Friday, August 28, 2009

Spooked

still slow - 4.5 miles @ 12mpm pace - maybe I need a couple more recovery days? Had a nervous moment, though. I was just starting my run and went past a guy who asked if I could help him. Me: woman, no jog partner, no dog, no pepper spray, no cell phone. Him: bit bigger than me, open car, open trunk, stranger. Circumstances: dark, 5:45 am, South Salt Lake, no other people around. My gut said: tell him no and keep running. I stayed on very busy (and exhaust filled) streets after that. But, he was probably just a normal, nice guy. I feel bad that I didn't stop, but I know that it was the smart thing to do.

first run, post 'thon

work --> Sugarhouse Park x2 --> work. Slower pace than normal, but my legs were sluggish and heavy. Going up was work, and the first lap was not terribly enjoyable. I was tempted to just do one lap because, after all, I just ran a marathon. But, then I decided that I need to stop being a boob, suck it up, and do the work because, after all, I'm not going to get better if I keep doing the same lame ass runs and using the same pathetic excuses. In the end, I'm glad that I got the miles in even though they were slow.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Mesa Falls Marathon - Post Race

I immediately headed to the recovery table for some very, very cold water. It was wonderful. I then hobbled over to where Little Bro sat in the grass. He was surprised to see me since he had been looking for me at the finish. I explained that I didn’t have the energy to get his attention, so the race ended without any fanfare. I asked where everyone was, and he replied with an irritated “I don’t know.” Turns out that his wife got the keys to his truck from their hiding place and took off with them after the 5k. The phone was in the truck, and he had no cash to make a phone call. So, he had been sitting there at the park for three hours watching people cross the finish line that he had worked so hard to reach. Talk about getting kicked while down! And, there’s just something about getting beaten by your slow, fat, older sister…..

After a few minutes of resting with him, his wife, daughter, and the Brit approached us. Everyone was shocked that we would already be done even though I had clearly spelled out our finish time for them as between 1-1:30pm. A call to Bub telling her to stay at the cabin was in vain because she, the boys and dad were practically at the park anyway. Little Bro and his family couldn’t get out of there fast enough, so they were quickly on their way, him gingerly hobbling down the road to his truck. The boys wanted to play at the park (something that I thought they would have already been doing for a couple of hours), but I just wanted to get back to the cabin and get into that ice bath, so we just left. However, after about two minutes of listening to them cry, we stopped at the elementary school to play. Some things are just more important than an ice bath.

When we finally did make it back to the cabin, I sat in a cool bath (forget the ice – at this point I had come to my senses) and then took a shower. I followed that up with a couple of pain relievers and a couple of beers. But, I was TIRED! I just couldn’t stay awake. So, I quickly napped and then we had some dinner. I still couldn’t wake up, so I had another nap and then just gave in and went to bed early. I figured out the problem a couple of days later, though: PM pain relievers! I rarely take anything more than a vitamin, so ibuprofen is a stretch. Qnd I’m not sure that I’ve EVER taken a PM pill of any sort. Well, I’m here to attest that they work!

I was sore the next day, but nothing that I couldn’t tolerate. Stiff and sore hips, mostly. We went to Yellowstone that morning and drove around part of it. Yellowstone is an amazing place unless you’re two years old. We’ll go back someday when the boys are old enough to sit still and look for certain things. Right now, it’s just too hard. Imagine being strapped into a seat and riding around while essentially looking at the back of your mom’s head. Not thrilling. And the getting in and out and in and out is not fun when fighting over a car seat. So, we saw a couple of buffaloes and some elk and that was about it. It was disappointing not to see more especially when we found out later that everyone else saw a buffalo herd numbering somewhere around 200. Two of the buffalo were fighting and another swam across a river – like almost totally submerged swimming – like only it’s nose and mouth were above water – like I never thought a buffalo could do that. (Does it make me sound younger than 39 if I use “like” incessantly?) It was a great sight – if you were lucky enough to see it. We just drove back to the cabin and napped while the rain came down. Then we colored. Then we jumped on the bed. Then we ate our burgers. It rained all night long, and we loved it because we love those little boys – car seat tantrums and all….

The next day consisted of fishing at Island Park Dam (where Bub got skunked but I saw a cool bird that I haven’t identified yet), the boys perfected the art of casting their lines into the water – quite a feat for a toddler – and we threw many rocks into the water just to watch Lizzy try to catch them before they sank. Then, as Bub moved locations, I popped out the jog stroller and the boys and I walked the mile for a change of scenery. It was quiet and beautiful and I was a bit freaked out by the fact that a moose or bear could walk out at any second and trample/eat us alive. I really have no idea what to do, so I walked fast and talked loudly. Did I need to be overly concerned? Probably not. There were a decent number of cars passing, and it’s right off the highway. However, at the end of the walk, I DID see some moose tracks. Am I sure that it was a moose? Hell yes. I’ve never, ever, ever seen a deer or elk that could make at track that big. Pretty impressive, big, and unnerving.

After being skunked again, it was lunch and nap time, so we headed back to the cabin. The rest of the family went to a bear/wolf rehab place in West Yellowstone, so we had the cabin to ourselves. Bub even took a little nap with the boys while I started this report. Then, she went off to fish in Henry’s Fork Outlet. The boys woke about 30 seconds before the family returned, and we spent the rest of the afternoon playing and relaxing and doing things that toddlers love (like going down the slide, swinging, and throwing balls for the dogs).

When Bub hadn’t returned in a couple of hours, I started to worry. She’s not much of a hiker, and has been known to fall down, trip, slip, and biff it on a regular basis. So, when she finally arrived in soaking wet pants and shoes, I could only imagine the trouble that she had gotten herself into. As it happens, she was fishing (without a bunch of luck) from the shore. Well, all of the other fishermen were IN the water, so clearly, the fishing was better there. The trouble is that she didn’t bring her waders or even boots, and that water was DANG cold. She managed to catch a couple. She threw most of them back (we’ll call those the “big” ones). She couldn’t throw one back because the hook was too far down. She brought it back with her, and we razzed her about it all night long. It was pretty puny. But, none of us had the guts to wade out into frigid water for our supper (as if that little trout could even feed ONE of us)….. We finished off this fun day with ‘smores around the fire pit. The Meatball loved them. Peanut was more concerned with cleaning all of us up than with eating any smooshy marshmallows. He wandered around with a damp hand towel and wiped our faces, our hands, the picnic tables, and even an RV parked nearby.

Tuesday dawned with the possibility of more fishing and a long trip home. We got the cabin all cleaned up and everything packed away. Why is it so much harder to get everything and everyone re-packed? We took off to Big Springs as my co-worker had recommended seeing it and the fish in it. It was pretty cool. This is the starting point of the entire Henry’s Fork River. The crystal clear water comes bubbling up from the ground and supplies the whole river. And, it’s not just some little gurgling puddle – it’s the size of one of the Potter’s ponds, and it just comes up and makes a river. It’s pretty cool. There is no fishing there for various reasons, but it has paid off for a few of the fish. Everything we saw (and you can see everything through the water) was at least a foot long. There were 10-12 of them swimming below the bridge. The biggest was definitely two feet long if not more – probably more – and had to be at least 18 pounds. It was enormous. It’s quite rude, actually, to make fishermen look but not cast.

We stopped at a few other fishing spots, but everything was river fishing and Bub wasn’t into it, so we headed home. The drive to Island Park took six hours. The drive home took 700. Everyone was OVER it – especially when we hit a traffic jam in Ogden. Aye, aye, aye! But, we finally made it safe and sound. The boys were happy to get clean diapers and NO clothes. They ran around for hours.

In all, it was a good trip. Several disappointments, but some fun times anyway. I may try to sneak us away in January to do Yellowstone by snowmobile. It would be an interesting trip as we have never purposely vacationed IN the snow. But, it was so beautiful, and I would love to have a better visit to see the animals in the park, the many waterfalls among the snow, and just good to get away together (although I would hate to leave the boys, it would be too cold and they’re too young to snowmobile….).

Mesa Falls Marathon - Race Report

I hit the porta-potty line immediately upon exiting the bus – like always. There were only four toilets which some people were complaining about, but I thought that it was just fine. After all, if everyone would have gotten on the buses earlier, then they would have had plenty of time to potty. Add to that the fact that there was a potty every two miles without fail, and I think that there were plenty of opportunities to privately tinkle… Oh – and a note to those in the line: If you’re not about to poop your pants, then you’re not ready for the line. Do NOT get IN the potty and read a magazine while you wait for your body to kick in. UG!

Anyway, after exiting the potty, I put my jacket back on the bus and waited for the start of the race. Little Bro and I hung towards the back knowing that we would be starting very slowly. I scoped out the slow competition to determine exactly who I would make it my goal to beat. Basically, it was Leopard Lady (a woman in her early 60s) and Pajama-Pants-Man (a man in his 50s who was hobbling like he had just been struck by a car and happened to be running in what appeared to be basketball print PJ bottoms). We said hi to Bill (co-worker) and his son, and then waited for the race director to give some final words (which we couldn’t hear) and then he shouted “GO!” and we were off.

We shuffled along leap-frogging Leopard Lady for a bit. We took my normal walk breaks at 13 minutes, 26 minutes, and 39 minutes. At 39 minutes, Little Bro was happy to walk and actually winced as we slowed. At 3.5 miles, he was already in pain. As we started this walk minute, he said “Well, now I guess we’ll see how tough I really am.” UG! After being a Marine and a Guardsman with an extended tour of Iraq, I replied with “Man, we already know how tough you are. That will never be a question for me or anyone you know.” We jogged our next 12 minutes, and he was in greater pain at the next walk break. We took an extended walk, and a shorter jog. The walks continued to get longer and the jogs shorter. We finally decided to try a 1/1 strategy. That lasted for about five intervals. Then, he just couldn’t take it anymore. We decided to just do whatever his knees would allow him to do which wasn’t much.

It was the left knee that was the initial problem, but after compensating for it, the right began to trouble him too. At mile five-ish, he couldn’t decide which leg to limp on. All along, my heart was breaking for him because his training had actually gone very well until just a few weeks ago. He’s just built for running, and he has really enjoyed it since starting up again eight months ago. We ran for the last time sometime in mile seven. It was about 30-seconds long, but basically, we walked almost all of miles five through ten. I tried really hard to distract both of us by talking, gossiping, and even giving movie reviews. He kept telling me to go ahead, but I reminded him that my training sucked, and I was only there to finish a marathon in a new state. (Yes, I would like to get faster. Yes, I would like to PR. But, this wasn’t the race for that to happen, so I wasn’t out anything by walking.)

As we passed the ten-mile mark, we saw the next aid station about .3 miles away. Little Bro finally let logic and pain prevail. He finally threw in the towel. As he was making his decision, I glanced over and – don’t tell anyone, but – I swear that I saw him choke down a couple of tears. I said “A marathon is a test of endurance, not a test of stupidity.” He replied with “Yeah, but you know that I don’t admit defeat easily.” I tried to lighten the moment as much as possible with “It’s not de-feet, it’s de-knees!” but it wasn’t enough to even get him to crack a smile….

The folks at the aid station were very kind and willing to take in “a stray” as Little Bro put it. They offered some pain relievers and a seat in their van while they waited for the OK to leave their post. We were sure that we were the last runners, but they had to get confirmation. I finally had a chocolate GU and some water. I gave Little Bro knuckles as I ran on without him.

I was pretty rested after walking for five miles, but my hip flexors were sore and tired. I haven’t walked that far that fast for a long time, but the rest of my body felt fine. I probably started out too quickly, but it was just nice to get my feet moving. The race course veered off of the main road long enough to visit the Lower Mesa Falls overlook. They were beautiful. It’s no wonder that the race organizers have chosen to show these falls as their logo. I then re-accessed the main road and continued my solitary jog.

Soon enough, I reached the half-way point of the race and the place where the ½ ‘thon began. Search & Rescue were there and shouted a few words of encouragement as I passed. I asked if I was the tail end, and they indicated that there was still one person behind me. Wow! They must be travelling with cement shoes to be slower than me! So, I whooped and hollered a bit to the chuckles of the S&R guys. Then, the course took a significant elevation drop. It was good that Little Bro didn’t hold out longer as this would have been a real beating on his knees.

The first nine-ish miles had all been on gravel roads through thousands and thousands of pine trees. It was very pretty, and that minty-lemony smell was prevalent the whole way. The course then followed the highway only for about four miles before turning off onto trails again. The trail that we followed for the next three miles was double track but closed to ATVs and cars. It is open only to foot, bike, and horse traffic. I was a bit worried about the bears since the trail was approaching Bear Gulch, but I came upon more runners fairly quickly (whew!).

This trail part of the course followed Warm River. Sometimes we were high above it. Sometimes we were right next to it. Someday when the boys are bigger, we will return to float down this river. It was anywhere between knee and waist deep and very calm. It takes a couple of hours to float. That would have just been too long to try and entertain two 2-year olds.

It was during this portion that I caught and passed the three power walkers, the 50-staterX2, and a couple of marathon maniacs. They all commented on Little Bro’s disappearance and were very sad to hear that he had dropped due to injury. At the bottom of this trail descent, I passed Leopard Lady for the final time. (I was really happy about that because there is just something about being beaten by someone twice your age…..) Knowing that the rest of the course was on paved roads, I stopped at the aid station to get the teeny rocks and gravel out of my shoes. The power walkers caught me, but I left the aid station before them. (There’s just something about being beaten by people who aren’t even running…..)

It wasn’t long before the course turned upwards. Since mile ten, I had been maintaining 12/1 intervals, but I knew that I wouldn’t be able to do that on the big three mile climb. I opted for 1/1 intervals for a ways. It was on this climb that I finally passed Pajama-Pants-Man who was still hobbling along like he had just stepped out of a car crash. Determined, that man was…… The power walking trio passed me again, and while I joked with them, I was secretly seething and determined to overtake them eventually. The local EMT crew was really wonderful along this section driving up and down the hill on ATVs and asking us slow pokes if we were doing ok.

The race’s website indicates that this uphill section lasts for three miles (from 17-20), but I swear to all of the gods in heaven that it was at least 80 miles long. I kept my sights on a gal in front of me wearing a Camelback. I just wanted to pass her. While she wasn’t terribly fast, she was consistent. I managed to gain ground on her as we came out of the trees and into the wheat fields right after the aid station at mile 20 (which was staffed by a nice group of women – one of whom was getting really irritated with the traffic that continued to speed by completely disregarding her “slow” sign that she waved enthusiastically). Camelback woman and I were sticking really close together until mile 22 where she became Ornery-Orange-Slice-Woman after she threw a bit of a fit over the fact that the aid station volunteers didn’t have any oranges sliced up. She refused to wait the 15 seconds that it would have taken for them to slice one up insisting that she would get some at the next station (and they were out, by the way – serves her right for being snotty to people who give up their entire day to sit around and wait for us slow pokes!).

I was still doing fairly well to mile 22. My run intervals had become shorter and the walks longer, but I was still able to plod along. However, at mile 22 the whole day caught up with me. I was already at five hours and at my longest distance in three years. Oh – AND it was 80*. The heat really started to zap my energy, and I ran less and less and less. At mile 24, I decided that I couldn’t be bothered to lift my 900 pound arm to look at my watch so I chose to count my foot strikes and not run less than 200 at a time. This was a good strategy for a while as it kept my mind from how friggin’ tired I really was. The course wound through a residential section of Ashton for about a mile before turning down a long straightaway. It was here that I really hit the wall. I had been flirting with the wall since mile 22, but this was it, for sure. And, the wall hates me.

This seemed to be the longest piece of road that I had ever run in my entire life – even longer than Van Winkle in the SLC marathon. Miserable. I was able to pass one more person, and we chatted for the six years that it seemed to take me to actually get past her. She was from Texas and very nice. Her hubby had entered the ½ and was waiting for her so that they could finish together. I managed to change my run/walk strategy to going from light pole to light pole. This worked for about three minutes. That was the last time I ran. At this point, I was ready to lodge a formal complaint with the race director because it’s just mean to allow people who have already finished the race to walk back long the course with their finisher’s medals dangling tantalizingly from their necks. Oh, I was in a fine state, to be sure.

The orange cones directing us to the turn to the city park stretched for miles and miles and it was here that both Pajama-Pants-Car-Wreck-Man and Camelback-Ornery-Orange-Slice-Woman overcame me once again. Rat bastards! And, I didn’t have it in me to even curse them aloud. I gave it up and looked forward to just crossing the finish line and sitting in a vat of ice. This represents some serious hurt because I can’t even sit in lukewarm water without practically going hypothermic. I just wanted the ice. Ice. Ice! ICE, dammit!!!!

I approached the finish line looking for my cheering section, but none were to be found. I did notice Little Bro sitting under the shade of a tree looking pretty bummed. He was glancing down as I passed, and I didn’t even have the energy to get his attention. I just walked across the finish line with less than a smile on my face. My chip time was 6:09:58. A PW, but a finish.

Mesa Falls Marathon, Pre Race

We intended to head out to Idaho by 8am on Friday morning. Of course, that didn’t happen as I still had to water all of the plants, and we had to empty the diaper pail. However, we were only a couple of minutes behind schedule. Then, we got to dad’s house, and everyone there was still packing up Little Bro’s truck. It wasn’t long until everything was in and we were ready to go. So, we headed north!

Unfortunately, Bub and I argued for most of the drive. Lots of reasons – none of them great. Having never been this far north into Idaho (that I can remember), I was surprised by the initial flatness of the land. We all stopped in Pocatello for lunch. We were the only ones who packed a lunch, so we had to drive through the city to find someplace for everyone to eat at. It was HOT (90*+), so we didn’t have many choices since there were three dogs in the Brit’s car. Eventually, we stopped at a softball field. We stayed with the boys, the dogs, and the peanut butter sandwiches while everyone else went to get burgers. The dogs got a good drink of water, and the boys blew off a lot of steam. It was fun even if it was pretty darn warm.

Eventually, we were back on the road. Bub and I stopped in Rexburg to pick up last minute groceries, and then we were off again. We drove through Ashton on our way to Island Park and our cabin. Even though it’s on the main street in Island Park, finding our cabin wasn’t actually easy! Island Park has the longest main street in America. And, it’s loooooooooooooooooooooong. Like miles and miles and miles long. And, it’s all pine trees. There are some businesses on the main street, but generally, it’s pine trees and pine trees and pine trees with the town tucked behind them. Finally, we arrived at the Lazy Trout Lodge, before entering our cabin I noticed an interesting smell in the air. It didn’t seem to bother anyone else, and I guess that it didn’t actually bother me – bother is not the right word – but I could smell it constantly. It was sort of a lemony mint plant that was so strong that I could even taste it. Interesting. The cabin was a perfect size – for four people. We had nine. Oh, yeah – NINE and three dogs! But, it wasn’t too bad. It was a nice little cabin – next in line for the upgrade – with side beams that we all keep whacking our heads on – but it was cozy and clean and inexpensive when split it between three couples.

After settling in, little bro, sis-in-law, Bub and I all headed back for the pasta dinner in Ashton. It was being held at the local elementary school. We grabbed our race packets – put together in potato sacks, cute! – and headed for the pasta line. The spaghetti wasn’t Bub’s, but it was much better than some that I’ve had at other marathons. It was prepared by a local organization – I forget who – but it was tasty enough for me! The other runners seemed satisfied, too. In my opinion, it was better than those catered by chain spaghetti restaurants. Unfortunately for the servers in the lunch room, the baking sun was streaming in through the windows. Added to the steam from the cooking pasta, the hot spaghetti sauce, and the hundreds of baked potatoes, they were sweating up a storm but I never saw anything but smiles on their faces!

As we sat down to our dinner on the little cafeteria tables, I saw Carol Co-worker and her hubby. So, I said hi and we chatted for a few minutes. I was happy to see that they had arrived safely. She informed me that a lady next to us was about to complete the 50-state challenge for the second time! She’ll achieve this milestone next month! Pretty darn impressive. I was also eyeing a gal at the next table because she looked a lot like the pictures of Laura from Absolut(ly) Fit. She was wearing a Humpey’s ‘thon shirt, so it wasn’t too much of a stretch since the blogger in question had finished that ‘thon just last weekend.

After we finished our dinner, I just had to know if it was her or not. I know, I know. It sounds so very blog-stalker, but I enjoy her race reports, and I admire anyone who has a goal to be the youngest 50-stater ever. She’s only 24, and she already has 26 ‘thons under her belt. A grand accomplishment, to be sure! So, I approached her and introduced myself. I know, I know. YES – I approached a stranger and talked like a semi-intelligent person. Yup – me. Stranger danger be damned. It turned out to be Laura, and although she was a bit surprised at first, she was gracious and kind and willing to chat to another marathoner. I wished her luck for the next day, and as she pursues her goal. She’s more than ½ way there!

We finally returned to the cabin and struggled with the boys to get them to sleep. (Big shocker.) Everyone was nice enough to give us the only closed-off bedroom (probably for their own sanity), but even that didn’t help the boys sleep. And, none of the beds are bigger than a double, so there was definitely not enough room for all four of us in the bed. So, a boy and I slept on the floor. Not the most restful pre-thon idea, but not horrible. I set my phone alarm and Little Bro set his, too.

We wanted to leave at 4am, latest. Well, we got up at 4am. Oh well. We both wore our race clothes to bed, so I only had to put my contacts in and pin my number on. We jumped in the truck and headed to Ashton for the pre-race breakfast and the bus ride to the start line.

The breakfast was much more varied than I expected. There was coffee, tea, hot chocolate, juice, milk, cereal, bagels, all kinds of fruit, donuts, instant oatmeal, and probably more that I didn’t even see! I don’t remember which organization does the breakfast, but there were a bunch of nice little old ladies bustling around, stocking the food, and keeping everything organized and clean. Seriously, a community must be really invested in the activity to have more than two people willing to get up at 4am to serve bagels! I hope that this ‘thon is a yearly boost to their economy.

There was, of course, a sense of anticipation in the air. Runners were applying anti-chafing stuff, blister stuff, and doing last minute checks of the route’s elevation change. The race director was encouraging people to get on one of the first three buses so that they could get moving. We got what we needed, and boarded bus #3. As luck would have it, Laura was on that same bus. We talked for a minute, and I introduced her to Little Bro, but I don’t do small talk well, and she wanted to catch a bit more sleep. (How convenient for both of us….) The race director boarded our bus (and probably all of them) for some last minute instructions. He notified us that there was recent bear activity in aptly named “bear gulch” but told us not to worry. With 500 runners and Search & Rescue on the trails, we should be fine. If nothing else, he told us that we didn’t need to outrun the bear – just the next closest runner!

During the drive to the start line, Little Bro and I talked a lot about his race “strategy” with the recent knee problems he had been experiencing. He decided to just run my pace for a while, and if he felt up to it, he would speed up and run his own race. If not, he wouldn’t. “Can he?” That question hung in the air for quite some time.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

last run before thon

This run was actually on August 20. A 4.5 miler from work to Liberty and back with one loop. 52:13 total time at 11:37 mpm pace. Not bad. Wishing I had the stamina to hold that pace for the Saturday 'thon, but that's never gonna' happen. Next up: 'thon race report - my first in three years!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Shaking out the gunk

Nice and easy. If I can maintain this pace for the 'thon on Saturday, then I can finish in under 5 hours. Realistic? No.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Goodbye, toenails

So, I lost right #3 a few weeks ago. Left #3 is 1/2 gone as is left #1 and right #5. I expect all of these to be history by the end of Mesa Falls. I guess it's a good thing that sandal season is winding down - these babies are UGLY!

I really have been running

I just haven't been blogging about it!

First, here is my 24th of July 5k race report - somewhere in here

Next, at some point, I started having problems with my left big toe. After cutting my nails and removing all polish, I noticed that not only was the nail tender, but it was also a bit discolored. A little jolt with a needle was all the it took, and gunky, bloody puss oozed out, but what relief! I drained it for a couple of days. It's fine now.

I've been running, and here are some of my comments:

from 7/27: A decent run - a bit slower on this route than previous runs (work to Sugarhouse, 2 laps, back to work), but I'm not surprised considering my lack of training.

from 7/28: Ran from work to Liberty, three laps on wood chip path, and back to work. Ran with CB (59 year old co-worker), so my pace was a bit slower. However, if I had not run with her, I only would have done about 4.5 miles - so it was a good decision.

from 8/5: Tough because I haven't run for a week. This pace was slow because I spent probably five minutes of my time walking and fighting on the phone with Bub. The route was from work to Sugarhouse and back with two laps at the park.

from 8/6: exhausted from yesterday's 7-miler and the heat! Ran just a bit slower than I would have liked.

from 8/8: The longest run I've completed in three years! And, it was a killer! Liz went with me for the first 7.3 miles which consisted of two laps in the cemetary (1.8) and the Bevan Coleman loop (5.5). Then, I dropped Liz off at the house and did the Bevan Coleman loop again (5.5) with an up/back to Settlement Reservoir added in (2). This up/back was actually supposed to happen at mile 17 of my run, but Kelley had a cleaning job so I had to get the boys. Yes - I had to get the boys and still had five miles to complete - UG - the jog stroller for the LAST part of my run... We ran the Bevan Coleman loop again (5.5) in reverse. I don't know if it was a good idea or not, but we stopped at the park to play on the slides for about 30 minutes. After that, I had about 1.5 miles of uphill - some of it very serious. It was really hard. I stopped at about 18.5 miles which was the intersection of Vine and Broadway. We stood there for at least 5 minutes debating whether or not we should go home or finish the whole 20. We chose the whole thing, and it was really, really hard. BUT, In the end, I DID IT! My time was a lot slower than I had hoped, but the last three miles were tough with that stroller. I was TIRED, and my legs were SORE, but by Sunday I had bounced back pretty well! Very little stiffness and soreness.

from 8/10: EASLIY THE WORST RUN OF MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!! Took the boys up to Grimm's gate. Sam had a complete fit on the way up and ripped one of the straps on the jog stroller. I only ran about 1 mile total. I had to carry him home on my shoulders. That is how a 3-miler lasted an hour and 15 minutes.

from 8/14: I'm surprised at my pace (11:48mpm). I haven't really run since last Saturday's long. I mean, I had the Grimm's gate earlier this week, but since 1/2 of it was walking with Sam on my shoulders, it wasn't really a run at all. And, since Bub has been excessively sick with the flu all week, I haven't even been out the door. So, this run to Liberty +1 lap and back to work was good to work the gunk out of my legs. I had a long walk break towards the end to answer a phone call, so I'm really surprised by my pace!

I haven't run since then because after Bub recovered from the flu, the Meatball got it, then the Peanut, then me. I'm still suffering from a gurgly stomach and some diahrrea.

Top it all off with the start of my period. Today.

DID I MENTION THAT I'M SUPPOSED TO BE RUNNING A MARATHON THIS WEEKEND?!!?!?!

The long run really was very hard. I'm dreading the addition of six more miles to that. I'm going to be pooped from caring for everyone with the flu, getting the flu, and finishing my period which always zaps my iron levels. I'm in DEEP.

I will be ecstatic to finish in 5:30:00. At this point in my life, I was hoping to have improved to a 4:30:00, but whatever. I never truly realized how difficult it would be to run while having a family. I'm not willing to give up hardly any of my family time, so something must suffer. If I run slow forever, then so be it. (I hate writing that, though.)