Girl In Motion

Backtracking first…

Monday’s 7 w/3 mile tempo ended up being a fabu run; molasses start on the first tempo mile (7:57) but the next two miles (7:38, 7:36) made up for the initial sludge.  A new song on the mp3 player, “Let It Rock” got me pumped so much, I rewound it for the whole 3 miles worth.

Yesterday had its ups and downs.  On the downs, remember my wonderful dentist appt the other day?  The cleaning was great, I had stellar hygiene, but a couple cleanings ago, my regular hygienist Patty (who had become a friend and partner in crime) was fired or quit.  “Partner in crime” because for a couple years, before the doc would come in to check me out, she’d whisper “he’s going to tell you replace this filling but don’t worry about it yet, you can wait on it”.

It was a huge old filling, but it hadn’t given me any trouble and I loved that she was my renegade hygenist.  When she left, I was assigned a chipper company girl in her place.  She’s very nice and all, but now there’s no one to tell me to ignore the doc, so I finally gave in to the pressure and got Step One of a crown yesterday.  The shit costs $868.  I miss my Patty.

On yesterday’s ups, I had such a great run that what was supposed to be 7 ended up 9.  It was the first really cold day here, windchill 30, but it was sunny and vibrant outside and I just wanted to keep going.  Later, we went for a fun dinner with our friends Lara and Jeff where I got drunk as a skunk and ate duck.   Anyway, it was almost enough to make me forget the interval session I had planned today, but I went to bed with it weighing on my mind because it was one of those long things I hate.

Yeah, I’m on the Flo Plan which includes only VO2 sessions of my liking, but Pfitzinger has a cruel one for pre-race week (2 x 1.25 miles @5k race pace with recoveries 50%-90% of the interval time) and because it looked like something I knew I’d hate, I made myself do it.  I figure if I dread it, it must be good for me (in intervals, anyway).

It ended up being ok, I averaged 7:16 pace on the first one (9:05), recovered for 6 minutes (65%ish), than went 7:19/mi (9:09) on the second one, so 7:17/mi avg. for both.  Really not bad and now I have that amazing feeling after a hateful workout that says “I did it! I’m done! I can be a restful pig now.”

I was so cooked afterwards, that I ended up run/walking the 3 miles home, which I never do.  Even with the walking, it still ended up a regular easy pace, so no biggie, just a point of interest.

Now I’ve done my physical labor for the day, I’m going downtown in a minute to do a voiceover of some short, in-store spots.  Not sure what it’s for yet, but speaking of in-store stuff, did I ever mention how jealous I am of whoever gets those self-checkout voiceover gigs for grocery stores?  Can you imagine what a giant job that would be?  I mean, there are only about a zillion products in a store.  Plus, how fun to hear your robotic voice say “Move your.   Tree-ripe peaches.  To The Belt.”

And now.  I must.  Go.
Later.   Kids.

I had a great Sunday run, 13-miles among that crazy bright palette of Fall leaves - my farthest run since Steamtown.  The funny thing was realizing a few hours afterwards that I hadn’t even thought about bringing a gel, when for months I’d made sure to suck down that sweet snot for anything over 12.  How soon I abandon the old ways.

As for today, I did a radio spot in the morning, got home and stuffed a meatloaf sandwich down my gullet, waited forever for it to digest, then went out for my first tempo run in months.

One of the best things about 5K training is iddy biddy tempo runs.  Seriously, the optimum LT time for this distance is good ole 20-30 minutes.  What a novelty!  In fact, looking at my logs, the last time I did a 3-mile tempo run was Nov. 14, 2007.  It’s almost enough to make a gal feel guilty…almost.  Total workout was 7 miles with 3 tempo, the tempo splits were 7:56 (windy start), 7:52, 7:43 for an avg of 7:50.

I should also mention that I’m using the park markings instead of the Garmin for quality workouts from this point on.  It’s the only smart thing to do because today, for example, the Garmin autolaps consistently came up 4-6 seconds short every mile!  Sheesh.  It’s not always that bad - Sunday was spot on with the markers, but I clearly can’t depend on it. Thus, I won’t be doing my beloved 600s for a while, instead I’ll be doing speed workouts to 1/4 and 1/2 miles - but it’s worth it for accuracy’s sake.

In 5K news, my latest happy development was finding another 5K three weeks after the Turkey Trot, which means I now have 6 weeks to do some damage instead of 3.  “Huh?  What’s that you say?  December…cold?  I can’t hear you, fingers in ears la la la la la.”  I’m living in denial but that’s alright, I figure it’s about time I do some uncomfortable races.

As for training, after all my hemming and hawing about different 5K plans, just when you thought I was going to pfollow Pfitz (sorry, I can’t help myselpf), I made an executive decision to return to the same plan I used last Spring: The Flo Plan (a.k.a. The PFlo Plan).  The Flo Plan consists of 45+ mpw, one tempo, one speed plus the requisite long and easys.  Nothing mysterious (bread and butter as far as plans go) but highly effective and I get to do whatever fun speedwork I choose.  Lovely.

So once again, at least for a while, I’m the Boss of Me.  I hope I like it, though I warn me, I tend to disrepect authority - plus I can tell I’m going to be a bitchy boss already.  Gotta go now, I have to tell me that I’m about to be laid off.  Who hired this whack job, anyway?

Had a weatherful weekend of running. On Saturday, I braved the pouring rain for a fun 7-miler in a longsleeve shirt, tights and a hat. I was soaked to the gills by the time I got home but felt great for having done it. Next time I have a race in an utter deluge, I’ll consider myself prepared.

Sunday’s run was all about the wind.  I have nothing good to say about wind except when it helps you back, but somehow the return trip never really makes up for the battle forward. I’m always expecting an actual “whoosh” to push my ass home. Maybe in a tornado.

Today was also pretty windy for my 7-mile w/ 5-miles of tempo. It was a hard run and a bit discouraging, comparing it to my previous tempo times, but my last tempo was on Feb. 7th so I shouldn’t be surprised. Add to that the wind in my face and some PMS “where’s the gun?” emotion…it makes for one surly tempo run.

The main thing is I finished it. Because as unfun as they occasionally are, tempo runs are like money in the Speed Bank. Plus, you get to mutter profanities during the entire transaction.

Aside from running (but totally about it), check out the fun toy I bought this morning on Amazon - this cool time calculator. I’ve been wanting one for a while so I finally made the splurge. When I’m at the computer, I use this handy dandy software one, but I wanted something I could use before bed when I’m sitting there perusing my books and spreadsheet print-outs, daydreaming about paces. Obviously, I have too much time on my hands (yuck, yuck, sputter & choke).