So I caved and purchased my Boston jacket. Our friend Jason, and Boston running expert, assured me that it was not bad luck or bad form. I also convinced myself that they may run out of size smalls and that would be awful to get to the expo and have to get one that does not fit. Treacherous really. See, there is a method to my madness!
Now I get to board the plane wearing my bright blue, loud, show-offy jacket. hee hee!
(See below post for the link to view the goods.)
Friday, March 20, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
And miles to go before I sleep
Stopping for a pic, 5 miles to go of a hilly 22! (2 weeks ago)I was not in top form.
.10 to go!!!
I am #13129 in the Boston Marathon! I am in the first wave of runners at 10am. Bib numbers were just announced yesterday! Woohooo!!! Look at all the fun Boston Marathon gear!
Apparently, if you run Boston, you HAVE to get the jacket, so I've been told by many. That and a silver engraved Boston necklace will be my 2 for sure purchases. I really like the yellow shirt next to the jacket too. But, I have read that there is SO much at the expo that it will be hard to choose. I will have to wait patiently and not order now. :)
Ahhh... recovery week. After 70 miles last week, I am doing 63 this week and it feels good! I finally got my running mojo back. I did my 17 mile run last weekend with 14 miles at a 7:26 average pace on HILLS!!! (not my strong suit, but working on them!)
Today I did a trail run up Usery Mountain in Mesa. It was AWESOME. So beautiful and so peaceful, I wish I had taken a camera. I may go again on Friday! Happy to say, no encounters with rattlesnakes. I do think, though, that I may have picked up a snake fear from my friend Alissa! I was dodging rocks (potential snake sun-bathing spots)like no other!
Next week is 68 miles and I am doing my 20 mile long run up South Mountain with a new running buddy, Terri, that I met through AZ Road Racers. It will be nice to chat with someone for the long haul!
.10 to go!!!
I am #13129 in the Boston Marathon! I am in the first wave of runners at 10am. Bib numbers were just announced yesterday! Woohooo!!! Look at all the fun Boston Marathon gear!
Apparently, if you run Boston, you HAVE to get the jacket, so I've been told by many. That and a silver engraved Boston necklace will be my 2 for sure purchases. I really like the yellow shirt next to the jacket too. But, I have read that there is SO much at the expo that it will be hard to choose. I will have to wait patiently and not order now. :)
Ahhh... recovery week. After 70 miles last week, I am doing 63 this week and it feels good! I finally got my running mojo back. I did my 17 mile run last weekend with 14 miles at a 7:26 average pace on HILLS!!! (not my strong suit, but working on them!)
Today I did a trail run up Usery Mountain in Mesa. It was AWESOME. So beautiful and so peaceful, I wish I had taken a camera. I may go again on Friday! Happy to say, no encounters with rattlesnakes. I do think, though, that I may have picked up a snake fear from my friend Alissa! I was dodging rocks (potential snake sun-bathing spots)like no other!
Next week is 68 miles and I am doing my 20 mile long run up South Mountain with a new running buddy, Terri, that I met through AZ Road Racers. It will be nice to chat with someone for the long haul!
St. Patrick's Day Fun!
I am very much an old lady trapped in a 28 year old body. Or, so people tell me when they find out that I LOVE Beth and Bill in the mornings on 99.9KEZ. Yes, it is the easy listening station. They just have me laughing every morning and they love to talk about food, wine, and martinis!
Anyways, for 6 years I have been meaning to go to their live St. Patrick's broadcast at Rosie McCaffrey's Pub in Phoenix. The show starts at 6am! This year, I finally got to go! I had a blast, it was so neat to be there, some people go all out!
Next year, we will arrive even earlier to secure a table! :)
Matt and Kevin with the "Wild Barstool Queens". They are a hoot! They go and leave kiss marks on all the men, and the one standing next to Matt grabbed his buns during the picture! hahahahaha!!!! Very nice, fun, ladies!
Matt and his friend Kevin.
Beth and I. Note the cheesy perma-grin.
Bill and I.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Running
On Sunday I finished a 78 mile week! I have never put in this kind of mileage before and I was not as exhausted as I thought I would be. My week looked like this:
M-rest day from Sunday's race
T-3 recovery miles a.m. with Tank, 10 miles with 5 mile threshold (speed) p.m.
W- 3 miles a.m., 14 miles with 4 Mummy Mountain hill sprints.
R- 6 miles recovery a.m.
F- 3 miles a.m., 12 miles p.m.
S- 7 miles with stride-outs
S- 20 miles with hills- Matt rode his bike with me and we had so much fun! It was a beautiful morning! We were able to watch the sunrise out in the desert as we ran/rode.
After our 20 mile adventure, (we were home by 8:30am), we got some coffee, relaxed a bit, then went biking to grab some beer and burgers at Four Peaks Tempe.
(I was really bugging Matt with the camera that day! Can you tell?) ;)
After that, we rode to Old Town to listen to the free band that plays every Sunday outside at the Scottsdale Civic Center Park. The weather was gorgeous. We had so much fun!
We also joined our local running group, Arizona Road Racers. I went to my first track practice last night and met some really nice people. I was nervous about it but it was fantastic. It is nice to have that 'competitive' push every once in awhile. It is hard to do speed sprints with no one chasing you! :)
This week and next I will do around 70 miles, then I have about 68, 70, 63, 68, and then 56, 33, 27 as I taper for Boston. I am getting really excited!
M-rest day from Sunday's race
T-3 recovery miles a.m. with Tank, 10 miles with 5 mile threshold (speed) p.m.
W- 3 miles a.m., 14 miles with 4 Mummy Mountain hill sprints.
R- 6 miles recovery a.m.
F- 3 miles a.m., 12 miles p.m.
S- 7 miles with stride-outs
S- 20 miles with hills- Matt rode his bike with me and we had so much fun! It was a beautiful morning! We were able to watch the sunrise out in the desert as we ran/rode.
After our 20 mile adventure, (we were home by 8:30am), we got some coffee, relaxed a bit, then went biking to grab some beer and burgers at Four Peaks Tempe.
(I was really bugging Matt with the camera that day! Can you tell?) ;)
After that, we rode to Old Town to listen to the free band that plays every Sunday outside at the Scottsdale Civic Center Park. The weather was gorgeous. We had so much fun!
We also joined our local running group, Arizona Road Racers. I went to my first track practice last night and met some really nice people. I was nervous about it but it was fantastic. It is nice to have that 'competitive' push every once in awhile. It is hard to do speed sprints with no one chasing you! :)
This week and next I will do around 70 miles, then I have about 68, 70, 63, 68, and then 56, 33, 27 as I taper for Boston. I am getting really excited!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Valentine's Bike Ride!
Hello world!
We had a great slightly belated Valentine's day today. We weren't able to participate in the usual Valentines hubbub on Saturday like the rest of the world because I had to work most the day, then Sunday we had the race so today was our day!
We started it off with breakfast in bed, which consisted of chocolate croissants and coffee while we read our books. (perfect) The dog was being a bit of a knob... which he always is, but we felt bad so we took him to the dog park and let him run around with the other tightly wound, couped up puppies. The day was sooo beautiful, slightly overcast, mid 60s. Tank had a great time uh... making friends as only Tank can do. After dropping off Sir Dorkus, we went to the bike store and picked up a nice basket and bell for Ariana's new bike. (well new to us anyway) Then we went for a ride!!
.... Story detour (sorry) we bought these bikes last weekend. (when it was raining of course) We really wanted vintage bikes. Ariana's bike is a '75 Schwinn Breeze, 3 speed, light yellow. She loves it and looks really good on it. Mine isn't as vintage unfortunately, but it was a great price so I couldn't pass it up. (must have gotten that from my mom) My bike is a black Huffy beach cruiser.
Ariana on her mellow yellow bumble bee
Huffy Hufferton and me in my new hat
Ok back to the regularly scheduled story ....
We rode from our house to Tempe town lake via the green belt. The green belt is a bike path that runs for about 20 miles through Scottsdale down to Tempe Town Lake. We live about in the middle of it. It winds its way through golf courses, parks and around lakes, it is absolutely beautiful. We made our way over to downtown Tempe and ended up cruising down Mill street. I bought a hat. That much riding makes a person hungry so we rode to 4 peaks brewery, ordered a burger and a wee drop of nectar, nectar of the gods that is! (delicious beer for those who still don't get it) Then with our bellies full and our spirits quenched we proceeded to ride home. Over all we rode about 21 miles. It was a blast!
Lost Dutchman 1/2 Marathon Update
Hi everyone! Yesterday Matt and I raced our first 1/2 marathon, the Lost Dutchman in Apache Junction, AZ. I was not feeling too great about the race to begin with. I didn't really cut down my miles for the week, which one would normally do, and I just had a really stressful, tiring week. My stomach was in knots the entire week as well. Not fun. Matt was a bit worried as well since he hadn't exactly been running very much.
But as all races go, Matt and I woke up Sunday morning excited to race. We were at the park by 5:15am. The race began at 7:30 and it was 41 degrees outside and windy. Yikes! I was wearing 4 shirts and 2 pairs of pants over my shorts.
The elevation chart online looked pretty good, and the race was described as "gentle, rolling hills". Ummm...yeah. I would say that this race was as hilly as the San Diego marathon. I was pretty shocked! That combined with the wind had me a bit worried. We started off pretty fast, 6:30 pace. There were 4 girls in front of me at this time. It was an out and back course and for the first 1/2 of the race I was shoulder to shoulder with a guy running way to fast for himself and groaning and grunting for the world to hear. Every time I would get ahead of him, he would run harder to pass me right away. Men. I was so annoyed and mentally, it was taking a toll on me. I finally got enough pick-up to really pass him at mile 7. I then reeled in the #4 girl who started out WAY ahead of me. I finished strong at 1:34:15. I am pretty proud of that time considering all that was against me! I ended up placing second in my age group and fourth overall woman. Here is the results page.
My pace was an avg. of 7:10 per mile, I really wanted a 1:30:00 1/2, but next time! :)
Matt found our friend Alissa towards the end and they ran in together! Alissa ended up being 6th in our age group and setting a new PR for herself! Woohoo! Check out her blog via the link to the right, she has a great race report and pics!
But as all races go, Matt and I woke up Sunday morning excited to race. We were at the park by 5:15am. The race began at 7:30 and it was 41 degrees outside and windy. Yikes! I was wearing 4 shirts and 2 pairs of pants over my shorts.
The elevation chart online looked pretty good, and the race was described as "gentle, rolling hills". Ummm...yeah. I would say that this race was as hilly as the San Diego marathon. I was pretty shocked! That combined with the wind had me a bit worried. We started off pretty fast, 6:30 pace. There were 4 girls in front of me at this time. It was an out and back course and for the first 1/2 of the race I was shoulder to shoulder with a guy running way to fast for himself and groaning and grunting for the world to hear. Every time I would get ahead of him, he would run harder to pass me right away. Men. I was so annoyed and mentally, it was taking a toll on me. I finally got enough pick-up to really pass him at mile 7. I then reeled in the #4 girl who started out WAY ahead of me. I finished strong at 1:34:15. I am pretty proud of that time considering all that was against me! I ended up placing second in my age group and fourth overall woman. Here is the results page.
My pace was an avg. of 7:10 per mile, I really wanted a 1:30:00 1/2, but next time! :)
Matt found our friend Alissa towards the end and they ran in together! Alissa ended up being 6th in our age group and setting a new PR for herself! Woohoo! Check out her blog via the link to the right, she has a great race report and pics!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Oh, So True!
Matt and I have our first racing 1/2 marathon tomorrow, and it is COLD! High today is only 60 degrees. ;) I will top out at 60.1 miles this week and for some reason, just had a really stressful week. But, we still run! I am up at the latest 4:05am to get my run in before work, when I tell people this, they think I am absolutely nuts! (Matt is finally getting used to it!)To add some humor and some explanation for the craziness, I found this article. I think it is super cute and very true of runners!
Zombie Runners
Zombie Runners
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