Enjoying the Journey

I should be at the grocery store right now but I just can't quite bring myself to go yet. It will be a zoo, and I hate to go to the grocery store in the first place.

I spent the morning baking the things I could (pumpkin biscotti and pumpkin pie) and finishing up the school-related stuff I needed to do before the holiday arrived. So I've put off my run as well. I had intended to just bust out a road run from the house...but it's so beautiful that I couldn't bring myself to just "get through" a run, and that's what running on the road felt like. So I'm treating myself to St. Eds as soon as I get the grocery store checked off the list. The old carrot before the horse, if you will.

This weekend was Bandera. Friday was a nasty day in Austin but I kept telling myself that that didn't necessarily mean it was nasty in Bandera, which is about 3 hours west of here. As I drove that afternoon, it kept raining and the sky was overcast. It wasn't looking good, and I worked to psych myself up for muddy slogging and being cold and wet. I pulled into the park and drove to the Lodge where the group was staying, where I was greeted with the news that the rangers had closed the trails. WTF?!? A couple of years ago during the monsoon summer they only closed portions of a couple of trails (except for the time the park actually flooded and they made everybody leave); I was incredulous that such a drastic action had been taken over 3 inches of rain. Oh, well; the plan changed: hang out and assess when we woke in the morning.

The morning was absolutely gorgeous! The #8 trail was open, and we splished and splashed and mucked through it (and a good bit of running down the park road, yuck) after a late start and a delicious breakfast. In fact, we christened the #8 trail "Biscuits and Gravy" because that's what we "8". Har har...trail runners like to name stuff and often times, I don't remember all the names, but this one will stick with me. After noon, the rangers opened up several other trails, so we hit a lot of the #5 trail which goes around Sky Island and the Three Sisters and the #1 and 1B loops, which hit Ice Cream Hill. For that second loop, I had Johanna as company and we had a great time. I took it really, really easy so that I got plenty of on-my-feet time without beating myself up. The sky was about as blue as a Texas sky can be, and there were butterflies everywhere. I love Bandera on a beautiful day.

That night, we had a big dinner in town and cooked s'mores around a camp fire. The last couple of times I've been out at Bandera, there's been a burn ban and you couldn't have an outdoor fire so this was a welcome change. Oh, I love a campfire! The stars were beautiful until suddenly clouds blew in and completely hid everything.

Sunday morning was an overcast day with wetness in the air. But the rangers had opened up yet another trail, so we were able to do a short loop on #4 and it's offshoots, which encompasses most of my very favorite spots in the park (Cairn's Climb, for example). And we ran the trail counter clockwise, so I got to run down Boyles...my absolute favorite thing to do there, bar none. It was a good run if short. After cleaning and packing up, we had a big breakfast at the OST Diner in town and then hit the road back. I was home around 2PM.

I am looking forward to being back there in December for Bunmart and then for the race in January. My hope is to PR the 50K out there, which on one hand seems like a no-brainer...but Palo Duro has made me gun shy with goals. In any case, I will love the time on my feet there.

My daughter had her first recital of the new school year at SFA on Tuesday. I got up that morning and hit the early AM Walnut Creek run. That was so fun--it was cold! I actually wore long sleeves and gloves. Several times in the dark, a large bird swooped in front of our fearless leader as we worked our way down the paths. I love the sun coming up about 20-30 minutes into the run, instead of the entire run being in the dark. Because I needed to get to Nac (or "the doches" as the kids call it), I had to simply jump in the car and hurry home. I was so surprised to see how red my stomach and legs were from the cold; it had not felt that bad to me at all.

It's a lovely (though lengthy) drive to Nac; I got there a bit after noon, when my girl was done with her classes for the day. We hung out, ate a bit, and drove around to look at apartments she's considering with a friend. Then, she had band rehearsal so I checked into the hotel room and cleaned up before picking her up at the dorm before the recital. She looked so lovely--a purple dress and heels. She was going to stand up and play for the first time. French horn players learn to play seated...but the performers play standing up; even though she's a music ed major and not a performance major, she's learned to stand. It was a great performance. Afterwards, we checked out some friends' intramural football game and ate dinner. It was hard to say goodbye that night.

The next day was leisurely. I slept in, had coffee in bed, and then walked down to the Lanana Creek trail head for a run. It was cold in Nac, too; two layers of shirts and gloves. The long sleeved layer came off pretty quickly. It was a gorgeous sunshiney day, but I only saw one other person on the 5-6 mile trail. Back to the hotel for a shower and breakfast and I was on my way home.

Thursday evening is my quality run workout but I skipped it last night. I'd spent the day with a friend who is ill and it wore me out, emotionally more than physically. All I was good for was sitting in a chair, watching mindless TV.

Today, I'm getting ready to head to Bandera for a weekend of long runs. It's hard to get motivated with the rain steadily coming down and I'm feeling the urge to throw it all by the wayside and do a lot of nothing.

Yesterday, I was really looking forward to the evening Hill Run; I needed to have a run with friends, some company, reassurances. I'd been down after the 5K and thought the group would help. But a change in schedule gave my daughter the evening off, and I just can't pass up family time, so when she wanted to join us for dinner I let go of the Hill Run.

I wound up going over to St.Eds/Forest Ridge to get in an easy 8 miles a little after 3PM. The parking lot was packed--there were people all over the place! I think I probably scowled a little bit because I wasn't in the mood to share the trail with the occasional weekend wanderer (OK, does that sound snobby or what?!?). In the first 5 minutes, I wound up dodging packs of yappy dogs and stepping aside for horses. Thankfully, the minute I hit the uphill, everyone was gone. And the uphill felt good.

The 5K had felt pretty horrible--my legs were dead, I was plodding along alone, and it was muggy. But things were different now--the uphill was loosening up the tightness in my hips, I was moving steadily, and I felt strong. My times (I always take splits at certain landmarks) were actually a bit on the fast side, and this was like a tonic to all the negative feelings I'd had on Saturday. I was going from park entrance to park entrance; when I get deep in thought, I have a tendency to blow by stuff, and sure enough, I took a little side loop that added distance on the way down to the Forest Ridge entrance. At the time, I noted that the trail seemed longer, glancing at my watch, thinking, "Geez, why did I slow down so much?" and was peeved. But I realized on the way back when I did not see a certain fallen tree that I'd certainly added in something...my time back up to the water tower rock was some 5 minutes faster. That perked me up again; my splits were getting faster on the way back, and I was feeling good. I decided to turn it loose on the downhills over at St. Eds--I was in the final 10 minutes of my run when my left foot hit a slippery patch. As I caught myself, shifting the weight on my planted right leg, the sore spot in my right hip SCREAMED at me. Ouch; what had I done?? I took a break, walked a bit, trying to sort it out. Bombing the rest of the downhill was out; running was kind of dicey; I just shuffled it in...still faster than when I'd gone out. But there was no denying that I hurt. And that's not a good thing.

I stretched last night after a warm shower, which helped a lot. But I'm uncomfortable when I sit...not pain per se, but awareness. I've got a 4-hour drive Tuesday and again Wednesday going back and forth from Nacogdoches, and that's not going to help. Today I'm going to swim to see if that alleviates any soreness.

I've had an issue here since I tripped at Bastrop back in the first week of September. It may be time to go get it looked at.

I've been thinking a lot about time lately.

Yesterday was all about time. Trying to squeeze stuff into the time allotted, missing things by losing track of tim, being ready in time, not having enough time, time passing too quickly.

I went out to Bastrop to get my long run in yesterday so I could thoroughly give myself over to the Hokahey 5K today for Dano. I had calculated my time pretty precisely. I needed to be on the road at 6:15AM at the latest; I'd get to the park by 7:00AM; I'd be on the trail no later than 7:15AM so that I could be leaving the park no later than 11:20AM to get back to Austin for my 12:00 fun seminar with friends.

I missed my leave time by about 5 mintues--no biggie. I hit every red light leaving my neighborhood, and that adds up. Once on 183, the fog got thicker and thicker and traffic got slower and slower. I didn't pull into Bastrop's Overlook parking lot until 7:30. Shit. I took a few minutes saddling up and hit the trail 7:39AM.

There's something about a time constraint hanging over my head that makes the run crappy for me. My hips were so stiff; I kept visualizing our old beagle, Benny, whose spine fused together in his final days and make walking painful. I felt like that. Of course, my Ibuprophen was in the car. Grr. Slog it out, keep moving, put my head down and go, go, go. I was going like that when I took the wrong turn at the campgrounds. 20 minutes later, I realize I haven't finished the loop like I should've...and there comes the purple trail where I should never see it. On a day when time mattered, I screwed up the route. Damn. No choice but to take the purple back up to the overlook, doing less than I'd planned. So I did more than basic 8-mile loop but don't know how much more. Look at the watch--what can I do? I figure I came all the way out here to get the long run in, I should at least get more than 16 if I can't get the 19. Off I go to do another loop, this time the short 8-mile loop. I took some Ibuprophen and about 15 minutes in, I felt much better. Ran into Diana...argh...no time to chit chat but I can't be rude...darn, why am I running so slow? With the chit chat, it takes me 2 hours to finish the loop. Uh oh; it's minutes before 12:00, not the 20 'til I'd mentally calculated...I'm really going to be late. Just get in the car and drive; takes me more than an hour to get back, thanks to the truck that lost it's load of lumber in front of Callahan's. I just was not meant to get any of that done satisfactorily.

In the evening, a lovely time with friends out to dinner and seeing the timeless opera, "La Boheme." It's my favorite. I love going to the opera--I wish the whole world worked like that, where you burst into song when overcome with emotion.

Today was the 5K. I was there to support Dano and so my time didn't really matter...except it always does. It makes me so sad to be so slow any more. I've just got so little juice in the legs. One of these days, I'm going to have to completely lay off distance and spend a year or more doing nothing but short and fast. Probably tris to loosen me back up and make sure the pounding doesn't get to me. Sigh.

Time goes by so fast. My baby boy is so grown up. I guess a benefit of being so slow was that I got to see him coming back in as I was heading out. And he was so sweet; he wanted me to warm up with him a bit before the race.

It's nice to have down time this afternoon.

It's funny how I can be my own worst critic.  I put myself down on my biking a lot.

I've been doing a lot of trail running lately and very little biking.  Makes sense--I'm training for a trail race, not a triathlon.  But it mattered because the hubby had signed me up for the Wurst Ride; we'd had so much fun 2 years ago that we'd made a pact to do it every year.  Unfortunately, I was sick last year and had to miss it...I'd just done NYC marathon and what was supposed to have been a time of celebrating a new road PR was in actuality me laying around, unable to do anything at all.  Months of feeling bad followed.  I've pretty much spent 2009 recovering from the bad months and am finally feeling 100% back on my feet. 

But I hadn't been riding my bike.  Yes, I had gotten on for some of the Danskin group workouts I was helping coach, and yes, I'd done a few short 20-something-mile rides.  But since summer, not so much of anything.  I'd gotten on the trainer or headed over to the veloway a couple of times to spin out tired legs but I hadn't ridden more than an hour and a half.  My butt hated every minute on the trainer.  So I was pretty skeptical and a bit concerned over 60+ miles.

My husband's friend did not want to do the 100K and so we decided that he and I would do the 42K ride, but we'd wait for James and ride with him when he met up with us.  It was the perfect solution.  We met up successfully, only to be sidelined for a chunk of time while James had to work out a tire issue.  The rest of the ride was great.  And it was funny...some things that had bothered me 2 years ago (a gravelly hill with a sharp left-hand turn at the bottom onto a wooden bridge, for one) were no big deal.  I rode very comfortably and enjoyed myself the whole way.  Beer and sausage at the end was the perfect rewards.  Now, I wish we could combine the positive things about the new finish location (easy to get beer/sausage, lots of places to sit, multiple bathrooms, a clear finish) with the beauty of the old (grass and the creek and being able to walk over to Wurstfest). 

I'm going to make a point to ride when all the fun group rides start up in the spring...and I'm going to keep reminding myself that I'm not a crappy cyclist.

On Sunday morning, I had a wonderful opportunity; I got to pace my friend Marcia in the final 25-miles of her first 100-mile race, Cactus Rose, out at Bandera.

Marcia and I met when she signed up for a trail running class I was coaching 2 years ago, and we became friends over those months.  There were several of us girls who became close; we all traveled to Palo Duro Canyon that year for the first time, Marcia and I doing the 50K (her first), stephbondhuie running her first 50-miler, Noelle pacing and supporting, and Ramsay actually winning the women's race in the 50K. Being the oldest of the bunch, I have a lot of motherly feelings towards these friends, especially when it comes to their running adventures.  

So, we were out at a brunch a few months ago when Marcia asked me what I was doing on Halloween.  My first response was that I was going to the SFA/Texas State game in San Marcos--why?  She was asking me to pace her at Cactus Rose in the last lap.  I cannot explain the feelings the washed over me when she said that other than it was a mom moment, that moment when you are almost in tears over the sweetness of the emotion because there are so many different ones rolled into a ball.  Pride, happiness, love, satisfaction, to name a few.  Of course, I was also feeling horrible regret because immediately, another friend jumped in to say she could pace.  I was happy for Marcia that she would be well-cared for at the race with a good pacer but sad that I was going to miss the opportunity.

The more I thought about it over the next days and weeks, the more I realized that it was important to me to be there at her race, pacing or not.  I talked to my daughter about missing the game and she said, "Pshaw...I will hardly see you...there are other times...go to the race!"  So I sent Marcia a note, telling her that I would be available after all, to crew, pace, cheer, do whatever she needed.  It turned out that she still needed that pacer.

It was simply an awe-inspiring experience.  We started in the dark among the beautiful Bandera stars, under a gorgeous moon, and got to see the sunrise, all pink and orange and bright.  There were remarkably few low spots, some times that were outright fun with laughter (like when we turned on our mountain troll shuffle), and some times that were really serious work.  It was humbling to see what my friend could do and how much determination she had.

Oh, there were tears when she crossed that finished line, hers and mine both.  I was so proud!  It was another mom moment.

My son had his final meet of his first cross country season today. 

I'd worried all season long that my intense interest in his running might translate as pushiness.  We talked one time, and I tried to explain that it was the first sport he and I had shared that I truly UNDERSTOOD and got the accomplishments.  Shoot, I'm still learning the rules on soccer and I've never actually played a game; yeah, I swim but I never did swim team and meets...but I know running.  I have done track workouts, run 5Ks, set goals/met goals/failed to meet goals, thrown up in a workout, and so forth.  I tried to explain that I was so proud of him just for being out there, regardless of his times.  The fact that he toed the start line and gave it his all was everything I could've ever asked for.  Just watching him run makes my heart sing.

Today meant a lot to him; I know this, because he shaved his legs in preparation;  he is quite blessed in the leg hair department, and his soccer buds are going to give him total shit for this--but the team (well, most of the team) was doing this and by God, he was too.  He'd set himself an ambitious goal for the season, and it all came down to today as to whether or not he'd achieve it.  Now, this goal was personal--he's a midpacker as far as boy's varsity cross country goes, so it wasn't anything grandiose like going to regionals.  But it was his goal and important to him.

Today was beautiful. He ran well and he finished amazingly strong with a beautiful kick into the finish.  And best of all, he made his goal--under 19:00 for a 5K (18:54).  I know how much that means, to end a season on a successful note.  I am so proud of him!

And a special thanks to my good friend crabbyoldjaws  for sharing the moment with me and the hubby.  You just may have been the difference on those 6 seconds!</strong>

A couple of weeks ago, I did a crazy thing and signed up for the Frankenthon marathon.  A friend and I had talked 'way back about how fun it is to be on the ground floor of a new marathon, how much we liked the race director for doing it, what fun it was to have a new marathon here in Austin.  So when the RD sent out a note on the HCTR listserve as a reminder, I was like, "Why not?"  So even though the race was the week after my 50K at Palo Duro, I signed up.

I felt kind of weird about it so I didn't advertise it.  It was going to be interesting to see what I had in my legs, so I decided I was just going to have fun and say I was there.  Who cared if I was DFL?

It turned out to be a pretty good day.  Oh, I was slow as could be.  The first loop was not so bad (1:40 for the 8-something miles) but I added 17 minutes to the second one (can you say "ouch"?  Nothing happened, per se; I was just suddenly very tired).  Typically for me, the third loop was only a bit slower than the second at 2:01, giving me a grand total of 5:39.  But the great thing was I truly had fun out there.  I'd never run out at Brushy Creek park, and I thought it was lovely--I'll definitely add that trail into my cache of great spots.  The out-and-backs were really enjoyable; you got to see everybody multiple times.  It was quite the hybrid of road and trail racing.  There was much more concrete than I'd imagined there'd be for running in a park, yet the vibe was trail-runner easy going.  And I was truly impressed by the people I met.  Holy cow...there were some heavy duty marathoners there! There was a very nice couple (Keith and Rebecca, I believe) who'd done the 50-miler out at Palo Duro the weekend before and never failed to give me a high five or a positive word every time we passed each other (ahem, every time they passed me).  I met Paula who founded the 50 States club; she's done more than 260 marathons while her husband has logged over 400!  Just standing in the line for the bathroom, there were 4 of us women in line...and between us, we had more than 100 marathon finishes!  Amazing.  And there were some old friends there I hadn't run with since back in the Mixon/early Sisson days and several of my new HCTR buddies out there as well.  Lots of good people.

My husband and son surprised me by coming out and cheering me in.  I felt really good; the temperature was perfect and my legs, while short on get-up-and-go, felt very good. We finished off the day with lounging at home and a Longhorn victory, me in my cool new Frankenthon shirt.  I'm glad I did it.

I am currently working on the epic novel that is my Palo Duro Canyon 50K race report.  I love writing race reports.  When I relive the experience like that, it often helps me to clarify issues (good and/or bad) and come to conclusions.  It helps to settle everything in my mind so I can make sense out of the months of training and the minutes and hours of the event.  Sometimes, there's a bigger picture than merely a run.  And often, it's not until the post-race deconstruction that I can truly see that.

This run needed to be put in the context of 2009.  My friend stephbondhuie  helped me to see that in the long car ride home from Palo Duro last Sunday.

It's also important for me to get a handle on this race before I go ahead with other race plans.  I shouldn't make any changes based on ego or impatience or unsatisfaction; if I choose to do something differently, it needs to be because my heart is leading me in that direction and it's best for me. 

Not quite ready to write a race report for Palo Duro, so here's the down and dirty:

I didn't have the day I wanted.  Yeah, I think I can figure out some mitigating circumstances, things that contributed, but the truth of the matter is that some days are just not your day.  On those days, the run is work and you're slow.  I actually added time from my 2007 finish, which was 7:24, for a finish of 7:38.  I was crushed.

The good things are that I finished, and I finished strong.  I problem-solved and worked to improve things rather than giving up and walking.  The day was beautiful, and I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent in the canyon and with friends.  I feel good right now and am looking forward to the next race.

And I am SOOO PROUD of my friend Stacey, who finished her first 50K with a kick-ass time.  As I was coming in for my finish, there she was, and knowing that she'd had a wonderful day was like I'd PRed myself.  It was a great feeling.

Hitting a low point...lots of stuff I don't need to deal with topped with a sick child.  I'm sticking close to home today to take care of my big guy, so I guess tomorrow will be the errand running day.  I'll just wash and pack (and wash my hands a lot and offer sacrifices to the running gods for wellness).

Shake it off, shake it off.

Back on September 5, I caught my right toe on a rock at Bastrop and took a fall, wrenching the leg as I went down.  I did this years ago (left leg, but same park), and really pulled something up in the butt/high hamstring area.  I was only able to keep running because we were with trail runner Steve Williams, who has massage background as a therapist, I believe, and he worked on me right then and there.  I did the same thing this time, but it didn't hurt as bad nor keep me from running.  As the weeks went by, my leg never really hurt or bothered my running too much, but it was sore, clearly not completely right, and bothersome (especially when I had to sit and drive for hours).  

My massage therapist had worked on it a bit on September 21 but she really focused on it when I went in for my pre-race tune up on Friday.  My friend Malinda had recommended Gayla to me back during Ironman training, and I've stayed with her since; I think she does an amazing, wonderful job.  She's very attentive to what's going on with me.  Between the two of us--she trying different muscles, different movents, and me giving feedback--we were able to pinpoint the exact spot to work on and she got the muscles to relax.  It was incredible; I literally felt an electric current zap through my system.  It made me realize how "jammed up" that area has been for the last month and, while I didn't think I was "injured" per se, it had to have affected my power output and the use of that leg.  I've been foam rolling about twice a day since then, trying to keep everything loose and stretched.  Epsom salts and apple cider vinegar baths, too.  And it's funny--the work she did made me realize that the area I need to loosen up was actually on the front of my leg, up at the top of my quads.  Before, I'm been trying to stretch out the big butt muscles in the back.  So no wonder I wasn't seeing improvement; I was working the wrong damn spot.

How do you know when you've set the right goal for a race?

I think it has a lot to do with how you feel in the week before the race.  If you've set too easy of a goal (or your goal is simply to have fun and finish), then there's not a lot of pre-race weirdness.  It's just another down week.  If you're me and I've set the easy goal, I'm generally happy and bopping along pre-race, only having logistical worries.  For the super big goals (like Ironman) which seem on the outer reach of attainability, I am almost in a state of panic in the final week.  There will be periods where I almost can't breathe, and I go very inwards--I don't want to talk to a lot of people or be in crowds.  This dissolves into a state of zen right before and the morning of...that's what the super big, crap-your-pants-what-if-I-can't-do-it goals feel like to me in my final pre-race days.

I think I've set the right goal for Palo Duro.  If there isn't a bit of fear factor in the week before, then I'm not stretching myself.  And every now and then, I find myself thinking, "Why in the world did I think I could drop this much time?  Am I prepared?  How does this year compare to two years ago, training wise?"  However, I have a big base of confidence and only a small question of "can I do this?"  I feel like I'm perfectly balanced on the high wire, and only the day will tell what can come.

And so I'll state my goal here, because when you run for time there's no fudge factor:  you make it or you don't, and my goal at this race is time...a finish time of under 7:00. 

I have been fascinated by the toe nail process.  I don't think I'm following the normal curve.

Sunday, it really looked like I was going to lose the thing:  entire nail bed was dark purple, lots of fluid under the nail, painful to touch with some play in the nail.  On Monday, I had drainage (basically, like blister fluid with a slight tinge of blood) from the left-hand side of the nail, the place where it had originally been a bit sore after my long run the week before.  However, wearing a shoe was fine, running not a problem, and in general, it was a whole lot more comfortable that it had been.  I just wiped it down with alcohol periodically.  Yesterday, no more draining and no more giant blister under the nail.  The toe nail seems to be stuck back on.

Today, it looks almost completely normal.  If I push on the nail, it's a bit sore in spots (I still wouldn't want to bump it again, especially like I did Thursday).  So I'm wondering if this means I'll get to keep the nail.  If it weren't for Palo Duro coming up in just over a week, I wouldn't care one way or another.

When I did my first marathon back in '00, I wound up with a purple and black right big toe nail.  I was really excited by losing a toe nail--badge of honor!  I'm a real marathoner now!  Only serious runners lose toe nails!  What happened was the middle part of my nail died and nothing else, creating a totally detached, discolored section in the middle of my big toe.  It's irritating; stuff will get under there after a muddy run.  Cold weather will make that spot ache.  I sure hope I don't have this experience with the left one!

A friend's post about keeping track of running stats made me take a look at mine for this last week.  13:54 total run time for approximately 60 miles.  Hello!  I was a little surprised at the mileage because I hadn't really thought about it in those terms, just time on my feet. 

Last night, I went to the informal 10-mile hilly road run again.  What a fun group!  Sometimes, you just get a group of people that gels, and this is one of those times. I think it is a big reflection on the person putting it together, stephbondhuie , who brings a quiet sense of fun and bonhomie to a pretty tough run.  And nobody's there to be a speed demon, just to get some quality miles in with friends.  So when the older, non-English-speaking lost woman stopped us for directions, of course two of the group walked her back to where ever it was she was trying to go.

When I did it for the first time last week, I was coming off of being sick and really, really struggled, especially at the end of the run (there is something sick about having to run back up Laderna Norte in your final mile and a half).  It took me 2:11 to make those hilly ten miles.  Everybody was quite nice about it, and several said that, surprisingly, it would be much better the second time.  So of course I came back this week.  You'd think it would've been tougher, seeing as I did my long run on Tuesday and obviously had a high-mileage week.  But NO--it was sooooo much better!  I felt much more "in control" of the route and did a better job pacing myself on the uphills, which are, admittedly, a huge weakness for me.  I was a bit slower on the downhills than usual, seeing as I was being quite cautious about banging my purple big toe nail (I was successful, and it wasn't painful).  We had a bit of stoppage with the aforementioned lost lady.  And I came in at 2:08, whittling my time down just a bit but feeling much, much better overall.  Success!

Sad, geeky note:  my watch is dying.  I know this because it's refusing to recognize "stop" and continuing to run, so need to get a new one before my race.  This makes me sad because (total geekdom) I still have my Ironman splits saved on it.  I will hate to see them go; it always gives me a bit of satisfaction to scroll through and hit that final IM time.

I managed to get  my peak running week in despite the sick time. 

On Tuesday, I packed up and drove to Bastrop to do my last big long run before Palo Duro (October 17).  I knew it was a get-it-done-or-let-it-go kind of scenario, that that day was the last window for putting in any long mileage that made sense.  I opted for Bastrop because I was going to be by myself and the parking lot/trail layout there is just about perfect for a runner on her own.  Plus, I have never, ever run into any remotely sketchy situation while out there (unlike the greenbelt here in Austin, where I frequently do run into people who put the hackles up a bit or situations where I'm too remote for my own good).  And lastly, it's not a very challenging course, much like the trail out at Palo Duro. 

( Details on the long run out at Bastrop. )The full 28 at a very easy and comfortable 6:35 run time made me feel pretty confident that my sub-7:00 hour 50K is within reach.  Certainly, I'll PR, as I did Palo Duro 2 years ago in 7:29 (of course, I did take a wrong turn that year....).

The next day, I opted to go to the first workout for the new TriZones road running group.  I figured I'd just be there and I didn't have to actually do all the workout, which was on the track.  Now, I love a track workout.  I found myself "just doing this little bit" of the workout, which turned into all of it, including a mile time trial followed by 400m repeats at mile pace.  I shocked myself by running a comfortable 8:49 time trial and then easily nailing all my subsequent 400m repeats.  Who'd have thought?  Certainly not me.  Now, I paid for it on Thursday, which was not the best, as I had my quality workout for the week Thursday night.  It was hill repeats at St. Eds...and they are going to cost me my left big toe nail.  After the run Tuesday, I'd noticed my left toe nail was a bit sore.  I was wearing those relatively new Montrails and chalked it up to different shoes; I've run in my men's Inov8s for so many years, and I've NEVER had a toe issue in them.  Anyway, as I came downhill Thursday night on the first repeat, there was a section with a short, sharp 90-degree turn into steep downhill.  I was wearing my new Inov8s (the GIRL version), my foot slipped inside the shoe and slid my toe down into the folded up hard toe box on the downhill.  OUCH!  Oh, it HURT!  i thought I had peeled the toe nail off.  But I soldiered on.  On the second repeat, I somehow did it AGAIN in exactly the same spot.  I knew it was bad when I couldn't run the downill at St. Eds, one of my all time favorite things to do.  I called it a day and didn't do the third one.  By the time I'd gotten home, underneath the nail bed had completely filled with blood, the toe nail was purple, and it was so painful I couldn't even put my foot under the covers.  I put arnica gel on it; it was better in the morning, but thank goodness I didn't need to run on it.  I did a short run yesterday, and it was bearable...but general consensus was I'm losing it and pretty quickly.  The only question is how it will affect Palo Duro.

I'll see how tonight goes; i'm doing a hill evening road run with some of the HCTR people.  I did it last Sunday, and it kicked my ass--all the biggest hills in Northwest Austin packed into one 10-mile route.  I'm going to try to make this run as often as possible because 1) it addresses my big weakness (running uphill), 2) is full of nice people, and 3) allows me to sleep in on Sunday mornings.  Woot!

So I ran Sunday, and then I followed that with a short run on Monday (which was on my schedule).  But everything had moved to my head by Monday and I was horribly congested.  Otherwise, I felt fine, and since I'd had no fever, I went to the massage I'd set up (it was originally supposed to be after my big long run on Saturday, bleh).  I discussed with my therapist whether I should be having a massage, as I was worried about making her sick, but we proceeded.  It was great.  But I always get congestion with a massage, and by Monday night, I was really miserable.  Tuesday, I ran a low grade fever.  All I did all day was eat and lay around.  At about 8PM while my boy and I were cooking something for his dinner, I realized that I suddenly felt much, much better...there was no achiness, the congestion had abated, no headache...and when I woke up this morning, I realized I'd slept all night.  I've actually been happy to get working on things and I feel like I'm out of the slug-like stupor that's enveloped me most of the last week.

It's probably perfect that we'll be out of town this weekend and I won't be able to get to a long run until Monday or Tuesday.  By then, I should be fully back to normal (I'll have spent almost TWO WEEKS sick or taking it easy) and rarin' to go.

My problem has been that no running+cool weather=time on my hands which is equivalent to cooking...which means I've done nothing but cook and eat the last couple of days.  I'd been watching my food, hoping to drop a pound or two in the month before the race but instead, I'm sure I've put on weight.  These last two days, especially yesterday when I ate everything in sight, have offset the first few days of being sick when I couldn't eat anything. 

I keep reminding myself that, unlike NYC last year, this has been a good time in my training to be sick and these next days will be great recovery days.  Better to be healthy and slightly undertrained going into a race than fully trained but sick.

I did a little run today.  First run since Tuesday morning; first day to really even feel like doing much of anything.

Once I realized that my long run was not in the cards for Saturday (this made me quite sad, as I was looking forward to my 24 miles out at Bastrop, and the honey had planned to ride his bike out there while I ran), I decided that I would do "life" instead and rest as much as possible.  So I got to go see my boy's cross country meet in the morning.  That stuff is just so exciting!  I love watching him run, and there was a big finish on the track, so we got to see him at several different points throughout the 5K.  He wasn't so happy with his time, but it really didn't matter to me--I'm so proud of him for getting out there and working hard.  I wish I had his talent!

We came home, and I wound up pretty much sleeping all afternoon until time to leave for the UT game.  Having dinner with friends before and then enjoying the game was nice, but by half time, I was toast.  So my workout for Saturday was simply getting through those two activities.

Today, I finally felt like going for a run.  I had no idea what I'd actually feel like out there, as I'm still having body aches, sore throat, and general fatigue.  So I decided to go to Walnut Creek; I told myself I was going to go out and enjoy being and simply remind myself what the trail looks like in the daylight.  That way, if I wound up walking, I wouldn't be mad.  I had a very nice time...and I actually ran (though slowly) for an hour and a half total.  It felt good to move, and I felt better once I got moving. 

I've been battling what I think is a very weak case of the flu.  Body aches, headache, nausea, slight sore throat, no energy.  It kept me from running Wednesday and Thursday, which just killed me, as yesterday was such a lovely, lovely day.  Today will be just as nice.  When I don't even feel like moving, then I'm definitely sick.

I didn't feel bad enough to go back to bed...but I didn't feel good enough to do things that, oh, required energy or focus.  What to do?  I wound up tackling my recipes. 

I'm a sucker for a food magazine.  Absolutely LOVE them.  And then, I can't seem to throw them away.  I just might want to cook what's in there.  So I stack them up, organize them, and let them sit there.  I also tear out recipes from the newspaper.  All these things pile up.  So I got rid of all the magazines; I went through and found the recipes that I've cooked and like, and they went into a binder.  I made myself scan the index and if there was something I might like to cook, I took it out.  And then the magazine went into the recycling bin.  I cleared out a lot of stuff.  And now I have binders of recipes at my finger tips in some order that I might actually use.  Though I have told myself I can't buy any more food magazines or cook books until I've whittled down what I've got.

I have no idea what I'm going to do today, as I'm still not 100%.  I think I'll take a walk and see how I feel after that.

What a crappy run.  My morning Walnut Creek run just blew chunks. 

It didn't start off that bad; I actually woke up and didn't want to go back to sleep.  That was a good start.  I got there a bit early, had time for a pit stop, and spent a bit of time chatting.  There were just 4 of us, and we quickly split into the two faster up ahead, followed by me and the nice guy sweeping (or babysitting me, if you will).  I hate to make anyone run slower, but he said my pace was good practice for his 100 miler pace at Cactus Rose.  We chatted while we ran.

It was dark and a bit gooshy from the rain, so add cautious into my slow pace and I'm even slower.  I was drenched in sweat, and it actually felt a bit hard to breathe for me.  I just kept slowing down, and the legs kept getting heavier and heavier.  When we came up after the switchbacks (but before the Maze aid station), I said I was cutting it short and heading back in. 

Normally, I should've beaten them back to the parking lot.  Today, I didn't.  I don't know what the issue was but I couldn't run another step.  I also made a bad turn, but still...I should've beaten them back.  And so everyone waited for me, and the nice fellow (dang, what IS his name?  Paul?) even came back to look for me.  Humiliating.  Fortunately, I was only a short distance from the parking lot by then.

I think some poor food choices yesterday and no breakfast this morning piled onto the problem, which was also exacerbated by the humidity.  Long story short=it just wasn't my day.