I'm ready and Did you or did you not?

I am ready for my half marathon! Bring it on!
I got my Garmin, my EFS liquid shot, my belt (this time I am taking it and if it gets on my nerves; at miles 8 Bill will be there to catch it), gum (don't judge), salt pills, other pills I need, Prednisone just in case (I started getting the bad allergies again..head pressure and all the crap), found this VIA Starbucks thing for breakfast (Chris K you are off the hook for the coffee) and 2 Ipods (what? you don't bring 2 just in case?), will need to add sunglasses, hat, shoes and my clothes.

My goals: to run a better smarter race is #1 and if I can do that I know it will be a faster one.  So no going out to fast, drink before getting thirsty,  no meeting with the freaking wall, finish strong and no puking would be a plus!  
Will I be disappointed if I don't do a better time then I did at my first half marathon?
NO DOUBT IN MY MIND ON THIS ONE: YES I WILL BE.
I got a number in my head.  I know I can do it.

I wish it was tomorrow.  I followed the plan and I rested today (so far). 
I am anxious.  I did not sleep well last night, was awake at 3:30 am thinking It was time to get to the shuttle.  I HATE taper.   Tonight I need to sleep so Tylenol PM will be my friend.

The freaking Lakers won. BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

So did you or Did you not?
Get up at an insane hour to watch that little wedding in England?

PRETTY BRIDE

I did not.
But I did go online to look at pictures and I found some scary stuff.
You would have to pay me to see me out in public with one of those on my head:

Is that supposed to be a smile?

Poor person who was sitting behind the gal in blue

Or this one!

Low key outfit, you think she wanted to get noticed?

AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!
Thank you for your well wishes and for your advices and for reading!
Good luck to everyone racing this weekend! 

(If you are tall, blond, look like a top model, live in AZ, don't have good taste in NCAA hoop team, run insane distances on the TM,  say the word freaking a lot, OK that should do it: Please take it EASY )

See you after the race!!!

THE END

Well I have completed all my training plan.  I ran the last 3 miles today.
Tomorrow I have to help at Will's school and if I have time I might run a couple of miles after I am done.

Speaking of Will's school.

I try to help the teacher as much as I can.  I do little things for her, like filing and getting stuff ready for the following week.  I helped with the Jog-o-thon.  Yesterday, they had a breakfast for the volunteers and I missed it because I had to go see the dentist.

Today the teacher gave me something the kids made for me.  It is a book with thank you  notes from the kids.  Sweetness. And it came with a card from the green place where they make good Lattes!!!

Are you following the NBA finals?  I don't like it as much as the NCAA but I watch.  Did I ever mention I cannot stand the Lakers?  Well I cannot stand them.  I am allergic to Kobe.  I don't live in LA but close enough that The Lakers is the home team for my area.  Lot's of Lakers flags on cars and houses and lot's of jerseys with #24.  Yikes.. makes me want to win a Pukie Award from BDD every time I see one of those.... Well me I walk around town and the gym with a GREEN t-shirt with a shamrock on it.  Yep, I like to live dangerously.

Then there's the Stanley Cup finals....(Chris K that is hockey great sport with skates, sticks and a puck)  My team lost game 7 in OT yesterday against freaking Boston.  It sucks.

Boston-Philadelphia that should be interesting.

I got my shuttle time today: 4:45 am!

That is early!   Forecast is for sunny warm day so early start is best for me.

Going Bananas

Ah TAPER...I do not like you.
Last week I was fine,  I had no crazy thoughts, no second guessing. I was fine.
Now not so much.
Now I am nervous.
I should be sleeping more, I am not.  I lay down and I think I will not get up on time Sunday morning.  That freaks me out.  How will I get ready in the dark at that crazy hour without waking the boys?  First shuttle is at 4 am. Tomorrow I will find out what time I get.  I don't want 4 am (too early) or 5:30 am (too late).  If I get that I will take hotel shuttle and pay the extra $ (mothers day gift from me to me).  This is the earliest start I have ever had so far: 6 am.  That is early.   I have to get ready, eat, take care of business (you know..), take the shuttle.  This means getting up really early...like before 3 am.  We are staying in a hotel WITH  the kids.  Oh Yeah.  I usually drink a little coffee before running including races.  Now not sure it will be possible to get some at that hour, I am hoping the hotel will have some in the lobby maybe. 

Yesterday I ran 3 miles on the treadmill.  My legs were still stiff from my 12 miles run so I wore my new compression socks all day and that helped.   
Today was rest day and I had to go to the dentist to get my permanent crown. NOT FUN.  Aouch.  They did not numb me for that, where is the love for little old me?  I am a wuss, it hurts, let's hope tomorrow is better.
Tomorrow is supposed to be my last run before my race:  3 miles on the treadmill again.
Then 2 days of rest.  

I am thinking about what to eat.  I read about it.  There's the load on carbs option or the let's not load on carbs and be heavy on race day option.  I am thinking the second one is the best for me.  I am not used to having a high calorie diet.  Being bloated on race day would not be good plus I am not running a marathon, just a half.  I am drinking more because dehydration is a problem for me during races and if it is warm then it is a HUGE problem.

So taper brings one thing : too much thinking.

Moving on to another topic.
I have a type A personality.  Yep poor Bill I know, nothing I can do about it.
I plan stuff ahead of time.  I mark everything on our calendar.  I make lists. 
I even used to earn a good living planning production for multiple plans for a large food company.  (Having an engineering degree can lead to jobs that are completely unrelated to what we learned during those 4 yrs of school).  So I am a pretty organized person. 
Well apparently not always.
I signed up for the Long Beach Half Marathon a few weeks ago. (EMZ get to it! ).  That is October 9, 2011.  I don't know why I did not look at our calendar -where everything is written down- BEFORE I registered but I didn't.  I also forgot to write Long Beach HM on the calendar until this morning.  Well guess what we are doing on October 8, 2011?  I cannot even believe I forgot about that by the way, but we are taking the kids to go see this guy at Staples Center in LA:


Picture taken by me, from front row.

What is better then a concert in LA the night  before a Half Marathon in Long Beach?  That will be interesting.  I will have to go to the Expo in Long Beach during the day on Saturday, drive to LA to see our BFFF (best famous family friend. If you are new and don't know our Keith connection you can read here ) Keith and go back to Long Beach.  Should be fun.

What ladies? More pictures of Keith? Here you go.





TAPER and Half Marathon Pace

This week is week 12 of my training plan!  The last week before my 2nd Half Marathon.

WEEK 11
Mon: Rest: Rest
Tue: 3 miles easy: 4 miles with incline
Wed: 5 miles: 5 miles
Thur: Speedwork 10x400m: 10x400m (in the sauna!): 5 miles total.
Fri: 3 miles pace: 3 miles pace
Sat: Rest: Rest
Sun: 12 miles: 12  cold rainy miles.
total: 29 miles

WEEK 12: TAPER
Mon: 4 miles recovery run
Tue: 3 easy miles
Wed: Dentist
Thu: 3 miles
Fri: REST
Sat: REST
Sun: OC HALF MARATHON!

Taper: I don't like taper.  I worry that my legs will forget what they can do, I know it is crazy.  2 days in a row of rest...I don't like that.  Do you run the day before a race?

This morning I went for my 4 miles.  I ran it at faster pace then I did my 12 miles yesterday.
I thought I would be really sore after my 12 miles but it was not as bad as I thought, ice baths hurt but for me they work.  My quads felt stiff that was my main issue.
During this run I was thinking about pace for my half marathon.
I know I should not go out too fast but I also know I can do better then last time as far as pace goes.  Yesterday I went slow, that is what Hal Higdon says to do for the long run and I wanted to do the distance and not get injured.  Today I was faster with tired legs and it got me wondering how do I really know what pace I can do for a half marathon without hitting the wall?  I know with experience I will get better at this but for now I have 1 half marathon experience filled with almost all the beginner's mistakes one can do.  
I know not to over dressed that it is OK to be a bit cold at the starting line. 
I know that I have to drink BEFORE getting thirsty.
I know what fuel I can take and how much (not a lot).
I know I need to take salt before and during the race.
I know not to start a half marathon like it was a 5k race and to go slower.
But I don't  know what is the fastest pace I can really keep for 13.1 miles.
If I go too fast and I crash that is not good.
If I go too slow and I can do better that is not great either.

I bought compression socks and I was hoping to try them for my last long run to see if this would be good for me to help prevent getting swollen feet (I had that pretty bad for my first half) but they arrived today. 

This week I need get more rest, the night before the race we will stay at a hotel in Newport and I know I will not get a good night sleep...kids in same room: enough said. 
Start is at 6 am and this week I will get my shuttle time;  somewhere between 4 am and 5:30 am.  So I need to move the bedtime earlier, increase water intake and try to eat more carbs later this week.  First 2 easy to do, last one not so much. 

Jelly Bean Race, Long run, Easter and Elephant!

Happy Easter everyone!
This was a busy weekend!  Yesterday no running, I decided to rest before my 12 miles and see if this will help.  So we had the usual Saturday Soccer game.  Will had 2 great chances to score but unfortunately he was the only yellow guy against 3-4 red so no goal.

Today I went for a 12 miles run.  This was my last long run before the half marathon.  In one week at this time it will all be done!  I got up early so that I could come back for the Easter egg hunt.  It was pretty cool outside, maybe 12 Celsius.  3 miles into my run: RAIN!  Crap.  This was not good, cold rain and of course some wind.  I wished I had gloves.  At around mile 6 I realized that I forgot to hit start on my GARMIN at the last stop light maybe 1.5 miles or so ago.  Crap again.  Good thing I had map my run and I knew how far I needed to go before turning around: 15 fwy;  easy to remember.   The rain was getting worst and  I was completely soaked, my shoes were super heavy.  At least I did not feel as bad as last week.  The worst part was my hands,  they went numb because it was so cold.   I did not walk like last week, only to take my water out for a few sips and that's it.  I had a liquid shot with me, I took some at mile 5 even though I was not feeling the need for it, I thought better to take it BEFORE I need it.  It went down OK, but next few sips did not.  I almost got sick.  First time this happens with this fuel. :(   I got home and the kids had painted some eggs!

I signed up for Jess Jelly Bean virtual Race and I used the first 10k of today's run for that!  (Do you see Maggie sneaking in the back?)  Thank you Jess!

I was soooooo cooooold it was still raining when Bill took that picture.

I took an ice bath, that was no fun.  I was already pretty cold.  To put my poor hands in the water was almost impossible.  I lasted 10 minutes and then took a hot shower.  My stomach was not happy, pretty bad nausea. 

Because of the rain, I had to hide the eggs inside the house for the boys.  They were still happy to go look for them and get some surprises!

While I was out running they went to the store and got me flowers and 2 bags of ice!!!

After all this, we headed to the movies.  We did not have any family plans, mine is all in Quebec and Bill's is...sadly I don't have a nice word to describe them...
I went to see Water for Elephants with one of my dear friend who is going through a hard time and Bill and the boys went to see RIO!  Boys loved it and Bill said it was a good nap!!!
Water for Elephants: it was good.  I did like it.  It is not as good as the book and they changed and skipped parts.   If you read the book, the guy who plays August was perfect.  I got to say that the Rob Twilight dude...he was very good as well and he is not ugly.  I recommend the movie.

Your biggest fan and Speedwork in a Sauna

Today Speedwork 10 x 400.  Last one before my Half Marathon (May 1st).  I do these at the gym or today I should say the sauna.  When I got there I knew this would not be good.  The windows were all foggy, the front door was open, not a good sign.  Well I looked at the temperature inside: 89! YIKES!  This sucked big time.

I have come to like speedwork (but not at 89 degrees!)  I feel like crap at the end, nausea for a few hours after, but during the workout it feels pretty good to push the old body. 

So I am supposed to do the repeats at 5k pace, for me would be around 9:30 and I did these at 8:13.

For ME 8:13 is fast.  For others it is VERY slow.   After 5 repeats I started thinking about some of you who are really fast machines and can go 50 miles at a pace much  faster then 8:13 and some of you who are just coming back from a serious hip injury and just ran Boston and were at  the half point under 2 hours.  I was telling myself between repeats:  "You should be able to go faster then that." 

Now why do we do this to ourselves?  Being so hard on ourselves.  I read a lot of blogs.  And for the most part we are all like that.   We write things like "The goal is to finish, the time does not matter" (most of the time that is a big fat lie)  then race day comes and we finish and we are not happy with the time.  Well then the goal was not just to finish otherwise we would be happy and content with what we did.  Right? For my first half marathon that is what I said, the goal is to finish, it was true, that was the main goal, but I would be a liar if I said there was NO time in my head.  There was.   Was I happy with my time? On that day I was happy that I finished.  That is the truth.  Now looking back I am not happy with the time and I want to do a lot better in 10 days and if I don't I will not be happy.   How much better is enough though? That is THE million $$ question. 

I am a fan of everyone who can run any distance faster then me.  I am a fan of everyone who can run a marathon because I have never ran a marathon.  I am a fan of people who can accomplish extraordinary things with the same body parts I have or less.    My 40 yrs self would be a fan of my 42 yrs old self because at 40 I had not ran a half marathon, heck I could not even run a mile without walking.   Is my 42 yrs old self a fan of mine? She should be right?  I can run faster, I can run longer.  I should be my biggest fan but it is a hard thing to do.  It is hard to find the balance (I am not a fan of that word!!) between pushing ourselves to do better and being able to recognized we did something pretty awesome that most people will never accomplish.  Last week my long run was 11 miles.  It did not go well.  It was slower then I wanted, I had to stop and walk a few times.  I came home and I was discouraged and my husband said : "How many of our friends can run 11 miles you think?  ZERO"  PERSPECTIVE. 

I posted a video of people finishing the Boston Marathon here .  In it some people are really struggling to  cross the finish line, some collapsed while others seconds behind them did push ups to celebrate their finish!  For me the ones who collapsed  showed great determination and will power.  It does not disturb me to see these images (not that I enjoy seeing people suffer, of course I don't), but it makes me admire these folks.  They pushed their body to the limit.  When I finished my Half Marathon, I was one of those people, I had to be "rescued" by a medic.   Would I prefer finishing doing a cartwheel? Yes of course (even though I cannot do one!!) ..but I would always choose finishing needing the medic over not finishing at all.

The F word.

Yesterday I ran 4 miles (instead of 3 ) with incline on the treadmill.  There was this guy next to me who kept looking over at the screen of my treadmill.  After a couple of miles I thought he was a bit creepy and annoying so I covered it.  Once I was done I went to say hello to one of my buddy and treadmill guy comes over and says "Excuse me Miss just want to say thank you for the pace and keeping me on the treadmill!!!"  That was a first for me for sure!!!

Today 5 miles outside, bloody toes, not so good.  Tomorrow must tape those again for speedwork.  Last 10x400 before my Half Marathon!

So Will, my 6 yrs old son who is on 1st grade, comes home yesterday and says: "Mom I got a story to tell you but I don't know if I can tell you because it has the F word in it."  Me : "Say that again?" and I am thinking ALREADY?? Ah crap.  So I told him to go ahead tell me and he will not be in trouble.  He said "Well do you know who Brianna is in my class?" Yes I do. "Well Andrew called her a FAT girl today at recess!!!"  I was kind of still waiting for the other F word but no,  that was it: FAT!  Now I know it is not OK that kids call each other names like Fat but I have to say I was a bit relieved it was not THE F word or the one that Kobe-I-am- an-idiot-Bryant used last week.  Fat is easier to deal with.  So Will says to me "I know it is not nice to say that but she is kind of chubby and I think she should run like you and eat less fruit snacks!"   Smart boy.

_________________

RIP Grete Waitz

Winner of 9 NYC Marathons

Silver medalist in 1984 LA Olympic Games

Watch these great videos! Boston Marathon finishes! Just Awesome!

Today was rest day for me.
Usually I don't rest of Monday but this week I got to adjust my plan with the family schedule, I am a mom first.

This week is week 11 of my training plan.  Half Marathon #2 is almost here.  I am glad it was not yesterday because it was not my day for great running. I gotta to say the ice bath I took was a huge success, no pain today!   I am doing this again this coming weekend after my last long run.  I am also going to rest on Saturday, I hope this will help with my 12 miles on Sunday.  I'd rather do a good 12 then go for an extra 3 miles on Saturday and repeat a crappy run like I had yesterday.

This was week 10
WEEK 10:
Mon: stretch and strength + XT: dentist
Tue: 3 miles easy: 5 miles on treadmill
Wed: 5 miles: 3 miles tempo
Thu: Speedwork:  10x400m: 10x400 : 5 miles total
Fri: REST: REST
Sat: XT or 4 easy miles: 4 miles at HM pace (20 sec faster)
Sun: 11 miles. 11 long hard miles.
Total: 28 miles

WEEK 11:
Mon: rest
Tue: 3 miles easy:
Wed: 5 miles:
Thu: Speedwork:  10x400m:
Fri: 3 miles HM pace:
Sat: REST: 
Sun: 12 miles.

Today was the Boston Marathon and I followed the race of all the people that were featured in this post here
Everybody did fantastic! 

Jim:  had a PR in Boston! How great is that! 
Beth at SUAR was amazing and ran the marathon post injury with a great time of 4:08!
EMZ ran a speedy race after having a "TAPER" of over 70 miles last week.

I found these great videos while I was lookig for footage of the marathon : It has it ALL.

The Ugly Truth - Virtual Marathon part 1

I started my COOL KIDS VIRTUAL MARATHON  today!

Check out my Cool Bib!

Went for my long run this morning.  Got up at 6 am to try to beat the heat. 
Not early enough.   :(

Miles I ran: 11

Time it took: longer then I wanted but still at faster pace then my first half but slower then last 2 long runs of 9 and 10 miles.

Walking breaks: Too many.

Temperature: Way too hot...about 86

Times I said really bad words like Calisse, Criss or Tabarnac (Anne so sorry I know these are very bad) to bikers who almost hit me: TWICE and I am not sorry about that!

Times I wanted to quit and call Bill: ONCE  but I didn't.

Number of squirrel I saw: 1

Side pain: Yep one that lasted about 3 miles.

Number of salt tablets: 2 before I left and 2 after 1 hour: not enough.

I was under my first half marathon pace but slower then my last 2 long runs so I am a little discouraged with this one.
This was a hard one for me.
At times my legs felt really heavy.  I am glad today was NOT race day.

This is me after I got back, I am smiling because it is OVER.  11 done, 15.2 to go!

Last week I had pain in my knees after my 10 miles, did not want that again so I decided to go for the ice bath for the first time.  I hope this will helps.  That was not fun, aouch!
My kids thought it was hilarious that I was taking a bath with ICE in it and that I had clothes on!!!  Cannot see the ice really good on the picture, but there was some!!! I added another bag after that was taken.

Warning: gross picture coming up
My toe is hurting....it is as ugly as my run today
That white part of the nail is about to fall, it is broken.

So there you have it, The Ugly Truth is not all runs go well.  Today it sucked.

Moving on.

Boston runners if you are reading this: GOOD LUCK!!! ENJOY!!!

100 FOLLOERS!!!! Julie is #100! thank you all!!