Lots to report

Let's see. Since I last checked in I went to the shore for a few days and had a great time despite being stuck in traffic in both directions. It took close to three hours each way when it usually takes no more than two. Just awful. We were stuck in Zoo traffic (literally people going to the zoo) for an hour.

My sister (one of those who bailed on the MORE marathon) has decided to walk the Philadelphia Distance Run with her two teenaged daughters. I'm not sure that any of them know quite what they are in for but it should be fun getting them all set. It's even more interesting when you realize that only seven girls in their age group did the race last year so they might actually win a prize -- how cool would that be?

One of the kids, the one I thought was being dragged into the PDR scheme, went for a walk with me & Brian on Monday and did an awesome job. We went about 5 miles and she didn't complain at all until about the last half mile. Especially impressive was that she was wearing flip flops! Anyway, stay tuned for the saga of getting those three across the finish line in September.

I gave blood last night and got my Gallon pin. How exciting! This is long overdue since the Red Cross doesn't remember my donations from back in high school and college. But now what do I do with my snazzy gallon pin? Where does one display such a thrilling item? They also seem to be phasing out the "be nice to me, I gave blood today" stickers in favor of ones that say "You can count on me - I'm a blood donor". Not quite as catchy. I bemoaned the sticker change enough that the volunteer gave me a "be nice to me sticker" too. Of course, I went right home and there was nobody to be nice to me but Brian and he gave blood also so the sticker didn't really do me any good.

I should be running tonight but due to the blood donation I'm skipping and it will try to go tomorrow. I need to do something this week because I have a 5K on Saturday morning and I am unprepared to say the least. This is the Collegeville 5K where Brian won his trophy last year so it should be very exciting to see if he can repeat! He probably won't for a few reasons: nagging ankle soreness from the marathon, a big cut on his big toe from stepping on a shell during a whiffle ball game on the beach, and the fact that he keeps threatening to run the last few yards to invalidate the walking. Bah Humbug on that plan!

My toenail that I thought would turn black is settling on a nice purple shade but nothing too hideous thank goodness.

I can't think of anything else so I will end this lame entry right now.

Philly Fit - 3 miles?

Philly Fit was fun today despite the head and horrible humidity. The coach told us to run for 20 minutes out and 20 minutes back or do 4 miles. I did neither!

When I got to the turnaround for 3 miles, it was hot and gross and we had left the shady part of the trail and I had befriended a new Philly Fit person who was ready to turn around, so I happily turned around too! I was even more happy when my new friend decided to take some walk breaks.

My legs didn't feel bad and I certainly could have done the four miles but I felt like indulging in the recovery this week while I still can.

Last night I got two new marathon books: The Traveling Marathoner and 26.2 Marathon Stories. I'll report later on how they are.

I feel great!

My legs are at about 95% today. I feel great.

Did I mention that my time gave me a PR by 43 minutes!

I know 5:15 isn't the greatest marathon time in the world but I'm still really happy. This was kind of like my first marathon because it was the first one that I feel like I ran. I know I walked A LOT during the race but I mostly ran. So now, even though my time isn't great, I can say that I have run a marathon.

The killer is that I always thought that once I felt like I had run one that I wouldn't want to do it anymore. I'd be content settling back on the half marathon. But no -- I really can't wait to run another one and improve.

This is such an addiction.

Delaware Marathon Full Report

Goodies: Excellent! High quality t-shirt in an interesting color with "Delaware marathon Class of 2006" on the back listing all the runners names, a nice Delaware Marathon logo pint glass from Michelob Ultra, a blinking light for running at night, 2 Gus, 1 marathon snickers energy bar, 1 notepad from the desk of a Delaware marathoner. All stuff you will probably use!

Race Day: Race morning was a little chilly while we were waiting around for the race to start but it was just right for running. My only pre-race requirement, lots of porta-potties, was easily met. It looked like they had some bagels and water and stuff to eat pre-race. I know there was coffee too because I actually saw a guy lined up at the starting line holding a full cup of coffee. He was actually wearing a race number and was not a spectator! Can you believe it?

Lap One: The race started right on time with a very loud and surprising Cannon boom (just like Caesar Rodney) and we headed out onto the extra 1 mile loop around the stadium. It wasn't a super fast loop on my watch (10:51) but it seemed like it just flew by and then we were off on the "real" loop course.

Mile two allowed for some window shopping at the outlet malls (by the way – I got some great bargains at LL Bean the night before the race) as it took us along the river walk. I was still feeling really good here. I knew I was probably going a little too fast but I couldn't help it. There was a very enthusiastic water stop as we turned on to section two of the river walk and right past there was a stage with a band playing and a tall skinny goofy guy in a blues brothers outfit and electric blue sneakers doing some kind of lame dance to entertain us. He was fun though.

I tried to slow down and walk around the water but it didn't really make much of a difference. After some twists and turns we were on a desolate stretch with trolley tracks that made me paranoid because of the Broad Street Run fall. I navigated this section without incident all 8 times I passed it but I did walk over the tracks as the race progressed and I got more and more tired. There's another water stop around here, this one had loads of snacks in addition to the water. Then we passed the bagpiper and started up the one hill in the race.

This section was very congested on the first loop. The runners were all penned into one lane of traffic because the other lane was still open to cars. As me and my fellow snails were headed up the hill the leaders were screaming down the hill and we had to share the road. Kind of tricky but never a problem after the first loop. I wound up walking up most of this hill. I probably could have run up it but I knew there was a lot of race ahead of me and I just didn't want to spend the energy.

The next section had a lot of turns as we went through a little neighborhood and then onto the long out and back section that was filled with the signs that the race folks had posted. They had selected 200 of the 600 runners and posted signs with their name and something interesting about them on the signs. None of us got signs though! Boo! It's a cute little touch to the race I thought.

There was a remote outpost water stop and chip mat out here and they seemed to me the rowdiest of the bunch. They must have been really bored out there. Anyway, these folks were the first to notice my Will Power shirt and they said they'd be looking out for me all day. They were true to their word and every time I approached they'd start yelling "here comes WILL POWER" or "WILL POWER is BACK!" and by the end of the day they were just calling me Willie, which I found particularly funny.

It's three miles from the outpost back to the finish area and this part was neat because it gave you a chance to see other runners, in particular my sister and Brian as you passed them going in different directions. I really enjoyed seeing them to see how far ahead I was (not much) and to know how they were feeling (pretty good). This was a big deal for me because I know at my last marathon (Disney 2005) it was Brian's first race and I spent half of my time worrying that he wasn't doing well. It was good to have my mind at ease about that this time.

At the end of the first loop I still felt good but I knew that I was probably going too fast for my own good.

First loop splits:

Mile 1: 10:51
Mile 2: 11:04
Mile 3: 11:01
Mile 4: 10:37
Mile 5: 10:35
Mile 6: 10:38
Mile 7: 10:55

Lap Two: The second lap absolutely FLEW by. Seriously, I can't remember much except seeing the guy in the pink fairy outfit carrying a wand (he finished in less than 3:20). About a mile out from the finish area in lap two I started to feel some twinges in my left knee that felt a little like the IT band problem I had in my right knee. This caused me some real distress because I was worried I wouldn't be able to run at all if it didn't ease up. Luckily I had some Tylenol 8-hour with me so I took that as I approached the end of the 2nd loop.

I was feeling unusually gloomy at the end of loop two. I knew I'd gone too hard so far and that I was only going to get a lot slower. My knee was a little sore and the leader (Chuck Engle who is kind of famous for doing tons of marathons and winning them all) was finishing as I was coming through and heading out on my third loop and I just wanted to quit. It would have been so easy because we literally ran right past the car every loop. There was a very short stretch of road, like maybe 50 yards between the chip mat and a water station. As I was walking that stretch and thinking about quitting a nice teenaged volunteer must have noticed that I looked bad because he came out into the road with a big huge smile, kind of put his arm halfway around me and patted me on the shoulder and said "you're doing just fine – just keep on going" and then he went on his way. That was enough to make me realize how mad I'd be if I quit. So I got some water and trudged onward. This water stop also was giving out pineapple. I didn't take any but it was kind of an interesting thing. I also felt a little better because I saw these two tall, fit looking guys, who were running together and had started near me lurking around the porta-potties. I figured if those guys, who actually LOOK like marathon runners, were at the same pace as me I couldn't be doing all that bad.

Mile 8: 10:26
Mile 9: 10:57
Mile 10: 11:24
Mile 11: 12:04
Mile 12: 11:56
Mile 13: 12:37

Lap Three: This lap was when I started noticing all the relay runners blowing past me. They must have been doing it all along but I guess I was moving faster on the earlier loops so I didn’t notice them as much. The good thing was that they were all clearly marked as Relay runners so you didn't feel too bad getting passed. Plus, I got some satisfaction in thinking that they might be faster than me but I was able to run three times as far as them. I was much tougher than them! When I saw Brian on this leg from a distance as I approached him he looked like a crazy hunchback who was in terrible pain. It turns out he was just rooting in his pocket for some food and he was otherwise doing fine. I had crossed over to his side of the course to see how he was and he shooed me away saying "why are you messing up your time for me?". I guess that makes me a good wife for caring that he was in pain and him a good husband for telling me to get a move on and not screw up my own time. As I was approaching the boardwalk on the return of this leg I had to stop on a bench to take a rock out of my shoe. Very pesky and I'm not sure how it got in there. It didn't seem particularly rocky anywhere. And at the end of this lap – at mile 20 I made a bathroom pit stop. I also forgot to hit the lap button on time so that mile 20 split is really bad – and mile 21 is too fast because part of it is lumped in with mile 20.

Mile 14: 12:40
Mile 15: 12:05
Mile 16: 12:14
Mile 17: 12:08
Mile 18: 12:47
Mile 19: 13:14
Mile 20: 15:37

Lap Four: Once I made it to mile 20 I knew that I could walk the rest of the time in 15 minute miles (much slower than I walk) and still come in below 5:30 which was my main goal for the race so I felt pretty good about things and I was glad I hadn't quit. I was really tired by now and HUNGRY. I'd been taking water and Gu2o at all the stop and I had been eating my gels every 5 miles or so as I normally do but when 20 miles came up on me I was seriously hungry. I ate my chocolate Gel, which was really thick like icing, and the texture killed me. I used to prefer the thick ones but this kind of grossed me out. If I hadn't been as starving as I was I don't think I would have eaten it all.

My friends at the remote water station cheered me into running up to them and back and I appreciated the loudest of them saying something like "I won't see you again today Will Power but I'll be thinking of you all day" or something like that. I know he didn't mean it but it made me feel like I had a fan.

I saw Brian again on this stretch and he looked very strong and fast and I started to worry that he was going to beat me AGAIN and that made me mad because I really wanted to win today! So much for me being a nice supportive wife!

The wind had really kicked up by now and as much as I wanted to keep running as much as I could because I could see my splits getting worse and worse, I was having trouble. I would kid myself that when the wind died down I would run some more, and I kind of did, but I have to be honest – I walked pretty much the whole last 3 miles.

Along the desolate trolley track section, probably mile 23 or 24 for me, a guy going in the opposite direction asked me why I was walking when my fuel gauge (on my t-shirt) was full. I said the Will Power tank was full but the actual fuel tank was empty. And his reply was that it was full enough because I was on track to kick is ass. I thought that was pretty funny and it made me run for about 30 seconds before I conked out again.

I perked up some between Mile 25 and Mile 26 because there was a huge string of cars filled with runners on their way home who were honking and hollering out the windows of their cars at those of us still plodding along. I kind of enjoyed that because I need the excitement and I knew they didn't really resent us the way most of the people in cars did that day when they were being held up.

Approaching the turn up to mile 26 I noticed the guy with the cup of coffee from the beginning of the race walking along the side of the road with a medal around his neck – not a finishers medal but something else. Very, very mysterious. I really had no juice left in me so I couldn't even manage to run the final .2 miles. I only ran when I was in clear view of the finish line.

Mile 21: 11:09
Mile 22: 13:16
Mile 23: 12:41
Mile 24: 13:26
Mile 25: 13:18
Mile 26: 12:59
Mile .2: 2:45

Final time: 5:15:33

My lap splits (not sure where they took these splits) :

1: 1:19:19
2: 1:13:31
3: 1:20:52
4: 1:22:39

Post Race: Right over the finish line was a skinny Santa Claus looking guy who praised your effort, gave you a hug and removed the chip from around your ankle. Just past him a nice lady hung a medal around your neck and then you could get some water.

Then I wandered over to the food tent (which was surprisingly hard for me to find) where I entered post-race paradise. Soft pretzels, pizza, ice cream sandwiches, popcorn, real sandwiches, bagels, bananas, water. It was awesome and they had plenty of it even for snails like me!

I grabbed some food and went back to the finish to see Brian and the walker acquaintance that I wanted to beat. I succeeded in that goal and so did he! She was pretty mad that she didn't break her PR and was taking it out on her family at the finish line. I'm sure that Brian passing her at mile 24 contributed to her being in such a snit since I am not her favorite person and I'm pretty sure that she knows he goes with me. That gave me quite a rush of evil happiness to know that increased the intensity of her snit.

Overall Impression: I'm not sure what I think about the loop course. During the first lap I kind of hated it. I thought the terrain changed too much (regular roads, parking lots, concrete sidewalks of a strip mall, bricks, boardwalk, areas with trolley tracks, etc.) but by the end of the race I kind of loved the loop a little bit. Parts of it were pretty and scenic (the river is beautiful) and parts were smelly and unattractive and surrounded by weeds that grew as high as my shoulders (seriously!) but overall I liked it. I liked that the volunteers and the people watching knew who I was as the day wore on and showed personalized support towards the end of the day when I needed it most. I also liked knowing exactly what I was in for and I could talk to myself about what was coming and how to prepare for it. I liked the fact that there were always a lot of people around because of the relay component. Yeah, if you'd asked me yesterday if I'd be back next year I would have said no, but as I write this, I am feeling like I want to go back.

Next up: New York (I hope) and sub-5 hours (I hope).

I did it!

The Delaware Marathon was great! I finished in 5:15:34 and managed to achieve all of my pre-set goals for the day. Hooray!

I have a lot to say about this but not a lot of time right now. A full report will follow soon.

AM showers on Sunday?

Weather.com is calling for AM showers. Hopefully they'll be gone by the 7am start. I'll be bringing a Hefty bag to hide in until race time just in case.

The fitness index is still a 9 so I am hoping for a great day. The high is 71 degrees, low of 49. It's probably going to be overcast so I think it'll be good race weather for most of the time I'm out there.

I'm feeling pretty nervous but I don't know why I'm letting myself get worked up over this race. This is just for fun and unless I fall again and really hurt myself I will have no time improving on my marathon PR. This is about FUN.

PhillyFit starts tomorrow so I'll be getting in one more 3 mile run before the marathon. I expect it to be a very slow easy run. No matter what I'm staying in the red group so going fast really won't impress anybody and it can only hurt me. Slow is the key.

I got a very dorky CD at BJs the other day. Mousercise by Disney. It's pretty awful but it does have the version of "Go the Distance" that they play at the start of the Disney Marathon. That song alone makes me want to sign up for the Goofy Challenge even though I know we're going to Phoenix in January not Orlando.

My friend Char is doing the half marathon in Cleveland this weekend and she's cooking up all kinds of schemes for the fall season. She wants a big gang to do the PDR then follow up with Baltimore Half and the NYC marathon. We'll see!

4 miles after dinner

We went for a short run/walk after dinner last night since we were lucky enough to have a break in the weather.

We were on the flat from Oaks to VF and it went pretty well. I didn't try to overdo it and I felt good the whole time. Brian had to drag me kicking and screaming from the house to the trail but I was very happy that we'd done it once we were finished.

The weather for the weekend is still looking pretty good. Whew!

I signed up for Philly Fit this week. The first pace run is on Saturday so I probably won't do any other runs this week until then. Maybe an easy post-work WALK on Thursday but I have a feeling the weather will prevent that.

Updated Weather Forecast

The weather channel fitness comfort index for next Sunday is a 10. That's awesome! I hope it stays at a 10. The best I've ever seen listed before is a 9.

I'd post the nifty graphic but blogger won't let me.

Weekend Run

My neck was all better by Saturday so I was able to go out for a run and test out a new pair of shorts. The run and the shorts test went well.

I walked the first mile and half or so to where there were marked miles on the trail and then ran 4 miles at what averaged out to 11 minute pace. I walked the mile and a half back to the car. It was good although I was really just starting to feel good when it was time to stop.

I also decided that it was way too hot running on a sunny day in a regular baseball hat. I think I'm going to need to go with a visor at the marathon.

Boy, this is really a snoozefest of a post!

Broad Street Run mysterious photo

It's really very strange. If you go to Island Photo directly and search for me by bib number this picture does not show up. If you go via the Broad Street Run link it does show up. Brian is barely in his photo -- he's walking out of the frame and checking his watch at the finish line.

It's not a particularly good photo and I'm a little sad that you can't see my bloody leg. My pony tail also looks like some kind of strange growth from the side of my head.

Here's hoping that the photos from Delaware are better!

Best Junk Food Ever -- this could be trouble

I just found these in the vending machine at work. Hot Buffalo Wing Pretzel Pieces. Oh my god. They are the ultimate snack.

I thought that the Pumpernickel pretzels from Utz were good but these blow them out of the water.

Feeling Better

Whew! The neck feels a million times better today than it has. I'm coming up on time for a new dose of Motrin and I only know because I looked at the clock and not because I can feel the throbbing muscle. Let's hope things continue to improve.

I'm obsessed by the race. I need to figure out what shorts I'm going to wear. Right now nothing I have seems to be right. The shorts that I wore on my long run and at Broad Street were OK but I think they're too lightweight to support the amphipod with gels and stuff that I'm going to want for the marathon.

I shudder to think how distracted I'm going to be next week. I can already think of nothing else but the race.

The 3-Day people are crazy

I have nothing but good things to say about the way the actual 3-Day walk event was done. It was specacularly organized and everything went smoothly as far as I could tell.

However....the administrative side of that organization is HORRIBLE. I just got a notice in my e-mail today that they had recieved my matching gifts from CA. TODAY! And I know it's not CA that was the hold up since they cut checks for charity every month. I submitted that paperwork to the 3-day people last JULY and they didn't manage to get the money until today.

I just can't even belive it.

Sore neck

The pesky neck sprain is improving. I'm on a steady diet of Motrin and it seems to be getting better. I think I should be OK by next weekend. I better be OK by next weekend! I've skipped weeknight runs because of the neck. If it's not raining tonight I might go for a walk but I really don't want to rock the boat. I hope I'll be able to go for a short, flat run on Saturday.

It's really quite amazing how much it hurts! I never really thought about how much you turn your head in the course of a day! Even sleeping is troublesome.

The running store lady told me that the head of Philly Fit is going to host morning runs out of the store during the week. That's kind of interesting as long as there might be some other slowpokes in attendance. Running store lady also told me that there were quite a few beginner runners coming to the weekly night runs so I might consider going sometime. A more likely scenario is that I'll go out on the trail with Brian and try to spy on the running group and then decide if I could show up on another night to join their ranks.

Philly Fit starts next weekend. I still haven't joined because I don't know if I should sign both of us up or just me. I don't know why I'm feeling cheap about it. I should just look at the fee as a way to rack up some frequent flyer miles. Speaking of miles, my race entries for the PDR were put on my new miles card and they haven't shown up yet. I hope they don't lose the entry forms so I'll get the bargain rate for sure.

Early weather report

I know it's too early to really pay attention to this but...

Accuweather is predicting:

Rather cloudy with thunderstorms. Winds from the NE at 6 mph.
High: 64° F
RealFeel®: 64° F

That's all I can get since the race is 11 days away and most sites only give a 10 day forecast.

Cloudy is good, but I hope it doesn't rain or really storm.

Predicting My Marathon Finish

My primary goal for Delaware is just to beat my very slow marathon PR and to run as much as I can. But as the day gets closer I am thinking more and more about when I hope to finish. This is not my primary race this year and my main focus is on whatever fall marathon I choose to run but I'd still like to set some goals for Delaware that will help me avoid wimping out on race day.

I decided to poke around and see what the marathon predictors say about my finish time based on my recent events.

Running Times says that I'll finish in 5:05:58 based on my Broad Street time and 5:18:34 based on my Caesar Rodney time. Using the VF 5 mile run, it predicts a 5:12:15 finish.

Marathon Guide predicts a 5:03:55 marathon based on Broad Street and 5:13:57 based on Caesar and 5:12:23 based on VF.


On my race entry I said I expected to finish in 5:30 and that's still my ultimate goal but I do hope that I can do better and if the weather and the body cooperate I should be able to do it.

According to the predictors, I should think about beating Speed Turtle (a walker acquaintance of mine) who is shooting for a 5:12 finish at Delaware.

So I guess I have a bunch of goals:

Super ideal, perfect day overall: sub 5:00
Excellent day: 5:12 or better
Really good day: 5:20
Average but still good day: 5:30
Disappointing but still OK day: 5:31 - 5:57
Disappointing not so OK day: 5:58 or slower

Not feeling so great

I feel awful. My shoulders/arms are killing me and I think I'm finally feeling the impact of Sunday's wipeout. I don't know why else they'd hurt except from absorbing my fall.

I'm not going to run or walk tonight. I'm just going home to chill out and hope that I am better tomorrow.

Broad Street Run - Splits

Mile 1: 10:20 a little too fast
Mile 2: 10:54 this is where I fell -- I guess it worked to slow me down and get me back on pace!
Mile 3: 10:59 angry at juggler guy running near me who kept dropping the balls
Mile 4: 10:57 feeling good - ate my new Power Gel with 4x sodium
Mile 5: 10:42 still feels good
Mile 6: 10:30 wow! where did this mile come from?
Mile 7: 10:57 I don't remember this one
Mile 8: 10:55 or this one
Mile 9: 11:04 slowed down a little to hear the Rocky theme at the water station
Mile 10: 10:41 finished pretty strong....but I think the 1/4 mile to finish sign was a big fat lie!

Total: 1:48:03

1:48:02 *

It was an ideal day for the Broad Street Run and overall I had a really good day. My finish was a respectable 1:48:02 -- a full 10 minute improvement over last year.

The asterisk is because my time was screwed up (a tiny bit) by the ridiculous fall I had when I tripped on a trolley track between miles 1 and 2. A TOTAL wipeout. I was laying face down in the street.

I bounced back and with the exception of some ugly road rash and some sore, cut and bruised hands I am OK.

More details later including mile splits.

Extremely mediocre run

We met after work and I got through 5.5 miles but it wasn't pretty. More walking that usual and less motivation than usual. I have no explanation for it but my lame excuse will be that I wasn't 100% from Monday's long run and I didn't want to work too hard before Sunday's race.

Survivor has gotten really good these last two episodes. More strategy than I remember seeing or hearing about for many seasons.

Vacation!

We've settled on a plan and we're going to Yosemite National Park in late September! We might also take in the Eagles vs. 49ers on September 24th before heading to the NP but that part of the plan is still up in the air.

This allows us to go to Virginia Beach and do the PDR (our normal fall racing schedule) and then go on vacation without missing the hardest weeks of fall marathon training. At least I think it works out that way. It will for sure if we do Philadelphia and it probably will if we're doing New York.

The date for the Marine Corps entry is looming and I'm not going to get myself register even though I kind of want to. I'm letting fate decide my fall marathon plans.

I have developed a strange ankle twinge/injury since yesterday. I think it's from too many days wearing junky shoes without enough support. I'm supposed to meet Brian for a run tonight but if the ankle still hurts I might skip it so as not to make it worse before Broad Street on Sunday.

Gatorade Endurance Loves Brian

Today when I got home from work I found a mysterious plastic wrapped box from Gatorade in the mailbox. It's addressed to Brian. It looks very much like the small CD-sized mailing I got last week that contained a coupon for a free 32 oz. bottle of Endurance.

Brian is laying on the couch, completely uninterested in this mysterious box that I am dying to rip open. So I force him to open it. Guess what's inside? Not just one coupon for the drink but a plastic wrapped DECK of free coupons. There must be 25 of them in there all for the big 32 oz bottle. PLUS it has a nifty Fuel Belt Shoe Pocket which is just the right size for keys and a couple dollars.

What on earth did he do to rate such an awesome giveaway? He never signs up for any races on his own, he never fills out the "win a free whatever" survey forms at the expos, he never even buys gatorade! Free stuff is wasted on him!

I guess I can't complain because I seem to have won the QVC lottery -- although it remains to be seen if that is better than the Gatorade lottery.

I hate blogger

I keep trying to post a picture of my run activity but blogger keeps pretending to load the picture and then not showing it. It's so aggravating.

I'm going to try AGAIN but I bet this post still has no picture.

The Long Run

In an effort to simulate race-morning conditions I had a couple of packets of instant oatmeal for lunch before heading out on the long run. I washed it down with a bottle of Gu2O since that's the drink they'll be giving out at Delaware. Gu2O is kind of nasty for anybody who is wondering. It's not the worst thing I've ever had but it's not in the least like the kool-aid flavor of Gatorade and Powerade.

We parked at Oaks near the restrooms and our plan was to run on the trail to VF, where there are water fountains and restrooms, come back to the car (and bathroom) and then head the other way on the trail to the center of town where there are stores so we could buy food or drinks to refuel. The weather was great yesterday but there was a good breeze and we couldn't quite settle on outfits (long or short sleeves?) and so we were able to stash extra clothes in the car, which we didn't need.

I tried out a new pair of shorts from Title 9 that worked out great and I think I'm probably going to wear in the race. The shorts I used to love from last year are all really floppy and make me look like I have even more enourmous hips than I actually do. Plus they have liners like spandex tights that keep creeping up. That didn't seem to happen last year but it's driving me nuts this year. Anyway, these didn't move around too much and were comfy all day. Here's hoping they'll be good for race day.

My waterbottle was filled with Gatorade Endurance formula (undiluted at first) which I topped off with water at VF and then refilled with full strength Endurance for the second out and back section. Much better than Gu2O!

We were taking it easy at first, walking to a streching point and then picking up the pace. I stayed with Brian longer than I usually do which was good because that meant that we were talking a little bit and that my pace was controlled and slow enough. Eventually I decided to time a mile and that one clocked in at 11:22 and it felt like a walk in the park. I didn't keep continuous time because I didn't want to get caught up worring about pace. After stopping for water, and eating an Espresso Love Gu, I ran most of the way back to the car and timed a mile in there at 11:25. No more timing though, for the rest of the day.

We had a longer than expected stop here because Brian had an issue with sunscreen in his eye so it took a few minutes to fix that properly and then we were on our way. At this stage we had somewhere between 7 and 8 miles under our belts -- probably closer to 7 -- and we both felt great.

I don't have much to report on this leg even though it was the longest part of the run. The trail here is gravel, which I like since it's softer, but Brian isn't thrilled with for fast walking. I didn't run nearly as consistantly on this section but it wasn't terrible either. I had a harder time keeping pace and I blame that on the music and the fact that I wasn't sticking around near Brian as much as I had before.

When we hit 5.5 miles out we finished up the Gatorade, refueled (I had a pack of Clif Blocks) and bought water and a bottle of regular gatorade at WaWa. My legs felt good and I ran a pretty good portion of the way back too but I know I was stopping more and more. Once we got off the gravel and back on the paved section I could really feel the paved road pounding my legs and I totally wanted to stop running but watching Brian pull away kept me at it.

You can see the peaks and valleys of running but over all it was a pretty solid effort and one I think I'd be happy with in the real race. My fuel tank was still pretty full at the end and we shared a bottle of some strange protein drink I got at GNC on a whim. It was pretty tasty but I don't think my stomach liked it much. My legs feel great today though!

The whole thing took us about 4.5 hours and I think we covered about 18 miles -- maybe a little more but it was good enough in my book!

Next up: Broad Street Run!

Many many miles

I don't think we got to 20 but I'm sure we got past 17 -- probably more like 18 or 18.5.

It was a pretty good outing but right now I'm too tired to write about it. I also think that I've digested my dinner enough that I now have room for the chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream that is lurking in my freezer.

I RSVPed to all the events for dorky QVC weekend. I am officially a huge weirdo now.

Weekend of Parties

I bad news is that I didn't get in one second of exercise this weekend because I was at a wedding shower and a First Communion party. The good news is I'm taking a half day today to meet Brian and do our 20 mile long run. Hopefully we'll have time for the whole thing.

I was supposed to do a local 5k on Saturday morning but I just wanted to sleep late so that's what I did. I think it was probably a good decision.

In other news, I've been invited to a top secret "red carpet" event weekend at QVC Studio Park. I'm half horrified and half thrilled about it. It's all this lame "reception with the hosts" and back stage stuff but since QVC is so close I am very tempted to go. At least for the vendor show -- maybe I'll get free stuff? It says that the invitation is non-transferrable and that I can bring a guest with me. I'm not sure if I can bring multiple guests or only the same one. I'll have to have a lottery to see who gets to join me. My Mom and sister are candiates but I think that Brian's family is WAY more into QVC then mine and they would enjoy it far more.

Stay tuned for updates!