Today's 6 Miler and the Two Hills

  Today I was going to run my last long run before the race, and it was going to be 8 miles but things changed. I headed out to the USI trails, and I have never ran on those hills. Wow..... if I can do those then I should be able to handle the one/s in the St. Louis Half. I ended up running 6 miles, within the first mile I went from 500 feet above sea level to 372 feet,then from there up 484 feet, a very large, winding hill that just about kicked my butt. Then it was relatively flat until I got back to the top of that hill and went down and then up the last half mile from around 370 feet to around 495 feet above sea level. Overall my elevation loss was 282 feet and my gain was 271 feet for 6 miles, and that didn't really slow me down. I ran the 6 miles in 1:00:56 with an average pace of 10:09 min/mile, not bad for some big hills. I should definitely be ready for the race next weekend. Anyways, the splits were:
Mile 1 - 10:26
Mile 2 - 10:26
Mile 3 - 10:14
Mile 4 - 10:11
Mile 5 - 10:09
Mile 6 - 9:28

  My next two runs before the race are going to be on relatively flat ground and I am going to try and take easy.

A Pretty Good 7 Miler

Tonight I ran 7 miles, my feet are feeling pretty good and no pain anywhere so that is a good, good sign. I still haven't decided if I am going to run 8 miles this weekend, both days are going to be nice so I don't have to worry which day I should run. If I run 8 miles Saturday then my weekly total would be 20, not bad for a taper. Next week, with the race included I will have 24 miles total and then with no other big races until the Fall I can put more focus on my weekly mileage. I do have one 5k in May, but I am going to ace that no problem and my goal PR is 26:58 which I know I will hit if not beat.
  I ran the 7 miles in 1:08:54 with an average pace of 9:50 min/mile, my splits were:
Mile 1 - 10:20
Mile 2 - 9:34
Mile 3 - 9:43
Mile 4 - 9:46
Mile 5 - 10:01
Mile 6 - 9:57
Mile 7 - 9:33

I am feeling much more confident about my foot and I am not that worried anymore, though that beast they call Holy Hill still has me a little nervous. Either way, I have a week before we leave for St. Louis and a full week to be nervous, excited and anxious all at once..... I cannot wait to see how well I do.

Things Aren't Looking too Bad

  My foot seems to be feeling better, though other parts of my legs were sore on last night's run. I also felt sluggish, but I am hoping that had to do with the cold weather and still being sore from Saturday's fast run and Sunday's rollerblading for an hour and a half. I am contemplating on running tomorrow evening or Friday, I guess it depends on how I feel and the weather. I am so sick of this cold weather, tomorrow is supposed to have a high of 54 and supposedly this cold winter is going to start dissipating by the end of this week but it can always come back. As long as the Half Marathon isn't humid and hot, I am sure I will be okay. I am still trying to get a better idea of how big this Holy Hill is, even though I've seen a few videos that supposedly show it I am still somewhat nervous.
   

Maybe there is Hope

  My foot didn't really hurt at all today, a little sore at the beginning when I put the foot ace band thing on, but then I took it off and there was no pain. Then some soreness when I went to Sam's Club this afternoon and walked around, but nothing really. I think I might try for a 5 mile run tomorrow and see how things go, try and take it as easy as possible.
  I just registered for a 5k on May 11, it's called 5k on the Runway and it is being held at the airport on the runway. Being a flat course I expect to get a PR at this race, just a little over a month after the St. Louis Half Marathon which is looking pretty good right now. I think I could probably reach a 26:00 finish for that 5k, especially with it being a flat course, so I am really excited to say the least.
  I hope tomorrow's run goes well, I really hope my foot has healed enough and won't hurt my race next weekend.

First Run in a Week, and I am a Bit Nervous

  I haven't ran for a week, trying to give my foot time to heal and recover from the months of running in shoes not meant for me, and hopefully these new shoes will be the perfect match. Today I aim for 6 or 7 miles, but I am nervous about how it will go. My foot still aches but not as bad, and my stomach has been doing some "spring cleaning" all morning now so that should make things interesting on the run. My run isn't until noon so I have like an hour to fret over this; but hopefully the weird twitches and pinches in my legs will go away by then, maybe the ibuprofen will help some. 
  I haven't really eaten anything this morning, except for coffee and some wheat crackers, but around 3:45 I had some pizza because I was awake and I couldn't control myself :( .

Edit after today's run:
    After a week of resting and no running, figuring out that the shoes I've been running in for the last 6 or 7 months were completely wrong for me (though I've done many of my best runs in them). So I was referred the Asics Gel-GT 2000, and today was the first time running in them and I'd say overall it went very well. I tried to take it easy and slow, but that didn't happen..... my body would not take easy and just burst out the gate like a race horse that hasn't ran in months. I ran my fastest 10k to date, with a time of 58:54 and an average pace of 9:30 min/mile which was unbelievable. My foot was still a bit sore but didn't hinder me at all apparently, I wasn't even feeling like I was trying to run a tempo until mile 5 just before mile 6. It felt pretty damn easy all the way through other than the last half mile really. My splits were:
Mile 1 - 10:14
Mile 2 - 9:17
Mile 3 - 9:54
Mile 4 - 9:39
Mile 5 - 9:20
Mile 6 - 8:52 
.2 - 8:25

  After that I finished with a .2 mile walk to cool down and ease out of that pace. All I've got to say is if I can relatively stick close to this pace for the half 2 weeks from tomorrow, that would be FREAKING awesome and I would have a finish time of 2:04:00 but knowing that is unlikely to keep especially if I start out the first half of the 13.1 mile race and putter out at or after Holy Hill... I'll aim for a 10:00 min/mile pace because that seemed to work for me on my 10 mile run and that would give me a finishing time of 2:11:00 which still gives me a PR. Anyways, I am not going to fret about it now and just take each mile as it comes on race day and hope for the best. I'll also keep icing and massaging my foot, and stretching as well.

One less Half this Year... maybe

  After thinking about it and then discussing with Cameron, I decided that I am not running the Flying Pig Half in May. I don't feel comfortable going out of state with my son, and not being allowed to carry my gun. If it were just me going, then I wouldn't have a problem with it but I have my son's life in my hands and I just don't feel comfortable about it. I thought about finding another race in May, but I am not too worried about it as I think I might try and run 3 Half Marathons this Fall, one in October, one in November and one either one in September or one if December. I'd like to have 4 Half Marathons under my belt this year but I won't fret if it only ends up being 3 because that is still better than just one a year.
  Yesterday was a close call, I started talking to Cameron's mom (Alice, though I call her Nana) about Dorian being sick and how I am hoping that he gets over his cold before the trip to St. Louis. Ugh, my big mouth. She started complaining to Cameron how she would like to go with us, how she is never invited to anything. Cameron didn't say anything really and she went on about her business. A few hours later she comes in all excited, that she has an idea how she can go with us and not be in the way, her sister Lois would pick her up from the hotel and she would stay with her. Just a few problems:

1. She has been have serious sick episodes here a lot lately, and was beginning to have one yesterday and the day before.
2. She will start fights with Cameron, she acts like a brat sometimes and just isn't pleasant to be stuck with for a couple of hours in a vehicle
3. She could very well start a fight with Lois and end up at our hotel room.
4. She just invited herself.

First issue, as I told everyone else is if she were to get sick and force me to miss my race, I would never forgive her and I would never forget about it. I would drive everyone around crazy for months, even years or at least until the next race. That was all Cameron had to hear before he called her and told her no, she got all pissy and started pouting but he ignored it and told her that I've been training for 6 months for this race and it would be bullshit if I miss it because of one of her sick episodes. And even if she didn't have a sick episode, she could start a fight with Lois or something come up with Lois and we would be stuck with her, I would be miserable and my race would probably suffer from the stress. She would most likely act like a total brat about everything and make everyone miserable, and then get defensive when she felt attacked or picked on.

But thankfully my husband understands how I feel about my races and he saved the day, though I owe him big time now and it won't be very pleasant for me haha but I don't care. He saved me from what would have undoubtedly been a miserable weekend and race for me and everyone else. It sucks to feel this way about my mother-in-law (though everyone else around her likes the "quality time" to be limited as well), but she just isn't pleasant after an hour or so, she is pushy, bratty and loud mouthed about her opinions. The only reason my mom is coming is because she isn't any of that, and she helps to watch Dorian so I can sleep and rest. There would be absolutely no sleep whatsoever is Alice went with us, which would make for horrible race and weekend.

Consider This a Rest Week

  This whole issue with my foot has me worried that it could be something very serious and cause me to miss my two Spring Half Marathons which would send my sanity right over the darn edge. I've decided to go to SWIFT Athletics and have my foot looked AND to take a rest week from running, and then see how 5 or 6 miles feel either Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon. Hopefully it will be good news, I've ran 11 miles no problem and I've done 10 mile long runs 3 times now with no issues so I am not worried about trying to get in one last long run before the St. Louis Half. I will try not to go over 7 miles until the last weekend before the Half where I'll run 8 miles depending on how my foot feels which hopefully it will be okay by then. I am just hoping and praying that things don't take a turn for the worse, I've been doing so good since November and it would suck so bad if I get sidelined again.
  Edited: I went to SWIFT today and I am so glad I did, it turns out I am still overpronating BUT am kind of more in the middle. The Brooks Ravenna's (no 1, 2, 3 or 4) were perfect for me back in 2010-2011 but they no longer make them. Since them I have been trying to find shoes like those, but the Adrenaline's were to much stability forcing my ankle outwards which was what was causing my Achilles Tendons to hurt like hell and then the Asics Gel-Blur33 2.0's had no stability at all.
 So they referred the Asics Gel GT-2000, and I am looking forward to trying these out this weekend. I am still going to take a break from running for the rest of the week, I started typing this on Tuesday and it is now Wednesday morning so hopefully I can make it to Saturday lol. I keep staring at them, wanting to take them out for a test run.

An Okay 10 Mile Run

   After two days of rest and no running, I decided to try for a 10 mile long run today and it went fairly well, though around mile 4 there was a little bit of pain around the outside bottom of my right foot. It didn't really change anything or effect my running but it did worry me, but when I looked up plantar fasciitis it doesn't really describe what I am feeling which is confusing and has me worried as my St. Louis Half is 3 weeks from tomorrow. 
  I ran 10 miles in 1:49:58 with an average pace of 11 min/mile which was slower than my last 10 mile run by 10 minutes. My splits were:
Mile 1 - 11:33
Mile 2 - 11:08
Mile 3 - 11:24
Mile 4 - 11:31
Mile 5 - 11:08
Mile 6 - 10:59
Mile 7 - 10:55
Mile 8 - 10:51
Mile 9 - 10:24
Mile 10 - 10:02

  Overall it wasn't bad, though I am concerned about the foot pain and hoping that it doesn't get worse or cause me to have to cancel ANY of my half marathons. I will take it easy tomorrow, with some stretching and then go for an easy run Monday afternoon.

Sick to my Freaking Stomach

   First off, tonight's tempo run did not go well at all. I was out of breath half the time, sick to my stomach and I had to stop like 3 times for a few seconds just to catch my breath. I was planning a 5 mile easy run tomorrow but after today I don't know, I might just rest for the next two days and try to enjoy the race Saturday. To top off today's run, my GPS claims that my elevation gain was 617 ft.... I've ran this route before and I highly doubt it has that many hills or inclines heck I don't think it reaches 100 feet.
  Anyways, I ran 7 miles in 1:07:38 with an average pace of 9:40 min/mile and it sucked for the most part. I really would like to never have to deal with a run feeling like that ever again. My splits were:
Mile 1 - 10:23
Mile 2 - 10:18
Mile 3 - 10:23
Mile 4 - 10:01
Mile 5 - 9:19
Mile 6 - 8:42
Mile 7 - 8:31

  Tomorrow is a question mark, if I do feel like doing an easy run it will probably be like 3 miles slow and easy.

Another Good run with Rocky

  Tonight we ran 5 miles, and Rocky did very well. I am returning my Pearl Izumi's in exchange for a size smaller, these just feel like they are going to flop right off my feet. Rocky was a bit more bouncy and zig zagging back and forth but overall he did very well, he didn't even begin to tire around mile 4 so that was a good sign as he showed some fatigue last Friday just past 3 miles during our 4 mile run. We ran 5 in 53:16 with an average pace of 10:39 min/mile, and our splits were:
Mile 1 - 10:34
Mile 2 - 10:39
Mile 3 - 10:34
Mile 4 - 11:01
Mile 5 - 10:26

   I haven't decided if we will do 4 miles or 5 on Thursday, won't be able to run Friday as the Run of Luck 7k is Saturday morning and I am going to need all my strength for those darn hills out there (though I am kind of looking forward to it). I know I won't be able to do much more than maybe 3 miles with Rocky during the summer, the heat and humidity around here is enough to drive me insane, I wouldn't ask Rocky to go through with it. Maybe during the nights on cooler weather, but we will have to see how many of those we have.

Eleven Miles Went Well Today

  I have to admit I was a little nervous, not sure why but the run went relatively well. My knees really didn't start getting sore until around mile 7, but I think mainly because I had ran my 4 mile easy run last night. I went ahead and took the Asics Gel-Blur33 2.0 for another test run and they did wonderfully, I think they might be  my new favorite long run shoes and I will be retiring my Ghost 5's. The Asics Cumulus 14's are on their way, so we will see how they do and whether I will make them my race shoes or not. The 52 degrees and sunshine was really starting to warm up around mile 8 but I ignored it, and actually enjoyed the change from 30-40 degree weather. Anyways, I am tired and pooped but I ran 11 miles in 1:55:33 with an average pace of 10:30 min/mile so not bad compared to my 10 mile run 2 weeks ago, I did feel a bit fatigued half way through but nothing bad. Next weekend is the Run of Luck 7k, and I am going to try to run 5 or 6 miles afterwards, on a trail maybe or just an easy 6 miles on the Greenway.
  My splits were:
Mile 1 - 10:55
Mile 2 - 10:21
Mile 3 - 10:16
Mile 4 - 10:37
Mile 5 - 10:28
Mile 6 - 10:24
Mile 7 - 10:27
Mile 8 - 10:15
Mile 9 - 10:40
Mile 10 - 10:34
Mile 11 - 10:34

  I am pleased with the run overall, I think if I had kept running for another 2.1 miles I probably would have ran 13.1 miles between 2:15:00 - 2:18:00 which would still have been much faster than my last 2 half marathons which were 2:34:53 last year and 2011 was I think 2:31:something so I would still be about 15 minutes faster. I hope St. Louis' Half Marathon goes real well, and with not incidents.

Asics passed the test

  Tonight I ran my 4 miles in my new Asics Gel-Blur33 2.0s and they did really well, I almost wish I had saved them for my 11 mile long run tomorrow. I think I am going to run in my Pearls though, and I am seriously contemplating buying another pair of the Asics and ditching my Ghost 5 and GTS 12's all together as they both hurt my calves and feet...
  Okay so in the last 5 minutes I decided on a pair of shoes for other runs, the Asics Cumulus 14 I believe. I think I will make the Gel-Blur33's my long run shoes........... and go between the Cumulus 14's and the Pearl Izumis for my other runs. I still need to decide if I am going to get another pair for my races, because I don't think it would be a good idea to keep the other pair of Ghost 5's.
  Cameron is definitely going to kill me if he finds out that I've purchased three 
pairs of new shoes in just a week, and I still have to figure out what I am going to with my other shoes. He's going to think I am crazy, but that's because he wouldn't understand that I am finally positive that I found the shoes for me, I would probably stick to the Asics Gel-Blur33 2.0's if they had more colors to choose from.
Anyways, tonight's run went well. I took Rocky with me on the 4 miles and I felt no pain really, especially after I finally got a comfortable stride with Rocky which took the first mile. I am positive that he can handle 7 miles no problem, but with some training and working from 4 miles. We ran 4 miles in 43:03 with an average pace of 10:45 min/mile and the splits were:
Mile 1 - 10:37
Mile 2 - 10:41
Mile 3 - 11:01
Mile 4 - 10:42

My new Favorite Shoes!!!

  So I tested out the Pearl Izumi Kissaki 2.0 tonight during my 7 mile tempo run and wow! I could definitely feel the difference in these, and it felt great. My legs were still sore from Sunday's 4 mile trail run, Monday's crappy 4 miler in the GTS 13's, and last night's aerobic kickboxing. But tonight was a great night, and I love these shoes. The only con was that they were noisy, or maybe it was because I was the only one out there. 
  I ran 7 miles in 1:08:06 with an average pace of 9:43 min/mile.
Mile 1 - 10:37
Mile 2 - 10:27
Mile 3 - 10:34
Mile 4 - 9:41
Mile 5 - 9:32
Mile 6 - 8:59
Mile 7 - 8:14

  It was a great run, no pain like before though just soreness. I think I am going to enjoy these shoes, and hopefully the Asics will turn out to be just as pleasant. I am hoping Friday will be a great run too, not sure yet if I am going to run 4 or 5 miles but Sunday is my 11 mile long run which will be my FIRST 11 miles ever so we will see how this goes.

My legs Were Still Sore Monday

  So either my easy run Monday didn't go too well due to the trails Sunday afternoon, or the fact that maybe even the Ghost 5's aren't the shoes for me. Also, my stomach wasn't doing so well either :(
  That night I had gotten the Brooks PureConnect 2's in, and tried them on and walked around in them. The arch in the shoes were particularly high and within 10 minutes of walking around in them my feet were hurting. In short, I am returning them.
  Last night I got my other two shoes in, the Pearl Izumi Kissaki v2.0 and the Asics Gel Blur33 2.0 so hopefully these will work out. I will be running my 7 miler tonight in the Pearls. 

The USI trails are INSANE

  All I can say is freaking wow, instead of running a 10 mile long run this weekend I decided to just give myself a break and let my legs recover before next weekend's 11 miler. So I decided to run the trails at USI, my main plan was 4 miles but I was secretly hoping 5 (due to my mom having a limited amount of time to watch Dorian, I chose 4). Freaking 4 miles of trails out there gave me an elevation gain of 274, heck I can barely get that in 10 miles out here in Chandler!
  Now, running trails has really nothing to do with time so I wasn't trying to keep a pace, just trying not to sprain my ankle, land on my face... or butt. There were roots and downed limbs and freaking mud EVERYWHERE! I still need to take pictures of my shoes afterwards... I ran the 4 miles in 48:59 with an average pace of 11:43 but again time was not really a concern, just surviving those hills but since I normally post my splits I will keep that tradition going.
Mile 1 - 11:35
Mile 2 - 12:25
Mile 3 - 11:26
Mile 4 - 11:31
.18 - 11:20
  
  I love trails, I enjoy running period but I LOVE, ADORE, FREAKING LUST trails, they are amazing and they are right out in nature and it is just a  completely different experience compared to road running. Someday I hope to run the majority of my miles on trails, but right now every once in a while will do, it definitely helped me relax and get back some of my sanity and that is always a good thing. I will edit this to post pics soon.

I'm about to lose it

   The only "me" time I have is my running, that is the only freaking time I am actually away from Dorian for a period longer than a half hour (grocery shopping, running errands). I have not ran since Thursday and it was an awful run, and I don't know how much more my sanity can take. I was hoping to run at least 4 miles today on the trails, didn't get to run yesterday morning's race because I was up all freaking night, and now he won't go back to sleep. I needed to be back here by 9:30 because Cameron is heading into work AGAIN and for the whole freaking day, so I had a small window to go do my run ONLY if Dorian was asleep.
  But oh no, he couldn't go back to sleep and I know Cameron won't be willing to actually wake up and watch him this early when he didn't get any sleep either. I just don't know how much more my sanity can take of not running, hell I would have enjoyed just a hike in the woods because I am still feeling sore. Sadly I really don't have anyone to talk to that would understand, but then again everyone else has their me times, and they get hours and hours away from their kids a day so they wouldn't understand. I love having my son with me everyday but I also appreciate and enjoy having the little bit of me time too, and I don't ask for much, just an hour 3 times a week and maybe an hour and a half during the weekend.
  I just don't know how I am going to handle today's drama and crap without a run............

A Race I Didn't Run

   Thankfully this wasn't one of my half marathons, but due to an almost sleepless night and my legs dealing with something that I assume the GTS 13's caused, I made the decision not to run the Bound the Mounds 10k Trail Race. I am a little aggravated about it, this is the second trail race I signed up for but didn't run, though the second was a choice and I chose to run 6 miles on the trail instead of the 5k race. 
   Due to whatever is going on with my leg, I decided that I was going to back my mileage off this week (past) and the weekend long run, hopefully run just 4 miles on the trails tomorrow morning. I am trying to listen to my body, and not make any mistakes so the GTS 13's are being retired  and now I just have to figure out what to do with them...... next weekend I need to run my 11 mile long run, and the weekend after that is the Run of Luck 7k, and then the following will be another 11 mile long run before I start to taper. I'll have one more weekend after that before the St. Louis Half Marathon, hopefully everything goes well and this little bit of rest will do me good, I don't think my sanity could handle missing this Half.

Thursday's easy 4

  Unfortunately I think I am going to have to stop wearing these Brooks GTS 12's, last night I really felt the soreness in my calves though it could also be from the 7 mile tempo Wednesday night. All I know is that the Ghost 5's feel much better to me and they are neutral apparently. I'd prefer not to have the same kinds of shoes, because Ghost 5 only has like 3 colors and it's hard for me to keep track of which ones I ran in. I have my regular pair for long runs and then my other pair for races though I might be changing that if this new pair coming in work for me, though the heel to toe drop difference is pretty big. Anyways......
I ran the 4 miles in 45:14 with a pace of 11:18 min/mile so it was definitely a slow one though still sore and crappy. If I can think clearly enough, I believe most of my crappy easy runs include the GTS 12's........... 
Splits were
Mile 1 - 11:21
Mile 2 - 11:30
Mile 3 - 11:29
Mile 4 - 10:52