Half or Full?

I've been having some pretty good runs lately. T and I went out to GPS a route that I had previously estimated at six, maybe seven miles. Yep, that was nine. Sorry, T. Then we set out to race ourselves at JugHandle (with Ruger running back and forth between us, wish I'd put my Garmin on him!). I managed to knock a little more of my time from last week and T set a new PR as well. It's been surprisingly warm and sweaty for February, enough for electrolyting to be on the mind. I have some new goals to work towards that will help keep me accountable, and a new nutrition product on the way to try out - Tailwind drink mix. Tailwind proclaims it is "All you need, all day. Really." Many reviewers comment at how much simpler their strategies have been, with some even commenting on setting 100-mile PRs with just this for their nutrition needs, no gummy tummy or super-bonking. It will be here Monday, so plenty of time for me to test it out prior to the super active end of March/beginning April coming up. Which brings me to goals.

Ruger and Remi on a 9miler break :)

March 15th is the Whale Run 5k, where I have a time in mind that I would like to achieve, then it's back to increasing distance. March 30th is Golden Gate Headlands Half-Marathon and Marathon. I'm pretty sure I want to go, but am not sure of the distance to sign up for. I'm planning on going out for a nice hilly long run tomorrow, and will let that be the guide for whether I can be marathon ready in a month. Part of my concern is that I have been offered, and accepted, a horse for one or two days of 50 mile endurance riding at the beginning of April. I won't get to meet the horse until Friday afternoon, though I am familiar with the saddle I'll be riding in and it's not ideal for me (sheepskin covers at the ready!). I've accepted, all going to plan, both days. Just to make life interesting, right? So do I stick to the half marathon and save myself, or do I go all-out-recovery the week between and do the full? I'm leaning towards the full, but will see how Saturday's long run goes and how I feel on Monday (yay for DOMS). This will also be a great test for the Tailwind. If it agrees with me I will use at the rides also, at a lesser dilution with food Saturday, and on it's own Sunday unless I start to crash.

I think I've settled on TNFEC 50 miler in December, as my goal race. I really want to get a 50 miler completed this year and aiming for this one doesn't exactly leave much wiggle room but it's close, not super expensive, and well organised. It's also tough. So will be looking for some 50k's over the summer, there's possibilities in May and July, and I would really like to do Skyline to Sea in October. Plus wanting to take Bugsy to Chamberlain Creek (September) and maybe Lake Sonoma (October) for some LD experience.

Busy busy busy!!!

Willits 5k and Other Adventures

The Willits Classic 5k was on Sunday morning. T and I left out at the very leisurely hour of 9am, in the Mini Cooper (channeling speed... wheee). Definitely the best way to get across Hwy 20! We found check-in easily, and picked up my number and snazzy gloves. T ended up not running due to a nasty headache, instead opting for excedrin and role of photographer.

At the start hearing about 'Kids On The Run' and the activity league

There was a 5k and a 10 mile race. The ten milers set off at 10:00 so had been gone about 5 minutes before we arrived. In total the run had a turnout of 106, ages ranged from two years old to 73 years old. Note the teeny person with the huge gloves?
It was freezing (relatively...) at the start and they got us lined up too early, so we stood around. Of course I left my arm warmers in the truck but knew I didn't want to run with my sweatshirt so I spent most of my waiting time jumping up and down rubbing my chilly arms.

And we're off

At the first turn I found myself running past a four year old and his dad, who was telling the kid that they had to try really hard to run the whole way, no stopping. The little kid agreed, but then had a change of heart. "Or, I could just run even faster" and took off down the street in a (very amusing) sprint. [Luckily I passed him again shortly after! lol]

"Cheeeese!"

It was a nice course that very quickly (well - has to be quickly on a short race..) had us in the countryside running past fields. Mostly flat, a bit of a slope but nothing even I would call a hill. I felt slow, I ran slow, and I hacked up a helluva lot of phlegm. (Delicious, right?) One day my lungs will forgive me. Slower than I wanted, but faster than previous races so ok. Overall place 24th. And upon looking at results online learned that my time of 30:08 got me 3rd in age category - but for the Male 18-29 category :/ Hmm... Something's amiss here lol. After getting changed, we scooted on down to Ukiah to pick up things cheaper than at home (namely Aloe Juice for my pony - $7.50 there, $11.00 at home :/) I got a call from work at noon: "You know you're working today? You have clients at 3pm and 4pm." Eeek, we're more than an hour away from home and I'm gross. Grabbed the things we needed, stopped for bad bad food (Mmm chicken nuggets) and shot home to shower and get to work. Pony got fed between the 4pm and 6.30 appointments, and J had reheated our beef stew so I could eat as soon as I got home after my last one. <3 him!

All finished!

Easy run with D on Monday, who is just starting out on a C.2.5k -esque program. We're aiming for Mon/Wed/Fri runs, and I get to be chief cheerleader and time checker. Run segments begin with a "3..2..1..Bam!" and end with a "5..4..3..2..1..Pow!" With maybe some dancing in between for D's entertainment. Then a trail run with T at JugHandle this morning. Slow to warm up (dead quads?? from where?) but then felt really strong, and vastly improved breathing. While we can't have a fixed day for our trail runs due to rotating schedules, we're going to aim to get out at least once a week. I'm aiming to run trails two or three times per week. And keep up with the speed work. I really want to find a track to run on so I don't have to use the dreadmill for the more specific workouts. Right now - really looking forward to Friday. Trail run followed by trail ride followed by sauna, jacuzzi tub, and hot stone massage? Excellent day off!

Could be a flight traffic director with these guys!

And the best bit? I DIDN'T FALL! Or even trip! I'm just like an adult. Ha.

Speedwork and Vegetables

I had a nightmare about vegetables last night. I was chopping cauliflower and broccoli with a meat cleaver(?!?!) and the broccoli grew eyes, winked at me, and rolled off the cutting board so I instead sliced off three fingers and half a thumb! Eeep! I'm not the biggest vegetable eater out there, particularly salad type items. Last week, five of six dinners involved vegetables in place of pasta or rice. Saturday was the exception. We went to the Purple Rose with Princess for Mexican food and the closest I got to 'vegetables'... refried beans and a strawberry daiquiri. Not even close. Oh well. My favourite so far has been grated cauliflower sauteed with onion and cilantro - we had that twice and cauliflower is far from my first pick. Going to try it with a curry this week in place of rice :) Tonight is spaghetti squash with bolognese, and my biggest accomplishment was making myself eat (and kinda enjoy) an entire plate of cabbage (Meal: chicken marinated 24 hours in lemon juice with cumin/turmeric/paprika/ginger, served on a bed on lemon-infused red cabbage). Getting adventurous over here...

I've done a couple of speed work sessions on the treadmill, doing 400m 'sprints'. They're not quite sprints as I have to pre-determine a speed - stupid treadmill - so can't push as hard as I should. These are on a 1.5 incline. One of my February goals is to find a track or track substitute so I have a safe/flat/suitable terrain place to work on speed. Google earth showed up a couple near me, so I need to venture over and see if they are locked evenings/weekends. So my set speed the first session was 7mph (I know - this is slow for a lot of people. Equivalent is 8:34min/mile. Read the blog title again!) The following week I did three repeats at 7.5mph (8:00m/m) and two at 8mph 97:30m/m). This week I'm planning on 7.5x1, 8x3, 8.5x2. Eeep! I don't do fast. But I'm feeling strong.

Saturday morning I headed out for a trail run at Russian Gulch (my favourite route). My fastest time here has been 59:57, and I had to kill the last little stretch to get in under an hour. It sucked, I hurt, I gagged a little. Saturday, I was hoping for around an hour, under would be great so would keep that in mind on my pacing. I felt pretty strong most of the way around, although was more fatigued than I would like for the last hill. But far from the worst I've felt there, and whilst I could feel I'd been pushing myself more, I didn't feel exhausted. So it was a very pleasant surprise to hit the end of the trail and stop my GPS at 53:43! Wheeee! Happy Cyd!