7nth time is the charm

So after 7 closing dates....

We finally closed on our condo last night!!!! Tomorrow is cleaning day and then maybe some painting this weekend?

How Many Marathons Will It Take

before I realize that some hills should not be a part of a long run; especially a rainy, long run!

Saturday I had a 14.5 miler planned that would end at the gym so I could get my spin on too. (it's also convenient that our favorite bfast place is across from the gym too). I decided to go back to a route I have avoided for a while because of its daunting hills. The last time I did that run though it was an 8 miler so I had to add on a few roads as well. I decided to make it a run dedicated to tough hills.

Now maybe if my Friday evening run had been more than 13 hours earlier and then sat, soaking wet, in traffic for an hour and a half, maybe if it wasn't rainy and windy, and maybe if every run this week hadn't been a "hill" run, this would have been possible. But honestly, I think these hills are just not meant to be run in succession.

You see it starts with a 3 mile hill that I am familiar with. Sometimes I turn off this hill at 1 mile, sometimes 2 and sometimes 3. If you go past 3, you end up with a quick but steep downhill and then the road pretty much ends. Here I took a road that goes back up, what it had taken you 3 miles (and then lost on the steep downhill) in one mile. It's vicious and turny and you never know when it's going to end. At 4.5 miles my hamstrings felt like jell-o, my "random" selection of songs was depressing, the wind was picking up and I felt like I'd been running for hours.

However, I pressed on down a little hill and then up another steep one. A little flat part and up a huge hill. Then a rolling section followed by another moderate (but there) climb. Rolling again (even rolling hurts at this point) then up another long and steep hill (one of my least favorites but it leads back to the gym). I have never been so close to calling eric to come get me. However, I made it. (9:40 pace.ick ) Practically limped into the gym for spin, downed some water, and adjusted my bike. I was still feeling shaky so I had to double check that Claudia had said "Today's ride is one big hill."

All in all marathon training is still going well. It wasn't the best week of training especially speed wise, but I'm not worried. February is still far away. Speaking of February, we went to eric's uncle/aunt's house for a bday party this weekend and I did tell them I was running Hyannis. Now that I've said it, it's pretty much a definite. Just have to wait for the closing and figure out my holiday budget before I sign up online.

And on the subject of running budgets, I'm finding winter running has more expensive needs. First I absolutely need a head lamp. I know there are cheaper ones out there, but I think this one sounds great.

Then I think I want to try these ice spikes on my sneaks. They were at the Hartford expo and I thought they seemed pretty great for winter runs.

Next, my sneaks themselves are over 300 miles now so it's time to start thinking about new ones of those. I was accepted into the Brooks I.D. program so I'm excited to try some new Brooks sneaks again. Last time I tried Brooks, the Adrenalines didn't work out for me so much, but I've heard great things about the update. I also want to try on other models and see what works for me. Any suggestions for a low arch pronator who wears orthodics (and therefore doesn't pronate so much)?

Week in Review:

Monday: Spin

Tuesday: 4.6

Wednesday: 11.1@9:33 (Happy Birthday Mom!)

Thursday: Off (TNT recruitment meeting 100% of the people signed up!)

Friday: 8.1@ 8:39 (not sure how that happened, it didn't feel speedy)

Saturday: 14.5 @9:48 and spin

Sunday: off

Total: Run 38.3

Spin x 2

Surprise

Today was the New Haven MADD Dash 5-Miler. I had 13 on the schedule for today so I began with an 8 mile warm-up run at 5:45. I didn't even want to get out of bed. I was cursing running and dreading today's race. I didn't want to run the 8; I didn't want to run the race AT ALL. I knew this was going to be a bad day for running. In fact during my 8 miles, I started thinking of how I would report this race to you. (since having a blog makes us all accountable; I have to think out these things before they happen) I decided I'd call it an almost DNR as in (Did not Report or Did not Relive). As I was making these mental preparations, my 8 miles were flying by and suddenly I was home. 8 miles 9:11 pace

Quick toast with peanut butter and an apple and we were out the door. We did get lost because the directions were awful so I was stressed. I had drank too much after my 8 miler and only had time to use the bathroom once, so I had to go. My calf still was acting up. All in all the scene was set for disaster and I was prepared for it. Well, at least I had the excuses. I don't think we are ever mentally prepared for a racing disaster.

At the starting line, I saw my friend Dan from Team in Training. Normally before a race, I don't feel like chatting much, but since today was already a bust in my mind, we had a great chat. Dan's training for the Goofy right now which I'm envious of and we talked a little about how he was doing that. He just ran NY so props to him for racing today. Then we were pretty much off. I totally forgot to start my watch and there were no timing chips. Just chalk it up to another FAIL for the day.

I actually was feeling pretty good out there. Had some good company speed wise and it was beautiful out. Perfect for a fall run. When I got to the first mile marker, I had no idea how long it had taken me so I didn't have a clue what my pace was. I did start my watch there so I would have a clue when we got to mile two. That of course made it take forever to get to mile two...but I was still feeling pretty great. Mile 2 was 7:35. Huh!? Not too shabby. I guess I'll count myself in!! The rest of the race went by quickly. For the size of it, there was some great spectator support and I saw the nice police officers that helped us get unlost. Mile 3 was 7:59 but I started feeling even more warmed up (I guess 8 was not a long enough warm up?) Mile 4 was 7:20 and then of course I forgot to stop the watch at the finish but I believe the last mile was something like 7:11.

Final official time: 38.21 (7:40 pace)

My guess at my "chip" time: 38:11 (7:38 pace)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So that means I cut 3:30 off my PR (officially, I've had some faster training runs than my PR but still).

I guess you can never decide before a race how it's going to go. Running can be quite humbling.

I ended up placing 4th in my age group. 1 shy of a trophy and gift certificate! And 61st overall.

On a sad note, we got some bad news at the start. One of CT's ubiquitous runners was killed when he was hit by a car this week. http://blogs.courant.com/running/2009/11/runners-remember-ed-gorecki.html This is the kind of news that really hits the running community hard. Here is a guy that I have seen at pretty much every race I've done in CT. The people around me all had a story about Ed Gorecki. We've all seen him, raced with him. I've even complained about him on here. (Ed was the man I've raced with who always wears his gloves and flaps his arms wildly. I hated running near him, but mostly I hated that he always beat me). Think about Ed and his unique running style (if you can picture it) when you go out for those darkish fall and winter runs. Be careful out there! And when you're driving, drive like a runner. Think cautiously about blind spots and restricted sight areas!

I don't want to end tonight's post on a sad note. I'd like to introduce you to my new favorite running song. This song gave me fireflies (yes my butterflies are electric) in my stomach just on my warm up run. Eminem with Nate Dogg "Til I Collapse." They don't have a video for the song but someone made a tribute to ironman that I thought some of you might enjoy. Don't watch it if you don't like painful scenes!!

Week in Review:

Monday: Spin

Tuesday: Run 10.25 @ 9:20

Wednesday: Spin

Thursday: Run 5.66 @ maybe 8:44 (I think I messed with my watch at some point)

Friday: Run 8.8 @ 8:57

Saturday Spin and Body Pump

Sunday: 8 mile warm up @ 9:11 5 mile race @ 7:38-7:40

Total Running: 37.7 Week 2 of pfitz training done but it's really my first week back to marathon training.

Toenails

It seems to me that I need to do a question and answer style post about toenails and losing them. I'm sure you all have your own experiences, so Ask and Answer away!!!!

(ugh in a search for a pic for this post, I found toes much worse than mine have ever been; can't even share that one with you...and i've gotta stop looking at toes on google images) Therefore I apologize for the lack of a pic.

A Quickie

Life's still a little crazy here in no-condo-yet land so I'm just gonna hit you guys with some bullets: Draw!!!

- I did start an 18 marathon training program this week (it will actually be 17 weeks) for Hyannis, but I have yet to make a decision.

-I am much happier with my running now that I have started this program

-I am still doubtful that I will be running fast at the 5 mile race I have this weekend

-Because of said marathon program, I am running 8 miles prior to the race and feel I have now given myself an excuse to not run a spectacular race

- I will still give it my all! No worries there

-We still have not closed on the condo and the date has been pushed back again

-I have lost more toenails since I last reported. I have now lost a total of 6. Less than half! New record for me.

- Halloween restored my addiction to chocolate and I am now having more trouble resisting it (another good reason to be training)

- Tuesday and Thursday I had great runs near my school (where I used to hate running because I had trouble making routes). I found some great new streets and am feeling a little better about the darkness

- I still hate the darkness

-I think this "bulleted" post is now longer than a post in prose. Sigh.

-My mom thinks she found her "mother of the bride dress" and they will alter mine. Yet another reason to be thankful to be back in training mode :)

Decisions

I've been thinking about adding another marathon to my schedule: The Hyannis Marathon on February 28th.

Pros:
- I heart Cape Cod and have close friends in the area
- I'd love to try a winterish marathon since heat is my enemy
- I feel like May 2nd (New Jersey) is far away and I want a marathon sooner than that
- I know training sans Daylight Savings is going to be tough; maybe I don't want all my eggs in one basket
- Most likely I wouldn't need a hotel
- Eric said he would come

Cons:
- weather can be an issue and I won't drive in bad weather
- An 18 week plan would have started last week (not a huge deal, but am I ready to start back up)
-Reviews of this marathon on marathonguide.com are very mixed I can't tell much about the race at ll.
-If I race this, will it decrease my chances of a good race in New Jersey?

Any thoughts? Thanks!

Inspiring

Yesterday a young man, John Tartaglio Jr., from Milford, CT ran the NYC marathon. He was the first person to finish the race without thighbones (and everything else below them). He began his race at 6:00 a.m and finsished at 10:15 p.m. His family stuck with him the entire way. This is a great story and a local hero for me. Just thought I'd take a minute to share his triumph.

Amputee Makes Marathon History : the link is broken let me try this http://www.newhavenregister.com/articles/2009/11/02/news/milford/a1-mitartaglio.txt

and some thoughts before the marathon
http://www.newhavenregister.com/articles/2009/11/01/news/milford/a1tartaglio.txt