Picture day

I got my 15 in this morning. It was alright.

First, for Big Boy:


Next, I got a couple of decent Brandi Carlile pix when we saw her at the State Fair.






little boy's first day of school:


little boy running in today's Roy Griak Invitational:


he got spiked in the knee:

Just keep swimming...

I'm not even sure what my new title is. General Supervision Compliance Coordinator/Rulemaking Coordinator/Hearing Coordinator/Complaint Investigator/Due Process Specialist? Take your pick, I do all of them now. Breaking my "studiously avoid talking about my job" rule, I think I'll take just a minute to talk about it. The guy who's leaving? For whom we had that most awesome potluck on Wednesday? I got his job. Oh, and I still have my old job, too. Not that it's a bad thing, I totally dig not being bored and learning new stuff. And it's law-talkin' stuff, too, so that's very exciting. But it's a lot at once, and being mindful of the fact that this is a temporary enhancement of job duties, I don't really want to f**k it up too much. Luckily, our admin staff knows a lot about what I'm supposed to be doing for hearing coordination and my part has to do with law-talkin' and computer related stuff, so I think that will be alright. The old part of my job I've managed to do competently for almost two years, so I'm not worried about that. But the complaint investigation part (which my boss told me I wouldn't have to do for awhile yet - I guess "awhile" means a week, which I'll keep in mind the next time I invite her to a party) is still a mystery, but hey! I've got a complaint already. So I'll just keep swimming...

Apropos of nothing, I think I really need a haircut. I haven't had one since April or May.

Now?

Suddenly, I'm getting blisters. I have never, repeat never, in the nearly 4 years of my running odyssey had problems with blisters. In the past week, four of them. In different places, with different shoes & socks. Grrrrr. Why now?

little boy had a cross country meet yesterday (on our side of town, even!). Not his fastest race, but it was a grade by grade meet and he got second place for Juniors and 7th overall. We got out of there just before the thunderstorms hit. An inch and a half of rain is a lot!

We're having a work party for a departing coworker today. I made pumpkin chowder and my rulemaking buddies & I are putting on a chocolate fountain. The chocolate fountain is an experiment. Never has anything as fancy been done at a work potluck in my two years here. But, departing coworker is a chocolate freak, so we're pulling out all the stops for him.

4 a.m. certainly is early

Very little time, must get little boy to early morning orchestra. I had to get up at 4 in order to get my 9 miles in, but I got 'em done. It was really warm (high 60s) and really humid with a little bit of rain and some lightning in the southern sky.

I wonder how I'll be doing about 4 this afternoon?

Also, I haven't been able to sleep for *&%&^% the past two days. I slept fine on Saturday... so I don't think it was the 22 miler. But sheesh! I have to sleep!

Oops

Does anyone remember awhile back when I accidentally ran 9 miles? You know, forgot to turn around at the right place and ended up running longer than I'd intended? Oops, I did it again. So, I got in 60 miles for the week (well, if you count the extra little bits here and there, Garmin says I actually ran 61.45 miles this week). And today's pace was well under 10:00 mpm. My right quad is a little bit sore, but my feets feel good and so does everything else. I also did Week 5 Day 3 of the 100 push up challenge again and a whole bunch of sit ups. I think I'm done for the day. Lots of sitting around is planned and perhaps a nap.

I feel good about this week and not nearly as apprehensive as I was a year ago at this time (walked into a desk and whacked my knee all to hell which led to my skipping the last 20 miler I had on the schedule). I got my head around 18 miles last year, but the two 20 milers I did really kicked my butt. Also, in the marathon, just past 20 miles is when my hips freaked out and locked up, leading to 6 miles of OUCH. That's mostly the reason I chose to run a 20 miler and two 22 milers this time around. It seems like I've had more long runs for this training cycle.

June: two 18 milers (last year: RUSSIA!)
July: two 18 milers (last year: one 18 miler)
August: a 20 miler, a 22 miler, and two races - 5K & half mary (last year: one 20 miler and two 16 milers)
September: a 22 miler, a 15 miler, and two races - half mary & 10 mile (last year: one 20 miler and one 16 miler)

In the past month, I've had to skip two midweek runs (an 11 and a 9), but it doesn't seem to have hurt the long run, which is what this is all about.

I think I also like taking the day off (or biking) the day before a long run and the longer recovery run the day after the long run. Last year, I ran long on Saturdays and spent the rest of the weekend in a coma. I think the extra miles when my legs are already tired will prove to be good for me. Also, they're practice for the 50K training I've got lined up starting in December (24 miles on Saturday and 12 miles on Sunday, anyone? ok, that's not until February).

And how's that for posting meaningless statistics about my running?

22.6

Is not 26.2, but it's my last long long run before the marathon. I tried really hard not to psyche myself out, what with being sick earlier this week... I kept telling myself, it's just 22 miles, the last long run before taper, just 2 laps of 6 miles and 2 laps of 5 miles and you're done.

Stream of consciousness on a long run:

I started off at 8:30, after dropping little boy off at school for his cross country meet in the suburbs (his team got second place, coming after the suburban team that's ranked second in the state, he ran a 17:51 for 5K, not a PR but he felt really relaxed and like he could run another one at a faster pace again). I ran the first 6 mile lap with just a bottle of electrolyte drink and the dog. I dropped the dog off and picked up my mp3 player, some shot bloks and more electrolyte stuff. Another 6 mile lap and I felt really happy during the whole thing, thinking that I didn't have to run that particular lap again, just a shorter one. Stopped off at home, more electrolytes, more shot bloks. 5 mile lap... ugh, the first two miles aren't shaded at all, I forgot about that. Still feeling good though, because a woman passed me about my 2 mile mark and I thought, huh, I can take her. So I did. I sped up just a little, lengthened my stride and blew past her and on up a hill. I spent most of this lap thinking that I only had to do it over again and that it would be just fine, no problem at all. Back home again, more electrolytes and out the door. Last lap. Only 5 miles. I can totally do this. I've already run 17 and a quarter and I feel good. Oh, it's hot in the sun, but that breeze is nice. Just up this icky steep hill one more time and then I don't have to do it again. Up this long hill and then I get to run in the grass again. Hmmm... only two more miles until home. Can I get up the final hill at a decent pace after 21 miles? Have I got anything left? Up the hill at an 8:14 pace. Oh yeah, I got something left. But I'm tired now and I'd really like to be home. Down the last hill, now around the south side of the lake and just over half a mile to home. I'm still not plodding along... Hmmm... this is pretty good.

Cold water bath, hot shower, pick up little boy at school, snack, meet imaginary running buddies for coffee... home again. Big Boy wrote another blog post (it's down there at Lenin & the Bolsheviks). This was a little frantic, perhaps I should consider eating more. Legs really feel pretty good. I have 8 miles on the schedule for tomorrow, bringing this week's total to 59.

And an adventure on Monday.

Ugh

I woke up in the middle of the night with cold sweats & a completely unhappy stomach. I believe coworker K is trying to kill me with that nasty virus she had on Monday by trying to pass it off as food poisoning and then surreptitiously infecting me. (j/k, K! Hold down the fort while I'm gone!)

Anyway, after a couple of hours of nonsleep and stomach issues, the headache set in. Viruses! Fun! New features! I managed to call my boss, but only after completely losing the ability to work a cell phone and calling not only her home, but her cell too, and finally looking at my phone in confusion and dialing the darn office number. That pretty much convinced me that staying home was the better part of valor. Can you imaging trying to practice law when you can't even work your cell phone? Hello malpractice!

Mmmmm... crackers. And when the 4 crackers in the house ran out, I had some Grey-Ham crackers (totally funny Nordic woman doing a cooking show this past weekend, called graham crackers "Grey Ham" crackers!! Funny! Weird! Am I delirious now?). And ginger tea. And yes, coffee. I thought that perhaps my headache would abate somewhat if I had some caffeine in me. Uh, no. Don't you just love the feeling of being hungry and nauseous at the same time? Me too! I'm going to try and force myself to sleep some pretty soon.

On a completely unrelated note, this is not a good week to be sick and unable to eat. This is the last big running week before the marathon (I could have put "big running week" in caps and not been exaggerating). I was supposed to do a tempo run today and that ain't happening, people.

On another unrelated note, check out Big Boy's blog over on the BlogRoll on the right. He updated! With details! About what he's going and stuff! I know, I know, only my mom & I are particularly interested, but it is actually interesting. And there's a Borat reference in there, too.

Crash! and a run in the woods

Well, it had to happen sometime, given how klutzy I am. I went off a curb on my way home on Friday and crashed my bike. Since my feet were in toeclips, I just sort of fell over to the right. Right knee, right arm, oh, and my head. First thing I thought was WOW am I glad I'm wearing a helmet! I'd have knocked myself out otherwise.

So I skipped my run yesterday and was a vegetable. I even took a nap. My arm and my hand hurt, but despite all the blood from my knee (I landed on the end of my tibia, as usual), it felt ok.

Today's adventure was the Harmon Farms 10 Mile Trail Run. Ummm... and it is actually trail - singletrack through the woods with hills, hairpin turns, rocks, mud, meandering, tree roots... As soon as I saw what the trail consisted of my PR idea of 8:00 mpm went out the window. I figured I'd be lucky to average 9:00 mpm, let alone average near marathon pace. Nothing hurt, but I did have sort of a headache through the whole thing. I had a hard time figuring pace because Garmin got lost several times under tree cover and then decided to be overly optimistic to make up for it. So I just ran comfortably hard. The sumac was beautiful - bright red and almost glowing because the sky was completely overcast. I had a couple of close calls when my feet decided they didn't want to pay attention, but no wipe outs, no twisted or sprained ankles. I stopped three times for water and walked myself through the water stop.

I didn't stick around for the results, but the snacks were really good. I was happy with my time - 1:26:26, for an average pace of 8:39. Actually a little too fast, but I'll take it.

Bikey

I rode my bike again to work today. It's harder to coordinate during the school year because little boy needs to be picked up after practice and meets (buses leave after school lets out at 2:00). We're experimenting with both of us biking on Fridays. It's easier for me, I think, because I don't have to run on Fridays and I only have a 6 1/2 mile commute. little boy has to go almost 8 (he is taller, stronger and 25 years younger, however).

I really like biking to work, despite feeling a little out of practice after not having done it for 2 weeks. It was in the 50s this morning and it wasn't terribly bright today, so I wore my vest with the flashy light on the back (I'm a great one for flashy). little boy has to leave earlier than I do because school starts at 7:30 (work starts at 8:30 for me). I found an extra flashy light for the back of his bag and told him to turn on his bike light. I didn't actually go look at his bike, so I'm hoping that he just did what his unreasonable-overprotective mother ordered. (I can't help it, not only is he half of my genetic legacy, but I like the kid too much to see him splattered all over the road by a careless homicidal driver.)

17:20

17:20 is little boy's new PR for the 5K! Grade by grade cross country meet was yesterday at Como Park. He finished 4th in the 11th grade boys' race. That's a 5:35 minutes per mile average and over 30 second improvement over his best time last year. Yikes. That boy is getting fast!

I'm on my second repeat of week 5 of the 100 push up challenge. I also repeated week 4 three times, so I'm on my 8th week of doing push ups. Today was 15+15+14+14+12+12+10+30, with 45 seconds of rest between sets, for a total of 122. I also ran 9 easy this morning. I woke up before the alarm at 5, out the door by 5:15. Dark, dark, dark! My new headlamp is awesome. Sky ran the first 6 with me. When I dropped her off, I still needed my flashy light so the cars could see me, but I was able to see the ground by that time and didn't need the headlamp on.

Running in a tunnel

I figured I needed a little more practice running on rail-to-trail type stuff, so I signed up for the Elroy Tunnel Trails Half Marathon. I thought that Elroy was a little closer to home that it actually is. When I mapped it on Friday, the Google told me that it would take 3 hours and 15 minutes to drive there. Ummm...ok. This is a point-to-point race, so the bus would take us from the finish area to the start, and that bus was set to leave at 8am. So, I set my alarm for 4:10am and forced myself to go to sleep at 8:30 (it wasn't that hard, trust me). The alarm woke me up in the middle of a really weird dream and I stumbled around the house gathering up last minute things and making myself some breakfast.

Then - on the road! It was an uneventful trip. Despite having lived in Wisconsin for a tad over 20 years, I'd never been to this particular section of the state. It's lots of rolling hills, some cliffs, nice smooth county roads, farms with cows & horses. I was a little stressed about getting to the park on time to catch the bus, but I made it by 7:45. The race director was a little nervous because this was the first year that they'd put on a half marathon.

This was probably the smallest race I've ever run - 68 people. The line up at the start was on the far side of County Road A (in the town of Hustler across the street from some Amish ladies selling stuff) and we had to cross the street as we started. So the race director had to wait until there was no traffic and then he shot the starting gun. I started towards the front of the pack, but there were so few people that there really wasn't much of a pack. I took off feeling just fine, no hip issues, no foot issues, breathing strong but without difficulty and the running felt easy. I settled in behind two people running together. I gathered from their conversation that the woman was in her 40s and I got it in my head that I had to beat her (she said that her PR for the marathon was 3:49). I didn't see too many women who I thought were in my age group. For the women anyway, this was a young race.

I hit the first mile in 8:15. Oh, a little fast, maybe I'll slow down a little. The tunnel (just before the 4 mile mark) looked fine as you entered, you could see the other end. They handed out flashlights at the start of the tunnel and I didn't even think I'd need it until about a hundred feet in. It really was very, very dark in there! The flashlight didn't even help very much. I watched the group ahead of me (4 people who were about at the same pace and another two people who were running together and had just passed me a mile back, but stayed in sight for the whole race) and their flashlight beams helped keep me in the middle of the tunnel. Out of the tunnel - whew! It got a little claustrophobic and scary in there.

More running. The weather was great, started in the high 50s and ended in the low 60s, but it was humid. The trails were shaded, but the short section on road between the trails was totally exposed, sunny, hot and windy. The volunteers were just awesome. They had water/gatorade stops about every mile and a half. I experimented with black cherry clif shot bloks, but after about 4 of them I decided my stomach didn't like them. The 40something woman and the guy running with her had stopped for water just before the tunnel but I didn't so I was ahead of them and stayed ahead of them for the rest of the race. I think it took until about mile 7 before I couldn't hear the guy's footsteps in the distance, though. I kept trying to catch up to the two kids ahead of me but I just couldn't do it. The section of the race that was between the Omaha trail and the Elroy-Sparta Trail was hilly and of course I felt whiny about that. But, my pace didn't slack on that mile, in fact, it was faster! By the time I was running mile 13, I managed to pass two of the people in that pack of four I'd been chasing the entire race. You had to run a lap of the park (about 0.4 miles) to finish, I glanced down at my Garmin and saw 1:48:xx... This was the only part of the race where I felt like I was giving as much as I could.

Over all, I definitely didn't feel like I was going all out on this race. I was shooting for 8:35 to 8:45 miles, but at 8 miles it looked like I could get a PR out of this, so I kept up the pace. At 12 miles it looked like I might be able to break 1:50, so I poured it on. I didn't realize how much until I looked at my splits once I finally got home. I now share Nettie's appreciation for small races - I took second place in my age group. Here are my splits:

1 - 8:15
2 - 8:34
3 - 8:41 (the tunnel was in this mile)
4 - 8:37
5 - 8:32
6 - 8:04
7 - 8:28
8 - 8:26
9 - 8:36
10 - 8:16 (the hilly road section)
11 - 8:38
12 - 8:32
13 - 7:42
0.1 - 0:35

1:50:04. Average pace - 8:24. My previous PR for this distance was Madison in May - 1:58:41.

I took a day off

I didn't run 11 miles yesterday. That's the first run I've missed and not made up in a long time. My hip feels only slightly off this morning, so I think it was the right decision. We'll see how everything feels at tomorrow's half. I originally planned to shoot for a PR in the 1:45 to 1:50 range, but I don't think I want to push it. I think instead, the wiser thing to do would be run the last 8 miles at projected marathon pace. Then, on the 14th when I run that 10 mile race, I'll see how things are feeling and if all is well, I'll shoot for a PR at 10 miles.

little boy is adapting to back-to-school. He says the best thing about it is looking over all the heads of people in the hallways and nodding to the other tall guys whose heads are also above the crowd. The boy is about 6'1 or so, but his school has a high population of Hmong students, who are not known for height.

At work, I'm frantically trying to get an answer written to all the comments received before the hearing. Nothing much new came up at the hearing on Wednesday. Happily, the people who testified were a little more cogent than some of the comments I've gotten so far.

I haven't heard much from Big Boy, but I spent Labor Day cleaning out many years of accumulated stuff from his closet. It took me 8 hours. I filled the back of the Subaru with stuff to donate to Goodwill and completely filled the trash bin with, well, trash. I scored this photo from one of Big Boy's coworkers who posted it on Facebook. Big Boy is on the far right.

That was dumb

My left foot was hurting, so I got some new insoles for this pair of shoes that has basically nothing for insoles. Ran 11 miles in them yesterday. Heel feels fine, right hip hurts now. Not smart. It feels like it could get as bad as my hip has gotten in the past, but not if I'm careful. All the stuff surrounding my hip is a little goofy, but not painful today. I ran 9 on the treadmill. I tried for tempo, but I was just too tired, so I ran easy.

And I ditched the insoles.