Countdown and pain...

Tomorrow morning the diva and I leave for Florida.  It will be her first trip to Disney World - and first race period - and my third Disney race in the past two years.  Today is about putting miles on the log and not making my shin any worse than it already is.  Too bad that isn't really going to happen.

I knew the second I hit the pavement that this was going to be one painful run.  Not 100 meters in I was already feeling the pain radiating up my shin.  Why oh why?  I can't figure what I could have done to cause this.  Hmmm, or maybe its the shoes.  They are rather overworn at this point.  I've been meaning to buy a new pair for a while, but have just been lazy.  Running shoes should be changed out every 400-500 miles...these have more like 600 or so miles on them.  Or maybe my leg just can't bear the weight any longer?  Nah, I'm going with the shoes. 

Note to self - scour the race expo for a good sale on New Balance 1080v and just buy them.  Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles:  4.17
Time:   35:59 (average pace of 8:37 per mile)
Location:  Capitol Hill, Lincoln Park, Stanton Park
Feeling:  ouch...my shin hurts

A glutton for punishment...

Alright, I'm going to share a secret.  I'm not fantastic at taking a break when I need to.  What?  You already knew that?  Huh...I thought I hid it well.  Today was one of those days I needed to take it easy, but I'm racing this weekend in Florida, and I've not been putting in the number of miles I usually shoot for as a minimum.  So I laced up the shoes to head out for a lunch time run.

Washington is Washington.  The nanny brigade walks the children through the park for the afternoon fresh air, the dog walkers ply there trade throughout the side streets and the suits look important as the hurry toward whatever important meeting they have with important people.  And I just keep on running.

What's interesting about today, however, is not the scenery or the goings on around the Capitol, its the change in my physical condition.  My hamstring has bothered me, well, basically since college.  So when it is tight or screaming, it doesn't mean a whole lot except provide me with a reminder to replace the empty tube of Icy Hot (yes, I swear by that stuff...it should be in every gym bag).  That said, my hamstring actually feels decent today.  Instead I have intense pain radiating up my shin.  Shin splints?  Stress fracture?  Totally random?  Who knows.  All I know is I have no time for this and will just have to push through for the foreseeable future.

Minor injuries don't get me down, but I'll have to watch this one.  After all, the back injury a couple years ago that sidelined me for most of 2011 started out as just a minor injury.  I'm not about to go there again.  Happy trails!

Stats -
Miles:  4.03
Time:   34:09 (average pace of 8:28 per mile)
Location:  Capitol Hill, Lincoln Park, Stanton Park
Feeling:  my hamstring is okay, but I've got pain radiating up my shin

Ducks and goals...

I love Sunday mornings.  Especially Sunday mornings that begin with a friend who enjoys the same things I do...stretching the legs and spending time with our kids.  This morning Brie and I started bright and early with the kids in tow...rather in the lead resting comfortably in their respective jogging strollers.  The plan?  Head down to city dock, feed the ducks and return in time to get a shower and drive to Sunday School.

It was chilly, there's no denying that.  But it was a nice change.  That crisp morning air just lends a little something to the aura of Annapolis in the early hours before the whole city wakes up and tourists flood the streets.  The quiet is also conducive to sharing all the gossip that must be shared.

The run downtown was kind of slow (umm, yeah, actually the whole run was kind of slow).  Both Brie and I are aching...her knee my hamstring.  But we are bad ass and just keep going.    And somewhere along this path I hit the 800 mile mark.  That's right folks, 80% of the way towards logging 1000 miles this year.   That just feels awesome.

When we got down to city dock and Brie pulled the bread out from under her stroller the kids were ecstatic.  I don't remember ducks being so thrillling when I was three, but they must have been.  Ducks fed, we continued down city dock, alternately racing the kids and carrying them (well me carrying the diva).  Brie also spent time telling B what was special about the Bear and the Bull, two almost ancient sailboats that are still in operation.  All in all it was a success...and then we had to hightail it back to Brie's so the diva and I didn't miss Sunday School.

I thank every opportunity to run with friends, particularly my BRB.  It makes the solo runs and the races easier later on.  In particular, its made my goals easier to envision this year.  All's well.  Happy trails!

Stats -
Miles:  5.42 (plus 2.34 walk with the diva to get her ready for her first race)
Time:   1:05:48 (average pace of 12:08 per mile)
Location:  Annapolis, City Dock
Feeling:  hamstring is pinching again

Home opener excitement....

Today is the Navy football home opener against VMI....and gymnastics class for the diva, and brunch with the parents of one of our midshipmen, so time was short when everyone got up and moving. That's why I had to be up and moving before everyone else.  And why not, it was a fantastic morning for a good run.

The rest is history.  It was a bit humid out...read super drippy sweaty by the time I was done...and the heat was just coming on.  The hamstring is holding up and everything else seems to work.  I wish there was something interesting to say about this run but, let's be honest, the route hasn't changed and the deer I see almost every time are pretty common place.  Really, how many times can you hear about the deer that pop out of the woods and attempt to run me down while I'm innocently pursuing physical fitness?

The diva enjoying the game with our buddy!

Regardless of the less than interesting, though quite pleasant, start to the day, a Saturday during football season is never boring.  And today was the diva's first big time football game, so all was pretty exciting.  It also doesn't hurt that Navy brought home the win.  All in all, one darn good Saturday.  Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles:  4.25
Time:   36:11 (average pace of 8:30 per mile)
Location:  Broadneck Peninsula, Bay Head Road, Log Inn Road
Feeling:  decent, I'm not going to complain

Shirtless rollerblading...

I've been sick the past few days.  I rarely succomb to a fever, but fever it was on Monday and Tuesday.  Total sucksville.  I was bed bound and forced to hang up the running shoes.  That probably wasn't a bad thing in some ways.  I'm reluctant to take time off from pounding the pavement, though I really should following races. 

Today I could sit still no longer.  During my lunch break I broke out the shoes and headed out the door to enjoy the good weather and a few miles of meditation.  Mostly it was a normal run around the Capitol Hill neighborhoods...until I hit Lincoln Park.  Why is it that all the interesting people circulate around Lincoln Park?  I don't know the answer to this, but time and again I always find my strange stories in that area. 

As I pulled onto the dirt track on the inside of the sidewalk I was streaked by the shirtless rollerblading guy.  Okay, some folks can get away with this....definitely not this dude.  Maybe I admire his self-confidence, but I was nearly compelled to give him the shirt off my back.  It was just too much.  Admittedly though, it did keep my mind off the fact that my lungs were screaming from the remnants of being sick and that I was sweating buckets from the same.

Sitting down writing this entry, I still can't get the vision out of my head.  Here's to hoping the change of seasons and cooler weather will find that guy wearing a shirt in the future.  Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles:  4.05
Time:   34:52 (average pace of 8:36 per mile)
Location:  Capitol Hill, Stanton Park, Lincoln Park
Feeling:  everything is working really well since taking off three days this week but the lungs are bad

Half marathoning it....

This morning started early...maybe too early.  As in, before the crack of dawn early.  Ugh.  That said, Washington DC is beautiful with dawn breaking over the monuments.  And, today is the Navy-Air Force Half Marathon and Five Miler.

Okay, let's back up and start with the pick ups.  Hi, my name is Stacie and I'm today's driver.  That meant I needed to hit up the Naval Academy to pick up our two mids running the five miler at 5:15 and then grab my best running buddy, Brie, at 5:30 because the race committee said to be at the start no later than 6:45 for a 7:15 start.  Did it end up being necessary?  No, we had tons of time and with a smaller race field it was no trouble walking up to the start right before the gun went off.

The running crew....
Stacie, Lucy, Caroline and Brie

The start was at the base of the Washington Monument.  Pretty cool, especially with the sun just having risen.  The stone glowed pink.  The star bangled banner rang clearly through the crisp air, and then we were off.  The course started out snaking past the tidal basin before zooming over to Haines Point.  Normally I don't like the sections of DC races that go around Haines Point.  It's too quiet.  No crowd to cheer on the runners.  Today it wasn't so bad.  I had my running buddy next to me and a good conversation brewing.  The leg was feeling good and all was well.

After leaving Haines Point, we had a long stretch of the Rock Creek Parkway.  A really long stretch...like forever.  I did see a few folks I knew as we headed out past the Kennedy Center (Hi Margaret and Steven Cook!  Thanks for the photos!), and we looped past Jen Bornemann at one point, but it was boring.  Don't get me wrong, the scenery was beautiful.  Sort of that last vivid green before fall starts bursting around the corner.  But there are no sidewalks for spectators and the running crowd was also unexpectedly quiet.  So quiet you could hear the birds and your running shoes on the pavement.

We crossed the finish line is a little more than 2 hours.  Slower than Brie and I generally finish a half marathon by about 10 minutes, but considering her knee and my hamstring, we'll take it.  After all, how can you complain about spending the morning with a good friend, getting exercise and coming closer to my goal all in one fell swoop.  Would I run this race again?  It was kind of expensive, there was only water and gatorade on the course and there were not many spectators to keep you going.  I could get all of that and not pay the entry fee by running on the B&A trail, so I guess we'll have to see.  Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles:  13.31 (plus 2.66 to and from the race festival)
Time:   2:06:16 (average pace of 9:29 per mile)
Location:  Washington, DC - National Mall, Rock Creek Parkway, Haines Point
Feeling:  Pretty decent, could have done another 13 miles even though the hamstring is rough

Sequestered running...

Today OMB issued guidance on how the legislatively-mandated sequestration would hit each account funding fovernment activities.  Sounds like a good day to be running doesn't it?  I think so. Especially when you need to think about things. Today the remains of the four Americans killed in the Benghazi attack also returned, and the reception at Andrews Air Force Base was emotionally overwhelming.  I needed to work out the emotions.  

I took off on my normal route, paying attention to life bustling as if nothing negative was happening in the world.  And to most it wasn't.  Running was the best thing I could do for my brain at this time.  It was also good for my legs, which I seem to be neglecting these days.  I don't feel like I'm getting in nearly as much running as I could.

Things felt good, the sun felt great, and the movement cleared the brain.  Now I'm back to my desk to figure out sequestration again.  Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles:  4.25
Time:   36:14 (average pace of 8:31 per mile)
Location:  Capitol Hill, Lincoln Park, Stanton Park
Feeling:  tight hamstring, but dealing with it

Mom + Miles = Sanity

Check out runprettyfar.com for more

Today I came across a new fun running attire company that summed up some of my feelings about running pretty well, and did so stylishly.  As I've said multiple times, running is my sanity.  Now, I can't say that I need the sanity check because of my child...far from it.  Actually running has helped center me for a long time.  That said, I love the shirt that says "Mom + Miles = Sanity."  I will take it to mean that, yes, I am a mom, and yes I have stress, and yes, running helps me keep it all on an even keel.

I thought about the life evening benefits of running a lot during my today's lunch hour miles.  I thought about all the feelings I have when its me, my ipod and endless road or trail.  I feel release.  I feel empowered.  I feel in control.  I feel strong.  I feel relaxed.  I feel happy.  I feel accomplished.  I feel many things, but most importantly I feel AWESOME about myself.

The sun was shining down, cars were bustling up and down the roads, people were walking and talking through the parks and life was going on around me, but it didn't matter.  I was in my happy zone (one of my several happy zones of course) and everything felt pretty good.  I cleared my head and thought about new approaches to work challenges, I thought about fun things to do with the diva this weekend, I thought about my half marathon and the joy of running with friends this weekend. 

And then I stopped.  I enjoyed the sweat (well, mostly...I don't enjoy the sweat that drips into my eyes and stings like a mother...), and I enjoyed the slight ache in my muscles.  Though the run was not particularly challenging it was fulfilling and helping me to hit my mini goal for the week (30 miles...).  Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles:  4.01
Time:   34:44 (average pace of 8:39 per mile)
Location:  Stanton Park, Lincoln Park, Capitol Hill
Feeling:  the lower hamstring is twinging a bit again, but the lungs are feeling lighter

The comfort zone...

It's been a long time since I pounded the pavement around Capitol Hill...roughly two months at any rate.  It was a good day for this particular run.  The weather was calm, beautiful, perfect for reflection and contemplation.  That is what today was about.

As I ran through the streets around Stanton Park and Lincoln Park I noticed the silence.  The normally bustling streets, full of cars and joggers, nannies and dog walkers, were empty and quiet.  It took me a couple miles to notice.  While I was thinking about the office I was sitting in on 9/11/2001, just a few blocks from where I was jogging, the absence of others just didn't seem to register.  When it finally did, I felt the silence was appropriate.

The silence also allowed me to look inside and feel the run.  My legs felt strong, my arms felt strong and my spirit felt strong.  While I've still got a bit more healing to do before my lungs are 100%, it didn't seem to matter in the grand scheme of things.  The run felt comfortable...in the zone.  Now back to work in the office full time, I look forward to many more of these runs along this familiar path.  They are good for the heart (literally) and the soul.  Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles:  4.11
Time:   34:45 (average pace of 8:27 per mile)
Location:  Stanton Park, Capitol Hill, Lincoln Park
Feeling:  Awesome

Action on the Severn...

Let's just say that, overall, this week has been abysmal for running.  Bronchitis is kicking my butt, so I've laid off enough to not totally kill myself, but still logged 14ish miles overall.  Hopefully this coming week will be conducive to catching up on miles.  Though, truth be told, I'm not behind for the month given last weekend's 25 miles logged in two days.  Anyway, I digress...I seem to be good at that these days.

On to today's run.  Brie and I are back in action...sort of.  As I already said, I've got bronchitis and can't breathe real well and Brie's still got the IT band issue, so we're not in tip top running form.  That's never stopped us though, and since we are running a half marathon next weekend, we set out at 6:30 this morning for a semi-longish run.

The weather was fantastic.  It's not been this good in months and was wonderful for stretching the legs.  The first couple miles felt very familiar.  Brie and I chatted about all the super duper news and goings on in our lives...and there seemed to be a lot this week.  We headed toward Annapolis, down Main Street and over to City Dock. 

Once we were on the Naval Academy "Yard," heading toward the sea wall, things got a little weird.  First we saw the DNR boat come up to the sea wall with its lights on.  An then at the bend before College Creek, we saw a MP sitting next to his car on the sea wall, that's when we saw the fire truck up on the Academy Bridge with its lights flashing.  What the heck was going on?  We thought immediately it must be a search and rescue.  Jumper?  Cap-sized vessel?  Who knows?  Our thoughts on the search and rescue were confirmed when a state police helicopter also came onto the scene, circling the Severn in the area between the bridge and the entry of the river to the Chesapeake.  I hope it wasn't a sad day for a family, but I've not been able to learn anything more than what we saw with our own eyes....which admittedly wasn't much.

Well, we finished the spin around Hospital Point and had two options - head back through the Yard and downtown toward our start point or exit gate 8 and head straight back for the start point.  Gate 8 was only about 2 miles versus 4ish and my lungs were straining and Brie's IT band was also bothersome, so we took the shorter route.  It wasn't a cop out, just understanding the limits and needs of our own bodies.  This has probably been one of the greatest unexpected lessons I've learned throughout this year of running to meet my goal - you can't get it done if you don't understand what your body is telling you and when.  Sometimes you can still push a little further, and if you listen, you know when those times are.  And sometimes you've got to end a run sooner or risk not being able to run for several days or longer (why I've taken the past couple days off).

We got back to the start while planning our packet pick up, race schedule, and what we're going to do for fun the day before the race.  I've said it before, but I'll say it again.  I love these runs.  They are my therapy, my exercise, my time with friends and my fun.  Thank you Brie! Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles:  7.42
Time:   1:16:26 (average pace of 10:18 per mile)
Location:  downtown Annapolis and the Naval Academy
Feeling:  the lungs were very rough but the legs felt decent

Danger Will Robinson....

Until I get completely caught up, I'm skipping the write ups about treadmill runs.  They can be boring (unless I happen to catch some show like Pregnant and Didn't Know It).  Let's just say, I did one on Wednesday (stats below) and move on.

Today was relatively  mild in the morning, but growing hot by the afternoon, so I was dressed for running when I took the diva to school.  I got a little side tracked and by the time I was set to run it was raining outside.  Too bad, I've got to run.  So I decided to hit the treadmill...blah.

On my way over to the gym I thought to myself "it's not raining hard, and I actually like running in the rain, so what the heck."  I detoured over to Greenbury Point to get in four to five miles.  After parking my car, getting the satellite feed on my Garmin set, and adjusting my cap (don't like rain in my eyes) I set off toward the trail.  I ran into an unfortunate sign at the head of the trail, which caused me to have to change my proposed route for the run.

So, I flipped around and was going to head up through the golf course after the loop down by the Mill Creek marina.  I got as far as the Nature Center when I decided to try the trail behind the center.  I'd never run it and thought it may be interesting.  It was narrow and over run with weeds.  Since I was running alone, I thought it might not be wise to get too far down the trail and risk injury, so headed back. 

I noticed that the Nature Center entrance to the Greenbury Point trail did not have the live fire sign up, and took my chances heading down that path.  At this point my head cold started to catch up with me.  On top of the rain, I was sweaty and my skin was turning red.  I also couldn't catch my breath.  Perhaps the workout was a bad idea when I have such a bad cold going on.  When will I learn my lesson?

Anyway, I finished the trail.  It wasn't pretty but it wasn't ugly.  I didn't get in four to five miles, but I didn't sit on the couch.  Oh yeah, I also crossed the 75% threshold for meeting my goal for the year, so that is awesome!  While my mileage is low for the week so far, I'll get over the head cold and make it up over the weekend.  Happy trails!!!

Stats (for Wednesday)
Miles:  3.53
Time:   30:03 (average pace of 8:30 per mile)
Location:  Gym at Naval Support Activity Annapolis
Feeling:  my legs aren't bothering me, surprise

Stats (for Thursday)
Miles:  3.14
Time:   27:23 (average pace of 8:43 per mile)
Location:  Greenbury Point
Feeling:  everything aches

Bring on the crazy...

When I got the flyer in the mail for the Charm City Run 20-miler (yes, I know you are already considering my mental state as diminished), I thought to myself "this would be fun but I don't want to do it alone."  That meant I needed to find someone equally crazy to run it with me.  Here's where my good friend Lara comes in.  She runs longer distances than any of us and does it with her lip gloss still looking fantastic.  When I told her about the race, she was in.  Score!  Nice long race and a few hours with one of the toughest people to pin down in Anne Arundel County.

The race was a point to point on the NCR trail, so we started out up near the PA border and ran south to Hunt Valley on a very slight downgrade.  At the start the weather was almost cool and the temperature stayed mild through the whole race....though it was humid as all get out.  The humidity came into factor several times throughout the race.  By the middle of it, our clothes were more wet than the week before during the A-10 when it actually poured rain on the race....yeah, it was that humid.

At any rate, we cruised down the trail, catching up on the past several months in detail, keeping relatively close to a 10 minute pace.  For us, this was more a training run than a race so there was no pressure.  We chatted and chatted.  At one point we ran up on a couple folks who entered the conversation (we would end up leapfrogging this duo through the whole race) and sped up after some parts of the conversation got a bit weird.

That wasn't the last weird thing on the course though.  At one point we came up to a house with a gnome obsession that backed up to the trail.  There were at least 50 gnomes in this yard, maybe upward of a hundred.  Bizarre, but humorous. 

Then at the mile 12 water stop was a great surprise.  The diva and my husband were helping out at the water table.  Check out my little race volunteer...she refused to let anyone else hold the gatorade cups as they were being filled.  She'll be great in a few years.

The rest of the run was really good.  Both mine and Lara's hamstrings were tight just north of the knee caps, but everything else felt pretty good.  For us anyways.  About half a mile before the finish we came up on a poor guy who had such a horrible charlie horse that his whole leg was wracked in tremors.  He couldn't move and it was on a treacherous part of the course on a road with no shoulder and oncoming traffic.  Lara and I stayed with him until he could stand again, and then headed up to the finish with smiles on our faces.  Twenty miles went by very fast.

I loved this race.  I would do it again.  I may even consider the NCR Trail Marathon later this year.  We'll see. Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles:  20
Time:   3:25:26 (average pace of 10:16 per mile)
Location:  NCR Trail from PA border to Hunt Valley
Feeling:  the hamstring held up and the attitude was spectacular

Good running fun...

I'm skipping over Thursday's run (treadmill...boring...stats below) and skipping straight to today, September 1...much more exciting.  Today was the Labor Day 10K at Naval Support Activity Annapolis, which Brie and I have planned to run for the past few weeks.  We added to the pleasure with a third runner - a midshipman - who has a lot of enthusiasm and is breaking into more of the longer distance running.

So how did Caroline join the intrepid duo?  I work with Caroline in the age 3-6 Sunday School class at the Naval Academy Chapel.  She has been forced to listen to my race recaps for the past year and last week she indicated she was interested in trying out the longer distance (greater than 5k) running.  Perfect opportunity...come run the Labor Day 10K on the Navy base with Brie and I.  She was in.

So we get to race morning, and par for the course, not everything has gone by the books during the morning, but we're all there before the start of the race.  So, bonus.  Oh yeah, us and the other 13 runners for the race.  Yep, 16 total.  Guess what?  Our chances of winning something increase exponentially.  Woohoo!

Downside to a small race field?  Everyone goes out uber fast.  When  the start was given, we al went out at about a 7 minute/mile pace...uh, not happening for long folks.  We pulled back to about a 8:30ish pace.  Now, on the way over, Caroline indicated she wanted to try to keep up with us during the race as long as possible.  I told her she could probably run much faster than our 8:30 - 9:15 pace.  She wasn't so sure.  Kudos to her for keeping up the whole time.  And for listening to our weekly dish the dirt session.  She may never join us again after that :)  But we hope she will.

Anyway, the course wound up through the golf course, up Providence just a bit and then turned around so we could head back and catch the trail around Greenbury Point.  When we hit the 4 mile mark it became very clear that the race was going to be short of 10k, but who cares, we were having fun.  Ultimately we finished 7, 8 and 9 overall.  First in age 35-39, first in age 30-34 and first in 20-24.  How about them apples :)  So we did't actually win any real prizes (the MWR races are so small they only give first place overall male and female) but we can pretend we rocked it.  And of course, we also didn't walk away with any random prizes either.  Maybe next time.  It was fun regardless and Brie and I were able to share our love of running with a new person.

Now on to rest up a bit for tomorrow's Charm City Run 20-miler with Lara.  It promises to be cooler and the course is a slight downgrade, so I feel pretty good about it.  Happy trails!!!

Stats (for Thursday)
Miles:  4.01
Time:  35:37 (average pace of 8:53 per mile)
Location:  Fitness Center at Naval Support Activity Annapolis
Feeling:  Hamstrings are still tight, trying to make them last

Stats (for Saturday)
Miles:  4.83
Time:   41:30 (average pace of 8:35 per mile)
Location:  Greenbury Point
Feeling:  tight in the hamstrings, just need to hold them together through Sunday