Changes

I'm still here.  The past 3 weeks have been a whirlwind but I've managed to get in some running.  Not as many miles as I should be getting but some miles is better than no miles! 

In mid August we had an unexpected resignation at the central office in my school district.  At that point, it was news but didn't really mean anything as far as my life was concerned.  A week or two later, they posted the job opening and, due to some reorganization, the position was now in my fields of expertise.  After two rounds of interviews (the kind you have to study for) I came up with the brass ring and am now a Curriculum Supervisor.  Sometime this week I should begin transitioning to the Big House.  Ironically, I will trade my large, lovely office in the media center for a cubicle in a room full of other supervisors.  Bigger job, smaller space.  What's wrong with this picture?  

Anyhow, all of that interview prep has really cut into my running time and is further affirmation that switching to the half in Baltimore was the right decision to make.  Funny how things work out. 

Over the weekend I ran 5 miles on Saturday and a slow nine on Sunday.  I finally remembered to reset my slow pace alert for Sunday's run.  I set them to beep at 10 minutes per mile for the fast pace and 12 minutes for the slow pace.  That worked out well for me and I wasn't checking my pace constantly.  I could enjoy the scenery and let the watch tell me if I was going too fast or too slow. 

I've lost my morning running mojo since school started.  Something tells me that with this new job, I had better find it quick!  I'll be getting home about an hour later so squeezing in a run before dinner may not work out as well.  We'll see...

As for my fellow bloggers, I hope to catch up on reading by the end of the week.  I miss all of you when I don't have time to read your posts! 

Relief!

After last Sunday's 10 miler I did the big old Crash and Burn.  Monday, Tuesday:  nada, zip, zilch.  Wednesday, more of the same.  I was just sick and tired of running in this near 100 degrees, near 100% humidity that we've had since May.  Wednesday I checked weather.com to see if Hurricane Earl would give us any relief.  We're an hour inland and were to get a bit of wind and some rain showers on Friday and then I saw it.  I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me but it was still there after I hit the "refresh" button.  "Saturday, high of 82".  The entire weekend would be in the mid-70s to low 80s with little humidity. 

At that point, I knew I would make it.  I didn't run Thursday or Friday to save up for those glorious temps.  Yesterday morning I drove Son #1 to soccer practice at 9:00 and took off from the soccer field for a moderately paced 4 miles.  Even went down a new road.  No heat-induced hallucinations and no water to carry.  It was the best run since sometime last April! 

I have tomorrow off work for Labor Day so I planned to cook breakfast for the family this morning and take my long run tomorrow.  But guess what?  At 11:00 it was only 75 with a cool breeze.  Shoes on, out the door for a slow 8.   The next 10 days' forecast has nothing but sub-90 numbers.  Sweet! 

You may think I'm nuts for going on about about the temperatures like this, but this has been the longest, most miserable summer in all of my 40-something years.  Usually the month of August is our nasty month.  May, June, and July can have hot, humid days but we get some relief.  August is when we have to turn the AC to the Full Blast setting and leave it. 

It looks like fall is just around the corner and I'm thankful for the relief and thankful I don't live farther south.  I know some of you are less fortunate and while it won't do you any actual good, know that I'm sending cool thoughts your way.

A Race of my Own

I skipped the Annapolis 10 Miler this morning.  I've been looking forward to it all summer and have pushed myself these past few weeks to be able to make the 10 miles in the allotted time.  However, this weekend racing had to take a backseat to more important things on the homefront.
I started getting a knot in my stomach Friday evening as I went through all that needed to be done around the house before Monday morning.  School and soccer practice for the kids and work for me started last week, making my schedule tighter than it was over the summer.  My husband is recovering nicely from his surgery but there is still a limit to what he can do.  So we arrive at Friday night, grass (2.5 acres) is up past my ankles, groceries need to be purchased, the pool is being invaded by algae thanks to the hot summer, and I would spend a total of 10 hours out of the house between packet pick up and the race itself.   Longer, if I ran into traffic tie-ups. 

I woke up early Saturday and headed to the grocery store still trying to work out a way to do it all.  It was ridiculous.  Sometimes a race just isn't worth it.  Family life would have been really jammed up had I skipped off to Annapolis and I would have made myself crazy trying to make up lost time.  I unpacked my groceries, hopped on the mower and started planning a local route. 

This morning I got to sleep in instead of leaving the house at 5:00 a.m. to make the race.  Around 8:30 I headed out for my 10 miler.  I ran a loop that I don't do often so I had a change of scenery.  The humidity was low and it was in the mid 70s.  Sweet! 

My goals were:  1.  Complete the distance, 2.  Clear out the noise that's been collecting in my head, 3. run slowly.  Mission accomplished-this was my longest run since early June, my head is de-cluttered, and I averaged a 10:48 pace.

While I'm sorry to waste a spot in a sold-out race, if I hadn't had that date on my calendar I would have crashed and burned horribly this summer.  It was so hard to get out the door many days, first from dealing with my husband's cancer surgery, then from dealing with the reality of what happened once survival mode wore off. 

I had big running plans scheduled for this summer and fall but they have been blown out of the water.  And guess what--the earth hasn't stopped spinning!  I got home in time to make breakfast for the gang, got my household squared away, and had a good run.  A successful weekend in my book! 

I Like It!

So far, I have gone on two runs with my new Garmin.  This week marks the end of my summer vacation so I have only had time to learn the basics of my new gadget. 

On Thursday, my alarm clock didn't go off as expected so I had to cut my run short to make it to work on time.  Grrrrr.  Not an auspicious beginning to the new school year.  The Garmin was easy to use and I loved hearing the beep to mark each mile.  I also found out I am going out faster than I should be for the first mile or so. 

I uploaded my data to my computer.  Very cool that it shows a little map of where I ran!  I haven't had time to really get into the data other than to check my mile splits.  After today's 8 miler, I found a similar pattern.  I start a bit too fast, have slower miles in the middle, then, like a horse going back to the stable, I have a quick mile or two back to the house.  I don't have as steady a pace as I thought I did.  I'm not off by much and this knowledge will help me improve my pace. 

I set the minimum pace alarm to go off at 10:30.  On Thursday, it wasn't a problem but today my run was longer and the humidity was wicked.  During the middle miles I won't tell you how many times that thing beeped and gave me the "Speed Up!" message!  While I ignored it a couple of times, it did push me to pick up the pace a bit.

The thing I like best so far is that I now have the freedom to change my route on the fly.  I have my routes clocked for distances up to 14 miles with landmarks for the turnarounds.  For today's 8 miler, I would have to turn around at the Catholic church, 4 miles from my house.  Not today!  I hung a left on the road before the church, where I have no landmarks.  I don't need them anymore.  The Garmin told me when I reached 4 miles so I could turn for home.   For my runs of 9 miles and up, I turn at the cafe' and head north.  Next time, I just might go straight.  The possibilities are endless! 

I also learned that Buddy B's utility pole is not 2.5 miles from my house.  It's 2.55 miles.  Close enough! 

My New Training Partner

I had just stepped out my back door mid-morning when I heard a couple of short toots of a car horn.  It was the mail lady delivering my new training partner.

It's a Garmin Forerunner 305.  I have been thinking about taking the plunge for a while but I always get bogged down with the need vs. want issue.  There are no trails in my area and as a result, I always run on roads where I can easily clock the mileage.   I have a runner's watch to get accurate start/stop times, plug them into the Runner's World pace calculator to get my average pace per mile.  It's a simple method that works and I'm all about simplicity! 

However...I have this burning desire for more details.  I run a fairly steady pace but I want to know how my splits are.  I'm also not sure of my precise distances.  I use Map My Run to get an estimate, then clock it in my car so I can get a few mile markers to monitor my pace.  It can be difficult to watch the road and the odometer at the same time.  Then, when a mile turns over I have to quickly fine a utility pole or mailbox close by to use as a mile marker.  How many yards get added or subtracted while coordinating this?  Inquiring minds want to know!

I got the heart rate monitor too.  I've been wanting to incorporate this into my workouts because I tend to run my long easy runs too hard and my hard runs too easy.   Plus, I'll have all kinds of cool data to play with (obsess over).  It's charging now.  I'll complete the set up this evening and tomorrow morning I will find out for sure whether Buddy B's utility pole is 2.5 miles from my mailbox.