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.