Hi!

Thanks!  I did 18 miles today and my leg was all sore from the twist but not the ankle.  It was super hot and humid and I slept 0 hours last night but they were done.

Sunday was a SRD but I did 30 min on the bike to loosen my legs up and it helped quite a bit.  Then I met my college roommate in DC for lunch and some sightseeing.  I finally found Archie Bunker's chair at the American History Museum along with the First Ladies gowns - pretty cool!  We ended up walking over 4 miles : )  and saw the WWII memorial (really well done), Lincoln Memorial (with bits of green paint still visible), and the Vietnam Memorial.

Yesterday I ran 5 miles easy on the treadmill.

Kim,  congrats to you and your son on surviving the boot camp experience : )  I'm new to the Army lingo so I'm not sure I'd have been much help.  Your BOB reference cracked me up as I do hear that one all the time.  Where is your son stationed now?

Damaris - indeed, way to power through 18 miles, that's a tough one on no sleep.  Funny how it's a relief that something else hurts when you're worried about a different potential injury.

Training group tonight : )

7 miles, 5 at MP. Not really though. My MP is supposed to be 10:52. Last week I did it at 10:46 which I think is pretty close, but today it ended up being 10:27. I try to slow down, but in the beginning, I'm always worried that I'll get slow near the end, and try to bank some time, but then I don't slow down.  Anyone have an opinion on whether I'm not getting what I need out of this run by doing it too fast?

Patty, I remember seeing Archie Bunker's chair there, a long time ago. I'm not much into museums. I told my husband he should go visit the Smithsonian while I'm running the marathon (he loves history). He said, no, he plans on being out there to cheer. (Good husband).

I also got to the WWII memorial 3 years ago. My father's health was starting to fail, and he really wanted to see it (he was in the Army in Germany during the war). So the whole family took him there. I got him a hat that said "WWII vet "and people on the plane and at the memorial kept coming up to him and thanking him. It was a very tearful trip. I'm so thankful that we made that trip. He passed away this past March. I've been thinking of getting a personalized running shirt in memory of him to wear at the MCM. (I'd have to put the 7th cavalry patch on it too, in honor of my son, he's at Fort Hood).

Damaris, I have seen your kitties in previous threads. You have a fair number, don't you?  Enjoy those 400s, someones got to do them.

Hi, ladies!

Well, the 400s were done and on pace, but they felt way harder than I wanted.  It was 97F and 75DP so doh.  Anyway, 6 easy miles tonight.  Looking forward to my run as my workday has been too much.

Nice 7, Kim.  I would try to slow down the MP so that you don't overdo it.  What did you base the 10:52mm from?  Maybe it is too soft?  How did the 10:27mm feel?

Patty, hope the fartleks went well.

Do you run with a HRM?  If so, what is your HR during the MP miles?  That could be a good gauge of where you are.  Another way to check it out (if you don't have a race) is to do something like 5 miles at 90-95% HRM and see what time you end up with.  At this point, I am not sure whether the 4:45 is reasonable since I ran 4:46 with a 2:05 HM PR but I'm a strange case, LOL.

I have a HRM but don't use it very often. I will try it out on the next MP run and see what it says. I did check McMillian paces and they are fairly close to Hanson's. I do feel that 4:45 is too fast for me, plus, I'm not really running MCM to get the best time I can. I'm doing it for fun too. I'm just not into running at the edge of my abilities this year...I just don't like that feeling. Hence, I've only done a few 5ks this year. Thanks for the advice, both of you. It is nice to have someone to ask these boring running questions.

Today was a 12 and I got it done. Not only that, I got it done at the pace Hansons wants me to do it. At about 1/2 mile I passed a Chinese lady who called out to me and was trying to ask directions. Of course I don't speak Chinese and I couldn't figure out what she was saying, so she waved me to go on (she did have a phone and was trying to call someone for help I think). For the next 2 miles I worried about her, and finally thought I figured out what street she was asking about. I then proceeded to run up and down the streets trying to see if I could find her and if she was still lost. Well, I found her at about mile 4 and I went up to her and tried to help again. She was able to give me the house number and I sent her in the opposite direction. But I was still unclear if I had given her the correct advice, so I chased her down again and we wrote with our fingers on the sidewalk and I think I finally understood where she wanted to go. I told her the next left was her street. Then I ran ahead to show her and I continued down that street to look for the address. No such address. So I was still worried. However, as I get down the street, there are two Chinese people in the street looking around. So I ask if they are looking for someone and they say yes. So I told them that I had sent her down this street and she was at the other end. I still wasn't 100% sure those people went with that woman (cause the 2 people looking didn't speak English very well either), so I had to loop back around to make sure she wasn't still wandering around. In the end,  I feel she found her way back...the great part of this is that it wasn't until mile 7 that I started paying attention to my running, and by then I only had 5 miles left to go. Now I just need lost people on every run to take my mind off of the running, and I will really improve.

Patty, good luck with "picking the pace up" in your run. In my Hansons book they say (and I wish I could find it cause they said it very well), but something about the effort you put in during training will come back to you tenfold in the marathon. So try not to slack.

Hi, ladies.  Busy, busy, busy today!  12 miles done last night in hot and sunny (shadeless and humid of course) and I stopped a lot for lights and stuff but yet managed to run the last 3 @ MP, Da fuck!

We have a Cirque du Soleil show tonight (I think it's Quidam).  SRD for me.  One cat vomited the whole house today (according to my husband) so I might have to finally fire the cleaning ladies as they continue using some cleaners that are not pet friendly.  Ugh.

Kim, if MCM is not necessarily a goal race, why not make it 4:45-5 hours and see how you feel?  The first half of the race is hilly (here is my Garmin link from the MCM last year), so maybe take it easy through Mile 7 and accelerate after that?

Link

Patty, nice 6.