Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Weather Craziness

Saturday, April 20 - 37 degrees, sunny, snowed on and off, winter tights, 2 winter shirts, headband, gloves
Sunday, April 21 - sunny and much warmer than Saturday.  Would have worn short sleeves, shorts if I had run.  Was very hard to stick to rest day and not run.
Monday, April 22 - 60 degrees, sunny, short sleeve shirt, knee length tights
Tuesday, April 23 - 68 degrees, overcast, short sleeves, shorts
Wednesday, April 24 - 41 degrees, rain on and off, lightweight tights, winter shirt, headband

According to the weather thingy on my iphone:
tomorrow - 50
Friday - 61
Saturday - 66
Sunday - 66
Monday - 70

PLEASE be right, iphone weather!!!!!!!!!!

I want to run the Detroit Race for the Cure in my cute running skirt that I could not fit into last year!!  (May 18)

25 years ago today, I had my first baby.  I can't possibly be old enough to have a 25 year old kid. 

Runner Nerd
has had enough winter









Saturday, April 20, 2013

Best Long Run

Today, I ran 10 miles!!  The last time I ran 10 miles was December 29, 2012 in training for Key West.  It was a long, difficult run.  The trails had snow and frozen footprints which is very hard to run on.  It took me 2 hours to run it.  Today, I ran 10 miles in 1:30:44, a full half hour less!  I ran the December 10 miler on the Falling Water trail which is flat, today was the trails in Hudson Mills which aren't hilly but not flat either; there are some inclines.
My goal today was to have the overall average pace be in the 9s.  At mile 7, I realized that all of the miles had been in the 9s so I made the decision to try to run all the miles under 10 minutes.  It got tough the last 2 miles and I wasn't sure if I could keep the last mile under 10 minutes but I did!!

I don't know why but after I copied/pasted the splits from Garmin Connect below, I am no longer able to type below that chart so I have to type up here.

I can't believe that I ran 5 of the miles in the 8s!  The SLOWEST mile was 9:21!  Imagine that - 9:21 as my slowest mile!  My fastest mile was the first one at 8:47.  Geez, I must have thought I was running a 5K!   The last mile was 8:58 which I find hard to believe.  I felt like I was going so slow. 
This 10 mile run was faster than when I ran the Crim years ago!  Of course, the Crim has a bunch of hills that I didn't have today! 
Now, if the weather would just warm up and stay there!  It was 37 when I started and 39 when I was done.  It even snowed very lightly on and off while I was running. 
10 miles in 1:30:44, 9:04 avg pace
This is from Garmin Connect:
Split
Time
Distance 
Avg Pace
Summary1:30:44.410.009:04
18:46.6 1.00 8:47
28:49.4 1.00 8:50
39:11.1 1.00 9:11
49:19.4 1.00 9:20
59:18.1 1.00 9:18
69:20.4 1.00 9:21
78:56.5 1.00 8:57
88:55.9 1.00 8:56
99:04.6 1.00 9:05
108:58.3 1.00 8:58
11:04.1 0.00 14:20

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

One runner's show of support

Today, I wore the shirt from my first full marathon along with the bib that was posted on Facebook.  I also followed another suggestion - to run 4.09 miles to commemorate that the bomb went off at 4:09 into the marathon.  Today was supposed to be a cross-training day but I wanted to do this. 
I wore the shirt and bib to the Weight Watchers meeting.  I could see people looking at the bib and trying to figure out what it said but nobody asked me about it.  I also wore it into Best Buy to exchange the wrong ink cartridges that I bought for my son yesterday and, again, I could tell that people were looking at it.  I'm not one to do anything to bring attention to myself so it was weird for me.

I had some fun with the pictures I took.  I took one of myself the best I could.  I love having the iphone camera which I can use by looking at the screen and see what I'm aiming at!   I then asked a total stranger who came walking by if she would take my picture.  She asked me about "the paper I was wearing"! I explained to her that runners everywhere are doing this today and she thought that it was such a wonderful thing to do!  She was also shocked at the news of yesterday.
After the run

 I made the above collage on a website where collages can easily be made.  I saw a link to "make collages on your iphone"!!  I downloaded the app and then made this one:
So, that was my run to remember Boston.
I am even more determined to get going on my training for Chicago.

Runner Nerd

Monday, April 15, 2013

What Just Happened?

I cannot believe how today turned out.  This morning, I watched the last half hour or so of the elite women's Boston Marathon.   I was disappointed that Kara Goucher wasn't in the lead pack of gals.  I watched the gal who was almost a minute and a half ahead slowly get caught and passed.  I can't imagine what that's like and then being watched by millions of people added to it.  I saw the winner cross and Shalane finish in 4th place  and then saw Kara finish 6th.  I saw the man winner and then I turned off the computer and went about the usual: empty the trash, clean up the kitchen, etc etc etc.  Such exciting stuff!  I was tracking a few people I know who were running, but that was on my cell phone so I had not turned on the computer again.  I was in town when I got a text from my niece that two bombs went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.  My first thought was that it was so late in the afternoon that it should be over by now.  It has a later start than most marathons.  I didn't realize that there was a gap between the elites starting and the "regular people" starting.  I checked Facebook on my phone and saw some posts that various people had posted or texted someone that they were ok.
I had an easy 3 miler in the plans for this afternoon but after I heard all of this, I decided that I was going to run 4 miles all out.  I got home, changed and went off on my run to support Boston.  I kept thinking back a few years to the year that five members of the running group were heading to Boston and we had a little party after running group the week they were heading out.  It was so much fun and everyone was excited for them and they were super excited and super nervous.  The following week they came back wearing Boston shirts and jackets and showing off their medals.  It was a dream for all of them and all of them trained really hard to get there; none of them qualified by very much.  I ran my 4 miles at 8:47 avg pace. 
Qualifying and running Boston is something I really want to do.  I've come close but didn't quite get there.  I hope hope hope to qualify at some time in my life.  Now this happens; what's going to happen now?
After the explosions, they rerouted runners down a different street instead of letting them head to the finish line.  Obviously, I know that had to be done but I cannot imagine how disappointing it must be to make it to Boston, run nearly 26 of the miles and then not be able to finish at the finish line.  
My Mom emailed me to say that she hopes that I am not still planning to run the marathon in Chicago.  UM....YES, I am still planning to run Chicago.  I've already seen things posted on Chicago's Facebook about Chicago runners running to honor those affected by the events in Boston today. 

Will we ever be able to enjoy running a marathon again or will we always have to be looking over our shoulders or watching for some unexpected bombs going off?  What about spectators?  I've heard that Chicago is one of the marathons where there are crowds lining the entire course.  I hope they can be there in October.

I'm not sure where it started, but it's all over Facebook - wear a race shirt tomorrow to show support and there is even a bib circulating that can be printed and worn; it says 4-15-13 / BOSTON / Runners united to remember.
Bib for virtual run to remember

I printed one and will wear it with one of my old marathon shirts. (I don't know why the pic shows with the sides cut off on here, my printed bib is complete.)

Runner Nerd
sad runner

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

I Have an Iphone!!

I never thought I would do it, but.....
New toy
I, Runner Nerd, have an iphone!!  This could be interesting!
I now have it activated.  I am familiar with the little square icons and the sliding my finger across the screen because I have had an ipod touch for several years.
I need to take it in tomorrow and get my contacts transferred over from my old phone.

Today, for the first time in a very long time, I did speedwork!!  I remember very well my last speedwork session.  It was in July and my foot hurt so badly that I quit early and limped back to my car in tears.  I think that was the day that I decided that I have to take time off in order to make it to the starting line in Key West in January.
Today, I got there before anyone else so I ran my warm up on the paved trail which runs behind the school where we use the track.  Only one other person showed up.  We did sets of 400s and 200s.  All 4 of my 400s were under 2 minutes!  That's good for me!!  My 200s were all under 1 minute.  I'm already doing way better than I was last year!!  It was cold and after I finished, I went right to the car and turned on my heated seat and drove home with the heat on high.
The only reason I decided to go to the workout is for the upcoming Detroit Race for the Cure which is 5 weeks from Saturday.  This is a huge Race for the Cure.  They do not time.  The first 100 male and 100 female finishers get a medal.  Back in the day, I got the medals.  The last two years, no medal; I didn't even think about that because I was running so slow.  This year, I want to try for it again. 

Runner Nerd
has an iphone 

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Long Run

Today, I ran the longest I've run since the half marathon in January!  I ran 8 miles!  I kept all but one mile under 10 minutes!  I'm not sure what happened on my 2nd mile but I just got that heavy legs, hard to move feeling for a while.  I didn't even have any hills in that mile.  I'm so glad that it passed.  Last Saturday I started out to do this route but it didn't happen.  I had a disaster of a run.  My body protested big time.  The weather was even great - 50 degrees.  I ended up at only 4.6 miles.
I was hoping for a bit warmer temperature today but it wasn't going to warm up until afternoon. It was around 35 when I started.  I'm so tired of cold weather.  It was sunny which is always nice. 
8 miles, 9:47/mile avg pace
I ran 8 miles in 1:18:45 for a 9:47 average pace.  My second mile was 10:22, my sixth mile was the fastest at 9:19; there was a lot of downhill in that mile! All of the other miles were between 9:43 and 9:50.  The last mile got tough but I still kept it at 9:45! That's so much better than what I've been running! 
During my run, I thought a lot about training for Chicago.  We are planning on training for a 4:30 marathon which is a 10:17 pace.  I ran this 8 miles at a 9:47 average pace which is faster than our marathon pace will be.  Most plans call for long runs to be run at least a minute per mile slower than marathon pace; that's 11:17 minute miles!  A couple of months ago I would have welcomed that pace, in fact, I was running that pace after a few miles!  Now it just seems so slow.  It's been three years since I've run a marathon but I do still remember how tough those really long runs are.  I'm excited but yet dreading it! 
I want it to warm up already!

Runner Nerd
longing for summer

Friday, April 5, 2013

What a Deal

The other day, I was ordering an iced tea (no food) in the Wendy's drive-thru and I looked up and saw this:
  
Moonlight Meal Deal
Now, isn't this just what we need!!??  Cheap fast food late at night!! The Moonlight Meal Deal for only five dollars!!  YAYYY!  And, look at all you get - a DOUBLE burger and, not just regular but chili cheese fries and, of course, a LARGE soft drink!!! And, don't forget, this is only after 10PM!  Oh boy!!  No wonder so many people are obese.  I see there is no special deal on a large plain chili late at night - which is 7 Weight Watcher points.  No deal on a grilled chicken wrap which is 5 (I think) points.  (Those are the two fast food items I will get if I desperately need food and am not able to be home at the time.) 
Should this even be called a "meal"?  It's offered after 10PM.  Maybe it would be considered a meal for someone on their way to work on the 3rd shift. 
I just thought the "Moonlight Meal Deal" was funny and so typical.  Let's all go to Wendy's after 10PM and get our $5.00 double burger, chili cheese fries and large pop meal and then go home and go to bed and then wonder why we feel so crappy the next day!!! 
OK, I'm done!
 
Runner Nerd
did not order Moonlight Meal Deal; has a long run tomorrow

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Eating Twinkies for a Good Cause

Yesterday, April 1st, was the annual Twinkie Run 5K!  It's always held on April 1, regardless of the day of the week it falls on.  This race is put on by the Ann Arbor branch of the ALS Foundation, which raises $$ for ALS research.  My Grandfather had ALS so this is a cause that is important to me.  It's a silly race where runners who will eat a Twinkie at the start line after the gun goes off and then again halfway through the race will get a minute deducted for each Twinkie eaten!  Runners have to stand still while eating the Twinkie and can't move until it's all the way in!  I estimate that I lost about 30 seconds to gain 2 minutes!!  The first one went in easily but the second one was harder to get to go down!  The Twinkies felt like a bowling ball just sitting there!!
Well, since the Twinkie company went out of business, this is what they had in place of "real" Twinkies:

faux Twinkies

I have to say that these Vachon Original Sponge Cakes are wayyyyyy better than Hostess Twinkies!!!  They weren't dry and bland, they were good!!  I wrote about it a couple years ago how I hadn't had a Twinkie since I was around 10 yrs old and I was really expecting something really good but it was awful.  I could have eaten 20 of those Vachon Sponge Cakes once I wasn't running anymore!!  I had to count 4 weight watcher points for each of those things!!

Here I am with my 1st Twinkie to eat at the start line after the gun goes off! 
Twinkie in hand, ready to run! 
The race went well.  I ran better than I have in a long time.  Last night after I got home, I found a couple of pictures of myself on the Twinkie Run Facebook page:
First loop, I'm in the bright pink top and pink down the legs tights:

Coming around the first loop
Second loop:
Coming around the second loop, hoping to stay under a 9 minute mile. 

The end result:
3.1 miles in 26:42, 8:37 pace! 

This time includes the time I had to stop and eat the second Twinkie, I estimate about 20 seconds.  This is the best I've run in a very long time!  My first mile was 8:07; Where did that come from????  I'm happy with it and happy to have supported such a good cause!!!
After the run, I took off and ran 3.5 more miles on the trails on the other side of the park.  All of those miles were in the low 9s!  I felt good afterward too!  I got back to the main part of the park just in time to hear the 40-45 age group winners announced and soon after that, I heard MY name!!  I took 3rd in my age group!! 
I'm only a couple of pounds from my goal.  I remember running this race last year and then saw a picture of myself that a friend took and posted on Facebook and I was shocked; I looked awful.  I couldn't believe how I looked.  I looked huge.  When I saw the pictures taken during this race, I was shocked in the opposite way!  I could really see a difference.
This is a couple of my friends and me with our beer glasses which are our age group awards:
age group winners
The lady on the left is a speed walker; she can walk really fast!
So, that's how I ate Twinkies for a good cause!!  

My daughter is back in the USA!!  She left Belize this morning and is in Dallas, TX for the night and will arrive back in Detroit at 11:30 tomorrow morning!  I've already talked to her.  She couldn't wait to turn on that cell phone of hers and send a text message after 3 months!!  I can't wait to see her again and hear all about studying abroad for a semester!  She's freezing in Dallas; she's going to be in for a shock when she gets back to Michigan!

Runner Nerd
eats Twinkies for a good cause