The great shoe dilema

Mizunos or Newtons? Newtons or Mizunos? This is a question that has been running through my brain almost around the clock since my last 20 mile run. My head has said run in the Mizunos for Chicago. You ran all of your long runs in them. So what if they are approaching old age. You'll be fine! My ankles, and knees have said run in the Newtons, and by the way, get some new orthotics! So, I decided to listen to the ankles. They after all, will bear the brunt of 26.2 miles in 13 days. I got new orthotics a size smaller so that they would fit better in my Newtons (which run a little small), and decided to finally get the metatarsal support too. Holy awesomeness Batman! I tried them in my Newtons Friday afternoon and walked around a bit, and then ran my part of the Ekiden relay in them Sunday. No knee, or ankle soreness! Hmmm, can I run a marathon in shoes that have only gone 10 miles as their longest run? I've been running twice a week in them for a couple of months. They are definitely broken in, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to wear them, which makes me kind of excited. This is the first time that I'm thinking about running a race in shoes that I haven't done my long runs in. That makes me a little nervous, but I feel like I run better in the Newtons than the Mizunos. I really do think the Newtons are going to win, but something tells me the conversation in my head isn't over. That's the fun part of the taper right? So ready to be done tapering!

Now if I could feel like I'm not coming done with something... Oh taper, you drive me batty!

The last big run!

Saturday was a big day for the Team in Training Georgia Chapter's Chicago Team. Why? Because most of the team was running their very first 20 miler. That's right folks! We ran 20 miles on Saturday. I'll be honest, I wasn't really worried about the run. With one 20 mile run already under my belt I wasn't worried about the distance. I was a little worried about the course. We ran out at the river, which is a 20 mile course that I've never done in my 3 seasons with Team in Training. I hope I don't have to do again! Holy hills! I thought the other 20 mile courses were hilly, but this one had some doosies. There were a couple that were near impossible to run up. Jaclyn and I decided we were going to take it easy and not push. She was getting over a cold, and I had spent most of the week cursing ragweed, and trying to regain the ability to breathe through my nose. It was slower than my first 20 miler, but it still felt great, and I really think that's because we took it easy. There was no reason to push with the summer heat & humidity coming back. Now it's taper time! I can't believe there are only 3 weeks till the race!

The team before the run. All smiles & we smell pretty good too :-)

At the 3rd waterstop. Cruising along before the hills...

30 seconds before this was taken I mentioned how happy I was that our coach had stopped taking our picture... This is what I get for opening my big mouth :-)

Done!! Chocolate milk  in hand! Life is good :-)

Most of the team post run. We still look pretty happy even if we don't smell as good... :-)

Down the Home stretch

It's hard to believe that there are only 5 weeks standing between me and the Chicago Marathon. It seems like we just started yesterday, and yet it was a full 4 months ago! The ability to finish 26.2 has never crossed my mind having run the distance four times before. I wanted this time to be different. I played with my training schedule, ran some extra miles, and trained with a purpose. I balanced running with speed workouts, lots of cross training, and strength training with the goal of getting stronger and starting to find out what I'm capable of.

So, this weekend I ran the first of two 20 mile training runs. Yes, that's right, two 20 mile runs. I was unusually nervous before starting. I had butterflies fluttering around my stomach, allergies trying to upset the butterflies, and then there was the bug I swallowed running 2 miles before the group run. But I have great friends who started putting my mind to easy. Jessica came over smiled and said I would do awesome. Angela reminded me that I was going to a super yummy dinner the next day, and Lori and Jim were at water stops doing what they do best, handing out water, high fives, hugs, and smiles. I ran with my mentee Jaclyn, and both of us starting thinking the same thing a third of the way through, "this feels really awesome, and kind of easy. Are we going too fast?" The beautiful weather brought new possibilities to both of us, mostly that we are a lot stronger than we thought.  The weather this summer has battered confidence down. It's been mostly about surviving more than anything else. This was one of the best runs in months, maybe even the best 20 miler period (20 miles in 3:18 an average of 10:03 per mile). It gave me such a needed boost of confidence going into the final weeks of training. My teammate, and fellow mentor Andy snapped a few pictures while we were running:

 the Chicago team before starting our run

heading down one of several hills with Jaclyn

Sunday a new confidence was growing even more after discovering that I'm 95% of the way to my fundraising goal! I simply cannot express how much it means, and what a difference the money is making.

Oh wind, why must you visit all of the time?

This morning I ran 20 miles.

All on my own.

In a way you could call it two major accomplishments, running 20 miles, and running it all by myself. It wasn't always pretty (I got quite a few looks upon walking into Starbucks post run...), but I did it. I was pretty calm before I started, a major improvement from my last 20 mile run. I jumped when my alarm went off and got ready so fast I actually got out the door sooner than I had planned. First thought, man it's warm! Okay, for the record it was only in the low 40s, but after 2 weeks of running in freezing temperatures and windchills this morning was like a heat wave. Dang it. How in the heck do I dress for this? Yeah, I haven't been really good with that one lately.

It wasn't my best 20 mile run. There seems to be this unwelcome tend of wind on my long runs lately.

• 16 miles - cold, windy
• 18 miles - freezing, super windy
• 10 miles - freezing (ice & snow), super windy
• 20 miles - warm, super wind, rain last 2 miles

It's nice to have warm temperatures. Now I just wish the wind would go away. I really don't need resistance training on my long runs. But now the fun starts! It's taper time!! Woo hoo!! Two weeks of lower mileage. Even though today didn't go as well as I hoped I still feel like I'm in really good shape for the race. I can't believe it's 3 weeks away...

:) A runner's high :)

This morning I ran 18 miles all on my own. It was freezing out!!!! (25 degrees with 25 mile an hour wind gust I would guess). I'm so glad I didn't look at the windchill before heading out this morning. It struck me while I was out running that I'm just out running 18 miles. No one was forcing me to. I don't have to run a marathon. I choose to do, and I can just run 18 miles. That's huge!!!!!!! You have to understand, I did not like running when I was a kid. I played soccer from the 3rd grade all the way through high school. Pre season conditioning was my least favorite thing to do. When we had our timed mile the first practice of the season I was the very last to finish, huffing, and puffing the whole way, and just squeaking in under the time limit. Running was not "my thing." Now sprinting on the other hand. Well, I loved to sprint, which is why I probably spent most of my soccer career as a wing player. Set me loose and I was off. Just don't ask me to run for long!

Flash forward to today. Today I ran 18 miles because I could, and I did it in just under 3 hours. Now that I can feel my fingers and toes again I feel pretty awesome, and a little bit sore. It's a nice runners high. I hope it sticks around a while. If not, I've got a 20 mile run coming up in a two weeks :).

Autumn is here!

Yippee for some wonderful fall weather!! It's so nice to have a break from rain and humidity here in Atlanta. We've definitely earned some nice weather. When I left for my run this morning it was 53 degrees! I love running in fall. Sometimes it's a little tricky figuring out the right running gear to wear, but it feels so good! It made for some good running on my tempo run once I got going.

Total distance: 4.05 miles

Time: 37:08

Average Pace: 9:10

mile 1: 8:13

mile 2: 8:13

mile 3: 8:13

mile 4: 7:03 =)

The last mile felt pretty awesome, and it's so nice to get back home and not be a sweaty mess. I guess I should mention that Nike+ only marks the speed at mile markers and doesn't average the pace for the mile. So, that's why the pace at for the splits and the overall average speed don't match up. Just one more tempo run before the race. It's taper time!