Last 20+ run!

Ahhhhhh! It's nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel. As of today, I have no more over-20 milers left. A race next Sunday, then 16-18 miles, then I'm out.

Actually, it's not that bad. I really love long runs, the longer the better. For whatever reason, I do better the longer they are. I went out today planning to just do 20, but then when Diane decided to do 22, I threw down two nice last miles -- ending with a 6:44. And after about mile 16 or 17, I was really having fun. I don't think that's allowed. We ran up our last big hill, one in Cherokee park that runs from Willow Park up Alexander Road to the Cherokee Golf Course pro shop, and I was actually giggling. That hill usually kicks my butt; today I coasted up like it was no big thing.

I guess that means the training is working. Fancy that. Good because Boston is in less than a month.

No other really interesting runs this week since last post. Easy trail run Friday morning, which was great because the trails are finally all clear. Easy run with Eileen Saturday morning for about 8 miles as part of her long run -- she's going to do great at the mini.

Race next Sunday. Maybe a little bit of downtime this week?

Spring! Finally!

It finally feels like spring, thank goodness. Running in shorts makes me happy -- it doesn't take much, I know.

Tuesday night I went over to Waggner High for KCRS Track Tuesday, a weekly event that has gone on for over 20 years. It's an all-comers speed night, and this time of year it gets pretty busy. Many people are training for the Triple Crown or other spring races, plus the weather's nice. (There aren't so many people in mid-January when it's sleeting and 25, but we're there!)

Because I'm about to run a marathon (yikes), the interval workout planned for everyone wasn't great for me. So I went and did my own thing, and tried to just stay out of the way. I did 5x1200 with a slow lap between each repeat. It was my first chance to wear my new NBx racing flats, which is good because I plan to wear them in the 15k.

Yesterday morning was just an easy 8 miles, no heavy breathing allowed. Nothing really notable there, Rebekah and I just looped around St. Matthews -- over the Reservoir and around Seneca Park, pretty much.

Rodes City Run 10k is this weekend -- good luck to everyone who is racing!

Short shakeout run yesterday morning, just 2.25 miles. Quite a bit slower on the way out than the way back, by about 20 seconds. Something like 7:48 pace on the way out and 7:26 pace on the way back, 7:35 average. The 22 miler still had me feeling stiff, mostly in the quads, but nothing terrible. Especially considering I wasn't going slower than usual.

Then I went and got my butt kicked by Lisa Ferguson at the Louisville Athletic Club in a 30 minute abs & back class. Lisa, along with Jenny Willis, are the main reasons why I keep going to the LAC. They both teach pilates and yoga, and I love their classes. I don't like doing strength training by myself -- having an instructor keeps me focused and helps me make sure I'm doing worthwhile exercises.

Last night I put in my real run for the day, a 5.25 mile loop we do pretty much every Monday. As usual, Diane and Kelly were there, and we finally suckered our friend Adam into showing up, too. The warm weather had everyone feeling a little squirelly, and we all ended up averaging around 6:50 pace for the run. Oops again. Usually we say we're going to go slow, and end up running 7:30s anyway, but this was a little zippy even for our usual shenanigans. I never felt like I was pushing the pace, I was just running comfortably. So that's a good sign.

Tonight is speed night. I'm actually going to go hit the track for a change, and maybe throw on my flats and everything.

Whew!

What a week. It was hard to post because I was sans-computer from Saturday to Thursday ... the Mac PBg4 from 2003 finally crashed on me. Permanently.

I had a good week, running-wise. I mean, it must be good if the little log application on the left can't hold it all! I logged 66.2 for the week, including 17 last Sunday, 6x1600 on Tuesday and hills Thursday.

Today I put in a noteworthy 22 mile run with Steve. Our first loop was 13.27 miles at 7:30 pace; we went up to River Road, cut over to the bike path, through Cherokee and Seneca and back to the bathrooms. Then we did a 8.78 mile loop over to Browns Park and the reservoir. Then we sat in my front yard. I was really hungry the entire run, so I need to work on my pre-run nutrition some more. I seriously felt like my stomach was caving in and trying to eat itself.

I did get to try some of my awesome New Balance apparel the past couple of days -- since it finally warmed up! The new NBx line has some really nice gear, like the Cocona fabrics and great detailing. My only complaint is that the cuts are a little off, even the XS sizes seem big in the tops, and they're cut really long. Great if you like looser fitting, more full-coverage tops. But, in a singlet, I don't want a ton of extra fabric.

Next race is the 15k in Cincy on March 29. I may go knock out a 5k at Tom Sawyer, the Goose Creek 5k, on April 4.

Yesterday's run was great. Nice and easy for 8.5 miles, with all sorts of adventures thrown in. We decided to try some of the trails at Sawyer and see if they had been cleared (not so much). We climbed over fallen debris, ducked under branches ... And that was just the first few miles. Early on we saw two deer bounding across the path, looking disturbed by the model planes flying above.

We cut over to the Anchorage Trail (I'm trying to find a weblink for this to no avail), where we saw a dog that looked like a panda and crossed a creek via a fallen tree. Good times.

All in all, we didn't run very fast but it was a nice shakeout run after Tuesday's hard workout.

Today I'm getting a massage and putting in a hill workout before work. Usually I try to leave time between my massage and my run, but it's just not working out today.

Yesterday Eileen and I met at Sawyer for some two-mile repeats. She's training for her second half, so she did two sets; I did three. I think I may have essentially run faster than my 10k PR. (Which isn't very good, so maybe I shouldn't be too proud.)

Sawyer has a gravel loop that is almost exactly a mile (my garmin pegs it at .97 or so) -- it's also flat and not usually crowded. (Lots of people come walk from maybe 5-7 p.m. when the weather is nice.) It was pretty cold yesterday, so I did a 1.75 mile warmup to get everything loose, not to mention checking on any kinks lasting from Sunday and Monday.

After talking to a couple of guys with way more experience than I have, we estimated my VDOT at 52, which makes 6:40 a nice pace for me on this workout. Then again, my times are a little all over the place, so I range from a 48 to 52, depending on race distance.

Times: 6:28/6:40, 6:42/6:36, 6:33/6:32.

Oops.

So I'm not sure what that means. My VDOT is higher for my 5k PR I ran last May than the marathon I just ran, even though I think the marathon was a much bigger accomplishment and required a lot more work. And is a much more impressive time than my 5k. Curious stuff.

The Mason-Dixon Games are this weekend at Broadbent Arena -- if you live in Louisville or nearby, it should be a fun meet to watch.

Boston countdown begins

Wow, back to blogging ... I've been thinking about getting this thing going again, and I'm finally going to do it.

Quick updates:

• Ran Evansville HM in October, worst race of my career, 1:31:28, fifth female
• Ran Memphis Marathon in December, good solid race, 3:15:08, 20th female
• Boston coming up in about seven weeks, April 20!

I'm not putting in big mileage like I was before Memphis, but I'm content so far. I've gotten rid of a lot of easy miles I was doing and replaced them with more quality workouts. We'll see if that makes a difference.

My first 20 mile run of the training block was this past Sunday. I ran with a good group of people (Steve, Rebekah, Dave and Craig, plus Kelly for the first hour), and Steve and I stayed together through 5 tempo-ish miles from 13-18. It's nice to have company. After doing two 18s and a 20 in consecutive weekends, I'm excited to cutback to 15 or so this weekend.

Yesterday, for my post-20 miler recovery day, I did an hour of pilates and an hour of yoga, with a two-mile shakeout sandwiched between. In the evening I did 5.25 easy miles with Diane, which was just enough time to catch up on our weekend adventures.

Today is repeat two-milers, three of them. Will post later on that!