TexasLindsey

14.3 miles with my group at 6:30am.  Weather=AWESOME!!!  58F, 44% humidity, 6mph wind, sunny.  Average pace=7:40/m.

mile 1- 8:38

mile 2- 7:44

mile 3- 7:47

mile 4- 7:44

mile 5- 7:43

mile 6- 7:40

mile 7- 8:14 (I think I forgot to stop my watch when we stopped here cuz I know we weren't doing over 8:00)

mile 8- 7:41

mile 9- 7:19

mile 10- 6:57

mile 11- 7:04

mile 12- 7:31

mile 13- 7:51

mile 13.7 pace- 7:56

mile 14.3 pace - 7:12

This was the best run I've had in a long time.  I dedicate this run to 5-finger socks.  I didn't feel my feet at all the whole run.  ZERO BLISTERS!!  Normally, I have to endure the feeling of needles jabbing into my feet on long runs.  Not today and it was awesome!  

Also awesome was my new Nike Pegasus shoes which were light weight and felt great!  Oh and the weather today!!   Heaven!  Amazing.  Perfect. 

I talked to Jody before starting today and she and I agreed a good plan would be to run 8:00 pace until the turn around and then get faster.  Well, that was the plan.   We started running with Emily and somehow we ended up in front of everyone in the beginning.  Emily left after only 2 miles because she is just coming back from injury.  At this point Jody and I decided to slow down.  We didn't.  So much for our plan. 

At the water stop the rest of the girls caught up and started running with us.  Elise, Melissa, Jody and I continued the 7:45's.  I started feeling really, really great with the pace at mile 4-5.  I felt like I could do this all day.  Then at the turn around I put both my ipod headphones in and just started going fast.  Melissa kept up.  I ran miles 9 and 10 with Melissa.  We were really pushing each other faster and faster.  I didn't look at my watch but at the water stop she told me we were doing 7:00.  I felt great though.  I was amazed at how much energy I had.  I wish I knew what I did so right this week so I can repeat it every week!

At mile 9.5 water stop Jody and Elise caught up and we all decided we would run fast until the next water stop and then we'd do a cool down final 3 miles.  Sounded good to me.  So from 9.5 to 11.5 I ran about 7:00 pace.  At this point I was starting to get tired.  I forgot to gu at the last stop.  Good thing we're slowing down.

We ran slow from 11.5 until 13.5.  Amazing how 7:50 pace felt really easy now whereas at the beginning of the run it felt hard.  So at 13.5 mile I saw that I had about 1/2 mile left to the store and I decided to just let her rip for the remainder.  Lady GaGa came on my ipod at this exact moment so I figured it was meant to be.  I pushed my lap reset button at this point so I would know how fast I did it.  Ended up being 7:12 pace. 

Jody, Elise and Melissa didn't go fast at the end but they ran an additional .7 mile so they would have exactly 15 today.  

It was a great run!  I was so excited to have felt this great.  I really need to strategize my long runs better though.  I'm running these things without a plan.  I might be going too fast if my goal marathon time is 3:25 (7:50/m pace).  Or I might be underestimating what my goal marathon time should be... maybe I should aim for a faster time?   Maybe I'm getting too cocky.   Ha, ha!   I mentioned this to my friend, Greg, after the run today and he suggested that I run a 1/2 marathon race as fast as I can in a couple weeks to see where I'm at.  I think that's a good plan. 

Ashley and Tim couldn't run this morning. I was going to run by myself but I decided to sleep in. 10 hours of sleep! It was just what I needed. Legs felt so fresh after all that sleep.

I thought I'd try to run in the evening instead, but it was 85 degrees at 5pm and I didn't feel like it... lazy!

6.2 miles at 4:45 am. Weather=63F, 45% humidity, 41 dew point, 4mph wind, dark.

mile 1- 9:30

mile 2- 8:40

mile 3- 8:24

mile 4- 8:07

mile 5- 8:17

mile 6- 9:26

Ran 1 mile to corner to meet Ashley and Tim. We ran miles 2-5 together. Then ran 1 mile home.

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Ran 5 miles at 10:30 am.  Weather= 77F, sunny

Ran 1 mile warm-up = 7:49, then walked for about 1/4 mile

mile 2= 7:05, then walked/jogged slow for 1/4 mile

mile 3=7:13, then walked very slow and drank water for 1/4 mile (getting kinda hot!)

mile 4=7:02, then walked briefly

mile 5 cool down=9:17

The coach at my running store gave me a schedule for 3:25 marathon.  Today's workout was supposed to be 8 miles total with 3 of those being a tempo at 7:07/m.  My sister watched my boys so I could go to the park by her house and run. 

So I started running the 7:07 pace and decided that this speed was not "comfortably hard" tempo pace for me when it's sunny and almost 80 degrees outside.  It felt more like mile repeat pace.  So I figured I could do one of two things: I could do the 3 miles without stopping at maybe 7:25/m (more tempo pace in this heat) or do 3 one mile repeats at 7:07/m instead.  I opted for the later.  I think I'm just going to have to work my way up to running the tempos at this speed. 

Slightly disappointed but determined to do better next time.

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I only got 4 hours of sleep last night. I went to bed at 9:30pm. My 18 month old, Ryan, woke up at 1:30am crying. I changed his diaper and put him back to sleep. He woke up at 2:00am crying. I didn't even feel like I fell asleep yet from the last time. So I give him tylenol and put him back to sleep. Next 2:30am crying. I check his diaper but he is just wide awake. Ready to be up for the day. I think this child is ready to give up naps during the day!

So at this point I figure the only thing left to do is let him cry it out. It feels mean, but he's got to learn to put himself to sleep. So I turn off the baby monitor and go back to bed. However, the screaming is so loud I can't sleep and I know that it's only a matter of time before my 4 year old, Jake, is woken up by all this too. My husband, of course, could sleep through a hurricane so he's unaffected.

Nonetheless, I wake up my husband and ask him to carry Jake into our bed so I can set up a loud fan and the three of us can sleep without hearing 18 month old crying it out. Husband is angry to be woken up so before he moves Jake, he goes into Ryan's room and yells at him! OMG! I was so mad!! Now the poor baby is scared to death! This is not what I had in mind. Now I'm up comforting screaming scared baby.

I finally laid down at 3:30am but I knew my alarm was going off at 4:15 so my mind wouldn't stop thinking and let me sleep. I was like, "Quick! Fall asleep so you can get 45 minutes of sleep!" But the pressure of it all prevented it.

So I have essentially been awake since 1:30am. This is going to be a long day! I'm supposed to go over to my sister's house today so she can babysit for me and I can do a tempo run at 9:00am. Then to pay her back for all this babysitting these last few weeks, I'm supposed to babysit her 4 year old until 3pm. I hope I can get some sleep at some point because tomorrow at 4:45am we're running 12 miles.

For the last 2-3 months the majority of my nights involve me waking up to comfort Ryan at least three times a night. We have gotten into a horrible routine with this. I've got two strategies I'm going to implement: one, I'm going to have to cut out his daytime naps and two, he's just got to cry it out and learn to put himself back to sleep. I need a loud fan for every room though so everyone else can sleep while we're doing this.

12.3 miles at 4:45am. Weather= 64F, 60% humidity, 50 dew point, 1 mph wind, dark. Average pace=8:36/m.

mile 1- 9:31

mile 2- 8:36

mile 3- 8:46

mile 4- 8:16

mile 5- 8:58

mile 6- 8:22

mile 7- 8:23

mile 8- 8:49

mile 9- 8:07

mile 10- 8:28

mile 11- 8:31

mile 11.3- 7:39

mile 12.3- 9:29

Ran 1 mile to corner to meet Ash and Tim. We went did some hilly loops in our neighborhood. The fist loop was 4.3 miles. We charged the hills so the miles with the biggest hills were actually the fastest miles. Second loop was 3.2 miles. Ashley left after the second one because she's still easing back into running after taking time off for injury. Tim and I did third loop which was 3.7 miles. We charged the final hill and ended at the corner at 11.3 miles total for the run. I reset the lap button at this point because I wanted to record what we did the final hill at: 7:39 pace. Not bad for at least 2% grade hill. Ran final 1 mile cool down home.

Tomorrow I'm sleeping in but later in the day we're doing track. Supposed to do a 1 mile time trial. It'll be like 85 degrees though.

6.2 miles at 4:45am.  Weather=76F, 77% humidity, 65 dew point, 14 mph wind gusting to 25mph, dark. 

mile 1- 11:00

mile 2- 9:09

mile 3- 8:56

mile 4- 8:40

mile 5- 8:35

mile 5.4- 7:43 pace

mile 6.2- 10:30 pace

I had a hard time waking up today.  I was having the best sleep ever.  I ran 1 mile to corner to meet Tim and Ashley very slow.  Then I ran miles 2 thru 5.4 with them.  Ran home.  I charged the final hill so I hit the lap button to record my average pace for that portion. 

I told them that I felt sluggish but Tim reminded me that it was warm and very humid today so that's probably why.  I hope it's not like this tomorrow for the long run.  We're running 15 miles.  Tim is doing another race instead.  He's racing 5k's and 10k's every Saturday and then doing his long runs on Sundays.  He's winning some of the races and getting PR's.  He's hoping to sub-3:00 marathon this year.  His prior PR is 3:04 I think.

So when I got home today, I laid back down to try to nap some before the kids woke up.  However, my husband's alarm went off and then my 4 year old walked in the room saying he was hungry.  Too early!  I tried to convince him to lay down with me and sleep some more but he refused.  So my husband got him some breakfast and set him up with some cartoons.  I got about an hour nap!

I am not doing too good on running this week.  I skipped Monday and Thursday.  When I was running at 4:45 am every workday, I was feeling really run down.  I thought now that it's not 100 degrees in the afternoons, I could start doing some afternoon runs instead.  It's not working out the way I envisioned.  For one, I'm not taking advantage of the sleep in's.  I have been staying up way too late the night before I get to sleep in and thereby not getting any extra sleep.  Second, I'm apparently too lazy to run in the afternoon.  

I just wish I could get mid-day babysitting everyday.  If I could have someone come to my house from say 9am - 11 am every day, life would be perfect! 

15.4 miles at 6:30am. Weather= Cloudy, muggy and windy. 73F, 77% humidity, 65 dew point, 15mph wind gusting to 25mph, cloudy. Average pace=7:54/m.

mile 1- 8:31

mile 2- 7:54

mile 3- 7:59

mile 4- 7:55

mile 5- 8:04

mile 6- 7:55

mile 7- 7:49

mile 8- 7:57

mile 9- 7:48

mile 10- 7:31

mile 11- 7:46

mile 12- 7:21

mile 13- 7:45

mile 14- 8:04

mile 15- 8:13

mile 15.4- 7:38

All the coaches at my running store have been telling me to slow down on the long runs. They said I'm not going to get faster running my long runs too fast. So I tried to slow it down today. Actually, it wasn't that hard to slow it down because the weather was pretty yucky today.

I ran with a girl named Wendy today. We talked non-stop pretty much until mile 9. At that point I told her I had to put in my ipod and focus. I was going to try to have negative splits.

Miles 14 and 15 were directly against the wind. It was rather tough moving. I was kicking my calfs as I was running. The wind was making it tough to have good form. I decided to stop trying to go faster and just try to not injure myself with the horrible form. At one point a gust of wind almost blew me off the sidewalk.

So I didn't really overdue it today. Now I feel great! I don't even feel like I ran at all today.

There are a bunch of us (about 7-8 people) aiming for 3:20-3:30 marathons in Dec/Jan. We decided that we wanted to start a tempo group on Tuesdays. It should be alot of fun!

Texas-OU game is on now. Hook 'em Horns!!!!

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Afternoon update:

I had to log back on and say that my legs now feel like I ran 15 miles... which is to say they are rather beat up! Also, this Longhorn game is hard to watch... OU is kicking our butts! ugh!

6.2 miles at 4:45 am. Weather=61F, 84% humidity, 55 dew point, 0mph wind, dark. Average pace=8:50/m.

mile 1- 10:16

mile 2- 8:50

mile 3- 8:26

mile 4- 8:01

mile 5- 8:07

mile 5.4- 7:35

mile 6.2- 10:07

Ran 1 mile to corner to meet Tim and Ashley. Ran miles 2-5.4 with them. Then ran 1 mile home. At first when I started running with them Ashley was really dragging me. I kept trying to slow us down by staying slightly behind her. It didn't work. So at about mile 2.5 I just gave up, stopped talking and put in my ipod. If I was going to go faster than my body wanted, I was going to have to concentrate. So we got much faster after that. It seems this is what we do now: Ashley drags me in the beginning and I drag her at the end. Tim just keeps pace with us, this is easy running for him. Tonight we've got a group meeting at the running store for tempo. Forcast is 78F with 45% humidity. Not toooo bad.

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6 miles at 6pm.  Weather=77F, 46% humidity, 5mph wind, cloudy. 

Ran first 3 miles as warm-up: 8:14, 8:02, 8:01   

Ran next 3 miles as tempo: 6:43, 7:02, 6:58

Pretty good run today.  There were 7 of us that met at the running store to do a tempo.  Jody, myself, Ashley, Tim, Matt, Melissa and Wendy.  We ran the first 3 mile loop easy. Then we stopped for water before we started the second 3 mile loop tempo.   My goal was to do a 7:07 pace for 3 miles and to be honest I was nervous about it.  I haven't been doing tempos and I was not looking forward to the pain. 

Tim's first mile was 6:30 but he got faster and faster.  He said he averaged 6:12 for the three miles.  I started out right behind him but as he got out further out of my sights, I slowed down.  I think Matt and Wendy were just a few seconds per mile behind me. 

Still, I never looked at my pace until I finished.  I thought I was probably 7:15ish but I was pleasantly surprised to see I had gone faster.  So I'm pretty happy.  I would call this comfortably hard for 3 miles but I don't think I could have sustained this pace for longer than 3 miles... at least right now.   Maybe with more practice.  

We were supposed to do 10 miles tomorrow at 4:45 am but there is a 60% chance of rain in the morning so we're going to play it by ear. 

8.7 miles at 4:45am. Weather=63F, 49% humidity, 48 dew point, 9 mph, dark. Average pace=9:04/m. (9:54, 8:50, 8:55, 8:55, 8:57, 8:44, 8:51, 9:22, 9:40)

Met Ashley and Tim and we ran kinda slow today. I'm racing a half marathon on Saturday and the two of them are doing 10K's.

I'm disappointed with how much I've run this week. I skipped Monday. Then yesterday morning it was storming so we didn't get to run in the am. I thought I'd run in the pm but by the time my husband got home from work, I was too tired to run. So it just didn't turn out to be a good running week. Maybe this will act like a taper for the half marathon.

4.3 miles at 11am. Weather= 75F, 38% humidity, 10mph wind, sunny. Average pace=9:40/m while pushing Ryan in running stroller.   (9:48, 9:36, 9:53, 9:47)

My husband is off work today so I didn't have to get up at 4:15 am to run. I got to sleep in all the way until 8am! It was lovely. Then my husband took Jake to do errands and I took Ryan with me to do stuff.

First, I took him to the park and pushed him in the running stroller 4 miles. It was very pleasant. The weather was great. Ryan was very chill. I just ran nice and easy around the river and through the shaded trails. This just put me in such a good mood.

Then we went to the running store to pick up my race number for tomorrow's half marathon. I bought some new 5-finger socks. FYI: if you struggle with blisters, these are the best socks on the planet!!

I also checked out Ascics Kinvara shoes. I read they are lightweight (6.4 oz or something) but they are cushioned in the forefoot (key for me!). The only problem I think I would have adjusting to them might be that I am used to the raised heel thing and these are flat, flat, flat. I don't think it'd be smart of me to run long distances in them at first. I want to buy them for 5K's. Gotta convince husband that I need new shoes ....again! He doesn't understand why I have to spend $100 a month on shoes.

So then Ryan and I went to eat at Jason's Deli (my son Jake calls it Jason's Belly). It's so nice to hang out with Ryan without Jake every once in a while. When Jake's around, it's constant "why" questions and "leave your brother alone" statements. When I have Ryan by himself, we just get to be quiet. Now I'm home and I put Ryan down for his nap but my husband and Jake are still gone. Quiet house... a very rare treat!

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4 miles at 3:00pm.  Weather= 84F, 23% humidity, 12 mph wind, sunny.  Average pace=10:27/m while pushing Jake in running stroller.  (10:08, 9:58, 11:03, 10:46)

Well, after Jake got home he said he wanted to go for a ride in the stroller, too.  So I loaded him up and we ran 2 miles to a playground.  We played for about 15 minutes and then we ran back 2 miles.  Jake is a little more difficult in the stroller because he asks me questions non-stop plus he weighs a little more.  The first two miles I gave him a sucker so he was relatively quiet, but after the park the sucker was gone and he talked the whole way home.  Notice the sucker miles were a minute faster than the post-sucker miles. 

The questions are rather difficult to answer too... like, "Mommy, why is the sky blue but space is black?"  Me: "I think because this thing called the atmosphere is reflecting the ocean and the ocean is blue"  Jake: "Why is the ocean blue?  What is an atmosphere?"  Me: "Jake, these are great questions but I'm having a hard time answering them while I'm running up this hill.  Can we wait to talk until we get home?"  Jake: "Mommy, why are some flowers pink and some are yellow?  Why?" 

What a GREAT day I've had!  I sure hope I didn't deplete all my glycogen for this race tomorrow though.  I tried to run really slow and easy.

Weather=63F at start and 70F by finish, sunny.

Average pace=7:18/m

Average pace first 6 miles=7:18/m

Average pace last 7 miles=7:18/m

mile 1 7:18

mile 2 7:21

mile 3 7:22

mile 4 7:19

mile 5 7:08

mile 6 7:22

mile 7 7:18

mile 8 7:11

mile 9 7:15

mile 10 7:26

mile 11 7:28

mile 12 7:11

mile 13 7:20

final .1 pace 6:18

So today's half marathon race was supposed to be a prep-race for next weekend's big half marathon. Today, I was going to try to keep myself at a tempo-ish comfortably hard effort the whole way. I think overall I did what I intended to do. I was a little faster than I thought I could be for this effort though. The 7:20ish pace just felt right so I stuck with it the whole way.

There was more competition at this race than there have been at the previous Fire & Ice races. (I was 1st place at both the 10k and the 15k). Today, I showed up and I saw that the Martinez Sisters were there. They are always beating me! I walked up to them and jokenly said, "oh geez, I guess I'm not winning today since the Martinez family showed up!" I'm not sure if they really even know who the hell I am though. Oh, but I know them. All I ever see are the back of their heads in every race both them and I are at. So they told me that they weren't really racing, that they were doing this as a training run. I asked what kind of pace a training run is for them and they told me 9:00/m.

Then I saw another girl named Kim who passed me in mile 21 and then beat me by 2 minutes in my marathon last year. I talked to her and she said she has been sick for 2 weeks and hasn't been running much, she's still coughing.

So the race begins and quickly the Martinez sisters take the lead. So much for a training run I guess. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything to them to egg on their competitive spirit. Then another girl passes me, then Kim passes me, then another girl. Yep, I was in 6th place for girls. Tough competition! I didn't get too rattled though. I just stuck to my tempo comfortable pace. At mile 2 water stop I was still in 6th but I could see all the other girls within no more than 100 yards ahead of me.

Around mile 5 I just started feeling more energetic. It's like a light just clicked on and I woke up. I always do that in every run around 4-5 miles. So I figured I'd let myself get a little faster in a controlled way. I started inching up on the other girls in front of me. I took them out one by one until finally it was just those Martinez sisters in front.

I caught up to the sisters and ran with them for about 10 minutes.  Then they seemed to just back off and let me go in front. I figured it would be smart racing strategy to stick with them and just try to save my energy for the end so I could battle it out with them... I thought about it for awhile debating what to do. Then I considered how most of my training runs and other races have gone. I always have the most energy in the middle... but I usually do have enough sheer will power at the end to sustain the pace that I establish in the middle. I figured I need to just go with what I know works for me... now was not the time to practice new strategies.

So they slowed down and I speeded up slightly.  I was in the lead for miles 5.5 thru 11. I don't know how far back the other girls were during this time but I knew they were not tooooo close because I never saw anyone's shadow. I felt really good too. I was cruising nicely. I passed a couple of men and I was trying to close in on another guy. I knew I could maintain this pace all the way.

Still, the sun was starting to beat down on the second half and it was directly in my eyes.  Miles 10-11, I could tell I was having to work harder to stay on pace but I was still ok.  I passed the mile 11 water stop and I was thinking to myself that it was smooth sailing from this point on, that I had 1st place... I had 1 more gear left for the final maybe 1/2 mile. I was looking at that guy in front thinking I could slowly catch him.

Then suddenly, just like 100 yards after passing the 11 mile water stop, a FLASH of yellow comes up on my left side. It was Martinez sister #1. Oh geez! I guess I shouldn't have thought they'd be this easy to beat. I thrust myself into a faster gear. I thought possibly this would kill her spirit and she'd back off again. Nope. She was clearly undaunted. She had excellent form and looked to have major energy left. She also did not look even one bit worried about me challenging her. I figured it was a waste of my own energy to try to win this battle. I let her go and told her good job. I looked at my watch and I was doing 7:08 pace for the last 1/2 mile while I tried to battle with her. I made the right decision too... she was going so fast in those last two miles that she caught all the men ahead of us and got completely out of my sight by the end.

So when she passed, I've got 1.5 miles left. Where's that other Martinez siser? I'm not looking back. She'll sense blood in the the water if I look back. I just hung on to 7:20 and tried my best to keep my form as best I could. It was starting to get tough at this point. I knew I didn't have much left. I still thought I could maintain though.

Then I made a turn and looked at my watch. 1/4 mile to go and this included a short steep hill. I see in my peripheral vision the red shirt Martinez sister #2 coming in fast on my left. Oh no. I was helpless to do anything about it. I had no more gears. My brain was telling my legs, "GO FASTER" and my legs were telling my brain "LEAVE US ALONE OR WE WILL SHUT DOWN COMPLETELY AND MAKE YOU FALL FACE FIRST INTO CONCRETE AND GET A CONCUSION!" So she wizzed past me and up that hill.

I maintained pace up the hill but no more. After the hill, I was able to sprint the downhill portion into the finish (only cuz it was downhill) but she still finished like 10 seconds ahead of me. I gave her a high five and told her good job.

Then the Martinez sisters just walked to their car and drove off. I was disappointed that I didn't at least get to talk to them afterward.  I really wanted to talk to them!

Afterwards, I realized... This was a PR!!!   I PR'd!  I can't believe it.  Only by 20 seconds... but still.   When I got home, I looked at my splits and they are exactly even. So I am very pleased with this race.  I actually did exactly what I set out to do, only faster. Today never felt really horribly difficult... my legs became non-responsive to go faster than 7:20 but I didn't think I was going to die. Whereas, there were points in my previous 1:35 where I thought possibly I could die. Today was a little hot but it was flat. My previous PR race in March of this year, on the other hand, was only 40 degrees but it did have some hills.

So I guess I'm very happy with the kind of shape I'm in right now. I think next weekend's race could be really, really good because next weekend is going to be run through downtown Dallas and there's going to be lots of crowd energy and lots of competition to hopefully spur me on to do even better than today.

8.7 miles at 4:45am.  Weather=65F, 65% humidity, 53 dew point, 8mph wind, dark.  Average pace=9:09/m.

mile 1- 10:12

mile 2- 9:03

mile 3- 8:34

mile 4- 8:22

mile 5- 8:24

mile 6- 8:55

mile 7- 9:28

mile 8- 9:51

mile 9- 9:39

Ran with Ashley and Tim.  Ashley left after mile 6.  Tim and I ran miles 7-8.  We got slower because we started talking about the race this last weekend.  I ran the half marathon and he ran the 10k.  He got first place but he was most happy about having even splits average pace 6:15/m.  I also had a pretty even average in my race with 7:18/m.  All the running we did this summer is really paying off now. 

AM:

Slept in this morning. I've been having trouble with plantar faciaitis on my left foot for a couple months. Recently, it's gotten worse. Yesterday my foot hurt all day long even when I wasn't standing or walking on it. THis morning it's the same thing. It hurts on the top of the foot and on the heel. I think it got agrevated in the half marathon race this last weekend.

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PM:

6 miles at 6pm. Weather= 64F, 30% humidity, 12 mph wind, cloudy.

Ran the same tempo workout as last week. We ran this 3 mile loop twice. First time was a warm-up, second time was "tempo".

Loop 1 average =8:00

mile 1- 8:00, mile 2- 8:00, mile 3- 8:00

Loop 2 average= 6:49/m

mile 1- 6:28, mile 2- 6:52, mile 3- 7:09

Ok,so first off, notice that all three of the warm up miles were exactly 8:00. Weird. I don't think I've ever done that.

Second, I started off the "tempo" too fast. Tim said he was going to run with me at whatever pace I set. Last week he did 6:15/m and I did 6:54/m. We talked about doing approximately 7:15/m today. Ashley was running too but her legs were sore from Monday track so she said she wanted to do 7:30ish.

But once we started running, I don't know what got into me. My ipod was playing a great song... we were going down this hill in the first part... and I just was running so fast. I looked at my watch and was surprised that the first 1/2 mile was at 6:15 pace. What the? Seriously, I did a double take. It felt like 7:00 pace felt last week. I slowed it down after I saw that because I realized I couldn't sustain it. Mile 3 wasn't as bad as it looks... it was against the wind, there was a short steep hill and I had to slow down for a car that stopped over the crosswalk.

I'm pretty happy. I think all these races and tempos are making me faster... but they are killing my feet! I went to the doctor today about my plantar faciaitis and he said I need a steriod shot from a podiatrist. I just can't figure out to go before the half marathon on Saturday or after. I know they are going to tell me to not race if I go before. I need to find out if the steriod shot will help me for the race or if it would do more good to do the steriod shot after the race. Hmmmm.

10 miles at 4:45am. Weather= COLD!!!! The internet says 50F but I think it was colder! 46% humidity, 31 dew point, 12 mph wind, dark.

Average pace= 8:44/m.

mile 1- 10:04

mile 2- 8:24

mile 3- 8:26

mile 4- 8:41

mile 5- 8:46

mile 6- 8:27

mile 7- 8:21

mile 8- 7:50

mile 9- 8:30

mile 10- 9:57

I couldn't find my cold weather running gear so I ended up running in t shirt and capris. I was freezing the whole run. My form felt jerky. My ears were hurting. My hands were frozen - couldn't even operate my ipod. I tried going faster to see if that helped but no.

Now it's 6:30 am and I don't think the kids will wake up for another 2 hours so I'm going back to sleep.

6 miles at 6:00pm. Weather=68F, 27% humidity, 9mph wind, sunny.

mile 1- 9:19

mile 2- 8:34

mile 3- 9:00

mile 4- 8:43

mile 5- 9:20

mile 6- 8:45

I took Ryan in the running stroller and met up with Ashley to run 6 miles around the neighborhood. It was fun! On the way home, there was one interesting thing that happened. I'm running on the sidewalk pushing Ryan and this guy in a car that was driving by was looking at us and he almost ran into the car in front of him that was slowing down to turn. He had to slam on his breaks and he fishtailed to a stop. It was very loud! Ryan yelled at him.

Tomorrow I'm taking it easy because the big race is on Saturday.

Weather= 65F, 80% humidity, sunny.

mile 1 7:19

mile 2 7:30

mile 3 7:18

mile 4 7:16

mile 5 7:32

mile 6 7:36

mile 7 7:37

mile 8 7:26

mile 9 7:22

mile 10 7:23

mile 11 7:28

mile 12 7:31

mile 13 7:49

final 0.1 5:28 pace

Average pace= 7:27/m

First 7 miles average pace=7:26/m

Last 6 miles average pace=7:29/m

I never really got into a good rythem in this race. I felt "off" for no apparent reason. I didn't feel bad though... I just didn't feel as good as I did last week's half marathon.

Miles 4-7 were net uphill. Miles 8-10 were net downhill. Mile 11 was mostly flat. Mile 12 was a long steady climb. Mile 12 sucked!!

The worst part of the entire race was the finish but it's actually a funny story. A girl passed me around the beginning of mile 12. She was ahead of me the entire uphill of mile 12. The course flatened out with the final .2 of the race and I could see the finish line. I threw myself into a faster gear. I didn't even know I had that much left. I was shocked as I kept getting faster and faster. There were big crowds lining both sides of the street. Everyone was looking at me. I could hear the race announcer say something to the effect of "the girl with the big kick is Lindsey Wingerson from Fort Worth" ... that really pumped me up. I passed 4-5 people. I passed that girl and these two guys I had been trailing for 7 miles. It was thrilling!!! I can't believe my watch had me at 5:28 pace for the final .1!! That's fast for me!

AND THEN! SUDDENLY! This guy in front of me came to a complete stop as soon as he passed the finish line.   I was traveling at such a speed and I was so tired, I couldn't stop. I tried to dodge out of the way but I went flying face first crashing into the concrete street... skidding to a stop. I have road burn on my left knee and right shoulder... I hit my chin too but it didn't get cut.

It was very tramatic. I was very confused.... totally out of it for at least 2 minutes afterward. The guy was apologizing but I was sooooo out of it. I missed the person giving me water and I couldn't find anymore. Someone was trying to hand me a heavy medal. The girl I passed was right in front of me saying "good job! what a kick! are you ok?" Then my friend, Greg, appeared and he was telling me I didn't look so good... and he didn't even see the final kick, just the fall!

It was ALOT to take in! I am still recovering from the G force impact of going so fast and slamming to a complete stop on the street. So maybe it would have been a better race if not for that. I still don't feel so good. I feel like I was in a motorcycle crash.

I'll update more later. I need to rest and eat now. Oh, and I'm really pissed I didn't get under 1:37 at least. I was saying my goal was under 1:35... but at the very least I wanted 1:37. It was just not my day.

Track workout at TCU at 6pm.  Weather=81 degrees, 50% humidity, sunny at first.

Warmed up only 2 laps because I'm a slacker.... 8:41 pace.

Then we did an interesting workout.  20 x 400's at 10k pace with exactly 30 seconds rest in between.  When they told me that, I had to confirm... Twenty?  oh boy.

I ran in lane 3 and Ashley ran in lane 1 since I'm slightly faster than she is.  This guy named Brian ran with us but he switched between lane 4 and lane 2 each lap.  Most of my laps were .26 or .27 mile long so I just went by what Garmin had my pace speed.

lap 1- 7:26

lap 2- 6:55

lap 3- 6:59

lap 4- 7:09

lap 5- 6:59

lap 6- 6:53

lap 7- 6:56

lap 8- 6:43

lap 9- 6:57

lap 10- 6:29

lap 11- 6:29

lap 12- 6:25

lap 13- 6:37

lap 14- 6:35

lap 15- 6:36

lap 16- 6:29

lap 17- 6:11

lap 18- 6:30

lap 19- 6:27

lap 20- 5:41

Good workout!  I didn't feel like I was going to die or anything but I definitely was glad to be over with it.  Then I ran another 2 laps for cool down at 8:15 pace. 

Then we did a core workout.  I am terriblely out of shape!  I was the worst one out of 6 people!!  It took every ounce of determination in my body to hold a forward plank for 1 minute.  I couldn't hold a left side plank for more than 30 seconds.  My right side plank wasn't so bad and I made it 1 minute.  I thought I was going to die during the core workout.  It's amazing how much longer 30 seconds is when your in a plank than when you are resting in between 400's!!!

6.2 miles at 4:45am. Weather=65 degrees, 70% humidity, 7mph wind, 56 dew point, dark. Average pace=9:20/m.

Met Ashley halfway and we ran 6 miles super easy. Today is my birthday and Ashley is such a great friend, she's like more excited than I am! She says she's coming over after work today with a present and she's so excited for me to open it! How sweet! It is so great to have friends like her and Tim that are such nice people and who love to run... and who live near by me! How blessed am I?! I think having her for a friend is the best birthday present!

So I had to go this slow today because my plantar faciaitis is major painful today on my left foot. It never got better the entire run today. I guess I really need to go to the podiatrist.

My abs are so sore from yesterday!! It's amazing how much they hurt! I guess just proof how much I needed to do them.

I came home from running and it was 6am. I was able to take a 2 hour nap before children woke up! It's turning out to be a great birthday so far!

Ashley, Tim and I were planning to run tonight but it was cold and raining outside.  I ran on the treadmill for about a mile but I just wasn't feeling it so I quit.  Lazy!

10 miles at 11 am.  Weather=55F, 47% humidity, 38 dew point, 12 mph wind, sunny.  Average pace= 8:58/m.

9:19, 8:28, 8:56, 8:53, 8:28, 9:04, 8:58, 9:22, 9:09, 9:01

Today I ran by myself.  It was the first time in a long time that I've done that.  It did not go all that well.  I was running 9:00 pace but the effort felt more like 8:00 pace.  Both feet hurt with every single step.  I've got plantar faciaitis on my left foot and my right big toe was hurting on toe off.   The worst part was that at the 9 mile point, my left knee IT Band started cramping up.  I don't understand it.  I just realized a pattern.  The only time I have ever, ever had IT band issues is in the fall season.  Every October/November I deal with this.  Is it the cold weather?  Was it just because I didn't drink or use gu today?   Is it the slow pace?   Plantar faciaitis causing IT Band problems?   Geez!  I just hope this goes away. 

I was supposed to run 20 miles tomorrow but now I'm not so sure.  This is not a very opportune time for me to get IT band issues.  I was aiming for White Rock Marathon on Dec 4th.  If I can't run a 20 miler this weekend and next weekend, then I'm going to have to pick a marathon in Jan or Feb instead. 

I wore tank top and arm warmers today.  I was cold at first but I got rid of the arm warmers after third mile.

6:30am.   Weather=42F, 82% humidity, 2 mph wind, dark. 

mile 1- 8:20

mile 2- 7:57

The plan was to do 20 today but I had IT band issues suddenly yesterday so I wasn't sure how it was going to go.  IT band started hurting after first 2 miles.  I thought I'd at least make it 10 miles before pain... geez!  So I immediately turned around to head back to the running store.  In mile 3 I had to start walking because my leg felt like it was going to give out.  I did this walk/jog thing the third mile. 

mile 3- sloooow walk/jog

Then I started getting passed by slower runners who were only doing 4-5 miles today.  It was not fun to get passed while I was walking.  It was also starting to get really cold walking. 

I decided to try something different.  I remember for my marathon last year when I had IT band issues, I speeded up and it stopped hurting.  I had a mile to go, so why not.  So I put the pedal to the metal and took it to the house.   Strangely enough the IT band wasn't even noticeable at the higher speed.  Weird!

mile 4- 6:55

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So I guess I'm not running a marathon in December as planned since I am missing the key 20 milers for that training schedule.   I'm just all beat up!  I shouldn't have raced two half marathons two weeks in a row.  I've got to figure out what to do about my IT band and plantar faciatis...  I may just end up taking a couple weeks off and re-boot training for a marathon in Feb/March.   Oh well.  Live to run another day I guess.