Excuse Me

I went out at 9:20 this morning to do my 8 mile run.  It was hot and humid, above 80.  I was supposed to run 10 X 100 strides.  This means I sprint for 100 meters 10 times.  Running on the streets, I kind of guessed what 100 meters was.  I tried to visualize the distance of one quarter of one lap around the track.  Instead of 10 strides, I did 8.  And here are my Top Ten Excuses why I only did 8 (There are always excuses, don'tcha know?  Their legitimacy is another story):

                 1.  It was too damn humid.
                 2.  I should just stop there.  But I won't...
                 3.  I went out to dinner last night with the Ballet Moms, most of whom I hadn't seen in years, and came home late for a Monday school night (Our daughters, not the mothers, took ballet classes together once upon a time).
                 4.  I was keyed up from my night out and could not sleep
                 5.  I laid in bed thinking of things I should be worrying about.
                 6.  Whether my oldest daughter was properly packed for summer camp seemed like a good nail biter.
                 7.  I fell asleep after 2am and then woke up at 6am to RE-pack my oldest daughters bags.
                 8.  I was sooo tired.
                 9.  Potty emergency!

                10. Lucky for me, my friend who lives at the halfway point of this run was home and let me use her facilities (after I practically beat down her door).

                Bonus excuse: The remainder of the run was done at a super cautious pace, lest my potty emergency rears its ugly head again (No pun intended).

Oh no!  

(You're not seeing things.  I really did post another picture of myself in bed.  In my baby koala nightgown.  Again.   That's how much I love you guys.  I know you're just blown away by my acting skills, on top of my pluckiness.  You're welcome.)

       

Bird Lady

Well, my 12 miler at the Massapequa Preserve was uneventful, except when the BIRD tried to land on my HEAD!!!  I arrived at the park around 7:45am.  The skies were overcast and the temperature was about 70.  Things were looking good...or so I thought.  Most of the bike path has painted mile markers which was nice because I forgot my watch at home (I run at a pretty consistent pace, so I can guesstimate my distance when I'm wearing my watch).  The baseball and soccer fields are exactly at Mile 2.  Oh, and so is the lunatic bird who tried to LAND ON MY HEAD.  So I was just minding my own business.  I was listening to my music and kind of heard some cawing (hmmm...?), but it almost sounded like it was part of the song.  I really didn't think much of it until I felt CLAWS pulling at my ponytail on top of my HEAD!  It happened very quickly.  By the time I realized what was going on, the bird was gone.  There were some bikers coming toward me, but they apparently missed the show.  I tried to hide my look of horror and pretended like nothing happened (as if they cared).  As you might recall, this is now my second close encounter with a bird.  The first was a few years ago at a beach in Florida when a seagull stole a tuna fish sandwich out of my hands.  I continued with my run north, the entire time wondering if this bird will be waiting for me on my way back.  He wasn't.

Bird attack aside, this was a tough run.  Again, I didn't really carb up yesterday.  In fact, the only carb I had was one slice of toasted protein bread in the morning.  That apparently wasn't enough.  I felt pretty weak and tired from Mile 5 until the end.  I'd like to blame it on the PTSD  I suffered as a result of being mistaken for a nest, but I'm pretty sure I was just not well nourished.  In the end, I finished my run in an 1:44 at an 8:40 pace.

Spicy Salmon

I did an easy 4 miler this morning in gorgeous 70ish degree weather after two consecutive days off.  Clear skies, clear mind.  Perfect.

I'm doing a 12 miler tomorrow morning.  I'm going to go back to the Massapequa Preserve because I just love it so much!  To prepare, I had a yummy tilapia crepe with a blue cheese spinach salad for lunch and my "signature" cajun salmon for dinner.  When we were down in Charleston, South Carolina in April, I had an amazing cajun rub tilapia dinner at the Noisy Oyster.  I wasn't quite sure what the rub was made of, so I improvised when I got home.  I just sprinkled a generous amount of Adobo, chili powder, and cayenne pepper on top of some salmon and baked it at 350 for 30 minutes.  It was so easy and amazing.  I've been eating it every week since.  I like hot and SPICY, so if you don't, this may not be for you.

I found this picture on the Skinny Skillet.  It is a different recipe from mine, but I inhaled my salmon before I decided I wanted to post a picture of it.  

Brooks Visor, Baby

No run today, BUT....I got my new Brooks running visor in the mail from Running Warehouse today!  I think it will be perfect for my half marathon.  $13.95 and free shipping!  You can't beat that with a stick.

Fingers Crossed!

I set out to do 9 miles this morning.  The weather was perfect, mid 70s with a slight breeze.  I was a little stiff starting out from my tempo run yesterday.      I took a new route to the south side of town into Oceanside.  It was a relief to have a change of scenery and it broke up the run nicely.  Because I took an unplanned mini-detour, I wound up doing 9.4 miles total.  I felt good and even had a second wind in the last couple of miles.  I switched days from tomorrow because there's rain in the forecast (Shocking, I know.  It's not like we haven't had pouring rain all spring.).  I won't have a run until my 4 miler on Saturday, which is fine.  I've already clocked 31 miles for the week and it's only Wednesday.

I don't even want to jinx myself, but I feel like I should mention it.  My right knee has been feeling a little funny lately.  I'm not limping, but it feels like I may start any day now.  I think it's inflamed.  I'm going to ice it tonight.  (Sigh)

Oh, I'm going to try to make a real effort to incorporate more pictures in this blog.  I realize that the blogs I'm reading and finding most interesting are the ones with lots of pictures, particularly ones of the bloggers themselves.  So, since I didn't take any running pictures today (because I only came up with the vow to photograph more just now), I will share a picture of myself right now blogging!  Yes, I know.  You can't contain yourself.

Me making the magic.  (There are so many interesting aspects to this picture,  from my koala baby nightgown to the small feet sticking out from beneath the Star Wars pillow to the fact that I actually posted this on my blog.)

If you have any advice on how to nip the knee issue in the bud, please feel free to advise!  Or if you have any picture requests, please request!  I, obviously, don't have a lot of great ideas.

Pfitzinger's Pfunny

I aced Day 1 of my Pfitzinger Advanced Marathon Training Plan.  Day 1 consisted of Rest and Relaxation, translation: No Run.  I didn't even run when the baby fell down the steps in the backyard (Oh c'mon, it was only two steps!  She was fine.  Didn't even cry!).

Today was Day 2.  Lactate Threshold, 8 miles with 4 miles at half marathon (HM) race pace.  Okay.  I was browsing through the Runner's World Marathon message boards before I went out.  Someone on the same plan and schedule as me posted about his run.  He found it difficult to do the 4 miles consecutively at HM pace, his HM pace being around 9 minutes.  He broke it up into 4 intervals.  As I read this, I thought to myself, "Really?  How hard could it be running 4 miles at HM pace when you run13.1 miles at HM pace??  Seriously."  I expected most of the responses from the veteran, snark marathoners to be mostly critical and negative.  Instead, they all agreed that Pfitzinger's plan consisted of too many "fast" runs.  What?  I found this completely irritating.  All of these runners have held the Pfitzinger plan up as the ultimate marathon racing program for the ultimate marathon racers.  Now they're saying it's flawed?!  I decided that they were lying to this poster for no particular reason other than I was annoyed that my new plan wasn't perfect.

I headed out on my run.  The first two miles I jogged (Jog?) and then I picked it up to my HM pace (low 8s).  Did I mention that I started this run at 12:30pm in 85 degree humid weather?  Full sun.  So at around the 5 mile mark, I decided that all those veteran runners on the message boards were correct when they agreed with the original poster.  4 miles at HM pace on Day 2 of Pfitzinger is unnecessary and by golly, uncalled for!  Breaking it up is totally acceptable!  I jogged again and then ran two half miles broken up at HM pace.  Pfuck it.

It's supposed to rain on Thursday so I may do my 9 miler tomorrow.

Higdon's Last Stand

I got to the Massapequa Preserve this morning at 7:30, pumped for my two hour run. I was just happy that I was up early enough to squeeze it in.  I started at Sunrise Highway this time so I didn't have to cross the busy thoroughfare like last week when I started at Merrick Road.  I headed north. The weather was warm, but because the path is mostly shaded, the heat wasn't a problem.   There were more people out than I expected at that hour.  I never felt alone.  The Massapequa Preserve ends along the Bethpage State Parkway and turns into Bethpage State Park, home of the world famous golf course where the U.S. Open was played twice.  It gets hilly here too.  They aren't very steep hills, more rolling.  There were a lot more cyclists up on this part of the course.  The path got crowded at a couple of turns.  I kept my fingers crossed that I wouldn't get clipped or run over.  Close to the one hour mark, I was in the parking lot by the baseball fields.  I ran through the woods before turning around to make it an even one hour.  This was tricky because the ground was uneven.  Maybe trail running is not for me.  The run back went by pretty quickly.  I noticed I was going to arrive at my car a few minutes shy of two hours.  Toward the end, I veered off onto a dirt path which got me to my car at 1:59:45.  Total mileage was 13.91, an 8:36 pace.  Goodbye Higdon Half Marathon Plan.  You've been good to me in the past, but it's time to shake things up a little.

I noticed during my last couple of longish runs that right around 8 miles, my bones started to feel achy.  I'm not sure if this is due to poor diet, inflammation, or the inevitable age-related creakiness.  I have a feeling that I'm not going to have a lot more marathons up my sleeve in the future.  The number 3 sounds good.  I will continue to run as long as my legs allow, but this long distance business?  As the sage Detective Murtaugh said once or twice or four times, "I'm too old for this shit!"

My oldest daughter had her last track meet this afternoon.  I wanted her to run the 800, but she's as lazy as her mother.  Instead, she ran 5 relay races.  Unlike her mother, she's damn fast.  She was always able to pull ahead once the baton was passed to her and as the anchor, she easily finished first.  She's a natural athlete.  I keep wondering how far she would go if she actually put some effort into it.  Yes, I'm a proud mama.

The Stratton Faxon Fairfield Half Marathon is two weeks away!

Postscript:  Noomi Rapace is a great actress (with a rockin' body, might I add).  I thought The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was good and suspenseful (although, the American version is much easier to watch with Daniel Craig in the lead).  The Girl Who Played With Fire was good until the hokey twist at the end (I won't give it away).  The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest had potential, but I felt like there was a lot of build up that went flat fast.  The acting all around was solid.  There were a lot of different characters.  It was hard to keep track of them with their similar sounding foreign names while reading the subtitles.   I am not a xenophobe, by any means.  I usually love foreign films.  My brain might be getting too old to process them correctly.  Murtaugh.

Be Cool, Subscribe!

I didn't realize how long of a "hiatus" I took since my last post until my freighbor (that would be "friend" and "neighbor" melted together) mentioned it to me.  I highly recommend subscribing to my blog so you don't have to manually and daily check in on me.  Just point your little arrow to the right hand side of the screen and you will see a "Subscribe!" option appear.  Type in your email address and voilå (Pardon the "å".  I was looking for the accent a grave, but this Scandinavian looking circle took it's place.  I'm not sure what it is, but there you have it.)    You will now receive automatic email updates!

Yesterday we had some serious rain all freakin' day.  I guess I could have gone out to do my scheduled 55 minute tempo, but I really think I would have looked like a Crazy Person instead of the Dedicated Runner.  Today I did a 7 mile run at my projected half marathon pace.  It took me 56:22, an 8:03 pace.  Tomorrow I'm due for a two hour run.  If I get up early enough, I will either go up to the north shore (Manhasset/Port Washington) or try the Massapequa/Bethpage trail.  If I don't get up early, I will do a boring, flat run around the neighborhood (Shoot me).

Tune in tomorrow for my two hour run recap (or a review of the Swedish version of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" film trilogy that I TiVo'd last night).  

Happy National Running Day!

In honor of National Running Day I ate homemade macaroni salad and chocolate cake!  Mmm...starchy carbs!  I also ran 5 miles in the morning, like yesterday and like I will do again tomorrow.  Today was a 4 X 1600 day again.  One mile run at half marathon pace 4 times with a 2:30 jog in between each.  My Higdon half marathon plan ends on Sunday.  I start the Pfitzinger Advanced Marathon training program on Monday, which happens to be a rest day. There are actually more rest days on the Pfitz schedule than Higdon.  The daily miles are longer, but there are many weeks with two days off and a couple with possibly three!  Whoo hoo!  I'm soooo tired of my boring routes.  I'm looking forward to switching it up.

I can't wait for National Lie In Bed Watching Uninterrupted Lifetime Movies All Day Day!  Unfortunately, I think it falls on the same day as Never Gonna Happen or My 65th Birthday (sigh).

Massapequa/Bethpage Trail

Yesterday afternoon I took the two little ones out in the double jogger stroller for a five mile run in 82 degrees.  They both fell asleep after the first mile (Score!).  It's nice to be out running with them once in a while, but the strollers are cumbersome, especially ones that are garbage picked by Hoarder Husband.  Both the double and single joggers that we have veer to the right, so it can be annoying when I'm already hugging the curbs.  I usually take the least trafficked roads when I have the kids, so it's not that big of an issue, but not one that I would enjoy dealing with daily.

Today was my 1:45 run.  I decided to finally explore the Massapequa/Bethpage bike trail.  The Emerging Runner, a fellow local blogger, posts regularly about this park.  It seemed like the perfect venue for a long run.  I parked right off of Merrick Road at the foot of the Massapequa Preserve.  I got on the paved bike path and headed north for six miles.  I t was a little after 2pm and most of the path was shaded.  There were a lot of people out, either walking or on their bikes.  Only a handful of runners.  

I had to cross five roads (both ways), the busiest being Sunrise Highway at Mile 1.  The last three were exit ramps from Bethpage State Parkway, but I didn't even have to stop since it's a pretty quiet roadway.  Thankfully, these roads barely interrupted the run.  The path isn't as hilly as I expected.  I think if I ran farther north, I would have hit the hillier terrain.   The highlights of the outing were the goose and swan families waddling and swimming around.  I can't get enough of those fuzzy babies.  Overall, it is a scenic, peaceful route that I'm looking forward to running again very soon.

Swan family in the distance.