Traitor

I had big intentions for this weekend.  Since yesterday was supposed to be over 60 degrees in the mountains, I decided it would be worth my time and effort to get my boat put together and head up to the river for a day on the water.  That meant there would be no running on Saturday, so I'd have to get my long run in on Sunday.  I got my first day on the river and it was a perfect day!  My parents were nice enough to make us dinner upon our return to Boise and we still managed to be in bed by 10pm (11pm with the time change).  I set my alarm for 7:10 am...I had devised a semi-perfect plan for Sunday:

7:19 (after one snooze) - rise, eat steel cut oats, drink coffee, drink water, shower, etc.
9:00 - church
10:15 - Husband to take me to meet some friends on to run up Shaw Mountain Road
11:00 to 1:00 - Run my little heart out on some hills and then head home
1:30 until whenever - hang out, nap, eat something, and pride myself in getting in 10 miles on hills.

This is what actually happened:

7:10 - alarm went off and thought I hit snooze
8:04 - woke up and realized I turned the alarm OFF instead of snooze
8:04:30 - woke up the kid
8:05 - showered and ran around like a mad woman
8:35 - asked kid to make me a cup of coffee while I ran around gathering running gear
8:39 - realized I could not find my hydration pack or Clif Shot Bloks for 10 mile run
8:40 to 8:44 - ran around trying to find above items
8:45 - left the house for church
8:46 - realized I left my coffee on the kitchen table
8:46:30 - spilled water all over my dress on the way to church as husband gunned it through a yellow light so we wouldn't be late for church
9 to 10:00 - sat through church wondering if I could keep my eyes open for another minute and if I could manage to run 10 miles today
10:15 - got coffee at Fred Meyer while the kid was at Sunday School
11:10 - picked up the kid, went to Blimpie for lunch (so husband could pick up some pre-packaged mayo and mustard for his upcoming Grand Canyon trip), and came home
12:00 - 3:00 - NAPPED.
3:30 to 4:30 - helped the kid with some tennis stuff
5:15 - went to dinner and drank beer. 

Running was not in the cards today.

So here I am, at 7:40 pm, feeling like a traitor.  I am usually all over my training plans and honestly don't ever remember skipping a long run, but today my body couldn't handle it.  It was obvious that I was beaten down and tired and needed to rest.  I am hopeful that tomorrow will allow me to either get up early to run or that I'll be able to leave work early to do the same.  Either way, I still need to get in about 8 miles tomorrow to be on top of my game for Robie.  On a brighter note, I did go to CrossFit on Wednesday and Friday last week and killed Friday's session.  It was tough and exhausting and I was SO SO SO SO SO sweaty, but it was awesome and I can't wait to get back!

Slacker Blogger (part 1 of 2)

I don't even remember what my run was like last Thursday (8/4/11), but I know I ran because my Garmin tells me so.  I'm quite certain the dog came too.  These past few weeks have been quite the blur in terms of being really busy at work and trying to find out dog a new home and, well, that's really about it.  That being said, I ran 3.73 miles on 8/4 at a 10:30 average pace (39:12). 

And then I rested.  I was busy and lazy and lethargic and not wanting to run, so I just plain didn't.  And then I realized this: if I don't run regularly, getting started back up again is going to suck.  And I like running, I really do.  So this last Friday (as in just a few days ago), knowing that I didn't have to be to work until around 9:00 am, Seymour and I went for another run.  I really wanted to see if Chinden Blvd westbound and Eagle Road southbound had sidewalks, so Seymour and I took off for what I planned to be a four mile run.  Turns out, there ARE sidewalks through that stretch and I have yet another route to run!  Unfortunately, Chinden and Eagle are pretty busy streets so I have to put up with literally thousands of cars driving past me in my running skirts, but I'll take it.  With this stretch having sidewalks, this also means I can attempt an after work run in the heat if I want to, knowing there is a gas station, a few fast food joints, and a Target where I can get water so I don't have to take my hydration pack. 

Friday:
4 miles at 10:21 average pace (41:30)

I wanted to run Saturday, but Friday night turned into a rather amazing evening at home, just Seymour and me.  Josh went up rafting Friday afternoon with a friend from E. Idaho and they camped up near Garden Valley.  My plan was to get some sleep on Friday night and wake up early to run again, then take Seymour to Escape the Crate for daycare and boarding, then meet up with some other folks to go rafting.  Well, Jamie e-mailed me Friday to inform me Ann Brashares has written the final book in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, and I had to have it.  Immediately.  So Friday after work, I went down to my local Barnes and Noble store and bought it.  Friday night consisted of a dinner of brie and freshly baked whole wheat bread from the grocery store, a bottle of wine, and Sisterhood Everlasting. Needless to say, there was no running on Saturday morning.  I did, however, paddle my little buns off and climbed rocks like I had never climbed rocks before on the portage.  I certainly got in a workout, which came nowhere close to cover the amount of beer and food I consumed throughout the day....

1/2 marathon training - 4.22 miles

After my amazing 10 mile run on Saturday, I couldn't bring myself to do much of anything on Sunday.  And then Sunday we celebrated my sister's engagement and Monday I was ridiculously hungover and sat on the couch all day until about 4pm when Brooke got home and I started to feel not only a tad bit better, but also a lot bit lazy for not doing anything all day.  I had planned on running a quick 3 miles to keep up on things, but didn't.  And then I didn't run Tuesday either.  Today's lunch was less than healthy and I had a feeling my post-work run was going to be rough.  Guess what?  It wasn't!  Woot!
Stats:
4.22 miles in 46:06
Avg pace - 10:56 (double woot!!)
HR high - 176
HR avg - 167
Calories burned: 625

Side note: the first time I ran 4 miles during this journey, it took me 49:50.  Triple woot!!!

I didn't run yesterday...

...and I'm probably not going to today.  I did, however, play dodge ball last night (we tied).

I woke up early this morning (6am?) with a terribly queasy stomach.  I'm supposed to be attending a conference today, but can't seem to pull myself out of bed for more than 15 minutes.  I slept until 10:30.  I could probably make it through the conference since it's just a lot of sitting, but I'm afraid I would fall asleep.  So I'm going to take it easy for the rest of the day.  I NEED to run (and feel better) tomorrow though, because we head out for our 7 day Middle Fork of the Salmon trip on Thursday at 5:30 am (eek!).  Maybe I'll get some cookies made this afternoon or some veggies chopped up for our trip....

Playlist

Ahhh, a rest day!  Truly much needed rest after yesterday!

While I'm running (and after) I try to remember the songs that seem to push me or make me smile or make me just want to keep moving my feet when I run, rather than give up on the spot.  I'm trying to make sure my playlist for the Monumental is stellar and has the best of the above motivational factors.  Here are some of the best ones I've come up with so far:

Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise - Avett Brothers
Incomplete and Insecure - Avett Brothers
Airplanes - B.o.B
Closer to You - Brandi Carlile
Mushaboom - Feist
All the Way - Indigo Girls
Maybe - Ingrid Michaelson
Lucky - Jason Mraz & Colbie Callait
Saving my Face - KT Tunstall
Firefly - Maia Sharp
Float On - Modest Mouse
Going Back to Georgia - Nancy Griffith
No Bad News - Patty Griffin
You are the Best Thing - Ray Lamontagne
King of Anything - Sara Bareilles
All for Love - Serena Ryder
Sweeping the Ashes - Serena Ryder
I Was Made for Sunny Days - The Weepies
Jolene - The Weepies
Sea Legs - Brittany Kusserow
The Fear - Lily Allen

I have several other songs on my playlist right now, but they aren't great and will probably be removed.  Any suggestions for additions?

1/2 Marathon Training - Day 7 (ish)

I got a little off schedule after we finished our Main Salmon trip on 8/11/10.  We got back really late and I cut my heel pretty deeply on about day 2 of our river trip, and it was still pretty raw and hard to walk, let alone run.  So I did a 2.0 mile run around 8/12/10 and called it good.  We were rafting again Saturday and I rested (aka made pickles and drank beer with my mom) on Sunday.  Yesterday was exhausting and I couldn't bring myself to do much of anything but take the dog for a walk.  Fast forward to today where my plan was to run 3.0 miles.  Done and done.  I was quite proud of myself.  My heart rate got pretty high and I really didn't run very fast, but I did it and I did it in under the 15min/mile pace standard for the Monumental...

HR high - 183
HR avg - 155
3.1 miles in 38 minutes

Oh, and we're rafting again today after work...

Until next time....

MM

I didn't do anything today...

...other than work, and that's boring....except that I got a promotion a few weeks ago and I really don't know how to do my job very well anymore because they gave me a new caseload.  I'll figure it out soon enough, but man it's hard to learn new stuff!  Anyway, I meant to go to the gym and lift/cross-train today and it just never happened, so I had an unplanned rest day.  I worked late and didn't take a lunch break, which is really frowned upon when you work for the government, but oh well.  Anyway, tonight we went out with Josh's sister for her b-day and I ate crappy food - cheeseburger and tots - and now I feel all sorts of gross and lazy. Boo for greasy food on days when you don't work out!  You know what is awesome though?  I'm going to be on a dodge ball team starting in September!  Bad ass!

There are no pictures associated with today except for that of Seymour, our dog, who we decided looks phenomenal in a bandanna....even if it is a crappy picture.  He refuses to cooperate with the picture taking right now.

Cross-training and much needed rest

I think I mentioned before that I was really bad about cross-training the last time I actually trained for an organized run and I ended up with a lot of knee pain.  This time, I'm determined to get in some mode of exercise on my non-run days.  Since we are avid whitewater enthusiasts, most of our weekends during the summer are spent on the river, and yesterday was no exception.  Josh wanted to run the North Fork of the Payette, a solid class IV & V section of the river, to which I am not privy.  So I made my own schedule and called up our friend, Ben, and convinced him that it would be fun to run the South Fork of the Payette (class III & IV) twice and maybe even run the Main Payette (class II & III) afterward, all while Josh ran the NF with his more experienced buddies.  My first SF run was a little bumpy.  My oars didn't seem to want to stay in place and I got sucker-punched in the neck by one when I entered into Staircase rapid (one of the more difficult rapids on that stretch).  I bounced through the rest of the rapid like a pinball and made it through upright, albeit a little stressed out and with a big ol' red mark on my neck making me look like a domestic violence victim.  My second run was a helluva lot more smooth...perhaps picture-perfect?!  When we got down to the confluence our friends, Roger and Anita, were waiting for us with a boat full of bridesmaids from an earlier bridal shower, so we set off for the Main Payette.  I think I got about 3/4 of the way through and decided I was ready to be off the river.  So I turned my boat backwards and backstroked like I was in a freaking boat race.  My body is mad at me today!  I knew that it would be a long day on the river, but didn't expect to get in as much actual exercise and cardio as I did.  Woot!  I'm so glad I chose today to be a rest day; I need it.