Tuesday, July 29, 2008

GREAT Weekend! Good Monday

It was a Jam packed fun weekend!!

Saturday started with 8 miles at 5:30am. Brenda, Andrea, Jane and I met at SSE, Andrea was running 8 with us and then driving back to Magness to run the last 5 with her dad.
I had asked Brenda for a HILLY route, I am really nervous about the hills in the San Franciso Marathon!!! Well she really delivered and for the entire 8 miles we were running up up and up with a few downhills to make it fun. Jane and I stuck with Brenda and Andrea for the first 1.5 - 2 miles but Andrea was like a race horse she really wanted to pick up the pace and I really didn't want to kill myself... neither did Jane. I guess right about 2 miles we made the decision to let them go, but we still kept up a good pace!! We were running up campground and earlier when we were all together Brenda said several times don't let me forget to turn on New Country.. so we are running along and the girls are headed up the big hill on Campground when we are approaching a cross street I don't have my contact in but I'm pretty sure it say's New Country.. or does it say Old Country. We pretty much had to be right on it before I could tell what it said. We immediately started yelling at the girls to turn around.
At first Jane and i were like ha ha now we are in the front.... but then I got a little worried about the black Chow that hangs out on this road. My first thought was darn we are the dog bait, but then I started thinking hmmm maybe we'll just stir him up and the girls will be the dog bait!LOL Turns out none of us had any problems with dogs and Jane and I didn't even see the Chow. When the girls caught up with us they gave us a hard time for letting them get half way up the hill before telling them about the turn! LOL
Jane's Sciatic/piriformis has really been giving her problems, it is kind of off and on but lately it has been on. She fell at an Oil Changing business back before the LR marathon and hasn't been right ever since.
We had to stop once so she could stretch luckily it did the trick and she didnt' have anymore problems the rest of the run. There were a couple of times that I would say ok water break when we get to the top of the hill, but then of course we didnt' want to waste the downhill so we would just keep running. We did take another water break on Mt. Carmel just before the big hill, we needed to catch our breath a little bit. The humidity was just brutal Saturday morning and definately made breathing very difficult!!!
We added on an extra little loop the same one we did with Cheryl a couple of weeks ago.. we thought it would put us a little ahead and then we could walk the sidewalk back to the school. Well it was a good thing we added that loop because we didnt' hit 8 until just before the playground.
The highlight of the run was when we got back to the school and a group of runners were gathering and preparing to start their 7:00am run. What a great feeling to know that we had finished our 8 miles!! and before 7:00am!! We might have beat the sun but I think we got the worst of the humidity!
After the run Jane, Brenda and I went to Daily Grind for coffee and breakfast... when we drove up I didnt' see any cars and the closed sign was still up... OH NO this can't be!!!!!!! Turns out they don't open untill 8: 00 we were almost on the verge of leaving when Brenda mentioned that if they open at 8:00 surely someone would be getting there soon to set up. So we waited a few minutes and sure enough up drove Donna. Luckily she is a friend and didn't mind having us beating down the door!! We gave her our order and told her to take her time, we sat outside and just enjoyed getting to spend some time together.
It seemed like it had been forever since I had spent any time with Brenda. We finished running before 7: 00am but it was after 9:30 when I got home. I think we spent more time at Daily Grind than we did on the run!

I really dont' remember much about the middle part of the day.. I know I took about a 45 minute nap and then I had to go to Kroger to but something to take to the Tail Gate party after the Big Dam Night Run 5K.

Brenda, Rock and Nikki were all riding with us to Arkadelphia and we met Bailey and Ty at Team 1... oh before I get started on that I think I might have helped another runner convert to the skirt. Brenda came a little early so she could try on a couple of my skirt sport skirts. They looked GREAT on her and she felt really comfortable in them. Last winter I bought the "snowflake" skirt in a size medium... it fit but felt snug, I just put it int he back of my running drawer and kind of forgot about it.... but it fit Brenda perfectly!!! We have to wait for the running test but I really hope she loves it!!!

So we have a fun trip to Arkadelphia chatting the whole way...Arland didn't even try to get a peep in! LOL
It was so FREAKING HOT!!! Even at 7:00 when we got there it was still 98 degrees!! We signed up visited with a few people... found Gabby and then headed to the line to be trucked/bussed up to the start. Arland, Brenda, James M.,Rock and I all lucked out and we got to ride the air condtioned school bus!!! Much better than the back of a log truck!!
We had already decided that Brenda, Arland, Bailey and myself were NOT racing.. we really came to hang out with everyone and to get in an easy run. Well as easy as a run can be in 95 degrees with 98% humidity. At the top we kept waiting and waiting for the start and they kept trucking people in. Finally about 8:35 it started. We had positioned ourselves way back in the pack and we might have gone a little too far back, it took forever to even cross the start line. We couldn't run because of all the slow people in front of us and then when we could run it was constant weaving around big groups of people. We were all sticking together and chatting, Brenda said this was the first time she had ever talked ruing a 5K race!! It definately was a new experience for her!!
It was awesome to not be worried about our time and to just have fun running with 1,000 other people!
OH but there was this one person who was making the oddest noises.. it was a very loud very sharp breathing out kind of thing which was pretty annoying but not nearly as annoying as the spitting!!! YIKES...
Brenda and I stayed together for the whole race while Bailey and Arland kind of came and went. Bailey would run with Ty and then come run with us and then Ty and then finally she stuck with us. Arland was with us most of the way until he took a walk break.
This race is a net downhill course BUT it also has about a half mile hill that starts just after the 2 mile mark... So the first part is nice and downhill and then you get a flat going across the Dam which is usually nice but Saturday night it felt like a million ovens had been turned on full blast... it was such a hot wind and people were getting sick on the side of the road. Just as you got out of the wind you had the hill so it definately wasnt' easy. I was determined though to run the whole thing and other than when we walked a few steps at the water stop I did. Finally after you crest the hill you can hear the crowd at the finish line, It was SO dark it was kind of dangerous, the road is definatley not smooth and you have to be careful of your footing... plus I found I really had to be careful of other runners at times I would be watching the road and boom someone is right in front of you!
I don't know what got into me but I guess becasue we had run so conservatively I had a lot left in me and a little over .1 to go I decided to sprint it in... I felt really good and told myself to just let loose but if anything hurt to slwo down. I passed a bunch of people in that last straight away and that felt good!! My finishing time was 31:07 definately not my fastest but not bad!
They had a band playing and a misting thing going on and yummy juicy watermelon!! After everyone was in we headed to the tailgate party... we were with the ARK running club and there was lot's of good food and we all gathered around and had fun!!
Michele didn't run, she had the kids and she let James run... but at least she was there and we all got to hang out together for a while.
Several of our girls got awards..Rock, Marianne and Joan.

Sunday morning was a planned 27 mile bike ride at 9:00am. It was SO nice to get to sleep in on a Sunday morning!!! As a matter of fact that was the reason we decided to get our 8 miles done on Saturday morning even though we already had planned on the 5K.

We met at SSE and had a couple of new guys join us... well really they weren't new to Arland and myself, Arland has known Mark since he was a kid working for him as a painter at North Point Body shop... and Perry was a Paint Rep for Sherwin Williams for years. I really don't know Mark very well but he has always been nice to me when I do see him, and I LOVE Perry!! Perry also brought along his youngest son. These guys aren't new to biking either. Mark is a big Mountain Biker but also likes to Road bike.
So It was Mark, Perry, Perry's son, Bailey, Brenda, Arland and myself.
Right from the start Aland and Bailey took the lead and before long they were just little specks in the distance. Luckily Brenda and I are very similiar when it comes to the bike... we stuck together and had a good time. It was Arland and Bailey in the lead... then Mark then the Perry boy's and then me and Brenda. The first few miles were on Mt. Carmel and it's pretty hilly and lot's of traffic so we had to mostly just stay single file so not much socializing on that stretch... but we did have some great stretches of road where we were able to ride side by side and chat. I guess it was about 1/2 way in when Bailey decided she was tired of playing with the boys and came back to join me and Brenda. We told her we are lot more fun!!!! They are so serious and hardcore!
I am getting much stronger on the bike and I actually stayed in the big ring the whole ride!!! I think I started in the middle ring but early on went into the big ring just to see how long I could stay there and kind of forgot about it. I'm used to staying in the middle ring and just going up and down on the back derailer.
At one point in the last few miles Bailey pulled up ahead of me and said come on lets go so I got on her wheel and we rode a little bit at a hard pace... it was a good interval!
When we got back to the school I checked and Brenda and I had averaged 15.3 mph... that's the highest I have ever averaged so I was pretty excited...especially since i stayed in the big ring and we never felt like we were working that hard... well except on Mt. Carmel and that one little sprint with Bailey. OH I take that back we had two sprints with Bailey... she made us sprint to catchup with the guys one time.
I am also learning how to drink on the bike... when I first started I couldn't even pull my bottle out of the holder but now I can, and although I have to slow down quite a bit I can drink while riding. I did drop my bottle and had to go back and get it, but other than that no problems. Thanks Brenda!!!

After the ride we went to the new Waffle House in Cabot... yep little ol Cabot has 2 Waffle House Restaurants!! LOL since it is brand new I thought it would be ok, and it was very clean and the food was good. Jane met us there and once again we had a good time chatting and eating!
After that I had to rush home to shower and change I had a wedding shower to attend at 1:30...or at least I thought it was 1:30.
Arland's daughter Kerri is getting married on August 16th and it was her wedding shower. I thought I was late but turns out it was starting at 2:00! so lot's of standing around and waiting and I didn't have anyone with me so that was kind of akward. Luckily a couple of ladies from Keri's work came, I've known them for years so that was nice to have someone to sit with.
She got lot's of nice presents and is going to have a very pretty red kitchen!

Monday I met Jane, Michele, Karen and Rob at 7:30pm at the community center. All day I kept thinking I wish we had run early this morning, but it actually turned out ok. It was of course hot and humid but after the first 1/2 mile I started feeling pretty good and we managed to get in 4.5 good miles.
I was very nervous about my stomach before we started running but ended up having no problems!!
Also want to note that I also didn't have any stomach issues on the 8 miler and the race on Saturday. After a poopy week last week I was very relieved!!

2 more days until we leave for San Francisco :) I'm getting very excited and nervous!!!

Saturday, July 26, 2008

High's & Low's

Let's start with the Low's and get those over with...

First the humidty has been pretty brutal this week, most of my runs are either early morning or evenings. I love getting the done run early and it is cooler than running at night but the humidty is sometimes so oppresive you can barely breath.

Second my stomach, after weeks of great runs with no stomach issues, almost every run this week was affected by the poop monster!! It always makes me feel bad for my running partners but they never make me feel bad, I just hate to ruin their runs!! Wednesday morning Jane, Heather and I were running at 5:15am and my stomach started within 2 miles, I told them to go on, but no way were they going to leave me!!
Thursday morning it was about 2.5 miles or so when it kicked in :(

Hmmmm well I guess that's all the lows, doesn't seem like much now that I type it out, but that stomach issue was really depressing me.

High's

Last Sunday's long run was great!!!! Although it didnt' start out that way, I knew before I left the house that I was going to have stomach problems, and it didn't take long for it to happen. We were going up the Broadway bridge and my stomach was just rolling and this is gross but I felt like "it" was just right there you know.. just waiting to come out. Luckily there is a gas station at the bottom of the bridge and I was able to take care of things but I was in there for at least 10 minutes and that really threw everything off... plus I still didn't feel 100% when I came out.
Bailey was having a rough morning, it always takes her a few miles to start feeling good and this morning it took longer than normal. Michele on the other hand was fueled and ready to go!!!! We were on River Road about 1/2 way between the Recovery Center and the Skate Park when Bailey and I heard a male voice, it sounded really loud and there was Michele way up ahead of us all alone.
We soon realized it was not bikers or fellow runners up ahead, no it was a drunk guy, young with long hair no shirt on and as we got closer we saw one shoe on one shoe off, Michele was walking towards us and I was just about to pull out my phone to call 911 when she shoves a cell phone in my hand and says tell his friends how to get here. Well if you know me, you know directions are not my thing!! But I guess I was able to help them, the guy on the other end had a bit of an attitude and finally I said your friend is in the middle of the road you can't miss him.. good luck... I gave the phone back to the guy and we took off running, we didnt' want to be there when a car load of drunk guys pulled up!! I was trying my hardest to run faster but I had to pee and the adrenaline from the encounter had caused my legs to go into shock. When we finally made it onto the River Trail where cars aren't allowed we felt much better but we never stopped running until we got to the port a potty by the boat lauch/golf course.
The rest of the run went smoothly, I never felt speedy but I felt really good.. like I could run forever. I did have to use the port a potty at the Boat Launch and one other time but no more "poop emergencies"!
Kelly met us around mile 9 and then Karen met us at 11 and they both had brought ice, cold water and Kelly brought pretzels :)
At the end we took another dip in the Library fountains and then loaded in the car and rushed back to Cabot so that James could go for a bike ride with Arland, Gary and Curtis.
We wanted 15 miles but ended up with 16.5.

I also had a good/funny run with Jane on Monday night. We waited until about 7:45pm to run so we didn't have the blazing sun, but it was still hot and humid. We chose a route that we have run several times in the mornings with Michele and I believe we've all run it at night before too. We were both a little tired from the weekend and just the heat so we decided on just a short 4 mile run. We were running along when all of a sudden there is the stupid "mosquito truck" spraying through the neighborhood we wanted to run in. We had a brief conversation about which way to go and decided to just keep going in the same direction and hopefully we would lose him. NOPE at least every mile there he was.... and then somehow or another we got turned around and we were LOST!! Seriously it was kind of hysterical, we ran around one block at least 3 times... I told Jane I know we have seen that truck 3 times now! Finally we figured out how to get back, it was dark and much later than we had planned!! It was pretty funny, but then my stomach started acting up... oh great we don't know exactly how to get back and now this... luckily I only had to stop and cross my legs a couple of times but then would be able to keep running. By the time we got back to the CC we had 5.5 miles!

Tuesday night was the Flyer's clinic and gosh it was so stinkin hot and humid and at 6:00pm the sun was still shining full blast. On our warm up run all I could think of was quitting, but we didn't and I actually had a great workout and finished it with 2x200 at interval pace that were 10 seconds faster than they were supposed to be. Dennis told me that next week at the Clinic I should just do the warm-up, some strides and then just an easy couple of miles... sounds good to me!!

Wednesday night Arland, Brenda and I went on a great bike ride! Very hilly but decent roads and lot's of fun. I felt so good when we were done, it kind of helped make up for a crappy morning run!! When we got back to the CC we were just a little shy of 17 miles so of course we had to loop around unti we got 17... actually ended up with 17.2. I hadn't been on Francesca since Miss Vic's 100 miler and I could tell it... especially in the saddle!!! LOL Francesca and Dolce were happy to play together and Brenda and I enjoyed getting to spend time together!

Thursday night Arland, Bailey, Michele and I went to the River Trail to ride.. we started pretty late but had an awesome ride. Michele borrowed Brenda's old bike and for a girl who doesn't own and doesn't ride Road bikes Michele got on that thing and was immediately comfortable and down in the aero bars before we even left the parking lot!! BRAT!!! LOL
Arland and Bailey the expert bikers took off and Michele and I tried to hang on as much as possible. I am getting better on the bike, especially with the gears so that helped, but they felt like they were slipping a little bit. Arland is outside right now as I type this cleaning the bikes, lubing the chains etc. He also worked on my brakes.. they are so hard to stop and sometimes I just throw my feet on the ground to stop and that's a good way to fall over!!!
On the way back we had a pace line for a little while and that was fun, but soon Bailey went on the "attack" and Arland had to chase her down so that left me and Michele by ourselves.. I didn't realize I had dropped Michele but when we were getting close to the skate park I slowed down.. I didnt want either of us to have to ride on River Road alone.
Because of the late start it was almost 9:00 by the time we got the bikes racked and headed home.

Heart Rate...
I have started wearing my polar heart rate monitor on bike rides and my Garmin heart rate strap on my runs.
Cheryl was talking about her heart rate a week or so ago and it made me curious about mine.
On the long run last Sunday my average heart rate was 132 and my max was 175. (That 175 must have been when we encountered the drunk!! LOL)
On the bike rides my average heart rate was 126 on Wednesday night and 133 on Thursday night.
I feel like I'm working pretty hard on the bike but really with my heart rate that low I should probably be working even harder. Same thing with the run last Sunday, I probably could have pushed the pace a little harder but I have this fear of blowing up in the last 5 or so miles of a long run so I tend to run a pretty conservative pace.
I think too that my overall fitness has really improved since I first started wearing a heart rate monitor!! I used to think that a higher heart rate avg was better but now I realize that if your heart rate is too high you aren't burning fat anymore just glycogen... so maybe those averages are right where they need to be??? Just something else for me to obsess over!!!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Two weeks worth of stuff

Wow I didn't realize that it had been two weeks since I last posted. I have had some really great stuff to write about but the weekends have been consumed with running, biking and playing so no time for the computer and then when I get to work on Monday's it feels like I am always behind!! I won't go into detail on everything that has happened in the past two weeks but I do want to highlight our long runs and some other fun stuff.

Saturday July 12th long run -

Cheryl was following a different schedule than we were but I was able to talk her into changing it a little bit and doing her second 20 miler with us. This was our first and only official 20 miler but we had done 19.5 the weekend before so I guess you could almost say we got in two 20-milers. Of course I also count the Nashville Marathon as part of our training for San Francisco.

We were once again headed to the River Trail we had gotten 18.7 miles by the time we made it back to our car the weekend before so we figured we would just add on somemore in the River Market to get to 20 although we actually unofficially were hoping for at least 21 we decided we would just wait and see how we felt in the last few miles.
We picked Cheryl up at Target and parked at the River Market, which is kind of creepy at 5:00 on Sunday morning!!!
We started off with a short walk and pretty much as soon as we started running we felt moisture, it wasnt' really raining, not even really sprinkling but every now and then you would feel a little drop. We were thinking wow wouldn't it be great if it were like this the whole time!!
I'm not sure exactly where we were mileage wise when it actually started raining but probably around 3 or 4 miles. It was still a light rain and felt really good, but then once we got to the BDB it really started pouring!!!
Cheryl and Michele hadn't gotten a little behind Bailey and I when they found a wild plum tree and had to investigate. Those two never met a Mulberry Tree, Blackberry bush or wild plum tree they didn't like!!
Bailey and I waited for them on the other side of the Big Dam Bridge and when we saw them coming I realized they had picked up another runner, it only took about 2 seconds for me to realize it was Marianne, funny how we all can recognize each other just by our running form.
As we started down the I-430 trail out and back it really started pouring!!! Once again Michele and Cheryl fell behind lured by the blackberry bushes along this section of the trail. Bailey and I ran with Marianne and got to hear several of her Ironman Cor de Alene stories.
Once we got to the 430 overpass we stopped to wait for Michele and Cheryl, we let them dry out for a second or should I say wring out their wet clothes. When it was time to get going again Cheryl kind of hesitated, she said don't you want to wait until the rain lightens up... I didn't love running in the pouring down rain, but we had not idea how long it was going to rain like that and I really wanted to keep going and get the run over! She reluctantly started running with me. It wasnt' too much further when we came to the boat launch that has a port a pottie, I didn't have an emergency but I knew I really needed it, I felt bad the whole time I was in there, of course the rain sounded even harder coming down on the port a pottie, but here I had made Cheryl leave the shelter of the 430 overpass just to stand out in the rain while I used the port a pottie... but I wasn't the only one who needed it.
I think we were about 1/2 way back on that trail when the rain kind of stopped. My big worry at that point was that the sun would come out and it would be hot and steamy!!

Kelly was supposed to meet us at Murray Park to run the last part with us, but she called to let me know she wasn't going to run but she was at the parking lot at the BDB with refreshments for us!!! It was so awesome for her to drive all the way out to Little Rock just to bring us ice, cold water, gatorade etc. Words can't even describe it!!
We all gathered with her for a few minutes and then we said our good-byes to her and to Marianne.
This is the part of the route that Cheryl hates the most, and I can certainly understand how she feels, this was the worst part of the Little Rock Marathon for her and brings back lot's of bad memories. I keep hoping that maybe we can help make better one's for her.
It is a long stretch between the Bridge and Titus Trail but I prefer it over the stretch between the Skate Park and the River Trail.
The rain never really went away, it would slow down and I think it did completely stop a few times but not for very long. We were all completely soaked and poor Cheryl her running skirt was driving her nuts!! She would try to tuck the skirt part into her waistband but it would never stay for long.
Once we get to Titus Trail I always feel so good, I like the rest of the route and I know we are almost done!!!
Once we got to Markham we started discussing how to get extra mileage in, we were going to be short so Cheryl told us where we needed to run, but once she realized we were going to add on another mile she said NO, she was almost done, she made one turn and we kept going... she still got 20 but she didn't want anymore than that.
We ended up at the President Clinton Library right at 20 miles and we celebrated by taking a little dip into the fountains... We were already soaked so why not???
We had to run around the block a couple of times to get our full 21 and Cheryl thought we were nuts but it was a mental thing. Every singke one of my long runs last summer when I was training for Chicago were miserable, and there were several runs that I fell short of the intended mileage but maybe .3 and I just didn't care I could not take one more step... so even though there isn't really much difference between 20 and 21 it was a confidence builder to know that I could keep going. My feet were hurting and I was getting tired but I could keep going, I really feel like I could have done the whole 26 easily... well not easily!! LOL
We did our usual stop for coffee and something to eat, Boulevard Bread Co. is closed on Sunday so we had to settle for Andina's but it was really good... other than Cheryl's crappy muffin, and the guy who works the counter is a little odd!!
We did a little shopping at Target and then Cheryl had some car problems and we hung out with her for a while longer, but all in all it was a great morning!!

Miss Vic's 100 mile bike ride -
This was on Saturday before our long run... it was a great bike ride, other than Bailey's flat. Gabby and James rode with Bailey, Joan and I and we all had plenty of time to chat and get to know each other better. It was brutally hot but since we were only riding 35 miles we got back before the really brutal heat!!
After the ride Bailey, Joan and I loaded up in Bailey suv and started on our four hour long "sag" mission. We really thought we were just going to be passing out water and peanut butter crackers, cokes etc. but it turned into more of a rescue mission. In the ended we ended up bringing in 6 riders and if we would have had room probably could have picked up a couple more. The heat, the wind, the distance and a wreck all contributed to the list of reasons we had to pick people up. I am really proud of Arland...we thought he was going to be one of our rescues but he was able to finish the whole 100 miles!!!!!

Weekday runs....
All of our weekday runs were 6 or 7 miles usually done early in the morning but we did have a couple of evening runs as well. Michele and I usually try to sprint the last .2, again it's a mental thing it feels good to know that at the end of a run I can still kick it in... most of the time!! LOL

Tuesday Night Flyers -
Both weeks were great... I think I am going to stick with the Intermediate level through the rest of the summer. I have had great workouts and I leave feeling good about myself instead of beating myself up like I was doing for a few weeks back in June.

Monday Night Track Nights -
I took Kylie one Monday and then the next one Aunt Tamara brought Brody, Bryson and Kylie. They all had a great time and little Brody really did great he ran all the distances... 100,200,400,800 and the mile. I ran the first 4 with him, Kylie and Bryson well Kylie and Bryson didn't do the 800, but I had to leave to meet Jane for our run when it came time for Brody to do the Mile... Aunt Tamara ran with him.
Brody and Bryson are my Cousin Jamies kids and they both look a lot like him, Brody actually looks the most like him and he has that mischevious glint in his eyes that Jamie does :) they have also inherited his running gene they are quite fast and it was hard for me to keep up with Brody... especially on the short distances, on the longer ones I tried to pace him so he could keep going... and he did!!
Kylie usually needs quite a bit more encouragement!

Family Fun -
Cousin Jame and his wife Jen came last weekend to fix Tracy's plumbing issues. I had hoped that he would be able to run part of our 20-miler with us, but they didn't get in until later in the evening on Friday and were leaving early Monday morning so a long run wasn't in the picture for him.
I did get to spend Sunday afternoon evening with them and we had a great time... Jeff grilled and Livia, Jen and Tamara cooked. I got to just sit back and hang out with the guys :)
My Uncle David and Jamie's brother Jerry were also there so it was great to spend time with all of them!!
The big event of the evening was "The Basketball game"! Uncle David is the Girls basketball coach at Mayflower high school and he was quite the basketball star in his own highschool days. Jamie was also on the basketball team and is very compettive he plays Beach Volleyball on a team in Chicago. It was fun to watch them!

I probably should get some work done.. I will try to blog about our long run yesterday a little later.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Weekly Recap

Monday -
Moved the run to 7:30 pm so that we could sleep in. It felt great to sleep in but all day I kind of dreaded running, fortunately it was all for nothing because we had a great run. Michele, Jane, Kelly and I met at the CCC, Debbie B. had just finished a couple of classes and she came along to run a couple of miles with us. It wasn't terribly hot but very sunny so we chose to run through some of the old neighborhoods near the High School for the shade.
5 miles - No bathroom issues
Went to NLR at lunch to see Cheryl's new house... it is VERY cute and has ton's of potential. She spent the week painting and had proffesional wood floor refinishers in so I'm sure it will look like a totally different house the next time I see it.

Tuesday-
Tuesday Night Flyer's Clinic. Dennis has me doing the Intermediate workout while I am training for the San Franciso Marathon. It was a great workout, we were supposed to run interval pace or lactate pace on all of the repeats, I pretty much ran faster than interval pace on all but one or two. I really felt great the whole workout, I got ton's of compliments on my running form... that's always nice ;) Afterwards Michele brought Timmy to the Track and I cooled down with them.
5 miles - No bathroom issues
Livia Brett and I went to Academy Sports in the afternoon... it was fun to go shopping with them. We all got a few new things.

Wednesday-
Early morning run with Jane and Kelly. Michele was going to meet us but "forgot" LOL
We had a good run especially considering it had only been a few hours since the Clinic.
5 miles - No bathroom issues
Wednesday night was Buns & Abs and Jane's Latin Dance. Good workouts!

Thursday-
Rest day.. I wanted to ride with Brenda in the afternoon but she reminded me that I needed a full rest day. It felt weird to do nothing on a Thursday but since I had such a big weekend planned I needed it.

Friday-
FireCracker 5K my goal for this race was to not hurt myself on the downhill and to run without walking on the uphill at the end. Mission accomplished. Not my fastest 5K but probably one of the easiest, even the hill at the end didn't seem too bad. The last .10 I felt good so I picked up the pace and was sprinting towards the finish when my phone flew out of my skirt pocket. DAMN :( oh well, no biggie it didn't hurt the phone so it was OK.
Lot's of Cruisers at this race and lot's of new PR's set!!
After the race we went to the River Trail with Bailey, Jane, Rock, Gary & Curtis for a 20 mile bike ride. I was thinking it would be a laid back ride, HA that is never the case when you ride with Curtis & Gary...when will I learn??? LOL
Curtis took us up some steep hills and on one of them I panicked because of a car and ended up in the grass, but I stayed upright so it wasn't the end of the world, just very frustrating, on another big long hill I made it all the way with no problems, just really really slow. It was an out and back so we had some good but scary downhills on the way back. Bailey and I were freaking out on one of them because we were on the main road going ot the socceer field and it was a steep downhill and a curve and there was a car right beside us, I don't know why they wouldn't just go on... we had to stay in the white line on the shoulder and there was a lot of debris. We were both pretty shaky at the end of that hill!!
After the ride we had lunch with Bailey, Rock and Tim at Cancun in Jacksonville. Yummy chips & salsa!!
Had a short nap and then headed to Tracy's house for a BBQ in the late afternoon. We couldn't stay very long since we both had to get up very early on Saturday morning.

Saturday-
Long Run... We had 18 on the schedule, Michele Bailey and I met at Team 1 and I drove to the River Market. It was a little scary at 5:00am on a Saturday morning, there were a few people of questionable character roaming around but I could also see that there were people setting up at the Farmer's Market so we were scared but we parked and got started anyway. Not sure which bridge we crossed Broadway or Main Street?? but there was a homeless person sleeping on the bridge.. Sad and scary.
Once over the bridge instead of getting on the River Trail we ran on the main road, Michele didn't want to go under the Railroad bridge and neither did I!!!! I think that helped us add on just a little bit. We were feeling good, at 2 miles Bailey needed to stretch so we took a quick water break. We didnt' want to dilly dally too much it was still dark so off we went. At the port-a-pottie by the Golf Course we made a pit stop not just for me all of us needed to use it. I was able to "take care of business" but there hadn't been an emergency, the timing was perfect. I don't know how long that port a pottie has been there but I'm glad it is! Good spot!
We made it through all of the sections of the Trail that are hard for us mentally before the sun came out. We were feeling really good, but we were soaking wet... it was so humid!!! When we were approaching the Big Dam Bridge the sun starting coming out and we thought damn there is the sun it's really gonna get hot now. The Bridge is alway cool, usually a nice breeze blowing. After the BDB we ran down the section of Trail that goes out past the I-430 overpass, just beyond that is a boat launch and there is another port a pottie there... once again I used it and "took care of business" but just like at the golf course there was never an emergency just kind of started to feel the need just before we got to it. The boat launch is also our turn around, It is 2 miles from the base of the Bridge to the boat launch.
Kelly parked at Murray Park and she ran towards us and met us while we were still on that bit of trail, it was good to have her with us!!
Next pick up was at the Golf Course, Michele's friend Karen was meeting us there to run the last 4 or 5 miles with us ( at the time I wasnt' sure exactly how many she would get) she brought ice and cold water, it was so AWESOME to have cold water again!
I was still feeling pretty good, the area under my big toe was hurting a little bit but not as much as usual.
Brenda had brought Dolce out to the River Trail and had met up with us when we were still on the 430 trail.. she rode with us for a little bit but she wanted to get a good workout and riding along side us wasn't going to give her much of a workout so she went back to add on some miles. She caught up with us just before we got to the Golf course and she stayed with us for a little bit but then went back again. The last few miles were slow, but steady and I felt really good. The turn onto Markhama and into the River Market is always my favorite part and today it was even better because that was our destination. We were at 18.7 when we got to Boulevard Bread Co. and I really wanted an even number so Kelly and I ran on towards the Clinton Library... I had hit stop on my Garmin when we got to Boulevard and forgot to turn it back on. Luckily I had asked Kelly how much she needed to get to 10 so I knew how far we had run. I ended up with 19.4 not bad for an 18 mile run :)
Brenda met us at Boulevard after putting Dolce back in the car... we went down to Andina's and had coffee and bagels, well Kelly had a very yummy Cinnamon roll! While we were in line I started to feel a little woozy and had to sit down.. thanks for taking care of me Kelly!
It was fun to sit back and relax and chat with the girls. We saw Melissa from the Hot Leg's running club, she was also the Director of the NLR Women Can Run clinic this year and she was also Cheryl's realator.

I gave Karen and Kelly rides back to their vehicles and then it was time to head home clean up and relax for a little while before going to a cook out Saturday evening.

Sunday-
My left hip flexor was really hurting Saturday afternoon so I decided not to run Sunday morning. It was wonderful to sleep in... partially because of the activities of the night before which included several margartia's I managed to sleep in until 9:00am!!!!! Wow it has been a long time since I've done that. I wasn't feeling too good when I first got up, but I made arrangments to ride with Brenda and Jane along with several others who were meeting at Mt. Carmel church at 1:30.
It was HOT.. the sun was blazing and it was humid!!! Vicki, Lisa F her husband Bruce, Marty, Jane, Brenda and I all rode together. We rode out to the Water Company/ Bethleham Road and then made some kind of loop... anyway the first stop was the Water Dept. we were all so hot and soaking wet!!! Luckily they have a water spicket and we were able to fill our bottles. We were having a really good ride, not easy but not constant hammering either.
We had made a stop at a church under a shade tree and had a little chat, we were just about to start back up when we heard this huge clap of thunder.. you should have seen our faces, we were all shocked where the heck did that come from?? A peek over my shoulder and I could see the dark cloud. We took off and were praying we would made it back before it hit us. It was really starting to get dark and it was lightening all around us, please please please let us get back.. I wasn't worried about rain anymore, I was afraid of the lightening!! Vicki was turning off at her house we could have kept going straight be we turned off with her, but when it came time to turn on her road we kept going, we only had a couple of miles left. The problem besides the weather was by turning we now had to get on 321 to get to the Church a busy and HILLY road. We turned onto 321, the sky was black the we were getting a fierce head wind and the lightening was getting closer. We all just tucked in and rode as fast as we could... the scary part was the hills... I told Brenda we will just get in our small gears and spin up, no sense in killing ourselves, right then we saw a huge streak of lightening... I said maybe that was the wrong thing to say. Luckily we did make it back to the Church and wer able to get our bikes put away and even had time to walk over to the gas station to get our fountain diet cokes before the rain came. Marty even bought our drinks for us :)
We ended up with 24 miles and a very good workout!!!

I ended the evening by going to Starbucks and Wal-Mart with Kelly.

A great weekend!!! Lot's of intense training and playing!!!!

Oh I almost forgot on Friday Kylie and I went for a walk... well I was walking and she was on her bike, my cousin Jamie's little boy Bryson was also with us. At first we were having a nice little walk/ride but then Kylie got this fiirce look on her face and she took off on her bike like a bat out of hell. I had to get onto her when we caught up with her for getting so far ahead. It had been a gradual downhill so I thought she might struggle going back, but no she put on her game face and she beat us back by quite a bit!!!!! I see a future Ironman!!!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Sunday Run & Bike

So after getting up at 3:15 am on Saturday morning and running 18.5 miles you might think I would be tired would maybe take a little nap or just relax at home. Nope, I was really feeling great and energized so after having lunch with Arland at Daily Grind, Rachel and I decided we wanted to do some shopping. We called Livia to see if they might want to go too... well yes indeed they did, so Rachel and I went to Magness Creek to pick them up. Livia wasn't ready and I have to admit that when I laid down on Kylie's bed for a minute to watch High School Musical with her I was tempted to take a little nap.
We headed to NLR to the Mall and just wandered around, we didn't have anything specific we were looking for, just hanging out.
One of the stores we spent the most time in was Victoria's Secret... Kylie was loving looking at the makeup and had me put some lipstick on her.. they have the disposable stuff to test out the makeup. After the lipstick she wanted eyeshadow, black glittery eyeshadow... I got a few looks for doing that but it looked cute on her if you think a 5 year old who looks like she is 21 is cute. Luckily it didn't stay on very long.
So we spent some time at the Mall, and then Barnes & Nobles or "Starbooks" as Kylie calls it. Katie, Kylie and I went there while Rachel and Livia went to another store to return something. I was starting to feel a little fatuiged by then.
Once Livia and Rachel got back we all went over to Target, I got Rachel a couple new tops to run in and Livia and I got Kylie a new running outfit, she paid for the top and I paid for the skirt.
It was almost 8:30 by the time I got home and I pretty much walked in the door washed my face brushed my teeth and fell into bed... well ladi down on the couch and fell asleep while trying to watch HGTV.

Sunday morning I was meeting the group at SSE for a 7 mile recovery run. There was a pretty large group and when we started out I was running with Heather, Kelly,Jane and Joan... about half a mile into the run I noticed that Joan had dropped back so I turned back to run with her. I really love running with Joan she has lot's of stories and she runs her training runs at a slower pace. It's funny because if you didn't know her and you only ran with her on a weekeday run you might think she is slow... but NO..she will smoke you in a race... at least she will smoke me!!!
So anyway we are running at a very comfortable pace and having a nice chat... and then I see that Jane has also turned around and come back to run with us :) so the three of us had a very nice run, I think the route was just a little bit over 6 but Jane and I both wanted 7 and Joan went with us when we added on a bit at the end.
I left feeling really good which is a nice feeling on a run the day after a long run and it was on a hilly route.
No stomach issues.

When I got home from the run I heated up one of Andrea's healthy pancakes read some blogs and then took an hour nap, Saturday had caught up with me a little bit.
At 1:30 we were meeting the Biker's for a 40 mile bike ride from Mt. Carmel church in Cabot to Lonoke and back.
This was my first time riding with the group and I was nervous, these people are all serious bikers and having been biking for a long time!!
Luckily Brenda was there and she and I ride about the same pace. When we first started I thought Brenda, Vicki and several other newer bikers were right behind me. We were on hwy89 headed to Furlow, it is a pretty busy road so you don't want to dilly dally around. I was going at a decent pace but I was waiting for them to catch up. Several people passed me and finally when Marty passed me I decided that I was tired of riding by myself so I sped up and got on his wheel. We rode together for a little while, we couldn't really chat becaue you had to be single file, but at one point we were going by a house that had ballons tied on the mail box and I suggested that we just bag the ride and go to the party... he was pretty agreeable to that idea but we kep on going.
After a bit Arland passed us and Marty said something about I might want to go on. I really didn't want to pass him but I just had a sense that I should. I think he needed to spit or something.. LOL I also think he dropped his chain and if I had been on his wheel we might have collided.
So I rode the rest of the way to Furlow by myself. I was really doing well and for a long time anytime I looked down I was around 18 mph. Of course that was on the flats!
Finally we get to Furlow and everyone pulls over to get something to drink.... I chatted with James Martin a little bit and then it was time to head out. This time I stayed with Brenda, and the others I was tired of riding alone!!
During this stretch of the road we were riding in front of Heather and James and Brenda was kidding them about us being in front of the "Ironmen" ... of course it didn't take long and they were in front of us, but we stayed on their wheel's for quite a while. Next stop was a Shell station in Lonoke, everyone stopped there but Cindy, Brenda and I along with a couple others decided we wanted a soft serve ice cream cone from Mc Donald's. We ride over the 67/167 overpass to Mc Donald's stand in a really long line and then when it's our turn they tell us no ice cream the machine is broken :( Oh well I got a diet coke instead and that was probably better for me... although I could have used some extra energy on the rest of the ride.

As we are walking out of McDonald's we see the others are already leaving... so we all gulp down our drinks and head out ourselves. We are really too far behind to catch up, well at least me and Brenda are, we had been battling headwinds, crosswinds etc on most of the ride so far and it was about to get worse. The crosswinds are almost as bad as the headwinds because you really have to hold on tight so you don't loose your bike. Pretty much for the next 10 miles or so Brenda and I have a "whinefest" we moaned and groaned the whole way!!! But we also got to talk a lot so that was nice. There were many times when I thought to myself why do I do this!! LOL
Finally we are at the corner of 31 and Mt. Tabor and everyone is gathered around a huge shade tree. I don't know how long they had been there but it didn't take long for them to be ready to leave again. I think we only had time for a quick drink.
Oh I can't forget to mention how great Arland is... he was the last to leave McDonald's and when he passed us I told him to please not leave us behind. So he would go on ahead and every few miles circle back to check on us, give us advice etc. One of the things he told us was we needed to "get down in our drops" it would cut the wind resistance etc. So we did that and we rode quite a while like that finally I just couldn't stand it any longer... it was really putting a lot of pressure on my "lady bits" and about the time I came up Brenda did to and we both said the same thing about where we were hurting!!
At Mt. Tabor a big group of riders was going in one direction and then a few of us were going straight down Mt. Tabor.. the big group wanted 40 miles and I just wanted to be done!!! LOL
I don't even know how many miles we had left at that point but I was really starting to get tired and those lady bits were really tender and we had more wind and now we had hills. Seriuosly I wanted to cry!! Luckily I had Brenda the whole time and we also had Jane. Jane would ride with us for a little while and then she would almost always drop us on the hills... we need to learn her secret!!
Finally we make it back to the Church... Cindy, Andrea and James had also gone the same route as us but they are much faster and they were finished and already gone by the time we made it back.
The best part of the ride??? was getting off the bike and walking over to the gas station and buying the biggest Diet coke fountain drink they had!! I do believe that was the BEST diet coke I have EVER had! I had some homemade peanut butter cookies from Daily Grind and we walked back over to the church and found a shady place to sit and drink our soda's and eat our cookies... That was pure heaven!!!!!!

Arland was the first biker back from the 40 mile group, he really hammered those last miles and finished well ahead of everyone else. He has really gotten so strong on the bike!!!!

Finally everyone else made it in... they asked us how long we had been back so I told them two hours!! obviously they didn't believe me ;)

When Arland and I turned into the neighborhood I saw a strange truck in our driveway and was thinking what the heck... then I remembered that I had told Tracy to bring everyone over for a swim on Sunday. I could hear the kids playing in the pool before I even got out of the truck. Tracy, Aunt Tamara and my Cousin Jerry were there with all the kids. Kylie, Jamie's son's Bryson & Brody, Jerry's daughters Kylie & Brenna and my neice Katie and a friend of hers. I just LOVE seeing the pool full of kids having fun :) AND the best part Tracy and Tamara had brought Lasagna & spaghetti and there was some leftover for us!

Total miles for the weekend
Running 25.5 - Total for the week 40
Biking 33