Getting my Head in the Game

Time has seemed to be slipping away from me this week. I have been so busy with life and work that I feel like I haven't had a lot of time to really absorb the fact that I have a half-ironman in 2 days.....yikes! My bike? Still needs to be cleaned and actually ridden before Sunday. My triathlon gear is thrown all over the garage, and I need to locate my wet suit. Do I know how to get to Kerrville? No. Do I know when check in is? When and where  I need to rack my bike tomorrow? No and no. When my wave starts Sunday? Nope. Thankfully, Dan, my race sherpa extraordinaire, will be traveling with me, which will be calming.

I had good intentions of taking care of all these things earlier in the week instead of LAST MINUTE. It didn't happen. I spent the earlier part of the week trying to get caught up from being out of the office some last week; yesterday, we took Flash to College Station to see a specialist and in turn I spent the rest of the evening worrying about him and debating on canceling the trip altogether because I did not want to board him (which in the end we decided to go ahead with it. He gets to go to Zoot Pet Resort and actually loves it because he gets incredibly spoiled by the vet techs).

Could I be better prepared for this weekend? Yes. But I am as prepared as I am going to get I guess now. I just sort of feel sad instead of excited and somehow I need to get my head in the game!

I have a really hard time getting my heart to match up with my mind. Do you ever have that trouble? You know what makes sense in your head and how you SHOULD feel, but you just don't.

I need to get my head in the game. Competition is my favorite part of the sport. That's what I do best.

Addicted to Racing...?

I tried to convince my husband last night that I wasn't addicted to racing, after telling him about a race I decided to sign up for on the 22nd. However, when I was looking ahead at my calendar and realized I had a total of 2 free weekends (one of them being Thanksgiving) that I was not racing in October and November, I thought maybe I should be eating my words....

The Evidence (aka my race calendar):
October 2: Kerrville Half-Ironman (Kerrville, TX)
October 9: See Jane Run Half-Marathon (Austin, TX)
October 15-16: Open Weekend
October 22: Frankenthon Marathon (Cedar Park, TX)
October 30: Run for the Water 10 Miler (Austin, TX)
November 5: Jameson 5k (Georgetown, TX)
November 13: San Antonio Marathon (San Antonio, TX)
November 19: JFK 50 Miler (Hagerstown, MD)
November 24: Georgetown Turkey Trot 5 miler (Georgetown, TX)
November 26-27: Open Weekend

In my defense, I do not intend to 'race' all of these races. Some of them I am using as supported training runs (although Dan will call bluff on this as well, as he says I am not capable of not 'racing' a race).

Dan and I are very different in our race philosophy. He only runs a few select races a year (1-3). His theory is why pay money to race when he can run for free on his own? My counter is that I not only enjoy the race atmosphere, but that I will push myself harder in a race than I will simply running on my own.

I don't race for the t-shirts (I pretty much have a life time supply of those at this point), or for the post-race party (although those can be nice), I simply just love to race. From local 5k events to the Austin Distance Challenge to the Boston Marathon…its awesome to get together with other runners, usually for a good cause, and run the neat courses in neat places. Its also great to have a race on the calendar – helps to keep me motivated! Plus, races give you a good reason to get out of town for a mini vacation! And to be honest with you, I am just a competitor at heart - I love to compete. I've always been a 'gamer.' When I was playing soccer growing up, I always played to a much higher level than I practiced at, and the same goes for my running - I always race better than I train. When I get to a race, it's seems a light switch goes on and I am instantly energized, excited and ready to run until I am exhausted of all energy.

So, I guess it's a good thing we don't have two racers in the family. If so, we probably wouldn't be able to afford the shoes on our feet :).

My Favorite Running Things

Just a few of my favorite things...

Favorite Running Song: Til I Collapse (Eminem & Nate Dogg); Eye of the Tiger (Survivor)

Favorite Race: Baltimore Marathon

Favorite Distance to Race: Marathon

Favorite Flavor of Gu: Espresso Love

Favorite Workout: Progressive Tempo

Favorite Runner: Alan Webb (he's from my hometown)

Favorite Running Store: Runner's Warehouse (on-line); Hill Country Running (local)

Favorite Running Shoes: Tie between Brooks Launch & Saucony Kinvaras

Favorite Running Shorts: Lululemon Speed Shorts

Favorite Running Top: Asics Shimel Top

Favorite Recovery Drink: Chocolate Milk

Favorite Running Weather: Mid 50's

Bucket List Race: San Francisco Marathon; Napa Valley Marathon

Favorite Running Memory: Running the Boston Marathon (2009)

Favorite Running Quote: "Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must move faster than the lion or it will not survive. Every morning a lion wakes up and it knows it must move faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter if you are the lion or the gazelle, when the sun comes up, you better be running."

Favorite Pre-Run Meal: Bagel with Peanut Butter

Favorite Running Training Log: Daily Mile

Favorite Sports Drink: Blue Powerade

Wedding Weekend, and OOPS, I have a Half-Ironman This Weekend...

I'm back from a busy weekend of wedding festivities. I woke up back in Austin this morning super tired from the weekend but managed to drag myself out of bed for my run, and arrived at work to 10 voice mails and an inbox full of email...HELLO MONDAY. I'm going to need several more cups of coffee this morning.

Overall, it was a great weekend and really nice to see family and friends and be a part of my brother's wedding day. I even manged to get in some runs while I was there - 10 miles on Friday and 10 on Saturday - even though I was a little disapointed in the running weather in Northern VA - very un-Fall like with muggy and warm temps. For a step back week, I ended up with some decent runs. Nothing super long, but several medium-long runs.

The week went like this:
Monday - 6.01 easy, swim
Tuesday - 10 (speed work)
Wednesday - 7 (suposed to be recovery, but was more tempoish)
Thursday - 11.84 (tempo, hills)
Friday - 10.1 easy
Saturday - 10 (a little faster)
Sunday - Rest/Travel
Total miles: 55.04

When I was on the plane last night, I got an email from the High 5 Events about my upcoming Half-Ironman...this weekend. I don't know where time has gone, but for some reason, I thought I had an extra weekend in between my brother's wedding and my Half-Ironman. How is it October already? An half-ironman this weekend? Um Shit. Especially when the course profile looks like this (bike course & run course). Um, hello massive hills.

It's not like an the extra weekend would have given me any more time to really prepare for the race, but would have definitely given me more prep time to get my bike worked on (tune-up, new tires), actually ride my bike a few times, dust off my wet suit, and get caught up at work before packing for another weekend trip.

It's my sixth half-Ironman, but my first time on the Kerrville course.

So, how am I feeling? Definitely a little under-prepared, but essentially ready given the circumstances. I knew going into this race that it would just be a long training day for me. I know I can complete the race without a problem, it just won't be pretty as I haven't been biking really at all and only swimming minimally. I just found it impossible to try to fit in half-ironman training and 50-miler training. I didn't have the time, nor could my body handle all of the stress it would have caused. I can't really taper for this weekend's race either and I need to stick somewhat to my 50-mile training plan (which means at least 17 miles on Saturday), but my running endurance is there so if my feet hold up and I nail my bike nutrition, I may still be able to pull off a decent run split this Sunday.

But I'm not placing any pressure on goals this time around. I have a race plan and will stick to the plan, but it's not about setting PRs or hitting time goals. It's about my approach, my nutrition and my attitude. For each segment of the race I have guessed a finish time, but really don't care about the number. As the saying goes, "You get what you train for." I definitely could have trained better. But I've been putting in long (running) training hours on my feet and this is my sixth half-Ironman, so that might count for something. My fitness is deeper even if it hasn't been bike or swim specific training, and I know what it feels like to be 65 miles into a 70.3 race and as my husband always says, I race a lot better than I train. So, we'll see how it goes.

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

I am off to an undisclosed location in Virginia tomorrow morning, to see my wonderful brother marry his best friend!! Catch ya'll next week!

Weekend Rewind

I had a much needed quiet weekend. Dan was out of town for work, and so it was just me and the bassets. With a hectic weekend ahead of me with travel and my brother's wedding, and being stressed out all week about my dog's ongoing ailments, I just wanted to relax this weekend. I did not make a single plan other than the 5k on Saturday and a long run with a friend on Sunday. I picked up two new books on the way home from work Friday, and when I wasn't running this weekend I was reading, relaxing and playing Words with Friends on my phone (I'm addicted).

 Saturday was a 5k. The race didn't start until 8 am, so I actually got to 'sleep in' until 5:45 am on a Saturday...a whole hour later than usual! The weather is back to being crappy in Austin, and so it was a humid, muggy morning to race. I warmed up for just under 3 miles and felt okay. Tried to scope out some of my competition to see if there were any ringers who showed up to battle it out for the $100 cash prize. This was only the 2nd year for the race, and the first year they offered money, so they only ended up with about 200 runners. Just fine with me! I actually ran into another guy from Georgetown (Felix), and I knew if I could stay with him, then I would have a good race.

The course was an out and back. I love out and backs because it allows me to see my positioning at the turn-around. The race was offering money for the fastest finisher to break the respective men's and women's course records, which was 24:23 for the women and 19:35 for the men. I know I could break the women's record, it would just be a matter of whether I was the fastest woman to do so.

The gun went off at 8 am. One young guy - I deemed him a ringer the moment he stepped out of his car - took off and was unopposed throughout the race. Needless to say he broke the men's record. I started off with the guy I knew from Georgetown and would stay with him until he outkicked me the last 200 yards. There were a few guys who took off too fast, but faded after about a mile.There was a girl who stayed with me the first 1/2 mile before dropping back. I wasn't sure how far back she was, but was relieved to see at the turn-around that she wasn't close enough to catch me. We were averaging 6:17 pace at the turnout (1.55 miles in). I was still feeling good at this point so decided to see if I could hold pace and break the men's record and come away with a PR. I will still running side by side with Felix, and just willed myself to stay with him. We actually negative split the race (first time I have ever done that is a 5k). I was shocked to cross the line in 19:22, good for a 6:14 pace and a PR...and $100! Felix finished right in front of me to capture 2nd place, and I was behind him in third.

I actually seriously thought about donating the money back to the race. It would have been the nice thing to do. But, I actually kind of need it right now. With escalating vet bills, I ended up just depositing into my bank account. It *almost* covered Flash's vet bill from Friday. As much as I dislike 5k's, I'm really glad I decided to run the race. It was very well-organized and all of the race officials and volunteers were so nice and encouraging.

Sunday's plan was to meet Mick at 5:45 am for 20 miles. It was super humid again. Bleh. This was a run where I was really happy to have company. I am pretty sure I could have cut it short and 100% sure I would have been much slower on my own. We ended up with 21 miles at a 7:51 pace. I was cooked by the end of the run and spent the rest of the day on the couch.

This left me with a weekly mileage of 58.52 miles, 3 swims and 2 shorter spin sessions on my bike trainer. This week will be somewhat of a question mark in training later in the week as I head to Virginia Thursday after run group for my brother's wedding. I am hoping to get in some runs there (and enjoy some cooler temps), but I am not sure how much time I will have with everyone's plans for me (although I tell them I will be a much nicer person if I get my runs in. True story).

I hope everyone has a great week!

Run for the Heroes 5k

It was a good day at the races. :)

 19:22. 1st female, 3rd overall.

Thursday's Bang Bang Bullet List

• I'm racing a 5k this Saturday. It will be weird not to run 20+ miles on Saturday morning... though, I think I may actually prefer to run 20+ miles. 5k's are hard for me. You have to go balls to the wall from the get-go and don't really have time to get settled in and find your groove. I don't really have a time goal. I should be able to run under 20 min, just not sure how far under. I haven't been focusing on 5k fast twitch type speed so I don't know how quickly I am going to be able to get these legs to go. To be honest, the only reason I signed up for this race was to try to win some money. They are offering money if you break the course record...I know I can break the course record (it's like 24-something). Of course, in order to win the money I need not only to break the course record, but be the fastest person (woman) to break the course record. So, we'll see. Usually when money is offered all of the super fast people show up.
  
  
• In case you were wondering, I did not receive resolutions from either of my customer service issues I mentioned in my last post. To say I am angry is an understatement. I have come a a conclusion that the swimsuit place has gone out of business (why they are still accepting on-line orders is beyond me). They are not answering the phone at all or answering emails. So, now I guess I'll dispute the charge with my bank. Pain in my butt. As far as the refund from the cancelled event, I did not receive an email reply to the message I sent on Tuesday or the one I sent again this morning. What really pisses me off is that the company blasts their crap messages on Facebook all day long but cannot take time to respond to my email. My next step is a trip in person to their headquarters in Austin. My husband says he's coming along for entertainment purposes.
  
  
• My poor basset hound Flash is still having issues. He's been on phenobarbitral for 3 weeks to cease what they thought were epileptic seizures. Unfortunately, it has not ceased anything. He's had a particularly rough few days. Back to the vet tomorrow so they can check his phenobarb levels and if those are normal, then we will have to take him to a specialist at Texas A&M. the vet said it could be a nerve tumor or a few other things. Poor guy. It just breaks my heart, and I won't feel better until we get to the bottom of it.
  
  
• I am literally eating us out of house and home. I am baffled at how many trips I am making to the grocery store and the cost of these trips. The sad thing is that is pretty much just me eating all of this food. Dan eats out a lot and mostly grabs something on the way home from practice.
  
  
• I did get a good deal on some Lululemon shorts that were on sale on-line. That's been the highlight of my week. Is that sad?
  
  
• I realized this week how much running keeps me sane and helps my stress levels. I'm so thankful for that.

Poor Customer Service

I am normally an understanding person, but I am not perfect.  I still have my off nights or days when I don’t let the little things pass.  It’s just too bad that whenever that off day or night does happen, it’s usually triggered by poor customer service. I have to admit that whenever I decide to leave, I decide to completely disappear. Whenever I stay loyal to a service or a product, I really stay a long time. I am not fickle-minded when it comes to settling for a service. However, poor customer service irritates the hell out of me. There is no excuse for it.

The past few weeks I have been dealing with poor customer service from two Austin athletic-based companies. And, while I would love to call them out, I won't. It's actually not too hard to figure out who they are if you really wanted to know. I've tried to be very patient, calm and understanding in both situations. I feel I am that way in most situations...until you piss me off to the point where I just blow. And, that's what happened this morning.

Case #1: On August 24, I ordered and paid for two swim suits on-line from an Austin based company whom I have ordered from before. The total was around $50. My confirmation email said the swimsuits would be shipped within 3-5 business days. Early last week, I followed up with an email to the company, politely asking when my swim suits would be shipped if they had not already? No response. I log into my account on-line, and it says my order is still processing. What? I check my bank account. I've been charged for the swim suits. A few days later, I follow up with another polite email, also letting them know to please refund my money if the suits were out of stock or were not going to be shipped soon. Crickets. On Saturday, still no response, so I called them and got an answering machine service that said for faster response to please email them and they will get back to you in 1 business day. Well shit. Been there, done that.  Left a message. Did the same thing yesterday. Cannot get thru to anyone. Send another email. STILL NO RESPONSE WHATSOEVER. So, today, I am pissed. I called again, still get a recording. Left a less than polite message, followed up with a not so nice email. At this point, I no longer want the swimsuits. I will order them elsewhere. I just want my money back.

Case #2: In June, I signed up for an Open Water Swim/Run event put on by a certain company in Austin on August 27. Paid and had it on my calendar. I was looking forward to it. A few weeks later, a friend emailed to let me know when he tried to register, he saw on their web site that the event had been cancelled. Okay, I'm disapointed, but it happens. I assumed we would get an email from the race company letting us know the event had been cancelled and how refunds would be processed. I mean, had my friend not checked the web site to register, I would have no idea that the event had been cancelled. A courtesy email would have been nice. We received nothing.

Late July, I email the race director inquiring about the cancellation of the event and refunds. It took me 3 emails (on the third email I copied the entire staff from the addresses I found on the web site) before I received a response. I was told that the company would sent out something to registered participants letting us know about refunds.

A few weeks later, I had received nothing (nor did another friend who was also registered). I follow up again. This was on a Friday. I was told refund checks would be mailed the following Tuesday and that I would get an email the moment mine was dropped in the mail. I did not. I am still being polite at this point. With still no word (or refund check) after Labor Day, I email again the Tuesday after Labor Day. Still being polite in my email by the way. I am emailed back that my check was mailed Thursday before Labor Day and that I should get it any day now. It is now September 13. Plently of time for a refund check mailed from Austin to arrive to my house less than 35 miles from Austin. Thinking maybe it was my mail, I followed up with a friend who had registered. What a surpise, he did not receive his either. So, I am pissed. I send a not-so-nice email to the race director this morning. At this point, I feel like I've been lied too. It's not even about the money, it's about the principle. I will not sign up for any other events put on by this company EVER. Don’t ever break a promise. If ever you do break a promise, at least be decent enough to offer a ready explanation (which I still have not received). Also, unless you’re in a monopoly, don’t ever think that the customer has no real alternative for your service. Don’t ever think you’re irreplaceable.  Don’t assume that your customer is a pushover.

The end.

Put a fork me in, I'm D-O-N-E

Good news: I survived another week of JFK 50-miler training. 76.74 miles done.
Bad news: I didn't come away unscathed. I'm now sporting some sweet bruises, cuts, swollen knots on my legs and cactus thorns in my body...oh, and, some sore legs.

Rewind. I put in some pretty hard workouts leading into this weekend. Monday was an easy 3.5 mile trail run. Tuesday ended up being just under 10 miles (9.96) with a ladder hill workout thrown in there from our Tuesday run group workout. Wednesdays are usually easy recovery days for me, but I ran with two guys who are faster than me and it turned into a 6.67 mile 7:40ish paced run. Thursday was run group again, so 11+ miles total with 5 of those miles tempo miles at 7 min pace. I added in a swim workout (Wednesday) and a spinning workout (Tuesday) during lunch, so by Friday I was more than ready for my rest day. I was headed into my biggest running weekend ever, and was a little nervous.

Saturday's long run was 28.1 miles at 8:37 pace. I normally run with Mick & Mark on Saturdays, but they both had other obligations so I hoped I could find someone else to run with at normal the 6:30 am Saturday run group. I got a head start, getting in 7 miles before meeting back at 6:30 am for the group run. Luckily, another friend was there and I was able to run 17 miles with her. Good company made the miles go by so much faster. That left me just 4 miles to run on my own to wrap up the run. I felt pretty good until the 26 mile mark then I just wanted to be done. I managed to get through it, but after this run, I was cooked. I don't EVER take naps, and I took a nap after this one. Dan told me he's never seen me this exhausted after a workout. I had plans to run with Mick on Sunday, and seriously considered backing out. I was not convinced I was going to be able to walk, much less run on Sunday. Dan suggested playing it by ear and seeing how I felt in the morning. I was in bed by 7:45 pm on Saturday night and out like a light.

On Sunday, I had plans to meet Mick at Russell Park at 6:30 am for some miles on the road, and then we planned to join the Georgetown Trail runners for their trail run at Rusell Park. I woke up Sunday morning, and despite some overall sluggishness, decided that I would be okay to run. I smothered by legs in Icy Hot (stunk up the whole house by doing so), ate breakfast and was on my way. For those of you who don't know Mick, he's fast. I can hang when I have fresh legs...but trying to keep up with him on tired legs proved to be a challenge. We set off at sub-8 pace and immediately I am breathing hard and my heart rate is sky high. I didn't want to be a wimp, so I didn't say anything, but he was kind enough to ask if we needed to slow down, and I meekly replied at we did. Still, we knocked at 9 miles at an 8:10 pace. After about 3 miles, my legs woke up and I began to start feeling better.

The next part of the run - on the trails - is where the adventure began. I was in desperate need of getting in some trail practice for JFK. Luckily (or perhaps unlucky), the course the Georgetown Trail runners were running was a technical course, full of rocks and switchbacks. It required my intense concentration at all times. I tried not to be concerned about my pace. I wanted to run fast on the trails, but I also did not want to break a leg trying to do so. Everything was going well until about mile 15. At that point, Mick got hit by a low branch, which ultimately resulted in 3 stitches an a tetanus shot to his ear. At mile 16, I face planted on a rock and a cactus. Quite the combo, let me tell you. I was tired at this point, and just was not picking up my feet enough - kapow! Down I go. I got right back up and decided to access the damage later - I just wanted to be done. We ended up with 17.27 miles for the day at a 9:26 avg pace. Despite a few bruises and cactus thorns all over my body, I am fine. I really enjoyed the trail running, I just need more practice, particularly on technical trails.

Despite good intentions to get a lot of stuff done yesterday, including some much needed house cleaning, I did nothing but lay on the couch the rest of the day with my basset hound watching mindless garbage on TV. I am not one to lay around on the weekends, but I had no energy to do anything but that.

I am feeling better this morning. I have some soreness, but I am not walking around like a 90 year old woman like I was yesterday. I am hoping an easy swim at lunch will work out some of the lingering soreness. The next two weeks will be much needed step back weeks for me. I look forward to some "shorter long runs" and giving my legs a little break from the constant pounding that comes from the back-to-back long runs.

Below are some pictures of my trail adventures :)

Getting in some practice on the trails...

  

Georgetown Trail Runners!

 Mick and I post run (notice his bloody ear!)
You might be asking yourself 2 questions when looking at this picture:

1) Did Erin pee her pants? Answer: No. That is sweat in some unfortunate places.
2) How did Erin end up with mud all over her on a dry trail? It hasn't been raining in Texas... Answer: I am quite sure I landed in manure when I fell. And, yes, it's all over my hands as well.

Please Come to Boston

(quick! name that tune! ^^ )

Anyway, the post-it note pictured below has been taped to my computer since the Boston Athletic Association made their announcement about the change in qualifying standards for the 2012 race.

I ran Boston back in 2009, and had the time of my life. I had to sit out in 2010 because it was too close to Ironman CDA, and since the 2011 race sold out in less than 8 hours, I didn't get a spot in last year's race either.

I haven't blogged about the change in qualifying standards. I was hesitant to say much as I was selfishly highly in favor of the new standards because it benefits me and gives me a better chance to get a spot. Just being honest. I hope this post does not offend anyone, as these are just my opinions. There has been some controversy, and I while understand both sides, I still think the Boston Athletic Association made the best decision...and, I believe that I would hold true to that even if the new standards affected me perversely.

There is nothing like it in the world. Boston. The Boston Marathon. I can't even put into words how amazing an experience it is. I thought it might be something I do once, but after experiencing it first hand, I was determined to go back. Beginning with the 2012 registration, the B.A.A. is instituting a rolling admission. Basically the faster qualifying times for each division are rewarded. For the first week of registration (beginning on Monday, Sept. 12), those who ran their qualifier 20 minutes faster than the standard will get to register. During the second week if spots remain, those who ran their qualifier 10 minutes faster can register. Later in the week, if spots still remain, everyone will get to register but priorities are still given to the faster runners.

I commend the BAA for coming up with a unique system to address the needs of the rather vocal minority of fast runners who didn't get a slot last year due to the quick sell out. This could have gone a number of ways, and I like that the one race that has qualifying standards leaned towards honoring the fastest runners. It all seems very fair to me and I like that it maintains the elite status of the Boston Marathon. It should be hard to get in to. I think this will make Boston an even more elite race and will motivate those who just barely made the standard to train even harder. Being a Boston qualifier will be an even greater badge of honor under the new standards.


Personally, I would prefer that Boston didn't allow any non-qualifying runners in the race, no matter how noble their cause. This is supposed to be an elite race. Charity runners don't gain admission to the Olympic Trials; nor should they take away spots from hard-working qualifiers at a prestigious event like Boston. This may seem harsh, but there are plenty of other marathons at which people can raise money for charity. I could not in good conscience run Boston if I did not meet the qualifying standard for my age group, knowing that faster runners were missing out on the experience.


For 2013, they will have the same process and also reduce all qualifying times by 5 minutes and 59 seconds. On this note, I think that they should have made just the female times more strict. The women's qualifying time is soft. I'm sorry, but it is. The difference between the marathon world record for women and men is less than 12 minutes. I am a female myself (obviously), but I feel like there is an unfair discrepancy in the qualifying times between men and women. I would bet a lot more women are qualifying in that 20 min faster time slot than men.

Anyway, I am interested to see how fast the race sells out this year with the rolling admission process. Over time, I hope that a lot of people will see it as motivational, instead of a negative thing.

Wordless Wednesday

Empty snack drawer at work + sugar craving = emergency trip to Dollar Store next to work = an embarrassing amount of sugar purchased.

Labor Day Weekend of Running

I felt a little bit like Forrest Gump this weekend with my running plans, but I am happy to say I survived my longest back-to-back runs to date, and I feel great. Like really great. It's weird. I'm excited to know that my legs seem to be recovering quickly from the heavy back-to-back miles, but I am also cautious as I know it can and will eventually catch up with me. My training plan has another big mileage weekend this weekend, and then two step back weekends with lower mileage (which fall in nicely with a 5k race on schedule one weekend, and an out of town wedding the following weekend). So far, the only causalities I've noticed from 50-miler training is some gnarly chafing. My Garmin wrist band and my sports bra seem to be the main culprits.

Anyway - the stats - total weekly mileage was 71.21 miles.

Friday - REST
Saturday - 26.2 miles/3:28/7:56 avg pace
Sunday - 18.05 miles/8:43 avg pace
Monday - EASY 3.5 mile recovery run on the trails for Labor Day

I was very fortunate to have great company on both my Saturday and Sunday runs which made the miles fly by. Having company on long runs such as those makes all the difference.

Nutrition during this type of race is still a question mark for me. Since I've still not yet gone past 26.2, I've not done anything different than I would normally do for a marathon. I've never been one to take in a lot during a race -usually 2 - 2.5 gu's during a marathon -but I know this will be something I need to practice with. I think I will be able to get pretty far on gu's alone from my experience with Ironman (although a different beast, still time on your feet). For Ironman, I took in all liquid gels, minus 1/2 peanut butter/jelly sandwich, which will probably be my go to food again.

Speaking of food, I've been eating like a champ...I'm hungry all.the.time. I don't think I went more than an hour at a time after Saturday's run when I wasn't eating. I tend to eat a lot anyways, but I've noticed quite a spike in our grocery bill as of late. I need to be conscious of refueling with healthy options that provide proper nutrients...unfortunately, I don't think this weekend's choices of Freebirds (Mexican), Chuy's (Mexican), Buffalo Wild Wings or cookie dough ice cream really fit the bill.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. We've got cooler temps in Texas this week which make running so much more pleasant!

It's the Freakin' Weekend!

It's almost the weekend...and a three day weekend at that!

I will be spending most of my weekend running. Lame.

I rented the movie "Prom" to watch tonight. Probably even more lame.

My plan is 26 miles tomorrow, 18 on Sunday. An easy trail recovery run on Monday.

We'll see how it goes.

I also want to give a shout out to my cousin Lexi who is running her first half-marathon this Sunday at the Rock & Roll Virginia Beach half-marathon!! Go Lexi!!!

I hope everyone has a safe & fun holiday weekend!

Little Known Facts

-Cottage Cheese is my favorite food. This grosses most people out.

-I would rather shop for running clothes, than regular clothes.

-I am from Northern Virginia, and I get really angry when people confuse that for West Virginia.

-The degree to which I sustain my tan throughout winter is directly proportional to my happiness factor.

-I joined the field hockey team in high school because I thought the skirts were cute.

-I talk to my dogs. Sometimes in a baby voice. This is highly embarrassing for Dan.

-I took French, Spanish & German throughout high school and college, although I've now lost most of it.

-I told my parents when I was younger that someday I would be an Olympian...in the sport of gymnastics.

-I think swimming would be much more enjoyable if it didn’t always end up with streams of snot coming down my face. It ruins the pretty.

-I have a borderline unhealthy obsession with Troy Aikman. I used to swear I was going to marry him.

-I can’t watch someone file their nails.

-If I sleep past 8am I feel like I have wasted the day.

-I eat salsa by itself, straight out of the container.

-I don’t like most flavored drinks, like different flavors of tea or coffee. Saves me a bundle at Starbucks, but I do feel sometimes I’m missing out on a cultural phenomenon.

-I hate red meat. No steak or hot dogs for me.

-Sometimes I dream about winning the lottery and it’s so realistic it honestly makes me angry that I didn’t win.

-I haven’t figured out Sudoku. But then I have absolutely no desire to. I probably should exercise that part of my brain more.

-I am highly impatient and highly punctual (actually, this is probably a very well known fact)

-My real name is Debra, but I have always gone by my middle name, Erin.

-I don't believe the people that say they have no regrets? Really? None? Yes you do.