Pictures from Halloween 2k

Costume contest competitor

















At the starting line with Rudy












The two dachshund owners sprint to the finish!














Halee and me, with Rudy and Emma













Completing the 1st lap of the 2k course












Post-Race Nap

Howl-a-ween Bone Hunt

This morning I am taking Emma to the Jessamine County Howl-a-ween Bone Hunt. There is a 2k run/walk race, a doggy costume contest, and a bone hunt - where the dogs can keep all the bones and tennis balls that they are able to find. I'm expecting to see blood shed during this part of the day. But, I am really excited because my co-worker Halee is bringing her 1 year old German Shepard. I am going to run with him (Rudy) in the race while Halee walks Emma.
***UPDATE***
I ended up running with Emma (I wasn't prepared for Rudy's brute strength) and we got 3rd place overall! I was really proud of how she was able to keep up with me for the most part. But I did have to carry her the last 40 yards or so.

Now, even though I have a brilliant costume in mind, we won't be participating in the costume contest. I think it is humiliating and cruel to stuff a little dog inside a lady bug costume, Superman tights, or the least creative of all for a dachshund - a hot dog bun. Now I do have a really great idea for a costume. It involves a white wig, a tiny velvet hat, small silver spectacles, and a red velvet blouse...combining together to create - you guessed it...Mrs. Claws. I'm pretty sure Emma wouldn't stand for it though. See below for past costume attempts:

New GU Fan

I just tried GU (pronounced goo) for the first time...sitting at my desk. I was pleasantly surprised! I am going to see how my stomach handles it, and then hopefully use it during my race-like training run on October 6th. I'm not sure what I expected it to taste like (I tried "chocolate outrage") but it tasted like brownie batter to me. Also, Kroger is having a great sale on Clif Bars (new Mojo bars included) and 32oz bottles of Gatorade - 10 for $10! Perfect time to stock up for October.

Marathon Manifesto

I've come to realize over the past 10 months that running a marathon encompasses so much more than simply putting one foot in front of the other for 26.2 miles. One of the most intimidating things to me about the marathon experience isn't the distance - it is the idea that so many things need to culminate together on one day, on one morning, for one race. This is so intimidating for me! All of my runs and training sessions that have been spread out over roughly 300 days will combine together to carry me through 26.2 miles. So...to put my OCD mind at ease, I've compiled what I call a "marathon manifesto" - a 3 page Word document detailing close to my every move for the marathon weekend. My husband thinks I'm crazy for doing this - but it is so comforting to be able to mentally walk through the race weekend and flesh out all possible circumstances and scenarios. I find myself updating it and tweaking it every day - but I want to post it here so that I can get feedback from my running readers.

Test Run: 13.1 miles, October 6^th, 2007, 8:00am, Nicholasville
Goals
1. To participate in the Phedippidations 2^nd Annual World Wide Half Marathon Challenge
2. To replicate Louisville Marathon race conditions

Pre-Test Run Prep
-Prepare 8oz portions of Gatorade (4)
-Prepare 8oz portions of water (3)
-Prepare 32oz bottle of ½ water, ½ Gatorade
-Prepare gel packs (1)
-Prepare running outfit

Friday dinner:
Pasta at Macaroni Grill at 6:30pm

• Water
• House Caesar salad
• Bread
• Penne with oven roasted chicken
• Dessert: 2 Reese’s Peanut Butter cups

Go to sleep 9:30pm or 10:00pm

Breakfast at 5:45-6:00am:

• Cheerios w/ banana
• Clif bar
• 20 oz bottle of half-water/half-Gatorade

Begin run at 8:00am
Aid Stations:

• Mile 2-water
• Mile 4-Gatorade
• Mile 7-Gatorade
• Mile 9-water and gel
• Mile 11-Gatorade
• Mile 13-Gatorade

Marathon Weekend: October 20^th and 21^st, Louisville

Packing List:

• Camera
• iBook
• iPod
• Cliff bars
• PowerBars
• A few Jolly Ranchers to put in pocket (just in case!)
• Gels (4 chocolate)
• Gatorade (3 32oz bottles fruit punch)
• Water bottles (4 20oz bottles)
• Headband
• Small towels
• Pre-race zippered hooded sweatshirt, gloves (buy cheap throwaways from Wal-Mart)
• Race outfit
• Under Armour socks
• Mizuno shoes
• Shorts (side pockets – 1 Jolly Rancher, key, iPod, 2 gels safety pinned to inside of shorts)
• Under Armour t-shirt
• Post-race outfit
• Advil, Tylenol

Saturday, 1:30pm – Head to Louisville
Saturday, 3:00pm – Pick up packet at race HQ, drive race course
Saturday afternoon – Check into hotel
Saturday evening – Order and pick up dinner from Macaroni Grill

• Water
• House Caesar salad
• Bread
• Penne with oven roasted chicken
• Dessert: 2 Reese’s Peanut Butter cups

Saturday night:
watch TV, charge iPod, finalize playlist, go to bed early (9:00ish)

Sunday:

• 5:15 – wake up, drink water bottle, shower
• 5:45-6:00 – eat breakfast
• Cheerios, banana, Clif bar, 32oz bottle ½ water, ½ Gatorade
• 6:00-6:35 – go back to room, stretch, finalize bags, etc
• 6:40 – check out of hotel, head to race HQ
• 7:00ish – arrive at race, begin stretching and warming up
• 7:45ish – last bathroom stop
• 8:00am – begin marathon!
• 12:30pm - finish marathon!
  

Aid Stations

• Mile 2: Water
• Mile 4: Gatorade (8 oz, calories = 50)
• Mile 7: Gatorade (8 oz, calories = 50)
• Mile 9: Water and Gel (calories = )
• Mile 11: Gatorade (8 oz, calories = 50)
• Mile 13: Gatorade (8 oz, calories = 50)
• Mile 16: Water
• Mile 18: Water and Gel (calories = )
• Mile 20: Gatorade (8 oz, calories = 50)
• Mile 22: Water
• Mile 24: Gatorade (8 oz, calories = 50)

Gatorade Info (per 8oz of fruit punch flavored Gatorade x 6 consumptions)
50 calories
110 mg of sodium, 30 mg of potassium, 14 grams of carbs

PowerBar Chocolate Gel Info (per packet x 2 consumptions…possibly 3)
120 calories
1.5 grams of fat
200 mg of sodium, 40 mg of potassium, 90 mg of chloride

Expected calories burned: 2,600 calories

Running Updates

This past May I began looking for a marathon training plan to follow through the fall for my October marathon. I found a training plan on the Louisville Derby Festival marathon website, and "customized" it...I think this was my first mistake. I shifted things all around to fit in the spinning classes I attend on Monday and Wednesday morning, added miles here, added long runs there. There is a statistic somewhere that says you shouldn't increase your training miles by more than 10% of your total miles each week. Both in my half-marathon training and now in marathon training, I always seem to throw that wise adage out the window. Which of course is not good, and has lead to injury both times. My left knee has been bothering me for about two weeks now - I can't go for more than 6 miles without feeling like my knee is going to explode. So, I have decided to really cut back on heavy running and log some serious hours on the spinning bikes. Being five weeks out, I don't want to let my level of fitness slip any, but I also don't want to risk making the knee any worse. I am going to do a lot of cycling and slowly build my mileage back up to where I can do a 10 or 12 mile long run a few weeks before the race. I feel really good about my training plans from here on out, and I've already picked a training plan (ING New York City Marathon Basic Marathon plan) to follow for a spring marathon - no altering this one!

Now...I just need to figure out what I'm going to wear during the marathon.

Clifford Appearance

These pictures are from my short stint as Clifford the Big Red Dog this past Saturday in Louisville. The event was in a museum, and the Clifford meet and greet was held in a beautiful castle-type room. A little gothic, but really pretty. Sorry the pictures are dark and blurry - but it was the best I could find!

Early AM Run

The positive aspects of living across the street from a Catholic church:
1. Being able to visit the Perpetual Adoration chapel at any time, day or night.
2. The added security that maybe someone will think twice about breaking into our house because the eyes of the church are upon us.

The negative aspects of living across the street from a Catholic church:
1. Having the living bejeesus scared out of you during a 6am Sunday morning run when you encounter a priest on the sidewalk fully garbed in a black robe.

Update

The 20-miler went well. I am still alive, so that is a good sign. I had a really good time running in Wilmore, but oh my goodness was it hilly. It was neat getting to run past and see my friend waving at from the window of a coffee shop, and to stop at another friend's house for a much needed pit stop and bathroom break - there was even an encouraging sign waiting for me! (Don't worry Dru, the one man cheerleading squad wasn't awkward at all!)

I think I was pretty well prepared with fluids and PowerBars, but it was a pretty tough run. I am already looking forward to my next long, long run - a 22 miler on September 15th. I will do one more 20 mile run on either September 29th or October 6th - I need to do some research to see if it is ok to only taper off for two weeks instead of three. I have events at work practically every weekend in September, but I am determined to fit all of my long runs in this weekend. This weekend I will be donning a Clifford the Big Red Dog costume at a local art museum...I will be sure to post pictures.

On another note, Chad started back for his second year at Asbury Seminary yesterday. He has been very antsy this past month for school to start up, so I know he's excited to get rolling again. I wanted to take a "first day of school" picture of him, but he wouldn't let me, so you'll just have to trust me that he looked very cute.