The Taper

It's been a busy week.  My sister  has been here from Idaho and I have had lots of family fun.  This morning I got up and dressed to run.  Jim said he would go with  me but he had to spray the vineyard first.  I made a fruit salad for a family gathering later today and waited.  He finally came in and told me to go ahead because he was only  half done.

I went to Sherman Beach.  It was perfect running weather in the 50s.  There were lots of people on the trail.  The runners all wore shorts and t-shirts.  The bikers wore shorts and long sleeves.  The walkers all had long pants and sweatshirts on.  As I was running down the trail I saw a group of people stopped and staring into the woods.  Of course I had to stop and see what the big deal was.  It was an albino deer.  I had seen this deer earlier this week.  There are two of them, a mother and baby.  I saw the baby a little further down the trail.  It made a nice run even nicer.

Only 8 days until the half marathon.  It is my taper week.  Today was only a 6 mile run.  It's amazing how much faster I can run in cooler weather with no extra effort. 

Easy Run

Today was an easy 6 mile run.  Jim went with me.  He has been doing the first half of the run with me.  Then I run the second half and he walk/runs a shorter distance.  I did some strides the last mile.  I am hoping to break two hours in the half marathon but I am not feeling the speed at this time.

I saw an article on the Boston Marathon.  You had to beat your qualifying time by 4:52 to get in this year.  They turned down over 6000 qualifiers.  In 2020 they are changing all the qualifying times by 5:00.

Speed Work

I needed to get some speed work into my running.  This morning I ran one mile warm up then mile repeats sort of fast with rest breaks in between.  My times were all over the place.  I am not very good at pacing.  The weather has cooled off but it is still humid enough that I am dripping wet when I am done.  Jim ran the warm up mile with me then part of the first mile then he changed to a 4/1 run walk while I did my speed.

Hiking

Today was a cross training day.  I got up early and did stretching and yoga.  Then Jim and I took a hike.  We went to the Rock Hollow Trail and hiked the new dirt trail on the east side.  It always reminds me of the Wildwood Trail Marathon.  I told Jim that Kathy and I would probably run it again.  He said Kathy might not be here in December.  Oh no! 

Today I did some shopping.  I stopped into the new Skechers store in Ballwin Plaza.  I wasn't sure how they would fill a whole store with Skechers.  I didn't know Skechers had so many different kinds of shoes.  They also have some athletic apparel which looked nice and reasonable priced.  Overall it was a nice store even though I didn't buy anything.

Long Slow Distance

Today was my last long run in my half marathon training.  Next week is my taper week.  The race is two weeks from today.  Today's run was 13.1 miles easy.  Jim got up and ate bagel and peanut butter.  Then he did is stretching.  Then he decided he had a headache and didn't want to run.  Therefore, I was by myself.  There were lots of people on the trail so I wasn't really by myself. 

This was an LSD run.  Long, Slow, Distance.  LSD is also a hallucinogenic drug.  Running long slow distance is meant to put miles on your legs but slow enough that it is not too hard on your body.  Sometimes after a LDS run I feel like my mind has been on LSD.

My goal today was to run the second half faster than the first half.  To do this I have to concentrate on keeping the first half slow.  I did my 4/1 walk run to keep healthy.  At the halfway point I had a GU gel.  It was a sea salt caramel.  I have had these before.  I don't know if it was the gel or just me but about 15 minutes later I had runner's diarrhea hit.  Fortunately I was near a bathroom.  When I stop my Garmin and I don't start it again within a minute or two it resets to zero.  Therefore, my run is in two parts.  It reset itself when I was in the bathroom.  My last five miles was faster than the first 8.

Two weeks from today is the MO Cowbell Half Marathon.  Weather forecast for race day is 55 low 71 high with a few showers.  The forecast will change multiple times in the next two weeks but weather looks good. 

Training

I have been training for the Mo Cowbell Half Marathon.  I don't really have a goal in mind.  I just want to have fun at a race.  I have been doing two 6 miles runs a weekend long run and another short or recovery run.  Then I have been doing cross training.  I have been trying to work on my abs and core.  Today I ran 6 miles with Jim.

I'm In!

Today I received my confirmation that I was accepted into the 2019 Boston Marathon!  I'm in.  A couple years ago I never would have thought this was possible. 

This morning I did a very easy 3 mile recovery run in the subdivision.  I don't know if the hills in the subdivision are the best thing for a recovery run but it felt okay.

Running with Jim

Jim still claims he is not a runner.  Today I had a 10 mile long run planned.  I have been doing my long runs as walk/runs.  Jim went with me.  In the past he has balked at anything over 5 miles.  Last Sunday he ran 12.  Today he ran the whole 10 miles with me.  He is definitely a runner.  He is training for the Skippo.

Today the world record for the marathon was broken by Eliud Kipchoge in 2:01:39 smashing the old record by 1:18.  He also held the unofficial record from the Breaking2 Project.  I wonder if there will every be a point where a record is set that cannot be broken.  Will people just get faster and faster?  This record was set in Berlin where many other records have been set over the years.  It is hard for me to envision going that pace for 26 miles.  I am happy if I run a half marathon in that time.

Sometimes you're the bug and Sometimes you're the windshield

Sometimes you're the bug and Sometimes you're the windshield.  Sometime things go according to plan and sometimes things fall apart.  Today my slug sister ran a marathon to try to qualify for Boston.  She trained hard.  She was dedicated.  She did everything right but the wheels fell off and she did not get the time she needed.  If they gave out BQs for sheer grit and determination she would have a BQ.  She never gave up.  I have a plan 2021 we will go back to St. George and run the marathon.  We will both in in the next age group by then.  We will run Boston together in 2022.

Today Jim and I went to his 45 year high school reunion.  I think he is in the best shape of anyone in his high school class.  He looks younger and more fit than anyone.  Running keeps you young even though he doesn't think he is a runner.

A big day

Today is a big day for two reasons.  I mean it is a really, really big day for two big reasons.

1.  Today I retired after working almost 32 years.  This means I can run any time I want.  Yippee. 

2.  I signed up for the Boston Marathon!  I am not officially in yet but my registration has been entered.  It is the first race I have ever signed up for where I had to agree to an anti-doping policy.  It is also the most expensive race I have entered - $200 for a marathon.  It will be worth it!

Easy Run

Tonight I did an easy run with Jim.  We ran for a mile then walked a tenth of a  mile.  At mile 3.5 Jim told me to go ahead he wanted to walk more.  From there I ran.  I threw some strides in the last mile.  I was thinking about last year when I was recovering from a hamstring injury strides were painful.  I am running pain free which feels really good.

Running With Jim

Jim went with me for my run this afternoon.  I ran 6 miles.  He ran the first 3 with me then he walk/ran 2.5 while I ran 3 more.

When we were on the trail we saw our friend Carol Wright taking a walk.  She had a serious bicycle accident last month.  She broke a rib and vertebra.  She was in a brace that encompassed her chest and held her neck up.  She was walking well and happy.  It's amazing the way the human body can heal.  She has a long way to go before she is back running.  She said it would be a long time before she could get on a bike. 

Cooler Weather

I got up early this morning to do my long run.  The weather was still misty.  Since the high was only supposed to be in the 70s today I decided to wait until the weather cleared up.

Discussions with Jim:

Me:  I'm going on a long run
Jim:  How far?
Me:   14 miles
Jim:   Are you running a marathon?
Me:   No I signed up for the half.
Jim:  Why are you running 14 miles?
Me:   I have a plan.  It will be a slow and easy walk/run.  Do you want to go with me?
Jim:  I'm not running 14 miles.
Me:   We can take two cars.

Jim did go with me.  Since we had 3 inches of rain I wanted to stay on pavement.  We went and ran the trail in Wildwood near Manchester.  Jim is amazing.  We took one car and parked it at Home Depot.  I figured that if he finished running he could wander around Home Depot while he waited for me.  Jim ran a strong 12 miles.  His knee started to hurt so he went to Home Depot.  I ran the last 2 miles by  myself.  The temp was in the 60s and 70s.  I felt so much stronger running when I didn't have to deal with heat.  Only four weeks until the Mo Cowbell Half Marathon.

Rainy Day

It rained all last night and into the morning.  It was a misty rain most of the day.  I exercised indoors.  Looking forward to a cool weather run tomorrow.

Gordon

Gordon did not turn into a hurricane.  It is a tropical storm that is headed this way.  We are supposed to get 3 to 4 inches of rain the next couple days.  I decided to take a run this morning before it rained.  Since yesterday was a speed work of sorts today was supposed to be easy.  I ran in the subdivision.  After a mile warm up I threw some strides into my run.  I got 4 miles in before work.

I don't know who names hurricanes.  Back in 2004 the worst hurricane of the year was named Jean.  It made me sad that Jean was so destructive.  I don't think they should name hurricanes after people.  I think they should name them after inanimate objects like hurricane pencil or hurricane toilet or hurricane shoelace. If they did that no one would be sad because their namesake storm was bad.

Sort of Speed Work

Today I had a speed work session on my plan.  Since I haven't done speed work in a while so I knew I shouldn't overdo it.  I am concentrating on staying healthy.  I was at the trail at 7 a.m.  Jim went with me.  We did a 10 minute warm up jog.  Then we ran 4 minutes fast followed by 1 minute walk.  We repeated this for 3.5 miles.  Then the last 1.5 miles we ran easy for 4 minutes and fast for 1 minute.  It was comparatively cool this morning but still humid.  My Garmin reset itself when I stopped at the bathroom.  It seems to restart if I stop longer that a minute or two.

When I was in the bathroom Jim was talking to a man who was finishing his run.  I heard Jim tell him, "I'm not a runner.  My wife is the runner".  I told Jim that he is a runner.  He has a medal rack full of medals.  He has a drawer of race shirts.  He has a clothes basket of stinky clothes.  He is a runner.

Too Hot

Today my training plan had a speed work out.  The only time I could run was late afternoon when the heat index was 97.  I knew that running at that temperature would turn my speed work out into a slow survival run.  I decided to cross train in the house and try the speed in the morning.

Races

I have done a lot of racing lately with the trail run series and a couple 5Ks.  None of it has been fast.  Now I am going to concentrate on training for the MO Cowbell Half Marathon which is less than 5 weeks away.  I need to put some mileage on and find my fast twitch muscle which seem to have disappeared.

Today I signed Jim and I up for the Skippo 10K race.  We decided not to do the Snowball series but plan to run the Frozen Feet Half Marathon.  Still plan on the Wildwood Trail marathon in December but have not signed up.

A 5K and a long run

This morning we ran the JCC Labor Day 5K.  The sign up for this race is part of the Senior Olympics.  Any one in any age group can sign up for the race.  It was hot, humid and hilly.  My time was not great but it was good enough for first place in my age group.  Jim nabbed second place in his age group.

My training plan had 12 miles for today.  I came home, filled my hydration bladder, changed into dry clothes and went to the trails to add some miles.  Jim was not interested in a long run.   I started at Sherman Beach and ran the dirt trail loop first.  Within 5 minutes my dry clothes were soaked.  I don't know why I bothered with changing.  My plan was to walk/run so I didn't die of heat stroke.

I passed a group of bicyclers that asked if the trail led to roads.  I told them that the direction they were heading they would run into Sherman Beach that took them to St. Paul Road.  Then I asked where they started.  They had started at Castlewood.  It took a while to convince them that they should go back to Castlewood they way they came - on the trail.  They had a hair-brained idea that they should take the roads back.

Next I passed a guy on an electric unicycle.  I had to stop and ask him about it.  It had foot rests you stood on with no pedals.  It was motor driven.  It looked dangerous to me especially on trails.  He had knee pads, elbow pads, and wrist guards but no helmet.  He said he had to order a new helmet.  I wonder what happened to his old one.  It did not look like good exercise.

Then the emergency sirens went off.  I was wondering if severe weather was headed this way but then realized it's the Monday morning testing.

After I got back to Sherman Beach I refilled my water and headed toward the Rock Hollow Trail.  The MO Cowbell has it's only hill at the end of the race so I wanted to do a hill on tired legs.  On the trail I saw our friend Chris that we know from trail runs.  He did not do the runs this year because he had a hip replacement in March.  He was riding a bike and said that he will be back to running soon.  He just needs to strengthen.  I was impressed with how well he is doing and that he will be running after hip replacement.

Then I saw some neighbors on their bikes.  I ended up doing 10 miles on the trails.  I warmed up a half mile before race so my total for the day was about 13.6.  When I finished it was 90 degrees with a heat index of 95.

Runner's Tan

This weekend Jim and I took a road trip to spend a couple of days with Jim's brother and sister-in-law.  They have a swimming pool which is very nice.  Yesterday we spent time in the pool in the afternoon.  I am always careful about sun exposure especially in the heat of the day.  I had on my long sleeve UPF50 swim top.  I had sunscreen on my face and a wide brim hat.  I figured my legs would be under water.  After swimming/treading water I got out and laid on a lounge chair.  Tammy asked if I had sunscreen on my legs.  I said no but I have a good tan base and I wasn't going to be laying out very long.  I forgot one little detail.   The little strip of skin on my upper thighs that the running shorts cover rarely sees sunshine.  Consequently my upper thighs got burned.  Ouch.  This also made me tired.  I am still recovering from my mild case of sunstroke.

Running with Jim

We got up early this morning and went to the trail for a run.  I ran 6 miles Jim ran 5.5.  Only 5 weeks until the MO Cowbell Half Marathon.  Holy Cow!  I need to get some fast twitch muscles going.