After I finished, I ran into friend/co-worker/runner Morgan who was running the 8k that started at 9 am (more like she found me after seeing that I finished) and had an amazing breakfast with Spencer (my running buddy) at First Watch. I headed back to Kristin's to let the dogs out and shower, then headed into work for an 8 hour shift starting at noon. As you can imagine, a long day. :)
I woke up at 4:20 am to take care of the dogs I am dogsitting, then headed off to the half marathon around 4:45 (6 am start). It was a balmy 71 degrees, 100% humidity. No luck for me and these halfs. :/ But, still a personal record! No Disney characters to wait in line to see. ;) I would have been slightly faster but I ran with my (slower but still awesome) friend Spencer for the first half of the race - it was his first half. Then, I was a bad friend and left him for the last half (I'll blame it on the only child part of me). I made up a lot of time on the last half and averaged out at 10:47 per mile. After I finished, I ran into friend/co-worker/runner Morgan who was running the 8k that started at 9 am (more like she found me after seeing that I finished) and had an amazing breakfast with Spencer (my running buddy) at First Watch. I headed back to Kristin's to let the dogs out and shower, then headed into work for an 8 hour shift starting at noon. As you can imagine, a long day. :)
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My recovery period ended on Wednesday. Unfortunately, thunderstorms ruined what would have been my first run outside in two weeks, so I ran on the treadmill at my apartment gym. The first mile was easy; the second mile was hell; and the third mile was the last mile, so I powered through it. My chest hurt a bit and I was staring at a wall. Not the best return, but I did 3.09 miles and was happy to do that.
Better weather arrived on Thursday and I was thrilled to get back on the road - my loop. I started jogging and one mile into it, I glanced at the pace - 9:06! I really felt that I had been going so slow, but this was one of my fastest starts. Weird. I felt good, so I tried to keep that pace and finished with 9:21 per mile for 6.44 miles. Score! I did my normal weight circuit on Friday and was able to lift normally. My incision site has healed and despite having a tight feeling there, I completed the workout. It feels better every day. Today, I was babysitting my "niece," Skylar - my friend's adorable daughter - and I had my 8 mile run. I decided it was safer (for both of us) to go to Flatwoods. I studied the map after I got lost the last time, and we found our way with no problems today. It was a little tougher pushing a ~20 lb. baby in a ~30 lb. stroller...more of a workout than expected! I should invent something to attach to my waist and the stroller so both arms are free to move (as opposed to one of them holding onto the stroller). I was able to keep my endurance run pace - 10:00 per mile. We saw a lot of vultures and two bucks - DEER! Skylar pointed all the animals out to me. We had a nice lunch at Panera afterward. I'm looking forward to a full week next week - including the Gasparilla Half Marathon. The really really good news is that my cancer did not spread.
The "bad" news is I still can't run until Wednesday, February 12th per Dr. Cruse. I am itching to run! I never would have thought I'd miss it this much, but it is so meditative. I feel so good after a workout - endorphins! On the other hand, I'm also nervous because I will have missed two weeks of training. And...it has been more tiring to get back into the routine at work than I anticipated, so...running 14 miles might also be challenging (moreso than normal, that is). We will see. I got the "REST" days down. :) Monday was my last day of dog-sitting, so I took Stella with me (far right). It was our first night run together, and she was alert! Her ears were up almost the entire time, but she was good - I only almost ran her over twice. We were just under 10 minutes per mile - for an hour - and that did not seem to tire her. When we got back home, she started wrestling with Sherman (the other big one) immediately. Crazy kids! I did my usually Tuesday circuit/sweat-fest and Wednesday was my first "Tempo B" workout - 10 minutes fast (talk in short, choppy sentences), 2 minutes brisk walk, and another 10 minutes fast. I ran on the treadmill at the work gym - 8 mph for both 10 minute sessions. That is a 7:30 per mile pace - the fastest I've run a mile (and more) in over 10 years. I was very happy to do both 10 minute session that fast. And also tired. :)
After leaving work early on Thursday, I picked my parents up form the airport, went to Moffitt for my lymphoscintigraphy, we ran some errands including picking up the paint for the rest of my apartment makeover, and had dinner at Gino's. Surgery was Friday, and I'm recovering today. To read more about it, head over to my Life Blog. Training is most likely suspended until my follow-up appointment on Wednesday. So, I have wanted a running watch for a while and I finally bought one with my Christmas money. Woo hoo! I had asked all my running friends on facebook for recommendations and they all agreed that for what I wanted (time, pace, distance), the Garmin Forerunner 110 was the one. And that's what I bought - on Amazon - for $120. I was able to try it out for the first time on Monday for my 50 minute run. It was a great run and the 110 was everything I hoped it would be. I found out that I am actually running at a pace faster than I thought - about 9:30 per mile (not 10:00) - as some of the distances I calculated using MayMyRun were not exact. So that was an unexpected bonus. 30 seconds shaved off each mile means 13 minutes less running in a marathon! I continuted my workouts for the week with a sprint-elliptical session and my gym circuit for cross training. Historically, I slack off on the elliptical. I watch an episode of Oz and zone out - not so this time! I calibrated my playlist to play super up-tempo jams and went 3 miles on it in 15 minutes. The gym circuit (the one I started last week) involves 30 seconds of each exercise with 10 seconds of rest in between exercises, which include jumping jacks, wall squats, push-ups, crunches, step-ups, squats, tricep dips, planks, high knees, lunges, push-up rotations, and side planks. And I do that three times in a row. Needless to say, I am so sweaty by the end of it - no earphones (they stopped working the first time I tried this - I think because of the sweat lol). I also had a new workout on Wednesday - a tempo run. This was a "Tempo C" - meaning three 5 minute runs with a 1 minute brisk walk in between. Tempo pace is defined as "a pace just outside your comfort zone, comfortably hard, in which you can talk in short, choppy sentences." I ran the first 5 minutes at 8.5 mph; the second at 8 mph; and the third at 7.5 mph - for a total distance of 2 miles in 15 minutes. It was definitely hard and I had to remain focused (so as not to fall off the treadmill), but it felt good. And now, to enjoy my day of rest. I'm very proud of myself for completing all the workouts this week. I was dealing with a great deal of personal stress. For cross training, I tried a new gym circuit this week, and lifted weights as well. My 9 miles today was a relaxing run and despite sweating a lot, felt really good.
I continued my training in the cold, wet North. We had two days of 50 degree weather, so most of the snow melted and the roads were clear by the time the cold came back. I moved some firewood into the cellar for my Dad for cross training on Tuesday. I even ran on Christmas morning and the morning after (the day of my flight back to Florida). I headed into work on Friday and it was my turn to clean the hippo pool - via SCUBA. I am on the Dive Team at work and we help the Edge of Africa keepers clean the hippo pool. Maneuvering in the water is definitely a workout. Once out of the water and running the next day, the warmer weather was appreciated - I did not have to wear so much gear.
Well...a climactic end to Week 4 - I can honestly say that has never happened before. It pretty much only snowed my first few days here. On Wednesday, I ran 4 miles in 40 minutes on a snow-covered, slippery road. Thursday was a rest day. I took Riley for a long walk on Friday - it was a snow-slush mix, depending on which road I was walking. And then, today. I planned a 6 mile route - which happens to be most of my old school bus route - and headed out. At 11:30 am, it was already 51 degrees - a December heat wave! Most of the snow had melted and the roads were mostly bare. Once I got into the back woods, in the shade, it was a little colder and the roads were still covered. It was a pleasant, relaxed run until mile 3.5. I first noticed the dog running through the snow, heading for the road - and right to where my legs were taking me. I was in denial - every dog I've ever run past in Florida has been contained by a fence. And then denial turned into run-for-my-life fear. I am an animal person - I dog-sit pitbulls (and chihuahuas and dachshunds) all the time - I'm comfortable around dogs. But...I was bit by a German Shepherd when I was 10, and I've had an unreasonable fear of German Shepherds since, and though this was not a German Shepherd and I understand the desire for dogs to chase things, it was inches away from biting my ass. And I like my ass just how it is - I also like my legs - I kind of need them for this marathon.
So...it's lunging at me with both front paws, opening and snapping shut its mouth as its snout lunged at me - I am really not exaggerating. I was scared, filled with adrenaline. It was at least 80 pounds - I looked up dog breeds later and it was a Bull Mastiff. I saw no owners in sight. I was trying to run away and fend it off with my feet - I really had nothing else to defend myself. I always make fun of the teen in horror movies that keeps looking at the killer over their shoulder while stumbling and trying to run away. I get it now - I couldn't help but look back - it was instinct. To those that say, "I only run when I'm being chased" - I say to you - if I had not been training all these months (with nothing chasing me), I would not have been able to outrun this dog. To which, they would say, if you weren't running in the first place, you wouldn't have had to outrun the dog. Touche! In any case, I was not bit - and I completed my workouts for Week 4. Yesterday, I finished out my work week - yay for Super Friday! - got a quick 5 mile run done in 46 minutes, showered, finished packing and headed to my friend's house...so she could drive me to the airport (thanks, Kristin!). One three-hour flight later and I was in single digit weather. Yippee! It's always nice when my Dad remembers to bring my winter coat into the airport to warm it up, so I don't have to put on an I'm-an-icicle-from-sitting-in-the-car jacket, or lug one up from Florida. Do I even have a jacket there that would keep me warm enough? I can deal with the cold, because it's always nice to come home...to Ashburnham, Massachusetts, that is - where I've lived since I was one year old in a house my Dad built with his best friend. It is a small town and we live kind of out in the middle of the woods - it borders a state forest. I am a New Englander at heart, but I have the (thin) blood of a Floridian. "Cold" in Florida is just not comparable to this. I slept in a little this morning - both my parents had headed to work already - but I force-fed myself a glass of orange juice (woo hoo!) and fresh bagels from a little shop downtown were waiting for me. One of my favorite things about coming home - the local delicacies, i.e. bagels, AleHouse pizza, and the local grocer's frozen fruit punch concentrate. I watched some TV, then headed out for my cross training for the day - walking our dog, Riley, in the snow - we saw a single turkey on our walk, wandering up the middle of the road.and I also shoveled a path to the woodpile out back (and the walkway out front for good measure) after the walk. It kept snowing throughout the day, so after my parents got home, we made dinner and watched a few TV shows together, and then the snow finally stopped. I got my second "workout" of the day by re-shoveling the pathways while my Dad snow-blowed the driveway. I'm pretty sure we got at least 8 inches today. Good to be home. :)
I felt a lot better this week - no major issues arose - and I ran at my typical pace. I ran Monday and Wednesday's workouts on a treadmill - the usual elliptical for cross training on Tuesday and Friday (I need to get more creative! Wish granted, I am travelling to Snow-ville tomorrow) - and ran outside on Thursday and Saturday. My endurance run was tough - 82 degrees but overcast - and hit a little hiccup when I experienced some inner thigh chaffing at about mile 4. I kept adjusting the leg of my UnderArmour trunks, when I finally realized that there was a hole in them...ugh. They were just over a year old...but I still love running in them. I finished the run and tried to ignore the (minor) pain and in the trash they went as soon as I was home. I was at about 10:42 minutes per mile. Excited for Week 4, which will occur in Massachusetts - going home for Christmas!
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