Indoor Extravaganza

2 mi w/u
Goal: (4 x 400m @ sub 80 seconds with 200m recovery) x 3 sets; 400m between sets
Actual: above
      Splits - 79, 79, 78, 78. . .  77, 77, 78, 76. . . 76, 76, 75, 74
1.5 mi c/d

Tuesday this week I had the pleasure of returning to MSSU and doing a workout on the indoor track. It has been over a year and a half since I've run on an indoor track, so I was a little nervous about how this workout was going to go down. The air in the gym is often dry and when I was in college I would bring cough drops to the first couple of meets to soothe my throat. It was nice to be back and it brought back several memories of collegiate races and practices. I even ventured downstairs to take a look at my old lockerroom, and my All-American photo made it on the wall :)

For our debut on the indoor track we decided to celebrate by doing 12 x 400 meters! By the time we were finished  warming up we had the whole track to ourselves. We toed the line and split a 79 for our first one. This had us a little worried because it didn't feel as easy as we thought it would. We continued with the first set and finished with another 79, 78, and 78. Then we took a 400meter jog and started our second set. Things started feeling better; we just needed the first set to get used to running the indoor track. Plus I may have stretched out the recovery just a bit longer than necessary. I would have been perfectly fine with only doing 10 repitions, but Anthony talked me into doing the planned 12. I'm glad he did because I am strong enough to do this workout, I just hate doing speed work when I'm not in "speed shape". It's not so bad when I'm in speed shape and can roll these out like it's not big deal. . . which I hope to be in this shape in the next couple weeks.

Being back on the track wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I would venture to say that I even enjoyed myself. I'm happy with the workout, surprising myself with a 75 and 74 to finish it off. Jamie couldn't stay, but he's going to be around on Saturday as we perform round two of indoor fun.

I've been a little sick the past two days, using way more tissues than anyone should ever have to use in one day. Regular runs have been a little bit of a struggle, but I'm hoping to wake up tomorrow and feel much better for our next indoor workout.

Week in Review

49 miles
2 workouts
2 weights
2 Family Christmases
1 run with Jamie

Oops, I'm supposed to be increasing my mileage this week and next because I'm on break from school. I should be taking advantage of the weather, as we have had a mild winter so far compared to last year. It's time to start taking advantage and get serious about training. Next week the goal is to be closer to 60 miles and find somewhere to continue with the weights. My "weights" this week only consisted of exercises I could do with my Dad's dumbbell's.

This is the official first week of speed training. This next week Anthony and I are looking forward to getting on an indoor track and reminding ourselves of what it feels like to run indoors again. We are going to be in Joplin, so I'm looking forward to running some of my old routes again with my former coach and possibly some former teammates. Although, I think they all went elsewhere for the holidays.

Our second family Christmas was today. I finally got a new watch and some pretty cool running tights. I won't get to use them for a while though because it is going to be too warm outside. I'm not complaining though! :)

Allen and Darcy's kids: Avery, Addyson, and Ethan

Solo Ladder Workout

1.5 mi w/u
Goal: 1000, 800 x 2 , 600 x 2, 400 x 2, 30 sec x 4 @ sub 5:30 pace with 600-400 meters recovery
Actual: above - 3:29, 2:42, 2:42, 1:58, 2:00, 81, 80, no distance recorded for the 30 seconds
1 mi c/d

Originally I had decided to run a mile down ladder, but dropped it to shorter faster repeats since Anthony is sick and I didn't really want to run long intervals by myself. We woke up to a chilly morning of weather in the low 20's and a windchill in the teen's. It was supposed to warm up to the upper 40's, but neither of us felt like waiting until the afternoon to run, so we left mid morning and headed to the Frisco Trail in Springfield. The sun was shining bright, and I had the feeling that I was overdressed. I was wearing my running pants, jacket, long sleeves, and I tried out my new Utopia gloves. Before we even finished the warm-up I had already ditched the outer layer of my gloves and wishing I was wearing my tights because they allow me to move freely and feel light. . . which is important for workout days.

We started the 1k and I felt good, like I could roll out. Anthony has been sick the last two days and made it to about 800 meters before droping off and deciding to just put in some mileage. He does have to make up about 8 miles on me so that I don't beat him in yearly mileage ;) This was my slowest pace for the workout, I finished at just above 5:30 pace. I jogged the recovery and I think I got a little nervous about running the rest of the workout by myself because I had to make a pit stop in the woods. It must have made me feel better because I was able to average in the low 5:20's for the remainder of the workout. I was winded after each interval, but that is expected. I think I did a good job of not stretching out the recovery time. I've been known to stand around and drag out the inevitable, but today I was all business. I'm pleased with the splits, but can't help but feel that if I wasn't over-heating I could have been just a smidgeon faster. Mission accomplished!

Gray Baby enjoying some time under the tree now that all the presents are gone.

Today was Chirstmas at the Shank's house. . . that means PRESENT! Mom got me a new camera since my other one broke a few weeks ago, so I can't wait to charge it up and use it :)  Mom got a new mixer and Dad got a really cool clock for his shop.

Time to Pick up the Pace

1.5 mi w/u
Goal: 90 on/off x 4; 60 on/off x4; 30 on/off x 4; 15 on/off x 4 - 4 miles in  (25:45)
Actual: above - 4.15 miles in 25:45
1.5 c/d

Well, Jamie tried to kill us with this workout, it was his idea. Haha, he was at a Coaches Association meeting this past week and had the chance to trade/talk about running workouts with college coaches around the U.S. He texted us last week about this speed workout, so it was only appropriate that he try it out with us.

The three of us met up at the vet's office on this cold and windy day to partake in some anaerobic conditioning. I think we were all a little nervous about this because Anthony is sick and Jamie and I have no speed at the moment. We get better as the distance gets longer.

All in all, I'm pleased with this workout. I don't think the total distance does this workout justice because our pushes were at a very fast pace with several dipping into the low 5:20's and below! We just really took the recovery at a slower pace. As soon as we started the first push, I knew it was going to be a long workout because Anthony and Jamie were definitely feeling good. It took about two pushes before I was able to be right up with them. I won't lie, I seriously thought both of them were going to break me off and I'd end up enduring this misery by myself at snail pace, but by the time we got to the 60 second pushes, I'd regrouped and tricked my mind into being strong. Jamie was nice and stayed with me the whole time. We tried our hardest to keep up with Anthony, but he poured it on the last 10 seconds and we couldn't hold. He did let us catch up during the recovery.

I'm looking forward to gaining some of my speed back, even if it didn't feel good while we were running. Once we get on the track, we'll feel that much faster and stronger. This workout is kind of deceiving as it doesn't sound hard, but there is a lot of anaerobic and speed involved. I encourage anyone that thinks it sounds easy to simply try it themselves and let me know what they think. I'm not sure if it is actually a hard workout, or if it felt that much harder because it was my first attempt at "speed" work.

Week in Review

50 miles
1 workout
1 race
12 mile long run
1 Weights!!! Yes, it's true, I FINALLY made it to the weight room

I never got around this past weekend of recapping what I did during the week, so here it is. Our Jack Frost 10 mile Race took the place of our long run. Also this week I made it into the weight room :) I didn't go full fledge because I didn't want to get sore, but it's a start. I also did abs and push-ups a couple times, and not to forget strides! I've been on it this week. Now that I started up again whole-heartedly it should be easier to keep it going.

Jack Frost 10 mile

1mi w/u
Goal: 10 miles @ sub 63
Actual: 1:00:58 (Avg- 6:06)
1mi c/d


It was a frigid morning, but it didn't keep about 100 runners from toeing the line to participate in the 2nd Annual Jack Frost 5k/10mile. The race started at 9:00 a.m., for those who aren't familiar with road races, this is a late start for a race. However, I had no complaints because I wanted the sun to come out and warm up to at least in the thirties. As we were packing up our gear, Anthony (ahem, I mean Santa), came out bearing gifts. Okay, it was only one gift, but it was the Utopia 2-in-1 mitten from Brooks. These golves are the bomb! They work so well because it is a soft, warm fleece mitten, which then goes under another mitten that is wind/weather proof. I wore them during the warm up, and my Raynaud's didn't even act up. Of course I had no such luck with the gloves I raced in.
We headed out the door with a full van; Anthony, Allen (Anthony's bro), and I had been planning to run this race, but that morning we talked Randy (Anthony's dad) into racing the 5k with Allen. Also in tow was Anthony's mom Tammy to cheer us on. We got there about 45 minutes before the race started and headed in to get our timing chips. I didn't expect to see anyone I knew because this was such a small race, but as I was heading back to the car I stumbled upon Dustin Miller. He's a former MOSO runner also. It felt good to be back in my college town and see some familiar faces. About 30 minutes to race time we headed out for our warm-up, if you can call it that, and returned in time to hit up the bathrooms and say hello to the paparazzi (aka Mom and Dad)

Two overall winners of the 10 mile; Allen won his age group in the 5k with a PR of 23:44

I'm proud to announce that Anthony was the overall winner (1:00:01), and I took second to him, so I was the overall female winner :) It was an anticlimactic race. Before we even got to the 5k mark Anthony and I were out in front by ourselves, and stretched out the lead by even more the second half of the race. What was nice was that it was and out and back, and those always seem faster than a loop course. Originally, my "real" goal was to run under an hour, but I thrive on the big race atmosphere and competition. Plus it was chilly out, and it is easier to run fast when the temps are in the 60's. With the conditions that we had, I thought sub 63 was good. Of course then my Dad has to throw out the challenge of sub 62 (he actually has no idea what a good time is, he just wanted to be difficult). To my surprise I was closer to my "real" goal dipping under the 61 mark. The timing company, Act Now Racing, has a nice write-up and Results.

Anthony was kind enough to run 8 miles with me before taking of to beat me by almost a full minute! His origninal goal was to pull me through 7 miles, then push the last 5k to hopefully go under 60. Turns out I was running better than expected, but was going to have to negative split the second half of the race to go under 61. At mile 8, I knew I was going to have to run close to 12 minutes for the last two miles to break 61. This was a good point to start picking up the pace because mile 9 (my first mile without Anthony) had the wind at my back and gave me a good push towards a fast finish . I could stride out and managed to get this mile under 6:00. I was hoping this would give me a  little cushion because the one and only hill was during the last mile. I started slipping up towards 6:15 pace, and by the time I almost got to the top, I looked at my Garmin and had to run a 90 in the last quarter to break 61. I got to the top, saw the finish, and made it with a mere two seconds to spare. Yes!

The four runners

This race has given me a lot of confidence in my endurance. I felt like I could have ran another 5k to finish out a half marathon, and this would have been fast enough to run a PR. Ultimately, I would like to run a half closer to 6 minute pace, which would put me in the 1:18's; but the pace I was at today would put me under an 1:20 (which I was supposed to run last month at Bass Pro). On tap next week. . . generate some speed!

Fartlek- 2onx2off

2mi w/u
goal - 2min on, 2 min off for 4 miles
Actual - above (25:12; Avg - 6: 18)
mi c/d

Who would have thought we'd be wearing shorts and t-shirts in December? With a high of 62 degrees today, I had to go dig out my shorts from storage. This is probably the last time this year that we could run outside with our shorts on.

Anthony and I decided to do another fartlek this week. We thought 2 minutes was a good number because it is an amount of time where the pushes felt short enough and the recovery felt long enough. We also wanted a short enough workout to feel fresh for Saturday's Jack Frost race. The goal is to start generating some speed for the upcoming track season. I've got a long way to go, the pushes weren't as fast as I would have liked, but we still had a couple that dipped under 5:30 pace. I think all the studying Anthony has been doing has been wearing him out. He had trouble getting his legs to move, but started to feel better after about 2 miles.

Next week we are going to be in Miller and the following week Joplin. This means we get to run on the indoor track again! This makes me a little nervous because I haven't ran on an indoor track in 1.5 years, and it always feels awkward the first time. We need to get used to it though if we race indoor.

Measly Mile Repeats - Week in Review

Week in Review

51 miles
2 workouts
11 mile long run
weekend spent with Krissy!

Saturday- Mile Repeats

2mi w/u
Goal: 5 x mile @ sub 5:45 with 400m jog recovery
Actual: 5 x mile @ slow with 400m jog recovery (5:49, 5:47, 5:47, 5:47, 5:48)
1mi c/d


This wasn't one of my best workouts ever. The plan was to run all mile repeats at sub 5:45; considering the fact that my last two tempo runs averaged around 5:55, I thought this would be a piece of cake. Actually, before we even started, I thought for sure they would all be under 5:40. . . boy was I mistaken. About 45 seconds into the first repeat, I knew it wasn't going to be my day. The legs just felt like the couldn't go. I believe Anthony was feeling the same. We may just be a tid bit tired from the last two weeks. I like to give the workout a chance and never judge after the first repeat because it takes me 2-3 repeats before I find my rhythm, but I'll be darned that the second mile was only a mere two seconds faster. Yes the workout was slow, and yes I was a little disappointed that I could barely muster snail pace, but I can almost always find someting positive that can be taken from a workout:

1. First (and most important) I completed the workout without streching out the recovery (too much)
2. It could have been worse - at least all miles were faster than tempo pace
3. Better tempo runs means the endurace is there, so I should be fine at the Jack Frost 10 mile next weekend
          However, the poor performance for the repeats means the speed isn't there. Since indoor track is fastly approaching, this isn't a good sign


Week in Review

We have just about built up to our weekly average mileage for winter running. Last winter we probably averaged in the mid 40's per week. This has a lot to do with the weather; last winter the sidewalks and trail were snow covered for several weeks. This year we would like to average in the mid 50's per week. This isn't very much compared to summer because in the winter we won't do two-a-days and we are going to keep our long runs shorter (10-12) miles. Nobody wants to be outside much more than an hour anyways and treadmills suck!

Good news this week! I got an e-mail from Brooks and they accepted me into their ID (inspire daily) program again for another year. This means I get a spending allowance for shoes and gear and maybe even some bonuses if I get some positive media exposure. I hope I can live up to the ID philosophy and motivate people to continue to walk, run, and be active :) I have already rubbed off on my sister, she completed her first 5k last month. My mom has also thrown around the idea of walk/running one this summer!! It would be pretty funny if she beat my dad's time. lol

Unplanned matching shirts. It must be a twin thing!

Oh, one more good thing this week. . . my sissy came to visit from Virgina Beach! Unfortunately she introduced me to mint hershey kisses >:(

 

Mint hershey kisses, yumm

5 mile tempo

2 mi w/u
Goal: 5 miles in 30:00 (6:00 pace aka goal pace for Jack Frost 10 mile)
Actual: 5 miles in 29:40 (Avg - 5:56 pace)
            splits - 5:56, 5:57, 5:53, 5:57, 5:57
1 mi c/d

Yesterday I woke up at 4:25 a.m. (this is not a typo), and much to my surprise it was SNOWING! I was completely shocked, but at the same time found myself getting a little excited at the prospect of running with the flurries. However, by the time I got home from my clinical it had stoped snowing, and we were left with a cold and windy run. My excitement from earlier had worn off, and I was brutally reminded what winter running is really like: cold, miserable, windy, and the worst is yet to come. All this being said, there were still a couple ice/snow patches on the trail creating an obstacle course for our tempo run this afternoon. Okay, so they weren't really that bad, just annoying.

We strategically planned to run this tempo today because it was one of the warmer days this week. We started our warm-up, headed to the port-a-potty, and threw around the idea of only doing 4 miles. In college, all of our tempo runs were 4 miles, so I was just remembering last fall and this past spring how anything further than 4 miles killed me. I have done a couple 5 and 6 mile tempos, and even a 7 and 8 (at a slower pace) when I was training for my halfs. We decided to play it by ear and see how we felt through 4 miles and continue on the last mile if were were on pace. Sure enough we came through right were we wanted and continued on. A mere 45 seconds later, I started doubting our decision to continue the extra mile. For some reason I lost my rhythm, and the first half mile the pace slowed signicantly. We were running at 6:15 pace. Anthony encouraged me to take a couple deep breaths, regroup and finish the last half mile strong. We managed to make up for the first half mile and get the pace back under 6:00 before the last mile beeped, signaling the end of our awesome tempo. In my book, anything under 6 min pace makes a pretty impressive workout! This workout will get a smiley face in the running log :)

On a side note, I'm on pace to log my highest yearly mileage this year! Not surprising since I've moved from 5k/10k/track races to half marathons and road races. I need to average 40 miles/week for the remainder of the year (4 weeks left!) to hit 2700 miles this year. Whew, and it was as hard as it sounds. lol. Just kidding, but I will mention that most of these miles were in one-a-days; During the summer months we were running 3-4 two-a-days some weeks.

House divided: mine and Anthony's Christmas trees - so cute :)

Anthony and I decided not to dig out our Christmas tree this year. It is too big for our little apartment. Instead we decided to decorate our own trees, and we each bought a little 3 foot tree. I'll let you decide whose looks better. . . my KC Chiefs tree, or his Dallas Cowboys tree (Booo).      :)



Cheifs Christmas Tree with homemade tree topper!



It is hard to see, but Anthony's tree had Cowboy candy canes.



Who Fartlek'd - Week in Review

45 miles
2 workouts
10 mile long run


Saturday's Fartlek

Goal: 3 on / 3 off x 4miles

Actual: above; 4 miles in 24:34 (Avg 6:09)

Anthony and I put in another solid workout this week. I decided not to wear my Garmin for this run, so Anthony kept track of the distance we covered. I tend to get too competitive with my Forerunner, so I dug out my standard stopwatch to simply keep track of the on and off minutes. This way I was forced to listen and respond to how my body feels. Turns out my body felt pretty good, as a majority of our pushes were sub 5:40 pace.

We started the first push by dodging puddles from the rain the previous night. This turned out to be our slowest push, and my legs felt rubbery a mere 90 seconds in. I thought, this is not going to be pretty. This is the very reason I chose not to wear my Garmin. I depend on it too much, and if I would have seen the split, I would immediately have gotten a negative attitude. During the off, I regrouped and tried to turn this workout around. Whether it was willful thinking, or just needed to get the first one out of the way, the rest of the workout went by fast and feeling good. In the course of 4 miles, I got four 3 minute pushes is then had 2 minutes off and pushed until we reached 4 miles (1:34) for the last push.

We've dropped the long runs down, so I feel like I'm starting to gain back some of the speed that was lost to endurance. Those two weeks off must have worked wonders because even my easy, regular day runs have been faster this week. This was the first week to bring back workouts, so I'm sure the pace will drop back to normal soon ;) I'm not sure what's on tap for next week. After my clinical I will sit down and plan out the next 6-8 weeks worth of workouts/mileage. This winter we are going to keep our long runs shorter because, seriously, who wants to be outside for more than 70-80 minutes. Also, I don't want to do my long runs on the treadmill; that's just asking for an injury. Plus, since the belt moves, it takes out the amount of work the hamstrings and glut does. There aren't many races this December. We are looking at running the Jack Frost 5k/10mile run in Joplin. This race isn't big, but Anthony's friend is the race director; he is raising money for his business class at McAuley High School.

Three Mile Tempo

Goal: 3 miles in 18:30 (6:10 pace - slightly slower than goal half marathon pace)

Actual:
2 mi w/u

3 miles in 17:40 (Avg - 5:53)
         mile splits - 5:55, 5:55, 5:50

2 mi c/d


We ended up driving to the park on Roe and starting this tempo near the pond in Leawood park on the Indian Creek Trail. While the trail has a fair amount of loop-de-loo's, I still like doing workouts on the trail because you don't have to worry about stoping for cars or stop lights. This trail isn't overly populated with runners/bikers either.

This was our first workout back since the Bass Pro Half, so we decided to set up a goal that we thought would be a challenge, but attainable. Little did we know, that the goal pace was way to easy, smashing the goal time by 50 seconds. As most tempo runs start, we used the first mile to feel out how the workout was going to go. Surprisingly, we ticked off a brisk 5:55 for the first mile, and knew it was going to be a solid tempo. I didn't feel half bad running that pace. The workout was anti-climatic: the weather was nice, the body felt good, and there was no doubt in my mind that I wouldn't be able to keep that pace up for the next two miles. Anthony and I live by the motto of "last one, fast one", so we picked up the pace for the last half mile and barely missed dipping into the 5:40's. No worries though :) This is the first workout in a long time that I am pleased with.

First Week Back

39 miles
10 mile long run
1 run with Jamie
Need to start weights!!!

Anthony and I put in a solid first week back. I threw around the idea of doing some sort of speed work this weekend, but decided to do pure mileage. I'm usually pretty motivated after some time off, but the cold weather is making it really hard for me, and I've been, should we say, cutting corners. I only did strides once this week, and never did make it to the weight room. . . oops. Oh yeah, and I didn't do my abs and push-ups either. I usually do push-ups on the days I don't lift weights. Really I have no excuse other than I just didn't go, so the goal for next week is strides at LEAST 3 times and weights twice. Usually I can find a way to blame not doing the little things on school work, but I didn't have to go to school this week :)

Saturday Anthony and I got to run with my coach from MOSO,  Jamie Burnham! He graciously volunteered to drive to Miller and meet us at the vet's office (where we start several of our runs). I haven't seen him in a long time and miss running with him, so this was extra motivation to go outside and run in the rain. Actually when we started the out-n-back run it was a mere drizzle with the winds at our back. Sure enough (and this seems to always happen) when we got to the turn around, aka the furthest piont from our start/finish, it starts to pour. Probably within 30 seconds my socks were soaked and my shoes started to make that annoying squishing sound. There is a bright side though, the wind suddenly switched directions. This means that we had the wind at our backs again! I love when the wind is at my back because you stay warmer, run faster, and it feels easier pushing you up the hills. I will have to make plans to run with Jamie agian over Christmas break, seeing as how I will be in Joplin for a full week. I'm looking forward to some of my old running routes :)

I have high expectations for next week. . . well really I just want to start doing all the little things again (mentioned above). I'm going to try my best to make it happen, there is just one large change in my life that is going to take some adjusting to. For the next 3 weeks, I am going to have to start getting up at 4:00 a.m (maybe 3:45 a.m. depending on how fast I can get ready in the morning). Why so early? Well, I'm starting my VERY FIRST clinical at Blue Valley PT and my hours are from 5:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m, YIKES! Again though, there is always a bright side. This will allow me to run in the afternoons while there is still daylight, yes! If I were working normal hours, it would be dark when I wake up and when I return home because it is dark by 5:30. The only bad thing is that Anthony has to run by himself (most likely in the dark/dusk) most days.

Week in Review

19 miles
no weights
Volunteers at Gobbler Grind


My second recovery week is over! It sure did fly by. It is difficult to start training again in the winter, but I am looking forward to start building towards next year. I'm not sure what my "big" races next year are going to be. I'm looking at the Dallas Rock-n-Roll (March),  possibly Boomtown (May), and I need to find a fall race. Hospital Hill (June) is up in the air also. It has a huge cash prize ($2500) and brings in the elite runners. I'm pretty sure I could take top 3. I think I NEED to do Hospital Hill and experience the infamous half marathon.

We are running a 10 mile (there is a 5k also) race over Christmas break on December 17th. One of our friends is putting on the race, and it is only the second annual. I'll be surprised if there are over 100 runners. We will probably just tempo it.

Talk about some crappy weather this week. We had some unseasonably warm weather for November. I think Saturday we may have hit 70 degrees. However, the only bad thing about it being this warm, is that it brought with it crazy winds. Friday had winds at 25 mph, with gusts up to 40 mph which means our runs were slow, but felt hard. Saturday was just as bad. I'm pretty sure we turned a coner to head directly into the wind, and I literally came to a standstill. I should have jumped to see if I would have floated backwards :)

Anthony pre-race. Semi-warm and still smiling.

Anthony binging home the first 5k runner. Just barely getting started;
he rode the whole marathon!

Sunday Anthony and I volunteered to help out at the Gobbler Grind (since I would not be running in it this year). It's hard to be on the sidelines and watch someone else win, especially when I'm pretty sure I could have won by a couple minutes. Results Poor Anthony volunteered to be the lead bicyclist. The day before it was 70 degrees, but Sunday morning it was a brisk 32 degrees with a wind chill of 23 degrees. He did, however, get a new bike out of the deal. He has been wanting a triathlon bike ever since his friend started competing in tri's/iron's. We searched craigslist and a mere 12 hours later were the proud owners of a Quintana Roo made if carbon and aluminum, so it is very light weight. For some reason he won't let me try it out ;) I've never been on a racing bike.

Early Christmas present

Other good news, we decided to buy an altitude tent. Anthony was more excited about it than I am. It was very expensive, and I HATE being poor. We totaled up my earnings from races this year and came up just a little short of paying for the tent, so we didn't have to pay much out of pocket. But if I can drop just a minute or two on my half's the tent will pay for itself very quickly. Hopefully I can drop more; I'm still fairly young for being a half marathoner. I'm confident that without the tent I could go sub 1:19 this next year, so who knows what will happen with the tent!

We have only slept in it for a couple nights, so I can't really tell a difference. The only thing I have noticed is that my hair is poofy when I wake up, so it must be humid inside. We have it set on 3000 ft and will work up to 9000 ft over the next couple months. Altitude tech suggests that 9000 ft is the optimal level for most athletes. There are two philosophies with altitude training, "live high, train high" and "live high, train low". We are hopefully going to achieve the second. Here is some research I found that explains physiologically the benefits of Altitude Training; it supports the "live high, train low" philosophy. Yay!

Our tent for the next few years.

Week in Review

13 miles
3 runs
no weights

Well, there isn't much to report this week. This was the first of my 2 week recovery. My body is starting to feel rested and rejuvinated! I can only imagine how fresh I will be after next week. I decided to scrap the Gobbler Grind this year because of my foot. I think it got bruised from Bass Pro last weekend. I got a monster blister on the side of my big toe, and that caused me to pronate to avoid putting pressure on it (I usually supinate just a little) for the last 6 miles of the race. So 6 miles of pounding on that one spot had me feeling a little sore. Another reason I opted out was because the course got re-routed from last year. Now it goes to the part of the Indian Creek Trail that I don't like. You know. . . big hills and through the woods. Plus it is an out/back so it is going to be croweded because the trail isn't very wide, you MIGHT be able to run 3 wide. Anthony and I will however be at the race on Sunday to cheer for anyone we might see that we know. There is a chance you might see Anthony riding as the lead bicyclist ;) After next week the posts should get more interesting because I will actually be running. . . maybe even some workouts to report!

Winter is in the Air

After a glorious three days of no running. . . yes, a full three days. . .  I decided to start back with an easy three miles. While the legs felt fine, I'm pretty sure the cold air made my throat bleed. Boy am I looking forward to winter (sarcasm); the only thing I'm looking forward to is a change in wardrobe! I need to get my winter accessories out. The plan is to take this week easy,and probably most of next week. I might sign up for a half marathon next weekend, but just tempo it and run to get first place. Usually the winner runs somewhere around 1:25. I think the winner gets money AND a pair of shoes, so it might be worth it!

On another note, the professional pictures from last weekend are up. I for some reason only have two photos (only one action shot), but Anthony has a bunch. Check them out. . . Photos

Bass Pro Half Marathon

Bass Pro Half Marathon
1.5 mile w/u
13.1 miles @ 1:20:37 (PR)
2nd place female; 6th place overall - Results
$250
*two monster blisters

Our shoes! Made the KY3 homepage

This big day has finally arrived! As always on race day, we were up way to early for a weekend, getting out of bed by 4:50 am. I should look at this as great practice for me, since after Thanksgiving I will be working at my clinical by 5:00 am. We had daylight savings last night, so it didn't actually feel THAT early.

Immediately upon stepping outside, I realized that it was about 10 degrees warmer than expected, which, unfortunately, brought winds ~ 20 mph. On the bright side (literally and figuratively), I was able to wear my uniform with no problem. Before our warm-up, Anthony and I bypassed the ports and stepped into McDonald's to use the restroom. Just to put me in a bad mood before the race, I ripped my jacket coming out of the stall. How does someone rip their jacket? Well the pockets sorta face backwards, and it got caught on the lock. Putting that out of mind, we started our warm-up, and with about 15 minutes until race time went in search of the gear check. Who would have thought the gear check would be hard to find? Courtney had problems finding it too, and ended up not even getting to check in her gear. We finally found a volunteer to ask and ended up with 5 minutes to get to the start line on the other side of the building. Really though, we shouldn't have worried because these races hardly ever start on time.

I got lined up and scoped out the other runners. I made eye contact and smiled at this man, and there was a hint of recognition reflected in his eyes. I didn't find out who it was until after the race, but he looked so familiar. Turns out it was Rick from Kansas City. Matt Wegenka, Anthony's arch-nemesis, was also there. You'll be glad to hear that Anthony beat him this week, after getting out kicked last weekend at the Persimmon Days 5k. From Anthony's recap, there was a bit of pushing during the race. I also found Mark Pluninski's (from Joplin) wife, so I'm sure he was somewhere in the crowd. Katie Hauser was also up front, but I wasn't too worried about her. Then my eyes settled on an Ethiopian girl. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment, but still went in positive and see if she was within my reach.

Around mile 2 - still feeling great. This was my fastest mile split.

Off we ran. Anthony was first to make a move, and the Ethiopian girl went with him. It was this point, a mere three-quarter mile into the race that I knew she was legit. I decided to trail for just a little while, thinking that if she got broken off by the pack of three that she would come back to me. Well, she didn't get broken off, and ended up finishing right behind Anthony. I felt really good through the first half, and averaged about 6 minute miles.

Then we had to turn and come back into the wind. This is the devastating part of the race. I thought for sure that I would be in the low 1:19's. I was running so well. I'm not sure if it was the wind, or just being by myself, or that I was sick earlier in the week, but something happened. The second half of my race was a consistent 6:20 average. I got passed at mile 7, and tucked in for about a mile, but couldn't hang. This is the first race that I have ever had to walk in. I got a debilitating side cramp at mile 8, and knew my chances of sub 1:20 were over. There is still a bright side to this race (besides my uniform - haha), and that is that I still ran a PR. Out of all the bad things that happened, I somehow ran my fastest half marathon. I'm baffled by this, but I will take it! This gives me confidence that if I can get into a race where I'm not all by myself (it felt like just a long tempo) I have no doubt that I will go under 1:20.

We both got second palce overall

Time to Fish - At Bass Pro



Little Mermaid themed pumpkins



The big day is finally here. The Bass Pro half marathon is tomorrow morning. Anthony and I have been training for this all year. We started in the summer and had about 10 weeks straight of about 70 miles. We just had the unfortunate luck of getting sick last weekend, and our goals of running PR's has become a bit more challenging. There was no doubt in my mind that I would have run sub 1:20 at this race. The positive is that I feel just a smidgeon better each morning I wake up, but I was still unable to have a good work out this week. We are fairly lucky for the weather we will have in the morning. It is going to be 48 degrees, but winds at 16mph. It could have been a lot worse in November in Missouri. We are trying to be as optimistic as possible, but is hard to not be disappointed.

On a different note, I am proud to say that Anthony and I won the patio decorating contest! We get $75 dollars of Novembers rent. When we went in to pay, all the ladies there new exactly which patio we were, and told us we got a unanimous vote for first place :) When we told them who we were they said, "Oh, you're 'Full Moon' ", then we had good chuckle about the patio. The design was inspired from my days at Missouri Southern. My roommate, Meigan, and I used this design to decorate our dormroom door.

The final product had streamer and our pumpkins