still sick but still here...

I'm still sick. No, not H1N1, just a nasty cold (no fever; fatigue, congestion, sore throat). The fatigue is horrible. I have managed to do the bike 3 days this week (M, Tu, & Th) despite it all, and it actually makes me feel a bit better. But I'm incredibly sleepy all the time, congested, and exhausted.

I'm working 3 full days this week as well, which is tough under the circumstances. I have switched to alternating 2 days one week and 3 the next, with my mom watching the kids every other Friday instead of paying for day care 4 hrs each Friday. I think that will work really well in the long run, but it's hard this week with this rotten cold.

***

In other news, I have decided not to coach TNT for the spring. I had totally planned on it, but at the last minute I just decided it was too much. I've been on overdrive for too long, and I need some rest. I do feel a little guilty, because I really love doing it, and it's for such a good cause. But they have another marathon coach who was already planning on co-coaching w/me, so he can just go it alone; he's a really good coach and will be fine on his own. As much as I love LLS and TNT, and feel like I'm helping my dad when I do it, I just needed to have some more time with my family and more time to myself. I feel like it was the right decision, though it was hard to say no.

Nike Women's Marathon - October 18, 2009

I coached Nike on Sunday, and it was a great experience. The weather was perfect for running/racewalking/walking. I'm not sure of the exact temperatures, but it FELT like mid 50s to low 60s, and it was overcast/foggy to start. The fog lifted and the sun did come out for a bit, but then it was overcast again at the finish. I wore my Race Ready compression shorts (spandex! ;)!)

From Nike_Women's_Marathon

packed full of Swedish fish, Gu, jelly belly sports beans, body glide, a camera, my phone, a list of my participants, and my hotel key. I did get a photo of the shorts --- I felt like a pack mule with all that stuff in there! I also wore a long sleeve shirt over my TNT short sleeve shirt, because I knew I'd be going slowly at the start. I wish I'd had my gloves too. I thought it was warm enough to do without them, but my hands were cold for the first several hours, even when racewalking. They did eventually warm up, and it was warmer than last year, thankfully, so it wasn't too bad.

From Nike_Women's_Marathon

I started w/the early start (5:30 am) walkers; I had 4. I got lucky enough to spot John "The Penguin" Bingham at the entrance to the early start corral, and snagged a photo op :). I enjoyed the relative calm of the early start, with only a few hundred people instead of 20,000.

Soon we were off, and I walked slowly for 2.5 miles with the group. My first 2 early starters did plan to run a bit, so they began to run after a few miles, and I racewalked them up the big hill in the Presidio at mile 6.5-8. Then I went back to help my other 2 walkers up the hill. Even though I had a COACH bib, people kept telling me I was going the wrong way. That always happens, and it always amuses me :). I walked them up the hill for quite a while, all the way to about mile 9ish. About that time I knew I needed to go back for my runners who had started at 7 am.

I walked back down to mile 8, and after 5-10 minutes I saw my first runner, Stephanie. I ran with her (she does 8:30-9 min miles to start, then slows down, and she was going pretty fast up the hill) up to about mile 9 or 9.5, and told her I'd see her later (she's a full marathoner). Then I went back down the hill and soon after met Wendy, who was having knee pain (arthritis) and said "DON'T RUN WITH ME! I NEED TO CONCENTRATE!". She is usually really nice so I knew she must be hurting, but she didn't want any help, so I wished her good luck and let her go.

From Nike_Women's_Marathon

A few minutes later I saw Cara, and knew that the next runners would be quite a ways behind her, so I went with her for about 4 miles or so. I ran up the hill with her and then racewalked down at mile 10, where we ran into my friend and fellow coach Glen. My left foot started to hurt at this point - more than in Portland, probably due to the hills and the running. Oh well. Not much to be done about it, so I kept going. At mile 11 in the park, I left Cara to take a shortcut, since I'd already done about 16 miles. She was looking good so I told her I'd meet her at mile 12.

I saw Wendy again and she still wanted to run alone, so I wished her well. I was hoping to see Stephanie again at this point (it was also mile 15 or so in the full marathon) but somehow missed her. So I waited for Cara and then racewalked with her for a bit, until she was about 0.3 miles from the finish. I congratulated her and then went back to try & see my full marathoners. I missed seeing Stephanie & Julie in the crowds here, but kept looking and saw Sue with her sister Nancy (Sue was doing the 1/2 with her, and then would help me with the full marathoners). I went with them for a bit, but then wanted to find Laurie, my last 1/2 marathoner. Soon she came into view and I racewalked her in to the finish.

From Nike_Women's_Marathon

I kept going back & forth on the stretch from mile 15-16.5 on the full marathon course a bunch of times, looking for people. I saw my early start walkers again, and also saw almost all of my slower runners. One of my runners had bad IT band trouble and had to switch to the 1/2 instead of the full; I saw her at just the right time, though, as she was in tears of pain and frustration. We stretched out a bit and she was able to walk some, and I talked to her about her options. It felt good to be able to help her, and to know exactly how it feels to have that sort of pain. I'm actually grateful for that injury now, because of the insight and sympathy I can have for someone else experiencing it.

Finally I found my last runner, Regan, and she was tight and sore. I suggested that we stop and stretch, and she was quite grateful for the help, because it hadn't occurred to her (you know, your brain just melts out there after a while!). We went from mile 16-18 and then stretched again. About mile 18.5 I saw Stephanie coming back toward us, but Sue had finished and was able to take her to the finish. I racewalked a bit longer with her, and then saw one of my early start walk/runners coming toward the finish, and since Sue was with Stephanie, I needed to go with her. I wished Regan the best and racewalked/walked with Sara for a mile or so until we ran into Sue, who took her to the finish after she finished w/Stephanie.

From Nike_Women's_Marathon

After that, I walked back and forth between miles 23.5 and 25.5 many times. I lost count, really, but at least the views were nice :). I'd take one person in and then go back for the next, cheering the other TNT people on as I went back, and looking out for those who were hurting. I really did love watching all of my participants as they neared the finish, and their courage was admirable in the face of adversity as they gritted out the last few difficult miles. Finishing a marathon is never easy.

Others I saw on the course: Walkin' Tom (a regular TNT participant whose blog I read), my participant Danielle's mom Judy and sister Sondra (with TNT Central California) - I walked with them for a while several times, and my high school friend and fellow TNT coach Glen (coaching the Seattle TNTers). Oh, and Marshall, an ultrawalker whose blog I also read, saw me on the course and introduced himself; he's a TNT coach, too. It was a lot of fun to connect with all these people, however briefly!

By the time I brought in my last runner, I'd logged 29.5 miles. Some of it running (4 miles?), some walking slowly (8-10 miles?) and the rest racewalking. My left foot was sore, but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as after Portland-to-Coast; the worst part was that the top of it was rubbing my shoe and I got a nasty bruise from the pressure. I am going to talk to my orthotist about that and see if he can alter them a bit to help with that - it's from the thickness of the orthotics, but for some reason only bothers my left foot. Other than that, and being a bit tired, I felt pretty good. Oh, almost forgot... my right IT band was pretty sore but it didn't hurt until AFTER I was done. That was weird. The whole rest of Sunday it bothered me a bit, but on Monday it was fine, so no biggie. I figure it was the running on the hills that did it. I will need to keep up with my physical therapy for my hips to keep that monster at bay.

As for recovery, I had some stiffness and a bit of muscle soreness on Monday & Tuesday, but today I'm feeling pretty good. I managed a little on the exercise bike on Monday, just to loosen things up, and that helped. Yesterday I rested, and today I did 40 min on the bike plus some easy weights, which felt terrific.

Now begins my 2 months of rest. I'll miss racewalking a lot, but I know I need to do this so I can race next year. It will be a new challenge to meet, staying active without my favorite sport. However, I think the time will fly by as I take care of other areas of my life that have been a bit neglected. I'm actually relieved that marathon season is over. It was a lot of miles, and a lot of time, and a lot of training, and I need a respite.

More race photos here.

Photos from the rest of my weekend here.

San Francisco, here I come!

Packing for my trip to SF. Leaving tomorrow morning early to fly into Oakland with the team. We'll stay through Monday morning; the race is Sunday morning.

Weather --- patchy fog, low 55, high 66 forecast for race day. Sounds good. I'll have to dress warmly, though, because I'll be with the walkers for a while I'm sure, and I don't want to get too cold at the end of the race. I'll definitely check a gear bag with some warm stuff :).

***

exercise this morning: 30' stationary bike, 30' elliptical trainer. I discovered that I can READ while I do both of them! I thought reading on the bike might be possible, but figured I'd bounce too much on the elliptical. Not so! I finished a book this morning :) and look forward to much more reading during my enforced break from racewalking.

overdid it

Photo: some of the TNT people during their 20-miler.

Oops. I overdid it today. I think I'll be fine, but it wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done. The TNT people were doing 20 miles, since the Nike Women's Marathon is in 3 weeks. My marathon, the Portland Marathon, is this coming Sunday, Oct 4th. Normally I'd do maybe 8-12 miles the weekend before a marathon. I intended to do about 12 today, maybe 14 if I got carried away. Well, I did 15.7. And I ran for a few miles (OK, maybe 4 miles?), causing my IT bands (particularly the left one) to act up a bit. Brilliant, huh? Fortunately, I think the IT bands will be totally fine as long as I rest a day or 2 and NO more running this week. I thought I was over that injury, but every now and then it reminds me that I'm not.

The good news is that 1) I'm not really that tired because I walked slowly for maybe 3-4 miles of the 15.7, and 2) my foot feels totally fine. The real test will be how it is tomorrow.

My orthotics are great. I really like them. But there is one problem: they are just a little bit thicker than my normal shoe inserts (I use the purple Down-unders, available in most running stores) and so my left foot in particular is rubbing on my shoe, and I was on the edge of getting a blister after 15.7 miles. That is just no good. I think I am going to have to do the marathon without them and hope for the best with my foot. That's what many have recommended anyway... and after the race I can work on finding a solution to the problem. Between another visit to my orthotist and a visit to the running store I may be able to figure something out. I'm not eager to switch shoes, as I love my Asics Cypress shoes, but I might have to. However, I am NOT going to do that a week before my race. I'll just go for it and hope that the foot does all right.

Nothing is simple, right? This year has just been too complicated, and having all these last-minute things with my foot is irritating. However, I know I brought it on myself by racing on a hurt foot, so it's just the way it is. At least it will all be over in 8 days.

foot update, etc.

My foot is feeling better today. I was on it a lot --- racewalked for 3.7 miles or so around Sugar House Park (fun!), and after teaching a couple piano lessons I took the kids to the zoo to see the baby elephant. We ate lunch while sitting and watching the elephants, and then I was on my feet a lot watching the kids at the playground at the zoo, and finally we returned home for nap time. I did get to sit for a little while so I could work on the TNT route for Saturday (they are doing 20 miles!), but then was up again making dinner. After dinner I did the dishes and then worked on canning pears & plums. Whew. Busy day, and on the foot quite a bit. I wore my new orthotics for most of the day today (2 hr Monday, 4 hr yesterday, 6 hr today) and my foot did well in them. I'm kind of surprised that it's not bothering me more, but really, it feels pretty decent.

The rest of me is pretty tired, however. I need to get more rest! Will focus on this for the next week if possible - more sleep is important at this point. Tonight is a bit of a lost cause, as I have to get up early to RW a bunch before work, and I'm up late already. But tomorrow I can plan ahead a little better (hopefully not wishful thinking) and get to bed earlier. Hope springs eternal!

Top of Utah pics; orthotics

TOU pics are here.

***

Got my new orthotics today. I am to wear them only 1-2 hr today (did that) and then increase 2 hr each day until I'm wearing them all day. No racewalking in them for 1 week, though, but then I'm allowed to do that and the orthotist said he thought I'd adjust quickly and be able to do the marathon in them. Friends who racewalk have said otherwise, so now I'm conflicted. I plan to follow his directions and then use my best judgment. Right now they feel weird but in a good way. He put a metatarsal pad in them and built the arch up a bit to take some pressure off the affected area. It does seem to help with the achy sort of pain I've been having.

I'm up too late so no more now. Off to bed. Hoping for 5-6 miles in the morning.

Top of Utah

Intended this to be a quick post - it's late, and I'm tired after a busy weekend. But it got long. Oh well. Have barely had time to check my e-mail let alone blog or download any photos. Tomorrow I will download some pictures and get them on here.

Friday pm Sue and I drove the 90 miles or so to Logan for the Top of Utah (TOU) marathon. We were coaching Amber, Abbra, and Mark. Amber & Abbra were first time marathoners; Mark was on his 4th or 5th marathon but hoping for a 3:30 or less to qualify for the Boston Marathon and a 3:15 or less for a new PR. He is a very talented runner! He's also had several family members with blood cancer so he was motivated and excited to raise the $ for TNT.

We checked in our hotel (a nice Holiday Inn Express on the north end of town) and then went to packet pickup and got our bibs, shirts, etc., including a pearl necklace from Overstock.com. Nice race schwag! The expo was small but decent; they had some $5 technical shirts, pants, and sports bras in sale bins. I thought about getting some but decided I probably had enough gear :).

After that we went to our inspiration diner at Le Nonne, a fabulous little Italian restaurant downtown. We ate on the patio, as the weather was perfect for it. Great food, too! At the end of our dinner, Ian & his dad came to talk to us. Ian is a leukemia survivor, and I think he's about 8 years old. Always good to hear a reminder of why we are doing this.

The race in brief - this is getting longer and I need some rest - Sue took everyone to the start but I waited at mile 14. Wanted to split it up because of my foot and the Portland marathon in 2 weeks. I ran hard with Mark for about 0.3-0.4 miles at mile 14; he was doing probably 6:30/mile when I was with him. Amazing. I couldn't keep up for long and was worried about hurting my foot with the running, and besides, he looked great so I left him. He said he was doing well and was optimistic for his BQ.

Then I went back & waited for Sue, Amber & Abbra. Saw them about an hour later and racewalked Amber & Abbra in to the finish. It was slow going; Sue had carefully started them slowly (2:30 half marathon) to help them save something for the end as they hadn't done enough of the long training miles, but even so, it was hard for them. Miles 19-26 were particularly hard with lots of walking, etc. I did my best to keep them going, and it worked OK, since they finished the race. Amber got a bit ahead of us, so Sue took her into the finish from mile 24, and I took Abbra all the way to 26.2. I racewalked most of it but at the finish Abbra sprinted hard and I did have to run hard to stay with her the last tenth. It was impressive!

Oh, about mile 19 or 20 I called Sue and she put Mark on the phone - he finished in 3:14:40, getting a new PR and his BQ! He was 67th finisher out of about 2400 runners, and 6th in his age group. Awesome!

Amber & Abbra finished in about 5:30 and 5:40 respectively. They were justifiably proud of gritting it out to the finish. It was Amber's 26th b-day that day, and she did her 26.2 :)!

With the back & forth I did with Mark and also at mile 16ish (I chatted with a walker from Cedar City, Chris, and walked with her a while before going back for Amber & Abbra, who were behind her), my total miles were about 13.5. My foot ached the whole time, pretty much, but it wasn't too awful. The pain was pretty subdued. I did put on a lidocaine patch but it would NOT stay put and ended up by my toes. I guess I won't be able to use them for the race, sadly :(. But at least the pain wasn't too bad, and it's only been a achy today, not painful.

It was a very scenic race, and one that might be fun to racewalk someday. It has a 6 hour time limit, so not good for slower walkers, but fine for racewalking. I'd recommend it highly. The aid stations & volunteers were great. There were not a lot of spectators (small town marathon) but the ones who were out there were enthusiastic.

Stay tuned for a post about the rest of the weekend - relaxed a lot w/Loren and it was great! Will also post some photos of the race, etc... but not until tomorrow. I am way too tired and up too late!

TNT Saturday

The team had 18 miles this morning. I knew I was not going to do that many... it was hard, but I kept myself to 12.75. I'm tired so this will be a quick post - long busy day, but a good one. Anyway, I did probably 8-9 miles of that at a reasonably decent pace, and the rest more slowly; actually, the slow stuff was harder today! My foot didn't hurt at all while racewalking, but was slightly achy while walking slowly. It mostly ached in the middle of the foot, probably from the almost 2 weeks of not walking much, rather than from my injury. The pain from the injury was more in the ball of the foot.

I walked with the runners to start with, and then for a bit with the walkers. Total was about 7.7 miles at that point. Then I took an hour break in one of the parks along the Jordan River trail while they went farther out; I just didn't want to push my luck with my foot, even though it was feeling good. Then we had 5 miles to come back. I started with some of the moderate paced runners (doing 11-12 min miles) for about a mile, and then I went with one of our faster runners who was doing 10:15-10:30 miles (but she did alternate some walking with the running) for the remaining 4 miles. It was great to be back out there, and my foot is still feeling decent even after that long day. YAY!!!! My doctor is awesome!!!!

TNT workout

This morning was a light turnout for TNT. Some were doing the Wasatch Woman 10k (at least 4 and maybe 5 of them?), some were out of town, had to work, or whatever. So we had 3 plus me & Sue. After recommitment, our team still has 22 people on it, which is awesome :).

One runner, Mark, (our fastest) was doing 14 miles today; he's training for Top of Utah and has 20 slated for next week. The other two were doing 10, as they are training for Nike and Dublin and have 16 next week. They are also runners and one of them, Stephanie, is our fastest woman (she does 8:30s on the long runs) and the other is a guy, Dave, who likes to do 10:30-11s. Perfect for racewalking :).

I started off running with Mark, who usually starts at 7:45-8:00 miles and then speeds up from there. I did about a mile with him at that pace and then dropped back with Stephanie, who was doing 8:30s. I ran (yeah, I don't racewalk that fast usually unless doing speed work) with her for about 2 miles and then dropped back with Dave & Sue. We had a route w/3 short out and backs plus a couple loops around Liberty Park, so it was perfect for running a few times with Stephanie & Mark without taxing myself too much. I don't want to run more than necessary, since I do not usually run much, and I am a bit afraid of injuring something at this point. I feel well-trained and fit and want to be sure I don't get hurt now!

I racewalked with Dave & Sue for about 4 miles or so, and then saw Stephanie again on an out-and-back and ran with her for a mile. Went back for Dave & Sue again, and racewalked with them for most of the rest of the time. I did run with Mark for a few tenths at the end of his 14 --- saw him on the last out-and-back and decided to run with him. He was pushing the end of the run (good training for a cutback week) and was running 7-7:15 miles. I did keep up with him for a few tenths, and even chatted about how he almost got bitten by a dog (yikes!) while on the run this morning. It was hard to run that fast, but I did it for a little :).

Went back for Dave & Sue again and finished with them. I kept forgetting to start my Garmin after stopping for water, but I think I did about 11.5 miles in approximately 2 hr, for a 10:26. Racewalked about 7.5 and ran about 4 I think. 10:26/mile seems slow... but Dave did take some walking breaks (~15 min pace) and it includes about 3-4 min of slower walking at the end. I guess I really have no idea for sure exactly how far or how fast I went. Doesn't matter, really! I got a good workout in, and we had fun!

wet & windy Saturday

Wendy & I after our workout & soaking WET.

The weather today: not so good. When I left my house at 5:40 am it was clear (from what I could see, seeing as how it was dark!) and 59 degrees. Not bad! When I arrived at the State Capitol at around 6 am, it was starting to rain - hard. And it was thundering & lightning. Only 5 people had showed up for the workout, and due to the thunder, I told them we'd wait 10 minutes to see if it cleared a bit. Safety has to come first. After 10 minutes, it was still raining, but the thunder and lightning had moved off to the east, so we were good to go. But, 4/5 people decided they'd rather run another day. I don't entirely blame them! 14 miles would have been long in this weather.

My remaining runner is a 1/2 marathoner, and they were scheduled for 8 miles. Off we went! I had borrowed a jacket from one of the runners who left (yeah, dumb coach to leave my jacket, but remember, I thought it was clear not raining!) and that was very helpful. It was nice for 3 miles or so, and then it started to rain harder. By 4 miles, it was pouring. The jacket I borrowed was not waterproof so it didn't keep me dry, but it did help hold in a little heat. Pretty soon I was soaked to the skin. I could feel the water even in my shorts liner :(, and of course my feet were so wet they were squelching. It was windy, too, so I got really cold. My hands were particularly cold. But the company was good, at least :)! If I'd been out by myself, I would have turned around early for sure.

About mile 4.7, right before we turned around at mile 5.2 (we had a detour up City Creek Canyon that made the miles shorter on the return), there was a VERY bright lightning flash and a LOUD thunderclap (it had been quiet until then). Ugh! The thunderstorm was back! Fortunately, there were only 2-3 and then it was quiet again. We were discussing where to take shelter when we realized it had stopped.

Total: 8.33 mi (13.4 km) in 1:29:53 for 10:47/mile (6:42/km). Ave HR 145. Kinda high for that speed, but it was a pretty hilly route.

When I got back my hands were so cold that my thumbs weren't working right. Wendy had to turn the car keys to open my trunk and door so I could get in!

I was never so happy for a hot shower :). Ahhhhhh. When I got home the thermometer said 52 (~11C); not that cold, but with the rain and the wind it was very cold.

Now we're going camping overnight. I hope the weather clears a little; we'll be in the mountains and it is going to be VERY cold. We do have 3-season sleeping bags, so we should be all right. We're going to dress very warmly though!

miscellany

It's been busy this week, with my 18-miler and then work and the usual house stuff (y'know, laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc.). I like the hard training, but it's difficult to fit in with everything else. I have been trying (and succeeding somewhat) to get a bit more sleep, which has helped. Thankfully I'm home today and can try & catch up on some things and play with the kids too :).

***

Pet peeve: SUVs which are MADE for going off-road over rocks, bumpy terrain, etc., going VERY VERY SLOWLY (i.e. 2 mph) over speed bumps in parking lots. Um, hello?!? I don't get it.

***

Workout yesterday: did an easy 1.7 miles to the track, then 3x1 mile repeats in 9:22, 9:27, and 9:22. Then an easy 1.7 back home. I ate ice cream on Monday night; not a lot, but just a little, and I knew that was not gonna be good for my track workout. Yeah, I had some GI pain and had to go VERY slowly the last 0.2 home because everything just kind of hurt. Anyway, did 6.4 miles in 1:06:xx. Right piriformis was sore for the first mile, then was all right after stretching it out a bit. I have a PT appt for next Tuesday, but meanwhile I might take Nyle's advice and get a massage if Lars is available.

Today: Biked to my weight training class and did walking lunges, bench press, assisted chin-ups (yeah, I can't do them w/o the assist machine - lame!), hamstring curls, hip abductors & flexors on hip machine, biceps, triceps, glutes w/cable, and "8-minute abs" that were very hard --- our instructor led us in a series of 16 30-second exercises. Ouch! I thought my abs were in pretty good shape, but that was a toughie.

Tonight: Going to do a brick workout w/the triathlon team (TNT) just for fun. Swim 200 w/u, 1500 timed, 200 c/d, then 3 mile run (racewalk for me :)!). Loren agreed to watch the kids because I didn't go out on Monday night :).

***

Weight: Have had a very good 3 weeks and still going strong. Has not been easy, but I think I am down a little more. Hard to tell, with fluctuation due to water retention etc. I was officially down 0.6 lb at WW on Monday and that seems about right. Losses are slow at this point, but that is fine. Just want to get down about another 2-3 lb before 10/4 if possible; that might not happen, but at least I'm lower than I was at the end of last summer now :) and at a pretty good racing weight. Still---every lb is possibly a minute off of my time in the marathon, so it matters.

TNT workout - Bountiful Blvd

 Bountiful Blvd is a bad weather omen or something ;). Last time the team was there, in June (when I was rafting), it rained on them. Last time I was there (in February?) with the Spring team, it rained and snowed on us and was cold & nasty.

You would think the middle of the summer would be safe. Not so. We had a cold storm blow in, and guess what? It was 54F (12C), and within a few miles it was raining. Then it was pouring. It rained hard for about 2-3 miles, and then let up, thankfully. Ugh! I wore shorts and a T-shirt as I normally do when it's above 50, but brought my rain jacket in case. I wish I'd worn gloves and capris, too. My legs got cold from the rain and my hands were very cold. But the company was enjoyable, so no biggie - I survived.

I went out with the faster runners who are doing the Top of Utah marathon, and that was good, but even they were slowish on the hills in Bountiful today (they did 10 miles total). I had no trouble racewalking with them at all, and was thinking faster might be nice ;). After 4 miles I went with some of our runners and run/walkers, who were doing 8 today. After some back and forth with the runners, run/walkers, and walkers, I ended up with 9.65 miles at a pretty slow 12:42/mile average. However, my HR was only 121. Probably good for me to have some really good slow miles once in a while! And I'm glad today's workout wasn't too long, since I am going to do 18 on Monday morning.

TNT workout

This morning the Nike team had 12 miles, and Top of Utah had 16; however, only one TOU person came, and he had to leave early to get to work.

I got to go pretty fast this week! I started off running the first ~3 miles (5k) or so, and then switched to RW. It was a long uphill for the first part of the route, as we started at Highland High (next to Sugar House Park) and went up to the zoo, around the back of it to Wasatch Dr., down to 1300S, and back to the start. It's quite a hilly route, but at least it's mostly downhill on the way back when you're tired.

For the first 11.15 miles (18km; I did 14 miles (22.5km) total) I was with runners for the most part, and averaged 11:16/mile, which was a nice pace for me (though I started off fast with an 8-8:30 running pace with one of the guys, and then it was slower toward the end with the run/walkers). Then I walked the walkers in to the finish, which took 45 min or so. They were doing 16-17 min miles, which is the usual for this group. Good thing that the Nike Women's Marathon has a nice long time limit to accommodate walkers.

I could tell from my heart rate that the blood donation is still affecting me. That's OK, though. I expect that to take a few more weeks to get better. If I hadn't have been looking at my pace, I would have thought I was just fine. My right piriformis is still bugging me a little, but other than that I felt great.

Tomorrow I'm going to take it really easy, and then do 14 on Monday morning (at MY pace!) with Sue.

***

Oh, and yesterday I took it very easy. I drove to my weight training class, warmed up on the bike for 10 min, and did the hip machine (abductors and hip flexors), cable pulls for glutes, bench press (I have worked up to 95 lb for 3 sets of 8 now!), and a couple other exercises which are escaping my brain at the moment. Then I did an amazingly hard set for abs, which my instructor and I devised recently. My abs are in good shape, and this made me quite sore! I love that feeling, though. I stretched and left class a little early to get to work; I had put in 40 minutes total.

TNT workout

We met at the Porter Rockwell trail today; Nike team had 6 miles and the TOU team had 10 or 14 miles (some got off schedule a bit and are catching up). It was 73 and humid; I felt really hot and uncomfortable for most of the workout because of the humidity. Yeah, I'm a humidity wimp after living in Utah for 10 years now.

I was tired this morning. Started off with one of our faster runners, who was doing 9-min miles. Normally that's a pretty easy run pace for me, but not today. The heart rate was pretty high and though I did stay w/her for a mile I was pushing it :(. My hamstrings are a bit sore from the race, and the piriformis is acting up a bit, but other than that I'm feeling good - just tired.

The good news is that I did end up running (not RW) for about 5.5-6 miles and had no IT band problems. Yay! This is the farthest I have run since last November when I first hurt my IT band (not that I'm trying to run a lot, but it's nice to be able to when I need to for TNT). I racewalked a fair amount, too, some with runners, and some with run/walkers (who were mostly running, albeit slowly). Total of about 12 miles at about 11:15/mile on average. Pretty fast for a TNT workout, probably because my walkers weren't there.

Photos here.

Catching up again

Photo: TNT workout Saturday. I'm in the foreground, and behind me are Kandice, Randy, and Sue.

Yeah, got busy this weekend & didn't blog. But I'm back :) for those of you loyal readers who still get some entertainment value from this blog.

Saturday we had our TNT workout, and I did about 11 miles (accidentally had my Garmin off for a bit so this is an estimate) in about 2 hr 15 min; this includes regular walking at least 4 miles with the back-of-the-pack people. They are actually getting a lot faster though - our walkers were almost as fast as the slower runners (who were alternating 8 min running w/2 min walking).

TNT workouts are interesting with this team. We have one VERY fast runner (he is shooting for a 3:15 marathon to qualify for the Boston marathon) who was doing 8-min miles to start and finished up with 7-min miles. We have a couple runners who will probably be able to do a 9-min pace for their marathons, and a few who can do 10-10:30. The rest are run/walkers who average probably 13-min miles, and our walkers, who are at about 15:30 right now (improved from 17!). So it's quite a spread and I get to do a lot of different speeds for my Saturday morning workout, which is why I need to do my long day a different day. Yes, I get exercise, but it is not MY workout at all really. But I have a good time and enjoy seeing people improve.

This past Saturday I did 1.2 miles with our fast runner at about an 8-min pace (I was running, not RW, obviously!), then a couple miles with the 10-10:30 runners (the 9-min runners were not there), and then the rest of the time with the run/walkers and the walkers.

***

Sunday I took a rest day. My right piriformis was bugging me because after I did the 11 miles I had to drive 45 min to get home, and it really HATES sitting that long after a workout. It felt nice to have a morning off, oddly enough, and I felt OK despite not working out. Some days when I don't work out I feel crummy all day; sluggish, tired, etc. But yesterday was fine.

***

Today I was flying fast :). The rest day must have helped. Sue (asst coach for our team, and a friend from last year's team) met me at the Porter Rockwell trail in Draper for an 8-miler. We started fast, but what the heck, it was only 8 miles and I was feeling great, so I told her we could go fast (Sue is a runner, and a good one at that, so she usually goes a bit slower for me). We did 8.04 miles in 1:22:21 for an average of 10:14/mile! My average HR was only 141, though --- that is amazingly low for that speed. If the Portland Marathon had been today, I'm sure I would have done very well. I wish I could figure out why some days are just so much better (and some worse, like Nike last year) and then bottle the good days and save them for races :). Hahaha. Maybe today it was the distraction of having someone along; don't know but it sure does help to talk with someone. Too bad Sue is doing the 10-miler in Minneapolis that weekend, or I'd try to talk her into doing the race with me. I have a couple friends doing the race, but we are not the same speed.

TNT workout; RW form

TNT workout this morning. Did 10.7 miles (they were doing 8 or 7); about 1.5 running, maybe 6 walking fast, and the rest walking moderately or slowly. Had a great time taking photos of the team and analyzing walking form for some of them. I plan to get pics of more of them next week along with some of the runners. Everyone did very well today and finished just fine.

 At the end of the workout, I had Danielle get some shots of me so that I could see where my form is at. It's looking improved from last summer; arms are better (though still chicken winging a little) and for the first time EVER I have some shots w/both feet briefly off the ground. This is legal as long as the human eye can't see it, and just the teensiest bit of lifting like I'm doing is probably a little more efficient gait. I'm still overstriding just a little with my L leg, and will have to keep working on it.

More pictures of the team members and of me here.

AWESOME photos

This will stretch the budget, but I LOVE these photos. They remind me why I coach. I just love the finish line thing with TNT participants. My fave this time was sprinting with Gwen - the photos get us laughing and are just perfect. Have got to buy these, somehow...

Fun weekend

Friday: After an easy 3.6ish miles around Sugar House Park in 39:xx, I took the kids to Liberty Park Friday for some serious play time (2 hr!!!) with my friend Ye and her son Adam. The sprinklers were on and Calvin ran around in them, getting pretty wet (fortunately, it was warm and sunny and he dried quickly).

My brother Alex and his wife Erica arrived later that afternoon, and I made paella to feed us all, and peach cobbler for dessert. The kids were SO wound up that night because of the excitement of having guests over.

Saturday: Early morning (6 am to beat the heat) TNT workout from the State Capitol, featuring 10 miles through City Creek Canyon (hard uphill for 2 miles!) and the Avenues. It was a gorgeous morning, though it did get quite warm by the time my walkers finished at 9:15 am. I'm glad we changed the workout time to 6 am, even though it did mean an early morning for everyone. I ended up doing 14.12 miles in 2:49 for 11:58/mile on average, including the time I spent with the walkers. Not too bad.

I'm still trying to figure out how best to get in my own long miles, but I think Mondays are working pretty well for me so far. It's just not quite the same to coach a TNT workout as to do long miles at my own pace; with TNT sometimes I run a little (I ran probably 1 mile on Saturday), sometimes I racewalk fast, and sometimes I racewalk slow, and sometimes I just plain walk. Yes, it's mileage, but not the same as doing it alone.

TNT workout photos here

As soon as I got home, I ate some Kashi Go Lean Crunch with vanilla soy milk & berries (one of my favorite breakfasts post-workout) and then packed a lunch for a gorgeous hike to Lake Catherine w/my brother and his wife [photo at L is us at Lake Mary, on the way to Lake Catherine]. We averaged 25 min/mile over the 5 miles, but keep in mind the elevation (8750 to start) and elevation gain (1200 feet - to 9950 ft). We were also NOT in a hurry and enjoyed a moderate pace, not pushing too hard. It was a gorgeous day for a hike.

hike photos here

More later when I have time - of course we did see fireworks and I have photos but I want to hang out w/Alex & Erica right now :)

Seattle RNR in detail: Saturday & Sunday

(at L, me at the start) Race day dawned very early - 3:15 am, as I mentioned in my last post. Diane and I toasted a couple bagels for ourselves, grabbed some bananas and our gear, and were out the door at 3:40 am. We arrived at the hotel and met the others in the lobby around 4:15 am, and got on the bus to Tukwila, where the race was to start. I think we arrived in Tukwila about 5 or 5:15 am. That gave us LOTS of time before the race. It was quite cold and I was glad for the warm clothes I'd bought at Fred Meyer (I got a Nike dri-fit pants & hooded sweatshirt for only $27 at 60% off because they were out of season!). We walked around and checked out the start; they had ample food (bananas and bagels! Guess we could have saved the trouble!) and cytomax and water. There were a TON of porta-potties (but probably not quite enough...) and lots of grass to sit on. We put our gear bags down because the grass was damp, and kicked back for a while. The time passed more quickly than I expected, and pretty soon we checked our gear bags and I got in line for the porta-potties. I thought it would be about a 15-min line, but it was more like 25 min and I really had to hustle to make it up to corral 13 where my first participant, Jason, was waiting for me. I figured I'd start with him because he was the fastest, and then work my way back.

John Bingham was the race announcer at the start, and he was still in fine form, telling us all kinds of jokes and getting the race going in style. It took Jason and I 19 minutes to cross the start line (and my last participant, in the last corral, waited almost an hour)! Thank goodness for chip timing. All the same, the race and the start were VERY well-organized and I'd do another Rock N Roll marathon in a heartbeat. They REALLY know what they are doing.

So, off we went, and Jason told me he wanted me to pace him for 10:30 miles; he was wanting to start off easy and speed up later. I must be pretty awesome at this (hahhaha) because the first mile was 10:31, and the next 2 miles (slight uphill) were in 21:21. By mile 6, despite a bunch of uphills, we were averaging about a 10:34 by my Garmin. I stayed with Jason until mile 9, when the course splits for marathoners & half marathoners. I wanted to make sure I could touch base with all the participants if possible, so I wished him good luck and told him I'd see him a bit later.

(at L, Lake Washington) A bit about the scenery - the first 4 miles were pretty unremarkable; industrial/commercial mostly, but not too ugly. Then mile 4-5 was in a neat neighborhood above Lake Washington; shaded, with pretty homes. Miles 5-9 were SO beautiful, along the shores of Lake Washington. Then the split; the marathoners went on the I-90 floating bridge in the middle of the lake - way cool, but I didn't do that part. They rejoined the half marathoners to go through the I-90 tunnel, where there was a BAND of all things (well, OK, I know this is a RNR marathon, but still - in the TUNNEL? The sound quality was HORRIBLE and it was waaaaaaay too loud!). Still, the tunnel was pretty cool to run/racewalk in. After the tunnel we ran in the express lanes between the regular traffic lanes. I thought it was really neat to racewalk on the freeway, especially since it was only for a short distance (1.5 miles?) and had pretty nice views. Then we came down into the city for the end of the 1/2 marathon along the Alaskan Way viaduct - gorgeous views. Full marathoners went north on the viaduct whereas 1/2 marathoners went south to the finish.

Back to the race, at mile 9, after leaving Jason. I walked back toward mile 8 to try and find Gwen, the next participant --- no easy feat, swimming against the tide :) but I stayed on the sidewalks a lot. I had to watch SO carefully to find her - there were a LOT of purple TNT shirts out there. I saw her after only about 0.3 or 0.4 miles and walked w/her; I told her Jason was just ahead and that he had said he'd slow down a bit so they could run together (he never did, and finished about 5 min ahead of her!). I was only with her a few minutes but she looked great; then I had to turn around so as not to miss my half-marathoner, Laurie, who was next. I walked back a little, and heard someone yell "TAMMY!" and saw my racewalking friend, Mary Snyder, from Boise, who is doing Portland to Coast with me in August. She is a FAST walker and I have seen her at several races now (once she beat me at 5K, and the next year I won at 5K and 10K; however, she is 57 or so, so she is waaaaay faster than me!). I had fun walking with her for a few tenths and the needed to get back to work :).

I wanted to find Laurie now; I walked back about 0.5 mile and didn't see her, so I called her, worried I'd missed her. But about 10 seconds after she answered the phone, I saw her! She was amazed at my timing. It was mostly luck, but some of it was knowing her pace and where to expect her. I had decided to walk her in to the finish, because Gwen and Jason wouldn't need me until the end, and my friend Diane would be several miles back (racewalking and run/walking more slowly than usual due to severe piriformis trouble), and Jeannie, my last participant, would be doing 18 min miles and would be way farther back.

(at L, view coming into downtown) Laurie had a sore foot (on top, kinda odd), but was doing pretty well anyway, and put on a game face to run to the finish for her niece, who has a very severe case of lymphoma. She said that any pain she had was much less than her niece ever experienced with cancer. I admired both of their strength, and took her all the way in to the finish of the half marathon. I thoroughly enjoyed the scenery and shot a whole bunch of pictures.

I knew Diane would be next, but knew with her sore hip I had a bit of time. I called her to see where she was (she was around mile 10.5 or 11) and walked back, stopping at an aid station to eat a gel and take some water and luxuriating in about 30-60 seconds of standing still to do it :). I found Diane about mile 11.8 or so, and walked her in to the finish. She was quite sore, and a bit miffed about her time (slow for her; 3:01 rather than her usual 2:48 or so for the 1/2), but happy to finish, since she had been in a LOT of pain the previous weekend and had not walked since.

Then I had a decision to make - I had called my next 1/2 marathoner to see where she was, but she didn't hear her phone, and so I had no idea where she could be. She was very well-trained and I knew she'd finish well (she'd done two 14-milers), and Diane (TNT coach for 10 years!) advised me that the full marathoners would need me more; the courses were different enough at the end that once I went after the full marathoners I'd have trouble getting back to walk Jeannie, my 1/2 marathoner, in. So I chose to go up the viaduct (backwards on the course) and find Jason & Gwen. Good decision. Diane was right - they did need me.

(at L, Jason hates mile 23) I found Jason about mile 20, and he was quite tired and just wanting to be done (I know that feeling!). He was strong in the face of adversity, though, and just kept on going. He had slowed quite a bit from our initial 10:30 pace, and was doing maybe 11:30 miles at this point, poor guy. I felt a bit bad for pacing him that fast to start, except that he did the SLC 1/2 marathon in 2:02 so I figured he had a 4:15-4:30 marathon in him, and he had wanted to get a 4:30. But at this point, he didn't care about his time any more and really just wanted to finish; it was his first marathon so he was going to PR anyway. I stayed with him until mile 23 or so, where there was another out-and-back (very convenient race for coaching full marathoners, not so good for coaching both 1/2 and full).

(at L, Gwen and I at mile 25, just after the hill) I went back for Gwen, who Jason had reported was about 0.5 mile behind him (he'd seen her at several turn-arounds). Sure enough, I spotted her pretty quickly and she was really glad to see me; her knee has been bugging her and it was hurting quite a bit now. I stayed with her for about 1-1.5 miles until I saw Jason coming back on the out-and-back, and went with him up the hill (why a hill THERE?!?! awful!) at mile 25. It was a short hill, but pretty steep and felt like a mountain. He looked good to go at the top, so I wished him good luck and went back for Gwen. She was hurting, and walking a lot. I walked slowly with her for a while, and then we went up the hill too (yeah, I got to do that beauty TWICE!). The last 3 miles of this race were just brutal --- out and back in an industrial port/container yard, kind of hot by this point (70, sunny, but at least there was a nice ocean breeze), ugly scenery, and that HILL. Icky. Yeah, the weather was pretty great, but about 10 degrees warmer than would have been ideal; still, I'll take it - with the breeze, and with dumping water over my head at the last few aid stations, I felt good. Gwen, on the other hand, was very hot and miserable, and her knee was hurting. Still, she gamely ran/walked on, and as we grew closer to the finish, her eyes lit up and she wanted to go faster. Pretty soon she was really pushing the pace. With only 0.2 to go, she really sped up and I stayed w/her, panting a bit. She egged me on, and we basically RACED to the finish - yes, raced. It was crazy and funny and actually very entertaining! We really sprinted at the end, and the announcer teased us, saying "Coach, why are you racing her to the finish? You're not supposed to do that!". Seriously, it was SO fun! I didn't think I had a sprint in me, but I got my HR up to 167, and we were flying and laughing our way across the finish. If there's a good photo of us, I am SO buying it!

(at L, FINISHERS!) I got Gwen to the medical tent for some ice for her knee, and stayed with her while I stretched. Then we grabbed some food, went to the TNT tent, and I found Jeannie. She had finished well and was very pleased and had had a great time. I apologized for not being able to walk with her, but she was OK with it and had so much fun she didn't care. Phew. I made the right decision, for sure, because Gwen and Jason had really needed me more.

I had to hurry to get my gear bag and get back to the hotel, because Diane needed a ride to the airport. She had showered in Jeannie and Laurie's room, and had met her daughter for lunch while I finished w/Gwen & Jason. I took her to the airport, and then sat in awful traffic for an hour getting back to my aunt & uncle's home. My right piriformis, which had been stiff during the race but not painful really, started to hurt quite a bit from sitting in the car (my high school friend Glen called it "driver's ass" at lunch, and he was totally right about that - it hurts so much when driving!), plus I was very, er, well-hydrated, and uncomfortable. I did find a gas station with a restroom eventually (whew!) and made it back "home" for a shower.

I was tired but wanted to see my grandpa, so I went over there and showed him race pictures and pics of the kids for about an hour. Then I drove downtown to attend the victory party with Jeannie and Gwen. Lots of good food, but the buffet line was WAY too long - not enough lines. I was SO hungry by the time I got my food, and it was quite unpleasant. The venue was nice - it had bowling alleys and pool tables (not that you really want to bowl after 26.2, though!), but I was too tired to do much besides eat. I got back to the hotel, picked up some souvenirs for the kids, drove back to my aunt & uncle's home, and hit the sack.

Awoke too early the next morning, so I decided 3.5 miles or so was in order to loosen things up. I did 3.5 hilly miles in about 38 min for an 11-min pace, and it felt pretty darn good. Hamstrings are a bit sore, as is my right shin, right piriformis (same ol' same ol' there), and my right deltoid. My lower back is a bit sore too, but overall, I feel good. Seriously, I've been a LOT more sore after a tough weight training workout. Tomorrow may be worse, but I've got 8 miles planned with a friend, so I'll be out there stretching things out :).

After my walk I had breakfast w/my grandpa, packed up, and headed to the airport. Jeannie almost missed our flight, but got there just in time. Other than that, the trip home was happily uneventful, and I got in a great nap :) (and now am having trouble feeling sleepy... oh well). Speaking of sleep, I'd better get some, but first a few stats.

Marathon:
Total miles: best guess is 27.8 miles (Garmin kicked out during one tunnel, but still gave me the miles; the other tunnel it didn't register the mileage, and the course map said 0.4 miles. I went through it both ways for 0.8, and my Garmin said 26.98, so that makes 27.8 total).
Total time: including ALL stops (I never stopped the watch), it was 5:24. Gwen finished in 5:16, and she started 8 min behind Jason, which makes 5:24. The total time also includes the slower walking I did with Diane and with Gwen at the end.
Average time per mile: 11:40. WOW. That is really good, considering that I felt pretty decent at the end (much better than at Nike last October), and considering that I could have gone faster for a good part of that time. Makes me hopeful for a great race in Portland this fall.

MORE PHOTOS HERE

Seattle RNR very briefly

Just finished coaching the Seattle Rock N Roll Marathon & Half Marathon; all of my team finished well and are OK. I did about 27-28 miles on a beautiful course (tunnels obscured Garmin readings so not sure exactly). It was a VERY well-run race and organized and lots of fun. More details and pictures to follow when I get a chance.