ugh

Yes, this is a Star Trek reference.
No, it's not the first one to show up in this blog.
Yes, I am this much of a nerd.
SOURCE

48 days until the Chicago Marathon.  DoubleYouTeeEff.  How the hell did THAT happen?

Clearly, I'm caught in some sort of disturbance in the space-time continuum. Normally by this stage in marathon training, I would be running my ass off and piling up the miles, but clearly (again) that's not happening.  I'm blaming Life and it's propensity to get in the way. Long work hours makes Nora a very tired and non-motivated marathon trainee. And the last time I looked at my training plan, it didn't say "skip as many training runs as you want." And no matter how many times I check, it doesn't have the caption "Even though you didn't train properly, something magic happens here!!" on marathon day.

Sigh.

I know you just can't get enough of
my nasty looking toes.

I felt pretty good that I was able to rip off 16 miles last weekend without too much difficulty, but I don't think I'm doing myself any favors by not running during the week and then trying to run double digits on the weekend.  I'm afraid I'm going to end up hurting myself if I keep doing that. Oh, and I didn't get my long run done this weekend either.  The deficit worsens.......

Speaking of ugh, I lost the toenail on my left big toe today. Poor thing has been black since the MedCity 20 miler and has been hanging on by a thread for about a month. Ever see Darth Vader without his helmet?  That's what my big toe looks like. (I'd post a pic of that but having a Star Trek AND a Star Wars reference in the same blog post seems a bit much for even me.  Oh wait, I just did that, didn't I?  Shit. Oh well.) The second toe looks pretty rough too. The current count of missing/partial new growth toenails is three. My ill-fitting shoes really took a toll this spring!

So, back to my complaining about lack of time, energy, mojo, whatever it is that's keeping me from running.  Yeah, I know, woe is me. And I know I have first world problems. And I know, "If I really want it, I'll make it happen" blah, blah, blah.... But it's still depressing that I'm not getting my miles in! I'm already getting up at 4:00 a.m. most days to work, so trying to get by on even less sleep seems pert near impossible.  But enough beating myself up. Onward and upward!  Let's see what happens to life when we try to incorporate a little running into the mix. Hopefully this week will be better!  I'm not quite into panic mode.  Yet.

wardrobe failures

My poor, battered toes.

My toe hurts.

The big toe on my left foot really took a beating in last weekend's 20 mile run.  It's pretty pissed off.  And it's sharing it's displeasure with me loud and clear.

So.....I'm still on the quest for the perfect running shoe for my big girl feet.  So far I've tried a couple variations of Asics, two generations of Saucony ProGrid Guide and the Brooks Adrenaline running shoes. None have made me happy. I am left wanting.

Ooooo, that must mean that new gear is needed!!!

Off I went to TC Running Company - one of my two favorite running gear stores.  (The other is Gear Running Store.)  They are both on the other side of the planet from where I live but are sooooo worth the drive.  I picked TC Running because it was open on Memorial Day.

the new kicks

Anywhoo, the upshot of my little shopping expedition was that I ended up with a lovely pair of new shoes. Success!!

What kind, you ask? Nike Structure. I've run about 7 miles in them so far, and so far so good.  Did I mention that they are yellow?  I think the color is officially considered "Lemon Yellow."

Such a subtle and understated color.

Love!

I've been looking for fun running clothes, too.  I don't know if I've mentioned this before but I'm running a couple of marathons this year.

It's true.

So I need fun and inspiring running clothes!

How cute is this running skirt?  Don't you just love it!!

I found a super cute Brooks running skirt on runningwarehouse.com and ordered it.

I was SO excited when I saw it - even cuter in person (skirton??) than online!

I tried it on and the fit was awesome.

But the color of the undershorts.......not so awesome.

Not sure if you're aware of this but I'm getting close to 50 years old.  Due to a nasty combination of a lifetime of poor diet choices and the heartbreak of genetics, I have a hell of a lot of some extra adipose tissue in the gut and thigh areas that I'd really prefer to keep under wraps/ draped in camouflage as much as possible. (I might consider a burka if made of lightweight tech material.)

No disrespect intended to Laura Hillenbrand or Louis Zamperini,
I was merely illustrating a point.
But if you haven't already read "Unbroken" YOU MUST READ IT.
Fantastic book!!

Anywhoo, the undershorts were a huge disappointment.  They were practically transparent. No shit!!  If the skirt were to catch a breeze and fly up it would be both frightening and disturbing for all involved.

On several levels.

Serious wardrobe failure.

I sent the cute skirt back.

Guess I'll keep shopping....

med city marathon 20 mile run

The Rochester Post Bulletin contemplating
if the race will go on....

You know what a wuss I am in the heat.

The husband and I ran the Med City Marathon 20 miler (his longest run ever!!) as a training run for Grandma's, and holy cats, if I can do 20 miles on a day like that, I can do damn near anything!

The weekend forecast was/is crazy - thunderstorms and 70's on Saturday, Sunny, hot, humid, windy and high of 91 on Sunday, thunderstorms and 70's for today. Which day to run?? Pick your poison. I love thunderstorms when I'm safe indoors; thunderstorms while running out in the open in the country not so much.  I opted for the heat.  Ugh.

The first 8-9 miles were great and then the temp really took a jump. After that, things got a little ugly. I got totally freaked out around mile 10 when I lost the husband. I was ahead of him and turned around to see how he was doing and he was no where to be seen. I walked back to the water stop to find him and was worried the heat had already gotten to him. Turns out, he just needed to hit the porta potty. But the heat was starting to take it's toll on both of us. After that, we took thing super slow, walked when we needed to and focused on enjoying the course, chatting with other runners, and celebrating each time we passed a mile marker flag.

one stretch of the course had lots of
messages like this. Loved it!

We met some great people during the race including a 73 year old man who was on his 36th or 37th marathon (he wasn't sure), and another guy who had open heart surgery 19 months ago and was running his 58th marathon. Both were such nice guys and really inspiring. Like us, several people were doing the 20 mile as a prep for Grandma's. 

20 hot brutal miles DONE!

I have to say, the people of Rochester MN were amazing - folks had sprinklers on for us, they stood out in the heat and handed us ice cubes from their own freezers or from bags they bought themselves, and a couple of families even handed out water bottles to us. Families were handing out twizzlers and jolly ranchers too! I don't know that we would have been able to finish without the extra ice and water. The generosity was overwhelming really, and the volunteer support was fantastic. Rochester puts on a good show!!

Eventually, we started hearing from the officials that there was a black flag warning due to the heat. It really was brutal. I have never seen so many people walking a race ever. Again, the support was fantastic - fire fighters, police, medics on bikes - all would look at us really hard and ask us how we were doing. I think it helped to be in a town that is so medically in tune! (You know, Rochester MN, Mayo clinic...... it's kind of known for health care.)

a little post-run yumminess.

And I don't know if it was the heat or what, but my feet felt like they grew about two sizes during the race. The husband and I were laughing about how it felt like we had Fred Flintstone feet every time we started running after our walk breaks.  Anywhoo, the big toe on my left foot took a beating for some reason - the toenail is all bruised and painful.  I think it will match nicely with the black toenail on my right foot and all the callouses and funky nubbins on the rest of my toes.  Like having ginormous big girl feet isn't bad enough..... my poor toes look hideous!!  The badge of running, right?  I shall proudly display them for all to see.

Of course, GarminElectra quit on me again - this time after 15 miles. She was bitching about being wet for a while before she quit; I knew she was getting ready to throw in the towel so I kept an eye on her. Good thing too. Untrustworthy beyoch. I'm looking for a new running partner - anyone have suggestions?

the first 15 miles....

.....and the last 5.

I'd definitely run this race again.  It's so great to have supported long runs. I would have quit a million times over if I tried to do this 20 miler on my own!  They kept the price way down for the 20 miler, too - no special race bib, just a generic running room one, no finish line (we just stopped at the 20 mile flag, turned around and went back to the marathon relay station to catch the shuttle back to the finish line) and no medal. We did get a t-shirt though, which was cool. Seemed like a great deal to me! I really did just want the support on the long run. And we certainly got that!!  But the bling whore in me wishes we'd gotten medals after running that far, in that heat..... I'm like a black hole for bling, aren't I?

Grandma's is in three weeks!!  Bring on the taper!!

heading to grandma's - week 7

Grandma's is only 75 days away!  Yikes! I definitely do not feel ready to run that distance yet.  But that's why I'm doing the training, yes?  So I'll feel ready?  I hope it works.

Week 7:  March 26-April 1

Monday
Easy Run As Follows:
Warm up walking 5-10 min at brisk pace
Easy run of 4 miles at 11:34 min pace
Cool down with brisk walk of 5-10 min
Workout note: 4.13 miles at 10:43 pace
Cold, rainy and WINDY one. The rain started around mile two and Jane quickly learned that if she stayed really close behind me, I would block the rain from pelting her in the face. She was so close on my heels (sometimes ON my heels) that she almost took me down a couple of times. But it was a good run. The left ankle was bugging a bit though.

Tuesday
Tempo Run As Follows:
Warm up with 1 mile at 11:34 pace
Run 4 miles at 9:40-9:55 min pace
Cool down with brisk walk 5-10 min
Workout note: My ankle is still sore so I decided to run on Wednesday and do core work on Tuesday.
100 pelvic tilts, 150 clam shells, 30 second plank series (side, prone, side) x3, 15 crunches, 15 prone cobras, 20 reverse crunches, 20 supermans, 20 pendulums, 35 push ups. Yep, it hurt.

Wednesday
Workout note: walked 3.31 miles.  The ankle still hurts.  Yeah, I'm kind of a baby but dang, I had a lot of down time last summer with my tendinitis. I don't want that to happen again.  

Thursday
3 Miles Easy Run as Follows
WU w/ 5-10 minutes of brisk walking
Run 3 miles at 11:34-12:34 pace
Cool down with 5-10 min brisk walk.
Workout note: I did Tuesday's tempo run. My plan was to focus on my steps, keeping them light and quick and listen to the ankle. Here's how it went:
mile 1 - 11:32 
mile 2 - 10:00 
mile 3 - 9:50 
miles 4-5 - Ok, these two were kind of fun because I discovered that my heart monitor for my elliptical works with my treadmill too, even though they are different manufacturers.  How cool is that?!  So I thought I'd see what happened when I pushed it a bit. Started mile 4 at 9:40, then gradually worked up to 8:31 before I hit the red zone. I finished the last 0.75 mile at 8:40 and felt great. Treadmill runs are so much better when you can throw a little fun at them! And my ankle didn't hurt at all!


Friday
Workout note: walked 2.2 miles

Saturday
Long Run as Follows:
WU for 1 mile at 12:34 pace
Run 15 miles at 11:34-12:34 min
Cool down with brisk walk for 5-10 minutes
Workout note: 16.02 miles. This run went much better than last week's 15 miles of hell.  Yay for that!  You can read all about yesterday's run HERE.

Long runs give me ugly feet.  See my poor, red 2nd toe?
It hurts! Trivia time: supposedly, having a long 2nd toe
is an indicator of creativity and/or artistic talent.
Yeah, not so much.

Sunday
Workout note: jog/walked 3.38 miles
I was going to run three to make up for the run I missed earlier this week, but this one ended up being a jog/walk. I kind of messed up the middle toe on my left foot on yesterday's 16 miler. It hurts like hell and I'm fairly sure I'll be losing that toenail soon. Anyhoo, the whole top of the toe is bright red and when I tried to clip the toenail I got a little bit of skin along with it and all of a sudden the toe started draining. Quite gross, really. But it feels a little better! Plus, Jane lived up to her nickname of Two Poops, so I pretty much lost interest in running during the last half mile while having to carry two bags of yuck. I'm still counting it as a run though. :)

Miles planned: 28
Miles run: 28.53
Miles walked: 5.51

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

stress relief

Life has been a bit too interesting for my taste lately.  Too many irons in the fire, too many issues to sort out...... I am so grateful that I'm able to run and SOOOO happy that I found my new workout home.  I went to circuit class yesterday and one of the stations was hitting a huge tractor tire with a sledgehammer.  I LOVED IT!!!! Add in the kick-boxing station where I got to kick a giant bag and then all the other kettlebell/TRX stations and for 45 fabulous minutes I was able to forget all the crap that I'm dealing with on a daily basis. Just what I needed.

The toenail I'm always losing.

On another note, looks like  my toe issue is once again rearing its ugly head.....I can tell I'm going to lose that nail again.  Damn.  I just got a pedi too.  Lost that toenail THREE  times last year.  I really thought I'd be able to hang onto it until I was doing some serious mileage but after 3 measly miles??? I mean, c'mon!!!

Oh yeah, and I caved.  Those free Oreos are in the pantry right now. I'm thinking of them as a reward system for miles run and tires sledgehammered.  And hoping that the kids get to them first.