Yes...less than three weeks. Of course for Damaris, it is less than one week to your goal race. I'm very excited for you. Weather looks as if it might be pretty nice.
Patty, great job on 22 miles. I did my 16 yesterday and it was the best long run of the whole cycle, but I would have hated to go another 6 (not to mention 10). But I'm trying to trust my training plan.
Is it hard to get in to eat on Sunday night? Is that why you're doing reservations? We are staying at a Residence Inn with a full kitchen, so we can always cook if we get stuck.
Are you guys buying the metro pass card ahead of time? They have an $8 card (that costs $10) and a $28 card (that costs $30). So the 2nd card is a better buy, but I just don't think we need $28 worth of transportation. And I guess if you don't use it, it just sits on the card until you go to DC again (which will be like forever). Any advice in this area would be appreciated.
Easy 5 today for me.
5 easy miles this morning, chiropractor tonight : )
I'm not sure if it'll be hard to get in to eat Saturday night. Some restaurants aren't taking reservations that evening and there will be a bigger than usual crowd in the area : )
I have a SmartTrip card (bought it after my paper fare card was hard to use following the Army 10 miler 2 years ago) - the paper cards will need to be protected from sweaty bodies or left in your gear check bag : ) If I didn't have it, I'd go with the $10 card and add to it as needed. I've learned the hard way that each person needs their own card, you can't share one between people coming through a turnstile one after the other. If you want to estimate fares for some trips you might take around DC, here's a link to the trip planner for Metro http://www.wmata.com/rider_tools/tripplanner/tripplanner_form_solo.cfm .
Excited for Damaris - would you mind if I "track" you at Chicago for the purpose of sending positive thoughts your way?
2014 - heal the sinuses and move to Germany!
2015 - Paris Marathon 12 April
You guys can track me, no problem.
I am freaking out. Temps have gone up, we might have rain, then we might not. I'm to dress in plum and black so it better not be sunny now at the last moment!
Oh, and I feel exhausted today. Feeling like I might be getting sick but NO!!!!!
SRD for me today.
Damaris
As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.
Fundraising Page
Kim, I had no issues finding a place to eat the night before. It was Halloween weekend so the places were a bit full but nothing major.
Okay, looks as if I don't need to worry about restaurant reservations. And Patty, whether to buy one or two metro cards was one of my top questions, so thanks for answering that. Do you know how easy it is to buy one of those cards when we get to the metro? Is there an advantage to getting it now in the mail?
Damaris, will we need your bib number to track you...or is your name enough?
I think the weather will be good. It has definitely cooled down here, and even if it warms up a bit...it will be nothing compared to what you are used to.
Runs this week are going really well for me. 10 miles today with 4 x 1.5mi intervals. I think the cooler weather is helping and the decent performance in the 10k has my confidence a bit higher. And not to jynx myself, but aches and pains are fairly under control.
I received my garmin (and tablet) yesterday, but it was clear someone else had used the garmin before. I wasn't too worried until I went to use the ANT stick and it was broken in two. So I'm shipping it back and getting another.
# 19037
Okay, looks as if I don't need to worry about restaurant reservations. And Patty, whether to buy one or two metro cards was one of my top questions, so thanks for answering that. Do you know how easy it is to buy one of those cards when we get to the metro? Is there an advantage to getting it now in the mail? Damaris, will we need your bib number to track you...or is your name enough? I think the weather will be good. It has definitely cooled down here, and even if it warms up a bit...it will be nothing compared to what you are used to. Runs this week are going really well for me. 10 miles today with 4 x 1.5mi intervals. I think the cooler weather is helping and the decent performance in the 10k has my confidence a bit higher. And not to jynx myself, but aches and pains are fairly under control. I received my garmin (and tablet) yesterday, but it was clear someone else had used the garmin before. I wasn't too worried until I went to use the ANT stick and it was broken in two. So I'm shipping it back and getting another.
Where these new items? Da fuck?
Yay to good runs!
Boo to used items!
Buying the smart cards at the metro station isn't hard and doesn't take long, just do it before race morning : )
Nice final group training run tonight - 4 miles with 3 at marathon pace. My bad with the Garmin, though, it was on while I was driving home so I had to edit out the super fast intervals : )
One of our coaches mentioned a site for doing pace bands that take into account starting slower & the hills in courses, sounds interesting http://tazrunning.com/
I've seen tazrunning and they are cool. Print one but look for one at the expo. The pacer booth has those too even if you're not using the pacer. Or at least they have in most big marathons I've done (I don't remember how it was for MCM last year).
I did my 7 with 2 @ MP. Everything hurt for 2 miles and I stopped at Mile 5 to fix my sock (my eternal arthritis problem) and was bitten by some fire ants...in the ass. LOL.
Sorry, fire ants, I laughed. One of the things I like about being in the north, we have way less bugs than down south, and even if we get some (like one year my dogs had fleas that I just couldn't get rid of), along comes winter and gets rid of them all.
Patty, you're done with your group runs? How come ? (just curious)
So this is supposed to be the beginning of a taper right? This Hanson plan has me doing my highest mileage yet. Should be over 55 this week. I guess they like a two week taper. I will say that I have finally adjusted to the 6 days a week running. Things are feeling pretty good. 12 miles today, with 10 at MP. I'm still thinking of a 5:00 marathon, so MP is 11:30ish. I really tried to run close to 11:30s, but it ended up at 11:05. Even with that, I'm still not confident with 5 hours. Two weeks to obsessively fret over it.
Did I tell you both that I ordered a shirt from cafe press with my son's first cavalry division emblem on it? It is a yellow shield with a black horse's head and black diagonal band through it (google "1st cavalry" to see it). I will have that and my yellow hat on, so if you see me in one of the starting corrals say "Hi". Although I think I'll be behind you guys a bit, but you can check for me at the out and back sections of the course, you know, if you've got nothing else better to do .
Oops - I did laugh at the fire ants, seems like adding insult to injury when you'd stopped to fix something else : ) Thanks for the bib number, I'll send lots of positive thoughts as I check in on you!
Kim, sounds like you're on track! The shirt sounds cool! I'm a bad Army wife with respect to remembering my husband's units but that insignia looks very familiar. Hope your actually new garmin comes in soon!
My training group is geared around the Baltimore Half & Full marathons (this weekend) and MCM. I'll miss the structure of the training runs but we're almost there. I'm doing the Baltimore half on Saturday with friends - still deciding whether it's a regular training run or if one of our group (not me) will try to go for a PR.
Thanks, ladies!
and we need a picture of the cafe press shirt!!!
even better, a picture of you in the cafe press shirt!
My husband was with 1st Cav, he told me the units about 5 minutes ago and I've already totally forgotten
even better, a picture of you in the cafe press shirt! My husband was with 1st Cav, he told me the units about 5 minutes ago and I've already totally forgotten
I would try to get a picture, but I haven't figured out how to upload them to RA. Maybe that can be a project during this taper.
Patty, I guess the love of a mother for her only son who joined the army at 18 , does not allow me to forget anything that he is doing. When he told me his actual unit, I wrote it all down, and after a couple of months have it memorized (well almost )
Decided on a rest day today. Already 48 miles for the week. Plus went to my daughter's XC meet, so I wouldn't be able to run until this afternoon, and since I'll be doing 10 tomorrow morning (earlyish) I figured, what the heck. The hay is in the barn, and all that.
Hope you did great at the HM today Patty.
So excited for you Damaris. Sending positive vibes, and hope you have good luck to supplement all of your training.
I'm sticking with the "week 3" label as long as I can : )
Damaris - how was Chicago? I was impressed with your pace & time! Seeing your times is one thing but hearing how you felt and how you thought it was going are the real thing : )
The Baltimore Half on Saturday was a good race. Predicted rain held off, I overdressed a bit, the course was full of long slow inclines but no super-steep hills so they weren't too bad. We held a below 10 minute pace for most of the race and finished feeling, well, finished. I ran with a friend and we were both having to watch that we didn't trip in the last half mile. The best part was running with friends and the breakfast afterward : ) Oh, and I finally got a "We put the Hon in Marathon" shirt - it's a Baltimore phrase, complete with beehive hairdo.
I was toast for the rest of the day Saturday, though, and suffered some icky stomach distress starting after the race (thank goodness). All I can figure is that I had raisins in my oatmeal and had a cup of coffee - two different things than what I've done before long runs. Better to learn that lesson now rather than in a few weeks.
Kim, kudos to you for learning the Army lingo and unit stuff! It's pretty confusing (at least to me). Glad to hear you're feeling strong - now we just have to not go nuts with the taper : )
I'm not sure how to post photos on RA but I'm willing to learn - I'd like to see each other's faces in the hope of crossing paths at some point on MCM weekend.