Race week

It's race week. holy crap, holy crap, holy crap keeps running through my head. Not the most helpful running commentary to have going on in my head right now. Running 3 miles didn't really do much for me. It just wasn't quite enough, but I'm sticking to the schedule.

• Monday morning I ran in my Mizunos just to make sure I was going to be happy about the shoe choice I've made for the race. They felt heavy, clunky, and my feet were not very happy. I was ready to take them off before I had even finished a mile. All signs point to running in my Newtons for the race to be the right decision, and I'm excited about it. I'm not excited about running in my Mizunos. At least one question has been answered!
• I was looking back over my Dailymile training log on Sunday to discover that I've covered over 800 miles running and biking while training for Chicago. Am I ready? yes! Do I feel ready? umm...
• I'm making a list, and checking it at least twice! Ask my sister or good friends you'll find out I have a tendency to forget things. Sometimes important things! So, I've pulled out my trusty Team in Training packing list and added a ton of things to it. I will not forget anything, I will not forget anything!
• Our Team in Training coach asked for our goal times. Writing it down freaked me out a bit. Ah, taper, stop messing with my head. I seriously need to get over this!
• I find it really funny that our hotel is on Wacker Drive in Chicago. In case you're wondering it's right on the river. Hmmm, wonder what was going on when they named this street... :-)

Fortunately I have a lot of things to focus on.I have a tons of things to practice and a new student to teach a trial lesson for. I hope I'm not totally out of it for the trial lesson. Focusing on normal stuff is not my strong suit on race week.

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!

Bouncing, Bouncing, Bouncing

I'm bouncing off the walls :). I don't know where all of this energy came from. I guess the germs are going away! I decided to start the day off with some yoga to see if I could calm down some. HA! (oh, and what's a taper? ;p). I am so stinking excited about going for a run tomorrow. I don't think I've ever gone through such an emotional taper before. Seriously! I've been happy, frustrated, on the verge of tears, and everything in between. I will even admit that there was a little voice in my head saying that I wasn't going to get rid of the germs in time to run the race. Classic taper talk (or pre audition talk for that matter). I'm glad it's going away now! Now it's seriously time to start making list and deciding what to wear race day (see previous post). I miss my Team in Training race packet. It seriously has the best packing list ever. I always forget things when I travel. I've never forgotten anything when traveling with the Team. Can't wait to sign up for another team event!

Getting Antsy

I am slowly going stir crazy. I haven't done much since Sunday. Usually the taper isn't a big deal for me, but this time I'm going crazy. I guess I really needed some rest after the 20 miler because I've been sick ever since. At least the fever is gone!! And I'm slowly able to breathe through my nose again! It's sad when an hour of practicing a violin knocks the wind out of the lungs. Not the best thing for someone getting ready for an audition.  This morning things area feeling better so I tried a 20 minute yoga workout. It was nice to stretch the legs out again. It would be even better if I could go for a run. Maybe Friday if not, hopefully Saturday...

I also keep looking at what I want to get for my "reward" for finishing my 4th marathon in 2 weeks. I can't stop looking at it, and I really want to get it :). Plus I found it for 50% off. What do you think?

It's taper time

The race taper is an interesting monster. All of the hard training is done and it's time to rest and recover so that the body is ready for race day. Rest at the moment is not a problem. For the second marathon in a row I am sick after my 20 mile run. I'll spare the ugly details. I have not done much over the past couple of days. The good news is that my low fever seems to be gone and even though my chest is heavy and I'm super tired I feel like I'm headed uphill. Hopefully, I'll be back to running later in the week. I'm itching to go, but I know it's more important to rest and get rid of the germs! I actually canceled all of my violin lessons (only the second time for being sick) today. Hopefully I'll be back and moving Wednesday. Fingers crossed and hoping for the best!

2 Days

So, there isn't really anything new today. It's raining again. I'm pretty sure I live in Atlanta, but I have to say it feels more like Seattle's weather at the moment. I got up and went on my run this morning. The radar said it wasn't raining, but the soft patter on the roof said otherwise. Actually, it was just dripping and misty. I really didn't get that wet. Well, I did get a little wet because you can't see puddles in the dark. Shocking I know :). Nothing big is going on with my runs. I'm trying to take my time and just use them to stay loose and relaxed, but yesterday's average pace was 9:30 and today's was 9:21. Hmmm....

I've had a lot of trouble staying focused and motivated this week. I'm glad my lesson was on Sunday despite it being the worst lesson in a month. Honestly, it wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't anything to brag about. My teacher is pretty awesome and very understand since I was sick all week. I promised to practice lots before I leave for San Francisco. I feel like I'm failing big time. I am practicing, but I don't know if it's doing any good. I am really good a packing though :).

Just 2 more days till we leave!!! Here's a little reminder of why I do this:

Final Nike GTS

Only 8 more days!!! I cannot wait for the team flight on Friday. I am so excited!!! This morning we had our final Nike team GTS (group training session) running "just" 8 miles. It feels pretty awesome saying I only have to run 8 miles. Despite having a cold all week it felt really good too! In fact I held a pace under 9 minutes a mile for a while too. At least I held it until the 2 hills at the end. They kind of kicked my rear end. Something about not being able to get enough oxygen into the lungs. Oh well. It's time to get lots of rest and take more vitamin C to try and get rid of the germs. I feel pretty unmotivated at the moment, but I have a violin lesson tomorrow that I'm not ready for at all. So, it's off to be more productive and then off to our shirt decorating party tonight (love it!!!)

14 More Days

What a crazy last couple of days! I'm pretty sure that I'm coming down with a cold. All signs point in that direction. At least it's waited until the taper part of training. Yes, that's right it's Taper Time!! Yesterday I only had to run 8 miles =). Now those 8 miles were actually done with my mentee who was running 20 miles yesterday (Go Angela!), which meant I was running miles 12-20 of her route. That also meant I had to find something to do with myself for a couple of hours until she got to where I was waiting. No big deal. I got to chat with one of our awesome GTS coordinators Amy, and cheer in my teammates who were just running a normal 8 miles, and then off Coach Jo and I went to cheer in our teammates at the 12 mile water stop.

I got so excited about the race and getting paid that I started getting stuff that I need for race day., which meant heading out to the Big Peach Running Co to get some supplies. It was awesome, and I got tons of awesome stuff and had a great time talking to one of the staff who has run the Nike Women's Marathon before. Check out my loot:

I got some Luna moons (blueberry is my favorite), Nike running Capri (really excited about these), citrus fruit Nuun, which also comes individually wrapped so I can carry an extra with me on race day, and a new Nathan's sport bottle. I got even more excited and went home to start planning everything I need to pack. Monday is our Coach's Countdown Meeting, which sadly I can't go to because I'm not done for the until until 8:30pm. So, I'm going into the office to get my apparel, flight info, schedule, and other tidbits of helpful information.

I've got a couple of other things I'm trying to sort out this weekend. One is finally registering a domain name for my violin studio's website. The other has been figuring out what to do with my iPhone. The screen cracked yesterday =(. A super nice employee at the Apple Store helped me come up with a temporary fix because I can't afford to get the screen fixed or just buy a new one. Hopefully this will work for now. Fingers crossed!!!

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!