FOTFOTE

Where to begin...? Sorry I FOTFOTE* this week. I guess I left off after my easy 3 miles on Wednesday.

Thursday:
Thursday's tempo run was good. For how crappy I felt before this run it is incredible that it felt so good, let alone that I even got out the door. I had a nasty headache and was hungry, so when coming home from the office, instead of going right out to run I ended eating peanuts and bread and lying on the couch. This headache would not go away despite taking meds. Anyway, Josh finallly busted my ass (aka gave me a hug) and I got out the door. I ended up just doing this alone because I knew I needed to be ALONE (considering my mood).

Somewhere in the first quarter mile my headache went away and I was off. This run felt really good. I set my pace for the two tempo miles based on feel and didn't check on the garmin at all. In fact, I had no idea my pace until I downloaded my data:

Warm up - 1.5 miles @ ~ 9:10 pace (avg HR ~148)
2 miles @ 7:47 pace (avg HR 179)
Cool down (2 miles) - 9:20 pace/Avg HR 170

Feel wise this was good. I pushed it on the tempo part but it did not feel out of control fast or tough. I did not feel like I needed to stop (which I had kind of expected?) and when the 2 miles was done I slowed back down to the cool down pace. I went faster than prescribed, but Coach SB said that is okay. In fact, here is his response to this run:

Great job Emily. You are just like me. It's OK that you ran it a bit faster. The only thing is that as these paced efforts start to get longer, I might expect you to run the whole thing at your new pace:) If the effort level during the 2 miles felt comfortable, then we may have to already revisit your paces. Do you think you could have held that pace and HR for 13 miles? That's the real question. Some of these paced efforts are going to get as long as 6 - 8 miles in length with the intension of preparing your body for the race. Keep that in mind while running these paced effort runs. That doesn't mean that I want you to sand bag. Also, running by feel will eventually be your best gauge. The best athletes pretty much know when they're at tempo pace or 1/2 pace just by feel. If you were going to grade the effort during the 2 miles between 1-10, what would it score? My best half marathons have always been painful and to set a PR it has to be, but you can't blow it in the first couple miles and limp home. That's what we want to avoid, but no one has ever had a breakthrough race by being conservative. We'll continue modifying next month. You will get faster. You already are. Your body is adapting and your running economy is already improving.

I like all of the questions above - could I have held this pace for 13 miles? Yesterday, definitely not....but maybe in the future as I get faster? It is hard to answer this question and I wonder for how long could I hold that pace? How would I grade my effort during the 2 miles? I would say between 7 to 8, but that rating for 2 miles is different than what I would rate it for a longer sustained effort. For a longer distance it would definitely be more effort.

Friday:
So that was Thursday. Friday I had the day off of work to go wine tasting with some friends that were in town from Chicago. I woke up at my normal time and completed my strength training program before heading out. The strength training is good but I really need to improve my upper body strength; push ups are hard and I don't want them to be. I might also need to start adding weights to the legs portion as it is not very challenging. I don't know - I'll have to ask SB.

A note about Friday's wine tasting - never try to keep up on drinking with anyone from the Midwest. Let's just say that my weekly goal of moderation was a big FAIL. Not only did I get KO'ed by the powerful grape, but at one point I slipped while walking to the bathroom on wet tile and landed smack on my left knee. At the time I didn't really feel much pain, but Saturday morning I woke up with a purplish bruise covering most of my knee. I think I may have tweaked something on the fall because there is a strange pain when I bend in a certain way. I don't want to ignore this but I'm trying not to freak out about it just yet. I'm icing it in hopes it will pass.

Saturday:
3 miles easy... I am not a hangover-runner, so the fact that I did this run just blows me away. I did this first thing in the morning and it was gorgeous out, lots of people out walking/running, etc. My headache went away after mile one. I did not bring my Garmin or any sort of watch, so I'm guessing on the pace. Hoping to get hydrated enough for tomorrow's longer run. Taking it easy tonight.

Sunday:
This is today and I'm sitting here icing pre-run (does that even make sense? not sure, I haven't had an injury in 4eva), trying to drink lots of water and get some pep in my step. I have my running clothes on and will no doubt do the 8 miler today. It is another beautiful day in Portland and I am excited to get my heart going today. I'm hoping to do a new course today, through a park and on softer terrain.

Smarts:
In addition to the crack whore bruise on my knee, in general my lower legs have started feeling achy this week. Its not muscle-sore but rather other type of soreness, the only way I can think to describe this is bone-sore, but who knows what is smarting down there. I'm feeling shin splinty all over. Something tells me this could have a lot to do with the new shoes I've been rocking; the sales guy @ Fit Right NW told me to expect this so I'm not going to worry too much. But there are a lot of other new things I'm doing right now to my body, so who knows what the root cause is. For now I'm not going to worry about it too much.


To Do Today:

• Run-->log the run
• Results of my weekly goals
• Set up next week's goals
• A myriad of other BS that doesn't apply to mental/physical wellness (cleaning, ping-pong, etc.)

*Fell Off The Face Of The Earth