Wheels falling off the bus?

Only 3 days to go to Umstead and it seems the wheels are falling off the bus. I only ran 7 miles last week (and felt great, I might add) and went out to run yesterday and felt lousy. Not the way I wanted my last outdoor run to go. It was 100% humidity so I'm hoping that that is why. I didn't even realize that it was that humid until I got home and checked the weather. I ran this morning on treadmill and it was still very humid but I did feel better although my butt ached the entire workout even while walking! That is not good but hopefully I'll be able to ignore it on Saturday. It's hard to imagine however, that I'll be "running" 100 miles in 3 days! How will I do it? My plan is to just try to stay calm and let the day unfold. I will listen to my body and hopefully it will cooperate. I'm very concerned about disappointing Jean as she's coming from NJ to pace me for the last 50! I'd feel really bad if I just can't continue and she doesn't get to run 50. I'm just going to go for it and try not to worry too much. (easier said than done) It does add pressure to think that I'll not only disappoint myself if it's not my day but I'll also disappoint Jean. Oh well, I'm going to stay postive and do what I can. I figure the worst case will be that I'll be forced to do more walking and possibly miss the cutoff but I'd be happy to just put the time on my feet even if I fall short of the entire distance. I don't plan on stopping until I run out of time unless they pull me off or I collapse and can no longer move forward. I want to at minimal run 24 hours. My first goal is to finish the 100 mile distance but I would settle for just being out there for 24 to 30 hours. I go to the chiropractor today so hopefully he'll have some words of wisdom and will perform some magic. I'm not thrilled about starting such a long journey with a sore butt!

6 Days till Umstead

It's only 6 days till Umstead. I'm still nursing my hamstrings and glutes but they are responding. I just had a massage at Inge's and she did a great job. My muscles responded and feel much looser. Now all I have to do is keep them that way. Stretching will be critical in the next few days and not overdoing it. I hope to do yoga a couple of times this week (very gently meditative yoga!) and some walking on the treadmill.
Tate, Julie and Ada left for home this morning so the house is once again quiet. It was great to have them here for the week although it was stressful at times. All in all, I think they enjoyed themselves and had a opportunity to spend some time alone (Tate and Julie) which they normally don't have. Ada is quite a handful and very determined to do things her way. It'll be interesting to see how the new baby changes everything. I'm sure she'll be a big helper but they will have their hands full. We'll be back out to see them in two weeks for Ada's birthday. After that, I hope we can take a break although we may go to VA to do another Horton race two weeks after that!
I do want to take a break from running for awhile at least cut back. I want to do some biking and more stuff at the club. I think I need to be more balanced and have been making strides in that direction.
Frank is working at the MTC marathon today. I'm disappointed I didn't get to go but I had to get this massage and that was the only time she could fit me in. It was worth the sacrifice but I can't wait to hear how he made out. Next year I"ll be there!

9 Days!

I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted. It's been busy here with Tate, Julie and Ada. They arrived Saturday night after a long drive. Frank and I managed to get in a 20 miler earlier in the day. Our last long run before Umstead. My hamstring held up pretty good although I'm still concerned. I ran the hilly section of the Nick's Creek loop which is a 7 mile out and back section of the trail. It worked out great and I ran it the way I plan on running Umstead. I kept my heartrate under 120 which I will also do at Umstead. I walked the hills, inclines and even some of the flats and ran down the declines. I felt good and was very aware to not allow any pressure on my hamstrings. I haven't run again since although I did get a spinning workout in on Tuesday. We're had Ada since Wednesday morning and that just doesn't allow much downtime. Tate and Julie will be back tonight and hopefully I'll get a run in tomorrow. I'd like to run about 10 just for a extra shot of confidence although my run on Saturday was a real boost. I know that I can finish the 100 as long as I can stay calm and relaxed and just let the day unfold. Let the Games Begin! I think I'll run at the reservoir on my "hilly" section again and run it like I plan to run Umstead again. It's fun and good for confidence and well as a confirmation of heartrate target, etc! It's so much fun training with the GPS, Heartrate Monitor and of course, my trusty IPOD. I enjoy my IPOD so much and know that running these long distances would be much more difficult without it now that I'm used to it.
I was scheduled to get a massage this morning with Inge but Ada was complaining of an earache when she woke up so I cancelled. We gave her some Tylenol and within an hour she was fine Thank Goodness. I held off calling Tate and Julie and was glad I did cause I really want them to have a good couple of days. It's so important for them to have alone time. Once the new baby comes, it'll be even harder. I hope they're not upset that I didn't tell them but I didn't want them to race back. She is fine and certainly we could have called if we felt it was necessay. But I did have to forego my much needed massage. Hopefully I'll be able to get one in before the 100.

Barack Obama in Pinehurst?

I was greeted by quite a surprise yesterday morning when I arrived at the health club. There was a crowd surrounding the basketball court and when I peeked in to see what the commotion was all about I noticed a familiar face on the court. There was Barack Obama! Pretty cool but strange. I was really bummed that I didn't have my cell phone to call Frank to advise him of the news. I was able to observe the "game" from above on the treadmill that looks out over the courts! He never spoke or even acknowledged anyone so it was a little weird. He played for about 1/2 hour and then posed for some photo ops with his teammates and then vanished without a wave goodbye! It felt a little anit-climatic but at least I got to see him. Frank got to the club about 5 minutes too late! He did get to see Bryant Gumbal who was there for HBO. I'm not sure if he was there was Obama or the other basketball players from some of the NC schools. (Duke and UNC) Hopefully the local paper will explain why he was here in Pinehurst!

My hamstrings do seem to be improving however, I'm still babying them. I've been to my chiropractor and massage therapist and have been pulled and poked and prodded and told that all will be fine! I'm just VERY Tight! Stretching is what I need to do but is quite uncomfortable. I've run on the treadmill a couple of times this week and it has been fine although even a 1% incline brought a slight twinge in my hamstring. I've got 15 days until the 100 so hopefully all will be 100% by then. I plan on running on the treadmill tomorrow and then go to the reservoir on Saturday for the real test! I'm going to run about 20 on Saturday. It's pretty flat however there are a couple of baby hills that I'll walk and see how it feels.

17 days and counting!

I can't believe that Umstead will be here in 17 days. My hamstrings have been acting up since I tried to do my last long run on Saturday. The hills from running the Umstead Marathon the previous weekend really took a toll. I thought they were all better but after about 16 miles, I realized that they were not happy. I cut my run to 22 with the last few miles strictly walking. I knew I was in trouble when even walking hurt and I feared injury that would knock me out of even starting Umstead. I believe that it's going to be fine and that I'll be ready for Umstead. I'll just take it easy on the hills with lots of walking and a shortened stride if necessary. Now that it's getting this close, I'm starting to question my training and of course have concluded that I didn't do enough but then noone ever does enough so I'll be in good company out there. I do believe I'd be better being under trained than over trained so that's a good thing!
I ran 4.5 miles on the treadmill today, lifted weights and then took the gently yoga class that Frank has become so fond of. It's a lot of stretching and that is certainly what I need at the moment.
Tomorrow I'm getting a massage at my chiropractors and last night, she really fixed me up so I'm hoping she can do it again! After my massage I actually have to go to EuroBody and give two massages. That's a bummer when I've got to do them when I get them. It'll be a busy day.
I'm also trying to get ready for Tate and Julie's visit and typical of my normal behavior I've put everything off till the last minute so I'll be busy with that the rest of the week. Yesterday we went to Greensboro to go to Costco so at least we should have plenty of food. They're coming in Saturday evening and will stay through Friday. They do plan to take an over-night trip to the beach and will leave Ada with us so that will be really fun. Hopefully their visit won't affect my training too much. I figure I'll just get up early and go to the club a couple of days and hopefully that will be enough to keep me mentally prepared for the big day.
Tomorrow I'd like to run long on the treadmill and see how that goes. I might add a spinning class on top of that if my leg feels good. After that the rest of the day will be spent giving and getting massages.
Thursday will be a repeat of today and we'll reassess how my leg feels. Hopefully I'll be back to normal by then although I do plan to baby it until Umstead. Friday will be spent cleaning and getting the house ready.
The lawn service is going to start our clean-up on Thursday so we're very excited to see how that goes. They plan on cleaning up the old and bringing in the new. They will trim our bushes, move a few, plant a few new ones and neaten everything up. After that we're going to have them come back quarterly to clean-up and do maintenance. It's probably stuff we should learn how to do but we'll let the pros do it at least for now. Hopefully it'll be worth it.
A busy night tonight! I'm not sure how we're going to handle all the shows on at the same time. American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Biggest Loser and Bill O'Reilly! What's a girl to do! The DVR can only handle two networks at the same time. I guess we'll end up watching TV in the den while recording Idol and Dancing! Whew!
I'm off@

Three weeks to go!

It's now 21 days until I run and complete my first 100 miler! Tomorrow is our last long run and after that it'll be important to not over-train but also to not just stop running. I plan on working out my final schedule over the weekend. Next week I plan on running shorter distances and taking as many spinning classes as I can get to. I also will do more swimming to make up for the reduced running. It'll also be important to really keep track of what I'm eating. I've laxed my recording what I've been eating and with less working out it'll be really important to not gain any weight back. I'd still like to lose 4 more pounds before the big day!... Now it's time to really work on the mental part of training. Lots of visualization and meditation!
I've been reading tips from the Run 100's website and found some usefull info that I plan to put into use. I'm going to be a sponge and take in everything I can find that might help me. One comment I read was that it's not really a race but more of a celebration of months of training! I like that. Another comment was first and foremost to just go out and enjoy the day (and night). It won't be a picnic but hopefully I'll be able to have fun and when it's not fun, just hold out until it is fun again. Constant forward motion. My biggest concern will be in staying awake and not getting too grouchy. My friend Jean will be pacing me and I want to be sure we're still friends at the end. Anything I say and do out there in the middle of night should not and cannot be held against me! No, it'll be great. I will however needs lots of caffeine and plan on trying some "No Doz"!
It's going to be fun having Jean and Mary there as I complete my first 100 as well as some of the runners we've met from the the MTC as lots of them will be there as well. Lots of support and people to run with and then celebrate with.
Gotta Run!

Only a Marathon!

We ran the Umstead Trail Marathon this weekend and had a really good time. It was a great run and it was fun running some of the trails that we'll be running in the 100 next month. I'd forgotten just how hilly it was out there so that is a little daunting thinking about running about 75 additional miles for the 100. But, we'll just take it one hill at a time and get the job done. I ran it in 5:19 which was much faster than I thought I would but I felt good and had a great day. I was running with Marie and Susan but they fell back and I decided I'd just keep going as I was running at a nice comfortable pace and I felt strong. It started out with a big down pour but that only latest a few minutes and then it was clear sailing. I used my Garmin GPS and it came mapped the course as 26.58 miles instead of 26.2 making my splits average exactly a 12 minute mile. I was very happy with that and now need to determine how to run the 100. I basically ran every mile about the same pace so my endurance must be finally coming together as I could maintain it for 26+ miles. I guess my spinning and weight training are helping as well as dropping a couple of pounds. Now I just have to continue doing that until Umstead to be in really great shape for that. We'll be putting in our highest mileage this week and then will start the taper. That is sometimes the toughest part and it's easy to overtrain but we don't want to go into the race with tired legs. Been there, done that. It's time to really focus on what is best and just do what we need to do. I also want to focus on the mental part of training so that I'll be better equipped to handle whatever comes up for me out there. After running 26 miles yesterday it's tough to comprehend just how I'm going to be able to handle staying out there for many more than the 5 plus hours that I was out there yesterday. ONce thing that I plan to do out there is to just have fun and relax. My goal is to finish in 29:59:59! I'm going to eat lots of stuff out there and joke around. Last year I was too worried about not finishing and trying to eat the right stuff etc and guess what that didn't work so this year, I"m not going to worry about not finishing, whatever happens happens. I'll have done everything I can do to prepare, and if that's not enough, so be it. I'll try again but for now, it's going to be enough and I'll just do it one step at a time. No worries, no pressure!

Umstead Marathon weekend

It's seems so funny that we're running the Umstead Trail Marathon this weekend and it's like, no big deal! I remember when running a marathon was a big deal and would require lots of preparation. Now, it's just another long run. I didn't taper for it as it is just a training run and another way to experience running on tired legs. (hopefully I'll have a better outcome than at the Horton 50k) It's a 6 hour time limit so I should be fine. I'm not worried about it and just want to go out and put in some time on my feet. The course is mainly on the same trails that the 100 miler is on although they did throw in a couple of miles on single trails as well. It will be hilly but again, good traininig for the 100! I'm hoping to get in another run on Sunday to again run on tired legs but we'll see how tired I am but that's the plan.
We're going to Colleen's this afternoon and will watch Ella for a couple of hours while Colleen goes to work and then we'll spend the night and go to the race from there. It doesn't start until 9:00 which is a little late for a marathon. They're predicting rain (yes rain, even in Raleigh which is in a severe drought) all morning but again, good training.
I've been doing good with my goal to drop a few pounds and have lost almost 10 pounds since the holidays. I've slacked off a little and need to get back on track after the marathon this weekend. I've gotten lazy and stopped logging my "points" and even though I'm very conscious of what I eat, it's so easy to eat more than you think you do when you fail to write it down. I'll start again on Monday! I still want to drop about 8 pounds before the 100! It's only 4 weeks away! I can't believe that it's getting so close but I guess you never feel ready no matter what you do for your training. Now it's time to start some mental training. Frank and I are planning a LONG run next weekend. He's planning on running about 10 hours but I'm thinking I'll shoot for 8 hours. That seems long enough for me.
Gotta Run!

Where did the week go?

I can't believe that another week has gone by. It's been a productive week and now that I've gotten a clean bill of health (for the most part) from the doctor, I feel free to up my workouts again. I've been able to get some good runs in as well as weight training and spinning. I'm planning on getting up early tomorrow morning to take a spinning class that starts at 5:45 AM. It'll be interesting to see if I can function that early but I'm going to try. I think it'll be good training for getting up early and running before I'm fully awake and functioning. We're going to Raleigh tomorrow after that to help Colleen with the baby while she works for a few hours so if I don't get up and get my workout in, it won't happen.
We ran at Uwharrie State Park today and it was really nice. It was the closest we're going to be come to Round Valley. The trail we were on was very rocky and hilly. Hopefully we'll be able to go there at least a couple of times during the month. I think it will help our stamina. It's just too easy running around here and I've gotten comfy with the nice gently trails. No more! We're going to get tough.