"J" is for Victory!

Days to Race: 24
Distance/Time: 2.25 mi/ 30.30 min

Ran on the Dreadmill today due to ridiculous cold (7 degrees when I woke up this morning) and spots of ice. Luckily, my boss's husband is a tax attorney so he's pretty much living in his office this time of year. What also lives at his office is a treadmill. I still don't like using it: no fresh air and no sense of victory at the end, but it does give me a chance to really focus on my running form. I have terrible running form. It's a miracle I haven't hurt myself more seriously.

Also, the corral placements were announced. Thanks to the Turkey Trot, I am in Corral J, pretty much in the middle. This means a sooner start and thankfully more time to complete the course. Tutu construction is also in progress. I think it might be a bit too floofy. I need to readjust.

Treadmills

MW: It's just a number... right? RIGHT?!
Days to Race: 28 (not panicking... not at all)
Distance/Time: 12.5 mi/3 hours 20 min.

Welcome back! I've been absent the past week due to icy weather and slight illness. Once I hit 11.5 miles two weeks ago and realized that I've got this, my priorities changed a little. Now, staying uninjured is slightly more important than getting a run in. This means that when there's ice on the road, in theory I'm to put in an exercise video. Of course, I couldn't do that for my 12.5 miler so I appealed to my boss and the treadmill in her husband's office.

Some things I've learned using a treadmill:
1. Don't close your eyes. You will open them and find yourself nearly off the back of the tread.
2. It might sound like an elephant is tap dancing through the room but really, that piece of equipment is designed to operate under heavier circumstances.
3. This treadmill times out at 100 minutes, meaning it will shut down.
4. Life gets boring on a treadmill for 3 hours
5. I don't do as well on a treadmill. I'm packing a 16 minute mile there while my other long runs were more like 14:30.

Until next time!

Magic Mile PR

MW: ??
Days to Race: 34
Distance/Time: 1 mi/ 10.06 min and 3 mi/42:39 min

I hit a new PR in the mile. I had to double check my route and make sure I ran the right distance, but yep, I ran a mile in nearly 10 minutes. Between this and my 11 miler, I'm starting to think I've got this half marathon thing.

Dead dad card

Sorry about not posting these past few days. My dad passed unexpectedly and while I've been running, my inclination to write about it is not there. See you next week.

Ice Ice Baby

MW: 136.2
Days to Race: 44
Distance/Time: 2.23 mi/ 34 min

I've done white knuckle drives home, but this morning I got to experience a white knuckle run home. Or rather a white knuckle baby-steps ice skate home. I knew it was supposed to rain and I knew it was below freezing outside. My original plan was to get my run in between 5-6 before the rain was supposed to come.

I'll wait for you to stop laughing at that ludicrous idea.

Still that goal did get me out by 6 and there was still nothing in the sky so I thought I might be able to slide. Just half an hour. How bad could things get in half an hour? Well half way through, I started to slide on the concrete, so I switched to the road. Then I started to slide on the road so I switched to the grass. Unfortunately there is no clear cut pathway of lawn so I ended up scooting along very slowly until I came to a stretch and then tried to run on that. Really though, it wasn't worth it.

Now I'm all grumpy because I was doing really well and could have PRed my route. Not only that but I was all set to talk about how ridiculous I look in my glasses and ski cap, sort of like Martha Plimpton in The Goonies sister. (I'm in glasses due to a stye in my eye that hasn't healed yet). Anyways, grump grump grump. 11 Miles on Sunday. Not calling for rain, thankfully.

Toe pick

MW: 137
Days to Race: 46
Distance/Time: 2.5 mi/ 32.22 min

Aside from the fact that it is cold as hell outside (19 degrees according to my more generous weather app), there was nothing coming down from the sky, nor were there hazards on the ground and I had no worries regarding injuries. In fact, I would say I felt better today than I have in a while. The only issues were my calves. Since I knew I was running on Wednesday, I thought I could do something a bit more strenuous on Monday. I ended up doing Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred. And boy did I feel shredded. Two days later, I am still walking on my toes. But a little stretching helped that issue.

Have you ever seen the movie, The Cutting Edge? It's one of my mom's favorites and so I've seen it dozens of times. While running past the Domaine de la Victoire (field of victory, also known as the field I pass during my runs), I remembered that scene when Doug and Kate are running and he steals her hat... anyways it made me laugh thinking of it. Toe pick.

Remember your neighbor!

MW: 136.4
Days to Race: 50 (meep!)
Distance/Time: 1 mile in 12:12 and 3 miles in 47:16

I had a choice to make: either run today or run tomorrow. And since we are expecting freezing rain tomorrow, I decided to get out there today. For the most part it was fine, though I am annoyed at all the houses that hadn't bothered to clear their sidewalks. This includes businesses too. E tu Dollar General? So I nearly wiped out 4 times and had to walk for a few stretches, but mostly it all went well until the end. It's funny how my right side used to give me all these problems. Just about every part of it has hurt enough for me to worry about serious injury, but since a week ago, it's been a running machine and feels amazing. Now it's my left side. Luckily, my achilles tendon cleared up with some rest but my left knee is now getting me concerned. I'm thinking I might have wrenched it during my wild run in the rain last week. Hopefully it just needs a little ice and tlc.