running: the dawn

It’s done.  My beastly beastly week is behind me.  University finals are over the AP exams are coming up quickly.  Life is almost ready to calm down.  Oh, yeah.  And I just killed (and by “killed” I mean survived) my highest weekly mileage of this training cycle.  Wowza!

This week’s miles:

Sunday–nothing; forgot my shoes.  Silly girl!
Monday–12; “easy” miles.
Tuesday–6; with 6×100 meter strides.
Wednesday–20; the beast of marathon training.
Thursday–5; recovery miles.
Friday–12

Total miles: 55 miles

[deep cleansing breath]

I must confess.  More to myself than anyone else…Today was the first day I didn’t accomplish what I wanted to with my workout.  Yes, I did the miles.  But no, I didn’t do the speedwork I had on the schedule.  I have a list of excuses and/or explanations.  But the bottom line was my heart wasn’t in it and I have (almost) forgiven myself for it.

Oh yeah.  I came home sick yesterday, something that I NEVER do!  I was in the middle of my first class when I noticed my head feeling really fuzzy and I began to get dizzy.  I thought I just needed to drink some water and walk around some.  This did not help.  By the end of my second class I was sitting in the chair behind by desk with my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands because that was the only way to keep the room from spinning.  Finally I called Mr. Dawn to come pick me up and take me home since I wasn’t sure that I should operate heavy machinery.  I laid in my bed in the fetal position.  I decided to get up and clean the kitchen and make dinner because otherwise I knew my husband wouldn’t let me out of the house to run

I felt much better today.  There was a lingering headache but nothing I couldn’t handle.

So, today’s run.  First of all, it was 80+ degrees with high humidity.  Ugh.  And the weather website used the words WINDY like it was actually being blown down.  Strike two.  Then, of course, I found my rolling hills.  And I was done.  My goal was to run 7 of my miles today at least at a 8:30 pace.  I know I got three miles in that range…I did walk some…so maybe I’ll call it an interval workout?  Ah-well.

So, can someone explain this to me: no matter which direction I ran north, south, east, or west I faced a head wind!  Seriously?  With every turn in the road I would think to myself, “whew I can wait to turn out of this never ending wind?”  I would safely cross the street and bam.  Run smack into another wall of gusting air.  All I could think was, “So this is what it feels like to be a  biggest loser contestant with Jillian holding me back with exercise bands whilst making them run across the room.”  There were times when I am sure I was just running in place.

No matter what.  The week is done!

I may have gone overboard with Tonia‘s advice to “run slow” in order to run fast on my long run yesterday.  We ran some parts so slow we may have been walking

It was a beautiful day.  I’m talking blue skies, birds singing, flowers blooming, gorgeous.

I have a new favorite 20 mile route.  It is the perfect route for several reasons:

1. The course follows two consecutive figure-8 patterns.  This allowed me to place water jugs at three places that we ended up passing twice.  While this might have been over-kill, it was amazing to have water that often.  Yes, I still carried my handheld with me, but I was able to refill it often.
2. Rolling hills.  While I was driving out to place the water I noticed that it’s almost all up or down hills.  There may have been a couple sections where it stayed mostly flat, but not much.  Especially miles 10-12.  Those were some beastly rolling hills.  I say that this aids in the “perfect” status of this route because I really have come to enjoy hills.  Yes, they slow my pace and make my heart rate skyrocket, but they are not at intimidating as they once were.  So, I say: bring it!
3. Starts at my house.  For most of our weekend runs, KT and I have driven to a spot, parked and then run.  This time because of time constraints we wanted to start running right away.  It was amazing to have the finish line be my front door.  The whole route ended up being 20.5.  Perfect.
4. We got to run by 6+ lakes.  I may not be an “ocean” or “beach” girl but I LOVE a good lake.  There’s something calm and peaceful about the water.
5. Dirt roads.  Not all of it are on dirt, but there were two sections that we found were dirt roads.  This really seemed to cut down on the trauma to my legs and feet.  I felt so excellent the entire time.  No knee pain, no hip pain.  It was awesome.

My enjoyment of the run was only clouded by KT’s agony.  Bless her heart.  She was feeling strong up until mile 15.  After that both her body and her spirits seemed to crumble.  This is not a good situation, especially when we were still 5 miles from the end of our journey.  She pushed as much as she could and ran for another 2 miles.  The last three miles were a combination of running and walking.  I could tell how painful it was for her and I wished that there was something that I could do.  But in those situations there is nothing that we can do except walk along beside our friends and encourage them.  She was a brave little soldier and made it all the way back to my house.

So my second 20 miler down.  Only one more “extreme mileage” run in this training cycle (I consider any double digit run starting with a 2 extreme) in two weeks.  Did I mention that I’m running the Rockford Marathon on May 16?  KT decided to sign up for that, since she isn’t going to be able to come with me to San Diego.  I told her that I would sign up so I could run it with her and support her to the finish line.  I’m counting it as my last long run before my three week taper.

Today I feel amazing.  Well mostly.  My legs, feet, and hips all feel great.  There is a strange dizziness in my head.  Not sure what that’s about.

After my unplanned day of rest on Sunday, I was so excited to get out and do an “easy” 12-miler yesterday after work.  I felt like I was flying.  I didn’t necessarily crush any of my previous times or paces, but there was something in the air that just swept me along.  I even got a few of my last miles in under 9 minutes!

It really is amazing how different my legs can feel after two days away from running.  Last Friday it took all of my inner strength to pick up my feet and move forward.  But now, I’m back in the zone.  This week I feel a renewed sense of running joy.  The weather has been beyond amazing and each step has been effortless.  Today’s run was just as weightless as yesterday’s.  I did six with 6 sets of 100 meter strides (short sprints that are more focused on form than on time).

I am ready.

My re-scheduled 20 miler is tomorrow.  I have arranged it so that I’m done with work responsibilities by noon so I have time to set out some water and meet KT at my house at one.  I gotta tell you.  I am so excited!  I know it sounds a little crazy to be excited about running that far, but I literally CANNOT wait!  I ran a small portion of the route we’re going to take yesterday on my 12 miler and it’s hilly, but so fun.  The weather is clear with a high of 60.  Perfect.

KT got a new pair of shoes and took them out for a spin on Sunday.  She was planning on just a little test drive, but ended up having such a great run she ended up running 10 miles!  That’s so incredible.  I’m telling you, running is in the air this week.  It’s contagious.  If you don’t want to succumb, I suggest you stay indoors or wear a mask

I am so frustrated with myself!  I mean, on the one hand, there’s really nothing shocking about this situation.  I have been known to be absentminded.  In fact, forgetful doesn’t really come close to describing me.  I loose my keys, my glasses, my phone.  It happens so often that I usually don’t even freak out about it.  I look where things should be and if the item isn’t there I just figure “it’ll turn up sometime.”  You would think that I would work hard to overcome this problem…

This weekend was Mr. Dawn’s 10-year high school reunion and Sir Cap’n Pete had a 20 miler on the agenda for Sunday.  I felt fairly confident that with a little planning and help from my best friend Google maps, I’d be in business even while on the road.  After making lists, finishing the laundry, and filling my “running bag” with everything that I might need, I was ready.

The reunion itself was a huge success.  There were just enough other spouses there to keep me entertained while the former classmates retold story after story of their yester-years.  We ate together and enjoyed the fellowship all afternoon.  By the time the alumni basketball games were getting revved up, I knew that I needed to get in bed for my early morning epic run.  I caught a ride to the house where we would be staying, downloaded the pdf of the bike path that I was going to drive to in the morning and started to lay out my clothes for the morning.  Long-sleeve shirt.  Tank.  Shorts.  Socks.  Shoes….shoes?  Oh no.

Seriously?  I forgot my SHOES?!?!?  Ugh.  Many running accessories can be replaced or done without.  Shoes are NOT one of them!!!!  So frustrating.  I quickly texted Mr. Dawn to have him search through our car and a couple other places that they might have fallen.  But alas.  My run was quickly becoming a no-go.

So.  The new game plan: Run 20 on Wednesday.  Switch my recovery miles that are planned for tomorrow with a 12 miler scheduled for Wednesday and hope that the rain that’s forecasted this week doesn’t ruin ALL of my plans.

This turn of events is kinda throwing me for a loop.  This week is my highest mileage week, AND it’s finals week at the University where I work, AND Mr. Dawn is leaving for a summer project on Thursday.  There is MUCH to do and I’m not sure that squeezing all the miles in is going to lower my stress level at all….

Here we go…..

Whew.  I am plum tuckered.  I knew going into this week of training it was going to be challenging.  Luckily I have my new BFF and running buddy Gigit to see me through!

This week’s miles:

Sunday–17; long run with KT, fun new route.  Felt good enough afterward that I decided to do an hour of Jazzercise as well.
Monday–5; the “recovery” miles that ended up being a tempo run inspired by my new gift: Gigit.
Tuesday–no miles, but I did make it back to Jazzercise
Wednesday–10.5; including 1 km repeats.  Wowza, intense, but I loved using the “interval” setting on the Garmin.
Thursday–12; “easy” miles.  It was sunny so the easy was made more difficult.  Was really tired at the end yet still survived Jazzercise!
Friday–5.5; including 6x100m sprints

Grand Total: 50!!!!

This is my second highest weekly mileage for this training session, but the most miles I’ve EVER run in one week.  Man, I am completely wiped out.  I really felt it today when I was out there.  My legs felt like lead and I was arguing with my body through every step.  Even when I got to the sprints, which I’ve grown to love, I couldn’t find the focus I needed.  I have so much respect for people who log this kind of mileage on a regular basis.  It’s NO JOKE!

And so, completes the “Lactate Threshold” phase of my training.  This next week, I start the “race preparation” stage.  Yes, it’s going to be brutal.  I’ll have to dig down deep and find a new level of commitment to this hobby-turned-obsession.  Bring it!

Here I am, 6 weeks into my training cycle and 6 weeks from the marathon.  I can’t believe that in three weeks, I’ll start the taper!  It literally feels like yesterday when Andi and I were searching online for a marathon to run…

I have had my eye on a Garmin running accessory for several years now.  Over that time many new Forerunners have been added to the family and I’ve often wondered which one I would enjoy most.  Of course the temptation that one has when making a purchase like this is to buy the most expensive one because it’s obviously the best, without ever really deciding what he or she needs and expects from the device.  I did not want to be one of those people.  I wanted to know the different features and choose the one that was the best fit for my needs.  I wrote one post about comparing the Garmin options and you can read that here.

Since then I’ve read a lot of reviews of the different models, and honestly they almost scared me away from the 405.  I must say though, now that I have experienced the greatness that is 405 I am THRILLED with it.

Here are some of the complaints that I heard and now wholeheartedly disagree with:

Wrist strap doesn’t fit women’s smaller wrists. False.  I mean, yes the strap that came attached to it was definitely too big for me, but there were two other options included.  In no time Mr. Dawn had switched out the traditional watch strap with the awesome velcro one.  And I LOVE the velcro cause it’s super easy to adjust mid run.

Display is small/hard to read. Again, I disagree.  There are multiple screens that you can set up with whatever data is most important to you.  And seriously there are so many options!  I mean for pace alone, you can see your current pace, average pace, average pace of your current lap, or average pace during your last lap.  I’m amazed that you could actually set up a screen that tells you the grade of the hill that you’re running up/down!  I mean really!  So, yes if you choose to set up all 4 screens with the maximum fields (3) you might have a hard time reading the fine print.  But you can set it up so that it only displays one piece of information on each screen and then auto scroll through.  I’m still working on finding my favorite configuration of screens.  So many options!

Calorie counting is based on distance, so it doesn’t work indoors. Nope.  The calorie tracking is based off of heart rate.  I love that!  It means that I can wear the heartrate monitor and watch during Jazzercise (my other form of exercise) and finally be able to compare it to my running with not just one, but two units of measure (calories and heart rate).  I’ve come to learn that while running I sustain a higher average heart rate, but in Jazzercise I can actually get a localized higher heart rate (which explains the crazy amount of sweat) than I do when climbing some beastly hills!  So fun!

“Bezel” is hard to use. I completely disagree.  I actually think that it’s much like the first time I picked up a friend ipod.  I remember thinking, how in the world do you get to the music and listen to what you actually want?  But a few scroll and clicks later I had the system all figured out and could navigate anywhere.  The organization is so similar to that of an ipod and it’s nested menus.  Click on a word and it opens all the options for that particular category.  Its actually really easy to use and I’ve had no problems with it at all.

All-in-all, it’s an amazing product.  I LOVE it.  Besides just using it while I’m running, I love Garmin Connect, the online place that shows me all my stats and information.  In the past three days, I’m pretty sure I’ve spent more time on that site than I have on Facebook.

I always knew that my life would change once I got a garmin.  I knew that my running would be enhanced by all the information I would then have access to.  However, I didn’t know how much little Gigit would tell me and how much I could learn.

Thank you Mr. Dawn!!!  You are the best EVER!

So, after my enthusiastic post about my new Garmin, I got a less-than-enthusiastic reception from Mr. Dawn.  “Gigit?” He said rolling his eyes.  “It reminds me of a dog…”  Well, actually that’s not too surprising since I’ve been suffering from dog-fever (a state of wanting a dog for an extended period of time).  It would make sense that I would project my puppy love onto the Garmin.

I was thinking: a Garmin Gadget=Gigit (I really like all the G’s).

Apparently this isn’t going to work because the few times that I’ve referred to her by name I’ve received some very pronounced eye-rolling.  Looks like I’m back to the drawing board.  I do feel attached to her being a “she,” especially since I already have Sir Cap’n Pete ruling my life.

So, suggestions?

I am planning on writing a full review tomorrow.  So stay tuned for that!

Today I had my first full interval workout.  I must say, I am so thankful that I had the GPS to help me forge these uncharted waters.  My plan had been to take some paper and my stopwatch to record the times and then come home and convert them to see if I had been running fast enough or not.  Luckily I didn’t have to do that!  In fact, I was a little thrown off because I was planning on doing my 5x100m repeats on the local track but it was still being used when I ran over there.  I almost put off my workout when Mr. Dawn reminded me that I can just use my new toy.

It worked PERFECTLY!  I was able to set it to give me a warm up time, followed by 5 kilometer intervals followed by 5 minute rest between (which ended up being a little long, I’ll have to tweak that).  I ran down to my favorite spot and once I felt sufficiently warmed up I simply pushed the lap button to begin my first interval.  I didn’t look at the time while I was running them.  I wanted to do it more by feel and not feel tied down to the pace.  So I didn’t see how I was doing until I was done.  Here are the pace splits (in min/mile): 7:00, 7:02, 7:23, 7:20, 7:13.  Keeping in mind that I was just doing a kilometer, I still feel really great about the speed work.  Sustaining that fast pace for longer was really challenging, but I enjoyed it!

Sunday KT and I embarked on a 17 mile adventure.  We would be entering new distance territory for her and unexplored running paths for us both.  The weather was predicted to be super sunny but cold.  The day started out a little overcast and windy.  We were afraid that it would ruin the day for us.  Soon, the clouds started to break up and the sun came out to play.

Added to the bright and beautiful sun, we got to enjoy a variety of wildlife:

I’m not sure if you can tell, but somewhere in this picture is a heron in flight.  I guess it just looks like a field, but I promise that it’s there!  This was about two miles in, we finally turned a corner to run with the wind and started to warm up.

Once again, you have to REALLY want to see it, but there are several deer in mid-flight.

What a cute little cow!  Just hanging out watching us run by.

We found a beautiful dirt road around a peaceful lake.  I can’t wait to run more here as the foliage continues to fill in.

I’m not going to lie, being out in the woods and surrounded by the forests just makes me itch to go backpacking.  Last summer Mr. Dawn and I started camping mid-March.  This summer I know that we won’t get out there as much and it makes me sad.

The run itself was pretty decent.  We stopped at mile nine to do some stretching.  KT started having some knee pain and could feel blisters forming.  She’s hardcore though and kept pushing onward.  I’m starting to learn that my 20 oz. handheld is just not enough hydration for me on the longer runs.  Especially as it continues to warm up.  Not sure what I”m going to do to combat this problem…maybe I’ll stash water out on the route, or bribe Mr. Dawn into driving out to bring us water…

The return miles were pretty painful for KT.  I felt so bad for her!  I was wishing that there was something I could do…But we made it.  Her first 17 mile run!  Yay KT!!!!  Now, just a little 20-miler this next weekend, followed by a taper and then she’ll be running her first marathon.  I can’t wait to be there with her when she crosses that finish line.

After all the overwhelming excitement surrounding the Boston Marathon yesterday, I found a clip of Ryan Hall’s press conference after the race.  I was really impressed with how low-key and happy with himself he was.  In the weeks leading up to the race he’s been open with his goal to win at Boston.  He didn’t reach that goal, but he was still happy with his race, smiling and cracking jokes.  I suppose that it does help that he ran that course faster than any other American has.

It was really great for me to listen to what he had to say about running his own race.  I have such a hard time setting goals and saying them outloud for fear that I will disappoint myself and/or others.  In Ryan’s case, he said that everything went exactly as he planned.  His training was right on target and he felt good throughout the race.  Yet he came up short of his goals and wasn’t defeated.  These will be words that I focus on as I’m running in June.  Yes, I’ve set goals.  Yes that means that I might not achieve them.  But I don’t have to be defeated.

If you have a second, I encourage you to go check out the clip on at Runners World.  It was fabulous!

If I lived on Sesame Street, today would have been brought to me by the letter “running.”  I woke up fully aware that today was the 114th Boston Marathon.  I worried about being able to watch it unfold.  I knew that I wouldn’t be satisfied with seeing highlights or just the leader board updates, I wanted to see the action.  After some searching online I figured it out and had the live broadcast streaming to my Mac.

And what a race it was!  The women were so exciting with the winner breaking free from the pack at mile 11!?!  Unheard of.  Then, the 2nd place going from almost 2 minutes back at mile 24 to finish only 4 seconds behind the leader!  It was so fun to watch.  Then, my dear Ryan Hall….didn’t win, but man, what an amazing race!  Even though he finished 4th, he’s still had the fastest American finish EVER!  Besides, the guy who won demolished the course record by almost two minutes which is un-real!

Yes, my students may have suffered a little today with me being somewhat distracted by the race, but in my defense, I’m sure that there are mathematical equations going into all the calculations of paces and the timing, right?

Then, when I got home from work and walked into my kitchen I almost fell down.  This is what I saw:

WHA?!?!?!  Seriously?  My birthday is not until the day after San Diego!  I had no hopes or expectations for getting an early present.  But, I am married to the most amazing and supportive husband in the world, so I should have known he was going to hook me up…

I’ve literally been thinking, wishing, hoping to have a Garmin GPS since 2005!  I could just never bring myself to a) spend the money and/or b) figure out which one I wanted to spend the money on.

It killed me that the instructions very specifically state that you have to let it charge for 3 hours before you should take it out for a run.  I “patiently” waited and read the instruction manual through.  Then I found on Garmin’s website some videos of how to set up different features, so I watched those.  Finally the watch face said “100%” charged!

Ready for my run!  Gigit is all charged and ready to rock.

All thanks to this Guy!  Mr. Dawn.  I know, he looks a little frightening with the facial hair extravaganza…but I love him!

So, as if Boston+Garmin weren’t enough running excitement for one day, I did my run and realized that those 5 miles was going to push me into the next level on my nike+ account:

It says “You achieved blue level status by syncing 622 miles”

Yes, my mini has pigtails.  And hair falling in her face.  Just like me. 

Best. Monday. Ever!

I don’t know what has gotten into me lately, but I’m completely obsessed with the fact that today is the Boston Marathon.  All I want to do is stay at home and watch the live race from beginning to end.  The sad news is that I am in class until 1:30, so I will miss the finish no mater what….

Go Ryan!

Go Michelle!