Columbus is coming up fast!

Only 3 mega-long runs left til the Columbus Marathon, 52 days from today!

I just registered to run with the 4:30 pace team (which I will say goodbye to after the first half!) And there's a sweet video of the course:

2011 Columbus Marathon Complete Course Overview from dan farkas on Vimeo.

After 18 miles, total exhaustion

At the beginning of the year, I didn't understand people who told me "I can't train for a marathon, I have kids." What's the big deal? At the worst of it, you're gone for 4 hours on a Saturday morning. With MIT starting so early, you're probably home by the time they wake up.

Then came the first 16-miler. I reeled for a few hours, then crashed. When I woke up, I had some of the worst soreness and exhaustion I had ever experienced. After that run, then my 18, 20, 22 and my race, I was out for the entire weekend. Anything that required the slightest bit of exertion was out of the question.

Parents who train for marathons (or those who have any other obligations on the weekends), how do you do it? Throwing the red ball to my dog takes special effort! Any chore I can't do sitting down can wait!

Yesterday I was scheduled for 16. I, errr, went 18. It was a great run, I felt really strong through the entire thing. Staying on my feet for so long after was probably a bad call. I did some shopping (pair 4 of Mizuno Precisions on their way!). Then I went to the 10TV Health and Fitness expo, which was a huge waste of time.

I had really good splits and my heart rate stayed where it needed to be:

My average pace was 10:20, average HR was 155. Splits:
Mile 1: 10:53, 171 bpm (doubt this is right, monitor was acting up)
Mile 2: 10:26, 164 bpm
Mile 3: 10:27, 152 bpm
Mile 4: 10:20, 152 bpm
Mile 5: 10:29, 149 bpm
Mile 6: 10:28, 150 bpm
Mile 7: 9:09, 149 bpm
Mile 8: 9:37, 154 bpm (potty break and subsequent catch-up)
Mile 9: 10:20, 149 bpm
Mile 10: 10:27, 150 bpm
Mile 11: 10:33, 149 bpm
Mile 12: 10:12, 153 bpm
Mile 13: 10:25, 153 bpm
Mile 14: 10:18, 152 bpm
Mile 15: 10:18, 155 bpm
Mile 16: 10:26, 158 bpm
Mile 17: 10:30, 162 bpm
Mile 18: 10:37, 159 bpm

Anyway, aside from the laundry that I absolutely need to do, my only mission for the rest of the evening is to find out if Jack Bauer can stop the pandemic virus in time! Netflix, I love you.

Song I'm currently obsessed with:

Indian Run registration, and other musings

For the second year in a row I'm going to do the Hocking Hills Indian Run down in Logan. I did the 10K last year and it's a fantastic race. This year I'm signed up for the 20K, that's 12.4 miles. I haven't been running off-road much this year so I think in the next few weeks I'm going to get to Dawes and the Bio to get acclimated to trails again.

I'm also eying the Nu Hop Trail Run again this year at Mohican. It was fun running it last year, though I'm not sure what I can do two weeks after Columbus. 

I've been a bad blogger lately. Really, there's not a lot to report. We're in the heart of the training season, our long runs jump from 14 miles to 16 miles Saturday, and our weekday miles are building rapidly. Providing I complete the long run I will have done 30 miles this week alone. At least the heat has taken a break and I'm back to running a 9:30-10:30 pace weekdays and a 10:30 pace Saturday. The 14-mile long run went great last week, we ran from Ohio Health in Westerville up to Galena and back, beautiful scenery. This week it's back to Worthington High, while I adore MIT I have to admit I'm getting sick of running the same trail every week.

I've been taking Lizzie dog out for my 3 mile runs. We didn't get out this week but in general she's been coming for one run a week. She loves it. We can't do the pet run in Granville Sept. 3 but I'm hoping to find a 5K that I can do with her.

My other dog, Gigi, has lymphoma and hasn't been doing well at all, so that's been an added layer of stress. The poor girl isn't responding to the prednisone, so I'm going to try her on a new med this week.

Overall, running, work and life has left me thoroughly exhausted. Going to rest up tonight to prepare for tomorrow (we have to be in Worthington at 6:30, ick!), I want to check out the 10TV health and fitness expo, but beyond that I plan on taking it real easy.

My best buds

To call this a brutal week would be a vast understatement. Myself and my family are all dog people. There are five dogs in my immediate family at the moment, two with me, two with my parents and one with my sister. But the pack is going to shrink. 

I've grown up with Katie Dog. I hated her at first (I was a teenager), because she wasn't Misha, the german shephard we had previously who I loved way back when. 

We don't know how old Katie is, but she's old, at least 12. For the past year every time I said goodbye to her I knew there was a chance I wouldn't see her again. When my dad called last week and told me that her time was very short, it wasn't much of a surprise. 

But then I found out about Gigi. This was a total shock. 

Gigi is the older of my two greyhounds (Lizzie is only 6 months younger). I'd noticed a little bit of swelling in her lymph nodes before, but last week they ballooned, so we went to the vet last Friday. After a few tests they confirmed the worst -- she has lymphoma. I don't know how much longer I have with her now, but I'm trying to make the best of it. 

Gigi was the first dog to be completely mine, she and I have been through so much together. She's been my contant through a lot of moves and life changes in my early adulthood. She's a very sweet, kind, loving girl -- doesn't even bark at the mailman. 

Miss Lizzie is my other hound. I got her a year after I brought Gigi home. Gigi was going a little nuts with my unpredictable work schedule and needed a friend. I fell in love with Lizzie while volunteering at the greyhound kennel up in Maine. 

Lizzie is obnoxious, loud, defiant and bossy and I love her dearly. Somehow, despite Gigi's timid and sensitive personality, they make a good team. She's a lot more independent than Gigi. 

I'm starting to run with her again. We may even compete in the Licking County Pet-A-Palooza 5K in September together. 

Rounding out the pack are Brandy (left) and Mimi (right), the babies of the group. Brandy belongs to my sister, Mimi belongs to my parents.