14 days til race: Time for important preparations

Are we all tapering now? And paying close attention to our bodies and nutritional needs?

So, let's get to the important stuff: music.....

In the lastest "Runner's World" (Dec 2006), an article lists the 10 favorite songs runners listen to:
Lose Yourself (Eminem)
Gonna FLy Now: Rocky Theme (Bill Conti)
Runnin' down a Dream (Tom Petty)
Running on Empty (Jackson Browne)
Beautiful Day (U2)
Born to Run (Bruce Springsteen)
Pump It (Black Eyed Peas)
Eye of the Tiger (Survivor)
Chariots of Fire Theme (Vangelis)
Back in Black (AC/DC)

So, I grabbed my year-old Walmart music download gift certificate and bought all of the above, plus a bunch more so that I have all the inspirational music I'll need as I plod along on 11/12! I tried them out on today's 10 mile run at Salem Lake and they seem to do the trick. I averaged a 10:30 minute mile for the 10 miles. It was a gorgeous day.

I saw Bill out doing his thing, and I assume Lynn was doing her final preps for next weekend's Phoenix event (but didn't cross paths). Ron did 7 miles and has a little blister that developed.

Another article in the magazine recommended Band Aid Advanced Healing Blister Cushion to help heal blisters. Ron will try it out and report back.

GOBX! - 15 days until the run!

OBXers. . how is the taper going? I did 14 miles on a treadmill this morning and am just now backing off the brain-melt of boredom (also still a little nauseous - try running right next to a pool for two hours - I think I have mild chlorine posining!

I decided (of course) to hammer out the miles & did pretty good until I hit mile 10 at which point I started slowing the pace down from my MP goal to something less admirable. That's ok, I have been preparing myself for the reality that I may not break 2:10 for a few weeks now.. . .

Nashville is pretty, and since they are just over the central time line, the sun comes up around 6:45. . .I may head out for a few miles tomorrow morning before the poster session - just to 'calm the nerves' a bit.

Hope all are enjoying your training weekeknd. . .15 days to go!

From the public library in Nashville, TN

Erik's long run

Way to go Susan. . .24.4 miles!

After a bit of golf in the morning I decided that given the difficulty that I had on last week's 23 mile run that a repeat might be worth the effort.

My route isn't as interesting (imagine running in circles at tangelwood for 3 1/2 hours) so I won't bother with the map but can report a successful finish. I am not sure that I had 3 more miles in me at the end though so hopefully the taper over the next few weeks will build me up for the final push. I am right there with Susan on the pain thing, things started hurting early & did not let up. I have to say though that I am not nearly as sore this morning as I was last week.

Hope everyone has enjoyed the long training. . .Now is the time to start tapering & carbo-loading. I started with a solid dinner which included reduced fat oreos and soy milk.

E

Susan's Last Long Run

Only 3 weeks to go til race today and this morning was my day to do my last long run. The Galloway plan calls for 24-26 miles (heck, no need to show up to race after going that far.....)

I worked out an out and back route down to Salem Lake from home. This was to prevent me from wussing out early if I did smaller loops closer to home. It turned out to be 24.4 miles.

I started out at 7 am (can't believe it is still dark at 7) and finished an amazing 4 hrs and 58 minutes later. Whew! I purposefully kept it slow the first half and stuck to my 8run/2 walk routine. I got in the middle of the Mercy 5 Mile race out of Salem Lake and saw Cameron Kent in the pack.

My hamstrings started to tighten at about 11 miles. It doesn't seem to matter how much I train, my legs get fatigued early on. Must be age. My cardio was fine throughout. I did manage to have a negative split by about 3 minutes, so that was good even though a 12+ minute mile pace isn't anything to write home about.

Anyway, I am estactic to be done with my last long run. I didn't come out of it feeling as good as Waits did after his most recent one, but I did manage to run it in the last 2 miles.

Enjoy your weekend!
Susan

Honolulu long run

You all may have seen a brief mention about my Friday long run in my vacation blog, but I thought I would report in with a bit more detail to this group!

I was disappointed that I fell short of my planned 23 mile route, but when I discovered that part of the route was potentially dangerous, I went with another shorter route and added on to it. But the map got ruined because I was dumb enough to tuck it into my shorts pocket and it got soaking wet and unreadable (Erik got my original map all laminated....). And every road here seems to be named the same. So I got a bit lost. Luckily, Diamond Head is a really good landmark, so I managed to find my way back to the route. Long story short, I had to meet my group for a planned rainforest tour, and ran out of time.

So, I think I did around about 20 miles, give or take. It may have been a bit more since I spent some time running back and forth looking at street signs. I was out for about 4 hrs and 15 minutes, so that would make a very slow run for 20 miles.

I was tired but it was a good experience, and the views did a lot to ease the pain. I do think gawking at all the scenery may have slowed me down too.

But here is the real thing I want to throw out to this illustrious group: The Honolulu Marathon: http://www.honolulumarathon.org/. It runs in early Dec. Wouldn't that be a good goal for our group for 2007? The route is one that covers some of the territory I've run this week (including the segment I thought was dangerous!).

We should start our plans now!

Well, off to Kauai this morning, Susan