Gone but not forgotten

I first met Joe the weekend pictured above in Philadelphia, 2006.   We had a huge meet-up that year for the marathon and as anyone knows, Voo is not hard to pick out of a crowd.  I remember walking up to him at the expo, briefly saying hi and then giving him a big ole hug.  He wouldn't have had it any other way.   The guy was a spirit, a force, a runner to be reckoned with.  He had the largest, kindest heart and as you can see in the picture, the ability to hang with the Pfeiffer girls post-race  :-)   Joe left this world last Friday, unexpectedly, prematurely but ultimately [I have to imagine] happily.   His last words to all of us runner buddies was a quick recount of the 20 miler he ran after work on Thursday & how he got stung by a bee nearly right in the ass.   That's the Voodoo Joe we all know and love.   You will be missed, you will be remembered and you will always have a place in my heart.    I know you're enjoying the cushy trails wherever you are!!

Better, better...

The week continues in a blurred state of busyness (that spelling looks weird)... anywho

Tuesday - 8.35 miles running @EZ with 30 secs @5KP every 3 min in 1:12 (8:37/mi)

Wednesday - 1 mile swimming (1764 yds)

I really wanted and needed to get to yoga last night but honestly, it's way too time consuming. It ends up being like 2.5 hours I'm not home packing and cleaning and preparing for my CA trip. So I took a pass and got a pedicure instead :P

Today (Thurs) will end up being a forced rest day. Had I got to bed at a decent hour last night I would have run this morning but I didn't. Such is the life of a chronic procrastinator & packing hater (ha! that sorta rhymes). At any rate I have everything ready to fly out... Dillon is with the super sweet people at the NY Cat Hospital boarding facility and I'm a bit zipped up on caffeine and spinach. Just need to get through work today and I'll be in San Francisco by [my] dinner time!

Oh and yes, regarding SF... there's the matter of the half marathon on Sunday. I don't really have any physical or time related goals. Of course I want to run strong but more importantly I want to have the sort of mental race I had in Philly back in May, for the Broad St. Run. That will mean more to me than anything... oh and enjoying the monster climbs along the course too. And last by not least, having a blast running with the rest of my family... we'll be 5 Pfeiffers strong on Sunday. WOOT!

Eh yeah

So Friday's intervals didn't happen. Although I was able to get a run in on Friday, I needed to push the intervals to the next morning. The 8 miler I ran followed a few cocktails with co-workers and a quick errand delivering a much-needed aerobed. That run rocked, the run the next morning - not so much.

Saturday's intervals might have been doomed before they were even started. I didn't eat much Friday; actually that's not correct, I did eat a TON of spinach Friday but that was about it. I also chose to wake up early on Saturday morning to get some laundry done before the rest of my bldg woke up and thus got a later start on my run. So by the time I got out it was way too sunny and I felt tired from having been up for over 4+ hours and not having eaten anything yet. Anywho, I only achieved one of the three intended sets of 2 mile intervals. After that I just felt too spent and my right hip and hammy were starting to get cranky. Do not want to anger those body parts especially with a hilly half coming up next weekend. I finished the run unhappily, was cranky for a bit and then got over it. I also chose to take Sunday completely off.

Friday - 8 miles running @GA in 1:06:24 (8:18/mi)
Saturday - 9 miles running in 1:25 (9:25/mi) with one set of 2 miles (15:34 - 7:47/mi)
Sunday - off
Monday - 8 miles running @GA in 1:09:15 (8:39/mi)

This week is the first time this training cycle I'm sliding miles off the plan rather than tacking more on. I'm using the level 2 of Hudson's plan but not yet ready to hit his 60+ miles for the coming week. All in all I'm feeling good. Saturday's bad run was easy to figure out and I've moved on. This evening after a quick visit to the vet (poor Dilly needs his shots) I'll be busting out a longer fartlek and piling up the items on my "to-pack" list for San Francisco and Yosemite.

WOOT!

Friday Morning Recap

This week feels like a new, organized beginning for me in terms of my training. I know it's probably more a state of mind than anything but who doesn't love the opportunity to start fresh? Anywho, b/c it was ultimately a transition & cutback week my workouts were a bit of a mixed bag.

Monday - 8 miles w/3 x Harlem Hill sprints @tempo
Tuesday - 4 recovery miles running, 1 mile swimming w/2 long sets of sprints
Wednesday - 90 mins. yoga (bound side angle, half moon and a lot of other balance poses)
Thursday - 6.2 miles running @GA
Friday - still to come...

This afternoon/evening my plan calls for a 10K time trial however I think the workout will be better spent sharpening for my next HM which happens to be a week from Sunday. I plan to get the same mileage out of the day as if I were running the trial but in a different workout. Will get out for 2 mi warm-up, 3 x 2 mi @tempo w/3 mins recovery and a 2 mi cool-down.

Regrouping and reorganizing

I've felt somewhat uncomfortable with my training for St. George for awhile now. It felt too little, too unstructured and a bit too different from what I'm used to while marathon training. When I run I feel good, my hurty parts aren't so hurty and I feel stronger than ever. But I just don't feel I'm running enough and I'm at the point where risking an up in mileage feels like a good step. I'm also feeling like me and the bod have a good thing going and our communication seems to be better than ever so even if an up in mileage is ultimately the wrong decision, I'll listen to my pal and back off accordingly.

I've also been debating about jumping ship on Hudson and getting back to my bud Pfitz. Thing is I really dig Hudson's plan and methodologies, I just think the mileage was way too low and more conservative than even I needed, coming back from some injuries. I want to see this plan through and thus I'm sticking with Hudson's plan but stepping it up to the next level offered. Interestingly enough, the runs I've already logged this week aren't that far off from those in this plan. I like the specificity in the runs and although I'll be joining in on what appears to be a cutback week, I'll knock the long run up some to prepare for San Francisco.

Wish me luck!

GW2009

I made it back to girls weekend this year and what a blast! These women are near and dear to my heart and like my high school friends I don't live near any of them, don't talk nearly enough and yet when we come together it's like no time has passed

Here we are toasting the Jagermeister girls whom we befriended while at the pool on Saturday. What an unholy union

Holy turn for the better, Batman

I've been stressed a lot lately... if it's not work it's something else. I felt less than refreshed coming into work today after the long holiday weekend. However it all turned around after having a delicious conversation with little sis #2... she mentioned a possible change in our upcoming camping plans, scheduled for just after the San Francisco HM. The change involves the camping location.

The change involves now camping in Yosemite!





Uh, change approved!