Three Things Thursday

1. Outdoor Run - Arvada Loop - Thursday, September 2. Didn't have to get up TOO early because L was also planning on going in later to work. Essentially I got up the same time I used to when I had to be at work at 6:30. Wore my rad pink dot skirt and pink compression socks. Cool pic of the sun coming up over the golf course a few miles in:

Indian Tree Golf Course

Had some minor bathroom issues that thankfully were resolved about halfway through the run... with our late start there was an office building open... HURRAH!! 8.64 miles done before work in about 95 minutes (thanks to the bathroom shenanigans - and I never stop the Garmin from start to finish).

2. Todays run is my last run before we go to HAWAII!!! I'm taking tomorrow off (travel day) and then we will be doing only an "easy" 3-5 miler on Saturday with Dean Karnazes and Bart Yasso! Race day is bright and early on Sunday... Gotta say I feel about as prepared as I'm ever going to. I know it's goign to be hot, I know it's going to be humid, and I know it's going to be hilly. I also know that it's in Hawaii and therefore will be awesome no matter what.

3. Less than 60 days until the Athens Marathon in Greece. Where did the time go? I do not feel even CLOSE to being ready. And I'm sad my sister wasn't able to raise the money to join me. I'm not used to running by myself, certainly not all the way in Greece. Bummed.

Ridiculous Runs

Hard Core... part 2?
Outdoor Run - Arvada Loop - Sunday, August 29I raced on Saturday afternoon/evening, then I went to a concert, didn't get home until almost 11 pm. And yet... I set my alarm and diligently got up at 3:58 am to go running with L before she had to go to work at 7 am. It's hard to find lighter/brighter colors to wear so I'm at least *slightly* visible in the dark, but I did my best:

I had a busy day planned AND I just loathe running in the HEAT, so this seemed like a better idea. 


We did the same "Arvada Loop" that we have done a few other times, taking out a few miles to be sure we could finish in time. The nice thing about the loop is that it is mostly well lit, there aren't *too* many busy streets to cross, AND we get in a lot of hills... Anyway. My run was great. Fabulous even. I didn't feel fatigued, I didn't feel hot. I didn't even feel like I needed it, but I took one of the GUs that I had won in a giveaway a few weeks back. Strawberry Banana... and it was pretty good! Thanks again, Stephanie!


Anyway, the "long" run was just short of 8.5 miles, and I felt good the whole time - which is a win.


Part Two of today's blog...


I won a contest!! Woo hoo!!!

The Rules:

1. Answer this question: If you had the chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be?

2. The second thing you have to do is, pick 6 people and give them this award. You then have to inform the person that they have gotten this award.

3. The third and final thing is, thank the person who gave you the award.


The Answers:


1. Well... I couldn't really go back and change anything without changing the super awesome person (I'd like to think) I've become. So the "easy" answer is... nothing. I guess the "real" answer is... I'd have been nicer to my family when I was in high school - and I'll leave it at that.


2. 6 people that I would like to give this award to (in random order):

• Silly Girl Running
  
• Wendy @ Adventures in Triathlon
  
• Julie
  
• Abbi @ Higher Miles
  
• Racing With Babes
  
• Shut Up and Run!
  

3. Thanks to Little Fruit Fly in the Rainbow Colored Socks for presenting me with this awesome award. I love reading your blog! (And I really don't know anyone else that actually has "The Goonies R Good Enough" on their iPod, haha).

Happy Birthday and Virtual Race for MCM Mama!

Big Arvada Loop - Wednesday, August 25

I have not been getting in my long runs... Meaning, the goal I had for this morning was more than 3 miles longer than anything I have ever run before. MCM Mama hosted a variety of options for a big 4-0 birthday virtual race. Due to my current training schedule, nothing really fit... So I opted to double up the middle distance of 8.25 for a total of 16.5 miles. Um. Wow. So my ultimate plan was to complete this insanely far distance. In less than 3 hours. Before work. In order for this to work, I would have to get up ridiculously early. And I was SUPER nervous since I've never run anything further than 13.1 miles. So I didn't get much sleep, but at least I was smart enough to get everything ready the night before:

My alarm went off (even though I had woken up at least 3 times in the night to make sure I didn't oversleep). The finished outfit:

I headed upstairs - ahead of schedule!

Oy. I had no clue I would ever be this hardcore... haha. Quick breakfast:

Pre-race pic of me and my lovely sister that I convinced to join me since it was SO early and SO dark out:

L's friend, John, was insane enough to want to join us. That made us both feel better though. We headed out, and I knew that the course I had mapped was going to be a little hilly, but it was the easiest and most direct way to get all the miles in without having to cross too many busy streets. We took our first brief walk break pretty early, but that was after 2 miles of pretty big hills. We did not walk again until we had done the first 10K, and even then we only walked to open a bag of GU Blueberry Pomegranate Chomps (I had never had them before and don't think I'll get again. Product is sticky and bag was hard for me to open). Anyway, it was super nice temps out, mid 50s. SOOO much better than running the sweltering heat, even IF I did give up 3 hours of sleep :D

We hit the turnaround point, and it FINALLY started to get a bit light out. We had an emergency bathroom stop at about 10.5 miles (thank goodness we were by an open space that had a few port-o-potties!)

Went ahead and ate our "Espresso Love" GU and then headed out for the remaining 6 miles. My legs were a little tired, but it was nice having the company, and while we were somewhat slow going, the temps made it all bearable. The goal was to finish in 3 hours, but I mapped it about .2 short, and we finished in just over 3 hours and 6 minutes. I'd call that success for my longest training run to date! Thanks for the motivation to get me going, and a big happy birthday to you, MCM Mama!!

Splits:

12 min spilt is when I couldn't open Chomps and 13 min split is bathroom break

I am PSYCHED that I was able to run this far... only a few walk breaks, and a lot of them were unavoidable (crossing streets). I may actually be able to run this marathon without dying :D

Long Run... done!

Outdoor Run - Arvada Loop - Saturday, July 31


With no babysitting this weekend, we had to get up early (and I mean EARLY) to get our long run in before my boyfriend had to leave for work. I was up too late last night and really struggled to get to sleep, so when my alarm went offat 4:55 (yes, on a Saturday. yes, on my day off) - I was less than thrilled. But I got up anyway, had my Chocolate Peppermint Luna Bar (YUM!!!) and put on my newest running skirt!!! The skirts from runningskirts.com thankfully run a bit small so I was able to buy size 0... meaning I could get this one (on clearance and very limited sizes):

It was obviously still dark when we head out around 5:15. I hadn't done the loop before, but I was hoping it would be around ten miles and that we would get back in plenty of time for J to get to work on time. I just LOVE running in the morning. Low, maybe mid 60s and a slight breeze. Pefect. Pretty day out:

The first mile in was pretty tough. Uphill and I was slooooow... couple that with the fact I was still sore from yesterday's Vibram run and the lack of sleep, I was not entirely optimistic that we would get back in under 2 hours.

However, the run actually got better - which is rare for me. Tried the "Tri-Berry" Gu just before we hit 6 miles, and then (thankfully) the last 1.5 or so miles were downhill. Got back to the house with five minutes to spare! And I'm super happy to have my long run out of the way so early on Saturday morning. I don't feel the pressure of trying to get it done Sunday afternoon like usual! 10.43 miles - longest run in weeks.