Mostly Wordless Wednesday: Brewery Tour

So many beers, so little time.

You'd smile too, if you were surrounded by beer.

Since sandals aren't allowed on a brewery tour, I got to rock these awesome booties!

Don't you wish you were me? LOL

Tall Mom on the Run Virtual Race for the Cure 5K

I was so excited when Tall Mom decided to host a virtual Race for the Cure! I think it's an awesome cause and I'm a big fan of virtual races. Sadly, life got in the way and my plan to do a 10k had to be shelved. The only time I could find to run was 5:30am on Friday morning, which meant taking the 5k option. Those of you who've been readers for a while know I'm not a morning person, so I also knew it was going to be a slow race.

I set up my water stop:

Notice the Washington and Oregon glasses in honor

of Tall Mom. The spiderman cup just happened

to be the first cup I found. LOL

Then I put on my timing chip:

My planned "Slow mom on the run" race bib didn't happen, so I headed to the start line. AKA my treadmill.

After a super slow warmup mile, the gun went off. Since it was morning and I was tired from my serious miles last week, I opted for an interval workout. 3.1 miles in 28:16. Far from a PR, but a good workout nonetheless.

Much later in the day, I enjoyed my race day celebration in the form of dinner and drinks at a brewpub. That Tall Mom, she really knows how to throw a race!

Three Things Thursday

Barely squeaking this one in on Thursday. Gosh it's been a long day!

1. I feel surprisingly good today. No soreness anywhere! My legs are tired and my toes are tender, but considering I ran 30 miles in the last two days, I expected to feel much worse. This makes me wonder if maybe there is a point to the back to back plan. Hmmm... I found the wide variety of responses to it quite interesting. I do know that I won't be doing a 10/20 for my next 20 miler, but that's because I'm running a half marathon 4 or 5 days before my next one. I don't plan to all out race the HM, but I do plan to run it faster than a long run pace, plus there are some big hills at the beginning. So, I'll likely run that Saturday, run short and easy Monday or Tuesday, and then run 20 on Wednesday. Right now I'm in a cut back week and I'll be taking full advantage of that.

2. I had donuts for lunch today. I'm generally a healthy eater, but they had fresh Krispy Kremes at the grocery store today and I couldn't resist. Heck, if you can't eat donuts after two long runs, when can you?

3. Life and commitments are exploding around me right now. I'm sitting down right now for the first time all day, with the exception of when I ate dinner. I don't expect things to calm down much for the next week or two, so posting and commenting will be spotty at best. Assuming I don't drop any of the balls I have in the air, things should calm down just about the time I need to do another 20 miler. And nothing says fun like running the ENTIRE time your child is at preschool. (I actually wasn't done in time to pick him up this week. Thankfully, I planned for that possibility and had planned a playdate at a friend's house.)

Wordless? Not me.

Short story:

I finished my first 20 miler for this marathon today. It was hell. The end.

The rest of the story:

Yesterday I ran a lovely 10 miles. I ran slower than last week, knowing I'd be running 20 today. I finished in 1:40:09, with really negative splits, but without really pushing too hard.

Today, I went out planning to run pretty conservatively. I aimed to keep my miles between 10:30 and 10:40, despite a really hilly course. I knew by the end of mile 1 that this was going to be hard run. Why? The wind. There was a steady wind combined with wind gusts that would literally stop me in my tracks. At mile 5 I had trouble running DOWN a hill because the wind was pushing me backwards. At mile 6 I had to walk up a hill I've run many times before because I just didn't have the energy to push up into the wind. There were a few decent miles in there, where I had the wind at my back, but most of the time I felt I was fighting to go forward. Finally, at mile 12, I decided I needed to get where there was less wind and ran back to my neighborhood. I managed another 3 miles there, but every time I'd turn and run west, I'd be heading into the wind. I just couldn't take it any longer. I decided to quit and ran to my house.

I had a drink (I was a bit dehydrated because it was also pretty warm out) and decided to hit the treadmill for a mile or so. 56 minutes and 5 tortuous miles later, I finished my 20 miles.

I finished the first 15 in 2:39:04, which is a pace of 10:36. Right where I wanted to be. My next 5 were an 11:16 pace. I'm not so happy about that, but I was just so beaten up by the first 15 that I had very little push left in me. Overall pace for the 20 miles was 10:48. I actually took a really long ice bath today. Despite that, my feet are swollen and only fit comfortably in my "mom" sandals. We'll see how my legs feel tomorrow.

Things that went right:

I finished.

My shoes (the feet numbing ones) were fine.

My sunglasses (that I've never run with before) were great and very helpful when the wind was blowing sand around.

Things that went wrong:

The combination of GU chomps and nuun went sour in my stomach around mile 11. This led to not fueling enough or hydrating enough for the last 4 miles outside. Not sure what to do about that.

I think I may be overestimating my abilities. More on that in a moment.

I nearly peed myself at mile 9 when I coughed. Nice.

Heat/sun definitely played a part in the exhaustion at the end.

As far as overestimating my abilities, I've chosen a plan that has back to back "long" runs. Supposedly this will make me stronger and give me the experience of running on really tired legs without having to run the distance of the marathon while in training. I also chose this plan because I liked the length of the long runs. I knew I'd be dropping one run a week and that I'd find it difficult to hit all of the miles, but I didn't realize how hard I'd find the back to back runs. I think for the remainder of the training, I'll be keeping the long run distances from the Intermediate 2 plan, but falling back to the shorter distance of the Intermediate 1 plan for all other miles. I think my body will thank me.

Monday Randomness

Life is a bit scattered right now with a lot of different stuff going, so this post will be in the "stream of consciousness" style. ;o)

• My right shoulders is sore. Apparently if you lift four ounces approximately 3000 times, it is a toning workout. Next time I need to figure out how to get my left arm in on the act. Then I'll be able to call volunteering at a race a cross training workout.
• The weather here this weekend was beautiful. Jones convinced me to invite two of his friends over for the afternoon. The three of them plus Shoo opened both of the backyard gates and basically ran in a circle around the house for three hours. They called it playing Star Wars, I called it good exercise. Wonder if I can get Jones to run a race with me by carrying a light saber?
• Our school auction was this weekend. My beer and food pairing dinner went for way more this year than last year and they convinced me to host three couples instead of two! I'm a little nervous. I'm great with beer, but I'm only a good cook, not outstanding by any means. Oy!
• I'm discovering that running huge numbers of miles during the week is resulting in not much running on the weekend. I did one four mile run and one 5.4 mile run. I was convinced someone replaced my legs with bricks on Friday.
• I'm getting a bit nervous about the marathon in May. I had a couple of friends DNF at Shamrock this weekend because of the heat. These were strong, experienced runners. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for a cool, cloudy day, since my record for decent races on hot days is not very good.
• I've already run 100 miles for the month of March and I have a 20 mile run this week. Last week was a personal record at 37.4 miles, but I'm pretty sure I'll be breaking 40 this week. No wonder I'm hungry all the time! I don't know how runners who run more than that on a regular basis a) find the time, b) manage to not constantly stuff themselves and c)have the energy for speedwork. My legs have decided that they aren't going faster than a 9:30 mile, regardless of what my mind says.
• One of the things I didn't win at the auction was a RoadID. Kudos to the company for all the donating of their product. I think that's awesome. However, since I can't seem to win a giveaway or an auction, I'm going to actually have to go buy one myself. Anyone used the shoe pouch version? Any recommendations of which product to get?
• Four boys at dinner makes for an incredibly loud meal and a scary amount of pizza consumed.
• It's supposed to get up to the mid 70s on Wednesday, just in time for my 20 mile run. I'm not a warm weather runner, but I keep telling myself that it's good practice for the marathon. Maybe one of these days I'll actually believe it.
• The venue where we hold the school auction does not allow red wine or dark beers, so I usually end up drinking the vodka punch. Isn't the definition of insanity something like repeating the same action and expecting different results? Maybe one of these years I'll figure out that the punch is not a good idea.
• It's raining today and Shoo has a friend over, so I'm going to actually attempt to do some decluttering and straightening of the house. It would be nice to have my house NOT look like it got tossed by the FBI.

Congrats to everyone who ran this past weekend. Hope everyone has a lovely week.

Beautiful morning at the National Marathon

A few weeks ago I volunteered at a 5k and caught the "volunteering" bug. I knew that the National Marathon needed volunteers and I was able to get a spot at an early water station near a metro. Score! I convinced one of my "mommy" friends to volunteer with me, so we headed over there at 5:45am this morning! It was fun to ride the metro in with all the runners, but it felt strange to not be dressed to run. I kept having the urge to prove my "cred" as a runner LOL.

Shortly after we arrived at the station, the tables, cups, and water arrived. Just for the record, unloading boxes filled with 8 gallons of water is HARD work. It was chilly out but I was sweating by the time we got everything unloaded. Then we had to work crazy fast to get the power.ade mixed and all the glasses poured. I was volunteering with a few Pacers peeps, but most of the water stop was runners from DC Front Runners. They were a great group to work with and had the added bonus of a huge boom box rockin' with ABBA.

As we were still filling cups, the front runners came through. I've never been on the spectating end of a big race, so that was pretty cool! I snapped a picture, stuffed my camera in my pocket, and never got a chance to pull it out again.

After an hour of handing out power.ade, my white sleeves are pink, my hair is sticky, and my voice is shot, but I had an awesome time! I got almost as good of an endorphin rush as I would have running. I could seriously make race volunteering my life's work. While it was great to see the fast kids, it was even more fun to cheer on the people who were out there giving it their all, regardless of whether they would finish in the middle of the pack or farther back. I got to see a bunch of people I knew as well as a couple of bloggers (DC Running Mama and Tammy from A Life on the Run- I'm sure Tammy had no idea who I was when I cheered for her LOL).

I did learn a few things:

• Don't wear white while handing out red 'ade.
• Making eye contact with the runner grabbing a drink from you results in less spillage.
• Runners will generally aim for a box or trash can with their "empty" cups if there is one put out.
• Don't stand right near said box if you don't want to wear the 'ade.
• Runners are generally awesome, appreciative people.
• And a note to myself: just because the race says they provide GU, don't rely on that. There are always delivery snafus and sometimes the stations run out.
• It's pretty amazing to watch the public works people clean up at the end. We helped, but they really had the job under control.

Kudos to the National Marathon group (including Dorothy) for organizing a great race and a big thumbs up to everyone I knew who was running. You all looked great at mile 5!

Three Things Thursday

1. Yesterday I ran 19 miles. It was nowhere near as amazing as the 9 I'd run the day before, but I got it done. I met my friend after running 4.5 and she ran about 12 with me. I'd never have made it otherwise. My pace averaged out at 10:44, which was pretty amazing since I had one mile over 12 and one or two over 11 (we hit some MAJOR hills). It was warm and sunny and I was pretty dehydrated by the end, despite drinking all the liquid in my four fuel belt bottles, plus refilling one. Amazingly, I ran mile 18 in 10:40 and mile 19 in 10:30 (with half of that mile at a 9:30 pace!), even though my quads were screaming at that point. I took an ice bath and drank a Gu recovery drink (review after I use it again) and today my legs are tired, but not sore and one of my feet hurts from wearing worn out shoes. 28 miles in two days and I can still walk! I'm gonna call that a success!

2. I spent today working on some of the house projects that are just not getting done. One of those projects was to attempt to repair our shutters and prep them for painting. They are 7 foot tall solid wood shutters and are original to our 1939 house. I've repaired and painted them before, but today one literally fell off the house while I was working on it. Oops. Hopefully I can put it back together and get it back up with Beer Geek's help, since replacing them is really not in the budget this year.

And an extra: I'm LOVING this weather! It's currently 69 degrees and I'm sitting on my front steps watching Shoo and his friend play. I could totally handle this weather all year round.

3. My car is in the shop, getting new tires. I walked Jones and Shoo to school, walked to the gym to lift weights, and walked to get Shoo and a friend from school. Soon, we'll have to walk to get Jones from school and then hopefully walk to get the car. By the time all is said and done, I'll have walked at least 5 miles today. So much for a rest day LOL.

Mostly Wordless Wednesday: Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Hill*:

The Leprechaun**:

The Shwag:

The Parade***:

*Kudos to Pacers and Swim Bike Run Photography for not charging for the photos.

**The leprechaun started 8 minutes after the gun went off and still beat 1033 of the 1213 runners.

***'cause nothin' says St. Paddy like Bolivian dancers.

GU Electrolyte Brew Review and THAT's why I run!

I've had some decent runs lately, but it's been a long time since I came home from a run with an endorphin buzz. Today's run was simply the best I've had in ages. Training called for a 9 mile "pace" run. I decided to try to run it at about a 10 minute pace (my "pie in the sky" pace for the marathon.) The first mile felt good and the run just kept getting better from there.

1: 9:51

2: 9:28

3: 9:39

4: 9:40

5: 9:40

6: 9:20

7: 9:24

8: 9:18

9: 9:25 (was 9:15 for most of it, but did the last quarter mile as a cool down)

Average pace: 9:32

I felt really strong the whole time and only felt like I was really pushing myself in miles 8 and 9. Even then, I could have definitely gone faster if I'd tried. Three hours later, I'm still feeling amazing. I can only hope I'll still feel good on tomorrow's 19 mile run!

Some things that definitely played a factor: it was cool but sunny, so perfect weather. I did lower mileage this weekend and yesterday was a complete rest day. I ate a nicely balanced dinner that included both a decent amount of protein and a whole grain. I wore my "foot numbing" shoes and my feet did not go numb!

Some things that might have been a factor: the running gods. GU Electrolyte Brew.

I've mentioned before that I'm a big fan of nuun. I use it on my shorter runs alone and on my longer runs with GU gels. This combination has worked very well for me in the past. For my last marathon, I relied heavily on Gatorade and GU and that worked very well for me too. Any other combination of items has resulted in GI distress, often to the point of needing to end a run early. Needless to say, I have not been particularly inclined to try new things this time around.

GU's generosity*, however, has made me step out of my little safety zone. After the success with the chomps a few days ago, I decided to try the electrolyte brew today. I tried the raspberry flavor, mixed with 22 ounces of water. Each packet contains 140 calories, 325 mg of sodium, 50 mg of potassioum and 34 g of carbs. A similar amount of nuun has about 6 calories, 360 mg of sodium, and 100 mg of potassium (no carbs). I would normally combine nuun with at least 100 calories, another 100 mg of sodium, and another 90 mg or so of potassium. Comparing them, I ended up with more carbs, but less sodium and potassium with the brew. Check out the GU Energy site for lots more information.

I really liked the flavor. It was slightly tarter than I expected, but that was a good point for me. I was worried that it would taste like ko.ol aid. It was easy to drink and I found that I liked not having to walk at all during my run (seriously, I slowed for two lights, but ran the entire rest of the 9 miles). I usually get hungry by the end of a longish run, even with gels. Today I didn't. Also, my stomach did just fine with it.

Verdict? I liked it. I'll definitely use it again for a mid-length (9-13 mile) run. I wouldn't want that many calories if I were running shorter and I'm not sure I'd want to combine it with another carb source if I were running longer (although GU Energy says that it's designed to work with their gels). Also, I was a bit warm because I was overdressed, but this was definitely not a hot sweaty run. I'll be interested to see if I miss the extra sodium/potassium once I'm running in hotter weather. Overall, I definitely thought it was a good product and will add it to my running nutrition options.

*FCC disclosure: GU sent me this product for the purposes of reviewing and sharing with my readers. The opinions are my own. Trust me, if I have a major FAIL with one of their products, you will hear all about it!

Apparently I can't count...

I went to the store today to buy 8 beers for the auction basket...

Shoo decided to throw a huge tantrum (he's 4 - shouldn't he be done with this?), so I was completely unable to focus. I just grabbed a whole bunch of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina beers. Oh, and one from West Virginia. I ended up with 20 beers. Wonder what I'll do with the extras? ;o)*

Yesterday I had 9 miles on the schedule, but I woke up late - 9am (which of course meant 10 am). I decided I'd do six during Jones' second soccer game. It was wet and dreary and I just wasn't mentally into the run, so I only ended up doing four. From a running standpoint, it wasn't a bad run - 9:52, 9:43, 9:39, 9:33 without pushing at all. It's amazing how much not wanting to run can play into making a bad run out of what should have been at least an ok run.

This week is my first REALLY hard week of the plan. I have 9 miles on Tuesday and then 19 on Wednesday. Luckily, one of my friends needs to do 8-10 this week and is willing to run at my long run pace, so I'll run with her for part of the run. I've also arranged for Shoo to go home with a friend, so I'll have time to take an ice bath and eat afterwards, so hopefully I'll be in a better mood after this long run!

*Jamoosh and Glaven, stop drooling. It's not very attractive.

Four Courts Four MIler Race Report

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain on the roof. Not exactly what I wanted to hear when I planned to run to a race, run a race, and then run home again. Hmm, what to wear and what to do? After changing my mind a few times, I settled on capris and my long sleeve half zip. Oh, and a rain jacket and a ride to the race. ;o)

Beer Geek and the boys dropped me off a few blocks from the race. Immediately, the heavens opened and I was drenched! I had my rain jacket on, but my legs and shoes were soaked. Oh well. I got to the Four Courts pub and ran into a few friends and some of my Pacers peeps and then it was time to take off.

I FLEW down the hill. Seriously. 7:43 for the first mile, which is not only my second fastest mile ever, but also my fastest time down that hill. Mile 2 clocked in at 8:29. Mile 3 was 8:39, which I was VERY happy with as it had the beginnings of the uphill in it. I was, however, sad to see the Leprechaun pass me at mile 3. Then came the HILL. It.kicked.my.butt. 9:36 for that last mile. I am happy to say that I did run the whole thing and I did manage to pick it up at the end, but I missed my 35 minute goal by mere seconds.*

What's a girl to do after a race like that? Why, drink a Guinness, of course! Part of the shwag of the race was a free beer at the end. I am so all over that, although I have to admit I can't remember the last time I had a beer at 10 am (besides today LOL).

After the race, it was back to the reality of two sick kids and housework and errands, but it was a great way to start the day! I do hope Pacers does this again next year as it was an awesome race. If they do, I WILL make that hill my beyotch. Just sayin'.

*Numbers don't add up because Garmin says I ran 4.07. Whatever.

GU Chomps review and some random stuff

First off, the review:

GU Energy Labs sent me a package of GU goodness to review* and share with my readers. Yesterday I had my long run planned, so I decided to take some Cranberry Apple Chomps along.

Each bag contains 8 pieces, which is considered two servings. Each serving has 90 calories. Here's what GU says about what the chomps contain:

Amino acids for added focus, rippin' energy and speedy recovery.
• Vitamin C + E, those mighty antioxidants that combat tissue breakdown.
• Sodium and potassium to restore electrolyte balance.
• Exclusive blend of complex and simple carbohydrates.

The flavor I used also contained caffeine. Two of the available flavors (orange and blueberry pomegranate) do not.

My experience: I ate two chomps at the 4, 6, 8, and 10 mile points of a 12 mile run. I LOVED this flavor. It was sweet and slightly tart. I admit to loving gummy bears and these were a similar texture, but a bit softer and easier to chew. I had zero GI issues, which was awesome and somewhat surprising. I have a cold and post nasal drip, so my stomach was already a little upset. Also, the similar product I've tried (shot blocks) had me racing for a bathroom and kept me there off and on for hours both times I tried it. I was able to get the chomps out fairly easily and the bag fit perfectly in the pouch of my Amphipod holder.

Pros: Great Flavor

A little caffeine boost

Great texture

Didn't slow me down as much as eating a gel

Able to spread the boost out throughout the run

Cons: I had a little trouble opening the bag with really sweaty hands

It was a bit difficult getting the last couple out without touching them (I didn't really want sweat all over them, nor did I want to risk sticky hands.)

All in all, I think these were a success. I'll definitely be using them again. I'd totally recommend them, especially if you don't like the consistency of gels.

_____________________________________________________

Random other stuff:

• I bought new kicks yesterday at Pacers. I got the Mizuno Wave Rider 13s. I love my old Wave Riders and I'm sort of scared to use the new Saucony's for a 19 mile run, but all of my other shoes are in bad shape. I also got to meet the "Leprechaun" who'll be trying to pass everyone at the Four Courts Four Miler. I figured out that he'll likely pass me at about mile 2, despite starting 6 minutes behind me.
• Shoo and I are about to head to the doctor for a strep test for him. His throat looks just like Jones', sigh. He also has a cold and spent last night coughing until he threw up. Ahh, the joys of parenthood.
• I got to meet Dorothy from Mile Posts the other day when I picked up my National Marathon volunteering info. Unfortunately, I didn't take a camera. Speaking of, she could still use a few more volunteers!
• After several days of beautiful weather, it's raining. It's expected to continue for the next couple of days, which means I'll be racing in the rain. I don't generally mind that, but there are grates in the road on the very steep hill that are slippery when wet. I will either have to slow down on the downhill (really don't want to do that) or risk falling on my butt (not fond of that idea either).

*I was given these by GU, but the opinions are my own.

Three Things Thursday

1. Sunblock! It's actually warm enough and sunny enough today that I've pulled out the sunblock for my arms and legs. 70 spf seems to be a bit of overkill in March, but it's what I have, so it'll do. (I am Casper the ghost white even at the end of summer, so major spf is necessary around here.)
2. Jones has strep and Shoo has a cold, so sleep and free time are a bit non-existant around here. Thankfully, Jones is no longer contagious, so they both went to school. Mommy NEEDS to run (although I'm getting the cold, so it may not be my best run ever.) On the bright side, I finally organized all of Jones' hand me downs for Shoo, so I can easily find the right size/season. I think I have enough clothes for three four year olds LOL.
3. I got an awesome box of stuff from Gu. I'll be using and reviewing some of it and sharing the rest with you all. I'm planning to use Gu Chomps today during my "long" run. Stay tuned for a giveaway, probably after Easter. A huge thank you to them for sending some of their great products. (Their gels are some of the few that don't make me sick. I'm hoping to find that their other stuff works just as well.)

Off to enjoy running in the sun, before the rain gets here.

Global Warming, My A$$! 6.66 Mile Virtual Run

Also known as "well, hello there mojo, it's nice to see you again!"

Pre-race: I did not plan to run Razz's virtual race today. In fact, I did not plan to run at all. However, after a morning spent dealing with the post office (Michelle and Jamoosh, be watching your mailboxes*), grocery store, and Costco, I NEEDED to run (I think I encountered every stupid person in the greater DC area**). It was gorgeous outside and I had to get out there. I didn't even eat. I just threw on shorts, a t-shirt and the foot numbing shoes*** and ran out the door. I had precisely 33 minutes before I had to leave to pick up Shoo from preschool, so I decided I'd try to knock out the first 3.66.

Mile 1: 8:35 (OMG, I think I'm going to puke, but hey I can still feel my feet!)

Mile 2: 8:49 (Yeah, I knew I couldn't keep up that pace. Shoe feels too loose - oh wait it's untied. Tie shoe, wonder if I'll regret that later.)

Mile 3: 8:55 (Why did I pick such a hilly route? Razz better appreciate it when I toss my cookies.)

Mile .66: 5:48 (8: 47 pace. Oh thank goodness this is over!)

Race #1: 3.66 miles in 32:07 (8:45 average pace)

Between races: Pick up Shoo. Let Shoo and friend play in sandbox while I finally eat. (Brussel sprouts - I told you it's an obsession). Throw pork tenderloin in crockpot with BBQ sauce. Unload remaining non-perishables from earlier errands. Pick up Jones from school. Take boys to library. Attempt to straighten up house. Meet Beer Geek at door, dressed to run with Garmin ready to go.****

Mile 1: 8:49 (Oh, this is going to suck. It hurts already.)

Mile 2: 8:43 (Hmm, didn't think that was going to happen.)

Mile 3: 8:40 (Is it really worth it to cross the puke threshold for a virtual race?)

Race 2: 3 miles in 26:12 (8:44 pace)

Total distance: 6.66 in 58:19

Post race analysis: The weather was gorgeous and it was nice to have a reason to run fast. I was surprised at how slow "fast" is for me right now, but it was an awesome run. I did 1.34 miles of cooldown, to hit a total of 8 for the day. Thanks, Razz!

* I shipped a box of jam. ;o)

**There was the guy at the post office who went through the entire process for mailing a large package internationally and then decided it was too expensive to send. And the guy at Costco who didn't believe the total the register came to and asked for a calculator. All the other idiots were behind the wheel and that's pretty much normal around here.

*** My feet didn't go numb!! Not sure if starting out with them looser made the difference or if I'm breaking them in, but woohoo! For the record, they are the same brand/model as the shoes I've been running in for the last few months. Nothing different about them except the color.

****On a good day, I'm in the kitchen working on dinner when he gets home. On a bad day, I'm waiting to run. On a really bad day, I'm sitting at the dining room table with chocolate and a glass of wine.

New shoes = FAIL

I got a new pair of Saucony Triumph 6's a week ago. I ran my intervals in them on Friday and they were fine, if a little stiff. Today I decided to do hills rather than speed work and headed down hill towards the course of the Four Courts Four Miler. The start for that race is just over a mile and a half from my house and by the time I got to the start, I couldn't feel my feet. Yep, my feet went numb, especially the left one. I should have stopped at that point and loosened the laces, but I didn't. Instead, I ran down the hill and then back up. The hill was not quite as challenging as I remembered (hard, but I managed to keep moving at a steady pace), but by the end, I found it really hard to pick up my pace as I was having trouble finding the ground.

I stopped at the top and loosened my laces and started back up. After another mile, I'd lost feeling again and stopped again to loosen the laces. This time, it didn't help at all and I ran the rest of the way home very slowly, not really able to feel my foot, but at the same time feeling like I was about to lose my shoe. It was an extremely weird sensation! I stopped at the house and changed into my old mizunos. Ahh, much better. I did another three miles. Surprisingly, despite not being able to feel my left foot for much of the first six miles, I managed to do nine mile in 1:29:30. Go figure.

I'm hoping I can figure out a way to make the shoes work for at least short runs. I got them on clearance and they aren't returnable. They feel just fine and they worked just fine on Friday, so I'm not sure what was up. At least it was an absolutely beautiful day out! I ran in a short sleeve shirt and capris for the first time in ages. As often happens here in the winter, it was sunny and gorgeous and there were still piles of snow on the ground. The unusual part was that the snow was from a month ago, rather than just days ago. Fingers crossed that spring is gonna stick around!

Me and the Naughty Scott

Tonight Beer Geek, the boys and I went to our current favorite brewpub.* They were running a lovely special, which involved a 23 oz glass** to keep filled with a yummy beer. I had their English style stout and it was quite good. When refill time came, they had the option of a $3 refill. I seriously considered that, but when the waiteress mentioned that they had the naughty scott on tap, well, she had me at naughty. It was sooo yummy, but it's a pretty strong beer. It kind of kicked my butt and brought you these lovely typos.

I ran 6 x quarter mile today.*** I met my goal of 1:58-2:01 quarters, but it was nearly a puketastic run. Even with doing some speedwork, I'm finding that as my endurance increases, my speed at short distances decreases. I think that after this marathon, it will be at least a year again before my next. I like faster shorter runs. I ended up doing 4 miles in 37:05, which was ok, but I'm sort of scared that next week's PR at teh Four Courts Four Miler will be kind of lame. I'm just gald it's a guaranteed PR LOL.

*Rock Bottom, soon to be replaced by this one.

**I thought about giving it away here, but I need stuff for the auction basket. At this point, it only includes (for anyone who cares AKA Jamoosh) Dark Starr Love, Lancaster Milk Stout, Clipper City MarzHon, Weyerbacher Fireside Ale, and Founders Porter. If a certain Jamoosh sends me his address, there might be something heading his way in the near future. Don't worry though, I'm nearly to a "magic" number of visits, so I'll get more free stuff soon.

** For those of you not familiar with repeats, I ran .25 mile at my prescribed pace, followed by about .12 mile slow jogging, 6 times. I did have to jog slow a little extra between the last few, but I got it done.

Three Things Thursday

I'm sure you are all disappointed that I'm not doing 30 this week, but that was a heck of a lot of work!

1. Today is an unplanned rest day. Normally, I'd hit the gym and see my old buddy. Instead, I'm going to take it easy and get some errands done. I'm training a lot harder for this marathon than I did for the last one and both my body and my mind are rebelling at the moment. I'm waking up tired (not sore or injured, just tired) and I'm stressing about spending so much time running and not enough time keeping up with life. I'm hoping that by really stepping back for my step back week, I'll be ready to go next week. If not, I may scale back my mileage a bit for the remainder of the training. I chose a pretty aggressive (for me) plan, knowing that life might require me to tweak it.

2. Beer Geek and I have been talking a lot about my plans for when Shoo starts kindergarten. I really have no desire to go back to a 9-5 40 hour a week position. Thankfully, he is on the same page and wants me to do what makes me happy. (Yes, I realize I'm very lucky that we can manage that and that he's supportive.) To that end, I really want to get my coaching certificate and maybe start thinking about some other fitness/health related classes. Think anyone would want to be coached by a "slow girl"? (The funniest part about this is that I was totally a "career girl" before we had kids and was working hard to climb the "ladder". )

3. I've been obsessed with brussel sprouts lately. I found a recipe on Closet Cooking for brussel sprouts, walnuts, and blue cheese. I nuke them and then fry them with just a touch of olive oil until they are nearly brown. YUMMY! Unfortunately, this has resulted in a house that smells a bit like burned cabbage. So, my other new obsession is simmering cinnamon or cloves on my stove LOL. I can only wonder how long it will be before I burn the house down.

Note to locals: The National Marathon is still looking for volunteers (looks like they could really use help at the expo and as course marshals), the Four Courts Four Miler is nearly full, and I still have a discount code for the Zooma half (email me at mom2shoo at gmail for that. I'll give it to anyone that wants it, just don't feel comfortable putting it out here).

Somewhat wordless Wednesday: Grass!

Look!! You can finally see grass in our front yard! Maybe some day all the snow will be gone.

Today's run was not much fun. I was supposed to do 8 miles and there was just no way that was going to happen. I woke up tired. My quads were a bit stiff (the ice bath definitely helped my feet and calves though). It was cold, grey, and windy. I thought about skipping it all together, but decided that even if it was a short, slow run, it would be good for my legs. All I can really say about it is that I finished 4 miles. I think I may be on the edge of overtraining. I'm always tired and my legs never seem fresh. Thankfully, next week is a fallback week, so hopefully I'll feel better when my next hard week starts. I'm also hoping to get new tires for the car, get a haircut, and buy some new shoes. It's amazing how little "free" time you have when you run 30+ miles a week at my slow pace. I'd love to be a fast runner if only so that it would take up less of my time LOL.

I've already come up with some tweaks for my next long run (thanks for the suggestions), so hopefully it won't make me useless for the rest of the day LOL.

17 miles and I'm a music convert

Short story: 17.5 miles in 3:00:40 which is a 10:19 pace and only a few seconds per mile off of my marathon goal.

Long story: I had to change my normal long run day to today for a variety of reasons. Shoo has a shorter day then normal tomorrow and the weather is supposed to be icky. I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for breakfast and then took the boys to school. After I returned home, I ate another half sandwich and got my fuel belt ready to go with 4 bottles of nuun.

I chose a super hilly route and set out at a nice slow pace. I finished 5.85 miles in the first hour, another 5.85 in the second hour and 5.74 in the final hour, so I was remarkably consistent. My fastest mile was mile 10 at 9:36 (thank you Chumbawamba) and my slowest was mile 7 at 10:57 where I walked up a hill while eating my gu. I actually ran with the ipod and it worked out well. Now I need to make my running playlist longer as I got to hear each song at least twice.

After running, I managed about 5 minutes in the cold cold bath. It really helped my feet, which were pretty swollen, but I couldn't tolerate it for very long. Now I'm just really tired and cranky and have a PTA meeting to go to tonight (and I'm the Secretary, so staying home is not an option).

Amusing things on the run:

• I always worry about running too far from my house when the kids are in school. Today I ran 4 miles away, which is the farthest I've ever run. Of course my cell phone rang at the absolute farthest point away. Luckily, it was just another mom calling about a kid play date.
• There was a lone shoe sitting on the sidewalk. I'm sure the owner just dropped it out of her briefcase, but it amused me to see a four inch high spike heeled pump sitting on a sidewalk in a residential neighborhood.

I've got to figure out a better way to do long runs. I'm so tired and crabby afterwards and I have to pick up Shoo pretty much immediately. And I'm not doing such a hot job of dealing with Jones and the homework battles today. Beer Geek is getting home late all week this week, so that adds an additional layer of fun. Is it bedtime (or at least beer time) yet?

I have another discount code for Zooma Annapolis if you register by March 12. Email me at mom2shoo at gmail.com if you want the code.