Recovery Sunday

4.5 miles / 54:00

Nice slow recovery run. Did this one in my Vibrams as well. I am 75% sure that I could handle 10+ miles in them. Shoot - I ran 13 miles in them this week. Speaking of miles...I ran 23 miles this week! Yay!! I haven't had a decent training week in a loooong time. I'm very encouraged that my knees don't ache. My hips have been a little tight and my quads really took a beating on my long run...but other than that - feeling strong!

Long Run Friday

9.75 miles / 2:00

Today was a day of "firsts." On a longer run, I try not to do anything out of the ordinary. I wear clothes that are tried and true, footwear that has been adequately broken in. I make sure to bring the same type of fuel and hydration that my tummy likes. But there's always room for improvement, and you don't know til ya try!

1. Extra Hydration. I carried an additional 20oz bottle full of electrolytes in my hand. With the oppressive heat and humidity of late (even at 5am) my 20oz bottle in the hydration belt has been barely enough for my shorter runs. I've looked at hand held units, but didn't want to buy until I try. It went well - I was eternally glad that I had the extra liquid. I made it a point to drink it all by the turnaround, and found a trash can close by to throw it out. That worked well for me. I wouldn't have been happy carrying it the whole way, but knowing I could pitch it in a trash can at any time was great.

2. Cool Drink. I froze my liquids halfway the night before. Then I poured room temp on top. By the time I needed it, I had COLD fluids on a HOT day! Awesome.

3. Emergency Pit Stop. Yep, just what it sounds like. I've long been a "Squat Scoper" and look around for coverage along the trail just in case I have an emergency. I knew that, eventually, I would have need. Note to self: take a few squares of tissue with you next time.

4. GPS Fail. ARG!!! I used the miCoach application for the 3rd time, today. Before I had run a mile, it had given me two. I just took the earphone out of my ear and let it jabber away. After the EPS - see #3 - I wrapped up the headphones and just left it running in my pack. I could hear it yammering away incorrect mileage and pacing cues. Unfortunately, this also meant that I turned around just short of 5 miles (4.85)...man. You just don't mess with the long run. UNINSTALL.

All together, this was a great run. I finished with a little spring in my step and don't feel totally wrecked. A 12:20/mi pace isn't what I want for the race on September 3rd - but if it's not 75 degrees with 90% humidity, I may be able to pace a little faster. Either way, I'm proud of my run. I'm blessed with a strong, healthy, capable body and am learning how to endure things mentally and physically. Beyond that, there is no average pace, 'cuz who cares? :D

Clothed Naked Run

3 miles / 33:30

Normally, I try to do a "naked" run once a week...you know, without clothes... NO, without GPS feedback! Since I have this new miCoach program, I wanted to give it one more shot with the GPS tracking feature.

It worked really well today. The scheduled workout was 5 minutes in Blue Zone followed by 20 minutes in Green and then a cool down of 5 minutes in Blue. I think that my Green Zone may be a bit high - the program has me running that as my Half Marathon pace. The range is 11:09 - 10:09. In my dreams... If I run my next race at 11:45, I will be ecstatic! No big deal, I will just go in and adjust the zones.

It was EXCEPTIONALLY humid this morning. The temperature was 75 degrees, but it had just rained and the humidity was at 95%...growing gills would have helped. I really struggled to breathe that first mile - but once I acclimated - it got easier. I was glad that I had eaten some salty snacks last night before bed, my body sure used that extra sodium this morning. I normally store excess sodium in the tissues of my legs and feet - but running in the terrible heat and humidity has helped sweat out the excess.

My tooth socket didn't hurt at all. I still don't dare chew anything on that side, but that will just take a while. I went today and had the packing removed. He said we would "leave it out and see how it goes." Here's praying that I don't wake up in the middle of the night with tooth agony!

Speedwork Monday

Intervals - 4.75 miles / 55:00

This morning, I used the miCoach application on my android phone. This is a free application offered by Adidas. There are a quite a number of free training programs available - I chose one for Half Marathon training. The training is based on zones, and cues you to either speed up or slow down to the appropriate zone for the particular workout.

Today's workout started with a 15 minute warm up in Blue Zone, repeats of 2 minutes in Green zone and 3 minutes in Yellow Zone, followed by a cool down of 15 minutes in Blue Zone. I failed to power cycle my phone before heading out, so the GPS was wonky. Maybe it was the 95% humidity that caused that...dunno. I was disappointed that I couldn't edit the map on the web interface, but used good 'ol RunKeeper to plot the distance.

Since the GPS didn't accurately record the workout, I was unable to benefit from the analysis performed by the site. I scored a 51% (presumably the amount of time I complied with the zone cues) and was encouraged to "Don't you dare give up!" I ran this workout wearing my Vibram Bikila's and calf sleeves.

As a side note - I'm still in tooth misery. I woke up about 3am and had to take an ibuprofen/acetaminophen cocktail to get back to sleep. Thankfully, I had very little pain during my run. But after breakfast, coffee, and oral hygiene I am in agony again. I know yanking that gauze out yesterday was the right thing to do - yuck - it was getting gross...but in hindsight, it might have been better if it could have been replaced right away.

Well, I'll have to fess up when I see the doctor at 1:00 this afternoon and ask him to fix me up again. But, hey, at least I got my run in, finally!!

Sunday Cycling

14.5 miles / 58:00

This morning I tried to get out of town a little bit. I wanted some open road where I could get up some speed and not have to stop at every street crossing.

This was a hard workout. I'm not sure if it was because this was a hilly darn route or that I hadn't worked out (and had eaten a lot of sugar) this week....or that my jaw still hurts, but I was tired when I got back. Tired at church, and tired all day.

I decided to take the gauze packing out of my molar socket this morning. Through a little playing doctor and consulting Dr. Google, I concluded that it had been in there just a little to long and was yicky and sorta slimey. Yes, I sterilized my eyebrow tweasers before I stuck them in my mouth. Gee, there was a lot of gauze in there. I pulled out a wad about the size of the end of my pinky finger.

Ew.

But it felt a little better. I still have a bit of swelling and tenderness on the gums. I'm a little grumpy from being in pain...it hurts down into my jaw on the side of my face. I keep thinking things like "I should have just left it in there" and "What if they can't replace it?" Any time you've been in pain for several days, you mind starts to go and wander off the deep end.

*Sucking it up*

Tomorrow I'm excited to run some intervals with a new FREE application that coaches you through the workout. It's called Adidas miCoach and has lots of groovy graphs and colored charts. I love me some workout feedback! I was surprised at the level of "coaching" offered on a free site. Maybe it will subliminally make me choose Adidas gear from now on.

Review to come.

Peace Pain & Chocolate

No workout again today. At this point I will be thrilled to run on Sunday at the soonest.

I made it back to the oral surgeon this afternoon and did, indeed, have myself a dry socket. Never had that happen before. I thought you only got those if you smoked, used a straw, or rinsed to hard. I read on WebMD that if you "have greater than usual trauma during the tooth extraction surgery" it can happen as well.

Greater than usual trauma during the tooth extraction surgery - check.

So, I decided that chocolate (and more specifically Reese's Chocolate) and Mongolian Beef should be featured in my recovery nutrition. I really wish I could get up and run it off in the morning, but that will have to wait.

Last night I was in ultra pout mode and told my husband "Well, I guess if I wanted to run my best Half Marathon, it's not going to be THIS race." The training for my May Half was fraught with medical difficulties. I even had the stomach flu the week before the race. In the end, I ran well and had a very positive experience - but it wasn't the time I was hoping for.

Six weeks left to train. Piece of cake. I think I will look at this next six weeks as an intensive training push. More speed work, less sugar, and less "spreading myself thin" by trying to work in a swim and a bike ride each week. I've had a feeling of peace in my family life lately (crazy, huh?) and I need to translate that to my training.

Six weeks to my very best Half Marathon!

A Couple of Days Forced Rest

A few hours after my Sauna Tempo Run on Monday, I had another molar pulled. Cracked teeth are a real pain...and more cost effective (in my opinion) to pull and replace with implants than to root canal and crown!

This was my second go 'round. The first time I went right from the Dentist to the Oral Surgeon. My ligaments were inflamed, and the tooth had been cracked a. long. time. It was pretty traumatic - but I *thought* this would be easier.

I know some people are squeamish when it comes to dental stories - so suffice it to say that it took 30 minutes of drilling, breaking and digging to get "the most difficult tooth in the mouth" to release it's hold on my jaw bone. I was on the nitrous gas long enough that I began to hallucinate and had to have oxygen. I was sweating, shaking and focusing all of my energy on controlling my hands. Each muscle fiber begged to reach up and get those people out of my face and those horrific tools out of my mouth.

Moving along to recovery...

I decided to take a couple of days off training. Today is typically a Yoga Day and Friday is my long run. I sorta need to do a 10 mile confidence run tomorrow or Saturday...here's hoping it's cooler. The forecast for 5am is 76 degrees and 80% humidity - a little breeze and a little chance of rain. Sounds perfect-ish, well for this time of year. Now, if I can just get the swelling down in my jaw I think we'll be okay.

Tempo Run

4 miles / 45:00

Mile 1 - 12:49 *ugh, I'm dying, I hate this, I shoudla stayed in bed*

Mile 2 - 10:08 *okay, I guess I'm alright, time to try*

Mile 3 - 10:06 *keep it going, keep it going*

Mile 4 - 11:45 *praise God for a little breeze and being DONE*

I haven't done any speed work since my hamstring strain a month or so ago. It was nice to get out and push the pace a little. I wore my Vibrams and took hydration along. When I started it was 80 degrees and 80% humidity...I wasn't convinced that this was a good idea - I even walked some of my warm up mile. I would like to be under 10:00 on these tempo runs, but will take what I can get in the "sauna" - otherwise known as Nebraska in July.

Sunday Ride

Cycling - 14.4 miles / 1:01

It was pretty yucky when Little Blue and I stepped out for our Sunday sunrise ride this morning. She didn't care, but I could tell she was worried about me... :) With temps around 75 and nearly 90% humidity it was getting downright oppressive even at 5:45 this morning.

I brought my Nuun (Strawberry Lemonade, yum!) and took it easy in the smaller gears. I was almost instantly thirsty....going from A/C to yuck-e gives one a shock. I rode for pure pleasure this morning and explored a new part of the city trails. I found it to be a little bumpy...I could have wrote a song to the bump-bump, bump-bump rhythm of where the pieces of concrete were fitted together! Not my fave to bike, but fresh meat for the long runs - and new scenery with those is crucial.

Long Run Friday

8 miles / 1:36

At 5:15am it was 75 degrees and 95% humidity. Pretty thick. I was happy with this run. I stopped at all of the water fountains I found along the way in addition to my 12oz bottle of nuun that I brought with me.

I did take a few walk breaks. I forced myself to walk for 2 minutes every mile in the beginning, then stretched it out to a mile and a half after the turnaround. I ran the Rock Island Trail, which I had only biked previously. There is a lot more traffic on this trail, and that helped me feel safer in the wee hours of the morning.

Well, that and my pepper spray and light. :D

No major aches and pains. The toes on my right foot started to be unhappy around mile 5. They just feel hot and squished in my Mizunos. I've not worked up past 5 miles in my Vibrams, and didn't want to push it this close to my recent hamstring strain. Anyhow - I think I will need a more minimalist pair of shoes soon - the difference between the VFF's and the Mizuno Alchemy is night and day. And my feet know it!

Happy with my 12min/mile pace. I'm shooting for 11:44avg to finish in 2:30 on September 3rd. Baring another injury (like last time) or having the flu for a few days right before the race (like last time), I should be able to meet or exceed my goal!