Finals Weeks!
Three Weeks to GO!
This long run SUCKED. I was dreading the run, and did a terrible job of psyching myself up. I couldn't find somewhere long enough to run that I didn't have to do an out and back, and once I decided on that, I didnt really get on board.

I planned on running out and back on the East Lake Sammamish trail, which is gravel and very flat, but unfortunately closed. I made it a mile and a half in only to see a "Trail Closed Ahead" sign. Some inappropriate loud words were had.

Luckily I parked at Marymoor, so I just ran the rest as an out and back along the Sammamish river trail. Not super pleasant, but I took the opposite side that I usually do, and was able to break it into sections in my head that made it go much faster. I also ran this with headphones (which I have yet to do on a long run). While I think that might have actually been helpful, my iPod decided it wouldn't switch songs, and I had a reminder very 2-3 minutes of how long it had been when i had to "skip" to the next song. I'm definitely a "sounds of nature only" person.

Anyways, this run sucked, I wanted to cry at the end, and the Seahawks lost while I was running.

Two Weeks to GO!
This week I got sick. Maybe why my 11 miler was so crappy. I ran my 3 mile run (12 min/mile pace!!) on Tuesday but skipped Thursday for fear of staying sick for the 12 miler.

I convinced Curtis to drop me off and pick me up, and was able to run a 12 mile section of the Iron Horse Trail out by North Bend. I vetoed the headphones this one, as they were terrible the last one.

Twelve went way better than eleven. This trail is gorgeous, fall is my favorite season, and there were just enough people out that I didn't think I was going to be eaten by a bear without anyone noticing. I was happy to be done by the end, but I am very sure now that I can run 13.1 no matter what. And I'm no longer sick!

One Week to GO!!!
Hoooray for tapers! Even though the plan didnt call for it, Stacy and I both decided a taper was well in order.
We spent the weekend wine tasting and running in Yakima. We found a lovely canyon trail that went through beautiful yellow and red fall trees, a gradual uphill then downhill, and great gravel trial.
We ended up running/walking (some offroading was in order) only 6 miles, but they felt wonderful. Amazing to me now that that can feel so short.

I have only five more miles (3 on Tuesday, 2 on Wednesday) until the half marathon, and I'm getting giddy with anticipation. If only the weather would stop dropping into the 40s...

Here come the sisters, Sisters!!

I guess I haven’t reviewed in a while. I’ve been skipping my Thursday run lately because I push back the Tuesday run and that pushed back the rest of the week. Other than that, the week day runs have been quite good. The longer runs on Tuesdays/Wednesday have been quite fast since I mainly do the berm or roads, but averaging 9 min/mile pace while I’m trying to go slow. Which makes me feel a little better about my pace.

Then comes the long run on the weekend. The 10 miler with Kelly felt great! Exactly like I would want to feel at 10 miles in the half. Then came then 11 and 12 mile runs. Much less great L Both runs had really really low points in the middle that I had to run/walk through, though the starts were pretty good.

For the 11 mile run, I knew it would be pretty bad because I hadn’t had a day off since Tuesday and ran fast the day before (and 5 miles). So I was expecting it to be back, but not as crushing as the middle was. Though, like most of my long runs, the end felt really great and made me forgetting about the terrible middle. I ended happily jogging along trying to forget that I was going back to a car which contained Maddie (who had rolled in fresh human throwup during her 3 miles of the 8 mile run). Needless to say, I didn’t get to recover for quite a while after the run since Maddie needed a bath before we could do anything.

Yesterday was the 12 miler in Hayward which was good and bad. I gave blood last Thursday and got a flu shot on Friday, so just like the 11 mile run, I had a very good excuse for my body wimping out. And wimp out it did. I ran the first 2 miles with Ian along the lake in the only flat part of the run (which was supposed to be all flat). This part felt great and for about a mile more until the good sized (2 nice 400 foot) hills showed up. I also am definitely not in shape for heat anymore and the wonderful 80 degree sunny California weather really got to me. The rest of the middle, again, felt like death and at half way I was ready to give up. Luckily it was a loop, so that just wasn’t an option. The loop ended up being only 9.5 miles instead of 12 so I had to add a nice 13 minute out and back to it which I was dreading at 6 miles, but was very nice at 9. Overall it felt good by the end, but I need to figure out how to get the middle to feel better than a forced trudge.

I am really looking forward to some good single track and trees and definitely hopeful for the downhill. I’m banking on that allowing me to maintain through the middle of the run. We shall see! Just a 7 miler in the way!

In other notes, my left ITB has been bugging my left knee, so I didn’t lift last week. But still at 75 lbs squats and 135 lbs deadlifts. 3 sets of 5. So I might have quads at some point! Still looking forward to some cycling, a little more swimming, and maybe some hot yoga through the winter! Just have to keep running too!

Well, Stacy and I obviously didn't need as much venting as we expected. I will recap the last four weeks of my training:
Week of Sept 8- Sept 14
I spent this weekend in Colorado hiking three fourteeneers (14,000' peaks) instead of doing an eight mile run. And it was great! I love and hate visiting Colorado, as I know when I visit I only see the good parts, but it really makes me want to move back. I went at my own pace while hiking, and felt good on all three peaks. We bagged them in the exact time I expected to take, which makes me happy that I can know my own pace that well. Running down the steep hills were not fun, but probably good training for what lies ahead. Nothing to brag about for the weekday runs.
Week of Sept 15- Sept 21
Curtis and I did a 5k race this Saturday, the Fremont Oktoberfest! It sucked. I was happy with my times, 25:55, but terribly unhappy with the whole running-fast-in-the-heat-no-water thing. Not a well supported race, and it was just too damn hot for the end of September (85!). Curtis learned lots about his ability though, and I remembered that I really do go faster when there's lots of people around. Random note- the dog didn't get overheated, unlike Curtis. Props for Apollo!
Week of Sep 22- 29
I did a 9 mile run this week. I ran 9 miles of the Burke Gilman/ Samammish river trail. It was fantastic! I managed to forget my headphones and music, and forget which way the river runs, so I was going up hill the whole time. But I ran all but the stop for water fill up, and kept a really solid pace most of the time. I'm always impressed with my ability to keep going, and actually felt way better at the end of the run than the beginning (until I stopped of course). It helped that I knew the area very well, and liked going back to somewhere I hadnt been in a few years.
Week of Sept 30- Oct Whatever
Ran a 10 mile run with Stacy in Forest Park in Portland. We didnt run the whole way, as there turned out to be a lot of hills. I managed to fall twice and really bang myself up. but surprisingly, we kept a just-over 10 min/mile pace, and i felt really really good at the end and no soreness the next day. this one has made me excited for my eleven miler this weekend!