tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83740973736458864022024-02-07T06:35:08.992-06:00Qualifying for the Boston Marathonrunner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.comBlogger108125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-15439002728384779552009-12-02T15:53:00.003-06:002009-12-02T15:57:34.341-06:00A New StartFor those of you wanting to follow me on the next leg of my journey, please head on over to my new blog: http://www.sherunsfast.blogspot.com/. My life has been especially hectic and crazy in the past month, but I promise to still write, run and share with my fellow runners!runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-20135295106785288742009-10-22T20:58:00.010-05:002009-10-25T16:53:39.943-05:00Qualifying for the Boston Marathon: Wrap-UpI am not a particularly talented runner, and I took my very first running step in August of 2005. I'd never run more than two miles until my first 5K the following October (truly amazed that I could tack another 1.1 miles of running onto that!). But, I had the dream first of running a marathon; and then, somehow after actually running one in March 2007, of reaching the seemingly impossible goal for the ordinary runner: Run a marathon in 3:50:59 or less and meet the qualifying standard to run in the <a href="http://www.baa.org/">Boston Marathon</a>.<br /><br />My third marathon, I thought I had a real shot at it, <a href="http://run350.blogspot.com/2008/05/youve-come-long-way-baby.html">Ottawa, Canada in May of 2008</a>. Riddled with many mid-race problems, I missed it by a long shot, running a 4:04. I really wasn't sure the 3:50 was going to be doable. I tried again in <a href="http://run350.blogspot.com/2008/10/2008-chicago-marathon-post-race-report.html">Chicago, October 2008</a>, during one of the two really hot years, holding on strong and right on target past mile 22, when the heat finally got to me and I slowed enough to miss it by three minutes and fourteen seconds. But I came away with the knowledge that this goal <span style="font-style: italic;">was possible</span>! I would try again.<br /><br />It was another full year before I ran another marathon. And there are many factors that led to my success. But I didn't want to run another race where I was targeted to slide under the wire where if something minor happened, I'd miss my shot. I wanted to have a buffer--in case anything went wrong--and if it went right, I wanted to crush it! As you know, <a href="http://run350.blogspot.com/2009/10/2009-chicago-marathon-early-race-report.html">Chicago 2009</a> had a very happy ending for me, running a 3:38:22, easily qualifying for Boston.<br /><br />Here are some of the key pieces that led to my success.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. An entire season devoted to the 5K. </span>You know, it's really a different sport, racing a 5K vs. racing a marathon. We're not talking about completing the distance. I mean, train specifically for the distance and a finishing time, and racing your hardest, leveraging your competitiveness, learning to "red line." But it made me into a totally different runner. I got my "edge" this Spring, running 5K after 5K, and having Vince train me specifically for that (very hard for me) <a href="http://run350.blogspot.com/2009/05/2009-race-for-summit.html">22:00 goal</a>. I not only achieved this goal--I gained my edge, I gained strength I didn't know I had, and I significantly lowered my lactate threshold. In other words, I learned to sustain a 7:00 pace for a long enough time, that 8:20s became easy. So easy, in fact, I claimed it was my "forever pace," and sure enough, it's what I ran in Chicago. One 8:20 after another.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. Marathon Pace "ready."</span> I was heavily exposed to the concept of running much harder than marathon pace when tired: through 5K training, threshold training, mile and 2-mile repeats, and some workouts that Vince gave me at the end on my long runs where I would vary between marathon pace and something faster / harder, then back again to MP without recovery. By the time I was really, really tired in the marathon (and remember, I started to hurt by halfway), I kept drawing on those earlier workouts--remembering how I really <span style="font-style: italic;">could</span> finish them. "I know I can do this; I've run harder when really tired and kept going." There's nothing like knocking out a dozen miles, after warm-up, most at MP then throwing in some miles that were 30-40 seconds faster, then back to MP. What I experienced in those final miles in Chicago was not any harder effort than some moments in a few of those memorable workouts I'd done; just a little more painful.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. Diet.</span> I took my diet very seriously, following a few key rules: no junk food, no fried food, high carbs only right before and right after a run, high protein at other times, lots of fresh foods (think: shop the perimeter of the grocery store and skip the aisles) and moderate portions only. I started marathon training a bit on the heavy side for my small-boned 5'6" frame. I was somewhere around 113-114#, even up to the week of <a href="http://run350.blogspot.com/2009/07/run-smart-retreat-flagstaff-az.html">Flagstaff</a>. But, something happened when I came back; and it really wasn't intentional. Gradually, week by week, a pound or so would come off. And by race day I was and had been 106 pounds for a bit. But, I was very strong. I never deprived my body of the foods needed to fuel and restore me. Being lighter will help your marathon time dramatically--provided you have it to lose and go about it in a healthy way.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4. No LSD.</span> Not <span style="font-style: italic;">that</span> kind of LSD. I mean long, slow, distance. OK, I'm going to alienate just about every training program out there, but I will tell you, I am not a proponent of LSD. If you train and run all your miles in your long runs 60-120 seconds slower than race pace, not only will you find "injuries" during the race, but you simply cannot sustain "race pace." I've seen it happen so many times. Race pace must be practiced. A lot. Even my long runs sometimes included miles BELOW race pace to teach my body to be completely comfortable to run 26.2 miles AT race pace and / or to simulate the exhaustion later in the marathon with shorter distances. I had to be able to run MP "forever," because I promise, everything after mile 21 WAS forever. It's a fine line, though. I was careful not to leave my best run in my training logs and kept my warm-ups nice and slow. I kept the adage "save it for the starting line" clearly in mind.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Having a coach.</span> Ok, Vince is seriously responsible for guiding this huge transformation in me. I've been working with him and the <a href="http://www.runsmartproject.com/">RUN SMART Project</a> for over two years now, and have already committed to him through Boston (unless he fires me). If you really want to leverage your best ability and increase in a healthy manner, I highly recommend having a coach, a mentor, or someone to guide you through the process. Not only did Vince push me when I needed to be pushed, but more importantly, he held me back when I wanted to be pushed harder. As a runner who experiences the wealth of newly found fitness, I would often want to "test it out." Vince somehow managed to keep me reined in. I spent the last two seasons completely healthy, and walked off of Chicago completely healthy and ready to train again.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">6. Toughness. </span>I don't really know how to describe this, but I felt it forming in me as I learned to race 5Ks. I referred to it as my "edge" earlier. There were several things I read that motivated me; helped me to understand that I can run through pain and I can keep going when I want to quit. And I don't mean keep going when it gets a little tough; I mean keep going when just about anyone else really would quit or slow down at least. But if you want to achieve your greatest; this is a quality that must be learned; embraced. I kept thinking (during the marathon) about how the runners who ran with Dean in the <a href="http://www.journeyfilm.com/deankarnazes/">50 marathons / 50 states / 50 days</a> would "plan" to drop at the half marathon point, but <span style="font-style: italic;">none</span> of them ever did--<span style="font-style: italic;">not one</span>. Even when they weren't trained. The human body is capable of such a greater effort than we give it credit. You just have to learn how to dig deep and leverage it. And that's what <span style="font-style: italic;">racing</span> is all about. Your fitness will only get you so far to your greatest achievement. It was my grit that brought me to the finish line in 3:38:22, and not 3:50:59... or slower.<br /><br />I am enjoying the glow of registering and planning for Boston. What did it take? Everything I had. Make no mistake: qualifying for Boston was payment on an investment I made long ago; and continued my contributions daily over an extended period of time. I did not "get lucky." I took care to pay attention to every detail, and overlooked nothing. What I discussed above in many ways are over-simplifications, but were areas of critical importance in my success.<br /><br />But I do want to stress what an "ordinary" runner I am. I have no special abilities; no previous running experience. No fitness from earlier years to regain. I was not a 6:00 miler in college. I started this with <span style="font-style: italic;">nothing</span>. And built on it, brick after brick. And when I had set backs, I tried again and didn't quit. I hope that if any of you aspire to a goal such as qualifying for Boston that maybe my message has helped. If I can do it--surely--you can too! I promise you--<span style="font-style: italic;">it is worth it</span>!<br /><br />I have already had my first few runs back. I wish I knew all of my goals for the next year, but I haven't even nailed my pace down for Boston yet. I am thinking of a 5K PR in January, followed by a <a href="http://www.nycmarathon.org/entrantinfo/guaranteed_entry.htm">New York qualifying time</a> for guaranteed entry at Boston (3:38:00). But, doing well in Boston brings its challenges; this is not an easy course. I have much to learn and a great deal to work on!<br /><br />I thank so many of your for following me and inspiring me along the way. We all have our challenges to overcome. Most of you have touched my running career in some way. But, I promise, it is not a career that is ending. I believe I have a few years of improvement ahead of me, and plan to leverage that to the best of my ability. My real goal is to set a world record when I'm 80 :-)runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-30864883917067450232009-10-15T08:44:00.005-05:002009-10-15T09:25:25.515-05:00More Post Marathon Thoughts"<span style="font-style: italic;">I am too tired, even to be happy</span>." --Gelindo Bordin, Italy, immediately after winning the Olympic Marathon in Seoul<br /><br />If you spoke to me in the 24 hours after the marathon, you might have sensed I lacked some of the joy, celebration and excitement that rightfully was mine after an extreme effort and personal victory that exceeded even my wildest dreams. I've waited years for this moment. I've trained diligently, letting season after season build on the one before. I've sacrificed much to be here, and there were no shortcuts.<br /><br />But, mark that important point on "extreme effort." I left everything on the course. This marathon took more out of me than marathons past. I think I described it as, most tactfully, "I am still processing it... it hasn't sunk in yet."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF3towHbQH7KVB8hElhd8P84YU1_bZljakGqr93xIG-cuprBGuZNLGuH50qVe9h_fhGMyQUQyy3Ut-ajwmE99oxloxXgcRUBIgiIgxlGcruB99iJJUkZRWXyg8z-dT4uqT9xGaNc7YDu5f/s1600-h/Screen+shot+2009-10-15+at+9.11.17+AM.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 318px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF3towHbQH7KVB8hElhd8P84YU1_bZljakGqr93xIG-cuprBGuZNLGuH50qVe9h_fhGMyQUQyy3Ut-ajwmE99oxloxXgcRUBIgiIgxlGcruB99iJJUkZRWXyg8z-dT4uqT9xGaNc7YDu5f/s400/Screen+shot+2009-10-15+at+9.11.17+AM.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392830124227399410" border="0" /></a><br />"<span style="font-style: italic;">You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming.</span>" --Frank Shorter<br /><br />Don't ever listen to me after a marathon. What comes out of my mouth about future plans is drivel and from the mind of a mad-woman who is keenly aware of the agony of what she just experienced. Do it again? Are you crazy? Never! For a bit, the fire was stoked. My hunger for my goals sated. Hanging my running shoes up seemed plausible.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirLRhJIosV3de9bxEPT-nmcbIWYZ1YtOMEoX8B_4uKWiYNZ8_bPfUnYaXrCgNUQ0TYXNK8d7HSF_Ut4g4aR_WjyiZ28mzptoXA8CQCEQop8rM3Lrdi8YwBwzgQYPOGQ2X7QGP42v2EIC2D/s1600-h/Screen+shot+2009-10-15+at+9.10.44+AM.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 291px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirLRhJIosV3de9bxEPT-nmcbIWYZ1YtOMEoX8B_4uKWiYNZ8_bPfUnYaXrCgNUQ0TYXNK8d7HSF_Ut4g4aR_WjyiZ28mzptoXA8CQCEQop8rM3Lrdi8YwBwzgQYPOGQ2X7QGP42v2EIC2D/s400/Screen+shot+2009-10-15+at+9.10.44+AM.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392830025180746578" border="0" /></a><br />"<span style="font-style: italic;">To describe the agony of a marathon to someone who's never run it is like trying to explain color to someone who was born blind</span>." --Jerome Drayton<br /><br />My desire is to recover well. But I feel the fire coming back. I am wanting to race again, to reach new heights, and already thinking about what that might be. For now, that is qualify for New York (3:38:00). To do that in Boston will require more fitness than I have now (Boston is a very challenging course that does not play well with my strengths and weaknesses).<br /><br />P.S. My pictures here are just "proofs," but I am in the process of purchasing the digital images and will repost. Meanwhile, I thought I'd add a few snaps of the moment! Notice "Greenman" running with me mid-race :-)<br /><br />P.P.S. I will wrap up this blog with some thoughts on how I did it--how I "qualified for Boston" because that's what this blog was all about. I'll talk about what factors I believe were key for my success. Some obvious (consistent, fairly high mileage), some not so obvious (customized training from my coach and some very specific training runs). Look for that in the next week or two!runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-791200551970307742009-10-12T19:03:00.003-05:002009-10-12T19:11:11.240-05:00Post Race Thoughts and Snapshots"<span style="font-style: italic;">I was unable to walk for a whole week after that, so much did the race take out of me. But it was the most pleasant exhaustion I have ever known</span>." --Emil Zatopek after Olympic Marathon win<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSKQmaSTUGEMyY0WD9s9vh0pjx6XYM2wHaZ3AFcl8s5StclEg5ySJUMElPa7hWX7Ng5IUbTghzbtsJjJ4c_FP43VWAh3gYdJmB5QcCyc9LVzQvVeOYXqAit7N0l5K4Hj4_PgsZK9uvS3-H/s1600-h/Screen+shot+2009-10-12+at+7.02.31+PM.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 124px; height: 186px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSKQmaSTUGEMyY0WD9s9vh0pjx6XYM2wHaZ3AFcl8s5StclEg5ySJUMElPa7hWX7Ng5IUbTghzbtsJjJ4c_FP43VWAh3gYdJmB5QcCyc9LVzQvVeOYXqAit7N0l5K4Hj4_PgsZK9uvS3-H/s400/Screen+shot+2009-10-12+at+7.02.31+PM.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391868846157931938" border="0" /></a>My final official time was 3:38:22. Not bad, considering my self prediction going into the race was 3:44. And I was going to be happy with that.<br /><br />I found two pictures already posted, thought I'd throw them out here. (I'll post more as they are available.)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGqJznXKEQbjaz6m32nyqXdX9mIKWwsJuHdK_aW0DxRWe3CnCniV-Q5pM4w2Hqe_sS9420AReKJdqjoJwrGbvq-KEqHRf40vcdRGAtPTwnE54HifrqZ-HDpN5njvU8sAWhZuKQe5Q9PMbZ/s1600-h/Screen+shot+2009-10-12+at+7.02.39+PM.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 123px; height: 188px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGqJznXKEQbjaz6m32nyqXdX9mIKWwsJuHdK_aW0DxRWe3CnCniV-Q5pM4w2Hqe_sS9420AReKJdqjoJwrGbvq-KEqHRf40vcdRGAtPTwnE54HifrqZ-HDpN5njvU8sAWhZuKQe5Q9PMbZ/s400/Screen+shot+2009-10-12+at+7.02.39+PM.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391868746331039906" border="0" /></a>Interesting photo, I had just finished fighting back the first round of tears that threatened to rend me in two, and was somewhat in shock at what had just happened. I don't actually read that on my face, I just wanted her to snap the picture and move on. I was worried if I told her no, I would fight longer to explain than I would if I just gave in.<br /><br />That said, the "next" plan is formulating. You could say I have a few leads. I'm already feeling better, having peaked in soreness earlier today. I am looking forward to a few weeks of complete rest and recovery. My body, mind, and spirit need it.runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-38745601103961857702009-10-12T00:56:00.004-05:002009-10-12T15:52:54.199-05:002009 Chicago Marathon: Early Race ReportIt is a rare thing to be so blessed that all things come together for the marathon. It is an effort not to be underestimated; and so many things can affect the outcome. Months (and quite often years) of training are at stake; and the effort cannot be repeated in short time. And for me; at last; my dream has come true. I had the race of my life; my dreams and my goals today.<br /><br />At 33F I shivered terribly at the start; despite multiple layers of gloves, jackets, arm warmers and the like. I was seeded in Corral C, which was still quite large, filled with ambitious, proven marathoners who were--as I was to find out--quite aggressive about their goals. It was difficult to get near the 3:40 pace group, but I did my best and was deeply moved to hear the national anthem and hear and see the helicopters overhead waiting to kick off the monumental event. At last, the horn blast sounded and we were off. Finally, I had my chance to do something. I was tired of talking about it; I just wanted to do.<br /><br />I tried to get closer to the pace group; in my mind, it was my best chance of meeting my 3:40 goal, though I needed only a 3:50 to qualify. I had put in the time and training and truly believed if everything could hold together, I could possibly pull off the 3:40 marathon. But, their little 3:40 signs were hard to follow and I was getting distracted by the sights and sounds. I then decided to make a move to put myself in the midst of the pacers. I had to fight for position and took more than a few elbows. These were not the runners of open corral. Seconds mattered and position had to be earned. Finally, I settled right where I wanted to be; but yet had to continue to defend it.<br /><br />We passed mile 1 in 8:23, perfectly on time and we all cheered our pacers. But, this was to be the last good mile. Mile 2 was in 8:08 and mile three was in 8:00 flat. The problem of this group is that these are doable times in the early miles, and we all hung in there. But as we crossed the 5K mark quite a bit early, one of the pacers shouted up that they were quite a bit off pace and yanked us back. Suddenly, I found myself running 8:50 pace, and my rhythm was off. Here I was faced with the most important decision of the race, and this became the foundation of the next 23 miles and the final outcome of the race for me.<br /><br />I abandoned the pace team. This was a risky move; surely the slower pace that would eventually speed back up was conservative and what I needed. And I'd recommend anyone else in the same position (even now) to stick with the pacing group. But I have a quality about my long runs and the way my legs move, and I felt that if I stuck with the group I would somehow lose that. But I also knew this move might blow me up and I ran the high risk of seeing them again after mile 20. This became a key motivator for me in the race. As I carefully watched my splits, I gradually put more and more distance between me and the pace group and was determined not to be caught by them and embarrassed at what could have been seen as a rookie move. I largely ran 8:20s from here on out. One right after another.<br /><br />By 10K, I had shed all my extra layers and was feeling good. I had the strategy of grabbing fluid at all the stops; even if only for a sip; to get as much hydration and as many calories as possible. I knew also that I was against the clock of my own body. There comes a point in the latter miles where I can no longer force anything in. Better to get while the getting was good.<br /><br />At the half way point, I was well over a minute ahead of schedule, and I was already beginning to feel it. Almost disappointed in myself that my hips were starting to hurt a bit and my quads were already tiring. But, my energy was spectacular, and I knew that I could suffer any pain as long as the mechanisms for running were working. I have an unusual ability to tough it out when the going gets rough.<br /><br />By mile 15, my quads really began to hurt, but I also knew I was more than half way through. I'd managed three gels at this point (in spite of the fact their consistency was more of vaseline in the cold temps, ewwww), and done a great job of hydrating. The cool temperatures really helped, and I honestly believe made the effort after this point possible.<br /><br />I passed mile 21 hurting quite intensely, but was close to two minutes ahead of my goal of 3:40. It was just a matter of hanging on. The strategy that had gotten me this far was to read on my pace band what my next split had to be (in elapsed time), and repeat it as a mantra in my head and keep my rhythm and stride going, never slowing. I realized that I could actually slow by two minutes per mile and still qualify for Boston, should that become necessary.<br /><br />By mile 23, I was in agony, my footpod had become worthless for pacing and people around me were in terribly deteriorating states. I seriously think I passed 500 runners from mile 20 to the finish line (and actually look forward to the finish line photos, as I passed a few runners as I approached the chute with a finishing kick). This was annoying and difficult, but again, I never slowed my pace--here, or ever on the course.<br /><br />With fifteen minutes to go, I began counting backwards in 30 second increments. 14:30, 14:00 and so on. I was encouraging myself that I could keep it up for that much more time. Surely during interval training I had been running harder; this was going to be over soon.<br /><br />I remember distinctly the final "hill" of 24' at mile 26--don't laugh, it's quite the rise at an unfortunate spot when you are exhausted--and kept strong and on pace as I prepared for the final left hand turn. And as I turned I could see the finish line, beckoning me and it was almost over. I glanced down at my watch and it was just turning 3:37. I looked up at the finish line and tried to determine if I could make 3:38. No way. Not even with a surge. But, I gave it my all, kicked it in for the best time possible and ran through the finish line and at last punched my clock. It read 3:38:25. (For the record, I needed a 3:38 to qualify for New York, but that was not the goal today. It did cross my mind.)<br /><br />My legs suddenly felt weightless. Nothing and I was floating. My chest hurt and I had a hard time breathing deeply. The walk to the end to turn back to the hotel was an eternity, and gradually, this sensation passed. Pain; exhaustion set in and my breaths became deeper. Twice I held back sobs as I was completely spent and emotionally overwhelmed. Even now, I am taking it all in. I think if I had sat down to rest, I would have found myself wracked and heaving with tears, but the drive to keep moving kept me together.<br /><br />This was nearly a 16 minute PR for me. I qualified for Boston by a wide margin. And still I sit stunned, and have much to process. I have a little insomnia now, but will post more later, along with an official final time and some photos. Thanks to all who have followed me on this incredible journey, and the role that you have played in helping this happen!runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-19753199546460227162009-10-05T09:49:00.005-05:002009-10-05T11:03:27.811-05:00Breaking In My New Garmin Forerunner 405I finally broke down and upgraded from the Garmin Forerunner 205 to the 405 this past week. I ordered it off of eBay for a very reasonable "buy it now" price, and separately ordered a footpod accelerometer. They both arrived very quickly.<br /><br />Two primary reasons prompted me to do this. 1) The outside of my wrists (base of the ulna) were so bruised and swollen on both sides from the bouncing of the 205 (my wrists are tiny and twig like), and 2) Chicago has a couple of long tunnels early on, which throws off pacing and elapsed distance for the entire race.<br /><br />The footpod itself is very small, and it pops out of a plastic frame, which sits under your laces and you pop the pod into it. Certain shoes (not mine) have a compatible compartment under the sole. It was a bit of a struggle to get it clipped on with the laces per the instructions, but with a few mild curses under my breath, eventually it got snapped in.<br /><br />I couldn't get it to detect the footpod right away despite walking with the footpod the entire time (you have to have it moving to send data). But, eventually, I hit "rescan," and it was detected, and from that moment on, it all went very smoothly.<br /><br />The instructions were to calibrate the footpod with a certified 400m track for best results (although using GPS or a treadmill are also options). I set out to my local track, and buckled on the 405. It felt large and awkward, as if it weren't designed for a slight, female runner (Hello? What does Deena Kastor wear?). However, I still had two notches left after it was snugly latched, unlike the 205 which had room to go on the smallest notch (part of the problem). The instructions were easy enough to follow, and I set off for my first 800M (two loops) around the track. When I completed this, it said, "Calibration factor of 988." What on earth does THAT mean? I was mystified. Maybe I should be closer to 1000? There really should be more of a reference about these numbers.<br /><br />I set off to do another round of calibration, but this time it was 972. Hmmm. Better do it again. On the third 800M repeat, it came out as 978. Oddly, I didn't yet feel comfortable with that number, even though I had no idea what it meant. So, I went for a fourth double loop, and this was 988 again. I left with that with some dis-ease that I wasn't completely calibrated. When asked by several, "Did you get your footpod calibrated?" I did not know how to answer. "Sort of? I'm really not sure."<br /><br />So, on Sunday, I decided to strap on both watches (my 205 and my 405) to see how they matched. This, of course, is because GPS in a clear sky on my 205 is Gospel (in my head anyway). As I switched to my trail shoes and popped the footpod on, I realized there was a design problem with the footpod attachment mechanism and wearing gaiters. There wasn't anywhere to hook my gaiter. But, in all fairness to Garmin, it's probably not the primary use case to go trail running with a footpod.<br /><br />After my first six miles with both watches, I had learned a couple of very critical things. First, the pacing on the 405 with the footpod was not only useless, it was harmful to me. I'd been running 8:02s after the first mile, and should have been in the 8:24 to 8:45 range. I felt fine, of course, but this wasn't supposed to be a tempo run. The pacing on the 405 was showing high 8s to high 9s (when I was clearly more in the 8:00 range). The distance elapsed on the 405 was also way off, by about 2 percent (it hadn't even gotten to 5.8 when I crossed 6.0 miles with my 205).<br /><br />During my Gatorade break, I started fiddling with the manual calibration. I ended up with a final setting of 997 and was matching mile for mile on the two watches. At last, I feel totally comfortable with the elapsed time and distance calibration, but I also have learned that the pacing must be completely ignored, or I will go out too fast. Not sure why this is; but important lesson to learn now and not on race day.<br /><br />I did find that the 405 was very comfortable and almost not noticeable on wrist after the run, but the 205 was still quite problematic (a fresh bruise on my right wrist). I am pleased with the way the 405 was feeling on my wrist, even though it didn't initially feel very good.<br /><br />Thus, my final race plan is to wear the 405 with the footpod (already in place in my racing shoes), and to stick like velcro to the 3:40 pace team for pacing. I will try to remain glued to them until either I can no longer hang, or I am feeling exceptionally good in the last two miles, and I might creep ahead at that point. My ultimate goal is to finish in 3:40:00, but will be very happy with anything below 3:45. I need a 3:50:59 in order to qualify for Boston.runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-80752417966034123782009-08-30T13:39:00.002-05:002009-08-30T14:03:56.917-05:00LBTT 20 Miler<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="420"><tbody><tr><td>This was a really good run for me today. After getting called by work Monday night to be in Mountain View the following morning, the week kind of got thrown off. So, I missed two runs, and also shifted this run out a day. It was important to me that I succeed in my first 20-miler before Chicago. Which, incidentally, is exactly six weeks from today.<br /><br />The goal was to work down to marathon pace (8:24) and not go below 8:20. At first, I was disappointed that the run was slower overall than I'd expected (8:31 pace avg.), but then I see that I did a nice job of going out comfortably slowly, and then my pace did work down to where I wanted it to be.<br /><br />The fact I was getting much faster at the end is a signal I was getting tired. I stopped looking at my watch, and allowed myself to be pulled along a bit. But, I had it in me, and could have gone longer had the need been there.<br /><br />It did turn out that four of my miles were below the 8:20, but, I was just plugging along and really couldn't help it. All in all, it was my best 20-miler. I only consumed one and a half hammergels and one bottle of Gatorade during the entire run. This was perfect, except I had a voracious appetite when I got home, and made a huge batch of biscuits and gravy. Yum!<br /><br /><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Activity</strong><div style="clear: both; float: left; text-align: center; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 12px; padding-right: 12px;"><div style="text-align: left; font-size: 11px; line-height: 160%; width: 390px; clear: both; float: left; padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; margin-bottom: 6px;"><table style="width: 365px; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr width="20%" valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Route:</td><td width="30%"><strong>--</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Elev. Avg:</td><td width="30%"><strong>0 ft</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;">Location:</td><td width="30%"><strong>Blue Springs, MO</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Elev. Gain:</td><td width="30%"><strong>+0 ft</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Date:</td><td width="30%"><strong>08/30/09</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Up/Downhill:</td><td width="30%"><strong> [+0/-0]</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Time:</td><td width="30%"><strong>07:33 AM</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Difficulty:</td><td width="30%"><strong>0 / 5.0</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" colspan="4"> </td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Weather:</td><td colspan="3"><strong>Fair</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%"> </td><td colspan="3"><strong>61 F temp; 62% humidity</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%"> </td><td colspan="3"><strong>61 F heat index; winds NE 7</strong></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Performance</strong><div style="clear: both; float: left; text-align: center; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 12px; padding-right: 12px;"><div style="text-align: left; font-size: 11px; line-height: 160%; width: 390px; clear: both; float: left; padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; margin-bottom: 6px;"><table style="width: 365px; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Distance:</td><td width="30%"><strong> 20.00 miles</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" rowspan="2" width="20%"><br /></td><td rowspan="2" width="30%"><strong></strong><br /></td></tr><br /><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;">Time:</td><td><strong>2:50:11</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;">Speed:</td><td><strong>7.0 mph</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;"><br /></td><td><strong></strong><br /></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;">Pace:</td><td><strong>8' 31 /mi</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;"><br /></td><td><strong></strong><br /></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;">Calories:</td><td><strong>1737</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;"><br /></td><td><strong></strong><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Map</strong><img src="http://bimactive.com/ba/ui/map_get.php?hasPlotPath=1&mapH=420&mapV=420&datasetID=490433&mapType=street" /><div> </div><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Elevation (ft)</strong><img src="http://bimactive.com/ba/ui/chart_get.php?actID=353545&chartH=420&chartV=135&datasetID=490433&chartType=default_chart_route&units=1" /><div> </div><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Pace (min/mile)</strong><img src="http://bimactive.com/ba/ui/chart_get.php?actID=353545&chartH=420&chartV=135&datasetID=490433&chartType=default_chart_activity&units=1" /><div> </div><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Splits</strong><table style="border-top: 1px solid; border-left: 1px solid; width: 420px;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; font-size: 11px; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;" rowspan="2">Mile</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; font-size: 11px; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;" colspan="2">Pace (min/mile)</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; font-size: 11px; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;" colspan="2">Speed (mph)</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; font-size: 11px; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;" rowspan="2">Elevation<br />Gain</th></tr><tr><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; font-size: 9px;">actual</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; font-size: 9px;">+/- avg</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; font-size: 9px;">actual</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; font-size: 9px;">+/- avg</th></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">1</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">9' 04</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0' 33</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">6.6</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0.4</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">2</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">9' 00</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0' 29</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">6.7</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0.4</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">3</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 44</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0' 13</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">6.9</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0.2</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">4</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 40</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0' 09</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">6.9</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0.1</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">5</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 35</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0' 04</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.0</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0.1</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">6</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 26</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 05</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.1</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.1</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 31</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">+0' 00</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.0</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-0.0</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 26</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 05</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.1</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.1</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">9</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 35</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0' 04</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.0</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0.1</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">10</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 27</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-0' 04</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.1</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">+0.0</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">11</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 31</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">+0' 00</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.0</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-0.0</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">12</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 23</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 08</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.2</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.1</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">13</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 26</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 05</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.1</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.1</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">14</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 18</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 13</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.2</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.2</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">15</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 22</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 09</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.2</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.1</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">16</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 27</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-0' 04</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.1</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">+0.0</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">17</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 18</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 13</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.2</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.2</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">18</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 29</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-0' 02</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.1</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">+0.0</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">19</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 11</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 20</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.3</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.3</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">20</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7' 58</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 33</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.5</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.5</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">end</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">11' 40</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+3' 09</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">5.1</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-1.9</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px;" colspan="6">Versus average of 8' 31 min/mile</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></td></tr><tr><td><div style="font-size: 11px; text-align: center;"><p>Posted from <a target="_blank" href="http://bimactive.com/">bimactive.com</a></p></div></td></tr></tbody></table>runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-90251741906092498102009-08-22T10:44:00.002-05:002009-08-22T10:59:43.096-05:00Vroooom, Vrooom!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAQWJDudD0qyqCcf68bTv4MaMxY41T5QI4obanfvuNbfK1PCOoS_yWh2QJ_ZGGEEjkcB2fLAbzXyIOBOYuFMy9NEYE84cS6Fx0vsiImseBI8fc-fpVdh4-32KdQbqWxlBEmaG6Cr8HJNY3/s1600-h/IMAGE_140.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAQWJDudD0qyqCcf68bTv4MaMxY41T5QI4obanfvuNbfK1PCOoS_yWh2QJ_ZGGEEjkcB2fLAbzXyIOBOYuFMy9NEYE84cS6Fx0vsiImseBI8fc-fpVdh4-32KdQbqWxlBEmaG6Cr8HJNY3/s400/IMAGE_140.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372815615955652066" border="0" /></a>The first comment I got this morning when I came downstairs was, "You look like a German Race Car." I laughed and said, "Well, not just ANYONE can buy the Brooks Hanson singlet!" The reply? A predictable, "No, you have to go to Germany to buy that." I nearly had coffee come out my nose!<br /><br />What a great run with <a href="http://rtroeh.bimjournals.com">Rick Troeh</a>, <a href="http://tbailey.bimjournals.com/">Travis Bailey</a> and Dave Dawson. The goal was a 3 mile warm-up, nice and easy, 7 miles at 8:20 pace and then 3 mile cool down. Which translated into: 3 easy, 7 below 8:20 pace and 3 miles at whatever I was feeling.<br /><br />Dave caught up to me at about 11.3 miles, and really pushed me (read: raced me) for the final mile. For the record, he beat me! But, hey, I ran the last three miles at sub-8:00 pace feeling fantastic, and was laughing my butt off for that last mile taunting Dave while running on his heels the whole way. I though I had him with 0.3 miles to go. Maybe if I'd shut up and concentrated on running instead of joking around and laughing I could have beat him!<br /><br />What a fun run, I haven't laughed that hard in a while. This entire run was pure joy, and I am feeling great! Thanks guys!!<br /><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="420"><tbody><tr><td><br /><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Activity</strong><div style="clear: both; float: left; text-align: center; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 12px; padding-right: 12px;"><div style="text-align: left; font-size: 11px; line-height: 160%; width: 390px; clear: both; float: left; padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; margin-bottom: 6px;"><table style="width: 365px; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr width="20%" valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Route:</td><td width="30%"><strong>--</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Elev. Avg:</td><td width="30%"><strong>0 ft</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;">Location:</td><td width="30%"><strong>Blue Springs, MO</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Elev. Gain:</td><td width="30%"><strong>+0 ft</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Date:</td><td width="30%"><strong>08/22/09</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Up/Downhill:</td><td width="30%"><strong> [+0/-0]</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Time:</td><td width="30%"><strong>07:16 AM</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Difficulty:</td><td width="30%"><strong>0 / 5.0</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" colspan="4"> </td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Weather:</td><td colspan="3"><strong>Fair</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%"> </td><td colspan="3"><strong>63 F temp; 80% humidity</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%"> </td><td colspan="3"><strong>63 F heat index; winds N 8</strong></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Performance</strong><div style="clear: both; float: left; text-align: center; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 12px; padding-right: 12px;"><div style="text-align: left; font-size: 11px; line-height: 160%; width: 390px; clear: both; float: left; padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; margin-bottom: 6px;"><table style="width: 365px; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Distance:</td><td width="30%"><strong> 13.00 miles</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" rowspan="2" width="20%"><br /></td><td rowspan="2" width="30%"><strong></strong><br /></td></tr><br /><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;">Time:</td><td><strong>1:47:17</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;">Speed:</td><td><strong>7.3 mph</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;"><br /></td><td><strong></strong><br /></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;">Pace:</td><td><strong>8' 15 /mi</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;"><br /></td><td><strong></strong><br /></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;">Calories:</td><td><strong>1133</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;"><br /></td><td><strong></strong><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Map</strong><img src="http://bimactive.com/ba/ui/map_get.php?hasPlotPath=1&mapH=420&mapV=420&datasetID=487014&mapType=street" /><div> </div><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Elevation (ft)</strong><img src="http://bimactive.com/ba/ui/chart_get.php?actID=350528&chartH=420&chartV=135&datasetID=487014&chartType=default_chart_route&units=1" /><div> </div><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Pace (min/mile)</strong><img src="http://bimactive.com/ba/ui/chart_get.php?actID=350528&chartH=420&chartV=135&datasetID=487014&chartType=default_chart_activity&units=1" /><div> </div><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Splits</strong><table style="border-top: 1px solid; border-left: 1px solid; width: 420px;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; font-size: 11px; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;" rowspan="2">Mile</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; font-size: 11px; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;" colspan="2">Pace (min/mile)</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; font-size: 11px; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;" colspan="2">Speed (mph)</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; font-size: 11px; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;" rowspan="2">Elevation<br />Gain</th></tr><tr><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; font-size: 9px;">actual</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; font-size: 9px;">+/- avg</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; font-size: 9px;">actual</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; font-size: 9px;">+/- avg</th></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">1</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">9' 26</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+1' 11</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">6.4</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0.9</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">2</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 56</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0' 41</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">6.7</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0.6</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">3</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 52</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0' 37</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">6.8</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0.5</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">4</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 13</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-0' 02</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.3</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">+0.0</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">5</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 03</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 12</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.4</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.2</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">6</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 12</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-0' 03</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.3</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">+0.0</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 07</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 08</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.4</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.1</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 13</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-0' 02</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.3</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">+0.0</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">9</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 05</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 10</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.4</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.1</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">10</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 05</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 10</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.4</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.1</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">11</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7' 54</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 21</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.6</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.3</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">12</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7' 54</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 21</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.6</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.3</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">13</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7' 10</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-1' 05</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8.4</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+1.1</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-- ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px;" colspan="6">Versus average of 8' 15 min/mile</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></td></tr><tr><td><div style="font-size: 11px; text-align: center;"><p>Posted from <a target="_blank" href="http://bimactive.com/">bimactive.com</a></p></div></td></tr></tbody></table>runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-19894790971092379512009-08-09T08:15:00.003-05:002009-08-09T08:31:54.919-05:00No Compromises<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">"</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-family:verdana;" >..because that's it right there: the thing itself is the absence of compromise. There are no... deals available. I wish there was [sic] some way to explain that. The thing... doesn't dilute</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">."<br />--Quenton to his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend, Andrea, in John L Parker's novel, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;" >Once a Runner</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Now, I am no world-famous miler, nor even a remarkable running talent. Nor do I truly stand out amongst greats in other facets of my life. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">But if you know me, you know that I am driven. Driven beyond what is rational at times, and I cannot give less. It has been suggested to me (not just in running) that I tone things down, or take something less seriously. It is just not in my nature. When I commit; I am fully committed to the extent of my limitations and beyond. It's an all-or-nothing sort of deal. It... "doesn't dilute."</span></span>runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-17348833876070133572009-07-24T10:11:00.023-05:002009-07-25T10:01:13.411-05:00Run SMART Retreat, Flagstaff AZI spent the last week in Flagstaff at the <a href="http://www.runsmartproject.com/runsmart.retreat.php">Run SMART Retreat</a>, running, learning and making new running friends. We started off the week with a few runs around a 2 mile loop in Buffalo Park. Left to right, below: Tom Podell, Jane, Bill Risch, me, KC, Casey, Erin Strout, Tom Bane and Mike Smith (Run SMART coach):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgicKjiA-Fo3YsfocO_T_u5MUKzqC_qa3jCsrEO_vM4vWDlJg-GxilKXfAf5btu7bMne0uNBw_8rzcnxT1o2VUuLzMfQr4l0S6KhWiiOa-37wW0CyEgRJ4ZFTA0TygCLj7mn8uau8xmkIjG/s1600-h/Picture+6.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 285px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgicKjiA-Fo3YsfocO_T_u5MUKzqC_qa3jCsrEO_vM4vWDlJg-GxilKXfAf5btu7bMne0uNBw_8rzcnxT1o2VUuLzMfQr4l0S6KhWiiOa-37wW0CyEgRJ4ZFTA0TygCLj7mn8uau8xmkIjG/s400/Picture+6.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362401783947918962" border="0" /></a>The trail was fairly easy and level, only a hill at the 1.75 mile point. I was worried about the altitude and took the first loop uber slow. I was pleasantly surprised to find the second loop very easy, and ran the last loop at 8:00 pace when Vince (my coach) joined me. I was so happy after this run, and had hope the week was going to go well.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHG5qxFb8uJ-MXGdwvGDlIv-WSl2kC2c8_kDQhDsGmDmqK9BdQELc5RWfzSvt3yX4CkMd2xZOpumrtXwWoc55CIohspmxnLJfPm7RjNI6ZAC-bXG8y_8lbEMsJsbaLoZ8N7W4GGOJ4tund/s1600-h/buffalo+park+photo"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHG5qxFb8uJ-MXGdwvGDlIv-WSl2kC2c8_kDQhDsGmDmqK9BdQELc5RWfzSvt3yX4CkMd2xZOpumrtXwWoc55CIohspmxnLJfPm7RjNI6ZAC-bXG8y_8lbEMsJsbaLoZ8N7W4GGOJ4tund/s400/buffalo+park+photo" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362402149940879906" border="0" /></a>While in Sedona, we took a dip in the cold waters at Alligator Point. I sat and let the waterfall pound on my shoulders a bit. That's Vince on the left, his wife Sarah's legs on the rock above and Everett Hill to the right.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU6Jh_TkpJ5PqeW_BbeIrJbBKrU2oJpUT-i7_g9Ziln1ZzFL5zAhMMlamRMrE44Mtbc5fGexGqbEHSq1Xtxe2SkjXGusv1XbxGLq9tIVFM2uNxJfgoZXwfxU2_zqtkoBl23CKwjyXCASEf/s1600-h/Picture+2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU6Jh_TkpJ5PqeW_BbeIrJbBKrU2oJpUT-i7_g9Ziln1ZzFL5zAhMMlamRMrE44Mtbc5fGexGqbEHSq1Xtxe2SkjXGusv1XbxGLq9tIVFM2uNxJfgoZXwfxU2_zqtkoBl23CKwjyXCASEf/s400/Picture+2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362402087881794114" border="0" /></a>I should mention the shotgun van ride back to the hotel for about 75 minutes with the A/C on high. I had no dry clothes. I was blue when we arrived back in Flagstaff.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1NbLpxHi7QACt9bGVeVKxiy1zgqvg0qoqtKA-AtrgjQ-BdZMTVjrd21a0Jc4ugWjDBLe5YCbaetvVeZ-eF79mkksrmuJHlxxoothr_uBUIPG1zrm3RxUutWtPjTA4dP-vnReknayeET_T/s1600-h/Picture+3.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1NbLpxHi7QACt9bGVeVKxiy1zgqvg0qoqtKA-AtrgjQ-BdZMTVjrd21a0Jc4ugWjDBLe5YCbaetvVeZ-eF79mkksrmuJHlxxoothr_uBUIPG1zrm3RxUutWtPjTA4dP-vnReknayeET_T/s400/Picture+3.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362401975790540066" border="0" /></a>This was a stop to hook up with the Runner's World photographers who spent the day with us in Sedona (and then the evening in Flagstaff). Quite a warm run as we trotted past Bell Rock. Check out the sweet Run SMART Retreat jersey. Vince and the guys really hooked us up with some great swag.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxS1sxUKU8xeovKoipKJFBUxHYjUPPqLdeE0uZcyDsXXZJ5D0Y0kmMC4zvzfToDNwEGd4-vmRrMbxjj8g52pv_aXqwUHBoJnT9yrBbfyjkbrxn73OU6iujIwt2_5cmVLUAds71K15683Iy/s1600-h/Picture+7.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 398px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxS1sxUKU8xeovKoipKJFBUxHYjUPPqLdeE0uZcyDsXXZJ5D0Y0kmMC4zvzfToDNwEGd4-vmRrMbxjj8g52pv_aXqwUHBoJnT9yrBbfyjkbrxn73OU6iujIwt2_5cmVLUAds71K15683Iy/s400/Picture+7.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362401702183236002" border="0" /></a>For me, the highlight of the trip was the hike down and back up the Grand Canyon. Mike Smith and the rest of the coaches did a good job putting the fear of Mother Nature in us.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdkQF8VOPmS28hVLmlhAMyI9JsKWqg-0fVm-4RXJunu551MZa6gUZ3HQsySFs1cOYbVwV7xxnR4iV_f_3W0O1IAgpPpezkdFoyX4nq1U6lhuQGejz70oJ0OoW0x1gTigQNFdu4kqCvIfQ5/s1600-h/Picture+5.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 319px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdkQF8VOPmS28hVLmlhAMyI9JsKWqg-0fVm-4RXJunu551MZa6gUZ3HQsySFs1cOYbVwV7xxnR4iV_f_3W0O1IAgpPpezkdFoyX4nq1U6lhuQGejz70oJ0OoW0x1gTigQNFdu4kqCvIfQ5/s400/Picture+5.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362401879931070818" border="0" /></a><br />Here I am, just before the hike. Please note I was frightened enough by the lecture to fill a camelback and actually wear it for the entire hike. Imagine my surprise to find it bone dry, only 1.4 miles up from the bottom. Whoopsie.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEJQ-M1gRPhSl3QnrbxYo2DQCeZgR2Gu7VvL40q1SOkoEXEXSdCkYy7_FojGzr-84HQGEAVEk1NKQ5JW_GrzZGgkMYPGf_WLEoqPPtd35ReHiTWJZJ0x6FdrlwFwbg-yuhHRUjwavrehZe/s1600-h/Picture+8.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 304px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEJQ-M1gRPhSl3QnrbxYo2DQCeZgR2Gu7VvL40q1SOkoEXEXSdCkYy7_FojGzr-84HQGEAVEk1NKQ5JW_GrzZGgkMYPGf_WLEoqPPtd35ReHiTWJZJ0x6FdrlwFwbg-yuhHRUjwavrehZe/s400/Picture+8.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362401618723298082" border="0" /></a><br />Vince mugs it for the camera, probably wondering if I was going to survive not only the heat, but actually carrying several pounds of fluid on my back.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpV77De29VAakdMz_t5LAlhJ64RWuwrGCJg5nT65a22hUqCuu9hJAUwKJqAvPCe23i9pBRsnilvL-MhkhR7fvPbAiqIeNBzfwkLoyvTWDiyTk6p-iyya7azzDh65MNwHJTr4XCwwgV8-BE/s1600-h/Picture+9.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 306px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpV77De29VAakdMz_t5LAlhJ64RWuwrGCJg5nT65a22hUqCuu9hJAUwKJqAvPCe23i9pBRsnilvL-MhkhR7fvPbAiqIeNBzfwkLoyvTWDiyTk6p-iyya7azzDh65MNwHJTr4XCwwgV8-BE/s400/Picture+9.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362401540338860450" border="0" /></a>My good friend Everett Hill, whom I am especially privileged to know. He is definitely a hero to me! He's overcome a significant health issue and keeps running strong and is truly an inspiration. Some day, I will be as brave as he is and tell my own story.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhQeNAwMjs-GoyQHEQy0iX4S6C6Mj0YrbkLPoBZHDubkCSNdTXUV9BDJ48UGI7YMiDkF75snfLkmDl_LyoXse44nBKnYBFIaE3NIP9DQa-UFLvD7RxN4YNlaYc0ZdzMGoT6Pzihy9pBzy/s1600-h/Picture+10.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 306px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhQeNAwMjs-GoyQHEQy0iX4S6C6Mj0YrbkLPoBZHDubkCSNdTXUV9BDJ48UGI7YMiDkF75snfLkmDl_LyoXse44nBKnYBFIaE3NIP9DQa-UFLvD7RxN4YNlaYc0ZdzMGoT6Pzihy9pBzy/s400/Picture+10.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362401456840489410" border="0" /></a>A breathtaking view into the Canyon, pre-hike.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2jvPRx2X97GwdniL1YiNrndvLfwtVVGC2wksLFa3HmJd6-fSj1VnYOlndROT-xAr8xgS1QP5uNFyEuuveqQiz11tAUe8h2aJbUMNUqKgWTjB6I7gPWc0yEQvEvJHf2CgfIhwvzFHzFPtZ/s1600-h/Picture+11.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 303px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2jvPRx2X97GwdniL1YiNrndvLfwtVVGC2wksLFa3HmJd6-fSj1VnYOlndROT-xAr8xgS1QP5uNFyEuuveqQiz11tAUe8h2aJbUMNUqKgWTjB6I7gPWc0yEQvEvJHf2CgfIhwvzFHzFPtZ/s400/Picture+11.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362401379370770930" border="0" /></a>The motely crew before the hike, this is a fantastic group of people:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPNyVQc0Q3kLNT3WhJoPj3XzlxZSacT3Vs4hvlRHGjsEW3wF8EAkpwWZoSr8pIBdE_qBdct1wwLmxEt8qap_JqYCblTwOaZrFvLavrMQlkAf2Q3oZFeA625gunHbJDmnlfKu0Z2PlAaTOI/s1600-h/Picture+12.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 278px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPNyVQc0Q3kLNT3WhJoPj3XzlxZSacT3Vs4hvlRHGjsEW3wF8EAkpwWZoSr8pIBdE_qBdct1wwLmxEt8qap_JqYCblTwOaZrFvLavrMQlkAf2Q3oZFeA625gunHbJDmnlfKu0Z2PlAaTOI/s400/Picture+12.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362401296931524018" border="0" /></a>Nearly at the bottom, Tom B. (shown below), Tom Podell and I just couldn't help ourselves when they told us we would turn around at mile 3. We bolted to the bottom, figuring it was better to beg forgiveness. Luckily, we didn't get in TOO much trouble.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3aPXGbzC6Xx5UhSOeHS54bbTt2NKdUyZCt8ZDamZKnrZSl5TvK12cOi2iqbCDRAbcFjYVU1SgQXSObgSS5hDkOKiCrl-fPqdqiqEFDbiZw1ITz6buX4t9v9pDLRCkridIqPIxJw9yXKVa/s1600-h/Picture+13.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 399px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3aPXGbzC6Xx5UhSOeHS54bbTt2NKdUyZCt8ZDamZKnrZSl5TvK12cOi2iqbCDRAbcFjYVU1SgQXSObgSS5hDkOKiCrl-fPqdqiqEFDbiZw1ITz6buX4t9v9pDLRCkridIqPIxJw9yXKVa/s400/Picture+13.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362401141599796722" border="0" /></a>Tom Podell and I at the bottom. What a fun hike back to the top! I actually negative splitted the Grand Canyon, making it down in 1:36 and all the way up in 1:28 at a 14% average elevation grade. Can't wait to do it again next year! It's 100 F+ in this picture.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinvrq1eXm4Hkbp1bZJUHUDpdSiyFmTwU1jZdt81SAoNfbnzsQ0V_YK9Uc8zqpBQ6E6bYB7cKmcbeFQhVJpsYPBlcwJYxk3o-RVhE6LbWgmOrcwT5FU6b5GH70o62rqU6OpIa9EALBCWQaa/s1600-h/Picture+19.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 301px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinvrq1eXm4Hkbp1bZJUHUDpdSiyFmTwU1jZdt81SAoNfbnzsQ0V_YK9Uc8zqpBQ6E6bYB7cKmcbeFQhVJpsYPBlcwJYxk3o-RVhE6LbWgmOrcwT5FU6b5GH70o62rqU6OpIa9EALBCWQaa/s400/Picture+19.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362400607892837922" border="0" /></a>The last night I was there, we experienced a restorative yoga session to relax and help our bodies recover. Oh yes, I was paying for that Grand Canyon stunt.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzos_ul2hiaI7h7thrZB7jJhNleIBBzSxc0zOQjbjSnYBjA3b6Yzip0fy-97_959DwbcgIIq18ZfMx5y_PEaJ54GyZGa0QhwphQHWuV0UeBTOPZFuIlJy2j6X8uYiacKlNW0-lj_ZTL9O/s1600-h/Yoga.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 185px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzos_ul2hiaI7h7thrZB7jJhNleIBBzSxc0zOQjbjSnYBjA3b6Yzip0fy-97_959DwbcgIIq18ZfMx5y_PEaJ54GyZGa0QhwphQHWuV0UeBTOPZFuIlJy2j6X8uYiacKlNW0-lj_ZTL9O/s400/Yoga.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362400506809367058" border="0" /></a>This was really a great trip, and I look forward to attending next year. I really look forward to following the progress throughout the year of the many new running buds I met. Thanks to the Run SMART team, what a classy job you guys did!runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-19860658392149902502009-07-19T23:03:00.009-05:002009-07-19T23:27:38.314-05:00Flagstaff, Day 1Got out for my first run today in Flagstaff, here are some quick pictures of the trail. I have more to post but for some reason Blogger isn't happy with me this evening.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFYK_OEHlgocI5cXWzEtAanCftsD-pdjwIw286n2BEhhzwVcX9Q3RmWmK6YQTQwSvcIw29frtD7zL6DzCd_VA68lizH6KF-E4iuj4u0k4Ax8LOZfwSEA-pAilCPkAF4XUlvdOfxzJArtBL/s1600-h/DSCN0009.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFYK_OEHlgocI5cXWzEtAanCftsD-pdjwIw286n2BEhhzwVcX9Q3RmWmK6YQTQwSvcIw29frtD7zL6DzCd_VA68lizH6KF-E4iuj4u0k4Ax8LOZfwSEA-pAilCPkAF4XUlvdOfxzJArtBL/s320/DSCN0009.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360391903008243042" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The bad news is, I just didn't have anything. Not sure if it was the hard run yesterday, or the high altitude today. But, nothing was in the tank. The good news is, I had a camera, so was able to thoroughly enjoy the run anyway :-)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeMfa0-bMz5a-bgSMCexLSeDO9PHm6r35LA7RMNlVssa_93bWcSoT_dnsYKRtnLPv1vAr1oQM5bgjlgG8WyKDiHdRz6DjtnA7TKBVIHf_uIjv_mBuPnqU3I78YQ_VMPGIztG147oO5odRa/s1600-h/DSCN0010.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeMfa0-bMz5a-bgSMCexLSeDO9PHm6r35LA7RMNlVssa_93bWcSoT_dnsYKRtnLPv1vAr1oQM5bgjlgG8WyKDiHdRz6DjtnA7TKBVIHf_uIjv_mBuPnqU3I78YQ_VMPGIztG147oO5odRa/s320/DSCN0010.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360390204400559810" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Tomorrow, we head to Buffalo Park for a run.runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-11428856479362318522009-07-12T11:50:00.004-05:002009-07-13T10:20:10.713-05:00Because I Want It<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">"<span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Choosing a goal and sticking to it changes everything</span>." --Scott Reed<br /><br />Saturday July 11 marked three months until Chicago '09, where I will make what I believe will be my successful attempt to qualify for Boston. In fact, I not only plan to make it in the required time of 3:50:59 or less, but I plan to train, prepare and pace it so as to have a significant buffer in case anything goes wrong (like it did last time and I missed it by three minutes).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I love the journey as much as achieving the goal. It gives my life meaning. But that does mean I have to make sacrifices and tough out times when it would be so much easier to wobble on the training. I get up hours before my comfort zone to run, shun extra portions and junk food that tempt me, go to bed early and skip late-at-night social activities, avoid other exhausting activities. And of course, many more little sacrifices along the way too numerous to mention. It's costly. Period. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">So many well-meaning people have discussed with me ways to scrape by my goal, shown me miracle training plans running just 3 or 4 days per week, or otherwise ridiculed my singular obsession with this goal or roll their eyes at how much I'm putting into this. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">But the goal is two-fold. I wouldn't miss a step of the hard work that I am doing and am going to take. If that means toughing out challenging circumstances, running through the agony of wanting to quit; so be it. I relish the journey; I want the goal. And that's really my best answer to people who look at me like I'm crazy for what I do. "Because, you see, I WANT IT."<br /><br />"<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">In this life we get only those things for which we hunt, for which we strive, and for which we are willing to sacrifice</span>.</span>" --George Matthew Adams</span></span>runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-86947714149647539242009-07-01T09:25:00.003-05:002009-07-01T10:04:18.814-05:00Heat Training<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In 2007, The Chicago Marathon </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/2007-10-07-marathon-heat_N.htm">reached record heat levels</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">. In 2008, by three hours into the race--although officials were much better prepared than the previous year--the alert level was changed to red and runners were encouraged to walk it in due to the extremely hot conditions (although a couple of degrees cooler than '07). I was there, and can attest that </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://run350.blogspot.com/2008/10/it-really-was-hot-out-there.html">it was a cooker</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I picked a Fall marathon for many reasons, but one of them is the generally more predictable weather of the season. Nothing wrong with toughing it out in windy, rainy, cold or generally lousy conditions that befuddle Spring marathon racers, but I'm after one goal this season: Qualifying for Boston. I picked Chicago, well, because I absolutely loved it! But I am counting on one thing: A doggone hot race. And I have a nice long, hot, humid Midwest summer to prepare for it.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">There are several obvious things you can do to avoid training in the heat if that is what you're after. Use the gym's treadmill, run at 4 AM, wear light colored clothing, etc. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">But, if you suspect that your biggest obstacle in a goal race is going to be how hot it is (and I do); I would recommend embracing the heat. Learning to live with it. Your body is an amazingly adaptable machine. And over time, it can be</span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.posetech.com/training/archives/000370.html"> taught to adapt</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> and perform better in hot conditions. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: verdana;">Hydration:</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I don't hydrate well on my runs. In fact, I despise carrying fluid at all. For extremely long hot runs, this is not the wisest decision, and I'll usually circle back to a point every 4-5 miles to pick up something to drink. I don't have the benefit of a large training group where water stops are frequent, so I've learned to adapt--if you have that kind of support, great, it's probably not a problem for you. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">One of the key hydration techniques I've learned is to begin the hydration process the day before. But, you can't just drink water, you'll interfere with your body's electrolytes. I use </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.hammernutrition.com/za/HNT?PAGE=PRODUCT&PROD.ID=4037">Endurolytes</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">, and continue taking them as appropriate for my body weight, water intake, miles to cover and sweat levels. If done measurably well, I can manage almost any training run. The other thing that I struggle with is there comes a point when training hard on a long run, my body will simply not absorb what I need, and I will become extremely nauseated with the water sloshing around. Being a little super-hydrated (with the appropriate electrolyte balance) going into the run is the best tactic I have. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: verdana;">Get Hot.</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Yeah, it's really that simple. </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.ultracycling.com/training/heat_training.html">Learn to be hot</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">. Learn to process the fluid and adapt to what you need. Some people will wear an extra layer when training. Others will even sit in saunas, though that is a bit extreme, in preparation for extremely hot races such as </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.badwater.com/training/webbonheat.html">Badwater</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">. Sit in the sun or be outdoors for periods of time. Don't always use your car's A/C. It's funny, I used to be accused of needing the temperature in the house and in the car at 60 F at all times. Just the other day, I was in my car with mid-80s F temps and the windows up, and others were complaining how unbearably hot it was in the car. Wow, I was really comfortable and not even sweating.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">The take away message here shouldn't be one to overdo the heat training, please exercise caution. Overheating, dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke are all very real dangers to us runners out there. But, I do want to point out that you can learn and your body can adapt to training and racing in the heat. And if you are going to run a hot race, it's better to train in hot conditions.</span></span>runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-86837646420030940652009-06-21T14:06:00.011-05:002009-06-21T14:34:33.591-05:00Brooks ID Program<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Recently, I was accepted into the </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.brooksrunning.com/Athletes+&+Events/Brooks+I.D.+Program/">Brooks I.D. Sponsored Athlete Program by Brooks Sports</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">. Brooks I.D. is made up of over 1,200 members who are active in their running communities and share a passion for the Brooks brand. They are runners who are winners in their own right: Winning their age divisions, accomplishing their personal goals, pushing their own limits, and, by extension, encouraging others to do the same. They are coaches, mentors, and leaders.</span><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYhhK-MuTWUG7S-4OrEhFI-AYW17NuqE5aVEEoYYO379AONYGeBtE5FZazFOSldAkenKQC9XikRYt3Og2NmhWQjehQkMuhaTL2wba5h1PmyHfiUqhhWq5hEeWL1rOZDyW9j38KRmb-mxgB/s1600-h/Adrenalines.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 152px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYhhK-MuTWUG7S-4OrEhFI-AYW17NuqE5aVEEoYYO379AONYGeBtE5FZazFOSldAkenKQC9XikRYt3Og2NmhWQjehQkMuhaTL2wba5h1PmyHfiUqhhWq5hEeWL1rOZDyW9j38KRmb-mxgB/s320/Adrenalines.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349861643183069202" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">There is no doubt about my passion for Brooks shoes. I've gone through most brands, but after several years of experimenting, I kept coming back to Brooks. They last longer, fit my foot better and manage my pronation well.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Just above are my every-day trainers, the Adrenalines. These babies get a lot of my mileage, and I usually have two active pairs going ("new" and "about done.")</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Next up are my ST3 Racers. Now, these are some really sweet, light-weight racing flats. I've run a couple of marathons in them. My favs are lime green.</span><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_fl3LsjfJyjVXW8vQA1C6s_qX_ez9U7vp5AF9KHlE7_-UXwbUUmTmtyQ7h97YPYI-HjYiCm9YO2O0mI-cllhJk0DHjSabPT2D_l2BAimINfr5udCMiLtG8GUdOJTBpNE5gkReY9GwjCwL/s1600-h/ST3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_fl3LsjfJyjVXW8vQA1C6s_qX_ez9U7vp5AF9KHlE7_-UXwbUUmTmtyQ7h97YPYI-HjYiCm9YO2O0mI-cllhJk0DHjSabPT2D_l2BAimINfr5udCMiLtG8GUdOJTBpNE5gkReY9GwjCwL/s320/ST3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349862351597774258" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><strong style="font-family: verdana;"></strong><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX29PdyGmBtBn4OTyykKTRvyYA4AauYoqfVYF85nKxdLsgkPW_xVxZ_oGnM3qdY_MsrvLP54vxuSbfOmueanZbfghuYDtUAHJ0uklQ88GFFC3gSy6nn05icZfZQtbDzaHPLmb5VUcBWlux/s1600-h/cascadia.jpg"><br /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">The shoes that make my heart race every time I see them are the T6s. Tucked on top of a box in the back of my closet, I can see their golden trim glittering to me. They weigh nothing, yet seem to have all the support I need. I've not done a marathon in them yet, but might when Chicago rolls around. Will be a tough call between the ST3s and the T6s. </span><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPFErZORGETcjALwHVwSc2QLkePW_LQJHDIliTdKp11f6Q5-pZmbczjhuU0WsG_nfQ6m4-JXzjmMAE6o6OvfiLf5asEISrZvAcGVaFowyHaUmYYtsHhKiZ6O-buxQYuRm9gcn626mv96PW/s1600-h/T6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 152px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPFErZORGETcjALwHVwSc2QLkePW_LQJHDIliTdKp11f6Q5-pZmbczjhuU0WsG_nfQ6m4-JXzjmMAE6o6OvfiLf5asEISrZvAcGVaFowyHaUmYYtsHhKiZ6O-buxQYuRm9gcn626mv96PW/s320/T6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349861516578567538" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">At last, my new loves.. the Cascadias! I just received these babies this weekend. And they are HOT! I can't wait to go on a trail run to try them out this week. Can hardly stand it, if one could lust after shoes, these might be it! It will be a shame to partially cover them with gaiters.</span><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX29PdyGmBtBn4OTyykKTRvyYA4AauYoqfVYF85nKxdLsgkPW_xVxZ_oGnM3qdY_MsrvLP54vxuSbfOmueanZbfghuYDtUAHJ0uklQ88GFFC3gSy6nn05icZfZQtbDzaHPLmb5VUcBWlux/s1600-h/cascadia.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 152px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX29PdyGmBtBn4OTyykKTRvyYA4AauYoqfVYF85nKxdLsgkPW_xVxZ_oGnM3qdY_MsrvLP54vxuSbfOmueanZbfghuYDtUAHJ0uklQ88GFFC3gSy6nn05icZfZQtbDzaHPLmb5VUcBWlux/s320/cascadia.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349861441643756082" border="0" /></a></span>runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-13779070808920222002009-05-21T06:29:00.003-05:002009-05-21T06:42:38.314-05:00Foot Recovering Nicely<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">As painful as that foot pain was for the first few days, I'm now certain it was a case of </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.podiatrynetwork.com/r_tendonitis.cfm">extensor tendonitis</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> from an episode a few days earlier when <a href="http://www.operationironman.com/2007/08/extensor-tendonitis.html">my shoes were too tight</a> and I pushed through a hard workout anyway. That explains everything, including the swelling up into the shin for the first few days.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">For the record, this hurt as badly or worse than the tibial stress fracture I had so many months ago. Lesson learned, though, not every severe pain from running is a broken bone.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">The really good news is I am now healing very quickly, and am feeling no more pain or swelling. I am able to wear normal shoes and walking and jumping isn't a problem. The bad news is, Vince wanted me to wait a full two weeks in between seasons before I start running again. This is day 9 of that hiatus, and time clicks by slowly. I am anxious to run again, and hope that maybe I'll get early release and get in a few miles this weekend.</span></span>runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-71744387995301581662009-05-02T20:49:00.005-05:002009-06-01T19:23:28.040-05:002009 Race for the Summit<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >Pre-race details</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">. I awoke half an hour before my alarm went off and was actually hungry. (Usually, the necessary bite of breakfast this early is a battle for me.) The rain chances had dropped to near-nil, and the wind was non-existent with an air temperature of about 50 F. Other than the course being unmercifully uphill for the last mile, things were aligning well. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I'd taken the time to familiarize myself with the course (perhaps to an excessive </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">level). But, I knew every turn and every elevation. This was something that was going to serve me well today.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">It's also worth noting that I went into this race quite prayerfully, asking God to grant me the strength, speed and extra strokes of the heart I was going to need to reach my goal. For those of you closest to me, you know that my running is more than about the run. The fact that I can run AT ALL is nothing short of a miracle. I thanked Him for the gifts He had given me to get me here today.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >Warm-up</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">. I approached my warm-up a little differently than I usually do. I tend to prefer a very slow jog, I'm so in fear of burning any energy I might need later on. But, my last several interval workouts I have run my 3 warm-up miles at a decent pace (typically around 8:20 or 8:30) with no impact on my "energy." I thought I'd perform better in the race if I ran a more natural warm-up pace. This also turned out to be a good decision (and one I will follow in future races). My strides just before race start felt great, and I was light on my feet.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >Race Start.</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> It was unlikely that I'd reach my 22:00 goal here, let alone a PR (beat my previous best of 6 weeks ago, 22:17). The last hill was a killer, and I knew it. I am weak on hill</span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghNL5tpru4gRsjOQrZWcAK74963PuzzpEtsBfyog4Aw3eVuzB8RC-fCW963E1QUdqQYwEFKWO7yMvB47IvPB33JE2SkoIgIQk9HO_TAmOg-gEAvgJjb9hFLk_JvnBkP3H513Flkc7XkSzz/s1600-h/Picture+1.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghNL5tpru4gRsjOQrZWcAK74963PuzzpEtsBfyog4Aw3eVuzB8RC-fCW963E1QUdqQYwEFKWO7yMvB47IvPB33JE2SkoIgIQk9HO_TAmOg-gEAvgJjb9hFLk_JvnBkP3H513Flkc7XkSzz/s400/Picture+1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342518890126774338" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">s. So, I carelessly tossed any real hopes aside and planned something risky. I decided to go out for the first two miles as fast as possible. I wanted to be way under 14:00 to have time in the bank for the final hill / mile. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Of course the gun went off and the 70+ elementary school group surged ahead and sprinted from behind us, and then all petered out in about 50 yards, making us all dodge them left and right to keep from running into them at a sudden walk. But, once that was over with, we were finding our spots, and life was good.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >Mile 1.</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"> There were a few people who surged ahead of me in the first quarter, as I was settling into my suicidal pace of 6:35-ish. It was a gamble, but I was going for it anyway. Once I found my position, I was not passed again for the rest of the race. I passed the first mile mark at that pace, and pressed on. Really, I was feeling as good as I've ever felt at this point in a race, and that was encouraging.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >Mile 2</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">. Here's where things got interesting. The race was pretty flat here, and I was gaining ground on a female who had passed me very early in the race. I watched her knees knock, and decided she didn't have it in the tank. I easily blasted past her. She never fought back.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">We reached the end of mile 2 at a water stop and the timers were calling out 13:20s and I was somewhere in there. I knew that I was where I wanted to be before the hill started. I'd been steadily gaining ground on a male in front of me. I decided to try to pass him after the stop. I was listening to him breathe, and it sounded shallow. I overtook him, and then could hear his foot turn-over and breathing quicken. He didn't like it and was going to try to pass me. He never did, and I eventually didn't hear him anymore. I was surprised I won that one.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >Mile 3</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">. Shortly into this mile, the ascent began. I knew I'd suffer badly on this hill. The beginning was the worst. But, having run it two days ago, I reminded myself it was going to flatten out just before the 2.5 mark, and I would get a chance to rest before the ascent began again. By 2.4, every nerve, every fiber of my being cried out to quit. I felt like I was crawling in pace. But I started to tell myself the 22:00 was going to be worth it. It was definitely going to be worth it. And I was filled with a hunger to go for it, stronger than I have ever felt before. This is a feeling that has eluded me in previous races. I've "let it go" at this point.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">At about 2.5, it flattened out as I'd known it would, and I recovered just a bit. The rest of the hill loomed ahead. I remember looking at my watch for the last time and I could see the finish at the top of the hill. It read 20:30. I couldn't decide if I were 90 seconds away or not.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8v1nCRuhQahcO815D3QForaKOe2kFoElIKm92G-cmOyBls0FwKvZ0k0q5YtvI4hqP8L_tbEGP-ZrwJdlTmnGdlEe39AigMnKLmRx8xqtblZz-CmEeQ-NpvcRyrLJjhIHlcfwb6XgZHHrp/s1600-h/Picture+4.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 317px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8v1nCRuhQahcO815D3QForaKOe2kFoElIKm92G-cmOyBls0FwKvZ0k0q5YtvI4hqP8L_tbEGP-ZrwJdlTmnGdlEe39AigMnKLmRx8xqtblZz-CmEeQ-NpvcRyrLJjhIHlcfwb6XgZHHrp/s400/Picture+4.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342519096685498754" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >The final 0.11 miles</span><span style="font-family:verdana;">. I crested the hill, and my body was on fire. My arms were tingling, and I thought I'd have to stop and throw up. It was all I could do not to dry heave at this point. I have never felt worse. I honestly thought I couldn't make it to the finish line. But, I was terrified to look at my watch, and couldn't have done the calculation anyway. "Dig Deep!" I shouted to myself. "It's worth it!" So, I did. I surged with more than I thought I could have possibly had in me. Surprisingly, the average pace for this final segment turned out to be 6:35. Hard to believe I had that in me. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Not two feet from the finish I was greeted by an over-zealous (but very well-meaning) volunteer shoving a water bottle in my face. Rule #1 after I've finished a hard race. Give me space, air and time before approaching me about anything. I was just beginning to dry heave...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">My final official time was... amazingly, 22:00. And, that was the goal I set out for myself as I approached the season. The funny thing is, not more than a week ago, both my buddy </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://rtroeh.bimjournals.com/">Rick</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> and my </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.runsmartproject.com/runsmart.coaches.php">coach Vince</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> got the sorry-filled email about how I'd picked a goal too hard to accomplish and how I'd set myself up for failure and disappointment this season. Both of them, of course, believed in me anyway and told me so. Thanks, both of you, for your continued endless support and encouragement! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I'll post pictures from the race soon.</span></span>runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-40460365456827860672009-04-30T10:44:00.004-05:002009-04-30T10:47:31.427-05:00Summit 5K Course "Dry Run"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9OiGq7n6FVlDNL1b84sltFH8YaUtKl-9fivHbEevsDCtFy51mdF7cS1-J22OXyZZohj3gXE2gSqlFLqM9sKJLIG_HtcW36NXIb8kz7Zxk0FHgmOriUia1udLGGbIOJWIUNOxAgx71gmI1/s1600-h/Summit5K_run.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 161px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9OiGq7n6FVlDNL1b84sltFH8YaUtKl-9fivHbEevsDCtFy51mdF7cS1-J22OXyZZohj3gXE2gSqlFLqM9sKJLIG_HtcW36NXIb8kz7Zxk0FHgmOriUia1udLGGbIOJWIUNOxAgx71gmI1/s320/Summit5K_run.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330511153639460994" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">So, that's the profile of Saturday's race. I've obviously obsessed about it, driving it, jogging it and mapping it on various software. But, at least being very local, it was an option available to me! I </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://run350.bimjournals.com/">jogged it this morning</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">. Some people might call that a "dry" run, but there was nothing dry about it, as it rained on me the entire time!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Anyway, that last hill just after mile 2 is unkind and in an unfriendly spot for a 5K. The good news is, there won't be any surprises for me, and there is zero risk of my getting lost!</span></span>runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-88734225352473902922009-04-19T14:13:00.012-05:002009-04-25T20:11:21.074-05:002009 Nelson's Island 5KThunderstorms were still rolling through as late as 6:30 AM, and I saw a few lightning flashes on my drive to the Mid-America Sports Complex. However, things had died down, and by race start, it was merely fairly breezy and very, very wet from a weekend of heavy rains.<br /><br />When he said "line-up," I must have thought he meant for the hokey-pokey, cuz I put my left foot in....<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaN2o4jW6mZJ4ytQyx9MXvsC4cIscX_JFuOgn_7mRMJtm5BCRhlS5WVQAXVE8zAxIZj0YGQv-CXZqvv9LbymkwyI9bZNJcfHPF2_8ggyjjlCvzXrI4sB6vAL6Ur3yuPUKGFEqrh1vXpLRk/s1600-h/IMAGE_072.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaN2o4jW6mZJ4ytQyx9MXvsC4cIscX_JFuOgn_7mRMJtm5BCRhlS5WVQAXVE8zAxIZj0YGQv-CXZqvv9LbymkwyI9bZNJcfHPF2_8ggyjjlCvzXrI4sB6vAL6Ur3yuPUKGFEqrh1vXpLRk/s320/IMAGE_072.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326483836397396130" border="0" /></a>Alright, a little less dorky, ready to press a button, but not clear if I am actually ready to run!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyMpEcgFOni7rQvkIvlwLrwtoNp0uekYgjKk4kqme1WTJjM93-YkpxRXVxUWWrY76Lh0YkRX4SrY8ZoOIgjFjHXwT3p1xmCpHzav7j5lIqewH42rIRGWAs1_5i3LjXfySiNP9L50sj9b1y/s1600-h/IMAGE_074.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyMpEcgFOni7rQvkIvlwLrwtoNp0uekYgjKk4kqme1WTJjM93-YkpxRXVxUWWrY76Lh0YkRX4SrY8ZoOIgjFjHXwT3p1xmCpHzav7j5lIqewH42rIRGWAs1_5i3LjXfySiNP9L50sj9b1y/s320/IMAGE_074.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326483674407848786" border="0" /></a>I like this blurry picture, as it captures the essensce of the early part of a 5K. I actually look fast! And, I am really in the lead. For a short while.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgGhl_sGdHcGA_93OWmrD5qPaC_nZKaLLlqUbmNIbObHFtZHxlYwkb5iHtsmr6xnOwq2rCNkaGMahkG164-Vx0VSXPvNYMpgkSwpObBt5CJfxb_TtGHL_ufZQHoVLsR65SzQmOOw8xX4HZ/s1600-h/IMAGE_075.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgGhl_sGdHcGA_93OWmrD5qPaC_nZKaLLlqUbmNIbObHFtZHxlYwkb5iHtsmr6xnOwq2rCNkaGMahkG164-Vx0VSXPvNYMpgkSwpObBt5CJfxb_TtGHL_ufZQHoVLsR65SzQmOOw8xX4HZ/s320/IMAGE_075.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326483591968132578" border="0" /></a>That's me... front of the pack in the white singlet:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe86mva-ZmxocEf4Ol-1dFTmkTFOzBePcMYgcTpzX9wMMTK6o0v3fYU-MkyirRfws8jUx9mRXAcqPPC9a4dAloui3aQt5doMDG5p0cnWeoaaEB_23ho-dcvscTe3ty05y_MLI3R8TUWkSh/s1600-h/IMAGE_076.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe86mva-ZmxocEf4Ol-1dFTmkTFOzBePcMYgcTpzX9wMMTK6o0v3fYU-MkyirRfws8jUx9mRXAcqPPC9a4dAloui3aQt5doMDG5p0cnWeoaaEB_23ho-dcvscTe3ty05y_MLI3R8TUWkSh/s320/IMAGE_076.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326483523152075938" border="0" /></a>And here I am, bringing it into the finishing chute. Weary and lonely, but such is the life!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi_gyW9ZUVqLL13R0nUaU8C6LUxC1elXmQOuTRlggg06gulTq9Tg5lZm4ke9CLB4N2XJnipeBpkgUu-I1nS6oidPm-1hOaDXpdFg019N-0JHx9-kPcwHG-MZslcV1NRZHIpdUcL04-nSsE/s1600-h/IMAGE_081.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi_gyW9ZUVqLL13R0nUaU8C6LUxC1elXmQOuTRlggg06gulTq9Tg5lZm4ke9CLB4N2XJnipeBpkgUu-I1nS6oidPm-1hOaDXpdFg019N-0JHx9-kPcwHG-MZslcV1NRZHIpdUcL04-nSsE/s320/IMAGE_081.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326483397569605730" border="0" /></a>And here's my final pass right before the chute:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpzoHJzpedqjPQyLZvWSd-dpQRUGQ0ZQt9x91RaNZAH86bAa0qNv1nYIxtHxOZNeaTaz2QILsYp7iK2DSHEywCroFIj3CNj_ypJ0DDG8zw9IoOExxKNeIotDatmMP2klJcV_bS7EYQFq3U/s1600-h/IMAGE_082.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpzoHJzpedqjPQyLZvWSd-dpQRUGQ0ZQt9x91RaNZAH86bAa0qNv1nYIxtHxOZNeaTaz2QILsYp7iK2DSHEywCroFIj3CNj_ypJ0DDG8zw9IoOExxKNeIotDatmMP2klJcV_bS7EYQFq3U/s320/IMAGE_082.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326483318818379842" border="0" /></a>This course was advertised as "flat and fast." Not only was there a "you've gotta me kidding me" overpass at the first half mile to climb up for 100', but I had to do it again on the back side. With <a href="http://run350.bimjournals.com/">four hairpin turns</a>, there was nothing flat or fast about this course. I splashed through several puddles that went over my ankles, and my shoes and socks were full of water! It was, however, still a lot of fun!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMMTmqEYj2lXOGmGnJke73thH6hN3LA8nyvyeGX9aaykwHSq3O4MvcGPNHnK-5X8n6092UOXacwctIOWVZP6zvGlLaUhEZxaKPovfqrRDQsnTDWQ3E0X7Us_Pe3NbWr1yQOe8MvwWsDgOG/s1600-h/NelsonsIsElevation.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 114px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMMTmqEYj2lXOGmGnJke73thH6hN3LA8nyvyeGX9aaykwHSq3O4MvcGPNHnK-5X8n6092UOXacwctIOWVZP6zvGlLaUhEZxaKPovfqrRDQsnTDWQ3E0X7Us_Pe3NbWr1yQOe8MvwWsDgOG/s320/NelsonsIsElevation.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326486442092611330" border="0" /></a>My time was a bit slow... but such were the conditions. However, I did land a win with <a href="http://www.kansascity.com/823/story/1150973.html">first overall female</a> and third overall. They gave me the purple lei and the way cool tropical palm tree with the monkey as a prize :-)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOeApxWvMUdYvEm_VhsAqvB3ljua7Wb5STjq86tVTEJhyphenhyphenxHp0raJfDZjRmIqiE_CqVGs9o5ZbGWsPD_U-H9axqkTmMHdUw08eWJ5wtYyFcB7ytuWLkTLvY6n_eu0X-VfOKRqi3nJexnq8I/s1600-h/NelsonsIsTrophy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOeApxWvMUdYvEm_VhsAqvB3ljua7Wb5STjq86tVTEJhyphenhyphenxHp0raJfDZjRmIqiE_CqVGs9o5ZbGWsPD_U-H9axqkTmMHdUw08eWJ5wtYyFcB7ytuWLkTLvY6n_eu0X-VfOKRqi3nJexnq8I/s320/NelsonsIsTrophy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326482952420919666" border="0" /></a>runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-28344587027699990002009-04-05T07:29:00.008-05:002009-04-10T16:30:53.735-05:002009 Olathe 5K<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6_Viy1YbQw_GEAy2rwN4xaxSDLFvplR33jHgw-JqvShE6ycgHl8iLegfP_TIInLho876k74lK2ZHHU4JQ5riwH4djWhdZLRnmwBot6UgjsaV7bWJQ5lzMtb8tcHsmvgc8bfNyOnGN_lnu/s1600-h/Picture+5.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6_Viy1YbQw_GEAy2rwN4xaxSDLFvplR33jHgw-JqvShE6ycgHl8iLegfP_TIInLho876k74lK2ZHHU4JQ5riwH4djWhdZLRnmwBot6UgjsaV7bWJQ5lzMtb8tcHsmvgc8bfNyOnGN_lnu/s320/Picture+5.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323044717438017090" border="0" /></a>I decided to sign up for this race on a whim; the race was originally scheduled the weekend previous when I was in Bennett Springs, but I saw it as a quick opportunity to "do-over" my first mile (way too fast at Truffle Shuffle, which probably cost me 10 seconds overall) and practice race pacing in general. My singular goal was to pace my first mile at 7:04.<br /><br />The 5K was supposed to start at 7:30 AM, half an hour after the half marathoners took off. It was an extremely windy day (16-22 mph steady) with plenty of larger gusts (24-35 mph) and quite chilly, 44 F. I really wasn't prepared for how cold that felt. I warmed up right until 7:26, and went to take my place in line. Only there wasn't one, and I discovered they were lining us up somewhere else, pointing us in a different direction and the whole thing was delayed for some 15 to 20 minutes. Needless to say, I waited at the start and did nothing but shiver.<br /><br />The cannon and starting gun went off (LOVE the cannon), and we were on our way, a lovely <a href="http://run350.bimjournals.com/">winding course</a> that looped around Garmin HQ and Olathe High School. Interestingly, I had dozens and dozens of runners sprint ahead of me, including at least 20 women of various shapes and sizes. I reminded myself I was here for a reason today; not to race them, but to slow down in the first mile. Let them all go.<br /><br />Most of the first mile was slightly downhill, and parts of it were into the headwind. This made it extremely difficult to pace. Literally watched my Garmin instead of where I was going that entire first mile, doing my best to finish it near 7:04. I did find that as I neared the first half mile; I'd already passed most of those runners, and by the time I hit a mile, I'd passed everyone I was going to pass (dozens and dozens). My watch read 7:03. Goal accomplished.<br /><br />As I started the second mile, I found myself in extreme apathy. I was tired of the wind; didn't really care about the rest of the race. I continued on, no longer watching my Garmin, but just trying to keep a steady pace going. I could hear someone right behind me, perhaps 5-10 steps. I could hear the footfalls in step with my own; the bib flapping in the wind, and what sounded like steady, male breathing. I hoped it wasn't a female that I would have to outkick later. But I never dared to look.<br /><br />We passed the first water stop, and one of the race officials with a watch shouted out to me, "First female, first female! Go!!" My watch was about 1.6 miles elapsed at this point, and I really had no idea if that were true. I didn't think so; but I also thought it was possible. I suddenly found a reason to keep going the rest of the race. My second mile was 7:15 as I glanced down at it; slow enough that a sub 22 was out of the question, but it was still worth hanging on. I didn't really feel great for this mile.<br /><br />Mile three, I was pleased to be feeling better than I usually feel at this point. Miserable, but appreciably less so; I focused not on how much time I had elapsed, but the continued steady footfalls of the person behind me and how surprisingly strong my legs felt. This continued until the last turn we had towards the finish line. At this point, somewhere around the 3 mile mark, it was straight into a headwind and a mighty gust at that point. It was also slightly uphill. I went from running 6:59 pace to feeling like I was standing still and could barely move. The person behind me, which did turn out to be a male, edged past me and sprinted for the finish. I was relieved it was a male, and didn't care or think it was worth trying to take it back from him. I ran all the way through the chute, stopped, and punched my Garmin which read 22:39. My actual time was probably closer to 22:35. Not my fastest race, but I was happy to be in the 22s with the wind and my apathy. My head was not "in the game" today.<br /><br />The runner who slipped by came to me and shook my hand vigorously and generously said, "You were a great rabbit! I chased you the entire way!" I laughed and we talked about that last gust. I really couldn't have gotten a better compliment at this point; it meant my pace really was nice and steady; as it should be, even if it were about 10 seconds off my 5K goal race pace.<br /><br />And then we waited for the <a href="http://www.mararunning.org/Olathe52009++.HTM">results,</a> which were posted up on a board. As you see them there, they are exactly as they were posted (they have since been corrected, and I have put the updated link). I stared at them in a confused fashion. I did not run a 21:12. I was sure of that. Other ladies crowded around me, and they all started talking about their incorrect times and the placings. I could hear them talking about me, using my name and pointing to my name. They were first all saying that their times were about 85-90 seconds faster than they actually ran, and that I was second overall female, not "first masters." As you can see from the results, I am clearly the second female to have crossed the finish (the official on the course must have missed seeing Cindy; she is a rock star!!).<br /><br />As their voices rose in frustration over the results, I confessed to being Alex Gardner. These ladies were so awesome and friendly. They led me over to the officials' area, and told them that I was second female overall. They said, 'We can vouch for her, she passed us and was way ahead of us. We watched her run.' The officials turned to me and said, "We'll give you your choice. First Master's or Second Overall Female." I was puzzled at this question, and at the urging of the other ladies, agreed to take the second overall female trophy. The race officials wrote this all down, and said they'd get the results corrected before posting (as you can see, however, at least as of the publishing of this blog, they were not corrected).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYsIIEfY-or9IFwDtW89qwxCDK7lGJTwQUuRUBeqSWH46JP5YYYhBUrAiKaoH_DvBB84Ej_Uup_7Qg1BRyAKBoaqUxQiRIxIgzzq7cF_jDnZ9g2UxUy2By_WEpUTkVqekoWlJR5o5C4EZt/s1600-h/Picture+6.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 235px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYsIIEfY-or9IFwDtW89qwxCDK7lGJTwQUuRUBeqSWH46JP5YYYhBUrAiKaoH_DvBB84Ej_Uup_7Qg1BRyAKBoaqUxQiRIxIgzzq7cF_jDnZ9g2UxUy2By_WEpUTkVqekoWlJR5o5C4EZt/s320/Picture+6.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323046477121377186" border="0" /></a><br />An awards ceremony was quickly commenced, and third overall, then me then Cindy Cameron trotted up to take the first place trophy. I haven't seen her in a race for many months and was so happy that she was back racing locally. Cindy is quite the inspiration to me, and I literally have her name in my home gym up on a wall, "What is Cindy Cameron doing today?" to remind me not to slack off. She is a superb athlete.<br /><br />I'd like also to give a special mention to Cathy Colglazier from Scranton, KS, who got the first female master's trophy in the corrected awards ceremony. She was so friendly and helpful and worked the hardest to get the results corrected. I am only sad to know that she lives too far away to train with.<br /><br />Pictures are supposed to be available by Friday. I'll post some then.runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-84841020518413381352009-04-01T07:23:00.007-05:002009-04-01T10:45:49.359-05:00The Hounds of Hell, Part II<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">I was truly shocked to see the number of followers I lost over a twitter I posted regarding the most recent dog charging incident involving the two dogs who aggressively attacked me back in July of last year. I had no idea that this was such a polarizing topic. I have lost a follower here or there (probably because I am too boring), but I have never lost a wave of them like this, all referencing the same twitter post where I mentioned I was going to legally pursue the owner of the very same dogs who so viciously attacked me previously. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Let me explain: I am trying to use "they system" properly to protect and defend myself (and other future victims) against another harmful attack by these dogs. I thought perhaps I should review </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://run350.blogspot.com/2008/07/hounds-of-hell.html">my story</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> here. I considered posting some pictures of the bite wound at day 1 and day 7, but decided against putting so much of my bare thigh and derriere on the public Internet. Not that it matters, since the followers are already gone and I won't be responding to angry direct messages, but I need to rant for a moment for my sanity's sake.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I am an animal lover, owning several pets (including dogs) now and in the past. I love my pets so much, in fact, my mother used to say she wished that she could be re-incarnated as one of my animals. Because pet ownership is such a great responsibility, I treat them with gentleness and thoroughly cover all possible needs.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I am not interested in pursuing the owner OR the dogs after the July incident and following court dates if the dogs had never again been unleashed to roam outside their property or some how had remedial behaviour when out and about. The only reason I am going back to pursue the one option I had left open after the last court date is the dogs attempted another attack a few days ago; one in which I was prepared this time and managed to fend off without having my blood drawn by these savage beasts AGAIN.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">As it happened a few days ago, they were lying in the street outside of their property (vehicle traffic is minimal there; one reason it is a favorite running spot). As they saw me approach while running, they were immediately charging towards me, not just barking, but growling and snarling in a very frightening manner. As they reached me, the more aggressive one lunged up for me, and I backhanded it away. I ended up stomping my feet loudly, throwing up my arms and yelling, growling back like a feral beast and stomped towards them. A bit of this showy display and I was able to chase them back into their yard. They didn't immediately stay, I had to repeat this a few times. Eventually, I was able to continue my run. Shall I mention what a quick two miles home that was?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Upon arrival at my residence, I immediately called the same animal control number I was given during the previous dog attack. As they began to take a report, upon learning that blood had NOT been drawn this time, they declined to complete the report. When I explained the nature of the previous attack, I was interrupted and told that attack was no longer relevant. In fact, the only way to get animal control involved again was if blood were drawn a second time. (This is in a rural county area.)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I called the Sheriff's department non-emergency number. They have yet to return my call. I declined to call 9-1-1, as this was not truly an emergency that required that kind of response, and I really do not want to abuse the system, I just want it to work for me.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I then called my attorney... the point at which my reflective tweet lost the large wave of followers.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">So, here are my choices:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1. Not run there anymore</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">2. Allow the dogs to draw blood AGAIN and then file another report</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">3. Attempt to use the legal system and see if I can get the dogs restrained in any way</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">The first is simply not an option to me. I refuse to bend to fear; in fact this makes me quite angry to feel this fear which is quite real and justified. I have done nothing wrong here, and shouldn't have to change my behaviour. Additionally, as I know the dogs well enough--and have the deposition of another runner also attacked on file with the court--I realize that they can do serious harm to another human being. Their charging IS with malicious intent to harm or maim what they see as a threat--even when not on their property. On some level, I believe it is my moral responsibility to enforce the requirement that the owner properly secure the dogs. Someone else IS going to get hurt by these creatures.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">The second is just not an option. I'm not allowing another painful wound. The one that I have was into the muscle, and caused me considerable bruising and pain for weeks. When animal control took the report, they classified the injury as "severe," the highest classification available on their form. I still carry a scar. Allow that to happen again? I don't think so.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">So that leaves me with option three. When we left the court, the owner pled "guilty" to not restraining his dogs and was fined approximately $200, which he paid on the spot and walked away. This is what I referenced as "a slap on the wrist" (in the tweet that lost the followers). He was instructed to keep his dogs in his yard. That's it. The judge told us we could contact the homeowner's insurance and pursue the matter civilly. We did not at the time, but this is the option I am choosing now (in the same tweet, this was the option that has lost me the wave of followers).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Let me point out that if a HUMAN had attacked me in such a vicious way, I would have more legal recourse. I really want the system to work here for me. I want to continue running on public roads, and not be harrassed or attacked by animals who have proven to be dangerous. I am mystified why I lost followers over this; I am not trying to be mean or harm anyone. But, such is life. Thanks for letting me vent.</span></span>runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-69440135923986480802009-03-29T08:21:00.015-05:002009-03-29T17:05:52.355-05:00Bennett Springs State ParkI took a risk and went out for a long run, carrying no water or calories, in a strange place on rarely used trails. What I found was a test of my fitness, endurance and quite an adventure along the way!<br /><br />The trails were extremely rough, quite hilly in parts and required climbing over fallen trees, large branches and washouts at the bottom of some hills. Much rain had fallen, and dozens of portions of the trail were covered in running streams, like this one:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXCoEQfTShzDNuvo3OHtY7xc3zM8IMcnKxkAM7JwziQCYfNvyPKV_qXsY3wmucjtlCKyGTC8TLn8Sj5WULECkeCKuBiW1dlC-JBe1zwkKEknBiIgtvtQrgmcLxhQRQt1O4tiprAbdguGw5/s1600-h/c-7.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXCoEQfTShzDNuvo3OHtY7xc3zM8IMcnKxkAM7JwziQCYfNvyPKV_qXsY3wmucjtlCKyGTC8TLn8Sj5WULECkeCKuBiW1dlC-JBe1zwkKEknBiIgtvtQrgmcLxhQRQt1O4tiprAbdguGw5/s320/c-7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318728714316236930" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMznD2DMS6jDWLZDcCNjCJpvV1i7MgoYkYCXC_hkqtdx7BbtmFEa9wiMdA7TQz9IvQvoMPOjz98xc2ozl9VgmqM6hBDmyCsd5bqmlckjM7t4wE2VD_a96i2LqOQ__YslBmwrQVLMbOtDuV/s1600-h/c-6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMznD2DMS6jDWLZDcCNjCJpvV1i7MgoYkYCXC_hkqtdx7BbtmFEa9wiMdA7TQz9IvQvoMPOjz98xc2ozl9VgmqM6hBDmyCsd5bqmlckjM7t4wE2VD_a96i2LqOQ__YslBmwrQVLMbOtDuV/s320/c-6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318728655096881890" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />It wasn't too long before I found a cave off to my left, and I couldn't resist the temptation to crawl in. Below you'll see a nice peek inside.<br /><br />Not much longer and I found myself near a quiet, hidden graveyard that had been untouched for decades. Many of the stones had dates of the 1700 and 1800s. More than a few were simply rough hewn limestone that was fading away from the years.<br /><br />I did take a bit of a spill at the 7 mile point, just after I'd turned around. Took the brundt of it on my inner right knee and right palm. Some scrapes and bruises that I didn't even bother to examine until after I'd showered.<br /><br />By mile 8 or so, I lost the trail. It was rough enough to be difficult to follow in spots. Eventually, I found it again, and happily made my way back.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU4EONF2dWMolyLiDIs5l_ZDgJbbRHuVNhYYYZdMZrL28AN-1VrDpwuHlvAaOkYCd27KCkV5k6WfJdAxapK8uOsLTWzepCq1cZfDP6XVxxQusgLyZWvqO3_yihp4YMLr0HF1levTaxDtwG/s1600-h/c-4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU4EONF2dWMolyLiDIs5l_ZDgJbbRHuVNhYYYZdMZrL28AN-1VrDpwuHlvAaOkYCd27KCkV5k6WfJdAxapK8uOsLTWzepCq1cZfDP6XVxxQusgLyZWvqO3_yihp4YMLr0HF1levTaxDtwG/s320/c-4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318728601967334802" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit0FPgpilvSvPWeQC70GpqhuCkRsgtKnpZMMABZJyGvqyFz98Yr2jU7eMV4PhH6RPokP291Ray3YjlYPKx9IXewJml0atadzA0w6wDi5rQbp7qJKiP72ewtf1sauxfBzKNNDggwLafc8hyphenhyphen/s1600-h/C-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit0FPgpilvSvPWeQC70GpqhuCkRsgtKnpZMMABZJyGvqyFz98Yr2jU7eMV4PhH6RPokP291Ray3YjlYPKx9IXewJml0atadzA0w6wDi5rQbp7qJKiP72ewtf1sauxfBzKNNDggwLafc8hyphenhyphen/s320/C-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318599418134402610" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtimQGwydT4g9zIjtM45YNHd8xoH-WNxSG_amF2rxN8qSMlZhRQyVoU6XYd-0Fn3oYQWaMOxPJVy4CPZ18j0yv_S1DtSGUQDTdM2G34LtVJfHX6AVXUKlwVetZyU9VDHizh0qeWO26oGA2/s1600-h/c-3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtimQGwydT4g9zIjtM45YNHd8xoH-WNxSG_amF2rxN8qSMlZhRQyVoU6XYd-0Fn3oYQWaMOxPJVy4CPZ18j0yv_S1DtSGUQDTdM2G34LtVJfHX6AVXUKlwVetZyU9VDHizh0qeWO26oGA2/s320/c-3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318728525860419426" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSkM9oAuD5jinQRuvk6kW76Mehamice4sgawhBacvhw6YgkV-JwXnzo3ouWnTE7yAeBP7EqUkrvh1NvgL3R94nxfgh22aXoDoEKP8YgRKmI1ZrAroM3MU0uxELseSxeusIY5rycYLcjsdS/s1600-h/c-2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSkM9oAuD5jinQRuvk6kW76Mehamice4sgawhBacvhw6YgkV-JwXnzo3ouWnTE7yAeBP7EqUkrvh1NvgL3R94nxfgh22aXoDoEKP8YgRKmI1ZrAroM3MU0uxELseSxeusIY5rycYLcjsdS/s320/c-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318728458500543442" border="0" /></a><br />I frightened two large deer and even a cayote, none of which would cooperate for a portrait.<br /><br />I relished every moment; allowing myself to take pictures with my phone (the only thing I carried) and wading through streams or over obstacles as needed. Unbelievably, it actually took me 2 hours and 25 minutes to complete, but it was all worth it! In many ways, this was a celebration of my fitness.runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-56994239003761391152009-03-21T14:39:00.002-05:002009-03-21T20:41:27.717-05:002009 Snake Chase 5K<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="420"><tbody><tr><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Despite a few minor hiccups in the beginning (race planner forgot safety pins, everyone was lined up in front of the start line which wasn't actually the start line, etc.), this really was an ideal set-up for a race and a lovely, fairly fast course.<br /><br />The day was a little on the chilly side and a bit of a breeze generally out of the south. I jogged around for about 20 minutes warming up, peeling layers and then finally into a few striders.<br /><br />I lined up near the front with less than 5 minutes to go. When the gun went off, we went surging, and a few familiar faces darted way, way ahead of me. I looked at my watch and we were running in the low 5s. I knew this wasn't good, so I let them go and thought, "See you later."<br /><br />Dozens of runners passed me at this point, and I continued to roll back my pace until started to see 7:00, which felt unimaginably slow at the time. So slow, in fact, I was deeply concerned if my watch were correct. Two runners in particular continued to drive a wedge in between me and them, setting what seemed to be an impossible distance to ever make up. I wasn't sure what to trust--their pace, my feeling or my watch. I decided it was best to mind the watch, as it was the only scientific thing I had. I continued to pull back and it felt all wrong.<br /><br />But then, things seemed to normalize, and those who sprinted ahead... a few stayed there, but then I found myself gaining on them with no increase in speed whatsoever. Before I knew it, I was past those two (along with many others), and was only to see one runner again. I turned 1 mile in 6:50.<br /><br />I hit the turn around point at exactly 11:00 minutes, meaning... if I could keep up the pace, I quite possibly could hit my 22:00 goal. But what I wasn't expecting was the wind in my face (nothing major, but still notable when I was a bit fatigued), and I was already beginning to suffer. It was slightly after here that one runner passed me, but I was not passed again, and I pretty much hung on behind him for the rest of the race. He finished just a few seconds ahead of me, and when we crossed, he turned and shook my hand. Somehow, I managed to not puke on him.<br /><br />It was a good race, and <a href="http://www.mararunning.org/AGE%20GROUP%20RESULTS%20SNAKE%20CHASE2009a.HTM">an official new 5K PR of 22:17</a> (21 seconds off my previous PR of 22:38 on a slightly easier course which I ran in January). I also took an age group first place win by nearly two full minutes.<br /><br />Looks like I still have some work to do, but I'm getting closer to my goal. My average pace was 7:05, which at exactly 3.1 would have gotten me there. But we all know that's never the case in a real race, so I will have to work harder. The good news is, I am consistently and measurably getting faster. And I still have a few months to go for the season!</span></span><br /><br /><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Activity</strong><div style="clear: both; float: left; text-align: center; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 12px; padding-right: 12px;"><div style="text-align: left; font-size: 11px; line-height: 160%; width: 390px; clear: both; float: left; padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; margin-bottom: 6px;"><table style="width: 365px; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr width="20%" valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Route:</td><td width="30%"><strong>--</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Elev. Avg:</td><td width="30%"><strong>753 ft</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;">Location:</td><td width="30%"><strong>Kansas City, MO</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Elev. Gain:</td><td width="30%"><strong>-4 ft</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Date:</td><td width="30%"><strong>03/21/09</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Up/Downhill:</td><td width="30%"><strong> [+370/-374]</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Time:</td><td width="30%"><strong>09:00 AM</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Difficulty:</td><td width="30%"><strong>2.4 / 5.0</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" colspan="4"> </td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Weather:</td><td colspan="3"><strong>Fair</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%"> </td><td colspan="3"><strong>52 F temp; 66% humidity</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%"> </td><td colspan="3"><strong>52 F heat index; winds SE 6</strong></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Performance</strong><div style="clear: both; float: left; text-align: center; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 12px; padding-right: 12px;"><div style="text-align: left; font-size: 11px; line-height: 160%; width: 390px; clear: both; float: left; padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; margin-bottom: 6px;"><br /><table style="width: 365px; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Distance:</td><td width="30%"><strong> 3.15 miles</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" rowspan="2" width="20%"><br /></td><td rowspan="2" width="30%"><strong></strong><br /></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;">Time:</td><td><strong>0:22:17</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;">Speed:</td><td><strong>8.5 mph</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;"><br /></td><td><strong></strong><br /></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;">Pace:</td><td><strong>7' 05 /mi</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;"><br /></td><td><strong></strong><br /></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;">Calories:</td><td><strong>274</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;"><br /></td><td><strong></strong><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Map</strong><img src="http://bimactive.com/ba/ui/map_get.php?hasPlotPath=1&mapH=420&mapV=420&datasetID=422881&mapType=street" /><div> </div><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Elevation (ft)</strong><img src="http://bimactive.com/ba/ui/chart_get.php?actID=294351&chartH=420&chartV=135&datasetID=422881&chartType=default_chart_route&units=1" /><div> </div><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Pace (min/mile)</strong><img src="http://bimactive.com/ba/ui/chart_get.php?actID=294351&chartH=420&chartV=135&datasetID=422881&chartType=default_chart_activity&units=1" /><div> </div><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Splits</strong><table style="border-top: 1px solid; border-left: 1px solid; width: 420px;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; font-size: 11px; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;" rowspan="2">Mile</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; font-size: 11px; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;" colspan="2">Pace (min/mile)</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; font-size: 11px; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;" colspan="2">Speed (mph)</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; font-size: 11px; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;" rowspan="2">Elevation<br />Gain</th></tr><tr><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; font-size: 9px;">actual</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; font-size: 9px;">+/- avg</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; font-size: 9px;">actual</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; font-size: 9px;">+/- avg</th></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">1</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">6' 50</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 15</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8.8</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.3</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">0 ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">2</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7' 04</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-0' 01</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8.5</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">+0.0</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">+16 ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">3</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7' 13</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0' 08</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8.3</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0.2</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-27 ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">end</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">6' 52</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 13</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8.7</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.2</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">+6 ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px;" colspan="6">Versus average of 7' 05 min/mile</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></td></tr><tr><td><div style="font-size: 11px; text-align: center;"><p>Posted from <a target="_blank" href="http://bimactive.com/">bimactive.com</a></p></div></td></tr></tbody></table>runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-62603014200242218752009-03-15T15:01:00.001-05:002009-03-15T15:13:03.392-05:00LBTT 13 Mile Failure... and then Success!<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="420"><tbody><tr><td>I first attempted this run yesterday, after I became severely ill from food poisoning... or something. I thought I could still run if I could get my..er... problems under control. Four doses of Pepto Bismol didn't do it. Two doses of Immodium AD seemed to. The second dose was taken only a few minutes before the run started. I met Rick and Karen, but after only a bit over two miles, I was so woozy I could hardly stand up, let alone run, and I'd started to mildly hallucinate. For the first time in my life, I quit and walked back to my car alone.<br /><br />Today, I was feeling much better, and thought I'd slip out to the same location with the same plan to see if I could pull it off. I had no real pace plans, I was going to be happy if I could just go the distance. Technically, I haven't gone 13 miles since Chi in October.<br /><br />The first 7 miles were great, I was feeling stronger and stronger, in spite of the fact the last of those were into a bit of a headwind. I gulped some Gatorade at my car, and then went south, continuing the run into the wind. But for the last six miles I was pretty tired, and didn't care about my pace. I assumed I was running high 9s or low 10s, but again really didn't care. Just wanted to focus on finishing.<br /><br />I've forgotten some of the exhaustion that one experiences when going the distance (and 13 miles really isn't that much, I know). I was just looking for that groove; that zone and hang on to bring in. I managed to find it and even ran a pretty good last mile (the mind has so much to do with my pace... I knew if I hurried I'd be done sooner).<br /><br />So, I feel somewhat vindicated from my miserable failure yesterday and important lesson learned. And I was very happy to finish!<br /><br /><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Activity</strong><div style="clear: both; float: left; text-align: center; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 12px; padding-right: 12px;"><div style="text-align: left; font-size: 11px; line-height: 160%; width: 390px; clear: both; float: left; padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; margin-bottom: 6px;"><table style="width: 365px; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr width="20%" valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Route:</td><td width="30%"><strong>--</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Elev. Avg:</td><td width="30%"><strong>742 ft</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;">Location:</td><td width="30%"><strong>Blue Springs, MO</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Elev. Gain:</td><td width="30%"><strong>+0 ft</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Date:</td><td width="30%"><strong>03/15/09</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Up/Downhill:</td><td width="30%"><strong> [+403/-403]</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Time:</td><td width="30%"><strong>11:29 AM</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Difficulty:</td><td width="30%"><strong>3.2 / 5.0</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" colspan="4"> </td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Weather:</td><td colspan="3"><strong>Mostly Cloudy</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%"> </td><td colspan="3"><strong>53 F temp; 63% humidity</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%"> </td><td colspan="3"><strong>53 F heat index; winds S 8</strong></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Performance</strong><div style="clear: both; float: left; text-align: center; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 12px; padding-right: 12px;"><div style="text-align: left; font-size: 11px; line-height: 160%; width: 390px; clear: both; float: left; padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; margin-bottom: 6px;"><table style="width: 365px; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" width="20%">Distance:</td><td width="30%"><strong> 13.00 miles</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;" rowspan="2" width="20%"><br /></td><td rowspan="2" width="30%"><strong></strong><br /></td></tr><br /><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;">Time:</td><td><strong>1:49:45</strong></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;">Speed:</td><td><strong>7.1 mph</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;"><br /></td><td><strong></strong><br /></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;">Pace:</td><td><strong>8' 27 /mi</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;"><br /></td><td><strong></strong><br /></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;">Calories:</td><td><strong>1126</strong></td><td style="text-align: right; padding-right: 5px;"><br /></td><td><strong></strong><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Map</strong><img src="http://bimactive.com/ba/ui/map_get.php?hasPlotPath=1&mapH=420&mapV=420&datasetID=420722&mapType=street" /><div> </div><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Elevation (ft)</strong><img src="http://bimactive.com/ba/ui/chart_get.php?actID=292479&chartH=420&chartV=135&datasetID=420722&chartType=default_chart_route&units=1" /><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;"></strong><div> </div><strong style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; display: block; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; clear: both;">Splits</strong><table style="border-top: 1px solid; border-left: 1px solid; width: 420px;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; font-size: 11px; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;" rowspan="2">Mile</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; font-size: 11px; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;" colspan="2">Pace (min/mile)</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; font-size: 11px; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;" colspan="2">Speed (mph)</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; font-size: 11px; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px;" rowspan="2">Elevation<br />Gain</th></tr><tr><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; font-size: 9px;">actual</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; font-size: 9px;">+/- avg</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; font-size: 9px;">actual</th><th style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; font-size: 9px;">+/- avg</th></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">1</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 50</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0' 23</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">6.8</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0.3</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-9 ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">2</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 22</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 05</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.2</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.1</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">+13 ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">3</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 09</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 18</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.4</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.3</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-13 ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">4</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 21</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 06</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.2</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.1</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">0 ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">5</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 27</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">+0' 00</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.1</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-0.0</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">+10 ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">6</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 15</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 12</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.3</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.2</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-10 ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 11</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 16</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.3</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.2</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">+6 ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 36</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0' 09</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.0</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0.1</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-3 ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">9</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 37</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0' 10</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.0</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0.1</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">+7 ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">10</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 40</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0' 13</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">6.9</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0.2</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">+4 ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">11</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 36</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0' 09</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.0</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0.1</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-3 ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">12</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 24</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-0' 03</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.1</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">+0.0</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">-3 ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">13</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">8' 09</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>-0' 18</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">7.3</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><span>+0.2</span></td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">+3 ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">end</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">**</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">**</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">**</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">**</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;">** ft</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px;" colspan="6">Versus average of 8' 27 min/mile</td></tr><tr><td style="border-right: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; text-align: right; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px;" colspan="6">** Insufficient data to calculate this split</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></td></tr><tr><td><div style="font-size: 11px; text-align: center;"><p>Posted from <a target="_blank" href="http://bimactive.com/">bimactive.com</a></p></div></td></tr></tbody></table>runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-72965666375612230642009-03-08T08:26:00.013-05:002009-03-08T10:29:46.267-05:0010th Annual Truffle Shuffle 5K<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdIE1z5IpAoRvxodnWDv9G2Gvj9pxnKTaKyjKZGzq1KskUY0s-XjFvbM1vXQuKGLzjQFbpWgcy-7PUOQoYrCMUU_64oU40PJ7mZ23yg9c39eFFjJqHcWr5_zwi-vcCOXE7Nl4b78IdXpXE/s1600-h/truffle+shuffle+start.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdIE1z5IpAoRvxodnWDv9G2Gvj9pxnKTaKyjKZGzq1KskUY0s-XjFvbM1vXQuKGLzjQFbpWgcy-7PUOQoYrCMUU_64oU40PJ7mZ23yg9c39eFFjJqHcWr5_zwi-vcCOXE7Nl4b78IdXpXE/s400/truffle+shuffle+start.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310810181404687090" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">It was a good day to fly a kite. It was not a good day to run a race. But that didn't dampen the spirits of the more than 350 runners who turned out to run the 10th Annual Truffle Shuffle 5K on a balmy, if extraordinarily windy, 71F day. Depending on the weather source, sustained winds were between 21 and 27 mph, and gusts were in excess of 35 mph.<br /><br />I showed up with two friends of mine Crystal (her first 5K, way to go!) and Eddie (a somewhat seasoned runner and racer). Eddie and I jogged around for about 25 minutes before the start, and after ensuring that Crystal had a good position, we lined up near the start. You can see me above on the far right, about 3 rows of people back, about four in, wearing sunglasses, white singlet and black shorts.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcX83B7YROAiQXssmu69ZXq4eUicVw36FVEnxxZyRuoyT2sg4LpPwD42QHNgWYmh6SeJmxuJ277Ewh5gTZmX_jDl1lFvGwhEmzG6FphWgdprBxtmpvJ_DVzYn7NleaS2qI8ODn0kMt9-EZ/s1600-h/TruffleShuffle5K09.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcX83B7YROAiQXssmu69ZXq4eUicVw36FVEnxxZyRuoyT2sg4LpPwD42QHNgWYmh6SeJmxuJ277Ewh5gTZmX_jDl1lFvGwhEmzG6FphWgdprBxtmpvJ_DVzYn7NleaS2qI8ODn0kMt9-EZ/s320/TruffleShuffle5K09.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310808271699700018" border="0" /></a>This race director did a great job of counting down to the start, so everyone was prepared. I took off with a kick, and made the first two turns well before a quarter mile was up. By a half mile we were going up a moderately steep hill that lasted for half a mile. The front group of about 20 was well ahead of me, and no one was really behind me. As a severe gust blew mightily into my uphill run, forcing sand and salt into my nose and mouth, I felt singled out for the toughest experience of all participants on this hill. I remember looking down at my watch and seeing only a little more than a half mile had elapsed. I was already miserable. This was going to be a tough race.<br /><br />At the top of the hill, we were wound onto a trail of small, loose gravel, where we would stay for nearly two miles. This path was circuitous, and several times we passed on the same trail the runners behind us which was somewhat confusing to me. I'm not used to being this far in the front and could really only see one or two runners head of me (the others had spread out sufficiently they were out of sight). More than once I'd decided I'd taken a wrong turn, and would just give up soon.<br /><br />But I kept going. At nine minutes into the race, I thought my pace was going to bring me just under 23 minutes, and I started counting down in 30 second increments. With twelve and a half minutes to go, I had the following conversation:<br /><br />Me: "Self, you only have twelve and a half minutes to go. You can suffer for that much longer at this pace."<br /><br />My response: "Uh, no we can't. No way. Quit now."<br /><br />I didn't have that discussion again. With five minutes to go, I was seriously spent and quite nauseated. I looked around (again no one really near me in either direction) and considered just giving in and throwing up. But before I knew it, 30 seconds passed, and another 30 seconds, and we were approaching the finish line. I hadn't been passed in a long time, and somehow I was still running fairly strong.<br /><br />Then a woman passed me. I knew at this point I had been third female overall, and I had not lost this position. The other two very fast chicas I hadn't seen since the gun went off, but none others had passed me. My Garmin read 2.85 miles elapsed.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmcNeSA1Z5Kz8U6NmZzH_lIAyiaBycYLNNfBqorha1VVvl_X8FnxOgFQ6kkVIKnb0dqsXJTJw4acu7gnQc-BGtgACzSXrwaX1n7a5NrOP3rO8MLBZe6486RTGzFP5sjcH9dNPlJcB_s3i1/s1600-h/TruffleShuffle09_2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 133px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmcNeSA1Z5Kz8U6NmZzH_lIAyiaBycYLNNfBqorha1VVvl_X8FnxOgFQ6kkVIKnb0dqsXJTJw4acu7gnQc-BGtgACzSXrwaX1n7a5NrOP3rO8MLBZe6486RTGzFP5sjcH9dNPlJcB_s3i1/s200/TruffleShuffle09_2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310808467477989410" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJsikA7zmpPnfiQDs2AoVuV3J7lbe22nqobaUe0dNOKXSmZ1Q9jwILNUclOZaw5Tsuo9Ag24lxDxlh6cZ8PlTncBArZp8LI2zT9OWt-N55YWEQji4ng5d_KvQDa2ZgtKjCzFJ8HHP_Zs1m/s1600-h/truffleshuffle09-03.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 133px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJsikA7zmpPnfiQDs2AoVuV3J7lbe22nqobaUe0dNOKXSmZ1Q9jwILNUclOZaw5Tsuo9Ag24lxDxlh6cZ8PlTncBArZp8LI2zT9OWt-N55YWEQji4ng5d_KvQDa2ZgtKjCzFJ8HHP_Zs1m/s200/truffleshuffle09-03.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310808595606740066" border="0" /></a>I didn't want to take fourth. <span style="font-style: italic;">Couldn't</span>, in fact, take fourth. I demanded of my body, "<span style="font-style: italic;">You are NOT going to let this happen</span>!" I settled, and determinedly overtook her, shouting that same phrase over and over again in my head.<br /><br />Soon, it was a sprint to the finish line, and I was shocked I had anything in the tank. But, I did, and I pressed hard, especially when I heard my name and "a female finisher!" by the announcer. My official finishing time was 22:59 (this was not chip timed), which was a win for females 40-49 by nearly three minutes, third female overall, and 27th runner overall.<br /><br />This was a tough course (my toughest 5K yet), but I was really proud of myself for hanging in there and enduring.<br /><br />You can find the race report from BJ the DJ <a href="http://www.seekcrun.com/htmdocs/2009racereports/truffle.html">here</a>.<br /></span>runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8374097373645886402.post-67994551652714027302009-02-28T14:54:00.013-06:002009-03-04T13:59:14.515-06:00A Diet Change You Should Make Right Now<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0e3_UdxCwpS7dJWXOi2rzJnzHFksKpXpmMUqaTDM9go8rYc1Ie0waL96FuoiCCvNX3TKp_0mZSzq0nz273E71uHb9yjaza5wCFy1XlFzbb4PnoVsb7U7-hnNeXNoGdn3gPWAequf3GR8Z/s1600-h/Picture+4.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 194px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0e3_UdxCwpS7dJWXOi2rzJnzHFksKpXpmMUqaTDM9go8rYc1Ie0waL96FuoiCCvNX3TKp_0mZSzq0nz273E71uHb9yjaza5wCFy1XlFzbb4PnoVsb7U7-hnNeXNoGdn3gPWAequf3GR8Z/s320/Picture+4.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309355849173250978" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">If there were just one thing that could make a positive difference in your ability to perform as a runner... would you do it? What if it were perfectly legal, easy to attain, and essentially a wash in what you normally spend on food... would you believe it?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Making this one change in your diet can help you buffer lactic acid during workouts, increase your overall energy levels over time, reduce fat storage, strengthen your bones, reduce catabolism of muscle during and after workouts, increase your immune system and improve your recovery.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Sound too good to be true? Think you have to go out and buy expensive supplements to get there? Read on!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I was first introduced to this concept in my reading of </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.thepaleodiet.com/paleo_books/forathletes.shtml"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Paleo Diet for Athletes</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, where it describes the importance of reducing the acidity of body fluids (pp. 56-57). While you are exercising, your body </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PH">pH</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> drifts from a normal state of about 7.3-7.4 (slightly alkaline) to below 7.0 (slightly acidic). The book goes on to explain "the body attempts to reduce the acidity by releasing minerals into the blood and other body fluids that have a net alkaline-enhancing effect... Calcium from the bones and nitrogen from the muscles meet this need."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I've since learned that the primary cause of an acidic condition in your body is from what you put in your mouth. In other words, what you eat and what you drink. And it isn't how acidic it is when you actually consume it. It has everything to do with what is left over when you digest it. Simply by eating more </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.ajpip.com/resources/alkaline_food_list.htm">alkaline foods</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> and avoiding acidic ones, you can reap the benefits I mentioned above.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Since this is a blog and not a book, I'm going to keep it short (although I'd love to write a book on the topic). Below are some links for further reading on the topic:</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://ezinearticles.com/?How-Body-pH-Can-Affect-Your-Energy-Levels&id=4670">How body pH can affect your energy levels</a><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:uFVvZBZ9PkAJ:www.osmosis4u.com/pdf/ph.pdf+ph+of+your+body+and+buffering+lactic+acid&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us">The importance of your body's pH balance</a><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/pH-Diet-For-Energy-Levels-In-Our-Body/548044">pH diet for energy levels in the body</a><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/11/alkalinity-the-secret-to-a-healthy-energized-body-and-life-long-health/#more-2495">Alkalinity: The secret to a healthy ... life</a><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://alkalinefoodschart.com/lp/food-chart/body%20alkaline.html">Alkaline food chart</a><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.essense-of-life.com/moreinfo/foodcharts.htm">More food charts<br /></a><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.foodconsumer.org/cgi-bin/777/exec/view.cgi/14/3700">Watch your body pH</a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />Postscript: If you are prone to kidney or gallstones, or otherwise need to avoid calcium and the like, you would want to avoid an alkaline diet. Experimenting with this would only be for those who are not prone to such conditions.<br /></span></span>runner-grrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07725123764353127568noreply@blogger.com2