Things Elliot says while we're out running

I took my two favorite little running partners out for 4 miles today to take advantage of the beautiful weather.  I just love taking Elliot running because he never stops talking.  He shouts encouraging things like "go mommy!" and "you run fast, mommy!" and lately he's been in the "why?" phase that all 3 year olds go through.  Here's a little snapshot of some of our conversation today.

"Mommy, why you run?"
Because I like to. 
"Why that girl not run?"
Because some people walk and some people run.
"Why people walk and run here today?"
Because it's a beautiful day out and it's good to be active.
"Why it beautiful day?"
Because the sun's out and it's warm.
"We go playground now?"
We're going to do 4 laps.  Are you going to count them?
"I count.  One, two, three..." About 10 seconds later.  "We all done now?  We go playground now?"
(At this point I give Elliot some crackers which keeps him quiet for a few minutes.)
"Mommy, why you not run faster?"
I don't need to run faster.  But it's probably more fun to run with daddy because he runs faster.
"Daddy run fast, mommy run fast!  Mommy run FASTER!  GO MOMMY!"
(More crackers.)
"Mommy, you my mom.  I "mwa!" you."
Awww, I love you, too, honey!
"Mommy, why you my  mommy?"
Why do you think?  (We've addressed this topic many times before.)
"Because I came out your belly?"
(Pause)
"Mommy?  Why I come out your belly?  There fun games in your belly?"

I seriously love this kid.

I can't think up a pithy (or even mildly clever) title since there's not much going on.  I've been fighting a bit of a cold with a really annoying cough, and I just feel kind of gross today (the fast food last night probably didn't help), but the running is going fine.  Haakan is out of town (in a tropical local for something work related - no sympathy from me) so I took the younger two out in the jogging stroller and managed to get in 6 miles and then went straight to pick Oliver up at school.  Of course, they both fell asleep in the stroller and I paid the price with Elliot being up until 10pm, but it was still a pretty good run, and pretty zippy for having the stroller with me.  I may try to take them out tomorrow to get in another 4 miles, which will just leave me with my long run to do on Saturday or Sunday, since Haakan will be back (woohoo!).

I've upped my mileage to 28 miles a week, which still isn't huge in the grand scheme of how much some people run, but I'm doing ok with it and that's the point of upping the mileage slowly.  I'm thinking that after the marathons are done (Pittsburgh in May, Columbus in October) that I may just stick at 30 miles per week as a base for a while.  I'm surprised how much I'm liking that two of my runs a week are a decent distance - two 9 mile runs a week right now, and one of those counts as my long run - and I'm finding them going better than the shorter ones somehow, maybe because I have time to ease into things and get warmed up.  I'm doing the Turkey Trot 5k on Thanksgiving and I'm wondering if I could be in line for another PR.  I'm also doing the Trot for Tots 10k the following weekend and Haakan has tried to prepare me for that not being the easiest of races since there always seems to be in wind in the face on the way back, as well as a slight uphill.  My 5k times do seem to indicate that I might be due  for a 10k PR, which would really knock my socks off.  To even get close to the 55:14 that I did in the Great Race in 2008 would be a huge ego booster.  That finish time is so far outside what I had been doing, I'm not sure how I even did it.  It's my longest standing PR, and I think the time is right for it to go down.

In gear news, I've resurrected my Saucony ProGrid Rides that I bought over the summer, since my Nike Moto 7's are approaching the top of their mileage, and they seem to be doing ok.  I'm pretty sure I'd be happier in at least a half size larger, but they're not causing me any major problems.  I am having some blistering between the toes, so I'm thinking of trying out a pair of Injinji toe socks.  I mean, the rainbow alone kind of enchants me, but I like the blister reduction, too, and the price is in line with what I've paid for tech socks in the past.  I'm also debating another running pullover for cold weather running outside, and waiting for Lululemon's Run:Dash pullover to be released.  I have two of the Inspire pullovers and they've been working great (I'll need another layer for outdoor running once it gets colder, but they're ok for the high 20s/low 30s that I've been running in in the early AM), but I wouldn't mind having a third top, for the weeks that I do my runs outside, as opposed to on the treadmill at the gym.  To say that I am a little addicted to the Lululemon gear would be an understatement.  The stuff performs great, but what really has me sold is that the shoulders are roomy and the arms are nice and long, which has been an issue for me with my linebacker shoulders and long monkey arms.  My eyes are bigger than my pocketbook and I need to start deciding what I *need* as opposed to what I just *want*, but hopefully there will be some new pretties uploaded to the website or in my local showroom today, so I can at least try a few things out.  Debating a new pair of running tights, too, but I'll have to wait and see on that one.  It might get so cold that I'm pushed inside for most of the winter, and then all my pretty winter stuff will be languishing.

Gen runs like hell!

The Freaky 5k I did on Saturday had "Run for your life!" as its tagline, but a friend tells me that it used to be "Run like hell!" and have zombies on the tshirt.  Though I'd love a tshirt that says "run like hell!" on the front, I have a bit of an issue with zombies, so I'm happy with the little running skeletons on the swag shirt I got.  The Freaky 5k is part of the Pittsburgh Marathon series, apparently, and Haakan had it on my training plan, so I thought what the hell.  The fun part is that it was a costume 5k, and Haakan and I both had the bright idea that I should go as Wonder Woman, so after I was unable to find a Wonder Woman costume that actually fit me properly, I went low rent and wore a red top, bright blue crops, a red cape, and pinned the Wonder Woman symbol to my chest (printed out about 2 minutes before I left the house, since, you know, I like to plan ahead and all that).

The race was in North Park and Google maps had me going with weirdest way, but it worked and I managed to find the race in fairly decent time.  I had a little mini panic attack as I drove through the park because I remember the route from the Just a Short Run that I did in March of 2009 and really wasn't feeling a repeat of the 5k portion, which went up a wicked hill, but it was a pretty flat course.  The costumes were fabulous!  I saw a Sarah Palin, complete with bump hairdo and American flag, a guy doing a "beer run" with a case of beer and a two headed baby in a Baby Bjorn, and a bunch of other super heros, among others.  A few people looked like they were there to run seriously, but the guys who came in first and second were dressed like Mr Incredible and a caveman in a spotted loin cloth, so who says you can't run fast in a costume!

The race started right on time, and boy was it cold!  I was in a tank top and my hands were numb before we even started (gloves would be a good idea for next year), but I found myself near the front pretty quickly.  It was an out and back at the beginning of the course, and it became clear pretty early that a lot of people were just going to walk it.  Which was nice for me because it meant my stats would be pretty good.  Maybe a half mile in I looked down at the Garmin and realized that I was doing around an 8 minute mile, which is ridiculous and unsustainable for me, but I had a hard time pulling it back and I took a walk break when I got to the water station around the 1 mile mark.  I went back out, and again, the pace was too quick and I took a break again right around the 2 mile mark.  At that point I could see the turn where we'd head back to the skating rink where the finish line was, so I thought I might as well finish strong.  I also saw another Wonder Woman and I really wanted to pass her.  With a quarter mile left to go I checked my Garmin and found that I was well under where I thought I'd be and that amazingly I might have a chance to PR.  I crossed the finish line with Batgirl and another super hero and set a new PR of 26:39, which was good enough for 12th in my age group.  I thought I might place a little higher, but there were some speedy chicks in there!

I got Batgirl and the Wonder Woman I passed to snap a picture of me before I left.  I think I'll run all of my races with a cape from now on, since it obviously is to blame for my speed and pacing issues!

Holding steady

I've had a few race-free weekends now, which feels kind of weird, but the running overall has been going quite well.  It's like Charlie hit 5.5 to 6 months and something just clicked with my physically and suddenly, I was on my way back.  As time goes on I just feel like I'm getting stronger and stronger, and it's cool to have gone through a pregnancy and birth and be back to where I was, fitness wise.  I'm even a few pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight, and I've really never felt better.

I've been getting up at 5am to run 3 or 4 mornings a week, and surprisingly it's been going really well.  The kids are so unpredictable, it's great to get the run out of the way and not have to worry that someone's going to not want to run with me, or scream bloody murder the whole time (that would be Charlie), or that it's going to be pouring down rain or something.  Poor Charlie had croup last week and I forewent the 5am run in favor of sleep, since we'd been up with him all night, and I did manage to get in 6.5 miles with him asleep in the jogging stroller during the day.  Poor kid was so tired, and the cooler air is supposed to be good for croup, so it was win win.  I was surprised that my pace with the jogger was about the same as my pace without it.  I've been averaging between 10:19 and 10:30 for my easy runs, which is actually a big speedier than they should be according to the McMillan Pace Calculator, but I have a hard time slowing down.  It's always been a problem for me, and the cooler weather just makes it easier for me to run faster.

I did my 3 mile tempo run yesterday at 9:00 pace, and I'm kind of wondering if I might be able to set a new 5k PR at the Freaky 5k next Saturday.  I think whether or not I PR is going to depend on a lot of factors, not least of which is whether or not I run it in costume.  Haakan and I both had the brilliant idea that I should run it dressed as Wonder Woman, but I have yet to find a costume the right size (this is where I could rant a little bit about vanity sizing, but I'll spare you since I normally don't care, it only bugs me when *my* size isn't in stock).  Got any other brilliant ideas for a clever costume?  I may have to try another costume store and brave the hoards of kids and teenagers this weekend, though my hopes aren't high.  I'm thinking if I can find a Cat Woman mask, I can just wear my black running tights and black long sleeved top and call it a day, but believe it or not, I haven't seen Cat Woman at the stores!  I've seen every other permutation of superhero gone slutty, but no Cat Woman.

Gen runs back to back 5k's and lives to tell the tale

This is the first weekend in a while that I haven't had a race to do, so I thought I probably should write up a report of the 5k's I did last weekend.  Yes, you read that right - I did TWO 5k's last weekend - Run Shadyside on Saturday and ZooZilla on Sunday.

I signed up for Run Shadyside in advance or I probably wouldn't have done it.  We had a miserable night with Charlie, poor kid kept waking up all gassy and upset, and I was NOT a happy camper when 6:30am rolled around.  It was cold that morning, too - probably around 40 degrees - and I was just not feeling it.  I drove over there in a heavy fog that lifted *just* as I drove out of my neighborhood (the race came within 1.5 miles of my house, so yeah, I could have easily walked there, but like I said, it was cold!), and things began to look up when I was able to easily find a parking space.  The nice thing about Run Shadyside, other than the relatively flat and fast course, is that it starts on Walnut Street, so I was able to duck into Starbucks and get a cup of coffee before the start.  "Were you out running or something?" the barrista asked me.  Ummm, no, I'm going to be doing a 5k with the other 800 people outside in the street!  Seriously, they were a little clueless in there, especially since the place was full of people in running gear with race bibs on.  I considered getting a doughnut and running the race John Belushi style (little chocolate doughnuts, anyone?), but thought better of it.

The race started basically on time and my goal was just to finally break 30 minutes.  I've been trying all summer and it's just eluded me.  Haakan thought I'd be able to do it easily, though I had my doubts.  I set out to keep a reasonable pace for the first mile, but that mile came up fast and I ended up finishing it right around 9 minutes.  And I felt good at the end of that first mile.  "If this continues," I thought, "I'm going to break 30 easily."  The second mile marker came up right at the corner of Center and Highland, and we ran back into that mist I'd driven out of earlier in the day.  I still felt pretty good and now I was starting to get excited.  I was potentially going to come in pretty well below 30, I just had to hold it together for another mile.  And then I saw the 2 mile marker, about .25 miles away from where it should have been, and I began to get worried.  I didn't want to make my final push only to find that the finish line was a quarter mile farther away than I thought it was going to be.  But they put the finish line in the right place, thank goodness, and amazingly, I tied my PR of 27:54, which I set back in the Ikea 5k last year when I was 16 weeks pregnant.   Had I been smart enough to check my watch on the final turn, I might have even surpassed the PR, but given that this was a pretty flat course and didn't have the wicked first mile downhill that the Ikea 5k did, I considered it a pretty significant victory.  We went out for pancakes and there was much rejoicing.  Horray!

Sunday morning I was supposed to do the ZooZilla 5k.  If I haven't mentioned it before, this race strikes fear into my heart.  It starts with a lap around the Pittsburgh Zoo parking lot (about .75 miles), then goes UP the gigantic hill that runs next to the zoo, up to the hairpin turn, down a little ways and then up the service ramp INTO the zoo itself.  Once in the zoo, you run UP past the polar bears and aquarium, and then it's all downhill, past the bears, monkeys, elephants, lions, tigers, snow leopard, back on to the road at a service entrance, and back into the parking lot for the finish.  I am NOT an uphill runner, which is rather unfortunate for someone living in Pittsburgh, but whatever.  Haakan had placed very well in this race a couple of times (I think he said he was third in his age group last year - came home with a little gorilla for the kids, it was pretty cute) and thought I was making too much of the hills.  Having done some speedwork on that hill, and having had to take a pit stop in the weeds to pee because I about wet my pants from the effort, I was a little leery of the race.  But whatever, Haakan was my coach, he thought I should do it, so I dutifully drove down there (it was cold again!), signed up, and waited for the race to start.

I was amazed to discover that most of the people I spoke to had no idea what the course was like.  There were some scared faces when I pointed to the road and said "Ummm, yeah, you run up THAT hill", which made me feel like I was at least a little bit prepared for it.  The worst of the uphill was .58 miles from bottom to turn around, and if I could just hold it together through that, I knew I'd be ok.  Haakan had said, "Maybe you'll PR!" as I left the house, and I laughed him off.  Not in this race, I thought.

The first 3/4 mile around the parking lot was fine.  I was keeping a good sub 9 minute mile pace and feeling good.  My goal was to keep the uphill at around a 10 minute mile and hopefully come in under 30 again, and it was pretty cool to pass so many people on the way up.  A lot of people had gone out way too fast and were paying the price on the hill.  I'm glad that I'd run it before because it definitely didn't feel as bad as it did the first time I ran it, and Haakan was right, it really wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.  I managed to run the whole thing and turn around at the hairpin, and when the downhill FINALLY came after the aquarium, I was beyond thrilled with myself.  I felt like I wasn't going all that fast through the zoo, but I must have been.  There was a girl ahead of me in a white hoodie who I kept wanting to pass, but she stayed right in front of me.  I had the foresight to check my watch right as we made the final turn back into the parking lot and I saw that I was WAY under my PR.  Holy cow, I had a chance at a PR in this race and it took a second for the shock of that to wear off.  I dug down deep and pulled out the last bit of speed I had left and I floored it for the finish line.  I finally overtook hoodie girl right before we crossed the finish line and set a new PR of 27:13 on what is probably the most challenging course I've ever run.  I placed 11th in my age group, which is pretty good, though had I posted this time last year, I would have come in 4th, which about knocks my socks off.  We had some really speedy people this year, though, but I'll take it!

So, summing up, last weekend I ran back to back 5k's tied then obliterated my 5k PR.  Yes, I am very proud of myself!

Gen and Haakan run a GREAT Great Race

I just love the Great Race 10k.  Seriously.  If the Ikea Half Marathon is my happy half, the Great Race is my happy 10k.  Well, last year's Great Race, when I was 18 weeks pregnant and it was pouring down rain, was actually pretty miserable, but the year before that was AWESOME - I set a PR so far beyond what I've done in any other race that I swear, I must have run through a wormhole or something.  Haakan also broke 40 minutes in this race last year, so I'd wager it's a favorite of his, too.  Even those he's Mister Speedy Pants, he decided to run it this year with me.  He did still get a super nifty elite number and seeded position at the start, but he stayed back with me and the hoi polloi, and probably had a better time (at least I hope so!).

It was a great day for a race - cool, sunny, not pouring down buckets of nasty rain like last year.  It was just plain nice.  We gave my neighbor Val a ride to the start, and it was lots of fun chatting with her while we waited for the race to begin.  I saw a guy dressed up in a banana costume while I was waiting for the porta potties, which is always amusing to see.  As usual, the races started late, and we didn't actually hear the gun.  All of a sudden it just started moving, then slowed down to it's usual slow crawl to the start.  We placed ourselves excellently and were right where we should have been (though it did take us 5 minutes to pass the start!).  Haakan's usually way up in the front so this was the first year he got to hear "Shout!" like four or five times while we moved at a glacial pace towards the start line.

We took the first mile pretty slow, around 10:40is if I remember right (I actually forgot my Garmin so I had to rely on Haakan to know what pace we were going - I chose ignorance for most of the race).  Right as we're heading down Forbes towards CMU a group from the air force catches up with us, complete with flag bearer and that fabulous chanting.  It was like something out of a movie, and very cool.  Once we stopped going downhill they passed us pretty quickly and we didn't see them again.

I didn't notice a whole lot else for the rest of the race.  we kept it under 10:00 for the remainder, and I only really felt like we were pushing it at the end when Haakan said we had a good shot at breaking 1:01 (our goal going out was 1:02).  I did pass a girl of maybe 7 years old on the big hill on the Blvd of the Allies and I remember thinking she was a trouper for doing so well.  I think she was running with her dad.  I'm really looking forward to being able to run with the boys, if they want to.

So in the end, we finished in 1:00:54 and I felt great.  I really pushed it at the end, though man those last .2 miles were harsh!  We got to see Val finishing up, too, which was cool, since I never see anyone I know at the finish line.  And as always it was nice to have Haakan as my running partner.  Perhaps the best part was coming in so far under our goal time.  In retrospect we probably could have easily brought it in under an hour, but who knew at the time?  The goal was to have a good race experience, and we definitely did.  And it was even my second fastest 10k ever (which it still would have been, even if we'd pushed harder, since I don't think I would have beaten my 2008 Great Race time of 55:14).

Here's us, the happy couple, basking the glory of a fabulous race!

Gen and Haakan rock the half marathon

Funny the things that change when you have children.  I've commented many times that my 23 year old self would have been horrified that, for example, sleeping until 8am qualifies as "sleeping in" these days.  What qualifies as a date, apparently, is Haakan and I getting up at the crack of dawn to run 13.1 miles, which I'm sure would be considered anything but a good time to many, but I have a soft spot for this particular half marathon.  It's the Ikea Montour Trail Half Marathon, and it was the first half marathon I ever did, 2 years ago not too long after I started running.  It's a really nice out and back course, the first 1.5 miles (more or less) is downhill, so you can build up a little cushion, the rest is fairly flat (though the subtle up hill from mile 6 to the mile 7 turn around is easily the longest feeling mile of the race), and it's on a trail with a good bit of shade.  It doesn't hurt that the weather always seems to be fabulous for it, too.  I bagged on it last year - I was 16 weeks pregnant and had a full on panic attack in the car just thinking about it, so I switched to the 5k and ended up with a PR - but I was determined to do it and do it well this year.  Given my recent races, I knew going in that this was probably going to be my slowest half marathon, but with that in mind I wanted to just run it in a smart way, and set a reasonable goal.

We almost didn't make it to the race since my mom, who graciously agreed to wake up early and come watch the kids, was pretty late getting to our house, but it all worked out since we weren't ready to leave when we thought we would be, anyway.  Everyone woke up right as we would have been waking out of the house, so we had to attend to their various needs.  Barely making it to the race in time seems to be a theme with this particular race, but we got there about 10 minutes before the start, got our chips, and didn't have time to be worried or nervous.  Though I'm sure Haakan wasn't all that nervous - he might not have done the distance in a while, but since he runs his training runs quite a bit faster than I run mine, I knew he'd be able to do it and be just fine.  This is the man who did this same half marathon in 1:31 and change last year, so I was pretty sure he'd be able to keep up with my 10+ minutes per mile pace.

I have to say, the first 8 or 9 miles of the race were very pleasant.  The weather was beautiful, our pace was well chosen, and I just plain felt good for that distance.  The lack of a water stop from miles 6 to 8 was rather unfortunate, but we survived ok.  Haakan turned to me at one point and said, "This is just so *nice*, you know?" and I had to agree, it's just really such a nice race.  We saw the leaders come through right as we hit mile 6 (so they were two miles ahead of us at that point!) and I always love seeing the leaders.  It must have given some of the runners around us a burst of inspiration because we got passed by a bunch of people and I remember thinking "where did *you* come from?", as I usually think when I get passed like that halfway through a race.  The last three miles were kind of rough, which we were both expecting.  I hadn't done more than 10 miles in quite a number of weeks, so I knew I was going to have to just gut it out for the last three.  Haakan was very encouraging, kept chatting to me about different things to take my mind off of how tired I suddenly felt.  I had to stop and walk after the last water stop because I managed to swallow a bunch of air and my stomach felt like it was going to burst.  After I burped like 5 or 6 times (yeah, running is a sexy sport, let me tell you) I felt ok to keep going, and just sucked it up until the end.  The last 2 miles were totally a mental game of me telling myself that as much as I wanted to just walk it in, I didn't need to and should just keep going.  I had gone in with finishing under 2:30 as my first goal, going under 2:20 as a secondary goal, and going under 2:15 as my "all the stars align and I somehow pull out a faster pace than I probably will" goal.  when we passed the mile 12 guy and he said we were at 2:07 and change, I knew we were going to make it in under 2:20, and the pressure was off for a sub 2:15 finish, since that just wasn't going to happen.  I had nothing left in the tank for a last mile sprint by then, but if we just kept going, we'd make it easily under 2:20.  I managed to pull out a final burst of speed to cross the finish like at 2:18:50, making it my slowest half marathon, but one of the best races I've run since Charlie was born.  I came out exactly where I should be, performed exactly according to expectations, and I had nothing left by the end.  I can truly say I ran the best race I could run for the shape that I'm in right now, and I had a good time doing it.

On a side note, I had some fun with my addiction to lululemon running gear and Haakan and I played "spot the lulu" for the first 8 miles of the race.  I saw more than a few pairs of speed shorts, and one girl passed me in the savage green run: swiftly top that I've been kicking myself about missing out on ever since they sold out a few months ago.  One of the lead women was in head to toe lulu, wearing the same shorts I was, just in the citron color (which I like better than what I've got, truthfully, but oh well).  We also had some fun with the old railroad tunnel that we ran through around mile 3, joking that it would definitely be nice if it was *really* a time tunnel (if your kids watch "Dinosaur Train" you totally get that one), unless it took us back in time rather than forward, because that would obviously suck during a race.  I'm sure the other runners around us thought we were crazy, but at least we were entertaining!

Here's us after our 13.1.  This was actually about an hour later, I'm sure I looked more like a tired pile of goo immediately after the race than I do here, when I'd dried out a little.