run415

End of Year Wrap Up

2012-01-01T21:47:00.005-06:00

I graduated from my physical therapy on Wednesday, December 14. I had mixed emotions about being done with PT. I loved going, I received excellent strength work while I was there and Ryan kept me from making stupid mistakes by doing things my knee wasn’t ready to handle. I know I would have attempted R66 full if it weren’t for him and I would have been miserable walking those windy cold final miles. Instead, I feel good about my half finish and I’ve had no set backs. Since therapy was now over, I wanted to push my knee harder the rest of December. At my last therapy session, I was able to jump on my injured knee, repeatedly, which indicated it could handle more turnover. My main challenge was my conditioning, I am still averaging an 11 minute mile. So, for now I’m a healthy turtle.
For my long run that Saturday, the 17th, we planned to do 15 miles. That would be my longest run since R66 half, perfect to see what my knee could do. The first 6 went fine, the next four were ok and the last five were snail pace. I got it done though and my knee survived with little swelling and pain.
The next Tuesday, we ran up to Golf Ball Hill (thank you Lyle Robertson), and even though I took it really slow, I did it again. Kavanaugh-you will not defeat me in Little Rock!
On Saturday before Christmas, we did our own little Christmas lights tour through the Maple Ridge area. We wore our Santa hats, had our jingle bells on and took in the sights. We even saw Santa Cluas out for a run. We did an easy 6.
The day after Christmas, Carmie and I went out for another run, this time 9 miles. I felt so good to get out after eating all the Christmas goodies, especially the carrot soufflé and baklava. Tuesday, another tempo run, then Thursday, hillwork again on Golf Ball Hill.
Saturday, we did 12 miles, our last run for 2011. 7 of them were around Jenks and 5 on the Creek. I broke one of my fuel bottle tops on the run. A week before that I washed my shuffle with my running jacket and it didn’t survive. Looks like it is time for some new gear. My knee is a little tender, but the swelling goes down by the next morning.
Tomorrow, I have my first run of the new year. I better do only 5 since I’m doing hill work on Tuesday. It’s so hard for me to choose the shorter distance when most of the group is doing 10, but that is what got me into trouble last year, I don’t want to make the same mistake twice.

2012, here we go, and I'm going to do everything I can to stay injury-free.

Solitary Success

2011-12-04T21:45:00.001-06:00

We decided to skip running on Saturday because the weather report indicated a 100% chance of rain in the morning. In retrospect, bad choice, weather was fine early morning. So some of us were going to run on Sunday. But Sunday came and no one could run with me. I hadn’t run alone in months, and definitely not since my surgery in August. It wasn’t that I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to do it. I had become dependent on the stories and life-sharing we do while we are on our runs. I wasn’t sure I could survive on my own. I need to be consistent. I need to get my mileage up. I need to do this no matter what, no wimping out. I didn’t want to run at River Parks by myself on a cold Sunday afternoon. So I drive over to LaFortune. It looked desolate. I see a couple of runners. I get out of my car and tell myself to quit poking around just get on with it. I start my Garmin, I start my music. Mandisa tells me it ‘s a good morning, even though it is afternoon. I move my feet and begin to enjoy the fresh crisp air. I decide to do 6 miles instead of 9 but to try and run all of it. I see other runners and walkers with their dogs. It’s not so lonely. I run the first three miles, stopping only about 30 seconds for a recovery walk a couple of times. I start the second loop. Everything is in sync, I’m not tired. Halfway around the second loop, I’m listening to Danger Zone from Top Gun. I feel strong; my pace is 9:30, which it hasn’t been since pre-surgery. I’m able to maintain that pace for about a ½ mile. It feels so good, no pain. I do some quick recovery walk intervals with my running. I finish the second loop, look down and see I’m at 6.19 miles. I can’t stop here. I’ll go for 7, a perfect number. I play Danger Zone at least three times. I finish my best run since surgery.

Half the distance, twice the fun! Route 66 Half-Marathon

2011-11-20T21:07:00.004-06:00

Today, I got to do something I haven’t done since March… run in a distance race. It was only a half-marathon but I LOVED being out there. The anticipation of the race, laying out my clothes the night before, getting ready early in the morning, checking the weather, freezing before the start, seeing all my friends, huddling together in the corral, I’ve missed all that sooo much!

I’ve been working hard in my physical therapy and I was so relieved when my physical therapist told me I could do the half, as long as I didn’t push it hard. To be totally honest, I was disappointed that he frowned on me running the full marathon, but now that I have finished the half, I see that he was right, and I see how I usually bite off more than I can chew.

So, on this very chilly Sunday morning I headed to downtown Tulsa, thankful that I was wearing my capris instead of shorts. As I met up with my friends, we all lamented about the weather and groaned as we heard that it was drizzling outside. But the moisture went away quickly and we headed out to our corral to await the starting gun. This year the start line was moved to 7th and Main and there were 4 corrals so it took us awhile to get across the start line. Meanwhile, I still had my gear bag with me and I didn’t know where the gear check was. I found out it was just before the start line, just a block from it so when it was time for our corral to move forward, I sprinted to the gear check and got back just in time to go out with my group.

I was excited to go out the first mile because we would pass right underneath a pedestrian walkway where my church was located and I knew some people would be there to cheer me on. Sure enough, I could see them through the windows and one of them, their husband was running his first marathon. After this first mile, we came to our first major hill on 15th Street, a long one and I really wanted to run all of it. I managed to run most of it but did take a brief walk just before the crest. Next we went through Swan Lake, an area I love because the homeowners really support the race and cheer the runners. From there we headed through Monte Casino, another area I love, the students are great cheerleaders and I love their drums. Next we went through Woodward Park, this is another difficult area, with more hills but very pretty. Soon we were out on Riverside for a couple of blocks before we turned back into Peoria and headed south through Brookside. I was surprised that more people weren’t out to cheer but it was pretty chilly. We went back out to Riverside and I really enjoyed this part of the race because I could see who was heading back out to the north and I could tell people hello and cheer them on. I loved seeing all the other Maniacs too and was so glad that I am part of this crazy group.
From the very start of the race, I had another friend, Teresa, running with me and I so enjoyed having company. I fully expected to run the half by myself because I knew I needed to take it easy and having a running partner was an unexpected treat. Finally, we came close to where we would split and we hugged and I headed for the finish line. I ran strong through the finish and loved slapping Jack Wing’s hand. Throughout the race I kept thinking, “I can’t wait for coffee at Doubleshot http://doubleshotcoffee.com/Contact.html when I’m finished.” First I went to the Maniac tent and had some great food from Genghis Grill, yummy chicken teriyaki and rice. I was trying a different fueling strategy at this race and I started with an empty stomach, so I was really hungry at the end. I headed back to my car and my hands were so cold, even with gloves on, that I could barely get my keys out. I got some warm clothes on and headed over to Doubleshot. Ummm, that coffee was soooo good and HOT! I went over close to the finish to watch for some other friends to finish and almost shook myself to death, it was getting so cold! I’m so glad I waited for them to finish because I saw lots of other friends finish too and again was so glad to be out there, enjoying another race.

In retrospect: here’s what I did right this morning:

I checked the weather and made a wardrobe change from shorts to capris, my rule of thumb is 50° and over-shorts, 35-49°- capris, and under 35°-long pants. Note: although I do long training runs in long pants, I have never run a distance race in temps under 35° and I would hate running 26.2 miles in long pants!
I made slits at neck and bottom in my throw away shirt so it would tear off easily because Dorothy Beal said so: http://www.mile-posts.com/2011/10/what-should-i-wear-for-marine-corps.html
I put lots of cream on my face to protect it from the cold
I did not throw away my shirt when I took it off because I figured the wind would chill me later on...and I was right!
I wore heavy knitted gloves instead of my usual thin ones
I paid attention to my breathing, didn’t push myself, after all, I’d have to face my physical therapist on Tuesday
I downloaded new music thanks to this blog: http://gailbhyatt.wordpress.com/

What I wish I had done differently:
Worn thicker socks
Packed a hoodie instead of a wind jacket
Read the map better about gear check

All in all, I had a great time, a perfect re-entry into racing again Route 66 is a well put-together marathon, Chris Lieberman and his team do an excellent job at putting this event on. Now I’m getting ready for Little Rock on March 4.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and maybe I’ll see you at VonFranken Family Run on Thursday.

Spring Recap and Knee Rehab

2011-06-18T22:07:00.004-05:00

I haven’t posted in awhile so here’s a rundown of how Spring events went and what’s going on now.
After Lake McMurtry, we went back to Stillwater on April 16 for “Remember the 10,” an event to honor those that went down in the plane crash of 2001 where 10 members of the OSU family were tragically killed. This was the 5th year for the event and it is well supported. There is a 1 mile fun run, a 5K and a 10k. The route goes around the OSU campus, is mostly flat with a couple of hills. This is an event that I will probably repeat, the proceeds benefit the OSU Counseling Center and the bling is nice too. Most of all, the event is a sweet celebration of those lives and a means to support others who would benefit from the services of the counseling center. Since I am working on my masters in counseling, this is an area dear to my heart. After any event, we have to go eat and we decided to detour to Pawnee to go to Click’s Steakhouse. If you’ve been there, you know how good it is, if not, try it sometime. http://www.clickssteakhouse.com/

The next event was the Princess Warrior Trail Run at Keystone State Park, April 25. I was super excited about this event because I trained with Chrissy Whitten for our first marathon in 2007 and I wanted to support she and Michael as they celebrated the life of their little girl, Lillian Grace, who fought for her life for 103 days. Since we had lost a baby after only 18.5 hours, due to Trisomy 13, I had walked a few steps in their moccasins. The weather that day had been awful, rain was threatening, but it held off for most of the races. There was a 1.03 mile and a 10.3 mile. We did the 10.3, which was 5 miles through trails at Keystone and 5.3 miles on the road. I loved this event! The food was great, there was a costume contest, the t-shirts were awesome and nice bling. I will definitely do this one again. The only drawback is that it is on a week night, so that it falls on Lillian Grace’s birthday, but after a day at work, it’s hard for me to get there on time and I’m not fresh when I get there.

Next, we were doing a relay for the OKC Memorial Marathon on May 1. We had run the marathon before and we knew that wind could be a factor but we weren’t concerned at all because we were doing only a relay, so what could go wrong? If you ran OKC, you know the havoc the weather created for all of us that day. The race start was delayed by ½ hour and it had about every element of bad weather that you could think of. Three of us were going to run the first three legs together and two of us were going to run the last two together. We planned on meeting at 12th & Broadway and finishing together. When the first three finished their relay legs, they about froze going back to the hotel and when I called them as we got close to Broadway, one of them said, “we c-c-c-can’t meet you at the finish l-l-l-line, we're about frozen to the bone!” During our last leg, we even got hailed on. I commend all those who finished the ½ and full marathon, especially the first timers. Those were definitely the worst conditions I ever raced in, but this is another event that I love so much! I’m sooo glad we did only the relay!

I was planning on running the Aquarium half but I had been running so tired and slow that I didn’t want to turn in a poor time. I understand they’ve changed the route now so it goes into Jenks more and out on the Creek and that would be a great improvement. I ran it in 2008 and 2009 and even though it was flat, hot and boring, I always had personal best times there.

I also planned on doing the El Schorcho 25K on July 16, but they filled up so I am going as a cheerleader.

This brings me to the weekend of Memorial Day. On Saturday we thought we would do 10 miles and then 18 on Monday. I was thinking, “why should I run 18, I don’t have a marathon until fall?’ But I didn’t want to miss the “fun” of a long run and lots of girl chatter! Well, about mile 8 I said, I’m exhausted, I need to turn back and I felt fine about going back by myself. But we were almost to our halfway point and ready to turn back so we headed to the Adams Mark (we started @ Turkey Mountain), had a little break and headed back to Riverside. By the time we got to the 10th mile, I said, “I’m going to walk/run.” Then we got to 14 miles and I needed to walk. It was my right knee and it hadn’t been bothering me prior to this but every now and then, I would get a little hitch in it and it would go away right away. We finished our run and headed out for coffee. In hindsight, I should have iced my knee while we had coffee, when we got up to leave, my knee really hurt and I figured that I needed to give it a couple of days of rest and ice and I’d be back to running. My knee remained the same until Thursday of that week, when I had to go down a flight of stairs and then I went down another short set of steps but I was in so much pain by that point that I slipped a little and used my right knee to stabilize myself. So…now I was really in trouble and that brings me to today. It’s my meniscus and it appears that I’ll be walking for awhile. It’s a classic overuse and overtraining injury, I’ve been running so tired the past year. So, I am finally taking a break and will be walking until my knee doesn’t hurt when I run. Remind me of this please because I have tried to run two times and my knee has swollen up again. I’m having a hard time keeping myself from running, it is truly addictive! I am registered for two marathons in the fall, Marine Corps and R66, I have a good base and I keep telling myself that I don’t need to panic, I’ll be fine for the fall, I’ll be fine for the fall, I’ll be fine for the fall.

Lake McMurtry

2011-04-03T20:43:00.003-05:00

http://www.tatur.org/LMTR.html I was a little anxious about this trail run. If you have read older posts, you know that staying upright is not my forte but I had heard that this is a beautiful area and the weather left me no excuse to back out. Plus, my running group was running and I didn't want to miss an opportunity to hang out with everyone. After the Little Rock Marathon, my longest run had been 12 miles, 2 weeks ago, and on that one, I ran/walked the last three due to stomach trouble so I wasn't confident that I was ready for this event. Lake McMurtry is just outside of Stillwater and the trail run gives you many views of the lake. There were some fishing boats out there and I'm sure we nixed their chances of a good catch. Since it had been so dry, the trail was not challenging at all, except for watching for the roots. If there has been a lot of rain, this trail can be really hard because of the slippy/slidedy mud. I kept a very slow pace and didn't fall, but had a couple of close calls. The trail was well-marked, although someone removed some caution tape which confused some people. Ken Childress was johnny-on-the-spot and replaced the caution tape very soon. The aid stations were well-stocked, the only thing I missed was Diet D.P.and water at the end. I had seen the Diet D.P. on Ken's shopping list but I was too slow and it was gone by the time I finished. Thanks goodness, Marolyn had cold water bottles for us, thank you, Marolyn! I'm glad I did this, even though I don't like trail runs, it was a good work-out and enjoyable scenery. I was really tired from miles 11-14 but the last 1.5 miles went really fast and before I knew it, I was going up the steps to the finish. The medals are really pretty and I love the pink shirts. This is a trail run you should definitely consider, it has three distances-12K/25K/50K. I did the 25K and it was harder than a 1/2 half-marathon, duh, it's 15.5 miles! But it is also on a trail so you use different muscles, my ankles are always really sore after being on a long trail run. My feet really hurt after this one, lots of pounding, and I did have one toe blister. I used my Stick immediately afterwards and a couple of times later on Saturday. By evening, I could hardly hold my eyes open but had to stay up to see the outcome of the Uconn/Kentucky game, then I crashed. On Sunday, I felt minimal soreness. Next race, Run for the 10, 10K.

A Lemon Freeze

2011-03-27T22:10:00.004-05:00

I ran the Wish Lemons 5K this past Saturday. This race is put on by the Youth and Family Center at First United Methodist Church, where I have attended for the past 33 years, yes, that is probably longer than some of you have been around! I have missed this run for the past 2 years because I have been occupied with long runs for OKC marathon during that time but since we're doing the relay this year, I decided that I could run this race. I was underdressed, wore my shorts, should have worn my capris and I wore only a long-sleeved shirt and left my jacket in the car. I hibernated in the church until I absolutely had to go outside. The course is an out and back, first going out at 12th and Main, a good downhill, my first mile split was 8:38, much to my surprise. Since I ran that 5K last week in New Orleans, all I wanted to do was finish in less than 29:46 and when I saw my frst mile split, I knew that I shouldn't have any trouble with that. I ran very relaxed the entire time but when we headed back up Main for the last half mile, the wind was in our face and it was brutal. I was so glad I was running only a 5K! I never got warm during the race and when I finished, I was pleased that I had a 28:48. No one that I run with was there but several of my church friends were so I hung around for awhile to moan and groan about the cold. Next weekend-warmer temps and Lake McMurtry 25K.

The Great St.Charles Road Race

2011-03-22T20:59:00.004-05:00

I've been in New Orleans for a conference and when I got here I noticed they were having a race. I thought, why not? It was in a pretty part of the city (Uptown) and I could get there on the streetcar. So up I got early on Sunday morning and headed out on the St Charles streetcar to De La Salle High School. This race was put on by the New Orleans Track Club. Funny how runners are the same everywhere although I didn't see any familiar faces but I saw lots of fluer de lis! It was a 5 and 10K, I opted for the 5K since I needed to get over to my conference. It was a very small race, probably about 100 in each race. They had a 1/2 mile fun run for the kiddos and they went off at 7:45. Then we headed out on St. Charles, shortly after 8. New Orleans has a beautiful park, Audubon, and we ran about a half mile there and back out on St. Charles. It was a completely flat race but even that early in the morning it was already sunny and hot. The neighborhood is beautiful, lots of Greek Revival homes, an upscale area of New Orleans. They did their scoring really different. You were given a label at the end of the race, you wrote your name, age and finish time (honor system) and then dropped them in one of 2 boxes based on gender. Then they sorted them out and stuck them up on a board, based on finish time. I've never seen that before! They took pictures of most of the race and all the age group awards and they had it up on FB the next day and even a video of the race. They served jimbalaya after the race and even though I was hot, it tasted really good! The awards were all handmade by the art students at the high school and there were lots of the high school students there helping at the race. I'm so glad I ran this for four reasons:

1. I was chicken to go out to the race by myself, worried about the crime, the hotel front desk assured me that it was safe but I didn't trust them, thought they were trying to sell the safety of the city. But once I got on the streetcar (about 5 blocks from my hotel and it was still dusk when I walked to it) I was fine.

2. I needed a new baseline for my 5K.

3. The food here is great and I needed a good run!

4. I got to see a part of New Orleans that I probably would not have taken the time to sightsee otherwise.

Another benefit was the goodie bags were the leftover bags (gear bags) from the MardiGras marathon, including all the goodies inside, very cool!

Little Rock Marathon and future runs

2011-03-13T14:26:00.005-05:00

After running the Post Oak events (10K trail on Saturday and 1/4 hilly marathon on Sunday) the weekend before, I was a little apprenhensive about how much I would have in the tank for Little Rock the following week. I did not run at all after Post Oak and felt rested for Little Rock. I wasn't running with my ususal running group since some of them did the full marathon at Post Oak but I had made arrangements to meet with some other runners that I run with during the week. We said we would "look for each other" at the start. I thought I was supposed to be in the open corral even though the 5 hour pace group was in the D corral. I don't know why I thought that except for the fact that I saw bibs with C or D and mine had no letter and rule follower that I am, I didn't want to be in the wrong place. Once the race started and I saw how s-l-o-w the pace was in my area, I realized that I had made a huge mistake and wished that I had lined up with the 5 hour pace group. I did manage to catch up with them around mile 4 and thought I'd see the group I was supposed to run with but they must have been further ahead. I managed to stay ahead of the 5 hour pace group until I hit the long hill at Kavanaugh and then they got ahead of me. I let myself get really discouraged on this hill and mentally checked out and could not wait to finish this marathon but I took it really slow, lots of alternate walking and running.
The marathon overall is well-supportedby spectators, nice expo and an ok course. I don't think it is very scenic but a nice variety of rolling hills, two good sized hills (at the middle and at the end) and relatively flat from 20 until that hill at the end. The weather for me was perfect, mid 30s at the start and high 40s at the finish. I enjoyed seeing one of my friends achieve a PR and the medal is what LR is famous for. I also enjoyed meeting Angie who has a podcast "Marathon Training Academy." This was my first run as a Marathon Maniac and I enjoyed greeting other maniacs and talking about our marathon experiences. I did not feel like a maniac on this day though! We plan to do it again next year for the 10th anniversary of the run and plan to run as a group.
I didn't run again until Thursday of this week and still felt sluggish but when I ran on Saturday, I felt like a new woman, did 8 miles and felt really good. Saturday was a picture perfect day and I felt so good to finally have a good run. Then we had a really good time getting together at IHOP and hearing about some other marathons and running stories.
I am going to take it easy for awhile, Little Rock was an endurance event for me, did not enjoy it at all, I am really tired for some reason. I love running too much to let this get the best of me. My next races will be short ones, Wish Lemons 5K, McMurtry 25K trail run, Run for the 10, OK Memorial Marathon as part of a relay, Jenks Aquarium Half Marathon, El Scorcho 25K trail in July and the Marine Corps Marathon in October.

Post Oak Challenge

2011-02-27T20:04:00.004-06:00

Last year some of my friends ran the Post Oak Marathon Trail run and the 10K, I volunteered and thought that I would like to do a shorter version of it. I love the Post Oak Lodge, I've been out there several times for conferences and women's retreats, the area is very peaceful, close to the city, yet out in the country.
So this year, the organizers switched the events up some and made all the marathon-type events on the road and then had a separate day of trail events. So, I was in and decided to do the 10K trail run and the 1/4 marathon. I have a marathon to run the following weekend so I wanted to keep the distances short. There was some rain on Thursday so the trail got nice and and soggy. This was my first trail run and I am not sure of foot so I took it slow and easy. I ran with my good friend Teresa and she was good company for me throughout the run. It wasn't very hard, I picked my way through the rocks and slippery mud and marveled at some of the runners who flew through the course. The trails were well marked and we had one really good climb to Holmes Peak. When the sky is clear, you can lookout from here and see downtown Tulsa but on this day, there was a lot of fog, so all we saw was...more fog! All went well and we managed to finish injury free.
On Sunday, I ran the 1/4 marathon. The organizers promised that the marathons would be hilly and they delivered. It was the hilliest and hardest course I have ever run! I'm really glad I did both events and the medals are very unique and beautiful.
Here's a shout out to three of my buddies who ran the full marathon in great style, finishing just over 5 hrs and to Carmie Anderson, who won her age group!
http://www.postoakrun.com/

2010 Wrap Up Outer Banks, Route 66 and St. Jude's

2011-02-13T21:07:00.008-06:00

Since we're into the second month of 2011, I better post about my last two marathons of 2010.

My most fun marathon of the year was Outer Banks in November. We went to celebrate Marv Winter's completion of North Carolina as his 50th state. The Outer Banks community rolls out the red carpet for all who come into town for the marathon weekend. When we arrived, the winds were gusting to 40 mph and we had an 8K to run on Saturday morning. We were dressing up like pirates and we sure didn't want to freeze our booties! By Saturday morning, the wind had died down somewhat but it was still pretty nippy waiting for the race to start. We were quite the topic of conversation, we thought there was an award for best costumes so we were all decked out but we learned that the costume competition was for the marathon the next day! The 8K went through some beautiful trails which shielded us from the wind. By doing the 8K and the marathon, we got a special Blackbeard's Challenge medal. After the 8K we warmed up and toured the town some, including going to Kitty Hawk (those Wright Brothers had amazing persistence), had great burgers and fries at Five Guys and later went to the pasta dinner for the marathon. The pasta dinner was super fun because a lot of Marv's marathon buddies were there from all over the US. The next morning we braced ourselves for some more chilly weather but the wind was much better. We were bussed from Nags Head to Kitty Hawk where the race started. The first half of the marathon was through neighborhoods, Kitty Hawk memorial, some trails and then the last half went out onto the highway and into Manteo. The course is really pretty and not challenging, you could PR if the wind wasn't bad. Our Tulsa group stayed together and took the race easy and slow and we had a blast. Lots of picture taking and just celebrating Marv's endurance and encouragement to others as he ran 50 marathons. I love how both the 8K and the marathon started-the most amazing, heart-felt prayers of blessing on all involved and singing the national anthem at each race. After the marathon, we hung out in the pretty town of Manteo, then headed back to our hotel and chilled our legs in the surf. We had a wonderful time that evening at dinner and continued to celebrate this big event for Marv. In the morning we went back to Manteo to the best Christmas ornament store and then headed out to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse and climbed all 214 steps, all of us climbed to the top! We hurried out of there and barely made it in time to the airport to make our flight...we so hated to go!

The next weekend we ran Route 66, some of my group did the full and I thankfully did the half, what a blustery run!

Then, on Dec. 3, we headed out to Memphis for the St. Jude's marathon. I was super excited to do this one because this was my 3rd marathon in 90 days, therefore, I would be an official Marathon Maniac! I really liked the Memphis marathon course and the charity it supports. The wave start went vey fast. I did not like the fact that there was no singing of the national anthem before the race. I think it is the only marathon of the 11 I have run that didn't have the national anthem, very disappointing. And I didn't like the town, my personal opinion, if you're doing the 50 states, choose Nashville instead of Memphis. Since we had lots of Christmas things to take care of, we were anxious to get back on the road and head back to T-town. What a long drive back and we were so hungry because the hotel didn't allow late check out and we didn't eat when we left Memphis. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel later in the day and when we pulled into the parking lot, we saw a school bus pull up at the same time. You never saw 4 tired, sore ladies run so fast into a restaurant, no way were they going to get in ahead of us starving runners!

What a year of running-5 marathons and made many new friends. No PRs and we'll see what's ahead for 2011. I can hardly wait to wear my maniac shirt at Little Rock on March 6!

Groovin' to Run - Tulsa Run October 31, 2010

2010-11-06T20:16:00.007-05:00

For the Tulsa Run, we dressed up in the mod 60s era, Go-Go Girls to be presice. I run with some very creative people and they plan the costumes way in advance. We already have our costumes for next year, but I am getting ahead of myself. Earlier in the summer, one of us saw these cute dresses at Belk's that looked like they'd be perfect for mini dresses and then we would add boots. So here we go, brainstorming about all the accesories. We made the white boots that fit over our shoes, I was amazed at the care and perfection that Carmi had to make sure that the boots fit well, didn't fall down and were shiny enough. We ended up glueing clear tablecloth covers to white vinyl to make it shiny and firm enough. I sewed more the week before the Tulsa Run than I had since I made Halloween costumes for my kids. We had such a blast at the run. Chris showed up looking like John Lennon to complete the package. So many people gave us the thumbs up and it was so fun to see a tired runner look up at us and get a big grin on their faces. The weather was great, chilly and a little breezy, but, I prefer chilly to sweaty. I enjoyed looking at ALL the costumes, Kathy looked adorable as Little Red Riding Hood and Sloan was a Beautiful Snow White.

Now it's time to hunker down and taper for Outer Banks Marathon and Blackbeard's challenge...and more costumes!

Mother Road Race Report

2010-10-10T23:36:00.004-05:00

My first marathon of the fall season was finally here. This one was kind of wierd because I wasn't running it with the group I usually run with. I registered on a whim after I had a good 20 mile training run. But there were some other people I know and we ran together and had a fun time, not during the marathon, but before and after. The marathon was HOT, HOT, HOT. They need to move the start time earlier, 8:00 is too late for this time of year. We ran in 80 degree shadeless, cloudless heat for 2 hours of the race. Ugh! I was the dizziest I had ever been at a marathon and I was well hydrated. I think it was the heat. I am very glad that I did the race though, I really enjoyed the thrill of running through three states and the medal is really pretty, the "66" spins and it was an inaugural marathon. The race goes through small towns, It started in Commerce, OK, goes thru Quapaw, OK, Baxter Springs, KS, Riverton, KS, Galena, KS and finishes in Joplin, MO. It does have a long hill at 18.5 and hills continue until almost the end of the marathon. Considering all the small towns you run thru, the crowd support is excellent and the aid stations are well-placed. The expo was nothing but registration items which we thought was really funny because they kept posting on their website that only cash would be accepted at the expo but there was nothing to buy anyway!

Tis the season

2010-10-02T20:23:00.002-05:00

I have a friend who cannot wait until Oct. 1 to start playing her Christmas music. Sure enough, this week on FB, she is asking us what our favorite Christmas album is. Now, I love her enthusiasm for Christmas and all that the season signifies, but for me-I can't wait for cool weather because that means it's fall marathon season! Maybe I should be singing Springsteen's "Born to Run!"
So, I've been itching to run a marathon, haven't run one since May. I considered Mother Road this summer but my training in the heat had made me doubt my readiness for the race. After I ran my 20 miles last Saturday and got a look at the medal, I began to think about signing up for Mother Road. I was sitting the fence on whether to jump from the R66 1/2 to the full, a cheaper option, or do Mother Road. Mother Road won out because of it being in October, which gives me some rest for the Outer Banks Marathon, and for the medal and last, because it goes through 3 states. I am really looking forward to it, the weather is supposed to be between 60-70 and I have several friends running in it. The only downside is that it doesn't start until 8, so it will probably be in the 70s for the last past of it, but after all the heat and humidity this summer, I think I can get through it.
I did a short 11 miles today, the downtown loop of the R66 marathon route. It has a couple of good hills but I averaged a sub 10 pace and I felt really good about that.
So taper time now and carbo load.
Yay-marathons, and I'll be an offical certified marathon maniac after St. Jude's, assuming I finish all three marathons.

How much sweat can you wring out of your clothes?

2010-09-18T12:53:00.003-05:00

Today was sweltering. Our plan was to run 16 and we ran hard and did 12.50. I didn't see any benefit in going further, by 8:30, the sun was beating down and we were soaked with sweat. We should have started earlier to avoid the sun but I am pleased with my workout. I pushed myself harder than I have in months for a long run, even though it was so humid. I am so happy to have the umph to even want to press on, I've been in such a slump this year. I have a good reason for that but I have been getting frustrated with my sluggishness and I am encouraged that some of my drive is coming back.
I listen to a great podcast, Marathon Training Academy. It's a husband/wife team, she is an experienced distance runner and he is training for his first half marathon this fall. The information is very helpful and they have a very good one on yoga stretches and the video is on their blog: http://marathontrainingacademy.com/ You can listen to the podcast directly from there.

Are we there yet?

2010-09-12T14:26:00.004-05:00

You would think that the humidity would have dropped by now but such was not the case today. One of the drawbacks of running so early in the morning is fighting the humidity but I'd rather deal with that than the sun. So, our plan was to run 10 miles, some on Riverside and the rest around Jenks. After the first hour, I was dripping wet, I wasn't expecting this and didn't put any Glide on and I was anticipating some wincing in the shower when raw skin was kissed by water. The good news was that we had already done 6 miles and had escaped the burning heat. As we headed through Jenks, I began to tire and tried to focus on my mental training. I looked at my surroundings for distractions and this proved to be helpful. We stopped to drink some water and I was encouraged to discover that we had only 3 more miles to go. At this point my legs were beginning to feel heavy and tight and I realized that pushing so hard on my short runs this week was taking a toll on my long run, yet, I need to get stronger. So, on I plodded, focusing on a technique I've been practicing of raising my knees higher and making sure that my foot plant does not start with a heel strike. I had been commenting to my neighbor, who coaches students for track, that my abductors and adductors were stiff and weak and he told me that was because I shuffled too much, that I needed to pick up my feet more. So, particularly in my short runs, I have been working on picking up my feet more.
When we got to the Jenks bridge, I shouted, "how much further," thinking that we were probably at 9 miles and I was right (my Garmin is not working). That last mile seemed to take f-o-r-e-v-e-r, when we went under Riverside, by Starbucks, I thought, puh-leez, only a little bit more and after a short loop around the parking lot, we were done. The best part about this run was that we were done by 7:30, can you believe that? It's been ages since I got home before 9:00 after a Saturday run. But, now that the temperatures should be dropping, we will probably be starting later and our runs will be getting longer since we're getting closer to our marathons.

Golden Days of Running

2010-09-08T22:26:00.003-05:00

I was excited about running a new route on Saturday. We decided to run with Runners World and check out the scenery of a midtown run. I was excited until I heard my friends say we were going for 18. Gulp, I really didn't want to go any further than 16 and the 2 others I was running with were the faster ones in my group so I knew I had to try and stay up with them so I didn't get lost. This was going to be a good mental trial. We had received an email earlier in the week about the mental aspects of a long run, particularly a marathon. We were given several tips about how to overcome the mental fatigue that you experience as you add miles to your running routine. This email was timely for me. My last 4 marathons have been mentally overwelming. I just run out of motivation after the 18th mile. I still want to finish the marathon but, I begin walking and not caring about my finish time. This dilema has been perplexing me but the email really helped because I saw that a veteran runner had challenges staying focused too but she had also learned how to overcome her mental fatigue. So, I applied what I had read, I thought about what I would do if I got really tired and as I got tired, I began to practice these new strategies. One thing that really helped was to breakdown the route into smaller segments, so instead of thinking that we had four more miles to go, I would focus on only the next mile. I can't believe what a difference that thinking made in how I felt about running. Another thing that really helped me was being inspired by the people I am running with. The girl I was running with was in considerable pain but you would never know it. When we got close to the hill at 21st and Yale, going south, and she kept on going on that hill and I really wanted to stop; it was then that I realized that I didn't really want to stop but I needed someone to supply me with motivation to keep on going. Well, I got motivation when I saw her staying strong through those hills. I thought, if she can run through pain, I can run through my motivation issues. Before I knew it, 18 miles were over and done.

We started at the fairgrounds and then ran over to University of Tulsa and then back to the fairgrounds. We did this twice and when we got to TU the second time, we ran all over the campus, trying to get 3 miles out of that part. The campus looks absolutely beautiful, the landscaping is gorgeous and the buildings, both new and old, looked stunning, especially the new performing arts center. We run the same route this coming Saturday, shorter, I hope, and I'm pleased that we'll have another opportunity to get familiar with this area.

On Monday we ran the Run into the Son 5K. This is a super event, lots of fun things for the family and an emphasis on the FREEdom we have in Christ. The route was hilly and I was happy with my time, considering that I had run 18 miles on Saturday. A shout out to Stacy, she PR'd. What a hard worker she is on our weekday runs and her persistance paid off.

Could these be chillbumps!

2010-08-28T21:24:00.003-05:00

Finally, cool weather has kicked in. I couldn't wait for this Saturday to enjoy a long run without melting. The plan was to run 15 miles so we ran north on riverside way before the sun was up and headed north about 5 miles. We turned back around and got through that awful boring dead air area before 81st before the sun was all the way up. I really wanted to stop at a bathroom so we decided to take a field trip over to the casino. Now I have never been in a casino and I was all eyes when we went in. Slot machines everywhere, I mean hundreds of them and people were playing on them and it wasn't even 7:00! We were entertained by the winners' pictures, people who had won cars, one of them was particularly funny. We decided that the restaurant would be worth a try at some point. The restroom wasn't bad either. So back out on Riverside, we went over the Jenks bridge, waved at our Runner's World friends who were just finishing their 6 mile drop back run and we headed over past the aquarium and around Jenks. I was happy with my pace, I averaged 10:20 and didn't walk until the last couple of miles. I did stop too long at the water breaks though. I tried Honey Stingers for the first time and really liked them, good flavor and good energy. As we got closer to the end of our run, I dropped further back and as I came to 96th and Riverside, I wondered where the rest of my group went and suspected that they couldn't resist the Harvard hill. So I plodded on under Riverside and told myself that I would run up that hill. No worries, they went only to the bridge so I was safe. Yay! We ended up with 16 miles, I think they had 16.50 and it was a good run. I'm really stiff in my hips and getting antsy for fall marathons. We even began to plan for marathons we want to run in 2011.

The Storm that Passed Us By

2010-08-15T22:31:00.005-05:00

My alarm went off at 4:15 and I groped around the house getting ready to leave. I had worked all night Thursday, read that as - worked from Thursday morning until Friday evening without sleeping and knew that this long run would be a struggle. Friday evening I could barely get my pizza eaten, lay out my running gear and drop into bed by 9:00. Because I am used to getting only 5 1/2 hrs. of sleep a night, I woke up at 2:30 and had difficulty going back to sleep. I ended up praying for a friend of mine who was grieving the recent loss of their adult child and dozed on and off until the alarm went off.

When I went out to the car, I was shocked to see raindrops and lightening in the sky. I debated about running but decided it would most likely pass over and headed out the Starbucks at 96th and Riverside. When I got there, Mary was checking the radar on her iphone and we decided to wait and let the storm pass. We didn't get any rain while we waited but we did see some lightening strikes.

We headed through Jenks at 5:30 and enjoyed a slight breeze and a little cooler temperatures. We did 5 miles through there and refreshed ourselves at Jenks Park. We headed out to the Creek to tackle some hills. The Harvard hill about did me in and then the one after it is like a slap in the face. The rest of the way to Yale isn't too bad and we stopped for some water and Gu. The route between Yale and Sheridan has a hefty hill and we plodded on to Memorial. Mary was running strong and I was really dogging it but I managed to keep running and I was grateful for that. At Memorial we visited with a cyclist who has run 28 marathons and had just done the Seattle marathon in June. He had run Chicago 3 times, Boston, New York and was running Big Sur.

The 3 1/2 miles back from Memorial wasn't too bad and my Garmin registered 12 as we completed the downhill part of the Harvard hill. Whew, I was glad that was over!

Since it was 8:30 we headed over to Riverside 5K to see Marv, Maryanne and Marolyn fiinsh and when we got there, they were already done. Maryanne had a PR and won her age group, Marv won his age group and Marolyn came in second, yea to you all for your results.

Next week-15 miles.

Quarter Marathon Report

2010-08-07T21:27:00.008-05:00

I was wondering why we signed up for the "Double," both the quarter marathon and the 5K. I haven't been running well in the heat and hated to waste a race because of my lack of motivation. Saturday morning welcomed us with cloudy skies and raindrops at the end of the race. I won't say I "raced" but I put out a good effort and felt better about running than I have in awhile. I loved hearing Jack Wing make annoucements, what an inspiration he is and I'm so glad he's experiencing better health now. There was a great turnout for both races. I did ok for the 5K, at least finished under 30 min., which is a far cry for my PR, then I slowed down for the quarter and walked a couple of hills. I got to see the new medals for the Route 66 Marathon, they're really cool looking and they spin. http://www.route66marathon.com/latest-route-66-marathon-news/2010-williams-route-66-marathon-medals-revealed.html

This heat has been messing with my mind and I've been questioning my readiness for fall marathons. I still don't feel fresh but I cannot wait until the temperature drops 10 degrees and I can see how hard I push myself. We have 2 marathons scheduled for this fall, Outer Banks and St. Judes. Outer Banks should be easy because we are not going for a PR, we are supporting another runner. St. Judes should be a good marathon, others have told me they PR'd there. I still need to find a third marathon if I want to get my maniac status but I'm not sure I want to do that many.

Next week looks like it will be another suffocating time. Not much longer and I will be enjoying 70s, I can hardly wait. I remember when we were freezing last winter, sleet pelting our faces while we ran across the 71st street bridge. Hot and cold are equally unbearable and dangerous. I've been dehydrated this summer and played slip and slide on the ice in the winter. That's why I'm looking forward to the pleasureable fall weather.

I did take advantage of tax free weekend and got a new pair of running shoes. I have been wearing Adidas Supernova Classic for 2 years now and they have a new model Supernova Adapt, which has a very high arch, great for me. I tried on several other brands and ended up with the Brooks Adrenaline. http://www.brooksrunning.com/product/1200641B/123212/Adrenaline%20GTS%2010 They seemed more stable for me and I'll give them a trial run on Tuesday.

Early morning payoff.

2010-07-17T22:00:00.004-05:00

I'm so glad we were out running by 5 a.m. The early morning air felt good and I really enjoyed the first part of our run. First we did the Jenks loop for about 6 miles, then we headed north on Riverside to the 81st street light. As we headed back toward the Creek Turnpike, we decided to pick up the pace and were running about a 9:45 pace. We did that for a mile and as we headed east on the Creek, the sun was brutal. Going up the steep hill to Harvard, I was determined that I was going to run every step of that hill and I did! As we headed out to Yale we decided to turn back there, it was so hot. Our original plan was to run 15 miles but the sun was getting the best of us. The air felt better as we headed back west and I feel very satisfied that we got in 14 miles before 8:30. We did our usual at Starbucks, so nice to unwind there. We laughed about how we can run marathons but housework was a whole different story! My daughter and I headed out to Porter for the Peach Festival and Lindsay Orchard after I showered. I sweat as much there as I did running and it was fun to be in rural Oklahoma. We brought home some juicy nectarines and peaches. Some people were buying lots of peaches, must be going to can them. I wish I was that ambitious. After that, when we got home, I crashed on the couch for two hours!

Another killer run

2010-06-20T18:21:00.002-05:00

For Saturday's long run, we decided to go from Olive St out to NSU on the Creek TP and back, which ended up being 15 miles. It's a good, hilly route and totally wiped us out. The temperature was toasty, about 85 and very humid. When we got to NSU, they were getting ready to start a 5K race, probably about 25 people there, what an awful morning for a race. The 15 miles took about 3 1/2 hrs., we walked a lot toward the end, it was so stinking hot. I know runs like these will pay off in the Fall though. The really cool thing was that as I was finishing, I pulled out my phone to call my husband because we were supposed to meet our daughter at the airport since she was returning home from a 5 week missions trip to India. As I flipped open my phone, there she was calling me! Her flight had been cancelled and most likely she wouldn't be in until that night. Shucks, but that was harder on her that me because I wasn't stuck in an airport like she was. She ended up getting in at 11:30 last night, just in time for Father's Day.

Hot and Humid

2010-06-12T22:29:00.003-05:00

Running the past couple of weeks has been draining with the heat and humidity. Last week, we ran out on the Katy trail and one of the water fountains was turned off. After that experience, I finally broke down and bought a water belt this week. I’ve been so spoiled because RW always has water for us but I couldn’t risk going without water again with all of this heat. Wearing this belt is going to take some getting used to. It’s an Amphipod and it is adjustable. Some of the other brands are already sized. I didn't have the belt adjusted to be tight enough and I didn’t want to take the time to shorten it once we started running so I couldn’t get it tight enough. The belt keep sliding around my hips but once I get it tighter I think it will be ok, it drove me crazy this morning though.
Last week I ran 11 miles, about 4 of them were without water. Today we ran 8 miles on the river then hustled over to Youth Services of Tulsa and ran their Runaway 5K because a friend of mine is on their board. All of us had slow times for a 5K and still managed to sweep the medals for our age groups.
We ate breakfast at IHOP after that and their blueberry nut pancakes, topped with bananas and egg substitute really tasted great!

Spring Marathons - OKC and Ft Collins CO

2010-05-15T18:25:00.009-05:00

I have been enjoying my training runs this Spring but I've been having more fun and not running hard and that showed up in my marathon results. The fun has been a refreshing respite from the craziness in the rest of my life but I am very frustrated with my finish times.

I was a little concerned about OKC because I felt really tired going into marathon week. I hadn't been sleeping well, a combination of worries at work and hormone dificiency. So when I felt really tired after Lake Hefner, I didn't have much mental stamina to push through it. It was really good weather, all the winds were crosswinds, nothing like last year. Our group had a lot of fun, we did walk more than we probably should have on Sat., walked from the Sheraton to the Memorial Museum and back and the museum tour was difficult to bounce back from but if you haven't seen it, you should go through. It made all the banners much more significant when I came to that part of the course. My finish was 5:19, my slowest up to that point but we did enjoy ourselves. We ate dinner at RedPin, a bowling/pub place http://www.bowlredpin.com/over by Starbucks in Bricktown, the food was really good. Then after the race, we went to the stockyards area and ate at Cattlemen's Steakhouse http://www.cattlemensrestaurant.com/. The waiter gave an elaborate description of their succulent steaks and much to his disappointment, I didn't order a steak. All I wanted was a club sandwich, I wasn't that hungry. I noticed that the others at my table that ran the marathon didn't eat all their steaks, although they were really good, it was just a lot to eat.

Two weeks later we headed out to Fort Collins, CO to run with Marv Winters for one of his 50 states. We had a good size group going and Fort Collins is a quaint college town, home of Colorado State Univ. We needed to get some Gu and were excited to see an REI store. Some of us, me included, had never been inside an actual REI, had only shopped there online. We headed back to our rooms early and we were all dreading standing around the cold in the a.m. and the early start, 6:00 a.m. Buses would shuttle us to the start, it was a point to point race. We got up at 3 and left the hotel at 3:45 to meet the shuttles. The buses were comfy and warm, it was about 1/2 hour to the drop off point. No one wanted to get out of the bus but it wasn't too bad. We were down in the canyon and it felt warmer than the parking lot where the buses picked us up. There were lots of porta-potties and we huddled and stayed warm. Soon it was time to start. There were only 975 of us and it was nice to have a casual start instead of being packed in like sardines. This was the smallest marathon I had run in and once it was time to go, the race director pulled the trigger and we were off. The surroundings were beautiful, the temperature was in the low 40's, no wind, it was perfect. We were in the canyon for the first 18 miles and ran along the Poudre River. I had rafted this river with my family in the summer of 2007, that was part of the reason I wanted to run this marathon. When you're in the canyon, you descend about 1000 ft in those 18 miles. The road slopes really bad and my ankles got very sore. Then you are on a highway for about 3 miles, then you run through a city park and when you come out of there, you can see the finish line on down the street. I alternated between walking and running for the last six miles, the altitude had really gotten to me. I wasn't sure if some of my group had passed me while I took a potty break. I finished in 5:25, my slowest finish, this was my 7th marathon. I cried when I got back with my group, I was so mad but I had given it everything I had. I wasn't the last one to finish from the group but I was surprised how difficult it was to run in the altitude. I went back with some others to run Marv in to the finish. I am really glad we went up to support him as he gets close to completing his 50 states. He was even interviewed by a local station. http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=http://www.noco5.com/article/colorado-marathon&usg=AFQjCNFJZjU1lp2QgiCtKlVKlVIqiJEyQw

Some of the group stayed over another day and it snowed that night! I went back to Tulsa that night because my daughter was going on a mission trip to India the next day. Riding the shuttle back to the Denver airport, I had some good conversations with others who had run the marathon and everyone who was not from Colorado agreed that the altitude had affected them. Altitude aside, this was a great marathon to run and I recommend it to anyone who needs Colorado as one of their states. It does fill up early, it was full by Feb. 8. Next marathons will be Outer Banks, NC on November 14, which will be Marv's final state and St. Jude's in Memphis on Dec. 4. I'm going to do the R66 Quarter on Aug. 7 and the R66 Half on Nov. 21.

Imperfect Run

2010-03-20T20:15:00.003-05:00

First day of Spring and we have snow. I don't think I've been in Oklahoma this winter, surely I've been somewhere on the east coast, Oklahoma is not supposed to have this much snow. We set out to go 20 miles this morning. I couldn't seem to get moving, I think I was subconsciously trying to avoid this run. I finally got to Veterens's Park shortly after 8 and of course, the faithful were already on their way. I parked over at 21st and hurried south on the trail. Sure enough, Carmie was waiting for me at 31st. My big blue rain hat is easy to spot. Going south was pleasant and 71st came up very quickly. When we turned to go across the 71st St bridge, it was torture, the sleet pelted our cheeks and we pulled our hoods and hats to cover the left side of our faces. It seemed to take forever to get across the bridge and finally we were on our way up to Turkey Mountain. We headed over on the west side and hit the north wind with full force. I wanted to quit so badly but I wanted to get back to my car more! I thought about the many times we had run on this side of the river and it was stinking hot. Today it was freezing cold and reminded me of the wind when I ran White Rock marathon in 2008. I was not good company today but we struggled through and decided to cut the run short when we got to the other side of the river. We ended up doing 14 but it felt like 20. We were so tense on the west side with our heads hunched down, trying to shelter our faces from the wind. We were the only RW group to show up for our run this morning but a lot of people may have opted for the Snake Run. I was so glad to be done and go to Panera. We talked about future marathons and how work gets in the way of our fun. Its great to have these marathons to look forward to. We are probably going to do the Memphis marathon in December. I hadn't seen this group of runners for awhile and it was fun to see this group again. Simone and Bronda are awesome run leaders and I'm glad we got to run together today. This was one of the worst training runs due to the weather but I feel good that we made it through without injury and most likely we increased our mental endurance. I don't know about next weekend, I am running the Wish Lemons run and I would like a PR which means I won't be able to run long. OKC will be three weeks after that and I've done 20 miles only once since R66. I could run long on Sunday but if I PR on Saturday, I won't have anything in the tank on Sunday.

Saturday in the Parks

2010-03-07T21:14:00.002-06:00

We had a really fun route through several of Tulsa parks today. I really liked this route, took us all over downtown and varied elevations. It was an 11 mile route then I went south on Riverside to do another 9 to make my 20. While Iwas out on Riverside I met 2 runners, Tanya and Jana, who will be doing OKC as their first marathon. I ran out to 56th with them and enjoyed hearing how their training was going and how excited they are about OKC. That first marathon is so magic, it is so new, you have to trust all your training. I miss that a little. Subsequent marathons have had their own mysteries and uniqueness but their is nothing like the first one, kind of like having your first child...really I even cried when I finished my first and felt as happy as I did after having our first child.
I felt really good for this run, I walked a teeny bit, just between 2 lightpoles in my 16th mile. I'm working on the mental game, I usually check out around the 18th mile and I did much better at R66. And this was my second 20m this year and both times I have run the whole time, almost. Next week will be a drop back along with running the St. Pat run, then another 22 the next week.
When I pulled in the driveway, my daughter was on the cell, wanting to go out to eat. We went to Genghis Grill, yummm, great way to end a Saturday morning run.

Giving Back

2010-02-28T14:56:00.006-06:00

This week didn't start out very good. At work, 8 people in my department were laid off, part of a company-wide layoff. I had survivor's guilt and felt overwelmed with the burden of missing them and more work than I could even comprehend.

Tuesday morning my neighbor didn't get up to run and the other guy we run with had just had a funeral for the unexpected death of his father and he was headed out to California. Since I fell a couple of weeks ago, I don't feel safe running by myself. I finally got to run on Thursday and had a good run although my neighbor frets everytime she hears my feet shuffle because she is worried I am going to fall.

Yesterday, I did not do a long Saturday run, actually, I didn't run at all. I volunteered at the Post Oak Trail Marathon by working the aid station at the Pole Barn, directing weary runners to the aid station and then directing them back out to the trail, cheering them on. This was a whole lot of fun, observing the different running attire, looking at the various running bodies, young & forever young, some lean, some mean and meeting other people in the running community. This is an inagural event and Tulsa Running Club went overboard to get this event off the ground. The weather was perfect, almost 50, clear skies, light wind. About 200 people signed up for the trail marathon and there were 300 signed for the 10, 25 and 50K on Sunday. These trails are new, they had to be marked, and then there's the aid stations to be set up and manned. Then they have to do it all again on Sunday for the 10, 25 and 50K races.

Trail running is a different running event, very slow. They didn't even take off fast from the starting line, one of my friends, just stood there fiddling with his Garmin, since the satelite hadn't kicked in, he didn't seem one bit concerned that he was the last person to start. As many of the runners came out of the trail to go to the aid station, they took their time. This was not a race, it was an event to finish, without regard for time. The trails are rigorous and to complete these events, without injury, takes focus and endurance. The main reason I volunteered was to support some friends of mine and I was totally impressed as I saw them come out of the trails, looking like they were having a very good time, at least at that point in the event which was 12.5 miles. Look at them, don't you agree? By the time I needed to leave (12:20), I had seen almost everyone-Jason, Lisa, Carmie, Chris, Donna, Mary, Teresa, Carolyn, Ken and Charlie. The only one I missed was Greg, the Garmin guy.

I was a little torn with not running, but this was not the weekend for me to tackle this. I needed to be available for phone calls on a database conversion at work and I think I would have ended up getting injured but I was a little envious as I watched my friends making their way on the trail. Well, missing this one and next week's Little Rock will make the next marathon, Oklahoma City, all the sweeter. There will be many more marathons for me, for now, I will pray for my friends as they recover from this race of endurance, actually, 2 races, they were daring enough to do the 10K on Sunday too.

Black Eye

2010-02-14T15:11:00.005-06:00

Last week we had one of those treasured running days. We ran 20 miles and had a really good training run, felt great when we were done. We started at the Jenks bridge, ran north to about 56th street. This was my first time on this part of the redone Riverparks and it looks so nice. Then we went back out and up to Turkey Mountain, the parking lot up there is so pretty now with all the rock work.

On my Tuesday run, I fell and got a black eye. I was running with my neighbor and when I went down, she said a prayer for me. My only injury was the black eye and it didn't hurt. I'm very grateful that I didn't break anything. On my Thursday run, I fell again and received just a couple of scrapes, thank God. I don't know why I fell 2 days in a row, I was probably too tenative in my Thursday run, fearing that I was going to fall.

Yesterday's run was Poker Run day. I always look forward to this, an easy, untimed run, get cards at different pick up points, end up with 7 and see what kind of hand you have. Runners World brings a bounty of free merchandise, with the best going to those who have a Royal Flush.

We started out an hour early to get extra miles in. It was much colder and windier than we expected, the air was very damp and this put a dismal shadow on our running. We saw Simone and her group ( a big turnout) as well. Carolyn, who completed her first 50 mile ultra last week, joined us. We went thru downtown Tulsa and were thrilled to take a water break at the Adams Mark where it was nice and warm. We were so cold and it seemed to take forever to get back to Veteren's Park. We registered for the Poker Run and headed out for another 5. I met up with Janet Burgess, who I haven't seen in months. She will be running Boston in April 2011, I wish I could run with her but I don't think I'll be that fast this year. I managed to get thru this run with no falls, yay!

When we finished, we looked at our cards and decided to turn them in since they weren't very high and we didn't want to stand around forever for our prize. I am getting tired of the cold, this is so untypical of Oklahoma but I know shouldn't complain. The east coast has much worse weather than us.

Coffee at Starbucks, can't go wrong there, we discussed our future marathons and how I am going to get fast enough for Boston. My running buddies encouraged me, as they always do, together we'll make it happen. Their next race is the Post Oak Trail Marathon. I'm pretty sure that I am not going to do this. I think my recent falls are a warning that I should heed. I'll have a fun time volunteering.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone, I hope you either get a hug or give one and tell those dear to you how much you love them.

Skipping another Saturday

2010-01-30T14:31:00.003-06:00

Since we're snowed in, I did not brave the elements and go out and run this a.m., but I do have my priorities straight, I managed to get to the salon by 10:00 for color & cut. I love that quiet air that is all around when it is all white outside. It sounds like the RW group had a good run this a.m. but I am glad that I didn't scrape my car at 7:00 a.m., my neighbors would probably tp my property later and thawing out my car took about 15 min. at 9:30 thanks to my hubby. I am doing a 16er tomorrow since I am doing a marathon in about a month, depending on whether I do Post Oak or Little Rock. Here's my lineup through May:

February 13 - Poker Run 5m (untimed)
February 27 - Post Oak Trail Marathon-very uncommitted on this one
February 28 - Post Oak 10K-this is doable
March 7 - Little Rock Marathon
March 13 - RW St Patrick's Day 5K
March 27 - Wish Lemons 5K Tulsa, OK
April 25 - OKC Memorial Marathon
May 9 - Ft Collins Marathon
May TBD 1/2 Marathon

Seeing this schedule gets my motor going! I need goals, even though I'm not fast, I'm also not a recreational runner. If I didn't have a race to look forward to, I probably wouldn't run. I admire the people who get out there and run, day after day, week after week, year after year, with no desire or need to race. I run with someone like that during the week. I know he'll run as long as he is able, has been for 20+ years. Me, I need the challenge of a race.

Wet but a worthy training run

2010-01-24T15:03:00.002-06:00

So I get the email early in the week that Carmie wants to run at 6:30 a.m. on Sat. I groan and think, I'll go run with the other group. Then others respond and they are jumping on the 6:30 bandwagon. I crater to peer pressure and psyche myself up for the 6:30 start. Then I see that it is supposed rain (again) on Sat. morning. I thought it couldn't have been worse than the Post Oak practice...and it wasn't. We had a good run, got pretty drenched, but went south on the Creek and got some hill work in. Did 13 miles, we'll do at least 16 next week. I feel good getting some long runs in, I was much stronger this Saturday than the Sunday I ran 12 miles a couple of weeks ago. Since I want to have higher mileage weeks this year, I'm going to add another run in this week, that should get me up to at least 30 miles this week.

Post Oak Trails

2010-01-18T11:01:00.003-06:00

Saturday I went out to Post Oak Lodge to do a trail run out there. They are having a trail marathon on February 26, I am not a trail runner and do not aspire to be one but I wanted to have some variety in my training. It had rained most of the night and was very foggy on Saturday morning. About 45 people came out for training run and we separated into groups based on our 5K pace, but we wouldn't be anywhere near that pace, more like 15 min. mile. For the most part I was dressed appropriately. I had a waterproof North Face jacket and a light jacket underneath it and a technical shirt. I have a great wide brimmed waterproof hat. I had trail running shoes. The only mistake I made was to wear my capri pants and socks that didn't cover my ankles. I received only a few scratches though.
It was very muddy, sticky, slippery and cold even though it was about 42. It was a constant drizzle. You don't race on these, you pick your way through and hope you can stay up with everyone and look behind you to make sure no one else is getting too far behind. Some people had a really good time doing this, I did not. I like to move, maybe it will be better when it is drier. I value my history of non-injury, I'm concerned that I could get hurt very easily out here. But, I want to stretch myself so I'm still planning on doing this as long as my schedule permits. There is another training run on February 6 and I hope it is drier so I can get a better idea of what it would be like on firmer ground.
What I learned from this:

Protect your ankles with ankle socks
Bring a change of clothes, including shoes & socks (I did) and a plastic bag for dirty stuff (thanks Tess)
Bring something to eat or gu, even if is only 6 miles, you will get famished
Make sure you are with someone and have your cell phone (we got far behind and everyone was looking for us)

My ankles were really sore on Sunday, I dread to think what they will feel like after 26 miles. I need to put in more miles on trails if I'm going to do this. Hopefully, Feb. 6 will be a longer run. I wonder how longer this marathon will take? It took us 2 hours to go six miles but we were sloshing through muck.

The best thing about the day was that I didn't fall and the coffee and fellowship at Starbucks was a great way to wrap it up.

I can't wait to run on solid ground on Tuesday.

Saturday Break

2010-01-09T21:54:00.002-06:00

With the weather being so cold, I'm doing my long run on Sunday instead of Saturday this week. It's been fabulous to have a whole Saturday at home, I think it's been almost 2 years since this has happened. Right now I'm listening to my favorite running podcast, Pheddipidations, he's talking about their Boston Polar Plunge, it was 34 there compared to our Polar Bear Plunge of 20 something. He's also taking about Spring Marathon options.
So today I got tons of cleaning done at home and thought this would be a good time to write about plans for this year.
Ideally, I'd like to run the Post Oak Trail Marathon, the Little Rock Marathon and the OKC Memorial Marathon, then I'd be a marathon maniac. I don't know if I can do that with my personal schedule though because my sister-in-law has cancer and I don't know if I'm going to be going to the east coast to see her this Spring. I also would like to do the Fort Collins Marathon http://www.ftcollinsmarathon.com/ in May and then I would take a long break and do either the R66 or some marathon in Nov. or Dec. I've done river rafting on the Poudre River where this marathon occurs and it is beautiful.
I want to increase my weekly mileage this year as well. Last year I averaged 20-25 miles/week and I want to up that to at least 30 per week and add more speed and hill work.
I certainly would be thrilled if I ran a 4:30 marathon this year. for the shorter distances, I'd like to run a 5K in 26.50 and the Tulsa Run under 1:30.
How about the rest of you? What are your running goals?

Holiday Running

2010-01-03T21:35:00.002-06:00

We went to Charlotte, NC for Christmas so I escaped the snow here. All the way to Charlotte on Wednesday, I kept getting phone alerts of bad weather and I couldn't believe the pictures of snow on FB once the snow hit Tulsa.
Charlotte temperature was around 35 and I went on a couple of runs while I was there. My sister-in-law's neighborhood is hilly and on Thursday I did a short 3 miles through her housing addition. On Saturday, I considered doing a 12 mile but I didn't want to short-change family time so I opted for a 6 mile out on a major road that had sidewalks. The hills were long but not a sharp incline, it was a good run. When I got back, I was glad I had decided to do only 6 because our plans had changed and we were going to hit the mall earlier. I sure didn't want to be the reason for delay when the ladies were going shopping.
I was back in Tulsa by Monday, 12/28, but no running outside on Tuesday so I went to the club and did the eliptical, I haven't done that in 2 years!
No running Thursday morning outside again and then I did the Race Into the New Year, I wore my Yak-Trax for the first time and they really helped. Then on Saturday we ran 5 miles in the cold. With all the layers I had on, I was glad to do only 5, we had a great turnout in spite of the weather.
This next week is going to be really cold again, the snow hasn't melted, so I better make plans to run indoors.

My Review of Seirus Thermax Headliner Balaclava

2009-12-05T11:25:00.001-06:00

Originally submitted at REI

This ultra-thin balaclava fits easily under a helmet and is easy to pack along as a lightweight insulating layer.

good for cold weather running

By bostonmarathonwannabe from Tulsa, OK on 12/5/2009

Gift: No

Sizing: Feels true to size

Pros: Lightweight, Breathable, Warm

Best Uses: Extreme Conditions

Describe Yourself: Casual Adventurer

I'm a distance runner and purchased this for cold weather running. It's perfect for my objectives-lightweight, multi-use meaning it can either go around my neck, over my head or over my mouth, and it provides just the right amount of warmth. It wasn't too tight around my face and it didn't squeeze my earbuds. I have a small face so it may be too tight if you have a large frame, it is a one size fits all.

(legalese)

Hello Winter!

2009-12-05T10:59:00.002-06:00

Today I got to try out a balaclava by Seirus that I got during Black Friday last week for a sweet price. I like it because it can either go around my neck, over my head or over my mouth. It is lightweight and I really like it. http://www.rei.com/product/725709 I got mine at Sun N Ski.

Today was an easy run, 7 miles in the cold. I wasn't sure what time RW was supposed to be at Veteren's Park and no one was there at 7:00 so I went on to 41st and ran north from there. I saw Stefanie and ended up running with her and Simone, Bronda and her hubby. I was really overdressed, before I left, the weather showed that it "felt like" 16 so I thought I better layer up a bunch on top. I was sweating by the second mile and took my jacket off. There were plenty of runners out there braving the cold, good to see people being consistent with their running. Next Saturday we start officially training for OKC!

Out to do Christmas shopping today, can't wait to see my relatives in Charlotte at Christmas.

Not a PR but a good race at Route 66

2009-11-22T16:17:00.006-06:00

After my awful Mock Marathon 2 weeks ago, I rested and did slow runs before R66. By Friday before the race, I was feeling excited and energtic again. My only challenge is I have been having trouble sleeping. Between hot flashes (men wouldn't understand) and praying in the middle of the night for a local pastor who has cancer, I wasn't totally rested.
Sunday morning I went outside and thought I could tolerate standing at the start line in a short sleeved shirt. I wish I had the nerve to put my singlet on underneath it but I figured it wouldn't get warm enough. Hmmm, my loss. So I got to our meeting place for Runners World and checked around to see if anyone was going my pace. Stefanie and Tracy said they would be going between 11 and 12 min pace so I decided to pace with them.
We took off and it took about 3 min to get over the start line. We paced ourselves pretty evenly, staying between 10.03 and 10.48. Tracy and others had a sign party to make signs for Simone and Bronda since this was thier first marathon. So, in the beginning, we were watching for the signs and making sure that Simone and Bronda saw them. I thought that was so thoughtful of their team to make those signs, that's what I love about the Runners World groups. At mile 9, I saw Carmi, Teresa and Cindy in their silver wigs and black & white glasses handing out goodies and cheers. They showed up again somewhere around Denver, isn't it something how seeing someone you know gives you a boost? Once we got onto Riverside, Stefanie and Tracy were running faster than I was and they got ahead of me. I don't run well by myself in marathons. I get bored and unmotivated. Tatur Dave's article that he shared earlier this week about pain challenged me to run through my pain since I have walked after mile 17 of the other 4 marathons I have run. Today, I didn't walk until mile 24, except for the water stations. The main reason I didn't have a PR was because I took a potty break at a single station porta potty and a guy went in before me. I figured he would be quick but I kept hearing the toilet paper roll being rolled so I knew he was having stomach trouble. I didn't know where the next porta potty was so I waited...and waited. While I waited, the 4:45 pace group passed by, darn! Finally he came out and I hoped the porta potty wouldn't be a mess, it wasn't. I wasn't mad at him, I had the same problem at the first R66 I ran. Anyway, back on the road, I tried to catch up to the 4:45 pace group but I couldn't accelerate that much. I told myself that I could still catch up in the next few miles but I didn't. As I made the turnaround at 76th street, I still hadn't walked and I thought I could get through the whole marathon, this was at mile 21. Well, I did well until mile 24 and I let myself walk a little, just a little. Somewhere along Riverside, I saw Mary _____, someone I run with occasionally and learned that this was her 3rd marathon in FIVE weeks!!! She had just passed her darling family, kids, hubby, parents, so sweet. When I got to mile 25 I told myself,"come on, just a little over a mile." I walked for a block and then headed for the finish line. I love hearing people's name being called and where they are from and I love to hear my name, but you know what I love more than anything? Hearing that darling voice, "Mom, hey, good job!" I can't wait for my daughter to run a race with me again.
I did something unique for me during this race. Some of you know that my 23 yr old son drowned in the Columbia River in Portland, OR this past August 1. So for this race, since his birthday was Nov. 21, as I ran each mile, I thought about what he was doing during that year of his life. So, for my own therapy, I'll recount what I thought about, I didn't do this for each year.
Mile 1-as a baby, we loved to take pictures of Chris on the bed, he was soo cute, my unbiased opinion
Mile 2-my sister-in-law started telling me that we weren't being strict enough, this was during the onset of the "terrible twos"
Mile 4-Jessica was born during this year and I thought about how Chris was dethroned and all the time we spent playing in the sandbox
Mile 7-I thought about second grade and a wonderful teacher that Chris had, Mrs. Neece
Mile 12-I thought about middle school, 6th grade, and how Chris probably started getting teased about his stuttering, this is also when he started playing the trumpet in band
Mile 13-Chris built the web page for Byrd middle school and got 1st chair for trumpet
Mile 15-Chris did not like where he went to high school as a freshman and had a poor math teacher, Chris was brilliant in math
Mile 16-Chris transferred to Tulsa School of Arts and Science and had a great experience there, he also started to drive
Mile 18-Chris took extra math classes at TCC and graduated from TSAS
Mile 19-Chris started at University of Tulsa and lived on campus
Mile 22-Chris graduated from Univ. of Tulsa and began working for vidoop and the company relocated to Portland
Mile 23-Chris had the absolute best year of his life, found a church that he loved being a part of, survived a company going under, got 3 job offers in a city where unemplyment was 10% and loved his new job.
Mile 24-this is when I started walking and maybe that's why....
I am so grateful for his life, and for the assurance that he is in the most glorious place in the universe, with the very best friend of all, Jesus.
Once I got across the finish line, I met up with Carmi, Teresa and Cindy without their silver hair wigs and we had pics taken with Mary and her sister. I connected with most everyone else that I run with and learned that the majority of the people had good runs, some had PRs. Simone and Bronda had an excellent run and finished ahead of me, way to go girls!
When I got home, I tried to do the right recovery things, I started out eating a Cliff protein bar when I got in the car, then I drank some chocolate milk. I tried to take a cold bath but I couldn't find the plug for our bathtub so I stood in a cold shower. I drank some more chocolate milk and took a little nap. Then I finished my chocolate milk and checked the web for more finish times. On to planning my next race and training schedule. Maybe I'll see some of you at the Von Franken Family Run this Thursday.

Thank You Runners World Tulsa

2009-11-07T20:19:00.002-06:00

Today was our Mock Marathon to prepare us for Route 66 on Nov. 22. Our "mock" is 22 miles. Since I had done the KC Marathon three weeks ago and ran the Tulsa Run 15K last Saturday, I decided to take this long run easy. I thought I would try for a 10:30 pace, it always sounds so doable until you get past 15 miles and then all I want to do is walk! I ran with Teresa for the first 14 or so miles and we had a great time chatting. Our friend Cindy was resting her injuries and we enjoyed seeing her at the waterstops. Jason, Lisa and Wade were taking some time off as well and they were great cheerleaders as well at the waterstops. After Teresa was gone, I really struggled to keep running. I saw Joe and Cindy at the waterstop at 41st and they were like a breath of fresh air. Joe told me about a good anti-chaffing item called SportShield. I put some on my back where my waist usually gets raw. He said it currently isn't available locally but it looks like this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CJX1UY.
Then I headed back south on Riverside and ran for about 1/4 mile and decided to walk, what a wimp! I walked a lot until I made the turn around at 56th St and then I decided that I would run 4 lightposts and walk 4 lightposts. I don't know why I choose 4 lightposts, nothing scientific about it, just sounded good. I did this until I got to the 41st St water stop again and saw Greg. We headed back towards 21st St and I told him that I was alternating running and walking with every 4th lightpole. He talked me into extending it to 5 lightpoles, which we did until 31st St. Then I said, that was it, I was walking and we walked and talked for about a half mile. Then he talked me into running some more, what a pushover I am! Finally we made it to Veteren's Park, I was so glad that run was over! Now, taper time until Nov. 22!

Hooray for Janet!

2009-10-18T18:15:00.004-05:00

Kansas City was an ok marathon for me, I did have a PR, 4:49:13 but the best part of the event was Janet qualifying for Boston and she qualified handily with a 4:12. Congrats Janet, great effort and a tough course.

This was the first time to go out of town for a marathon and room with others. I wanted my husband to go with me but OU/Texas was too much competition. This was fun to hang out with Becky and Janet, we headed over to the convention center, took a long detour and after asking for directions a couple of times, we found the expo. We saw Carmi, Teresa, Donna, Katy, cindy and Chris at the Expo. The expo was pretty small and we went to the pasta dinner, very disappointing in my opinion, but Don Karong was a good speaker. Fortunately we saw Chris and the rest of the group after eating and he gave us a ride back to our hotel, thanks Chris!
We hung out in the room and watched HGTV. In the morning, we took a cab to the start line, we were only 5 blocks from the start but didn't want to walk that far in case it was too cold. This was a good choice. We stayed inside a building until about 6:35 and found our pace groups.

My goal was a 4:30 and I have a tendancy to set my goals too high. Since the end of July, I've been running only 3 times/week and I hadn't even thought about the effect that could have on my endurance. I had an excellent long run on the 3rd and the River Rush 5K was another PR for me so I felt really ready for this marathon. I lined up with the 4:30 pace group and hung with them for the first 11 miles. They had lowered their per lap time between mile 4 and mile 12 to make up for the beginning hill at mile 2-4. By mile 12 I could tell that I was tiring too much and I was having difficulty staying with them. I began to slow down and hit a major hill during this mile on a street called Sunset. I began to alternate walking and running and continued that thru the end. My legs felt heavy and my mind began to wander and I lost motivation. I got really bored between miles 13 and 19 and began to question why I even do these races. I even began to regret that I had already registered for the R66 and wished I was doing only the 1/2. Your mind does begin to have terrible thoughts during these long races and I hadn't put my music in to distract me. Once I got to 22 and saw the 4:50 pace group pass me, I got in gear because I didn't want to have a slower time than OKC. So I did get in under 4:50. Then I met Becky and Janet in the food tent and at that point Janet didn't say anything about qualifying for Boston. On our walk back to the hotel she said she thought she qualified but she wasn't certain. When we got back she had a phone message that she had qualified then I got on my laptop and got her official time and we oohed and awed that she had done it. All 3 of us had PRs so we were satisfied but obviously not as excited as Janet. Then we went to Cheesecake Factory and gorged ourselves, Janet's Luau Salad looked yummy and my Fiesta Burrito was delicious as well. Of course, we couldn't eat it all and had to save room for cheesecake. We rolled out of there and headed for home. Now I have 3 states down.

Next race: Tulsa Run, then R66.

Overall summary of the KC Marathon. Get with the pacers, mine were excellent, knew the course well and kept us posted of what was ahead and what we were going to do. Janet had an excellent experience, her pacer really wanted her to qualify and he kept encouraging her. The aid stations were excellent, always told you what beverages were first, which was almost always Gatorade and each aid station had a different flavor of Gatorade. They had Gu at least 2 times and vaseline as well. There were plenty of port-a-potties and lots of crowd support. The food tent at the end was well stocked too. The music was ok throughout the race but I wish they had at least one Christian band because I find that music so inspiring.

Kansas City Countdown

2009-10-11T21:52:00.003-05:00

This coming Saturday is the KC marathon. This will be my 4th and I am almost as excited as my 1st back when I did R66 in 2007. I feel very ready for this and I believe I can do a 4:30. I did the River Rush 5K on Saturday and had another PR, 26:43, that is an 8:38 pace and I was very satisfied with that and even left some in the tank, shame on me but I'm learning more about what I can do and how hard to push myself. I'm not even wiped out and the last 5K I raced in May, I had another PR and felt like I had run a marathon. The weather forecast for KC looks ideal, no rain the day before or after or day of and temps will be in the 50s during the day, I will love that. The weather for the River Rush was in the low 50s and it felt fabulous to me.
I'll run only 2 more times this week and take it easy, I must remind myself to take it easy, this cooler weather makes me want to run fast. I'm going to run KC with the pace group for 4:30, they take you over the hills slow and pick up speed on the flat areas. They are very familiar with the route and I think they'll take good care of me. Janet is trying for a 4:15, that is her BQ and Becky is going for 4:10. This may be the first time that I'll run the marathon in capris instead of shorts, we'll see how cold it is in the morning. I still haven't decided about my shirt. In my previous post I said I had received my singlet with my race number on it but I don't want to wear it over a shirt in case I get too warm. So I will probably wear it and wear a long sleeved shirt with my paper number on it and if I get hot, tie my shirt around my waist. I'm also going to make sure I get plenty of sleep at night this week, something I'm usually not very disciplined about so I need to be getting to bed in about 15 minutes.

24 miles and ready for Kansas City

2009-10-04T22:48:00.003-05:00

Today was a very good running day. The temperature was 43 when I got up and I wore a lightweight jacket for the first time since Spring. I had a bad long run two weeks ago and decided to run 22 today instead of having a 3 week taper. I was considering running 24 but wanted to wait and see how I felt after 11. I was also going to try a different fueling technique, start the Gu at 5 miles and every 5 miles after that. That worked really well because I got the Gu in before I was tired. Also, I tried out my running shirt for the KC marathon, you could order your number on your shirt: http://www.wearyournumber.com/ I did chafe a little bit under my arms, but other than that, the shirt worked really well and I love the way it looks. It cost 27.95 and I'll get a lot of wear out of it. It was fun to wear the shirt before the event occurred and I saw runners staring at it, trying to figure out what race it was from. I ended up running 24 and I ran the whole 24, stopping only for water or potty breaks. I felt good the whole time and averaged 10:33/mile. My goal is 4:30 for this marathon but that will be a stretch. Today the conditions were perfect and I don't know what KC will be like and with my sensitive stomach, I never know what to expect. We'll see, I'm really looking forward to the marathon, I know we'll have fun regardless and eating at the Cheesecake Factory after we shower will be something to look forward to.

As I finished my run, I met up with Bobby and Sandra and she had just completed her longest run ever, 20 miles. Yea for Sandra, those milestones are to be celebrated! And yea for Bobby for being such a good running partner.

I want to give a shout out to Jason and Lisa. They will be doing an ultra this coming weekend in El Dorado, Kansas. Jason will be doing 100 miles, omg, yes 100 mile and Lisa will be doing the 50 mile. Jason is actually excited, said it is going to be fun. Well, people look at me like I'm crazy too when I say that marathons are fun. I feel like those people do, but, have fun, Jason and Lisa, I'll be praying for you.

After I finshed my run, I showered and went over to a friends house with my hubby, Gary, and we put primer on their window and door frames. My friend has her 3rd reoccurence of cancer and had chemo on Thursday so I know this made her feel better, to see progress being made on her house and we really enjoyed helping her. Plus, it's good to move around a lot after a long run so you don't tighten up, I was up and down the ladder, so I shouldn't be too sore on the following days.

This coming Saturday I'm going to do the River Rush, other than that, I'm into my taper.

Sweet Relief From Heat

2009-07-18T13:49:00.002-05:00

Temp showed 66 degrees when I left the house this a.m. at 5:30. I was really looking forward to a great run. Our course was flat and only 10 miles.

We're continuing to have a great turnout and there's lots of other runners and cyclists on the trail. We had a pretty uneventful training run, Becky, Janet and I talked more about our schedule for the KC Marathon.

Our fantastic run leader, Jason, was in a 50 mile run last w/e and said it was the hardest he had ever done, it was so hot and he was drenched with sweat. He's doing another 50 mile tonight but he still showed up to cheer us on and stayed until we were done. I could tell it was killing him to not run with us, especially with the weather being so cool, but that was a good call to rest before tonight. Thanks for being there Jason!

When I got in my car to go home, it was only 8:20 a.m., it was super to get home so early.

Solo Hill Training

2009-07-13T23:34:00.002-05:00

I missed hill training last week and I didn't want to miss another one. The thought of running in this 100+ was sickening so I waited until 8:30 tonight and ran up a hill in my neighborhood. It wasn't the same steep climb as 11th and Riverside but I did do it 8 times and it felt good. It was so dark on the way back that I took a wrong turn in my neighborhood (on foot) and got a little disoriented. But I'm really glad I ran the hill. Now...to get up at 4:45 and run again...and that same hill is on my route.

I drank 6 oz of orange juice before I ran and I think that really helped. Unfortunately my Garmin did that "laps database full" trick again so I didn't record my run.

Many Hands at Poker Run

2009-07-12T17:40:00.006-05:00

Saturday was another one of Runners World's fun poker runs. We end up with 7 cards by getting one at the start and getting one every mile, then getting one at the finish. At the end, you turn in your cards and, based on your hand, you get to pick out a prize from the items from the Runners World stash. The prizes range from a free pair of shoes, gift certificates, entries to races, running jacket, shirts or shorts, lots of socks and lots of shirts left over from previous races. It is a lot of fun and great of Runners World to give away merchandise and we hang out for awhile and get to visit.

What a hot day! The marathoners started early, at 6:00, and put in 4 miles before we started the 5 mile Poker Run. There were lots of people besides us out running, Fleet Feet training groups and other runners. It is refreshing to see people out here taking good care of themselves, in spite of the heat. I went a little hard for the 4 miles with Becky and Janet and then we took it slower for the 5 miles. The last mile of the 5 was very tiring, I've got to get more acclimated to this heat. We ended up averaging about 10:00 min. miles which was closer to a steady state than an easy run. I did feel pretty tired the rest of the day but had a fun time at a baby shower.

I think I've decided on a fall marathon, the Kansas City one on Oct. 17 http://www.waddellandreedkcmarathon.org/. It is a little bit hillier than the OKC one but I've been told that with the hill training we're doing this summer, I shouldn't have any trouble with the race.

With this heat, I don't want to do the hill training at 11th & Riverside. It's too long of a drive from work and it is too hot. I'm thinking that I will do my hill work in my neighborhood at 8:30 in the evening. We have a good elevation increase just east of my house.

Last week, I tried some new socks. They are by injinji http://www.rei.com/product/728371 and they look like this on my feet:

I ran in them for 8 miles and they felt fine. I can feel a little seam on the big toe so I'll reserve saying they're really good until I take them on a 20 mile. I got them at Backwoods, another one of my favorite stores for outdoor gear.

Another sweaty day

2009-06-27T19:56:00.003-05:00

I got halfway to Veteren's Park and felt like something was missing. Shuffle? yes, Gatorade? yes, Visor? yes, Heart Rate monitor? yes, t-shirt to change into? yes, Garmin? no. Oh rats, no garmin and it's too late to turn back. Don't you hate to run without your Garmin? Especially today, since we were doing hills, I wanted to monitor my heart rate. Well, at least I could take off my monitor and not worry about chaffing.

The first 4 miles were really hilly and I took it slow and easy. I felt pretty heavy with the heat and I'm so glad that we are starting at 6 next week instead of 7. When I was first training for marathons a couple of years ago, I hated that early start time and we started at 5:30 but now I really like it. It keeps the whole day from being used up with the run and you get a head start on the heat. Rachel joined us again and it was great to have her cheery spirit to lead us on. It was great to see Greg as well, he had been injured while training for St. Louis and is getting back into training. And it was great to meet Jason's mom, I think this multi-generational running is way cool.

I didn't go to hill training Monday night because I needed to be somewhere else but I learned that people turned out in spite of the heat and Dave brought icy cold sponges so people could be refreshed after running the hills. So, I'm pretty sure I'll be there on Monday and it is supposed to be a litle bit cooler.

I'm reading an excellent book on running, actually like a runner's bible, The Lore of Running by Dr. Timothy Noakes. It covers physiology, training for all distances, what to do for all types of injuries, it will be a good reference book. I also have a couple of books on reserve at the library,

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner (thank you Rachel for the recommendation). Another one that I've already read that was fascinating about the history of women's running was http://www.amazon.com/Marathon-Woman-Running-Revolutionize-Womens/dp/0786719672/?tag=completerunni-20 I will forever be grateful to Katherine Switzer for clearing the way for women's running.
Anybody else out there have some favs you care to recommend?

Easy Does It

2009-06-20T11:40:00.003-05:00

It is sweltering today, I elected to run with Cindy's group at 6:00 a.m. instead of my RW group at 7:00, good choice, it was so humid even at that early hour and it sure didn't feel like 78. We ran from Helmrich Park up to Turkey Mountain and on to the west side of the river and back to the park, 10 m on my Garmin but could have been over 11, depending on how much you walked. On our way back as we came to Turkey Mountain parking lot we observed that the sun had just come out in full force and we were so glad that we didn't have much further to go.

I'm so glad I started wearing my heart rate monitor because I felt like I was working so hard but my bpm were in the 150 range instead of the 170 that it felt like. We took it really slow and took lots of walk breaks. Several from this group are going to Seattle for the marathon there next Saturday so there was no need to push hard, thankfully, I was glad when this run was done and really enjoyed the frappuccino at Starbucks. We had someone new join us, Rachel from Broken Arrow, who was a delight to have along and did her 1st 1/2 marathon at the Aquarium Run and finished under 2.00...I'm impressed!

I've been going to the hill work training on Monday night and even though it is so very hot, it is only about 4 miles plus the hill repeats and I know the hill repeats are going to pay off in strength building. I'm the slowest and oldest one there but that's ok, I will get faster and feel younger.

Want a chance to win a free pair of running shoes? Check out http://iwannagetphysical.blogspot.com/2009/06/who-wants-free-pair-of-shoes.html and post a comment on his blog. He's a triathlete.

Great start for Runner's World Route 66 training

2009-06-07T00:27:00.003-05:00

Today was our kick-off for training for the R66 fall marathon. We have about 250 people signed up at different distances. We had a great crowd this morning and we were assigned to groups. I think this is a good idea and once we get settled into the right pace group, we'll be smoking. We had a good, easy 6 mile run and I went back out for 3 with Michael M and Rebecca (someone I haven't met before) more afterwards. Jason is our leader and he did a great job of keeping us on pace and encouraging us. He and Leesa just moved into a different house and they were up until 1:00 last night moving in. I really appreciate the dedication of the run leaders. I was glad to see Janet in my group, she pushes me and she's very encouraging. We're close in age and manage to have some good talks while we run. Our group is training for a 4:30 marathon andwe're off to a good beginning. I'm going to try and do the hill work on Monday evening with Dave S. It's really hard to get away from work so we'll see if I can get there by 5:30.

I've started wearing my heart monitor more consistently so I can monitor how hard I am working.

3 PRs in 34 days

2009-05-30T23:21:00.002-05:00

Dave S and I must be trying to outlast each other in the "who can take the longest to update their blog" race. I finally beat Dave in a race.

I'm really happy with my races this Spring. I had a PR at the OKC marathon on 4/26, 4:56, a PR at the Jenks Aquarium 1/2 marathon on 5/16, 2:06 and last night (5/29) at the Kidney Klassic, I did 27:05, and I'll claim that I have met my goal for the 5K for this year, even though this is 5 sec over. I think I'm done racing for awhile, I'm going to focus on training for the fall marathon and maybe do a 10K if one comes up but other than that, I'll wait for the Tulsa Run. My 1:21:00 goal for the Tulsa Run is looking very ambitious now, my McMillan chart now shows that I would do it in 1:27 based on the 27:05 5K. We'll see how things come together after the speed and hill work this summer.

I'm really looking forward to training hard this summer and getting to know everyone better. Dave has laid out some great routes and we are going blast thru those downtown hills. I've also started biking a little on my own. June 6 can't come soon enough and join us at Panera on Cherry St when you're done with your run.

Oklahoma! Where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain!

2009-04-26T19:16:00.004-05:00

Everyone at the OKC Marathon got a good dose of Oklahoma wind. Yes, it was grueling on the way back, especially coming over Claussen, which seemed to go on and on. But, we had a good race for the first 15 or 16 miles. It got a little rough in Nichols Hills on the way back but we still had some fight left in us but once we hit Claussen and the wind was relentless, it was really hard to keep running...so we didn't. That was the longest 4 mile stretch but I kept thinking about some others in our group ahead of us who were trying to get a 4:15 and I prayed for them that they could achieve their goal. I lost anyone I was running with on Claussen and I was torn between waiting for them or pressing on to do my best and I decided to press on because they had told me to do that if they dropped back and I would want them to do the same if the tables were turned. So many people were walking on Claussen, it seemed that the only ones running were the relay runners.

Once I got to the 25th mile, I told myself that I had to run, especially since my pace had dropped off so much that there was a possibility that I wouldn't break 5:00. Actually, up to mile 24, I was still on pace to finish at 4:45 but I slowed down so much that I was going to need to pick up the pace to even break 5:00. Turning on Broadway and seeing the finish line down the street was such a relief. I kept my eyes focused on the finish line and pressed on and hoped that my Garmin was right because it looked like I was going to be several minutes under 5:00. Crossing that finish line felt so good. I ended up with a 4:56:38 which is a PR for me.

Even though the last 10 miles were so tough, it was a great weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed the pasta dinner, hearing the speakers and seeing all the RW runners. I especially was inspired by Amy Palmiero-Winters, the amputee:http://www.seeamyrun.com/ and I thought about her pushing that wheelchair all throughout the race. It was so great to run with friends and to meet some new people (Lauren) and I learned that Lauren is the sister of someone my daughter swims with at Booker T. Having Lauren's parents cheer for us all thoughout the race was so incredible, I can't thank them enough. And it was great to reunite after the race and gripe together about the weather and how hard the race was. Getting a PR was very rewarding, my next goal is a 4:45 but it will be in the fall and I haven't decided where to run yet. I am going to do the Aquarium 1/2 marathon in a couple of weeks and try to finish in 2:00.

Thanks to Joe and Dave too for coming over to OKC to cheer us on, it meant a lot.

I'm eating my words, another windy marathon

2009-04-25T21:55:00.002-05:00

I said I would NEVER run another windy marathon after I ran Dallas last December and here I am, tomorrow's OKC is projected to be windy and most likely rain, in fact, thunderstorms. I hope they don't close the race, please God, intervene and keep the lightening and thunder away. So many people want to run this race because of what happened to OKC.

I was so inspired by the pre-race talks at the pasta dinner-the amputee who is pushing a young girl in a wheelchair for the marathon and talks by Bill Rodgers and Joan Benoit Samuelson. In spite of the weather, I am truly pumped. And it is so great to run with friends, in Dallas I was a lone ranger.

Well, off to bed for some shut-eye, I'll be up at 3.

Just 2 more miles-reflection on my longest training run ever

2009-04-16T18:07:00.002-05:00

Saturday, April 11 was our final long run before the OKC marathon. The day dawned perfectly, 42 degrees, clear skies. Dave set the tone by encouraging us to "run with perseverance, the course set before us," and most of us could hardly stand still long enough to listen to his instruction, so anxious were we to get this particular run under our belt. We were going to do 4 loops of 5 miles each around the Maple Ridge area and then tag a 2 miler at the end using whatever route we wanted. We also were not supposed to wear our timing devices but addict that I am, I had to hang on to mine, if only to document that I did the distance.

My first couple of loops were a breeze, the first 5 miles I ran with Carmie and it was hard to believe that she had just run Hogeye, one of the top 10 most difficult marathons, in Fayetteville, only last weekend. The next 3 loops I ran with Larry and we paced each other well. Both of us are wanting to qualify for Boston and he has the same QT as I do but he will probably qualify before I do, but's who's in a hurry? I tried Gu Roctane, the ultra endurance gel, for the first time and it went down fine and gave me a good buzz. I really like the Blueberry Pomegranate flavor but the Vanilla Orange was ok too. I think I found a good system for my fuel, taking a gel every 5 miles seemed to keep me ahead of the energy drain at the end of the run. I alternated bt the regular Gu and the Roctane, the Roctane costs twice as much but it has more muscle restoring qualities to it, the biggest change in the gel is it contains Ornithine Alpha-Ketoglutarate (okg) which limits the body's tendency to break down muscle protein tissue. OKG keeps you going longer and aids in recovery.

When we were finishing the 3rd loop I told Larry that I was thinking about tagging on 4 miles instead of 2, for a total of 24 miles. OKC would be my third marathon and since I've haven't learned how to keep myself together after 18 miles, I wanted to go most of the distance and see how I did. I said I'd fully commit after we were further into the 4th loop, I was still feeling pretty strong during the 3rd loop, but then again, I usually do.

About halfway into the 4th loop I said that I would do the 24 miles and Larry said he'd go the distance too. I told him it wouldn't be pretty and I was getting really tired but I wanted to mentally tackle this so I wouldn't fall apart in OKC. So, we finish our 4 loops, 20 miles, and we head back north on Riverside and I'm beginning to get a little tight. I should have had more Gatorade. I make the first 2 mile section and we head back south to 31st street, oh, I'm really sluggish and hurting now. We gulped down some water and got right back on the trail, if we stopped, we would surely stop for good. Those last 2 miles were brutal, I whined and wanted to alternate walking and running so badly but Larry wouldn't let me walk. I am so glad he was there, because I definitely would have wimped out. Not only did we do 24 but he had the gall to ask me to tack on .2 so we could say we did 24.2!!! Ohhh the pain, but it was so worth it, I feel so ready for OKC! Now, please God, give us another beautiful, perfect day like Saturday, we've had more than our share of windy Saturday training runs.

When I got home, I did crash on the couch for about an hour but then I showered and went to the mall with my daughter for a little bit. That's the best thing to do other than an ice bath, keep those muscles moving. I didn't even get sore on Sunday or Monday which means I'm not pushing hard enough. I find that hard to believe, since I was so tired but I think it is all mental. I'm leaving too much on the trail, gotta give it all I've got.

My weekday runs were pretty amazing. Tuesday morning I ran with just a couple of hours sleep. I felt pretty sluggish, but I think that was more from the 24 miles than the lack of sleep. Thursday morning was a great run, perfect weather and I had 2 sub-9 min. miles and a little sprinkling of rain during the run. This was with an average of 4 hours sleep/night. Next week will be different, I must get several good night's of sleep in before OKC.

It's taper time, all easy short runs now. Good because I have 2 baby showers to go to Saturday, perfect timing.

Crank up the mileage

2009-04-04T11:56:00.002-05:00

Last week, we were all prepared for a long 20 miler and then old man winter had his way and most of us did 5-10 miles in wind and snow, kind of like a mail carrier, such dedication. We did get together again on Sunday, the weather was kind and most of us did 15 - 20 miles. Today was a drop back day and I did 11 miles. I felt really sluggish, I haven't had much sleep this week and was up past 1:00 last night so I think that has something to do with it. Thanks Janet for all your encouragement, I really didn't feel perky at all.

It was a hard route, lots of hills, but I know it was good for us. A big thanks to Larry for planning the route. The route took us through beautiful Maple Ridge neighborhoods and it was fun saying hello to people sitting on their porch enjoying their coffee, as I am sipping mine now. We also went through dt Tulsa past some clubs and bars that were quiet early in the a.m. but will be hopping tonight. My daughter is going to one of the places tonight, not a bar, so i was glad to see where she would be since I had never heard of the place. It was so funny, as we ran past these places, we didn't know anything about them, just shows what stage of life we are in...middle age homebodies.

Patty, Janet and Becky were going back out for another 11 and I said a prayer for them, since the wind really picked up after 9:00.

Next week it is the big 22 miler, OKC is 4/26, I'm already getting pre-race tension, i really want to break 5 hours! I think I'm going to try some new GU-Roctane Ultra Endurance.

A shout out to Candice-congrats on a safe delivery and Nate is a beautiful baby boy!

A Week of Good Runs

2009-02-21T22:41:00.004-06:00

After missing a lot of my runs the week of 2/9, I was determined to have a better week this week and I succeeded. Sunday I had a great run around LaFortune Park, nice and easy. Tuesday, I ran by myself in the early a.m. and was totally spooked by a dog in my neighborhood, other than that, it was a very good run. Thursday morning, i ran with my usual running buddies and managed a sub 9 mile split. My next goal on these tempo runs is 2 sub 9 mile splits. This morning, I had a fantastic run in OKC at Lake Hefner with the Fleet Feet group from Edmond. It was great to go around Lake Hefner since I've done only the 1/2 at OKC Memorial marathon and doing this run this a.m. gives me confidence for the marathon in april. After my awful battle with the wind at the Dallas White Rock Marathon, I was worried about any future windy engagements. Well, today I had a chance to see how i would respond to another windy run around a lake and i was undaunted, so i feel much better about the OKC marathon now. I posted my stats on the previous update. I was very satisfied with my overall average of 10:04 and wasn't overly tired. The last mile, I was running into a strong wind and had a 12:22, I could hardly move and ended up walking because I thought i was creating too much resistance by running. I enjoyed getting to know some of the people from the Edmond group and I truly appreciate them taking me in. I was in OKC for my daughter's state swimming championships and was relieved that I could get a long run in and not miss any of her meet.

2009-02-21T21:32:00.000-06:00

Activity

Route:	--	Elev. Avg:	1205 ft
Location:	Bethany, OK	Elev. Gain:	-3 ft
Date:	02/21/09	Up/Downhill:	[+213/-216]
Time:	06:09 AM	Difficulty:	4.1 / 5.0

Weather:	Fair and Breezy
	29 F temp; 48% humidity
	29 F heat index; winds N 22 G 31

Performance

Distance:	13.17 miles
Time:	2:12:33
Speed:	6.0 mph
Pace:	10' 04 /mi
Calories:	1185

Map

Pace (min/mile)

Splits

Mile	Pace (min/mile)		Speed (mph)		Elevation Gain
Mile	actual	+/- avg	actual	+/- avg	Elevation Gain
1	10' 22	+0' 18	5.8	-0.2	-6 ft
2	10' 29	+0' 25	5.7	-0.2	+4 ft
3	10' 45	+0' 41	5.6	-0.4	-10 ft
4	10' 48	+0' 44	5.5	-0.4	+3 ft
5	10' 56	+0' 52	5.5	-0.5	-6 ft
6	12' 07	+2' 03	5.0	-1.0	+3 ft
7	10' 09	+0' 05	5.9	-0.1	0 ft
8	9' 34	-0' 30	6.3	+0.3	0 ft
9	9' 54	-0' 10	6.1	+0.1	0 ft
10	9' 44	-0' 20	6.2	+0.2	0 ft
11	10' 02	-0' 02	6.0	+0.0	+7 ft
12	12' 22	+2' 18	4.8	-1.1	+6 ft
13	6' 18	-3' 46	9.5	+3.5	-4 ft
end	0' 56	-9' 08	64.0	+58.0	0 ft
Versus average of 10' 04 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

New Workout Log

2009-02-08T12:29:00.001-06:00

I discovered this yesterday on the "Qualifying for the Boston Marathon" blog that I follow. It's by Bones In Motion www.bimactive.com. It has great visuals and stats and links to many phones, but not mine. It's free. It has an interface with the Garmin so to get this below to display I imported my Garmin workout to bim then exported the bim to Blogger, took just a couple of minutes. I really like the weather stats, start and stop visuals on the pace/mile and how bim creates the visuals immediately. You can customize how much you want to display on your blog, I posted everything this time but will most likely slim it down in the future.

Activity

Route:	--	Elev. Avg:	717 ft
Location:	Tulsa, OK	Elev. Gain:	-6 ft
Date:	02/08/09	Up/Downhill:	[+269/-275]
Time:	07:21 AM	Difficulty:	2.5 / 5.0

Weather:	Overcast
	58 F temp; 77% humidity
	58 F heat index; winds S 5

Performance

Distance:	4.70 miles
Time:	0:44:00
Speed:	6.4 mph
Pace:	9' 22 /mi
Calories:	442

Map
Elevation (ft)
Pace (min/mile)
Splits

Mile	Pace (min/mile)		Speed (mph)		Elevation Gain
Mile	actual	+/- avg	actual	+/- avg	Elevation Gain
1	9' 32	+0' 10	6.3	-0.1	+20 ft
2	9' 31	+0' 09	6.3	-0.1	+43 ft
3	9' 27	+0' 05	6.3	-0.1	+7 ft
4	9' 17	-0' 05	6.5	+0.1	-73 ft
end	10' 12	+0' 50	5.9	-0.5	-26 ft
Versus average of 9' 22 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Sista Left Behind!

2009-02-07T22:27:00.012-06:00

A welcome relief with warmer weather today and we loved wearing lighter gear. We ran all through downtown in a loop of 7-8 miles depending on whether you turned your Garmin off during walk breaks. We went all the way over to Owen Park and ran by Tulsa's Oldest House. If you want to read more about the house go to: http://tulsaarchitecture.blogspot.com/2008/12/tulsaa-oldest-house.html

We also went by the BOK Center and talked about the concerts we had seen-Eagles and Celine and ones we were planning to see-Bruce Springsteen and Elton John, hmmm, hope Bruce slides better than he did at the SuperBowl.

We made a stop at the Crowne Plaza and were reminded of an important lesson. After we left, we were busy talking, running, taking in the sights and we realized that someone was missing. We just looked at each other and said where's _______? We all drew a blank and were very concerned as we headed back a few miles to where we started at Veteren's Park. When the missing person's car was still in the parking lot our hearts sunk and we discussed our options. A couple of us stayed at the parking lot and a few others headed back out for a few miles hopefully to find our missing person. After about 10-15 minutes, I can't tell you how relieved we were to see our person at 21st and Boulder. Lessons learned:

Do a head count and make sure the group is intact
Carry your cell phone with you if possible
Exchange cell phone numbers with a few people in your group

Our mystery missing person was most forgiving and did all the right things:

Left a note on the windshield to let us know she was ok (but we didn't see it!) and was still running
Waited for us at a couple of stops

Needless to say, I am so sorry and so thankful she is ok and grateful for her sweet attitude!

Other than that we had an enjoyable run, I didn't feel like I was working hard at all, yet my slowest mile was 10:01 and even had one at 9:45.

Is It Spring Yet?

2009-02-06T12:59:00.003-06:00

I am so looking forward to running in the warmer weather, I'm getting so tired of the long running pants. Will most likely need sunglasses tomorrow for more than the sun, looking at all those white chicken legs, mine included. My short runs this week have been fantastic, I think taking it easy on the long runs is paying off on the short runs, giving me more energy. I'm looking forward to racing a 5K and seeing if there is any improvement on my time.

For a hilarious post go to http://trailzombie.blogspot.com/2009/02/t-m-i.html#links

Slippery When Wet

2009-02-01T22:45:00.002-06:00

We had an icy blast hit us Monday afternoon and we didn't completely thaw until Saturday afternoon. After my Sunday run, I didn't run again until Thursday night. That run was really a joke, very foolish thing to do, the street had started to freeze over and I ended up walking most of the 3 miles and then I was "escorted" by Dave Sargent since he had mercy on my foolishness. Well, I learned a good lesson I hope, sometimes you have to use the indoor equipment. Saturday, we were on the south end of Riverside, started at 96th and Riverside, went into Jenks, back to 96th, the north to 69th. Most of the group continued south since they were doing eighteen, but I headed back with Dana since I wanted to do only 12. It was slick in many spots during the first half but I was still able to average 10:36/mile.

Sunday morning I ran solo and since the roads were much drier, I thought I'd try to go hard and see what was in me. I did my hilly route that we do on Tuesdays and averaged 9:10/mile. What I was really happy about was my last 2 miles were 8:56 pace.

Icy weather aside, it's been an incredible week at work. We have a new president at ORU, Dr. Mark Rutland and the Green family (bless them!) gave us another 10 million for summer renovations, which gives us much to celebrate.

I'm estatic that the Steelers have now won for the 6th time, it's one of the few times I miss my home state of PA.

Tomorrow, hubby and I go to the Celine Dione concert, whopee!!

The Neccesity of Water

2009-01-24T22:36:00.003-06:00

I've heard this over and over again but I think it sunk in a little deeper today. I've been doing this distance running for almost 2 years and I still have so much to learn. Something as basic as the need for water even when it is cold. During this cold weather I haven't been hydrating as much and I commented to Carmie that I could go 6 miles in the cold without water. Then she told me about some terrible cramps she got when she skipped water during the cold. I had noticed some tightness in my left calf today, hmm, must have been a need for water. Well, I rarely finish off a bottle of water after running but today, I downed one, and my calves have been fine. So, remember, even though you're not thirsty, pretend that you're in a hot, dry desert and drink accordingly. Cheers!

Chill Factor

2009-01-24T15:48:00.004-06:00

Wind chill factor today was 6 with real temp at 22. brrrr! I ran with Carmie, Teresa and Cindy mainly because they were starting earlier than the rest of the RW group. The original plan was to run out to Gilcrease from Veteren's Park but with the biting wind, we did a point to point from Veteren's Park to 96th and Riverside, 12 miles. This was such a great idea, whenever we went north it was brutal and the worst was going east across the 71st street bridge. So heading south the majority of the time was a relief. It felt so good to finish and I tipped them off about some great bargains at http://steepandcheap.com/. I got some chocolate running capris by Sugoi there http://sugoi.com/item/76120/SUG40192F, can't wait for the temp to go up so I can wear them. I didn't run on Thursday because I pulled an all nighter at work so I was really glad to get out today even though it was so bitterly cold and windy.

Today it was so cold that:
Sweat froze on the outside of our jackets
Water bottles made their own ice

Oklahoma Highs and Lows

2009-01-17T21:13:00.002-06:00

Oklahoma is known for its volitile weather, one day it's freezing and the next is balmy, the past couple of days have been no exception. Thursday it was 16 and my morning run was cut short by my buddies when we turned north with blowing wind and they wanted to go back home, so we did only 3.55 miles. I was so disappointed that I decided to go with Runner's World on Thursday night to get more miles in. It was still 16 degrees in the evening and breezy when we headed back north. I ran with Dave and Larry on the way back and we were in the 9 min./mile range and I sprinted the last block at the end. It felt really good!!! Dave is a great coach, knows just how much to push you w/o killing you. Wade and Nealy (sp?) really smoked at a sub 9 pace.

Saturday morning, we had a heat wave, got into the 50s by the end of our approx. 11 mile run. I've been studying Greg Macmillan (macmillanrunning.com) and my long runs were supposed to be no faster than 10:56 so my goal was to run no faster than a 10 min. pace and no slower than 11:00. The first three miles were in the 9:30 range but we slowed down after the 71st St hill and stayed around a 10:05 pace. I felt very good throughout the run, I felt a little tired from the fast run on Thursday but I had an easy time talking while running.

I'm sill having issues with my Garmin. I thought I had figured it out. I usually wear it with the screen under my wrist instead of on top of it because my wrist is so bony. Another runner had been doing the same thing and had trouble getting her satellite to fire off so she suggested that I try fastening the Garmin over the sleeve on my shirt and have the screen on the top. I tried it and it didn't work, it counted the 1st three miles as one lap so I guess I'll have to send it back to Garmin. We're having a Garmin clinic this Thursday so I'll wait until after that.

I think I'd like to do the Winter Classic out at Mohawk and I'm trying to decide b/t the 20K and the 30K. The 20K would be more of a race for me and the 30K would hover b/t a training run and a race.

Overall it's been an excellent running week for me, I was very focused as I ran. I really needed to have a good running week b/c work was very stressful, I had to tell someone they were included in our Reduction in Force. Even though I had other people I could reroute the tasks to, it required training and follow-up but I am very grateful for the help that everyone has given me.

Oh What a Beautiful Morning!

2009-01-13T22:21:00.002-06:00

I love running in very cold weather. Today it was 22 when we ran at 5:15 this a.m. There was a slight breeze. We usually start out way too fast and go up a hill right away. I had already decided that I was going to start earlier and run a slow mile before the rest of my 3some ran, but I didn't do that this a.m. becuase it was so cold. Well, what do you know, we started out really slow, about a 10:30 pace and what a difference that made. By the first 1/2 mile, I was warm and ready to move faster. I stayed ahead of the group the whole time and didn't stop at all and backtracked after all the hills so I could stay with my group. I felt really good when I was done and averaged a 9:51 pace. I was hardly breathing hard at any point until the last block at the very end, so it was a very easy and fun run.

Bumps in the Road

2009-01-10T22:41:00.000-06:00

Our run started out cold and windy, a “feels like” temp of 14, but it was actually 32. Regardless we had a good turnout of runners and we were rewarded with a bumpy (Kathy calls hills, bumps), beautiful run through the Maple Ridge area between Brookside and Utica Square. It’s so great to catch up on everyone and share running experiences. As I talked to one runner about my pitiful Dallas marathon (12/14/08), she empathized because she had a similar experience at Chicago. Then I met Wade, who is training for his first marathon, and I shared how life-changing the process of training and running my first marathon was and how much more respect I had for marathons after running my second marathon. After my first marathon, I couldn’t wait to run another one and after my second marathon, I questioned whether I would ever run another one, but I knew that would pass. So here I am, mapping out my strategy and runs for my Spring marathon, most likely the OKC Memorial. I’ve been reading an article by Greg MacMillan that Dave shared with me that will help me plan my runs better and maintain a reasonable pace while still getting stronger and faster.
I felt really good after today’s run, I tried to maintain a 10 min. pace but hovered around 9:30 and did 10:30 on the hills.

Goofy Garmin

2009-01-08T21:35:00.003-06:00

I've been having challenges with my Garmin. It doesn't kick in immediately on my first mile and then it measures the first mile too long and my pace reading is too slow. It does this often on my Tuesday/Thursday run but not so much on my Saturday run so I think I'm not giving it enough time to load the satellite during the week. I know the pace readings were wrong today, I was breathing too hard to be running a 9:27 pace. I did stay in front of our threesome but was disappointed that I didn't average a 9:15 pace. We had no stops this morning and I even doublebacked at one point because I was so far ahead. I'm really trying to get mentally tougher to push myself harder on my weekday runs.

Thanks for the training tips Dave.

Still chilly

2009-01-06T22:37:00.002-06:00

Our Tuesday morning route we run is a somewhat hilly 4.72 mile journey through our neighborhood. In the first block we start an incline immediately. What a way to start a morning! Today I ate a banana before I started, first and last time to do that, felt heavy the whole time, it just stuck there somewhere in my chest and I never felt the sugar from it. My neighbor overslept but the other one of our threesome was there and we charged on. Usually we walk the crest of the steeper inclines but we didn't do that this time until the last one before our last 1/2 mile home. We averaged a 9:32 pace but I should have pushed for a 9 min. Thursdays route is flatter and I'll push harder.

Toughing it out in the wind and cold

2009-01-04T13:46:00.002-06:00

After a beautiful day yesterday into the 70s, the temperature dropped into the 20s overnight. My neighbor and I ran over to LaFortune Park. My Garmin was low on juice and gave out before we were done but it would have been about 5.5 miles. The wind was forceful when we turned around to head for home, it was difficult moving forward at some points. Our faces were numb, but it was good to get the run in.

2009 Plans, Hopes and Dreams

2009-01-03T21:23:00.000-06:00

This is my journey to qualify for Boston, preferably for April 2010, if not then, then some year after that, I will run the Boston Marathon. I'll post some goals here to help me stay accountable.

So far this year, I've had a very good start. My husband, daughter and I ran the "Race Into The New Year" on New Year's Eve. It is a 5k, I ran 28:52, which was a PR for me. My 18 yr old daughter ran 25:11 and my hubby ran 25:40 and finished 3rd in his age group, not bad for someone who doesn't like road running, prefers the treadmill. He's going to do more 5ks this year, so it will be fun to enjoy this together.

Today was a long run day. We ran 10 miles, met up at 69th & Riverside, which we hadn't done in a long time. We went south out to the Creek Turnpike and back. I ran with Gregg, who I hadn't seen in months and it was great to catch up with him. I also saw Becky and Janet, who I hadn't seen since early November. I had a good training run, my goal was to average 9:30 and my average was 9:38 so I felt good about that. I also asked Kathy about the tightness I have below my right knee after running and it is a stretching issue, so I need to stretch my quads more.