Cleveland Marathon 2007 - 4 My Dad

972.9 training miles, (6 days, 2h 11m 10s) 3 pairs of running shoes, too many bananas and energy gels to count, at least 100 snowstorms :) and a few blisters later I have completed the Cleveland Marathon!

Raising money for blood cancer research, making many great new friends, running with my sister as we passed all of my dad's favorite places in the city: PRICELESS.

Thanks to everyone for your support! I couldn't have done it without you!!!!

I Did It!!!!

Longer report coming soon!!!! I completed the Cleveland Marathon - final time 3:48:22.

Less Than 48 Hours....

All the training has been done (save for a quick 3 miler tomorrow). Now it's just time to eat some extra carbs and drink water and Gatorade in preparation for Sunday. I'm antsy and hate this part of marathon training. Lots of rest and extra food and I'm ready to go run NOW!

I'm waiting for the final weather report, figuring out what I will wear in the race on Sunday. I don't want to be too warm, but yet I don't want to be too cold, either as I use up lots of energy just staying warm.

Only 47 more hours until race time.....

T Minus 5 Days!

Only 5 more days to go until the marathon! This past week of training went well, and I was enjoying the reduced mileage:

05/10: 7 miles
05/12: 12 miles
05/13: 5 miles
05/14: 3 miles
05/15: 7 miles

Today's run was a dress rehearsal of sorts. I pulled my newer pair of Asics out (the one's that I broke in for the race and have been saving) and ran up to the track. Here I warmed up and then ran a couple of miles at the pace I'm hoping to run my marathon at. It went pretty well. The rest of "taper" week will just have a handful of easy runs, with the longest at 5 miles.

The weather has been PERFECT. I'm hoping it lasts until Sunday!

Yes, We Have No Bananas.....

When I began training for this marathon, I knew that I would be running more miles than I have ever run in my previous marathon training schedules. I knew I would have to start to eat something before my runs to give me enough energy. I hate to eat before I run, but settled on bananas as a good, easy to eat pre-run food. I have eaten a lot of bananas - 1 before each run (2 before a long run) and then one at lunch. I'm enjoying the running, but I am so sick of bananas. Once this race is over, yes, there will be no bananas, no bananas at all in my home :)

This past week or so of training went pretty well:

5/1 - 8 miles (interval work: 800 meter repeats)
5/2 - 5 miles
5/3 - 8 miles
5/5 - 16 miles
5/6 - 5 miles
5/7 - 5 miles
5/8 - 8 miles (last track workout before the race, mile repeats)
5/9 - 5 miles

The schedule for the next week and a half really starts to taper the miles back as I rest up and get ready for the big race! Only 11 more days!

The Last Big Training Week 04/23 - 04/29

This past week marked the last week of higher mileage training.

04/24 - 10 miles with interval speed training at the track (5 x 1200 meters).
04/25 - 5 miles
04/26 - 10 miles
04/28 - 20.5 miles. The last really long run before the marathon. I ran with the Team in Training group at the Cuyahoga National Park on the towpath. Such a beautiful place to run and the crushed limestone trail felt great for my tired legs and feet!
04/29 - 5 miles. This is always the hardest run of the week. My legs are tired from the previous day's long run. Good mental training for the last miles of a marathon.

That was a lot of running.

The last three weeks prior to a marathon are known as the taper (or TAPER!!!!) time. I will gradually taper my mileage back to rest my legs and let the little aches and pains heal before the race. This coming week will have a 20% reduction in miles, the next week 40%. I'm looking forward to changing the setting on my alarm clock to a time a little later than 4:30 AM!

04/22/07 Trail Run

65 and sunny today - it doesn't get any better than that. I headed out to the metropark to run on my favorite trail. 9 miles through the woods on a perfect day!

04/12/07 - 04/20/07 Finally, Great Running Weather!

Training has been going well! This past week has seen the arrival of spring (hopefully for good this time) and some great runs.

4/12 - 8 miles
4/14 - 18 miles with 15 at the pace I hope to run the marathon at. Whew, this was a tough workout, but I was able to hold the pace fairly easily (I did need a nap later, though .....)
4/15- Easy 5 mile run on the park trails
4/17 - 11 miles
4/18 - Track workout (5) 800 meter repeats, 8 miles total
4/19 - Best workout of the week with my TNT training partner who is back doing great with her training after a serious health problem that didn't keep her down for long. 5 miles enjoying catching up on things :)
4/20 - 17 miles around the Shaker Lakes. Part of it enjoying the company of my sister. What a beautiful day.

Only one more week of hard training to go, including the last 20 miler, then the training will taper back to rest up for the big day!

Thanks to everyone for your support, encouraging me in my training, listening to me complain about the weather, and helping to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I have exceeded my fundraising goal thanks to your help!

04/11/07 Track Workout

Today's schedule called for some interval training at the track. Since the high school track is still covered with snow, I found a street that measures 1000 meters. The workout consisted of a 2.5 warm-up run to get to "my street", 5 x 1000 meter repeats in 4:30 each,with 2 minutes of jogging in between each repeat, then a 2.5 mile run back home. It was a tough workout, I was pretty tired by the fifth repeat, but it was nice to break up the monotony of just running mile after mile.

04/10/07 Loops in the Hood....

It feels like someone turned the calendar back a couple of months. All of the sidewalks are buried under the snow, so it was back to running loops in my neighborhood. 12 miles - felt strange to see all the snow but hear the birds chirping too!

Spring, Summer , WINTER

This pretty much sums up last weeks training!

The week started out spring-like, with 5 miles on Monday.

11 summery miles for Tuesday. The temperature got up to a record 80 degrees.

Wednesday, it was 60 when I left the house for my run, it then started to rain, and by the time I was done it was snowing! I somehow managed to get in my interval work - 8 miles with 5 X 600 repeats. Next time I will turn on the weather before I head out!

Thursday - winter returned in full force - 9 snowy, windy miles. Blech. I figured this would have to be the last snowy run of the year, it's April, right? Wrong!

Saturday - Our Team in Training group run was cancelled due to snow! I ended up slogging out 17 miles in snowy, windy conditions. OK, I'm pretty used to this by now, but the ice pellets hitting me in the face the last couple of miles were just unnecessary!

Sunday - 26" of snow on my deck! I pulled out the snow shoes and went for a 5 mile plod around the neighborhood.

Hopefully spring will make a reappearance again.....

03/31/07 Practice Makes Perfect (In Theory!)

The marathon training schedule called for a long run of 21 miles today. The purpose of these runs, besides the obvious need to train for surviving the full 26.2 mile run is to have a dress rehearsal for what you are going to do on race day. It's never good to find out in the middle of a marathon that your new socks give you blisters, your shoes (or shorts!) don't fit quite right, Gatorade gives you a tummy ache, or you should not have coffee before you run, but a bagel is fine. So this run was about practicing not only running, but what I am going to wear on marathon day, as well as what I will eat before and during (McDonald's always tastes good afterwards!)

This was a solo run, but enjoyable. I ran from my house out to the North Chagrin reservation, where I detoured onto the bridle trails until the end of the park, then back home. I tried using some Clif Block Energy Chews and water for fuel and this worked great. The energy chews tasted pretty good (Cranraspberry) and were easy to eat. I will just carry them with me during the race, and take only water from the aid stations. (I already know that Gatorade and I do not get along!) I finished the run feeling pretty strong, so that was a good confidence booster. This will probably be my longest training run ( I will run one more 20 miler) before the marathon. Unlike races of shorter distances, it is not adviseable to train up to the race distance - it just wears you down too much and leaves you too tired to train properly the next week.

Only 7 more weeks until race day!

03/29/07 Another Early Start

12 miles on the schedule for today. Up early and out the door - I think I'm starting to be able to do these longer runs in my sleep, cause before I knew it I was back home (my GPS watch did say I ran the full 12 miles!) and I don't remember much of the run. I hope I can do the same on Saturday's 20 mile run!

03/28/2007 Hump Day

6 miles run at an easy pace.

03/27/07 - Wake Up Call

After last week's reduced mileage, it was a wake up call to look at my training schedule for this week. 12 miles scheduled for today with 7 of those miles at a pretty fast pace. It ended up being a good workout, but it takes an early wake up call and some good organization to get these longer runs in and still make it to work on-time!

03/25/07 - Sunday Run

Beautiful morning for an easy run of 5 miles around the neighborhood.

03/24/07 - Trail Run

It's amazing how your perspective changes. The marathon schedule called for "only" 14 miles. A few months ago, this would have been a long run. After all of the training this winter, that seems like a jog through the park. So that's what I did. The bridle trails at the park are finally free of ice and snow, so I spent a nice couple of hours jogging through the woods on the trails. It felt good to get off of the pavement and into the woods - this is what running is all about!

03/22/07 Perfect Weather

65 degrees this morning - perfect running weather in my book! Shorts and a t-shirt, not battling the elements, just enjoying being outdoors and running. 8 mile run around the neighborhood.

03/21/07 A Little Speed Work

8 miles with a bit of interval training in the middle of the run. The schedule called for 5 repeats of 600 meters at my 5k race pace. Without access to a track, I had to do a little math (math is actually the only thing I'm good at!) and found a side street that is exactly 600 M long and calculated that it should take about 2:45 for each repeat. I came pretty close to the target time on each repeat. I'm not sure how 600 meter repeats are going to help with running a marathon, but it did break up the monotony of the run, especially since my Wednesday morning running partner was unable to join me.

03/20/2007 Last Day of Winter

Last "official" day of winter! 8 easy pace miles through the neighborhood, watching out for icy sidewalks.

03/18/2007 Recovery Run

6 miles at an easy pace, pretty tired from yesterday's run. Next week is a recovery week, with reduced mileage. Bring it on!

03/17/2007 St. Paddy's Day Long Run

It almost always snows in Cleveland for the St. Patrick's Day parade. This year was no exception. I woke to several inches of snow, a good amount of snow still falling, wind and temperatures of 15 degrees. Piled the now familiar layers of winter running clothes on and met the Team in Training group at the N. Chagrin reservation for a group run. I had a challenging run on the schedule for today: 15 miles with 12 at the pace I will run the marathon at. Most of my training has been at a much slower pace than this. I warmed up with the group and then ran the 12 miles pretty close to marathon pace. That was challenging. I can't imagine running another 14.2 miles at that pace! I'm hoping that a 8 more weeks of training and not having to wear a ton of winter clothing will help! Finished the morning with green Rice Crispy treats chased down with green Gatorade (the green beer came later in the day!)

03/15/07 Back to Winter.....

I knew yesterday's weather was too good to last, but I wasn't prepared for today's snow! 6.25 miles at a pretty good pace - probably because I was a little underdressed for the weather and wanted to get home quickly. Gym day tomorrow and then a long run on Saturday.

03/14/07 That wasn't a low flying UFO....

No, there was not a low flying UFO that people may have seen early Wednesday morning, it was just my very scary pale legs making their 2007 debut in shorts. Seriously, they are so pasty they practically glow in the dark! 65 degrees felt like summer and I had a nice 6.5 mile run with my TNT training buddy. This weather probably is not here for good, but it was nice to wear shorts even for a day.

03/13/07 Left, Right Repeat

The marathon schedule called for a 14 mile run today. When I first saw the schedule, I thought there was no way I could ever complete this, especially so soon after Saturday's 20 miler, (plus the little detail of making it to work on time!). I was thoroughly organized the night before: running clothes ready - check; work clothes ironed and laid out - check; lunch packed and in the fridge - check; alarm clock set to 0 dark thirty - check. I woke up, got ready and went out the door. It was simply a matter of left, right, repeat and I finished the run! I even made it to work on time :)

Today's picture is of the Larsen B ice shelf that my sister took during her trip to Antarctica. She was studying the effects of global warming on the polar ice cap.

03/12/07 - Recovery Monday

Five miles run at a very easy pace.

03/10/07 Long Run Saturday

Today was the first of (3) 20 mile runs that I will complete as part of my marathon training. I met a Team in Training friend at Shaker Lakes. We completed the first 11 miles running through some rain showers (I'm ready for the rain on marathon day, now!) but enjoying the scenery. Cleveland is such an amazing place with so many parks so close to the city. Andrea left to go finish up her run downtown at a 5 mile race(!!!!) and I met my sister Rachel for the next part of the run.

Rachel recently returned from a trip to Antarctica as part of a work-related leadership seminar. It was great hearing all about her trip. (This picture is Rachel in Antarctica - not me on one of my cold winter runs!). Rachel left for home after 6 miles and I finished up the last 3 miles on my own, which is a good thing since she is a fast runner and I was getting tired! It was a good run and now I only have 2 more 20 mile runs to complete before marathon day.

03/09/07 Gym Day

I have been neglecting the weight training this winter. Not a good thing, as upper body and core strength are very important in the latter miles of a marathon. 3 easy miles on the treadmill followed by a circuit of upper body and core strength training.

Tomorrow is a 20 mile long run. The weather is supposed to be 40 and raining - I never should have mocked Mother Nature......

03/08/07 Enjoying a Little Daylight

I have mixed emotions on the new daylight savings time change. On one hand, it will be nice to have the daylight at the end of the day when I leave work and am out at the barn. On the other hand, I like seeing the sunrise and having a little bit of daylight at the end of my weekday morning runs. Now it will be another month of dark morning runs. 11 miles this morning, enjoying a beautiful sunrise.

03/07/07 Take That Mother Nature...

Wednesday seems to be the day that Mother Nature likes to make it challenging for those training for a spring marathon. We have had -30 windchills, epic snowstorms, more ice than a skating rink, and yet my running buddy and I have perservered(sp?). Today's menu was lots of snow and wind and sub-zero windchills (and a few snow plow drivers that thought we were crazy) but we ran 5.25 miles anyways. Take that Mother Nature, we are not afraid of a little bad weather! (maybe I shouldn't write this - I really hate cold rain.....)

03/06/07 On the Today Show...

this morning, there was a segment about a group of people that gave up complaining for 21 days. The idea behind it is that it will boost your morale if you stop dwelling on what is wrong and start thinking about the good things in life. I'm going to give that a try. Here goes: Today's 12 mile run was very brisk and refreshing, the nice cool air really woke me up and energized me for the whole day ;)

03/04/07 Recovery Run

5 miles run at an easy pace. It's wierd, but an easy run the day after a long, hard run really makes your legs feel better. I started out stiff and sore and finished up feeling pretty good. I tested out some new shoes, Asics Cumulus, and I think these will work out better for the marathon than the Mizunos that I have been running in.

03/03/07 Mental Toughness

18 miles on the schedule today. This would be the first long run in quite a while where I would have no company. I got up early and decided to run from my house out to the North Chagrin reservation. It is exactly 9 miles to the drinking fountain at Strawberry Lane. When I headed out, the sun was coming up and there was a light head-wind. Perfect, I thought, I will have the wind at my back on the way home which is great when you are tired. However, when I turned around to head home, so did the wind, and it picked up a lot (30 MPH gusts). Tough going. I kept telling myself that this wasn't so bad, to think about all of the people that I am running for who are battling cancer and are unable to get out and enjoy a run today. That kept me running, thinking about how fortunate I am.

I do have to admit, though, that at several points on my run back down Mayfield, I kept thinking of the $2 in my pocket and how that would get me home on the RTA (or a donut and coffee at Dunkin Donuts)!

03/01/07 Spring is coming.....

10 miles with 5 miles at a quicker pace. Rest day tomorrow and then 18 miles on the schedule for Saturday.

02/28/07 Hump Day

5 miles to finish up the month of February.

02/27/07 Out and Back Run

Perfect running weather this morning. 30 degrees with a light coating of snow on the sidewalks for good traction. I have been running loops in my neighborhood for the past month or so due to the extreme cold and snowy conditions. Lets face it, no matter how dedicated you are, by the 7th time you've run past your house and it's really cold and snowy it gets old having the same conversation with yourself:

Me: "I can't feel my hands and my eyelashes are frozen together and there's the nice warm house, I wanna stop."
Me: "Shut up and keep running, you have 2 more miles to run"
Me: "But it's cooooold, I wanna stop"
Me: "Keep running and stop whining!"

Anyways, enough of my split personality, it was perfect weather to run out 5.5 miles to Gates Mills and back home for 11 miles for the day.

02/25/07 Yep, That was me....

out running after the ice storm. Everything was ice coated, even my car, the sidewalks and the streets. I have a pair of running shoes just for the occaision. They have 1/4 inch hex screws placed on the bottom of the sole in a pattern. The screws are short enough so they don't come through to your foot (ouch), but provide good traction on the ice. I got the idea from a friend who runs mainly on the trails, and thought I'd try it on one of the many worn out pairs of running shoes that I own. 5.5 miles in the neighborhood. I didn't see any cars out, only people trying to slide down their driveway to get the Sunday paper. I helped them out by taking their paper up to their doorstep (no, I didn't ask for a donation to TNT....) I think these shoes may see some more use this week.

02/24/07 - Long Run Saturday

Team in Training group run out at the North Chagrin Reservation. A nice, sunny morning, but cold (10F) at the start. I really enjoy running with the group. 13 miles total, with some faster miles thrown in trying to keep up with a faster runner who was setting the pace :)

02/22/07

8.25 miles. Rest day tomorrow followed by a Team in Training run on Saturday.

02/21/07 Icy Fog

Icy fog. That's what the weatherman on the early news called the outdoor conditions when I watched before I headed out for my run. I now know what Icy Fog is, or does - it makes a nice thin layer of ice on all surfaces. The theme for today's run became just staying upright! 5 miles with a Team in Training friend, a nice way to start the day.

02/20/07 I Can Turn My Head.....

when I run without a facemask! It was 40 degrees this morning as I headed out for an 8 mile run. It felt almost tropical out there!

02/18/07 Guess What.....

It's snowing. Again. Five snowy miles this morning. I felt pretty strong after yesterday's long run - a good sign that all of the training is paying off. Next week is a recovery week, which means that I will reduce the amount of miles that I run by 1/3. Bring it on!

02/17/07 Long Run Saturday

17 miles on the schedule for today. I headed out for an early start at the North Chagrin Reservation. I was able to get 8.5 miles completed before meeting up with some of the Team in Training group members. I completed the second half of my run with one of the other team members and the rest of the time just flew by. We finished up just as it was starting to snow and get windy.

A friend asked me what I wear to run in when it is 5 degrees outside. A lot?!
2 pairs of tights
Smartwool socks
2 layers of wicking shirts
1 lightweight fleece pullover
Gortex jacket
balaclava (face mask)
stocking hat
gloves
mittens over the gloves

If the weather ever warms up and I get to wear shorts and a t-shirt, I think I'm going to be running a little bit faster than I am now!

02/15/07 I Didn't Want to Run....

This morning I had 9 miles on my schedule. It was cold, with another windchill advisory. 9 miles on the treadmill seemed like eternity. I really wanted to stay in bed. I decided that I would get up, pile on the layers (and layers, and layers) and go outside. If I was miserable, I could stop. I have a route that I take that is in a cul de sac and is sheltered by the wind. Once I got started I felt pretty good - not too cold, not too warm and was able to complete all 9 miles, thanks to some new tunes on my iPod. I'm sure the neighbors thought I was crazy as I did multiple laps by their houses!

02/14/07 A Good Day for Snowshoes...

20+ inches of new snow in less than 24 hours. I pulled out the snowshoes for a clomp/jog of 5 miles around the neighborhood. It was the first "big" snowstorm we have had in quite a while. The snow is really piled up - I think there will be "mall glaciers" (those huge piles of snow in the mall parking lot that never go away) until Memorial Day!

02/13/07 Snowstorm on the way...

A foot of snow and single digit temperatures are on the way. I looked at my scheduled runs for the week and decided that I had better switch some of the runs around. It was 19 degrees (balmy) with light snow this morning, so I decided to do Thursdays longer, faster run today while the weather was better. 2 mile warm-up, 5 miles at my half marathon pace, and then about 3.5 miles back home. Good work-out and I'm glad I was able to get it completed outdoors. It looks like tomorrow the snowshoes might see some action!

02/11/07 A Good Run

The training schedule for today called for an easy run of 5 miles. Theoretically, these runs should be a piece of cake after the longer, more difficult runs during the rest of the week. Lately, however, these runs have been less than enjoyable (acutally I have hated them, feeling tired every step of the way). Today, however I met up with 5 other people from the Team in Training group. Good conversation with super people made the run fly by and felt pretty effortless. I actually added a mile for 6 miles for the day. It was a good run!

02/10/07 Long Run Saturday

One day a week on all marathon training schedules is designated for a long run. This is a run that is done at a slower pace but longer distance than the rest of the weekly runs. The long run gets progressively longer as the marathon training progresses. My favorite day for my weekly long run is Saturday. I like to get up early and get the run completed, so I don't have to worry about fitting it in the rest of the weekend.

I had 15 miles on today's schedule. It was cold and a little bit windy, so I headed out to the North Chagrin Reservation. The park trails offer a bit of wind protection, plus it is easy to loop back to my car for water, energy bars and extra clothes if I need them. I ran the first 5 mile loop alone, then saw some friends out for their long run. I completed the last 10 miles with company, catching up on what is going on with everyone and the time passed very quickly. Plus, I think I saw the sun :)

02/08/07

8.25 miles this morning. It's getting lighter earlier - spring must be coming!

02/07/07 - Some Fresh Air

It was a balmy 5 degrees this morning so I headed out for an easy run through the neighborhood. There was about an inch or so of fresh snow, perfect to cover the ice on the sidewalks and give some traction. 5 mile run at an easy pace.

02/06/07 The Zenmill

I decided that I must make my peace with my hatred of running on the dreadmill. I have re-named it, the "zenmill". I had 10 miles scheduled for today and I made it! I played with the preset hill program on the zenmill and it made the time go faster.

I am one with the zenmill :)

02/04/07 - The Dreadmill

It was much colder and windier today, so I decided that indoors would be the best bet for the 4 -5 mile run I had scheduled. Blech, what a terrible run, I hated every step of it and couldn't wait to get off. I lasted through 4.5 miles and that was all that I could stand. I hope I was just tired from Saturday's run. The weather forecast for the next few day is for windchills as low as -30F and that's just too cold for an outdoor run, so I will have to make my peace with the treadmill if I want to get those runs completed!

02/03/2007 Brrrrrrr!

It was pretty cold this morning (3F) but little wind, so I decided that outdoors would be the best option for my run today. And it was! At 7:45 the sun (the real sun, the sun we never see in Cleveland in the winter) came up and stayed out! A sunny, cold 15 mile run today.

02/01/2007 A Speed Workout

Today's marathon schedule called for 8 miles, with 4 of them at my 1/2 marathon pace, which in the middle of winter is an 8 minute mile. I didn't really expect to be able to complete this workout, since the roads are icy and the sidewalks snow covered. I figured if I could just get out of bed, get on the road and jog the 8 miles in, it would be a good day. After a long, slow warmup, I did find a dry stretch on some of the side streets, so I was able to run 30 minutes at a pretty quick pace. Good enough for a mid-winter run.

Tomorrow is a rest day, and then I am scheduled for 14 miles on Saturday. It is supposed to be a cold one, which is OK as long as it's not windy. The office building I work in is really an old converted factory. The hallway extends for 1/3 of a mile each way - hmmm, I wonder if I could come here and get the miles in :)

Snowshoes!!!

8 inches of fresh snow, what is a girl to do?! The sidewalks were not plowed, so I broke out the snowshoes for my 4 mile run this morning. That was a lot of work, but fun.

Tuesday -1/30/07

10 mile run through the neighborhood. It didn't feel that cold. However, when I walked in to my office building from my car later, it felt freezing out! I guess one of the advantages of running early when you are half asleep is that you don't notice those things!

01/28/07 Some Miles at the Park

A couple of inches of fresh snow fell overnight. The Euclid Creek Reservation is one of the prettiest places in Cleveland when it snows. The paved path runs down into a valley next to the Creek and the ice and snow formations are beautiful. I was glad that I ran early, though, since the temperature dropped about 20 degrees yesterday afternoon and the lake effect snow showers started and have not stopped!

A Heat Wave....

I woke up to the sound of melting snow and ice outside. After a week of pretty cold temperatures, 35 degrees felt like Spring for todays long run. My sister and I headed out to the North Chagrin reservation. The dirt trails were covered in deep snow and ice, so we headed out on the paved trail for a 13.5 mile run. Rachel is a faster runner than I am, so it is nice to run with someone who pushes me a little bit. Nice run and good to catch up on things with my sister - we don't get to do that often enough!

01/25/07 I liked "unwinter" better....

Winter has arrived, although about a month and a half late. It was 18f and lightly snowing at 5:00 AM. The weather report called for much worse (low wind chills and blowing snow)so I was thankful it wasn't worse and I could get my run completed outdoors. Todays schedule called for 8 miles with some speedwork at the end (10 x 100 meter repeats). I found a nice clear patch of pavement and was able to get the speedwork completed, although I'm sure the neighbors were wondering why I was running back and forth in front of their house 10 times!

01/24/07 Wednesday

A nothing special run of 4 miles at an easy pace.

01/23/07 - It was a cold and snowy morning....

when I stepped out my door. The sidewalks were snow and ice covered, so I ran several loops around the neighborhood side streets for a total run of 10 miles. There is a great online mapping tool called GMaps that allows me to zero in on my neighborhood and map my running routes to find out their distance. Great stuff!

Sunday 01/21/07

No time to head back out on the trails, so I ran 5 miles close to home at an easy pace. It looks like the snow and cold are here to stay, so hopefully I will have more chances to run with my snowshoes.

My fundraising for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society is really going well. I am so touched by everyone's generosity. I spent the weekend counting coins, and I am well over half-way to my fundraising goal!!!!! The money raised helps people in so many ways. Not only does it go towards funding research efforts to find cures for blood cancers, but it also helps to improve the quality of life for patients battling these diseases through other programs. The Northern Ohio Chapter maintains a Patient Financial Aid Program, directs family support groups and offers a newly diagnosed peer support program. Thanks again for all of your help!

01/20/2007 - Snow!!!!

Not a lot of snow, but enough to test out my Redfeather running snowshoes that I bought last summer. It was fun, but really hard work! I lasted for 4 miles with the snowshoes on the park trails, and then completed the remaining 8 miles on the roads. Hopefully I'll have a chance to use the snowshoes again tomorrow.

01/18/2007 Thursday Run

Today the training schedule called for 7 miles, with some speedwork at the end. The speed work consisted of 7 repeats of 100 meters. I have a 100 meter stretch of sidewalk measured in front of my house, so I ran the 7 miles at an easy pace and completed the 100 m repeats afterward. Wow, I am slow. It's a good thing I concentrate on the distance races - I could never be a sprinter :)

01/16/2007 - Great Run

Today was the first day of my formal 18 week training plan (Pfitzinger 18/55 for the runners). It calls for fewer runs per week (4-5) but higher mileage runs. I think it will work out well for the winter months.

Today's schedule called for 9 miles. It was perfect out - a couple inches of fresh snow and 30 degrees. I had a great run! Best of all, tomorrow is a rest day!

01/14/2007 More Rain

Blech, cold rainy run on the trails. 5 miles total. It's a good thing I have several pairs of running shoes as my shoes from Saturday are still wet. Day off tomorrow and then I begin my 18 week marathon training plan on Tuesday.

01/13/07 Wet Shoes

It was cold and rainy when the alarm went off this morning. I knew there was no way that I could stand to run the 12 miles on my training schedule on a treadmill. So, I put on my Gortex running jacket and pants and headed out to the trails. It was actually quite enjoyable once I got started, but there was a lot of standing water to run through. When I finished I changed out of my trail running shoes to drive home - I actually could pour some water out of them!

Thursday 01/11/07

It was kind of cold and windy out there this morning - windchill was around 10F. I haven't felt that for a while! 7 miles completed at any easy pace.

01/10/07 Hump Day

Speed workout today. It was a bit snowy and icy, but I have a 1 mile loop that I run in the winter that is usually clear. Warm-up jog of 1/2 mile, 3 x 1 mile repeats with 1/4 mile jog in between, followed by a 1/2 mile cool down. I have been running lots of miles at an easy pace to build a good base for marathon training. It felt good to run a bit faster today.

01/09/07 - Winter Returns....

Great running weather, actually. Cold with a dusting of snow, but not too windy. This run felt so much better than yesterday's indoor run. 9 miles run at an easy pace. Some days you have a great run and this was one of them - before I knew it I was back home!

01/08/07 Dreadmill Monday

Woke up to rain/sleet/wind, so since I just renewed my YMCA membership, I figured today was a good day to go. I hate running on the dreadmill, but managed to make it to 5 miles and followed it up with some weight training.

01/07/07 - Hills

6 very hilly miles on the Euclid Creek trail. It felt good to get on the softer footing of the trail after yesterdays run on the roads.

01/06/07 Group Run/Swim

Today I drove with another Team In Training member out to the west side to the Rocky River Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks for a Team in Training group run. There was a large group, about 40 people who are training for the Cleveland Marathon. I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone as the training progresses. It is a huge park, with a running trail that goes on for about 15 miles. It is the perfect place for a long run. Except today. After several inches of rain on Friday, and an absence of leaves on the trees, the park was flooded. This picture is of the running trail. I ran with a small group and we were able to improvise and get about 11 miles in without having to go through too much of the water. Crazy weather - it makes me wonder what if this had been snow!

01/04/07

7 mile run, testing out my new shoes. The Saucony Shadow 9's that I used for my last marathon effort and all of this past year of running and racing have been discontinued. Those shoes were just perfect, I think I went through about 10 pairs. I have tried a couple of different shoes as a replacement. So far, these Mizuno Wave Riders seem to be working out. Hopefully they will work out for the marathon - the right shoes make all the difference!

01/03/07

Easy run, 5 miles with a stop at the gym for some weight training. My legs are pretty tired after a few hard runs in a row so this was a recovery run, done at an slow pace. Looking forward to that rest day on Friday!

January 2, 2007 - Back to Work

The holidays are over and it's back to the old work routine. No more weekday runs with daylight :(

Out the door at 5:15 this morning for 9 miles through the neighborhood.

First Run for 2007 - Hills at the Park

Cleveland is one of the best cities to live in if you like the outdoors. There is a Cleveland Metropark within 10 minutes of every suburb. Today I only had to go 5 minutes to get to the Euclid Creek Reservation. There is a 3 mile trail that offers some great views. It is also very hilly, so I got a good workout in. Two times around the trail for a total of 6 miles.