6 Weeks

Six weeks until race day! I am still so pumped up about running the Country Music Marathon in April. My training has been so fun this past week as spring is finally here! I can finally run in shorts again! I've put the running tights up for good, I hope! We've had 50-60 degree temps each day and it has been heavenly. It's been kind of gray and cloudy the past few days, but I am so thankful that it is not bitterly cold anymore!

Training Log 03/08/10 - 03/14/10
Monday: scheduled rest day
Tuesday: 4.79 miles/44:16/9:14 average pace
Wednesday: 3.35 miles/30:39/9:08 average pace
Thursday: 4.34 miles/39:22/9:04 average pace
Friday: 45:00 on the trainer
Saturday: 1) 13.02 miles/1:59:16/9:08 average pace
Saturday: 2) Shamrock Shuffle 3k*/18:36/8:55 average pace
Sunday: rest day
*race report below

I've been having some soreness and pain in my right knee after runs and right at the beginning of some of my runs, so I started using a foam roller at night. My friend Lindsay let me borrow her foam roller and it is amazing! I've really been concentrating on my IT band (between my knee and hip) and my hips, and my knee pain is almost totally gone. Hallelujah! I've also found that taking Emma on a 30 minute walk after my long run really helps with my recovery. We don't walk very fast and she stops to sniff/pee/poop a lot, so it is a perfect way for me to cool down and Emma loves it, too!

I didn't plan on taking a rest day today but the time change threw me off, so I am taking my rest day today and will run some recovery miles tomorrow. I want to be smart about my training this week as it will culminate with the big enchilada...the 22 miler!! This will be my longest training run before I start to taper, and I want to make the most of it. My past few longer runs (16 and 18 miles) have gone very well, and I finished them feeling like I could run further. I will do the 22 miles in Wilmore which is super hilly, so the run will be physically and mentally challenging. I've heard that Nashville is hilly - bring on the hills! I actually really like hills.

When I run, I love listening to the Zen and the Art of Triathlon podcast and the Two Gomers Run a Marathon podcast. Zen and the Art of Triathlon is always interesting, and I look forward to each episode. I save the latest episode for my long run because hearing Brett's training experiences always keeps me motivated and inspired to train hard and push myself to the next level.

Two Gomers Run a Marathon is absolutely hilarious, and keeps me entertained for hours at a time during my long runs. While I don't agree with everything they do (I'm a little concerned with their approach to training!) it is interesting to hear about two guys training and preparing for the their first marathon. Oh, and one of them got hit by a Smart Car a few weeks ago, so it has been interesting to hear about his recovery.

Fund raising for the Lance Armstrong Foundation has been awesome this week! I raised over $150 in two days! Thank you so, so much to all who donated. And if you haven't donated yet, there is still time! To make your donation, please visit www.livestrong.org/teamls2010/meredithbrooks

On Saturday, I did a 13 mile run at 5:00am, followed by the Shamrock Shuffle 3k at 10:00am. It was an great morning! I finished the 13 miles and felt great - I had a ton of energy and was ready to head into Lexington for the 3k. I went to the race with my friends Kelly and Eve, and Eve's 3 year old daughter Claire. Eve had Claire in a stroller, so our plan was to start near the back and go as fast as we could, realizing that it would be difficult to navigate the crowd. The Shuffle is a very family friendly event with lots of dogs and strollers, and the whole race had a very relaxed sense to it which was nice. I mean its only 1.86 miles, folks!

Since I had done 13 miles and Kelly had run 5 miles earlier, we figured we would run at a nice, steady pace. What we didn't plan on was sprinting the whole race! But that is what we did, and it was so fun! Eve is a very fast runner and she really worked the crowd with the stroller. If she saw an opening, she went for it and she went for it fast! I was laughing so hard because we were dodging walkers, dogs, kids, stroller and just flying through the course. It was really fun! But I was definitely tired, and we all were wearing down at the end.

I didn't even wear a watch to the race, so I'm not sure what our official time is. It was chip timed, but the website results don't have the chip times, just the clock times. So, our time was officially 18:36, but I think it was more like 17:00 if we account for the time that was ticking before we actually crossed the starting line. Whatever our time, it was still a lot of fun! Here are some pictures from the morning:

Kelly, with a "Luck of the Irish" door hanger pinned to her back

Kelly helping Claire out with some glitter

Eve, Claire and me

Kelly, Eve and Claire

The whole gang

Shamrock Shuffle 3k

I ran the Shamrock Shuffle 3k on Saturday morning with 4 friends. I hoped that the weather would be good for the 10:00am start, but alas it was 38 degrees and raining when we pulled into downtown Lexington. After walking a few blocks in the wrong direction trying to find the starting area, a lady selling Irish trinkets set us in the right direction. We doubled back and entered Victorian Square, a warm and large space that comfortably held all of the runners before the race began.

Of course, the majority of the crowd was decked out in obligatory Irish garb. Perhaps the scariest person in the crowd was this lady:
I suppose all three of us could be considered a scary sight, but I'm mainly referencing the ladies to my right. The leprechaun lady was very creepy, but was kind enough to take a picture with me. She also played a lovely little flute throughout the morning. The lady next to her with the green afro was her handler.

At about 9:55am we headed out into the cold, rainy morning, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. There were people standing around in shorts and t-shirts...now I know they had to be cold! We stood at the starting area for about 10 minutes, and then the race began.

The plan for the morning was for my friend Kelly and I to run basically as fast as we could. Kelly and I are both training for half-marathons this spring, and we were looking forward to deviating from our training schedule for to run a fast, flat, quick race. Our friends Kat, Sarah, and Amberly planned to jog the course. Kat and Sarah are both pregnant, and Amberly has 2 kids and averages a few hours of sleep per night. I was so proud to see all three of them out running this race!

At about 10:05am, the bullhorn sounded and we were off. Kelly and I started off at a pretty good clip, bobbing and weaving a little to get around the walkers. After a few blocks we settled into a nice pace. I really had no idea what our time for the 3k would be, but I hoped to finish in under 18:00 minutes. The race was pretty uneventful - it almost felt like it was over before it began. A girl in front of us took a huge shortcut through a parking lot. Is 3k not short enough for you? That was ridiculous. When we made our final turn onto Main St., and I knew we had to be getting close the finish line. I checked my watch and it said 14:05...I was like wow, we are going pretty fast! We could see the finish line ahead, and could feel a Asbury co-worker closing in on us, so we hit the gas and sprinted to the finish. We crossed the line in 15:31, which was an 8:18 average pace. I was elated!

One terrible thing about the race is that there was no water at the finish line. Luckily, we had parked pretty close to the finish, so Kelly and I just walked to the car to get our water. But it would have been nice to have water provided at the end. Overall, I really enjoyed the race and will try to do it again next year.

Breakfast at Alfalfas afterward was amazing. I had pancakes, bacon and a scrambled egg. The buttermilk pancakes were so good - I think they are the best pancakes I have ever had (sorry, mom!). After warming up and filling up, we ventured back outside briefly to check out the irish goods before heading home.

Here are some pictures from the day!

On the way to race: Kelly, Sarah, me

Waiting to start: (clockwise) Sarah, Amberly, me, Kelly, Kat

Running buddies for life! Me and Kelly

(This is the 3rd race Kelly & I have started & finished together - 2 half marathons & now a 3k!)

Amberly, Sarah and Kat

Self-proclaimed "Team Let's Just Get to Alfalfas!"

Warming up with some post-race coffee and tea

Kat looks happy to be done with the race!

Me and Sarah - looking forward to breakfast!

Swimming 101

I swam this morning. It was really more an exercise of humility, more so than endurance. See, I have visions of grandeur of becoming a triathlete and I think that this vision often overshadows reality. The main problem with reality is that I can't swim. Well, that's not entirely true - I can swim just about enough to keep myself from drowning, but it's not pretty.

So, that is why it has taken me two months to work up the resolve to actually get in the pool. I went at a time this morning when there was only two other people in the pool. I settled into the very last lane of the pool, on the opposite end of the lifeguard and two other swimmers. I arranged my towel, shorts, flip flops and water bottle neatly on the bleachers, makings sure that everything was neat and orderly and positioned at right angles. You can ask my husband - this is what I do when I am anxious and let my OCD tendencies start to take over. Just about everything in our house is positioned at a right angle. After I had arranged and rearranged my neat little pile of things, I realized that I just needed to get in the pool and get it over with. I tried as much as I could to act like I knew what I was doing. I dunked my head under water and then pulled on my swim cap and goggles. I didn't really want to wear the swim cap, but my hope was that it would make me look like I was serious about swimming and that I had some idea of what I was doing. I took a deep breath, immersed myself, pushed off the wall and started down the lane, under the surface.

If I had established any shred of credibility with the other two swimmers and lifeguard with the cap and goggles, it was shot to hell right about the time I realized I desperatley needed air and I shot up like a rocket from under the water - gasping for breath, limbs flailing wildy. I immediatley looked over to the lifeguard, hoping that she hadn't seen me struggling and was getting ready to jump in and pull me out of the pool. She was definitley looking at me, but she looked more perplexed than concerned. I quickly looked back down at the water and started a slow, pulling stroke. I'm not sure if it even has a name other than "the oldy lady stroke" you know, it's the one where your head is above water and you move your arms like you are clearing a path in front of you...the one you usually see old ladies doing. Sadly, it's the one and only stroke that I am pretty good at. So I pretty much did that stroke for 30 minutes - moving slowly up and down the lane. I did try adding in some other things - like trying the breast stroke with my head above water so that I could establish a breathing pattern, or trying to do a lap only kicking my feet.

So I have a lot of work to do with my swimming. I can only hope that any triathlons I do will have open water swims, as I cannot even imagine ever being able to do a kick flip. The risk of getting water up my nose and/or slamming my head into the wall is too great.

I will stick to training on land until next Tuesday, when me and the pool shall meet again .

On a different note, I will be racing in a 3k this Saturday. I'm really excited about it - I have only done one other 3k, and that was one I did with Emma. Emma and I got third place overall in that race, and I would like to think our success was due to our speed...not the fact that there were only 10 other people competing in the race, most of which walked the course. But this Saturday I will be doing the "Shamrock Shuffle" in downtown Lexington with some friends. I will try to get a race report up this weekend!