30k Marathon Pace Run Win, Slumber Parties, Celebration, and Sweaty Pits

What a week!  First 70 mile week I've ever run, a house full of sick kids, husband out of town, a fun "sweaty and embarrassing" March story hour, a successful 30k race with 13.63 of them @ marathon paceish,watching The Lorax with my girls, and ending it all with with some good solid girlfriend time by having an old school sleepover (ice cream, movies and plenty of laughter included).  I was able to dodge this sick bug for the entire week until this morning and now I'm left with this:

This girl played TOO HARD!  Poor Nicole... I went on a recovery run with her this morning and she was kind enough to stick with me for five miles at an incredibly sloooow pace while I whined the entire time about how sick I was.  But I ran 70!  Woot woot!

Training, Training, Training, Running, Running, Running
If you don't count that this week is ending with being sick, it's been a good week of training and I was feeling strong (hope to be feeling strong again by Tuesday).


Mon. 2/27:  10 miles
Tues. 2/28:  11 miles w/5@1200's @ 6:19 pace with the 5th @ 6:15 pace.  Quarter mile AR in between.  
Wed. 2/29: 15 eye poking miles on the treadmill.
Thurs. 3/1: 10 miles
Fri 3/2:  Off
Sat. 3/3:  30k with first 5 easy and then last 13.63 @ 7:29 average.  7:36 Average for all of it.  
Sun. 3/4 VERY slow 5 mile sick recovery run.  


Saturday's 30k:  
First off, I will admit that I was a little mathematically challenged this week.  I'm usually quite good at math actually but for some strange reason, I had it in my head that a 30k was 18 miles flat.  Um, DUH!  Of course it is 6.2 x 3.  Hello Masters Degree!  It is working for me.  And then I was supposed to do 12 miles @ marathon pace with 18 total so in my head I decided that would be running the first 5 easy and then I'd have 12 left.  Hmmm, not sure who taught me math but I think I might blame it on my self-taught years.  What?!  So needless to say, I ran more miles at marathon pace than intended AND, the entire run (a 3 lap course), I kept thinking how horribly AWFUL I was at running the tangents.  This is true but not bad enough for me to be adding on .64 to my assumed 18 mile run.  Okay, forget blaming my self-taught years because I think that actually served me quite well in life. I'm blaming being a solo parent with VERY sick kids all week.  Obviously my brain was affected but my body was waiting to crash until AFTER the running weekend.  


Despite my way-off calculations, this 30k was a success!  


Here's the skinny:


I had the pleasure of heading out to this ORRC 10k/30k race with Nicole from I Dream of Running.  What a fun morning. We both brought home first place awards and a load of confidence and SMILES. It was really neat to share this good day with a girlfriend.  If you get a chance, head over there to congratulate Nicole on her first place win in the 10k with a new PR of 40:59. This girl is only getting faster.  And this PR was off of a 75 mile week for her.   

Shoes I wore:

The Brooks Pure Flow shoes proved to be a great "ride".  I was a little worried about wearing them for such a long run with so many faster miles since I haven't worn them much yet, but I'm glad I did because they "Flowed" and felt so smooth.  Like floating.  Thumbs up!  The only issue with my feet today is that I am losing a toe nail or two and it HURTS!  But that has nothing to do with the shoe choice.  


Fuel:

I tried out these beans in a plastic tube this time.  I held it in my hand while running.  Honestly, it got annoying as the container emptied and I could hear the sound of the beans jostling around.  Annoying for me AND the people I passed.  I took two or three of these every 2 miles or so starting at mile 4.5ish.  I finished them all by mile 12.4.  Luckily, I wore my Nathan water belt and it fit so nicely and SO nice to have my water on hand when I wanted it!  

Luckily I had one of these in my "Fanny Pack"...Ha!  Or Water belt.  Whatever you want to call it...it just isn't very sexy. But it works.  I pulled one of these out at around mile 14 and took most of it by mile 15.  I definitely felt myself needing a bit more fuel than the beans provided.  

Stats:

Distance:	18.63 mi
Time:	2:21:40
Avg Pace:	7:36 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	288 ft

 Average Pace for my 13.63 of Marathon Pace was 7:29.  This sounds like a good goal for Boston but this was also off of a 70 mile week with tired legs so perhaps being tapered could mean running a bit faster.  At the same time, I'd celebrate greatly if I could pull off a 7:29 pace for 26.2.  We shall see.  I'm not setting any definite goals for anybody but myself this time. I have a few numbers that I'm playing with in my head.  

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	2:21:40.3	18.63	7:36
1	7:50.5	1.00	7:50
2	8:05.9	1.00	8:06
3	7:56.1	1.00	7:56
4	7:54.1	1.00	7:54
5	7:53.6	1.00	7:54
6	7:28.0	1.00	7:28
7	7:30.1	1.00	7:30
8	7:28.6	1.00	7:29
9	7:26.5	1.00	7:27
10	8:01.3	1.00	8:01
11	7:13.7	1.00	7:14
12	7:20.0	1.00	7:20
13	7:34.5	1.00	7:34
14	7:25.2	1.00	7:25
15	7:37.3	1.00	7:37
16	7:47.1	1.00	7:47
17	7:27.0	1.00	7:27
18	7:18.7	1.00	7:19
19	4:22.0	0.63	6:55

Celebration
After a great run for both of us, Nicole and I celebrated with a good old fashioned "Slumber Party" at Nicole's house since her family was out of town and I didn't mind leaving my sick family to go to bed early.  My friends that know me well know that I am not usually one to give up my own bed too easily.  OR leave my family on a Saturday night (granted, I did't leave until 7p.m).  And after a hard run, I am a little surprised that I got myself out the door for a sleepover and dinner without having a nap or much rest.  Besides the fact that I woke up sick this morning, I'm glad I got outside of my social box and spent some time connecting with a girlfriend.  Relationships are priceless.  I realize more and more that there is so much value in having close girlfriends to get us through life.  

Nicole treated me to a FABULOUS dinner at this cute Italian restaurant called  Boccelli's.  I enjoyed a yummy glass of Syrah and we both had this pasta that was INCREDIBLE to go along with the best bruschetta I've ever had.  Thanks Nicole.  Great memories.   

And just to make you feel better about yourself:

WHO SWEATS LIKE THIS??  How embarrassing to be leading story hour in front of a bunch of parents and kids with pits like this.  Good thing it was just sweat and NOT smelly. Suppose this is what happens when I'm hot and dancing around and doing the Bear Hunt with a bunch of preschoolers....in front of adults who are sipping on lattes.  But GOOD GRIEF Lady!!  It might be time to use the antiperspirant with nasty aluminum in it on occasions like this even though I refuse to wear it all the time. Funny thing, AFTER story time, I felt the need to go up to all the parents and talk about my sweaty pits.  I made an awkward situation even more awkward as I mentioned how I wear deodorant but just not the kind with aluminum which keeps you from sweating.  I think I mentioned the aluminum thing a couple more times.  All the while, these ladies just smiled politely while probably biting their lips in hopes that I'd let them finish their conversations and stop drawing attention to my pits.  What's my problem?  


1. Who raced this weekend?  Or had a great long run?
2.  Anyone see The Lorax?  What did you think? Overall, we really liked it.  Made me a bit sad about the truth in the movie when it comes to environmental issues.  
3.  Do you still have slumber parties with your girlfriends?  


Amanda