Less than two weeks until the marathon!

Two Race Recaps in this update.

First, Cajun Cup 10k:

I finally got a 10k pr!  I ran 37:45 which bettered my previous time by about a minute!  The race was in Lafayette, LA and the weather was lovely.  I really like this course because it doesn’t have too many straights or too many curves.  It also has pretty decent crowd support which is rare in a 10k.  My splits were: 5:52, 6:03, 6:04, 6:07, 6:15?  6:12?  I also won which was pretty cool!

Turkey Day 5 miler:

(Sarah and I pre race)

This past thursday I ran the turkey day race here in NOLA.  I love this race because of the amount of people that come out.  People are also usually pretty happy because you get to eat lots of delicious food afterwards.  This race did not go as well as Cajun Cup, but it also didn’t go poorly.  I placed second to Sarah Skotty and ran 30:32 (which is a pr for this race).  Splits were: 5:55, 6:00, 6:06, 611, 6:19.  I got a pretty terrible stomach cramp during the last quarter of the 4th mile and had to slow up more than I wanted.  I hope to figure out what caused the cramp before the marathon!

Speaking of the marathon, OMG it’s approaching so quickly.  My emotions keep jumping around from excitement to terror.  I am worried that I haven’t put in enough training (I think everyone worries this).  No matter what happens it gets to count as a PR because it is my first time racing this distance.  Also, I am just happy to be uninjured and running PR’s!

LSU STILL UNDEFEATED!  Bring on Georgia!

I’ve got the marathon fever.  Watching New York did not help.

Last Weeks Recap:

Sun: I took sunday off to rest and relax.

Monday: I ran 6.9 miles at run group.  The legs did not feel great or terrible.  Somewhere in the middle.  The pace was a little quicker than I had planned.

Tuesday: 3.5 miles in the morning alone.  6.75 in the evening.  The evening run started and ended at the candy bar.  It was a pretty good run except that running down St Charles is a mess right now.  It really needs to rain to soak up some of the sand.

Wed: 11.3 miles at run group.  I started this run not feeling like running at all and ended up running much further than planned.  We ran mostly easy but ended up tempoing the last 3-4 miles.  Last two miles in the 620′s.  I was trying very hard not to get dropped by POBOY and Powder, but was not successful.

Thurs: 4.75 miles from the store after an AWESOME adidas event.

Friday: LONG RUN.  Met Skotty at her home to begin a 20 mile long run around the city.  It was dark for the first hour of the run.  I felt better than expected and we ended up doing 21 in 2:33:03.  Excellent long run.

Saturday: 3.5 miles.  Easy jogging before and during the Crescent City Fall Classic 5k.  My legs felt dead and my hips were sore.

My feelings on New York.  First off, I made a bet with Powder saturday night that the winning men would break 2:05:30.  I won this bet!  20 dollars in my pocket!  Geoffrey Mutai is AMAZING.  His second half marathon was run in 61!  We get excited when Americans run 61 in a stand alone half marathon!  Also, cant help but be a little sad for Mary Keitany.  She did go out pretty stupid, but  man that looked painful!  I was really interested to see how Lauren Fleshman did (I read her blog regularly).  It seemed like a rough debut.  I’m sure 2:37 is not what she wanted, but she got in the training and should have an excellent year at the 5k distance.  Molly Pritz really impressed with a 2:31 debut.  At only 23 years old she has a long time to work on bettering that time.  Watching some of the crashes happen in the last 10k has be a bit worried about what will happen around 20 miles in my marathon.  I just have to hope that I control myself and don’t go out stupid, fuel correctly, and stay calm.  Woohoo marathons!

This is an interesting Lauren Fleshman read.

Non running related note.  LSU IS STILL UNDEFEATED!  Bama was a tough game, but we beat them on their turf in over time.  GEAUX TIGERS!

Other news.  I am doing a 10k race on saturday and will hopefully get a race recap up quickly.

Sorry about the 2 week break.  First I had no access to my computer and then later work became very busy because we were the packet pickup location for the JAZZ HALF MARATHON.

Instead of doing  a day by day weekly recap I will just summarize.

After the Manchac 10 mile Race I took a down week totaling around 38 or so miles.  I took two days off (one to tailgate for the LSU/Auburn Game).  I also decided to hold off on the planned long tempos and get on the track.  On that Wed I did 6×800 With most around 2:47.  I took 2 minutes recovery.  I did a shorter long run (13 miles) on sunday and then tempo’d on monday.  I took the rest of the week easy because I planned on racing the half marathon.

The Jazz Half Marathon Race Recap!

This race went WAY better than Manchac.  This was technically my first half marathon (I had entered one previously but on managed to run about 7 miles of it).  I ran 1:23:56 which exceeded my expectations.  I believe this is an average of 6:25 per mile.  Splits: 6:19, 6:31, 621, 6:28, 6:23, 6:27, 6:26, 6:35, 6:08, 6:18, 6:24, 6:27, 6:28, 37.  I did not run with my garmin because I HATE using it in races.  I used my soleus watch.  I ran 90 percent of this race alone.  I did not go out with the other ladies because I was afraid of finishing the distance.  The last two miles I caught and passed two fellows.  The only part of the race I didn’t really like was mile 8-9 in the park.  It was packed with walkers and bikers and I did not like having to concentrate on tangets.  I also forgot to bring my gu, so I did not take anything besides water in the race.  All in all it was a good day.

Pic of me heel striking like a mofo.

Thanks to the race my confidence is somewhat back for the marathon.  I am still nervous about the fact that I have not yet run a 20 miler (I attempt this weekend).  I would have preferred to have had at least 2 20 milers before the race.  It is looking like I will only have 1.  I plan to just roll with it and attempt to enjoy my first marathon with not too much emphasis on pace and time.

Non running related note.  LSU plays Alabama this weekend and I plan to see some TOTAL DOMINATION by the tigers.