LA Girl On The Run

Running in the wind is not much fun.  It is especially hard when said wind is blowing you sideways and filling your shoes with sand.  I actually had to stop around mile 15 to dump the sand out of my shoes - that is a first for me and something I did not have to do when I ran in the 50K in the desert.  Despite the wind, I was glad to get in some good hill training.  I finished the run by running the last 5 miles of the LA marathon in reverse (up hill).  It will be much easier to run those miles downhill on marathon day.  Let the taper begin! 

23 miler starts momentarily.  So far, I have Grateful Dead “Scarlet Begonias” and Dixie Chicks “Ready to Run” stuck in my head.  I also feel Adele “Rolling in the Deep” coming on… 

The past week was a sudafed induced blur.  Thankfully I am feeling better and can get back to some serious training.  I had to push my 22-24 miler back a week so the taper for LA will be three weeks instead of four.  This should bode well for my American River 50 training.  Slowly but surely I am inching up the wait list.  A couple of my friends have offered to be pacers (yay!) so it is all falling into place.  So exciting! 

Workouts this week: Sun spin, Mon rest, Tues 8 mi am, spin pm, Wed 5 mi, Thurs 8 mi trails, Fri double spin, Sat 22-24 mi. Total mileage: 43-45

On Kinross between Westwood Blvd. and Glendon.  Located in the alley behind Urban Outfitters. 

runnersworld:

This is big news, people.

The Boston Marathon has announced new qualifying times and a new registration process. The marathon will institute a two-week, rolling registration for 2012 that will reward runners with faster qualifying times. In 2013, the BAA will lower all qualifying times by 5 minutes. Stay tuned for more information.

Times they are a changing… literally.  I have known very few runners that have qualified for Boston by more than 5 minutes. Almost everyone I know that has qualified has done so by less than 2 minutes.  It will be interesting to see how this changes who runs Boston and how quickly it will sell out.  Also interesting that the BAA chose to open registration in September, before Chi-town, Portland, etc.  Time to rethink my strategy…

I heard back from American River 50 race director today.  I am number 37 on the wait list.  It sounds like my chances of running this race are pretty high.  She expects people to withdraw for another month or so.  This is beginning to feel real.  Anyone out there want to pace me for the second half of the race????  I have a feeling I am going to need a pacer.

Pacers

Pacers are allowed to begin from Beals Point (26.53 miles) to the finish.

A pacer may also be picked up at Granite Bay (31.67 miles) or Rattlesnake Bar (40.94 miles) to the finish.

Runners may be accompanied by no more than one pacer at a time.

Pacers may eat and drink from the aid station tables. Pacers must enter and exit with their runner. No muling is allowed.

I woke up at 4:30AM yesterday and knew my body did not want or need to run.  My hamstrings were tight and screaming from hill training on Saturday and Monday.  I decided to give my body some much needed rest and took another rest day today. I will be ready to kill it on the trails tomorrow morning.  I need to constantly remind myself that rest is important.

LA Training Update-  I really enjoyed the long trail run last Saturday (even the added hills from the unknown trail).  I have one more long run, 24 miles, next Saturday before I start to taper for LA.  I like to run close to marathon distance as my last long run before a marathon (from years training using the Galloway method).  I like to get a few runs close to 20 miles then at least one over 20.  It allows me to work out the kinks before a race.

Workouts last week: Sun spin, Mon rest, Tues 7.25 mi tempo am, double spin pm, Wed rest, Thurs 7 miles trails, Fri double spin, Sat 19 mi trails. Total: 33 mi

This week: Sun spin, Mon 4 mi hills, Tues and Wed rest, Thurs 8 mi trails am, spin pm, Fri double spin, 5 mi easy, Sat 10-12 mi easy Total: 27-29 mi