For the Record

I'm still here. I've just been busy. You know how it is.

I arrived in Washington, D.C. from Lake Tahoe at 10:30 pm on Labor Day. Those cross-country flights are starting to get old. Over the summer, I've been back and forth to California four times. Yep, you read that right.

Since returning two weeks ago, I have traveled to Philadelphia on business, worked long nights, and run with the desperation of a woman who sees the MCM as a freight train bearing down on her.

This blogeroni serves, in a way, as my training log. So, for posterity, here are my most recent training runs:

* Sat., Sept. 9, Lake Tahoe: Hilly 20-miler at +7,000-ft. altitude. Went out super-slowly because I wanted to enjoy this run. I ran at a 10:35/mile pace for the first 10 miles. Pleasant. At first. But now I think I ran too slowly. At Mile 13, E. met me with a bottle of Gatorade. At Mile 14, I thought, "When is this ever going to end?" Picked up pace. Miles 15-20 were tough. Started cussing a blue streak at Mile 17. Scared two bare-chested skater dudes with scary tats on their back. They zoomed by, giving me wide berth. Total time: 3:19. Ugh.

* Tues., Sept. 5, D.C.: 4-mile run on the Capital Crescent Trail. My first run at sea level in almost two weeks. Total time: 32:15. Meant to be an easy run, but went faster than I expected. Felt effortless.

*Thurs., Sept. 7, Old Town Alexandria: 5-mile run at night, in my neighborhood. All went well until a little after Mile 2. My stomach rebelled. It heaved and roiled like the open sea. Ran quickly to the public library, which was [thank god] still open. Spent quality time there. Ran back without incident. Total time (excepting bathroom break): 45:00.

*Sat., Sept. 9, Del Ray, Alexandria: I yet again woke up too late to join my marathon-training group. So ran a hilly 5-mile course near my house. Total time: 44:33.

*Sun., Sept. 10, Del Ray/Mt. Vernon Trail: 14 miles. The first 8 miles were uber-hilly. Used more energy I thought, and by Mile 12, I was veeerrry tired. Wanted to lie down on someone's green lawn and take a nap. Instead, I stopped several times to catch my breath. Total time: 2:15:22. Avg pace: 9:35/mile.

*Tues., Sept. 12, Capital Crescent Trail: 10 miles. Supposed to be a marathon pace workout. But my stomach, again, felt bad. I wondered if it was the extra cup of coffee or the Kung Pao shrimp for lunch. Burped. Definitely the shrimp. So I took it easy. The first 5 miles were at an avg 9:24/mile pace. Felt better the second half, even though I was going uphill. So ran a little faster. Avg pace Miles 6-10: 9:07/mile.

*Thurs., Sept. 14, treadmill: 6-mile speed workout. 5 X 5:00 at 5K pace w/ 5:00 jog intervals. I set the incline on the machine to Level 1.5. After a 1-mile warm-up, I ran the first repeat a bit fast: 7:24/mile pace. The other four repeats were at 7:30/mile pace. Felt tough, but totally doable. Energized at the end.

*Sat., Sept. 16, Del Ray: Damn it. Slept through the marathon-training group run yet again. Ran 5 miles in my neighborhood. Called it a day. Total Time: 46:00?

*Sun., Sept. 17, Del Ray/Mt. Vernon Trail/Arlington National Cemetery/Georgetown: 17 miles. I actually enjoyed this, because I just ran and didn't worry about pace. I ran my fastest miles at the end, using a woman in blue shorts as a pacer. Mile 15 was 9:23. Mile 16 took me 9:15. Mile 17 was 9:01. Total time: 2:42:01. Avg pace: 9:32/mile.

*Today, Capital Crescent Trail: 8 miles. My aim was to run 3 miles at tempo (8:05 to 8:15/mile pace), then at least 1 mile at marathon pace (8:35/mile). Here's how it turned out:

Mile 1: 9:28 (warm-up)
Mile 2: 9:20 (more warm-up)
Mile 3: 7:43 (um. way too fast.)
Mile 4: 8:08 (that's more like it.)
Mile 5: 8:15 (okay, but starting to get tired. Also uphill.)
Mile 6: 9:57 (recovery jog)
Mile 7: 8:49 (Supposed to run 8:35 but lost focus. Also uphill.)
Mile 8: 9:32 (cool-down)

In between the runs, two days a week, I lifted weights or took a cardio/weights class. Whew. Okay, done with the run updates. Hmm. I feel a bit under-trained for the marathon. We'll see.