Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf

ultraman1 wrote: »

nice run DD,,,and an even nicer highway name:)

Ah, ultraman, you've come for your Dark Side membership card I see.

Marthastew wrote: »

I take a break from here for a couple of days and come back to find that not only are you eating hills for breakfast, you're eating giant dogs and physios too;)

Dory Dory, Warrior Princess:D

Marthastew, World Ranked Ultra Goddess!!!:D:D:D

The Shiny New Runners Session

Plan: 8 miles easy

With all the weathermen east of the Mississippi predicting freezing rain and up to 12 inches of snow starting at 2pm today for our area, I didn't bother to pack my running gear today. I had resigned myself to a treadie session, and when, at 5:30 this evening, the heavens had yet to give up a single drop of moisture as I left work, I still settled on doing tonight's session on the treadie.

As a little bonus tonight, I decided to break out a brand new pair of runners that I've had squirreled away for months with the idea that I might use them for Boston. In a word....love them! They felt cushy and springy. Slightly tight around the sides, but with an adjustment here and some wear there, I think they'll be a top contender to be my ride on the big day. And, if it couldn't get any better, they are multicolor, including purple and blue - my two favorite colors.

Tonight's treadie session was good. Just kept it at a nice easy pace, but did fiddle with the incline - 1% for miles 1 and 2, 2% for miles 3 and 4, 3% for miles 5 and 6, 4% for miles 7 and 8. I forgot to wear my thigh compression sleeves, and I must admit I could feel some pull/pain in my left leg starting about halfway through, so I guess I really do need to keep wearing them....and I may have to consider wearing them at Boston.

Iced tonight's cake with some love to the upper body (and physio reassured me last night that my upper body is not scrawny, just underutilized compared to my lower body) and love to the abs.

Actual: 8 miles easy on the treadie, upper body, abs

No Elaboration For This One

Plan: 6 miles easy

I assume it was the combination of last night's session still in the body, lack of restful sleep recently, and not enough groceries consumed the last two days....but this one got a little weird.....and I'm not really going to revisit it other than to say I pushed through the strangeness while being preoccupied with thoughts about Gatorade and shot bloks. Is this what I've become? So as my punishment , I ate an extra large portion of dinner tonight.

Followed the 6 easy miles on the treadmill with a little attention to the upper body and abs. Upper body isn't too bad, but these abs have a long way to go.

Actual: 6 miles easy on the treadmill, upper body, abs

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Well if you're not going to elaborate on the weirdness, we'll just have to imagine what happened.

I reckon you stapled puppies to the treadmill mat and ran on a yelping mass of blood-soaked fur. Shame on you DD.

:eek:
OMG! KURT!! Whoa....and i thought i had an overactive imagination. Sheesh!

No, i can assure you it was nothing like that. It had more to do with some dizzy spells that started around 2.5 miles into it....and how that made me feel. Sort of one of those "you had to be there" moments. I'm sure you, of all people, have had a few of those.

I started taking an iron supplement on a regular basis a few months ago after checking my red blood cells in house (we have a hematocrit machine in our animal clinic) and they were slightly low end of normal. I know, not exactly the same as going to the doctor's for a complete screening, but...

I think the two biggest contributors to last night's light-headedness were sleep and food. Not been sleeping well, and didn't eat enough Wednesday and Thursday. I don't feel i'm overtraining - training feels spot on - i think it's sleep and calories. I will try and rememdy both of those post haste!

wildrhubarb wrote: »

Ha! I love that you did a doggy RBC count! were the numbers low for humans?

Sleep and food seem like the nicest remedies ever... enjoy.

wildrhubarb!! Girl, you gotta start logging here!!

Yeah, kind of funny that I checked my red cells on our machine, but it's a human machine, I just had to look up the normal range for an adult female. My red cells were at 36/37ish...which is the low end of normal. At the time I checked them, I was feeling soooo fatigued. Since I've been taking iron, eating more red meat, and consuming less crap I feel soooo much better. Now you've got me curious what my count is now. Hmmm....may have to draw a little blood and check them this evening when I go back to the clinic.

The "ohmygodsweetjesusholycrapstickaforkinmei'mdone" Session :eek:

Plan: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 miles at MP with 3 minute recovery

This was tough. Tougher than I anticipated. Ugh! If anyone was wondering where my mental and physical limits were, on this particular day, this was it.

Pertinent data:
Gorgeous day....40 some degrees when I set sail, 50 some degrees when I finished.....a bit of a breeze, but not too bad....kept to the east end of town because of the snow/ice/traffic/narrow roads on the west end....did the worst hills during the 5 and 4 mile sets.....stretched the middle two recovery periods to 3:20/3:30.....jogged/walked/stretched the legs during the recovery period...had to stop twice very briefly for traffic when crossing the road....carried a small bottle of water in each hand....consumed 6 shot bloks....had my iPod to assist me.....was very glad when this was over.

Not too much else to say, really. Not sure how happy I am with today's session (I know, that's crazy...but...) because of the effort it took me to do this. I honestly (and very naively, I guess) thought I'd sail through the 3, 2, and 1 mile sets and had grand visions of sun-shiney-day feelings on those miles. Instead, I had to dig for what I got. Any way....paces as follows:

7:39, 7:55, 7:47, 7:37, 7:41
7:47, 7:52, 7:51, 7:48
7:51, 7:40, 7:35
7:44, 7:44
7:31

I was a mile from my car when I finished the last MP mile, so I stopped, guzzled the last of my water (I was very thirsty), then jogged it home at a very lovely 9:43 min/mile pace. I don't think I've ever been so glad to have a session in the books as I was today. Whew!! ;):eek::):D

Actual: 16.7 miles in 2:18:49 for an average pace of 8:17 min/mile

Recovery, old people, and my arse

Plan: 20 minutes recovery

Did this quickie-style over lunch.

Actual: 20 minutes recovery on the treadie

And in other news.....:D

Dear sweet Mrs. Dougans (older lady/widow with the very red lipstick (that's not always just on her lips) who I see on the Greenway when I'm running and who calls me Pocohantis and/or Gazelle (depending on the setting I see her in) and thinks I'm just the best!) came into the clinic today with her little pooch Rufus. Well, she may be old and not very proficient at lipstick application, but she remembered I'm doing Boston and was all whipped up with excitement about it and said to me in front of several people in the lobby very matter of factly...."well, you are going to come in first, right?". Oh my, she just makes me smile.

And....in yet other news....

Tonight's physio session featured a good old fashioned @ss stripping. :eek: If you have had the <cough, cough> pleasure of experiencing one of these, then you know what I'm talking about....and if you haven't, then just use your imagination and you've probably got it.

Having Fresh Legs Is A Beautiful Thing

Plan: 8 miles easy

Whoop, whoop!! This was a delightful run - gorgeous sun shiny 55 degree evening with a wind that only made the whole experience all that much more exciting. And one of the best things about it was I got to shed layers. Can I hear an "amen" from the folks in the back pew? Clothes are definitely overrated.

Down to business now. <clears throat> No, I will neither apologize nor make excuses for this run. (you listening Kurt?) This run was supposed to be easy, and, other than pushing on the hills because I aspire to be worthy of the King of the Mountain polka dot jersey, it was. Period. I just let the legs do what they felt like, kept the body relaxed, and enjoyed the rush of the ride....and it was delightful. I could sit here and analyze it and compare it to last Sunday's run where the effort seemed much higher than this evening's run....and I could even speculate about how I might capitalize on this run and use it to knock an upcoming gut wrenching 14 mile MP run out of the park, but I won't. Instead, I'll just give a few notable moments...

- there were no cars in the 7-11 parking lot, which is a first for me.
- I was busy yakking to a friend as I passed him outside Uncle Buck's (bar/restaurant) and didn't see I had entered a work zone and went crashing into the yellow work zone tape. No animals were harmed in the making of that moment.
- nearly tripped over an empty bottle of Jack Daniels Black Label that had been tossed out and was laying in my path. Damn alchie litterers!! :mad:
- enjoyed a perfectly synched chorus of "whoop whoop" with a crazy girlfriend as she passed me in her car.

Okay...I'm feeling good. If I could just bottle this.....

Actual: 8.74 miles in 1:09:12 for an average pace of 7:55 min/mile
7:52, 8:02, 7:38, 7:51, 8:03, 8:04, 7:48, 8:04, 5:48 (7:52)

Damp, dark and drizzly

Plan: 8 miles easy

The mood was dictated by the weather which then dictated the approach and the mindset. This was just a quiet run without my Garmin in the morning rain. I probably thought more about how intimately I know this route than I worried about my pace - I decided that I know every crack and crevice in every sidewalk...I can tell you precisely where every depression or jut is in the pavement....I can warn you well in advance when you are approaching a branch or limb that is hanging dangerously low in the path...and I can anticipate every pole, trash can, bench, or sign that creates a bit of an obstacle for me. Yawn....zzzzzzz.....this was a bit boring, if you must know the truth.

As indicated above, the first 4 miles were a bit like a dirge, but the spirits were lifted and things definitely got peppier after I bumped into and then was distracted by amusing thoughts of one of our local misfits, Roy Miller, who, after his mom and dad had passed, sold (yes, sold!) their bodies to a mortuary school for the students to practice embalming on. I think he only got a couple hundred bucks for each body, but hey, that was a couple of hundred dollars he didn't have in his pocket before he sold them. Plus, he probably saved on having to pay for funeral expenses, and he isn't tied down by obligatory visits to their graves. He may be shrewder than he looks.

Any way...back to me. I forgot to wear my thigh compression sleeves and I could really feel this one in my injured (but recovering) left hams/glutes. I'm not sure I'll be able to leave the sleeves home when I go to Boston, but truth be told I'd really rather not wear them. Other than that, pace was slow but increasing with each mile, and I think I'm in a good place. Would like to lose 1 or 2 more pounds in the next 4 weeks, but if that doesn't happen it won't be the end of my world as I can't start skipping or skimping on meals at the risk of losing strength and energy. Tomorrow is 16 miles steady, so tonight's task will be to decide what route I want to tackle.

Actual: ~8.7 miles about town in I have no idea how long and couldn't care less at what pace

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Here's another task for tonight- what pace will you do the steady 16-miler in tomorrow, and why that pace? Genuine question, and I'm looking for a number rather than a whole load of words:)

Ah...now you've brought me out of my funk.

Are you sure you don't want a whole load of my poetic and sometimes confusing words? Boo. But in a nutshell, I've been instructed to do steady pace at 20 to 30 seconds slower that PMP....so I will say that at this very moment sitting on my couch writing to you I will target an average pace of 8:10 to 8:30. And that's all I'm saying. :):D

Oopsie!

Plan: 16 miles steady

Hello, my name is Dory Dory and I am both undisciplined and stubborn.

Well....this run turned into a progression run instead of the intended steady run at 8:10 to 8:30 min/mile pace. But I guess I never really believed I'd leave the pace where it was supposed to be if I was feeling good. And also, the route dictated a bit of the pace as well...as did the huge @ss 180+ pound Great Dane that came bounding out of the garage with his 20 pound fluffy sidekick in tow to rip me to shreds on mile 4. Dammit!! Same dog that charged me a few weeks ago, but this time he got within an arm's length of me and was much more daring than last time. The owner very nonchalantly called him off, but I let him know I was pissed. My mace was at the ready.....one step closer and BAM! I just need to keep the direction of the wind in mind.

I felt really sluggish at the outset of this run - might have been the wine I indulged in last night with some friends, but I really felt like I was struggling right up until the time of my adrenaline releasing dog encounter, and then things got a good bit better and easier. The weather was crap for this one - cold and windy with a mixture of rain and snow falling, but I was dressed appropriately so no worries in that regard. Other tidbits to note: the first 8 miles were nice ups and downs.....mile 9 was mostly uphill at various grades, so understandably slower....mile 10 was mostly downhill at corresponding various falls, so understandably faster....had a Garmin malfunction on mile 11 so I had to stop for several minutes to sort that out....miles 11 through 15 were done on predominantly flat ground, so understandably I felt very strong on those miles.

I did not set out to do this run as a progression, and it wasn't really until after I hit mile 10 that I started to play the game of "I must make the next mile even faster than the last otherwise it will look like I'm dying and mean that I suck". So...I dug in and made each mile faster. When I saw on mile 14 that my split was 7:01, I made myself a little deal. I told myself that if I could make mile 15 a sub 7 min/mile, then I'd reward myself with a cool down on mile 16 and a shortcut through grass, gravel, dangerous highway and crazy hills to get myself home. Job done.

Splits:
8:14, 7:57, 7:52, 7:32, 7:50, 7:47, 7:45, 7:48
8:10, 7:25, 7:25, 7:17, 7:15, 7:01, 6:50, 8:48, 3:07 (8:11)

Actual: 16.4 miles in 2:06:11 for an average pace of 7:42 mim/mile

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Unasked for advice, FWIW; you're pretty undisciplined when it comes to pacing. Bags of talent, oodles of enthusiasm- but maybe lacking in the self restraint required to hold the pace steady when you're feeling good in the marathon first 16 miles. Perhaps something to consider.

Already considered. It will be in the forefront of my mind on the day as it is one of my weaknesses that I am keenly aware of. I am hoping to have a pacing/race strategy written out, and then at appropriate times within the race, have a few options based on how I'm feeling. Thanks.

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Yeah, sorry for harping on about it all the time. The easier thing to do would just be to say "great job!" on that blistering 7:42 average for 16 miles, but the issue remains that you missed (yet again) another pace-based session. Ideally your MP should be firmly established at this point in time.

(PS Great job on that bistering 7:42 average;))

Ouch.

I think I will send myself to my room now and think about what I've done.

Four Weeks!!!!

Plan: 20 minutes recovery

And the drumroll please......

Actual: A quick and dirty 20 minutes easy peasy on the treadie over lunch

Physio tonight. All is well. Full body this time. Boy he's going to miss my money me when Boston training is over.