Runner Susan

Tour Des Fleurs 20k

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I really didn’t want to race today. Really. Did. Not. Want. To. This monster month of marathon training is adding up to a whole bunch of tired. I know, it’s supposed to be that way and because of it I’m going to run a really fast marathon. Or at least that’s the plan.

Michael and I took Kenza to the local homecoming football game last night; Kenza had a blast, but we didn’t get home until late and I took a Tylenol PM to help me sleep – that was my first mistake. I just could not wake up this morning.

My second mistake was not having my race gear ready the night before. I used up all my race bib safety pins on Kenza’s spirit wear for the game. You give the girl something to cheer for and she goes all out, face-paint, colored hair, cow bell and 40 safety pins worth of spirit-attached attire in all. I admire her spunk, but it left me rummaging around on her bedroom floor at 4:30 in the morning, in the dark, trying to find her clothes from last night to recover at least 2 safety pins.

My third mistake was being constipated. I’m not sure how that is a mistake, but I was and I’m sure on some level it affected my race time. Or is that effected? FYI – spelling and grammar are way over-rated.

Richie and I met in the parking lot and headed over to the start line where I got to meet Kevin from 5ks and Cabernets. I love that blog title, and what a super nice wine-drinking guy he was. Richie said Kevin was really fast, so we move back in the pack a little.

Okay, so despite every step of this race being a struggle, I ran halfway decent. Probably slow for Richie, but respectable for me. I could go into a lot of details about how we had great weather, and how the second half was really hilly, and how I didn’t walk at all except for a few seconds during water breaks, and how Richie saved me from emanate death when I was nearly run over by a car around mile nine. (Note to self: turn volume on ipod down in traffic) And I could tell you that we ran negative splits almost the entire way. But what I mostly want to tell you is that the last mile we ran in 8 minutes and 18 seconds. For real. Seriously.

It was a PR 20k day. 2 hours, 3 minutes and 22 seconds.

My doubtful self asked Richie about 20 times how he thought I’d do in Chicago based on the last two races we’ve run together. He seemed pretty confidant that I’ll do well. After today’s race with the negative splits and 8:18 last mile, I’m thinking it might be possible to run faster than a 5-hour marathon. God, I hope so.


Yeah, I know, it looks like Cherry Berry styled my hair.

Leg Torture #15: Without Legs

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You’ll notice that there isn’t any leg torture in the leg torture workout today – because yesterday’s stellar 18-miler was torture enough. Instead, we opted for Cindy’s Upper Body/Abdominal Filthy Fifty Torture.

We do 50 reps of each exercise – which I sliced down to just a few reps for your 3 minutes and 45 seconds of viewing hilarity. However, I left all 50 reps of the last exercise because my arms are so whipped you would think that 25-pound bar weighed 250 pounds. It was pretty pathetic but I really wanted my free FF T-shirt.

I’m inserting a terrible editing and too much jumping disclaimer here – I’m keeping it real Internet folks – view at your own risk.


Leg Torture #15 from Runner Susan on Vimeo.

So very tired.

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I know I’m supposed to be tired at this point of the marathon training, Internet People, but yesterday and today I’ve felt more like death wrapped in a tortilla than just tired. I know I’m not over-training; everything is going just as planned and I’m doing so well (even considering I’m currently running at snail speed, which is only temporary and I’m going to run like a demon on race day, I’m sure.) I feel stronger than I’ve ever felt and I’ve trained harder for this marathon than any other, and if things go as planned I’m fairly certain I’ll do well.

I’m not sure if the hurricane winds have brought something through or not, but my sinuses feel like they might explode if I tilt my head the wrong way. I’m going to try and do my 18-mile run on Tuesday, back to sprint work on Thursday and then I’m running a 20k on Sunday.

I did try and run my 18-miles today, but about 15 minutes into the run Massoman turned to me and told me I should go home because I wasn’t doing myself any good. He was right. I turned around walked back to my car, sorted my recycling and drove home and went back to bed.  (I was parked by the recycling station and my stupid town does not recycle)

Three more long runs before I taper – and I do love the taper.

Update: Even though I’m tired, this made me laugh. From my sister’s blog, and it’s hysterical:

I Hate Track Torture #3: Loving it Now

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I know you all are going to be heartbroken because we don’t have any alien video footage this week. Instead, we opted for the good old-fashioned camera. Although, I really need to have a talk with the sun gods to see if we can get a little light at 5 AM. Once again, there’s plenty of junk in my trunk – get over it and move on.

This morning I ran 15 200s with 100m walk recovery. My goal was to not go too fast and keep them all around 50 seconds or less, per Ewen’s guidance. I did pretty good keeping with that, but I really feel like I could put a little more umph into it and go faster. The shorter recovery did make it a little harder towards the end. I am loving this workout! Click on a picture to enlarge it.

#1 – 44      #8 – 47
#2 – 45      #9 – 52
#3 – 49      #10 – 49
#4 – 48      #11 – 49
#5 – 48      #12 – 55 ?
#6 – 47      #13 – 50
#7 – 50      #14 – 49
#15 – 49


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