INJURED (3 weeks to go.)

CeCe says, “Finally it has happened to me right in front of my face and I just can not hide it”. 

Yes, I’m injured.  And I can’t hide it. 

It’s a Posterior Tibial Tendonitis and it’s at a lighter side of it.  But, I’m off running for a bit and not gonna get a 23 miler in before CIM.  This sucks. 

Here’s what happened:

Monday, November 11.  6M on Treadmill followed by Spin class at night.  Worked a bit on my legs.

Tuesday, November 12.  Last Faster Finish class for 2013.  Can you believe it’s been a year already?  It was caterpillar run, which I’ve re-christened it Human Centipede Run for added flavor.

Wednesday, November 13.  5M.  Went clock-wise and it felt good.  I zoomed to MP on the last 3Ms and finally felt like I was “back”.  Nagging plantar issue seemed to have resolved and felt really good.

Thursday November 14.  Finally, a properly sanctioned Marathon Pace run.  Mile 3 to 6 was at MP.  I hit them and felt good and strong.  Nothing hurt.  Just a bit cold. 

Friday was off. 

Saturday November 16.  18M.  Here’s when thing started to get funky. 

First of all, it was in the 50s by the time I hit the park.  And, I was not sure what water fountains were open which resulted in my not hydrating as much.  I had stitches, which did go away once I managed to find an open fountain and guzzle some water.  Second, the asphalt was also a bit wet from the rain earlier in the morning.  This made my already tired legs take up weird form and I could tell I was running funny as my shoes squeaked and slipped.  By the time I got to mile 15, my ankle was throbbing.  I didn’t know what was happening, but I just knew that it was not good.  I broke something.  I hobbled for the last 3 miles and crawled back home. 

Sunday November 17.  I was feeling better, but discovered that “pain when running, no pain when not running’ may be a classic symptom of a stress fracture…According to this article.  And it references Dathan Ritzenhein, one of my favorite elite runners!  (Sorry Robbie, I do cheat.)  I discovered this at 4AM in the morning and continued to obsess until 1PM, when I had a deep tissue massage.  Coach Isang poked around a few parts and told me that nothing was broken.  At that moment, I just wanted to go to bed…LOL

Today (Monday November 18) would be second day in a row that I haven’t ran.  I have not done this in over 3 years.  I do take a day off but never two in a row.  This scares the crap out of me.

I went to go see a Podiatrist (I made an appointment at 5AM Sunday after freaking out about the stress fracture) and was promptly told that I have a Posterior Tibial Tendonitis.  Some PT, some rolling, some icing.  We shall see if this will clear up before CIM and we shall see how much fitness loss is involved. 

The good news is, the topical cream the doctor put on is so strong and stinky that I have no appetite what-so-ever.  At least I won’t be getting fat.  Ha.

5 Weeks to CIM.

Gah.  I hate, hate, hate to admit this but I am feeling a little, tiny, wheeeee bit of FATIGUE.  There I said it.  The F word.  I'll try to snap out of it now.

Monday 11/4:  5M on TM.  I am fighting a baby plantar facitis.  It didn't bother me too much this Monday.
PM was spin class, where I noticed that my HR was 10-20 BPM higher than normal.  Not good.

Tuesday 11/5:  Slept in.  And I enjoyed it. 
PM was Faster Finish Week 9.  30 minutes of Fartlek work on the Great Lawn.  I am not a huge fan of going in circles.  I had a sub-6 for 10th of a mile.  A new record, or something.  I think I went a bit too easy on the "easy" parts and used it as a recovery more than an easy run.  I screwed up.

Wednesday 11/6:  Midweek Mile of 6.  I was getting antsy about recovery and while I didn't try really hard, I went out way to fast that I should have.  My heart rate was all over the place and not taking things easy will definitely haunt me.  After this run, my plantar did hurt.  Ugh. 
PM:  Lunch Time Pilates goes well.  Instructor actually says I'm getting better.

Thursday 11/7:  Thursday Tempo on East River.  I screw up the workout.  Coach Terry wants a 20-30 second negative split on an out-n-back.  I somehow decide that this is a 20-30 pace difference.  So out at 7:30, back at 7:10 or faster.  I nearly die because my HR is still high, air is dry, and I've got the coughs.  I cheat and stop for some air at the end of "out" and then cough some car fumes out in middle of "back".  I don't realize that Coach prolly meant that this was not pace, but TIME, so something like 12 minutes out, 11:30 minutes back.  Meh, it's OK.  It was a hard 11:40 out, 11:18 back.  22 second negative split.

PM:  Evening Pilates goes bad.  Instructor singles me out for being lame.

Friday 11/8:  Delicious, delicious rest day.  I nurse my plantar all day.

Saturday 11/9:  14M!  I try to relax, but everything just.feels.so.hard.  I remind myself this is how it's going to feel at mile 19.  "Don't stop" becomes the riot cry.  I struggle to mile 7, and I feel like crap.  I'm angry and hating the fact that I have 7 more to go.  But when I hit mile 8, suddenly things feel better.  Yes, my foot still hurts, but I feel a little lighter.  Ha, whaddaya know.  It was my typical midway blues, where I lose interest half way into a long run - I have to remember this, or it takes over me, making my runs miserable.  If I'm conscious about and warn myself, it never happens.  I had forgotten about this weird mental trait. 

There's so much to remember when doing long runs.  Form, fueling, mental state and all the other tricks.  Ugh.

Sunday 11/10:  45 minutes Elliptical.  Nursed my plantar, had a hot bath, and got a really painful massage, courtesy of husband.

So heading into "4 weeks" to go mark, I'm not feeling the greatest.  Bit on the overtrained-syndrome side, where everything is starting to annoy me, I'm a little depressed, and I just have no appetite.  My stupid foot still hurts.  I have a MP pace run coming up and a long run of 18.  Need to snap out of this like yesterday.  This is just a part of training and I know I was getting into this when I signed up for CIM, so just gotta push through! 

Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon Round 4.

Race Recap, Yo.

This took a while because I didn't really have much to say that was all that interesting.  It was a good race.  Perfect weather. I actually enjoyed bit of scenery.

Before the race, I excitedly exchanged Twitter with Rob Watson.  I think this was the highlight of the race and I wasn't even running.

All weekend, I OD'ed on nooodles.  Toronto has a really good ramen scene going on, and since it wasn't subzero weather, we lined up for noodles at Santouka. I had the shoyu ramen and it was deep in flavor and totally delicious. I declared it one of the best noodle joints in Toronto.  But then it turns out there's one of these right in NJ.  Not sure how I feel about it.

Anyways, yes, the race.  First, I get interviewed by not one, but two Canadian TV (CBC & CityTV) networks, while hopping around in the corrals doing my dynamic stretches.  Maybe my weird moves got their attention?  Or maybe it was my appropriate red-white outfit?  I was the token Asian chick that they needed?  They asked about my pre-race superstitions.  Kids, I'm more superstitious than a hockey player - I mean, right down to the lucky sports bra and panty combo.

Then right before the start horn, I experienced something you rarely see in Canada.  RUDE Canadians.  A controversial person related to an even more controversial politician was there to start the horn and this resulted in the loudest collective, "booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo".  Wow.  They really don't like this dude.  I wonder why...

The race started and I decided to follow the 3:25 pace bunny, as that was my dream goal.  As usual, folks following the pace bunny turns into a giant 8X8, plowing through the crowds.  I ditch him at mile 1, since I can't deal with a guy in Skns Zentai with a Camelbak, overstriding.  I fall back and decide it's all on me.

Toronto is a weird race.  It has a giant half marathon portion of 20,000+ folks, then a smaller full marathon portion of 5000 or so peeps.  If you get sucked in some strange competition with a random dude that's running the half, your full is done.  That guy only has 13.1 to go, you have a whole 26.2 to go.  He's going to go all out, while your objective should be to save until the last 4 miles...I've got sucked into this 3 years in a row, so this year, I was determined not to compete with anyone until all the Halfers broke off. 

By the way, the only good thing about the Halfers is that they shield the headwind for you once you get o the Lakeshore.  There's always a headwind here either going out west or coming back east.  With the Halfers, I can always find a giant dude to duck behind. 

Once I get to the Lakeshore, I keep on looking for the elites.  This is the most exciting part of the race because it's so fun to see them just fly through air.  And this year, I was determined to cheer Rob Watson.  Now traditionally, he has worn a black singlet.  I'm looking and looking for a tall dude with black singlet.  I see a tall dude in a red and white Canadian singlet zoom away.  OMG, that's him, that's him, that's him and before I could get a breathe in to say something, he's gone.  WTF.

The rest of the course was uneventful.  I rode the legs of three Quebecois who had their own cheering dude/coach person.  At around mile 15, the trio started to falter so I said "Merci Beaucoup" and moved on.  I didn't find anyone my pace so I just kept on going steady, passing one person after next.

By the time I got in to Beaches area where all the hills are, my Central Park legs were so glad to get a break from the flatness.  I plowed uphill, passing one sad dude after another.  I put myself in low gear, using my bum muscles for this and boy, it felt so good.  I knew this had been a trouble spot in the past, and I was determined to get through smoothly this year.  I felt a little victorious as I headed into mile 20.

Here I was almost by myself and I started facing that headwind from the west.  I pushed to catch up to a taller guy to duck behind, but then I instantly felt bad.  This guy was suffering and I just couldn't ride him.  I passed him and decided to take on the wind full force.  I should've trained more along the Hudson in prep for headwind running...

As I turned into the odd bit along Don Valley Parkway, at mile 22 or so, my legs were no longer into this.  I broke into my emergency stash of gels which I immediately regretted, cuz I got nauseous.  I had to dig deep here.  I tried to talk to myself about all the sad Wednesday 5AM alarms to run the 10M after a tough speed workout in 90F weather.  I recalled the heavy feet going up the subways stairs every Saturday AM.  All those summer days where I had to turn down boozy Fridays cuz I had to do a long run the next day. YOU TRAINED FOR THIS, I said.  I know, it's cheesy.  It's so cliche.  But man, I had to use every trick in the book to get through it!

Then at the turnaound point on the Don Valley thing, the dude in front of me suddenly stops.  CRASH.

I'm enraged.  I channel my sister who runs angry, "OUT OF MY WAY DUDE!".

As I go through the last mile, I dig even deeper and decide that I shall pass every younger and skinnier chick. I find a chick in a Mexico Tri Top.  All skinny and pretty.  I rhino her down.  Then it's dudes, dudes, dudes.  I then see the Zentai dude from earlier!  I pass his ass.  He aint overstriding no more.  ha!

I pass some people that were doing the 8X8 with the 3:25 bunny so I'm feeling good.  Maybe I'll catch up to him? (Spoiler:  No)  The last mile is really hard, but I try to imagine it as a track workout and push it out.  I swear,  I'm using all the trick in the book!! At final 400m, I try to imagine Coach Terry at the corner of the track, all smiling and waiting.  I am determined to pass this one last chick in a pink shirt. 

And I'm in!  3:27:14.  And here's the Garmin.

Not a PR, but it was a good strong run and for the first time in four tries, I didn't walk...not one step.  I'm 11th in my age group and since the 10th person has a time of 3:23, I think I did really well for where I am.
And I was feeling really good about it.  I got goofy pic to prove it. 

One thing about this round that was different from the last 3 was that I was conscious all the time of my form, condition, speed, people around me, thoughts.  I didn't lose myself in that weird haze where I can't think at all.  Maybe it was the colder weather?  Maybe it was the caffeinated gels?  Maybe because it was my fourth damn attempt? I don't know...but hopefully I can have this clear state of mind all the way into Boston 2014.

Next stop, California Int'l Marathon.  5 WEEKS TO GO!

So Um. Taper.

We are less than two weeks away from Toronto!
And I'm forced to taper.

I've had pretty good last 2 weeks of training, which I didn't blog because I was um..lazy.  But I did have a mental breakdown last week which ended up with a PR 10M race on Sunday, which was completely illegal (hey, I placed 10th in my age group)!  My Coach almost fired me.  I'm glad he didn't because getting fired right now will totes suck. 


Monday 9/30 was boring out-n-back on the East River again.  I went out too fast and tried to control speed.  At one point I just gave up because going slower is more exhausting on my muscles for some reason.  Coach says it's cuz I'm a 'tard and I try to run in slo-mo.  WHICH IS TRUE.

Tuesday 10/1.  FASTER FINISH WEEK 4.  I think I did like easy 4M on the treadmill in the morning, which went badly.  I didn't want to run at all.  My earbuds failed to cooperate and running with DM's Delta Machine didn't help.  I mean, it's got a song called "SLOW" in it.
FF was one of my favorites, 20min Out-n-Back, which I failed to capitalize on.  This should have been much faster both ways.  I cheated going out and I failed to pick up on the way back.  Legs felt like lead because of the illegal racing.

Wednesday 10/2.  Again, this Midweek Miles should have been a lot better feeling that it was.  I barely hit target pace in the middle and towards the end, shins and calves and everything hurt.  I had to go on hated Bridle Path for the last 2M as recovery.  Just couldn't pound the asphalt anymore.   I think not having more than 12 hour rest did me in...

Thursday 10/3 started good with a Pilates class in the AM and good night's sleep.  It also allowed me to get a 36 hour rest from the last run.  So the Lower Loop Progressive Run went decently.  Coach wanted 7:10-7:20 (5K Pace) for the last loop, but yo, that ain't happening unless I'm super fresh and have a bunny or a chaser.  I'm off by a few seconds, but I declare it fair.


Finally a rest day on Friday, which I spent the whole day dreading the 18M Progressive Long Run.  8:15, 7:55, 7:45.  Yikes.

Saturday 10/5.  Here comes the last long run.  Garmin failed to cooperate at the crucial moment, of course.

First 2/3.   -   Blah  -   Last 1/3.

There is a big cheat going on here.  The last giant Harlem Hill has a "5 second before" break where I gather courage and pray to the Harlem Hill gods, then a "10 second after" break where I congratulated my single hill repeat (I guess it's not a repeat at this point, but whateves).

The lesson here is that I can do 8:00-7:50.  I cannot do 7:45-7:40 for 26.2.  Which means this Toronto will not be a PR race.  That's OK.  It will be a good comeback race after a year full of crappy times.  I think it'll take me another 2-3 months of solid work to get to 7:45 pace.  Which brings me to Boston 2014!!!!!!!!   

4 Weeks Left.

We've entered the last bit of training where fine tune ups are needed.  So far, training has been good.  Not that many issues.  While there were little short races that I would have liked to gone faster, I have to give up on that idea since my body is being trained for something bigger and therefore, the short little ones will suffer.  TRUE, they were easier to do when I was a bit younger, but hey, who cares.

Monday 9/9 - After a difficult 20 mile the day before, Monday started with a slow run.  My hammies were feeling it, yo.  It was a slow, recovery run for sure.  I was so not into the Spin Class this evening and felt like bailing, but since I was there, I really just spun out my legs and worked the quads a bit.  Since back muscles (hammies) needed to be matched with front muscles (quads).

Tuesday 9/10 - AM easy run went not so easy, as I was still worked up about running flats hard when tired. Proceeded to get in trouble with Terry.
PM - The new Faster Finish Coach broke tradition and started week 1 with Strawberry Hill Repeats in like 90F weather for some reason.  We had to adjust my weekly workout!  The weekend run and not taking it easy afterwards caught up with me and this was not a good run.  It was the slowest Strawberry Hill Repeat EVER. Ego majorly bruised.

Wednesday 9/11 - 9Ms, middle miles at MP.  Whoa.  It was like running in the summer again.  My singlet and shorts had to be rinsed out at the gym so I won't stink up the office!  Some of the miles are just barely MP, but considering the weather I call it a decent run. 

Friday 9/13 - Lower Loop Progressive Tempo Interval.  I somehow managed to lose concentration during the last loop, fantasizing about how to get an autograph from Robbie. The slower bits went easier than I thought.  I actually told myself to slow down.  Target pace was MP, HMP, 5K. 

Saturday 9/14 - Easy 4 after a massive sleep-in to 7AM!!  I wore long sleeve shirt for the first time this season.  Weird, since just a few days ago my shoes were squishing in sweat from the humidity.

Sunday 9/15 - 18M Tune Up.  Because I did the awful 20M run the week before, this 18M seemed so easy mentally.  Hmmm.  I guess Terry doesn't hate me after all.  The only thing I don't like about this race is that I had to go pee shortly after mile 3.  It's that sports drink again.  I'm being punished for doping...  This was by far, the EASIEST 18M run I did and it felt great.  Mentally I felt relaxed the whole time.  I consistently told myself to pull back in fear of running out of juice.  THIS is the same feeling I had when I did a 3:26 in Mississauga.  THIS was a feeling I haven't had in a long time.  If I take out the lost time for going pee, the run average is 7:53 adding off tangent probably will average me out at like 7:55 or so.  Considering I need to be at 7:50 or faster for the Toronto, this was a good test run, me thinks!

5 Weeks to GO?!

Yea, since I don't count the last week.  There's really no training, so week zero is the week of the race.  Which makes me all sorts of nervous.

Good News.  Found out that Robbie Watson is running STWM.  My other hero, Reid Coolsaet is injured and not running, so I was super bummed.  But now, with Robbie in the mix, this would be fun first 10 miles!! Robbie says he's going to be sporting a beard so this should be interesting.  Whose Robbie?  Here's Robbie.

He's the grinning Canadian giant in black on the left corner. 


I got in trouble with Coach Terry because, well, I didn't run easy as easy last week...I'm still trying to grasp how running easy (ie slow) is supposed to benefit, so it's hard for me to understand brain-wise.

Monday 9/2:  Labor Day.  Got to sleep in a bit went for easy 6M on East River Park.  I'm starting to condition for endless flatness. 

Tuesday 9/3:  Tempo Interval.  I had a bit of a struggle working the West Drive hills at 7:20-7:30 pace.  This should have been pretty easy to do.  Not sure why.  Maybe cuz I didn't take it easy Monday.  By that evening, I apparently felt good enough to once again, not do easy as easy.  Ran with Mr. Blackstone, and nearly killed him.  And I had to go poop. 

Wednesday 9/4:  I could've sworn this was the usual middle miles at MP.  To be honest, I couldn't remember, so I just ran at whatever that felt good. 

Thursday 9/5:  Obviously, had to pay for the feel good run by struggling to push out the 8X400m Tavern on the Hell Repeats.  I got in the designated time of 1:50s, but it wasn't fun.

Friday 9/6:  Sweet, sweet, recovery day.  Went to Depeche Mode concert...

Saturday 9/7:  Autism Speaks 4M Race.  This season, I haven't had a sub 7:30 pace 4Mer.  It's partly because I haven't really aimed for one and partly because my weekly runs are hard.  So this race, I really wanted to do well.  It wasn't my best, but I got it under 30 minutes and while I wanted under 29, I'll take this. 

Sunday 9/8:  5X Harlem Hill & 3X Cat Hill.  Not at particularly fast pace, but it involved some big hills. I don't think I've ever done 5 Harlem Hills in one long run.  It went fine until mile 13, my bonking point.  I was already at low point when I ran into Komen Pink Ladies and I lost all my running mojo.  It was not only a stop-n-go traffic, I lost my mental power to keep going through the bonking point.  The takeaway from this failed 20Mer is that I still bonk at mile 13 and 13-16 is my weakest point.  I should remember this and tell myself, "yea, it's bonking point.  It'll get better in 24 minutes"...

oops. And Now It's 6 Weeks To Go.

Soooooooooo week 8 was a tough tough week.
I didn't hit much of the pace orders set by Coach Terry.  I had a strong Sunday run (20M that included Battle of Brooklyn) and a decent hill/speed workout on Tuesday.  After that, I just did not hit any of the pacing targets and generally felt bummed out.

Week 8 (55M)
Monday 8/19 - TM, 7 miles.  Didn't spin this night. 

Tuesday 8/20 - TM, 4 miles in the AM, "THAT CAT HILL THING" (again!) in the evening.  This was the only run that I actually did well in.  I hit good pacing of around 5K pace going up the Cat Hill.

Wednesday 8/21 - Midweek Miles 10M.  I was to throw in some half marathon paces in the middle (miles 5-8), but failed to do so.  Barely hit marathon pace.

Thursday 8/22 - Track.  I hate track.  I hate them even more when it's longer loopy-loops.  Especially when they are 1600s.  1600X3, 7:40, 7:20, 7:00 pace with 400m recovery.  Did.not.happen. Ended up with 7:22, 7:16, 7:11. 

Next time longer loops comes up, I'm going to do them at Great Lawn.  2X Great Lawn is infinitely better than 4X that awful track.  I had to work late this day, I think, and I got stuck running the track with another running team.  What I hate more than just plain track work is track work on the crowded track.

Friday 8/23 - 4M.  Instead of doing the usual treadmill thing, I headed up to see if I could do 1600m at 7:00 like Coach wanted me to.  ...after first 400m, decided that it wasn't my thing.  Ego bruised, I headed out to Chicago for a brief R&R with my best friend - yep she drove me around Chicago, but we forgot to sing this song.  

Saturday 8/24 - 15M +1M cool down to check out the sights.  I was super nervous about running along the Chicago Lake Shore.  Is it going to be safe? (yes, it's super safe.)  Is there water stops? (yes, plenty.)  Poo stops? (about every 3M, so plan carefully.)  It's flat and I enjoyed a gentle tail wind on my way back.  Ego restored, bumped into Dave Gahan on Magnificent Mile, which I renamed Miracle Mile because Dave.

Sunday was finally a rest day.  A hard earned rest day, since I hadn't really had a full rest day since Friday 8/16.

Week 7  (41M)
Since week 8 was big, hard week, week 7 was a recovery week.  I have this sinking feeling that this would be my last recovery/easy week before Toronto, so I decided to savor it for a change.

Monday 8/26 - TM 6M.  I could barely get up for this.  I think not getting enough sleep over the weekend really got me.  PM - 5M.  Easy run with my favorite runner.  It's around here that I realized, I should listen to Terry for a change and enjoy the recovery week...

Tuesday 8/27 - you know it's the last easy week I'm ever going to get until 10/21, since typical Tuesday speed work was crossed off.  I had 1 hour of elliptical. I watched something called Below Deck.  Then I got sucked in to it, and had to watch all the episodes later...Thanks Terry.

Wednesday 8/28 - I've recovered a little bit, but to be honest, my mind is a blur.  I don't remember doing this run!  Apparently, the middle part was to be at MP.

Thursday 8/29 - Finally got some sleep in the AM.  Another track work day.  I'm OK with this one, since it's 8X400m.  400m, I can do.

Friday 8/30 - 2pm dismissal at work. Off day from training! I enjoyed not running for a change.

Saturday 8/31 - Another humid day.  I was so glad that this was a 12M long run and not a 20M.  Even my Garmin wasn't having a good day. 

Sunday 9/1 - with Toronto being right around the corner, I decided that I should get used to running on flats.  I run in Central Park, where yes, there are inclines but the declines that comes with them gives me a nice "recovery" in the legs.  In Toronto, where every thing is so flat, my legs never gets any recovery or a break for the entire 26.2.  I think this is what makes Toronto so much harder for me.  So.  Recovery Runs going forward would be on the East River Park and no more treadmills.

8 Weeks To Go and the TV Show.

These weeks are going down SO FAST it’s making me nervous.  Can I really run a 7:50ish pace for 26.2M?  Can I pull a sub-3:30 again? 

Well, this week’s been kind of a mixed bag because while my workouts and paces are steady, I now have a nagging shin splint (R) and a calf strain (R).  I would need to monitor this carefully and unfortunately, I’m going to be stuck with wearing leg warmers for a bit.  Yuck. 

Oh, and my post-20M no-makeup zombie face might end up on Cooking Channel (aka FoodNetwork.ca) of all things.  After my “10M race combo-long run of 20M”, I discovered that there was a Food Truck event right outside Prospect Park.  On my last Grand Army Plaza hill climb, I acknowledge that Taim Truck is there (shows how unconcentrated I was during the race…)!  My training partner has been raving and gushing about these guys, so I make it a point to go enjoy them post run.

6 miles later, when I finally get to them, there is a TV crew.  While all the other trucks are opened, the Taim Truck is being filmed for a show and not yet serving.  WTF.  I can’t get to the legendary falafel.  I am livid.  I am hungry.  My dope Power Gel had ran out about 9 miles ago.  I start bitching about how I just ran 20M and that I deserve the damn falafel STAT. 

Producers notice my bitchin’ and moanin’ and decide that I should be on TV.  I’m like NO.  I’m a 40 year old hag with no make up.  I look and smell like a zombie.  Just. No.  But after 10 minutes of arguing I relent.  I just want my sandwich.  If agreeing to these guys will make them finish their food close up segment and interview me so I can eat my sandwich, I will.  The show is a compilation show anyways.  It’s probably not going to air for another 10 years.  And it’s not like it’s a top viewed show.  We ain’t talking Food Network Star here.  I finally get my sandwich, answer a couple of questions on TV, make faces and I’m done. 

I don’t know what was harder.  Being filmed or running 20.  Being filmed, I guess.  I am certainly not the Food Network Star material.  Running a marathon is easier.

Monday  8/12:  TM – like 7M or so.  I can’t remember.  PM was spin class, which I really didn’t get into.  It was an odd class with bunch of heavy pedal pushing. 

Tuesday  8/13:  AM – TM
PM:  Solo Speed Work #1.  Tempo 72^nd to 72^nd.  Saw two people from Faster Finish mingled in the marathon class.  Saw some other guy who said hi, but can’t remember who he is…http://connect.garmin.com/activity/358531118

Wednesday  8/14: 8M Easy.  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/359239018  Terry probably will not approve of this run.  Oh well.  After somewhat of a humid Tuesday, this was a really gorgeous day and I just couldn’t stop myself. 

Thursday  8/15: That Cat Hill Thing.

Last time I did this was in Faster Finish.  My “fast” parts are faster, which is good.  But I suspect the weather had more to do with it than me.  I was tired when I started this and needed like a good 5 minute talk with myself just to get started. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/comparison?activityId=359999763&activityId2=343757451

Saturday  8/16: Easy 5.   Preppin’ for the 10M.  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/360307492

Sunday 8/17:  Said to myself, this is where YHC trains.  I’m going to be fast like her!!

Pre-Race. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/361048302 

Race. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/361048343  LOL 8:30.

Post-Race.  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/361048375

Interestingly it was identical to Cherry Tree 10M in February.  Not sure if this is a good thing or bad.  At least is wasn’t slower.  That would be awful.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/comparison?activityId=361048343&activityId2=274591478

ZOMG. Single Digits. 9 Weeks to Go.

Last week was a "light week", but week 9, we're back to normal load.  I clocked in a 55M week this week.  I also think, now that we're into single digit to race, it's time to lose da booze.  Yea.  Robbie did it.  I can too. 

Monday August 5:
All treadmill in the morning, then went to spin class at night.  Spin class turned out to be a LT ride, where it was continuous push.  I may suck at big sudden power outputs, but I can ride at even pace and power for a looooong time. 

Tuesday August 6:

Official DOUBLE.  AM was treadmill.  Nice easy 4M.

PM was my last Faster Finish with Coach Terry.  So sad.  But I did something remarkable.  This was Terry’s signature class at lower loop, where you go tempo then sprint, then tempo up the Tavern Hill, then recover.  You do this twice (well, sometimes three). 
This was the first time, I kept correct TEMPO pace up the Tavern Hill after the sprint portion.  In like 3 (?) or 4 (?!) years.  And that was after a somewhat uncharacteristic sub-7 sprint.  Way to celebrate the end of “Terry Era”!!  7:34-6:46-7:32 are pretty good numbers for me.

Wednesday August 7:

Here comes mid miles at 8Ms!  It always gets me worked up when it says “MP”.  Middle 4 at MP.

Thursday August 8:

Lonely Track.  I hate track.  I don’t think I’ve said this before…I hate track.  It’s like that necessary evil that you have to swallow.  A bitter pill.  The Brussels Sprout (I love Brussels Sprouts tho) of running world.  Original workout was 1200X4, 2@10K, 2@5K, 400 recoveries…but whatever.  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/355753687  7:27, 7:15, 7:16, 7:11.  Apparently the workout was 1200X4. 1@10K, 3@5K.

Friday August 9:

Secret.  I did a small illegal run because I felt really salt-bloated from a salty meal.  3M on TM at lunch.

Saturday August 10:

Long Run.  Had poopy issues all day.  I woke up with poopy issues, poopy issues followed me to the Park, it followed me to mile 12.  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/356476394
4@9:00, 4@8:20-8:10, 6@8:00-7:50, 1 as Cool Down.  (2 gels)  I was zonked out after this run.  I zombie around the house until 4pm…

Sunday August 11:

Treadmill day again.  It was nice out but didn’t have it in me to go out.  Zonkie zonk.