I Bounce Back Fast

Weekly Totals:
57 miles
13 mi long run
2 doubles
1 trip to the ER

Well, Monday started the week off on the right foot with 10 miles to start the week. Unfortunately, Tuesday was kind of a bummer, as I had to be taken to the emergency room (needless to say no miles recorded this day).

I woke up feeling kind of crummy, but not really "bad". Thank heavens my sister was visiting from Virginia Beach and was going to spend the day with me. As soon as she arrived to my apartment, I came out of the bathroom flushed and sweating profusely (ya. . . it sounds like a potential PT exam question). It hit really sudden, I got this intense abdominal pain which caused me to pass out, thus resulting in my sister totally freaking out and driving like a mad-woman to the ER. At least I think she was driving like a crazy person. To be honest the whole drive over is kind of a blur. As it turns out, if you show up at the ER with intense abdominal pain, they wheel you right back for immediate attention. That's right. . . no waiting. They gave me some pain meds, and after that I was pain free for the rest of the day, feeling normal. What happened was I had an ovarian cyst that ruptured, which is some-what of a relief because originally I thought it was appendicitis or possibly a kidney stone. The bad news is that they said now that it's happened once, I'm more prone for it to happen again :(

I can say, without a doubt, that this was the worst physical pain that I have ever been in, in my entire life! I now know what legitimate 10/10 pain feels like.

That was the excitement for the week. As of right now I'm not signed up for any races, but I have my eye on an August 5k. So we may try a small fartlek or something this weekend, so that I don't forget what sub 6 minute pace feels like ;)

Krissy came to visit!

Week in Review

Week of 7/1-7/7:
53 miles
11 mi long run
1 run with Jamie

This was the second week of training post USA Half Champs. Both Marshall and I are still feeling slugish, but just enjoying the relaxed easy miles. I'm excited to start "marathon training" and look forward to setting record weekly mileage. With the exception of a local 5k/10k here and there, we will be moving away from speed for the next month or two and run pure mileage. Rather than having set workouts, we'll throw in an accleration run once or twice a week.

Jamie decided to join us for our long run on Saturday, and quite possibly saved Marshall's life. I was going to make Marshall take me to Wilson's Creek and run the outer loop, but I promised Jamie I would never put him through that after last time.

Goal for the next coming weeks: start core, start weights, keep up strides. I've been pretty lazy the last month.

USA Half Marathon Champs

Both Marshall and I came home with new PR's from the big weekend! We ventured waaaaay up north to Duluth, MN to partake in exciting running festivities. He was running his 3rd marathon and I had qualified for the USA Half Champs.

We left late Thursday morning, and drove all the way to Minneapolis the first night. Friday, we finished up the remaining 2.5 hours to Duluth. As soon as we got within 30 minutes of Duluth, the temperature dropped about 15 degrees and we hit an intense fog until we dropped enough that we were underneath it. A mere hour after arriving, the fog rolled in and brought chilly weather with it (and unfortunately, staying the rest of our trip). To say I was under-packed is an understatement. Silly me, thinking it's the end of June, why would I bring anything more than a light jacket.

Enjoying the boardwalk by the Lake

The excitement began at the pre-race meeting Friday afternoon, when we got to be in the same room with a bunch of professional runners! (Meb and Desi...ya!) Afterwards, we headed over to check into our hotel. The USATF and town of Duluth did an awesome job making me feel welcomed and like a top-tier elite athlete (even though there was really only a few here). The staff had left a welcome goodies bag and single rose for me in the hotel room :)

Rose from the USATF . . . almost ties the number of times I've received flowers from Marshall. ;) Just kidding!

Lights went out early because the 6:15am (men)/6:25am (women) race start meant that we would have to board the buses headed for the start at 4:30am!! The forecast was calling for storms, but I woke up to just an overwhelming fog and temps around 50 degrees. I didn't miss the bus and grabbed a seat next to fellow KC runner, Aaron. This was his second time up here, so he had lots of wisdom to share about the race. Also met a fellow Saucony Hurricane runner from Florida. After sharing goals/expectations, it sounded like we may end up running a majority of the race together. About 45 minutes until race time, I headed out for a short warm-up with Connie, who I also thought I'd get to run a majority of the race with. However, she's been fighting injuries and simply used the race as a workout.

Ready to go!

The gun went off at precisely 6:25 on the dot (with the fog clearing enough so we could see the Lake!). Aaron has warned me about the fast first mile (and all the hype), so I tried to settle in but still came through in 5:36. At this point, my fellow Saucony runner was already waaay ahead of me in the larger lead pack of nearly 15ish women. Then there was a smaller second pack with Connie and a hand full of other runners. Then about 3 seconds back, about 4 of us trying to hold steady with the second pack. At this point, I willed myself to surge and tag onto the second pack for as long as I could. Clocked a 5:42 second mile. . . still a little fast (I was wanting to average around 5:50 to secure a time in the 1:16:xx - or best case scenario 5:47 to barely break into the 1:15's) The second group was the group trying to break 1:15, so I figured I'd try to stay with them for a bit. That group quickly started to split up sometime after the 5k, and I wasn't necessarily lonely. . . however, I did think I'd be running in a slightly larger group. I came through the 10k in 35:45 (where I cruised by Saucony and continued to pick off other women here and there) and all my miles up to this point were under 5:50, so I knew I was running awesome and thoughts of 1:15:xx popped into my head.

Unfortunately, the remaining miles creeped up to to the mid 5:50's with only one mile being over 6:00 minutes and dropping back to just under 5:50 for the last couple miles in town. After 10k, the fog came back in full force and it was nearly impossible to see the women ahead of me that I was trying to catch. I don't know if the fog had anything to do with my decreasing splits, or if it was just because it was the second half of the race. I felt great, like I was really moving (or should have been) but maybe the fog was just making me think I was going faster than I actually was? (You know. . . kinda like running when it is still dark in the morning, feels faster than it actually is) As my miles started to creep up, my thoughts shifted more from sub 1:16 to will I still break 1:17. At ten miles, I knew I had to run a sub 19 minute 5k to break 1:17. The last 1.5 miles wind around Duluth a bit and felt like FOREVER. As I rounded the final corner and got far enough down the home stretch to see the clock, I was both happy and relieved to see the clock read 1:16.xx. Managed to stay on my feet and finish with an impressive 46 second PR of 1:16:32!! :) Mission accomplished.

Now Marshall's race hadn't even started yet, so I used the sky walk to head back to the hotel room for a nice warm shower. Poor Marshall, by the time his race was over, it had started to sprinkle and the temps were now in the mid 40's. . . burrr. I about froze just waiting for him to finish . . . which I got to see from the VIP bleachers right at the finish line!! One of the perks of being considered an "elite" athlete :) We both enjoyed our time in Duluth. I wish there were more races this caliber and awesome atmosphere in the midwest.

Never too old to enjoy trains. . . at the USATF awards banquet after-party. Sheldon Cooper would have been jealous.