Trying Tuesday

I have a 10 month old and she has never had a fever. Until today. Apparently when babies have fevers, they want to sleep in your arms for hours and hours. Well that's what I've been doing all day. Fortunately, I had the remote and cell phone close by. Now her dad is home and I escaped to the gym to run. Well, it snowed/iced last night so naturally, every machine was full except for one treadmill so I get on it and adjust everything. My ipod wouldn't turn on. Nooo!! ALSO, this is my backup ipod since my NEW one BROKE yesterday when I was running. (I took it to the store and they had to "order a replacement." Huh? You mean you don't have a pink 16g ipod nano in stock or any acceptable replacement? Whatever.) So now I am waiting several days for my new one. Well, my old one, which has never not turned on before, would not turn on. And neither would the treadmill. So I said forget it!! Time for sweats and a beer.

Oh, and the baby seems fine but her temp is 100 degrees. I should say, she's fine if she's being held. If it's still elevated tomorrow, I'll take her to the doctor. Just a bad day for both of us, I guess.

20 Miles: Run, Done, No Fun

Yesterday I ran 20 miles. It had to of been the windiest windy day that ever winded. I ran from our apartment up the Mt. Vernon trail, across the Key bridge, and into Georgetown. My turnaround point was the intersection of M St. and Wisconsin Ave. I almost blew off of the bridge! Not really, there are high metal bars to prevent that but thankfully they were there! When I was a mile from home, I saw a street light that had crashed to the ground (and created a massive traffic jam). I also saw a metal newspaper box that had blown over. Crazy!
I left at 7:30am and didn't get home until 11:15. The ten miles out weren't bad. The wind gusts came every few minutes but it was bearable. When I turned around to run the second half, the wind just wouldn't quit. It slowed me down considerably. I was almost home when I saw my husband drive by. My mother in law and some family friends are visiting us from Texas right now so they told me when I got home that he went to look for me to see if I wanted a ride home since it was so blustery. I called him and told him he didn't do a very good job of finding me if he drove right past :) But fortunately I made it home (in almost 4 hours!) The one good thing about yesterday's run is that it wasn't cold. Windy yes; cold, no.
At least I only have to run 5 miles today! Only...

Who has my mojo?

I'm in a rut. I actually think I ran myself into a rut. This is week 13 of marathon training (of 18) and I feel like I have nothing left to give. What is going on? My 13 miler was so painful on Saturday. I ran a 5k on Sunday and called it a day (when I was supposed to run 8 miles that day). I rested yesterday and today I was supposed to run 5 miles and at 3, I called it quits (I blame female problems for today.) *Sigh* I guess there are just days/weeks like this? My legs feel like jello. Or lead. Or lead and jello. All I can do is hope tomorrow goes better! I just needed to gripe right now...

5k Sunday

Just like a good run can put you on a high all day, a bad run can make you feel hopeless. I ran 13 miles yesterday and it was soooo difficult and slow--I was cold, tired, hungry--and I did everything the same as usual. I will blame the portion of the trail I ran on since it was VERY hilly and I sprint up the hills as part of my training but there were just SO MANY of them! I had to run/walk the last mile just to make it home and it took me two and a half hours.

On the other hand, today I ran a Valentine's day 5k (see the graphic above) and PRed. I'm not very fast in short races and I usually run the same pace regardless of if it's a 5k or half marathon. I tried pushing it today but last night was my friend's birthday and we were out too late so I did the best I could considering...I finished in 25:09 which beats my previous PR of 25:34 so that's good! I don't run a lot of 5k's because I prefer longer races but sometimes it's nice to see how fast you can be for three miles.

I am supposed to run five more miles today but I think I'm gonna call it a day...it's been a long weekend!

Tunnel Tuesday

Every time I run through this tunnel, I imagine I'm in Europe or somewhere fabulously old. (I suppose Old Town Alexandria is as old as it gets around here.)

I've been enjoying my couple of days off after this weekend. I didn't run today because The Husband got invited to a hockey game at the last minute so it's just myself tonight (and The Baby but she goes to sleep at seven.)

I've been toying with the idea of advancing to the "intermediate II" training schedule. I am currently using the "intermediate I" plan but after this past weekend, I think I can handle a few more miles a week. However, I'm not real familiar with the parameters of switching it up two thirds of the way through and what the physiological impact of that may be. I should go read up on that...

Since I skipped today, it looks like I'll be running straight through Sunday the rest of the week. I hope this wind lets up!

18 Miles +1

I ran 19 miles! Whaaat? I can't believe it. I mapped out 18.8 miles since running around the tidal basin was a bit longer than 9 miles and then I had to detour around some construction which added .25 miles. This is what I think is spectacularly crazy: It was easy! There were maybe a couple times where I thought I had no steam or was going to fall over but you know what? It was temporary, both times. I fueled with gatorade and GU shots at miles 6 and 12 and walked at these times but that was the only time I rested. I finished just under 3 hours which is on par with running a 4 hour marathon...I think. I am pretty sure in another month and a half I can do it.
It drizzled cold rain the whole time and I think I only passed a dozen other runners. I love it when other runners wave or hold out their hand for a high five. It really helps with morale out there and on days like today it definitely helps. We're all in it together I guess!

I attached a picture of the dreary weather. It's still drizzling out there but it's definitely better than freezing rain or snow.

Have a good weekend!

T Minus 50 Days

There are a mere 50 days before my first marathon. I found out today that the owner of the running store I worked at will be pacing the 4 hour group and of course we discussed running together. Rather, he said, "run it with me!" Ok....This begs the question of...can I run a 4 hour marathon? A 4 hour marathon requires a 9:10 pace. I ran my first half marathon on the same course in 1:50 which is an 8:25 pace so...can I run 13 miles further one minute per mile slower??? Having never run a marathon before, it's hard to say. There are so many variables like hills, weather, starting out too fast (though running with a pace group would help with that), anything, really. I am afraid I am venturing into the unknown (for me) and all I can do is train my best and run my hardest.
Oh and did I mention that it is supposed to rain all day on Saturday? 18 miles in the rain. Running. Well, it beats running in August heat. (Yes, it does. Trust me.)

Windy Wednesday!

Good evening, everybody! This week feels like it's dragging! I had an eight miler tonight. At mile three, I thought I was going to blow away so I turned around and ran home. I did six miles which is better than no miles but sometimes there are just nights like that. I kinda put it in my head before I left that it was going to suck. (Well, YEA! When you can hear the wind rattle the windows, you know it's not going to be fun!) My foot seems to be holding up. I don't really have any complaints right now which is good. We'll see what I have to say about that on Saturday after I run eighteen miles. (9+9, 27-9, 36/2. You get the idea.)
Have a good night and stay warm!