Running Recap Late July-Early August

Since my last racing/running update I have raced twice, and have had a couple of good training weeks!

On July 21st (which happens to be 2 ladies I love very much birthday's), 7 Cleveland Elite Development ladies raced the Johnny Cake Jog in Painesville. We had a very hot muggy morning for it, but came away with some solid races. Jessica won in 26:41, I was 2nd in 27:48, Nicole was 3rd in 28:10, Lizzie was 9th in 32:12, Laura was 10th in 32:16, Aubs was 11th in 32:22 and Barb was 5th Masters (beaten only by women 12 years younger or more!!) in 35:47. Glenn looked proud after the race and it was fun to get a chance to hangout with all the local speedsters.

Mondays have been light running days following our lifting with Will at Aspire, and he is helping me to work on some pretty big imbalances I have created over the years. We usually have a group of 5-8 people running from Fleet Feet after and it is nice to enjoy some banter with our little group.

Tuesdays at the track are #girlmiles at their finest, and our workouts have been going in the right direction. On July 30th Nicole, Jennie and I laced up for a track 3200. I love 3k-5k. If I were leg speed fast I would never race one step above 5k! We got to the track that evening and did a longer warm up. We did our typical drills and strides and I scared Nicole and Jennie with my goal of running 77's. I felt that was probably as fast as I could handle right now, and they thought that was far too ambitious. But I was pretty set on it. After nearly strangling a kind, yet too talkative man on the start line (really we are being called to the line and you can't stop asking me about "is that a new tattoo?" despite me obviously choosing to ignore you?), we were set and off! 76 through 400 felt comfortable, but I knew too fast would come back to haunt me. So I slowed up a smidge to come through the mile in 5:05 high. I couldn't tell where Jennie and Nicole were, but I knew that if Jennie was within 5 seconds of me over 600 meters there was no way I could hold off her closing speed. So I raced a little scared. I managed 5:10 for the 2nd 1600 and a shiny new PR of 10:16. Jennie was 2nd in 10:3?, and Nicole was 3rd in 10:40. We had 4x1200 with 90 sec rest following at 82's and I let Nicole pull me through those. I was not feeling well. 12 miles later we were eating and giggling at Bricco. It was a fun night!

Wednesdays and Thursdays have been easy runs. A few from Lock 29, including one with Coachers that made my week. I haven't run with him since 2006 the morning after Mt. Sac Relays. It was nice to see him and catch up a bit. During these runs Nicole and I have decided to call Sigmund "Jeffy" and he seems to like his new nickname. Nicknames make me smile.

Fridays are tempo days and Nicole and I had a solid 11 mile tempo, so our longer fitness is improving.

Saturdays have been my long runs because of family/wedding obligations that are not very conducive to running long on Sunday. It has been great to get in 18 instead of 14-15 and I feel a lot stronger when I am used to being on my feet over 2 hours.

Sundays have been pretty light days and a good way to get ready to start our next week!

I feel pretty comfortable, but a bit tired in our half/marathon training cycle. It is a lot of fun really feeling like I am getting ready for a go at the Olympic Trials 'B' standard using the Akron Half in September. I am also excited for a trip the following week to visit Carol, Finan, and Nick while heading out to cheer for Nicole in Minneapolis on October 6th! Then 2 weeks later I get to watch Ryan (who's training is going really well) race his first full in Columbus! Because of the typically cooler weather and all of the races Fall is my favorite time of the year. This Fall is already looking to be a promising one!