Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Madness? What.

So this morning I rolled over at 4:00, looked at the clock and turned my alarm off. Even before it was scheduled to go off at 6:00 am. Why?

Well, I justified that Tapering isn't just reducing mileage but sleeping extra. Is this a lie I simply made up to satisfy my lazy cravings?

Maybe.

But I'm going with it. I take off 2 days a week and I figure it won't kill me to get a little extra sleep. Wouldn't you know my two furry monsters of dogs proceeded to hog the bed though.

Oh well, I snuggled for that extra 2 hours anyway.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Taper Madness

Well, I'm not really in the throes of Taper Madness yet, BUT I know I will be in about 10 days.

Why?

Because The Chicago Marathon is merely 3 weeks away. That means 21 days until one of the best days of each year. And what makes it better? My Husband is coming! He didn't attend last year and though I had tons of fun bonding with my Father, I missed my better half. He keeps me grounded, happy and humble. Humble, mostly. ;)

I logged my longest run of the summer/year at 20.23 miles yesterday (who's counting the .23? Oh wait, I am) in 3 hours. It was definitely an awesome run. Started around 45 degrees and I think it actually dropped by the end. When you run that far, you can hit up all parts of town and some of the country too. My dad of course logged 24 miles (show off!!), and 4 hours. So really...I'm more awesome, right?

So now begins the daunting task of resting, less miles and more stretching, good nutrition and mind pumping. I find taper more daunting because your mind/body plays tricks on you. Did that hurt before? What if I'm not good enough? Did I train enough?

I know the answer to that last question. NOPE, I didn't train enough. But what I DID do is make the best of the situation. I listened to my body, took the extra time to ride/cross-train and then got back to the streets when I was ready. THAT, is what I did. I can only trust that I know my body can do this.

Also, I got new shoes last week. Asics Kayanos. Yes, I am spoiled...I had used Brooks Trance series for the last 2 years and they just didn't seem to be wearing well. I'm talking running through to the mid-sole only about 350 miles into the life of my shoes. I hope these Asics do better, they should...they were a pretty penny.

AND, AND I love Bio-Freeze. My knees were mad at me yesterday, might have something to do with the fact that I helped schlep shingles up a ladder yesterday at my BIL's house. Okay, only ONE bundle, but that counts!

*eying the clock* SOMEONE needs to stretch. Ugh.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Slowing Down

Urgh.

Tuesday morning I was out running, and pushed it. Pushed it. I mean that kind of pushing that you don't care how stupid you look, you're RUNNNNING.

And then I was rewarded with the 8:31/avg pace that was shown on my trusty Garmin. And the next day I was also rewarded with twinges of weirdness in my left leg. And my mind went into overdrive. What is that? What about if I move it this way? What about that way? How do I stretch this? Can I find it?

I would prod, poke, stretch, move, and see how I could actually locate where the twinges were coming from. BUT, I could put on my sock, get into the shower and I even managed to mow the lawn (huge hill included) and still walk.

SO?

I am slowing down my friends. (still zero if you're counting...) I read an article about 7 things you should avoid, and I'm pretty sure I've done all of them. So I slowed down this morning...I listened to my body...slow and steady. And really not that slow at all....8.5 miles avg pace of 9:07/mile.

With all luck I will still be able to do my scheduled 17 on Saturday...let us just hope the rain holds off.

WHEE!