Training for 9/28/18

Ever have one of those days where you wake up with a reasonable idea of how it’s going to go, and it winds up going somewhere else instead?

I’m having one of those days today. I woke up thinking I’d go out and do this weekend’s 12-mile long run in the 890s I’ve grown to hate, cover something for the paper later in the morning and then come back home to write the story.

Instead, I haven’t run a step, I’ve rinsed dog puke out of my front door welcome mat, I didn’t cover anything for work and I’m about to be signed up for a sprint triathlon — my first triathlon of any distance — TOMORROW MORNING.

Oh, and I’m wearing my new Zantes right now, because I was an early stop on the UPS guy’s route today. I guess he noticed 90 percent of the boxes that come here with my name on them are from Running Warehouse, because he asked how many miles I jog every day, and when I told him up to 20, he almost dropped my shoes haha. I assured him typical daily mileage is much less than that.

Anyway, it all started going sideways when Pepper got hit with one of his nausea attacks after breakfast this morning. I’d wanted to go out for my run early, but that wasn’t going to happen with a dog who kept needing to go out and puke.

The welcome mat thing happened when I saw him wandering out near the road in the front yard and I yelled at him to get away from it. He took it to mean I was calling him back in the house, so he came running up to the front door. His damn lips were all curled back and it was obvious he was about to hurl again, but there he stood, looking like the Joker, patiently waiting for the door to open. I was in the middle of telling him he should go back to the yard when he emptied his stomach contents right on the mat. Then he looked at me like “OK, can I come in NOW?” Well no, because now I have to go rinse off the mat, idiot!

I believe that was finally the last time he puked. He’s mostly been asleep since then. Poor Pepper.

The triathlon thing. Clark is supposed to do the Osprey Sprint Triathlon in Snow Hill again tomorrow morning. I’d said a while back I’d maybe do it, but I haven’t ridden my bike since July and I never got together with Kara for a swim lesson, so I thought it was pretty well established it was not on my schedule. Also, I don’t have tri shorts or a top, or whatever you’re supposed to swim in. Well, Clark flew back to Baltimore this morning, so he went on down to Cambridge, where Ironman Maryland is taking place this weekend, and bought me tri shorts and a top, a swim skin and a race belt (what you clip the bib to so it’s faster to put on, since you only wear it for the run.) And now he’s going to register me.

So it looks like I’m going to do my first triathlon tomorrow morning. I don’t even have time to get nervous about it.

And of course, Dogfish Dash is Sunday morning, so right now I’m just hoping I don’t drown the day before one of my favorite races of the year!

Anyway, as far as today goes, Pepper seems to be feeling normal again, so I think I’ll take out the new Zantes for a shorter run, probably just the 4.5-mile loop, since I have a triathlon in the morning now.

Training for 9/27/18

Yesterday evening, I went out and ran an easy lap around the 5.5-mile loop. It’d been a really hot day but I waited so late the sun had pretty much disappeared, so it wasn’t too bad anymore, other than all the bugs. I ran an easy 8:38/mile pace that actually felt easy, for once.

It rained overnight and today, it had cooled off quite a bit. I decided to do the speed workout on the schedule, seven 800s.

I didn’t feel like driving to or running around the track in town, so I just programmed in the workout — seven half-mile repeats, with quarter-mile rests after each, plus a warm up and cool down — into my Garmin and hit the road.

I ran an easy 9:09 mile to warm up, then ran all seven intervals. My splits were 3:36 (7:12/mile pace), 3:34 (7:08), 3:29 (6:58), 3:31 (7:02), 3:28 (6:56), 3:35 (7:10) and 3:38 (7:16.) After the final rest interval, I ran 1.05 miles home for a cool down, finishing the 7.3-mile loop in just over an hour, an 8:29/mile overall average.

The Dogfish Dash is this Sunday morning. The weather looks amazing, in the low 60s, which is even nicer than it was today. It’s an 8K, which is just a hair under five miles. I’d really like to run it a LOT better than the Masser 5-Miler in May, when I struggled to finish under 40 minutes, an 8:00/mile pace. For Dogfish, I’m shooting for a 7:30/mile pace, and the 3.5 miles of repeats at better than that today were encouraging.

A couple days ago, I finally ordered my new long run shoes, another pair of NB Zante v4s. I thought they were being delivered today, in time for this week’s long run tomorrow morning, but the UPS guy just dropped off the GU I also ordered, but no shoes. Apparently they were shipped separately and are not supposed to get here until tomorrow. Looks like the 890s will get one last outing.

Training for 9/26/18

Yesterday afternoon, I went out to do this week’s middle distance run, which was cut back to six miles. It got hot and humid here again but it wasn’t bothering me too much. What was bothering me, however, was my digestive system. I had to run in the woods to use the bathroom around mile 2.5, and then it hit me again at about mile 5. Unfortunately, at that point, there was nowhere to go until I got home, so I had to walk quite a bit of that last mile and a half to keep everything in check.

I finally made it around the 6.5-mile loop in just over an hour, a 9:20/mile average.

Today, I had another short run on the schedule, which is only a mile shorter than yesterday’s middle distance run. I put it off all morning. Then it was probably close to 90 in the afternoon. I’m finally about to go out and run it, I swear.

Training for 9/24/18

Well, I got in my 20-miler Saturday and Clark did the triathlon Sunday, but neither were very pretty, for different reasons.

We went to Fenwick Friday evening, which meant I could do the trail loop in Rehoboth and Lewes for my 20-miler. I was hoping the change of scenery would make for a better run.

Fun fact — the other day I added up all my recorded mileage since I started training for my first half marathon back in 2009, and I’ve run more than 15,000 miles. The vast majority have been on the back roads around this house. No wonder I know every little divot in the pavement so well!

Anyway, back to Friday night. I just had a couple beers and some pizza for dinner, and then I tried to go to bed early-ish. The plan was to be starting my run in Rehoboth not long after sunrise.

What actually happened: Clark invited a couple of his coworkers to hang out at the beach house. When I went in the back bedroom to try to get some sleep, Pepper did his usual thing, where he wanted to go to bed too, while checking on what Clark was up to. He would not settle down for anything. If he was in the room with me, he was pawing at the door to get out, and if I let him out, he was back at the door within 30 seconds, pawing at it to get in. When I tried just leaving the door open, he paced back and forth over the laminate flooring in the hallway.

It didn’t get a whole lot better when Clark came to bed. At one point he got up to use the bathroom, but fell asleep in there with the door shut, which sent Pepper back to pacing and worrying about him. When he was in bed, he snored like crazy.

I got NO sleep. When my alarm went off at 6 a.m., I snoozed it a couple times, but I was so mad about the past seven hours of not being allowed to sleep that I didn’t even feel that tired, so I got up and got dressed. Might as well run 20 miles!

On the way to Rehoboth, I saw all the cones lining Route 1 in Bethany for the half marathon that was about to start. It was new this year, part of the same event that was hosting Clark’s triathlon the next morning. About a month ago, I’d thought about trying to run it as part of the 20-miler. But at that point it was like $100 to register, and I’d have had to either get up early enough to run seven miles in the dark before the race, or try to make myself run them after it. I nixed that idea.

I parked behind one of the outlet shopping centers in Rehoboth, near a trail head for the Breakwater and Junction Trail.

Last summer, I ran this loop for a 16-miler. Obviously I needed four more miles this time, so I figured I’d take a longer way through Lewes and Cape Henlopen State Park.

I ran it the opposite direction this time around, going to Lewes first, through Cape Henlopen and then to Rehoboth.

I could tell in the first mile it was going to be a bad run. I felt gassy and crampy, the same dehydrated feeling from my run the day before. It was also a warmer morning, and very humid.

I stopped at the next trail head — just over 2 miles in — to use the bathroom for the first time. I felt better after that, for a couple miles anyway. The wooded trail ended and I followed the trail down the median in a huge development. Then it hooked up with the paved trail that makes up most of the course for the Masser 5-Miler, leading me into Lewes.

Around mile 6, I had to stop to use the bathroom again. I refilled my water bottle (I topped it off every time I saw a water fountain) and started running again.

I didn’t feel like I had to poop anymore but my stomach was in knots. Only 14 miles to go…

I ran to the very end of that paved trail in Lewes, then up through the downtown area and toward Cape Henlopen.

By the halfway point, as I was getting into Cape Henlopen, I was feeling like absolute shit. It was my stomach. Any time I tried to run, it would cramp up. I had to walk more and more.

I drank a TON of fluids but it wasn’t helping. I knew it was humid and I’d sweated through my clothes by that first bathroom stop, but what else is new?

The second half was ugly. The early morning fog had burned off and it was sunny and had heated up to about 80 degrees.

I ran/walked up to the point where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Delaware Bay, then to Herring Point to get on the trail that connects Cape Henlopen to Gordon Pond State Park, stopping at every water fountain along the way.

My water bottle was almost empty again by the time I got to Gordon Pond. I really thought there was a permanent bathroom facility there, and therefore a water fountain, but it was just a pavilion with some picnic tables and a couple port-o-potties. Crap.

I trudged on into Rehoboth. I made it to a Royal Farms. I was 19 miles in and my water bottle was bone-dry. God bless that Royal Farms — they let me fill it up for free with water at the fountain soda machine.

I realized at that point I’d tacked on a bit TOO much extra mileage, because I was definitely still more than a mile from the truck at that point.

It wound up being almost two miles back to the truck, though I stopped the Garmin at 20.5 miles. In that time, I completely drained the water bottle again.

When I stopped the Garmin, the elapsed time was something like 3:50, an 11:18/mile average pace. It’d taken me longer to finish 20 miles than it’d taken me to run my last two marathons! Truly awful. Just one of those runs that makes you wonder who you think you’re kidding, calling yourself a runner.

Back at the truck, I gulped down what was left of a 1-liter bottle of water I’d bought on the way there that morning, and I was still thirsty.

I’d taken so long to do that run, I had a missed call and a couple texts from Clark on my phone, wondering where I was.

Well, as bad as that was, I could at least say I got in more than 20 miles on my feet, capping off a 65-mile week, which is something. I went back to Fenwick and took a shower, which immediately brought to my attention all the chafing my shorts had caused. OUCH!

Clark and I took Pepper up to Bethany that afternoon. We got lunch and then Clark picked up his race packet for the triathlon.

Back in Fenwick, I rode the beach cruiser down to Fisher’s Popcorn so I could get a bucket of the pumpkin spice caramel corn they’ve put out the last few years. I washed it down with a Punkin Ale, of course.

Basic white girling.

Since I didn’t have to drive anywhere that night, or run the next morning, I had a few too many Punkin Ales. I wasn’t feeling too hot when the alarm went off Sunday morning to get up for Clark’s tri!

Clark snoozed the alarm as many times as possible before he absolutely had to get up. Good thing Bethany is just up the road from Fenwick! By the time we got there, Clark had four minutes until the transition area closed to get his stuff ready.

After I dropped off him and his stuff, I went to Dunkin’ Donuts to get my pumpkin coffee, parked the truck and walked over to the boardwalk, where they were finishing up pre-race instructions. Then all the triathletes walked north to the start of the 0.62-mile swim.

I hadn’t found Clark yet so I was just shuffling along with the crowd. Some girl next to me randomly commented how happy she was she wasn’t going out in that ocean to swim. I could not have agreed more!

The ocean was ROUGH. I’m honestly surprised they didn’t replace it with a half-mile beach run, like last year.

Clark spotted me when we got down to the beach. He was not excited about that swim. They let the elite open athletes go first, and as soon as they ran in the ocean, a huge wave crashed right on them, knocking them backwards, and everyone still on the beach collectively said “ooohhhh!” haha.

Clark was in the third group to go. He’s one of the blue swim caps in this picture.

I walked back up to the swim exit to wait for him to come out. Not long after I got there, one of the elite open guys ran by looking dazed and told someone that was the hardest swim he’d ever done.

Clark came through and agreed it was a shitty swim. Apparently there wasn’t much of a current, so they didn’t get that help, and the waves made it impossible to see the buoys. Clark said the safety marshals on surfboards out there were just telling everyone where to go.

Right after Clark left for the 18.5-mile bike leg, the rain, which had just been an on-and-off drizzle to that point, picked up. I found a nice overhang near the run course start.

It rained harder and harder while I stood there. Definitely not the kind of weather you want for riding a bike with little skinny tires. Clark later said the bike was just as hard as the swim because of the pouring rain.

He made it back though, and then he started the 4.6-mile run, which he said turned out to be the easiest part of the day.

Clark starting the run.

I found a covered spot out of the rain, close to the finish line, and waited. I guess the downpour was making it hard for the timing mats at the finish line to pick up runners’ chips if they were sprinting, which most people are right there at the finish. The announcer kept yelling at runners to SLOW DOWN!! WALK WALK WALK!! as they came to the line, which I imagine was really confusing, if they even noticed it at all.

Soon enough, Clark came through. He was just glad to be done.

The after party was at Grotto’s. Clark got a couple slices of pizza. Then he got his stuff out of transition and we headed back to Fenwick.

Clark’s parents had taken Pepper to Bethany to see Clark finish, but poor Pepper didn’t even notice him because he was so upset by the rain. They left as soon as Clark went by. When we got back to the beach house, Pepper went absolutely nuts. In his mind, we’d left him with these awful people who made him stand in the rain for no reason haha.

We got our stuff together and came home, spending the rest of the day on the couch.

Today is the start of a cutback week. I’ve got a short easy run and strength training on the schedule.

And I NEED TO ORDER NEW LONG RUN SHOES!

Training for 9/21/18

Today, I got up and went right out the door for the 10-miler on the schedule.

It was such a perfect morning for it. Zero breeze, the sun was just coming up and it was cool enough to need a shirt! Well, a tank top anyway.

Unfortunately, my body wasn’t feeling it. I had to stop in the woods at mile 2.4 to go to the bathroom, and again two miles later in a corn field. After I finally got all that out of my system, I had bad side stitches the whole way home and kept having to walk to try to get rid of them. It seemed like I was a bit dehydrated and I really regretted not taking my water bottle with me, but I honestly didn’t think I was going to need it.

I made it around the 10.5-mile loop at what wound up a 9:51/mile average pace.

Tomorrow is the first of three 20-milers on my training plan. We might go down to the beach this evening, in which case I’ll probably go up to Rehoboth and run the trail loop there, or we might wait until tomorrow, in which case I’ll just run here at home.

Clark’s tri is Sunday in Bethany. I’m looking forward to standing on the sidelines with a pumpkin coffee in my hand, watching everyone else work their butts off!

Training for 9/20/18

I’ve done a couple laps of the 5.5-mile loop since I last posted.

Yesterday’s run, I picked it up for a couple miles to just below a sub-8 pace, and finished the loop with an overall average pace of 8:35/mile.

Today, I did a little strength training upstairs first — ab exercises, push-ups, and invisible chair-sitting — and then I went out and ran. It was an absolutely gorgeous late afternoon for a run. It was sunny and in the low 70s, and the humidity was all the way down to 75 percent as well! I took it a little easier today and finished the loop at an 8:53/mile average.

I’m going to try to get done this weekend’s runs, a 10- and a 20-miler, tomorrow and Saturday, so I can take off Sunday to spectate Clark’s tri in Bethany.

Remember earlier this week when I said I was going to order a new pair of long run shoes because I didn’t like the 890s I got a couple months ago? Well, looks like I’ll be running at least 30 more miles in them, because I kept putting off making a choice all week and now it’s Thursday evening. Derp.

Training for 9/19/18

I accidentally typed today’s date in the header as 9/19/09 because that was the day, exactly nine years ago, that Clark and I got married!

Heading to the party after the ceremony on The Circle in Georgetown.

Still not sure why either of us are making these faces haha.

That’s Aunt Helen in the background. I’d almost forgotten what she looks like because it’s been so long since she disappeared to Kentucky to see her “friend.” (Don’t call him her boyfriend!) Supposedly she told Dave she’ll be back by the end of this month, but she previously said she’d be home in July and that didn’t happen. Maybe she’ll be home for Christmas?

I haven’t seen Clark yet today, because he got stuck in Pennsylvania for work last night, but he’s on his way back right now and should be home later this evening.

As far as running goes, it’s been a little slack the last few days. Monday evening, I ran a lap around the 4.5-mile loop just before sunset. There’s no way the humidity was any less than 100 percent. It was a very easy run but I was flinging sweat every time I swung an arm by mile two.

Yesterday, I was home alone with Pepper all day. I wound up not running. It’d been a week and about 50 miles since my last day off running anyway. I did go upstairs and do some strength training — ab exercises, push-ups, three minutes in the invisible chair and lifting with the adjustable dumb bells.

I really intended to go out early this morning and do the middle distance run I skipped yesterday, but I let the dog guilt get me. So, I’m gonna do the shorter easy run that was on the schedule for today and try to get out the door for the middle distance run tomorrow morning.

Training for 9/17/18

This weekend, I was hoping for some slightly cooler and possibly rainy weather for running, but Hurricane Florence really didn’t have any effect here other than a slightly stiffer breeze, and it was sunny, warm and muggy for all 28.1 of the miles I got in.

Yep, I actually ran all the miles on the training plan!

Saturday, I procrastinated all morning. The 9-miler on the schedule was the only thing I HAD to do all day, and I put it off until past noon. I never learn.

It was not a good run. I dragged myself around the 9.1-mile loop at what wound up being a 10:29/mile pace, with a stop in the woods around mile 5 to use the bathroom, take a chunk out of my left leg on some unusually stout briars and get eaten up by chiggers for the first time this year. At least, I think that’s where the chiggers got me. Both of my ankles are itchy and covered in what looks like whiteheads, so they got me somewhere.

The whole run, I was promising myself I’d leave the house earlier the next day for the 19-miler. There’s no way I could’ve run another 10 miles after I finally got home Saturday.

When I got home, Clark packed up his stuff and went to Cambridge to do his own practice tri, since the one he’d been planning to do in Dewey that morning got cancelled for the hurricane. I stayed home with Pepper. That evening, we just stayed in.

Sunday morning, it was at least overcast when we woke up. I thought maybe it’d cooled off a bit. Clark went out first to run a 3-miler, and came back absolutely drenched in sweat. Nope, not cooler at all!

I filled up my water bottle with Roctane and put a GU in the pocket on the bottle holder, and I got out the door about four hours earlier than Saturday. Already off to a good start.

The plan was the 14.5-mile loop, a stop at the house to refill the water bottle and then the 4.5-mile loop.

It started out OK. I got over my disappointment that it still felt like summer outside and managed a decent pace for the first six miles, when I had to run in one of the last remaining corn fields to use the bathroom.

After that, I got progressively slower. I took an extended walk break at mile 7.5 to eat the GU, and then after that, I just started letting myself walk more and more frequently. I was hot and sweat-drenched, and my shoes were getting on my nerves.

I’ve been wearing the 890s for long runs for a couple months now, and I don’t like them. They’re too stiff or something. I mean, they don’t give me blisters and they haven’t caused any injuries, but I just don’t like them. I decided around mile 12 I’m either getting another pair of Zantes, or maybe the new Fresh Foam Beacons, before my 20-miler this coming weekend.

Anyway, back to my long run. I finished the 14.5-mile loop and ran in the house for some desperately-needed fluids. I’d rationed out what was in my 22-oz. water bottle so it lasted through the entire loop, but I really could’ve used a whole ‘nother bottle, or a shorter loop.

In the house, I refilled the bottle with plain water and gulped that down, then refilled it again with ice and diluted Gatorade, and went back out the door before I could talk myself out of that final loop.

The last 4.5 miles weren’t as bad as I’d expected. I was slow but I kept a steady pace.

In the end, I finished 19 miles on the dot at a 10:15/mile pace, which was faster than the shorter run the day before.

The rest of the day was just as lazy as the day before. We watched NASCAR and football.

This morning, I was supposed to go swimming with Clark in Cambridge, but I slept right through his alarm and all his shuffling around to get ready. I didn’t wake up until he was about to leave. I just skipped the swim and stayed home with Pepper. When Clark got home, he said the river had been choppy and I probably would’ve hated it (more than usual) anyway. So that worked out for everyone.

After I get some stuff done for this week’s paper, I’ve got strength training and another short easy run on the schedule. And then I have to settle on and order some new long run shoes. This is the first of three peak mileage weeks and the 890s are not invited.

Training for 9/14/18

I’ve just done a couple short runs the past two days. Yesterday evening, after Clark got home, I went out and did a lap of the 4.5-mile loop, finishing just before sunset. I didn’t wear the Garmin but I think I ran about a 9:00/mile pace that felt pretty comfortable.

Today, I didn’t feel like getting up in time to run again before an assignment this morning. Then I had to have the story filed before the end of the day, so I didn’t get a chance to run until late in the afternoon.

It was drizzly this morning, but by the time I went out to run, the little bit of rain had stopped and the clouds had parted enough to make for a sunny, muggy, windy run.

It wasn’t much fun. I seriously almost turned around a quarter-mile down the road, but the only reason I kept going was because there was a car coming haha. I managed to get in 3 miles at about the same pace as yesterday’s run, but it felt a lot harder.

Anyway, this weekend, all I’ve got on my schedule is a couple of longer runs, nine miles tomorrow and 19 on Sunday. Clark was supposed to do a tri in Dewey tomorrow, but it got cancelled for the hurricane (which really isn’t affecting us here, but maybe it’s worse at the beach.)

Training for 9/13/18

I have not run yet today. Pepper had a bad night and neither of us got much sleep, so I didn’t get up in time to run before Clark left for work this morning. Pepper seems to be feeling better now, but I’d feel too guilty if he got sick again while he was locked in the back room because I was out running. If Clark gets home from work while there’s still enough daylight left, I might try to squeeze it in.

Yesterday morning, my brother texted asking if I wanted to go out on the boat, most likely for the last time this year before he gets it ready to put away for the winter.

This was really not a good summer for boating. We took it out twice in July, and then it rained every day for like a month straight. Then I went on vacation, then he did, and then it got so hot there at the end of August it was too miserable to be out there in the middle of the afternoon. Recently it went back to raining every day again. Sheesh.

Yesterday was a great day for it though! Sunny, warm and absolutely no breeze. At first, anyway. (Cue ominous music.)

It was just Dave, Kaylee and me. Technically enough to ski. OK, so our spotter was 3 years old and has, as Dave noted, the attention span of a 3-year-old haha.

The river was absolute glass. We went up to Cambridge first. It was even smooth in that direction. So we took turns skiing on the way back toward Choptank, and then we went to the beach past Choptank in the other direction, where Kaylee likes to look for shells.

While we were beached there, the wind started to pick up. Then the clouds got less white and more gray. Then the rain started.

The radar made it look like just a small passing band of showers that we could get out of and wait for it to pass, if we went farther up the river. So we headed toward Denton.

Double rainbow over the river.

The storm got a little bigger as we got away from it.

Soon enough we were under clear skies again. Kaylee had her Teddy Grahams and water so she wasn’t worried.

We went all the way up to Denton, past this long-defunct railroad bridge.

It looked like the storm near Choptank still hadn’t passed completely, but we didn’t have a choice but to head back, as the sun was going to be setting soon. It’s not June anymore.

We got a little wet, but it wasn’t too bad. I think we missed the really heavy rain. Kaylee slept through the whole thing anyway.

It was done raining by the time we got back to the marina and loaded up the boat. We took it back to our parents’ farm and put it in the barn. See ya next summer, Party Barge!