I Am the World's Worst (or Laziest) Blogger

Feel free to call "BS" on this one, but I really have had "update blog" on my to-do list for the last month.  Things like running, working, sleeping, eating, and being a lazy SOB have been higher on the priority list for me.  What can I say other than now's a great time to catch up, right?  The significance of tomorrow, exactly 2 months to race day, is not lost on me.  Let's hop to it!

Running Coach Joan, RCJ, has been awesome, and always keeps my running moving forward with weekly plans that work around my sometimes crazy schedule (like me telling her that I was headed to the Bahamas & couldn't run on a Friday or Saturday).

Week 5 was where I left you; that had me doing 56 miles.  Leading up to my official training with RCJ, many of my weeks were in the mid-50s for mileage, so this felt like home.  

Week 6 was July 27th to August 2nd, and it had me hitting 60 miles which is something I might've done only once or twice (probably just once) while running un-coached.  It felt good to hit the 60 mile mark!  (I'm still in awe of some people on the Runners' World online forum who routinely have 70, 80, 90, and even 100+ miles each week; how do they have time for that?!  I'm seriously impressed by anyone who can do that & whose job is not to run.) 

Week 7 was August 3rd to the 9th, and it was a doozy; this was the week where Dave and I would be taking the boat to West End.  Knowing that I would not be able to get in any runs there, I asked Joan to set up the schedule whereby I'd run all days leading up to & including the day we left (Thursday), have no running on Friday and Saturday, and then run on the day we returned (Sunday).  This was not an ideal setup namely because you can imagine how tiring it is to run 10 miles before leaving on a 2+ hour boat ride to the Bahamas and then, on the day we return (after a 4+ hour ride back due to stopping to fish along the way and having 2 hours of clean-up at the marina in the blazing afternoon sun) to have to do 10 miles on a treadmill (where each mile gets progressively faster than the previous one).  I was beat even though this week was "only" 55 miles!

Week 8 was August 10th to the 16th and had a rest day on Monday (thank sweet baby Jesus).  It's also a week that would have me back up into the 60s with 63-64 miles on the schedule (yeah!).  It was also the first time that I'd have a 20 mile long run in more than 8 weeks.  My last 20+ mile run was actually before I started working with RCJ.  Tuesday through Sunday would be running days, and with Joan back in town from her adventures out west, I got to run with her on Wednesday and Saturday.  I'd be fibbing if I said I wasn't nervous about the 20 miler.  The plan called for 20 miles (anything from an 8-9 minute per mile pace) but at least 5 miles of "tempo" running (meaning a pace of 8 or less).  Joan & I ran about 12 miles together, and then I was on my own for the last 8.  I picked up the pace around mile 12.5, but since my watch gives me per mile breakdowns on the pace, I decided to officially start the tempo run at mile 13.  Figuring I'd go from mile 13 to 18 at this faster pace, I just sort of dealt with it being semi uncomfortable.  The funny thing is that when I got to 18 miles, I figured, "what the hell?  I'll just do one more mile at tempo."  Then, I get to 19 miles and think "why would I slow down for the last mile?"  LOL!  Then, I get to mile 20, but I'm still about a half mile from my car, so I "slow down" to (what I later find out was) an 8:12 pace and wrap up the run.

Last week, week 9, was August 17th to the 23rd.  Again, Monday was a rest day which worked out well because I had to be down in Broward for school meetings.  It was another 60+ mile week, and I ran with Joan on Friday and Saturday.  Here's one of the many reasons Joan cracks me up.  She really is so humble about her running.  Saturday's long run had 15 miles to do with at least 5 at tempo pace.  She said, before we started, that she didn't know if she had 5 miles of tempo pace in her, but she'd see how she felt, and if she didn't think she could do it, I'd just run ahead.  (The "if she didn't think she could do it" is the hysterical part; my tempo pace is a totally do-able not-so-tempo-pace for Joan!)  So we get to mile 9, and she says let's pick up the pace and see how it goes.  Well, I was aiming for something not too far under a pace of 8, but I know we're running faster than that.  First tempo mile pace?  7:46!  Second mile pace?  7:38!  Christ!  This is fast!  (Can you imagine me saying "I think I can, I think I can..."????)  After that, it was 7:39, 7:37, and 7:32!  Holy moly!  When we finally slowed down, the remaining paces were 7:49 and 7:51.  Crazy how that feels slow after putting down some miles in the 7:30-range!

Today begins week 10.  Had 9 easy miles today.  Tomorrow will be 9 tougher miles or, as RCJ puts it, 9 miles of an "effort run."  Oh my!