Dana Torres, is also competing in this years Olympics in the sprint swimming events. I also saw Shalane Flanagan win the bronze medal in the women's 10,000 meters. I am just so into the Olympics this year; more so than any other year. I think it might be due in part to the fact that I have my own personal athletic goal right now and so I feel like I can sort of sympathize with them right now. I just hope that my training culminates with a great moment - my own Olympic moment. A moment of glory.

Training Note: All training is going well. I'm feeling strong and fast. I have a little thing going on with my knee right now, but I'm working with my coach on it and we'll hopefully get things turned around soon.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy birthday to me...

Happy birthday to me...

Happy birthday to meeee...

Happy birthday to me!

Today's forecast according to weather.com is:

Happening in the news:

• Deadly tornado hit New Hampshire
• Body of Alex Jimenex returns home
• Iraqi athletes banned from Beijing Olympics
• David Ortiz returns to Red Sox lineup
  

Happening with me:
For my birthday, Dave got me a new digital camera, which I stayed up late last night playing with. Yes, he gave it to me a day early. He's like a little kid - he can't wait to give presents. He's also coming down to Narragansett, RI to watch me run The Blessing of the Fleet 10-Mile Road Race.

Since my last birthday:

• I became a yoga teacher.
• I fell even more in love with the greatest man I've ever met (no, Dave... not Tom Brady, you!)
• I watched me nephew graduate from high school.
• I have PR'd in the Half Marathon distance (2007 BAA Half Marathon).
• I've gained 5 lbs., which I'm not proud of but I don't think it's bad weight because I've been running a lot and doing yoga. I'm sure it's just muscle (she says as she goes for another bowl of ice cream).
• I moved into a new position at work in our IT department.

I've also been thinking of what I'd like to accomplish by my next birthday:

• I'd like to get a marathon BQ time, which is a 3:40 for my age group.
• I'd like to move into a new house with Dave (which we're pretty close to doing now).

I'm sure there are a million more things I'd like to do before my next birthday, but for right now this will have to do because if I don't post this now, then I can't post today and my birthday will be over. So, I'll post as is for now and possibly add more later.

I'm off soon for the race. Let's see if I've gotten faster as I age... (race report will come later on).

Weather Geek

I am a total weather geek and I'm OK with it. Dave picks on me a lot about how obsessed I am. On a good day, I check the weather about 50 times a day. Seriously. I also watch it on the news at 5pm and 10pm or 11pm and sometimes again at 5am. So tonight I am wicked excited because as soon as I got home the weather was on, but not for good reason.

My news channel, The Boston Channel (channel 5), is talking about thunderstorms so severe in Bristol & Plymouth counties that there is a possibility of tornadoes (meaning the weather people are seeing some rotation in the clouds). We are facing winds of 40+ miles an hour and torrential downpours. There is basically a little green on the radar with a whole lot of red and even some purple. Green = rain, Yellow = slightly more sever than rain, Red = storms, Purple = I don't want to be there. I've again posted a photo of my TV taken by my Blackberry.

Outside my window now the trees are eerily still, the sky is a cloudy & almost foggy grey and there is a light constant rumble in the sky. I am probably hearing the rain that the people in Brockton/Taunton are getting.

I used to be really afraid of storms when I was little. In fact, there was a storm one day while I was at elementary school so I went to the nurse's office to see if I could lay on one of the couches in the windowless room while it passed. Instead the crazy nurse lady had me sit on her lap and watch the storm pass by outside her window. Hello?! Were you trying to kill me!? Well, actually, she helped me. I like to watch storms now, but I am still afraid when I see them passing. I also remember to keep the deep relaxing complete breaths going to keep my mind calm (the rain has now started). I feel like watching the storms and tracking it on TV also helps me because it makes me feel like I have some sort of control over the situation even though, last time I checked anyway, I'm not Mother Nature and cannot control the weather.

Alright time to sign off and see how this all turns out (and weather I can get those 800s in tonight).

------------------------------------------------------
Update 7/23/08 @ 10:30pm

As it turns out the storm pretty much died by the time it reached me. I was able to get in my 800s, but unfortunately had to do them along the beach instead of at the track. Apparently the school whose track I use decided to have a lacrosse camp instead of letting me workout on the track. It's OK. I will forgive you this once. After I got down to the beach and was about halfway through my workout the rain started again. It was a nice refreshing rain though and I really enjoyed running in it.

It's storming again now and I love sleeping with the rain and thunder so I'm heading off to bed now to rest my tired head and legs.

My Incident with an Inspection Sticker

You know those little inspection stickers that you find in our clothes? They typically are about one centimeter in diameter with a number on them? Yeah, well this is my story of how I got one stuck to the area on my bum right above my bum crack. Yes, re-read that sentence. Yes, please, go ahead and laugh hysterically and read it again. At some point though, please read the rest of this and find out how that happened.

On Saturday I went with a long run with my running group. It was really hot and humid. I did 15 miles and when I finished I was completely soaked. I looked like I had jumped in a pool and didn't dry off. It was so hot that a piece of gum that was in my fuel belt melted. I changed into some dry clothes, left the group and drove home. When I got home I had some more fluid and some peanut butter toast. At that point, I thought a shower sounded like a good idea.

I showered like I normally do - wash the hair, the face, loofah the body. Then I was rinsing off. I usually rub my hand over my skin to get the soap off rather than just stand in the water. So I'm rubbing away when my hand crosses over the spot right above my bum crack. That's when I feel this mark almost like a scab and I immediately think, "oh no, my underwear chafed me that bad?" I was not happy so I cranked my head around to see how bad it was.

That's when I saw the inspection sticker. So I think "oh! It's just the inspection sticker from my shorts." (Now, my shorts weren't new and I've washed them multiple times so I have no idea why it was still there.)

It's a sticker no big deal, I'll just wipe it off, right? Wrong! The inspection sticker was stuck to my butt! The glue had actually gotten so hot that it re-glued to my butt! I had to take peel it off along with all the little hairs that are there, which really didn't feel great. Then the glue was still there so I had to re-soap up the loofah and scrub the hell out of that spot.

After much scrubbing I was able to remove the inspection sticker and glue from my butt. This was not my proudest moment, but hey, it is pretty funny. So please check your running clothes carefully for any stickers when you're heading out for a super-hot long run before inspector number 112 finds you.

Race Report: Mattapoisett 5-Mile Road Race

On Friday morning I drove the hour plus down to Mattapoisett for a 5-mile road race. I came out of this race with an "eh" feeling. I liked and disliked the race itself. I liked and disliked my performance. Here's how it broke down.

Results:
Official Time - 37:40 (7:32 min./mi.)
9th in division of 85 females aged 19-29
146th overall of 973 total entrants

Reasons I Didn't Like the Race:

1. There were no signs for parking like the website said there would be. It's such a local race that I can see why there aren't, but put them up if you say you are going to, please.
2. The National Anthem was played 10 minutes before race start. I'm sorry, but I had to run through this and I couldn't stop to listen. Ten minutes before equals a lot of runners still warming up. Please wait until just a few minutes before race start next time.
3. Because many of us were still running during the National Anthem, one very rude woman had to say, "Stop walking/running the National Anthem is on." Which then forced me to use my filter and not say, "Hey fatty, you better walk whether they are playing the National Anthem or not." I know that's not yogic, which is why I acknowledged I was not being proper and didn't say it.
4. The clocks at each mile were way off. The first clock I hit said 7:00 and although I wanted that to be true it definitely was not.
5. Terrible after party. There was some good fruit to eat which was nice because it was humid, but the one activity afterwards (unless I didn't hang around long enough) was the awards. Let's party for a bit people!
6. I had no idea where the start line was and thus didn't know when to start my watch.
7. About 80% of people who lined up ahead of me were running 2 minutes per mile slower than me. It's always nice to have pace signs so people have some kind of general idea where they should be.
   

Reasons I Did Like the Race:

1. Mattapoisett is beautiful! The course was just incredible. There were a couple rolling hills, but nothing very difficult. There were trees, shade, lots of crowd support, people were actually cheering and holding their hoses out as sprinklers.
2. A really nice lady who also came alone sat by me afterward and we chatted for awhile. It's always nice when someone does that.
3. There were a lot of fast people there, which I find really inspirational.
4. Even though the race was big, the crowd spread out after the first mile-ish and then it was just nice and easy.
5. A girl actually said good job to me as I passed her. I later saw her and found out she is only 15. I'm not sure what that means or how I feel about it.

Reasons I Did Not Like My Performance:

1. I did not PR as was my goal.
2. I had to stop for 10-ish seconds because of a terrible side stitch that I was unfortunately unable to run through. What the heck causes those things anyway? I hardly ever get them.
3. At the end of the race I was left wondering if I really gave it all I had. I don't like that lingering thought. I prefer to know I did give it all I had.

Reasons I Did Like My Performance:

1. I felt strong throughout the race.
2. I don't believe that anyone I passed came back to pass me.
3. I stayed very focused throughout the race mentally encouraging myself along the way.
4. It just felt good to race again.

So that's a breakdown of the race. I would recommend it to someone looking for a scenic 5-mile race that is sort of laid back. I would not recommend it if you are looking for something perfectly organized (or for a good t-shirt, these ones were boring).

I'll get back on track with weekly training updates this week probably. The boyfriend and I are super busy putting some finishing touches on the house so we can just get it to good-enough-to-move-in status, which has to happen by July 31st. Ah! So If I'm not writing, then I'm either running, working, teaching yoga, stripping paint, sanding, priming, painting or at Lowe's.

Weekend Running Upstate NY

I haven't written in awhile, but I wanted to tell you about some cool stuff from my weekend in Upstate New York. I grew up here and love going back to visit. It's so beautiful! My parents house has a gorgeous lake view, there is little traffic and lots of animals. My little sister and I went out for some interval training on Friday (two Friday's ago now) and then a long run on Sunday. On Sunday's long run as we set out she heard a little rustling in the field to our left and as we glanced over it was a big white tail doe. She was beautiful as she effortlessly bounded through the field. Then on our way back home we saw a baby fox standing right on the edge of the road about 10 feet in front of us. It was incredible. I love running and being able to enjoy nature's beauties!

My Coach: Boston Running Center

I've officially decided to register for and run the Hartford Marathon on October 11, 2008. Here we go again with the Marathon. This time I'm doing it safely and under the guidance of the head coach at Boston Running Center.

Having a coach might seem kind of silly. I mean, I'm a middle of the pack runner, why do I need a coach? The thing is, I'm a bit too competitive and a bit too hard on myself and I've always been this way. Hence I overtrain and injure myself. I also do much better when I feel that I'm held accountable for my actions. Still... why not just feel accountable to myself? Well, I'm good at letting myself down - it's a low self esteem thing that I'm constantly working on. The thing is I cannot let anyone else down.

So I decided to go with coaching for a few reasons. The first is that I don't want the responsibility of planning my training schedule. I tend to get really caught up in the planning and do more of that than actually running. Secondly, I want to be held accountable. I want someone there to say, "Janette, you skipped your run on Tuesday. Why?" If I know someone is going to ask that, then I know that I better have a damn good reason. I know that, "Because I wanted to go out for ice cream instead" won't work. Another reason I decided to go with a coach, is because I want to learn more about my body, how it works and how runners train. Since my yoga training I've become really interested in the human body and I want to expand my knowledge.

So far things have been going really well. I have this cool online training log that I fill out and submit to Coach each Sunday and then he sends me a new schedule for the following week either Sunday night or Monday morning. I met with him a few days ago to go over some strength training and running drills and he has me starting with those this week. The working isn't easy this week, but I really like a challenge so I'm excited to see how things turn out.