December 2010 and who knew I had it in me?

*** This is the last post in a series of 5 posts meant to catch up on five months of blogging absence*** 

December was my last month of prep for the Egmond aan Zee half marathon. I managed to run 128.4 miles according to my Garmin, my highest monthly mileage EVER. Mostly injury free too :-) We spent early December recovering from our many wonderful visitors, getting used to the piles and piles of snow that came down, and to prepare for our trip to the US.

Race of the Month: Run Into The New Year 5K
I love US races so much more than European ones. People are much relaxed and out to have a good time. So what better way to enter 2011 than a midnight 5K? So that's what I did. My in-laws joined me and walked the 1 mile while I ran the 5K. The run was entitled R.I.T.N.Y (run into the new year) and started at 11:59PM on December 31st. It was to benefit the Miracle League of the Triangle and took place on a parking lot in Cary. I had just run my last two long-ish runs of the Egmond aan Zee half marathon (January 9th) the days before so my legs were total jello. I wasn't planning on racing it hard, but it was a good opportunity to get a speed workout. I finished in 25:20, 12 seconds slower than my PR, so a good race in all. I was 3rd in my AG (30 to 39) so not shabby at all.

Wearing my Amsterdam marathon shirt

Finishing!

I was wearing my Amsterdam Marathon shirt, my new running skirt, and my new pair of shoes. I know, nothing new on race day, but this was just a good speed workout. I had to laugh (a bit) at the other runners who were looking funny at me, thinking I was underdressed. Most of them were running in compression cold wear, with multiple layers, gloves and ear muffs (?!). Obviously, 8C in the south is really cold! In contrast, this was my warmest run in at least 6 weeks...

Training this Month
Training this month was very gnarly! I managed 128.4(!!!) miles, despite the fact that there were snow and ice and sub-zero (celcsius) conditions at every single run! I think what helped is that I knew there would be no better days. When the weather is only 50% bad, it is easy to skip a run and wait for the next good day. When days are 90% bad, might as well suck it up and go ;-) So, except for three weekends, I did all of my runs in the dark and cold. My long runs were therefore special treats, as I could run in daylight with music (no music when it's dark). Some memorable long runs included a Monday night 8 miler (the ice on Sunday was too thick), 10, 11, and 13 milers in sunny snow and my last 11-miler on the Outerbanks.

The bike path I usually run on

When the weather gets nicer, I'll run IN the woods

Since everything around home is flat, I do hill repeats on the overpass

My 11-mile run on the Outerbanks, in the sun, was wonderful!

My shoes got old....

... so I got new ones, and it makes such a difference!

Travel for the Month

We kept things easy for the first part of the month, and then flew to the US to spend our 2-week vacation with my in-laws. Since the weather was pretty bad and we did not trust the Dutch railways (they are usually very reliable, but have been failing a bit too much lately), we spent the night at a new airport hotel, called the CitizenM. So far, there are only three hotels, Amsterdam city center, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and Glasgow. The concept is pretty neat: high tech, high design, for a low price. The room is pretty small with a huge bed. However, since the toilet and shower have sliding doors, it doesn't feel very small. I would, however, not recommend you share a room with someone you are not very intimate with...

Citizen M hotel room

We got to NC on the 25th, just a few hours of a mega snow storm... I was looking forward to some nice warm runs in NC, but alas, that was not to be...

Waking up on the 26th...

I did run 4 miles in this...

Instead, I had a few cold runs, and some huge amounts of good food.

Hibachi at the Crabtree Valley Mall

Ridiculous Steak Sandwich at City Beverage, Durham, NC

Then, we lived it up at the Sanderling Resort & Spa on the Outerbanks

Sunrise (jetlag after effects)

Breakfast: Cinnamon Raisin French Toast with Creme Cheese

Frozen Water (Sand Side)

Anyone up for a swim skate?

Jockeye's Ridge

Lunch after the 11-miler

Followed, soon after, by dinner...

And yes, I did get completely wasted on one cosmopolitan...

This concludes the August to December review. Next up, regular blogging...

5K PR (again)

The joys of starting out a training program are many. The best one must the 5K PR at each attempt. Today, my good buddy Dan and I ran the Kines 5K. With three weeks to go to the Pittsburgh Half-Marathon, I am trying to practice running in crowds (not my favorite). And I really wanted to beat my time from last week (26:05). Learning from last week's mistakes, I did not forget my asthma inhaler (still was wheezing and coughing but I think it helped), I did not have a supersized breakfast (just mildly so) and I warmed up (for five minutes).

The course starts with a looooong downhill, followed by a mild uphill with a few steep parts thrown in for fun and ends with a slow downhill.I don't know what my splits were (I got my brand new Garmin 405cx in the mail yesterday and practiced/tested it yesterday on a short run, but miserably failed to get it going at the start of the race...) but I think I slowed down a lot on the last mile, I was completely done. I was a bit disappointed that I did not have anything left in me for a final sprint. A few people ran past me on the last 0.2 miles and I could just not follow. But I think 4+ hours of training the day before kinda did me in. Maybe at the next attempt I will ease up the day before. I still bettered my time by an entire minute (actually 59 seconds but 1 minute sounds better) and finished in 25:06. I would have been even more excited to win one of the road ID vouchers at the raffle, but I can't have it all :-)

Even though I put in a very good week that included 120+ miles on the bike (of which 48 outside at a good pace) and 8,000 yds in the pool, I failed miserably (again) at the long run. I think a mild norovirus struck early today. I managed the 5K despite some "discomfort" but I could not imagine running for 2 hours... So yes, I failed again at the most important workout of the week. As of next week, I am moving my long run to Friday or Monday, first thing in the day. Nah.

New 5K PR and lovely ride

I ran in the Lactic Acid 5K today, organized by the Penn State Triathlon club. Until about an hour before the race I wasn't sure I was going to go since I had planned a 45 mile ride. The one I have been postponing for several weeks now... In the end, even though I ran 6 miles every day on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I decided to try to set a new PR. I was a bit disapointed that I did not get under 25 minutes, I felt I could have. But I was happy with 26 minutes and something (no results posted yet). I made a few key mistakes.
#1 I forgot to use my inhaler, so the wheezing started pretty much straight away
#2 I ate waaaaaaaaaay too much breakfast (I thought I was riding 45 miles...)
#3 I did not warm up (I was worried about #2)
#4 I went out too fast (sub 8 minute 1 mile)
I was a bit worried since all the runners (at least 95%) looked extremely fit and like they knew what they were doing. Still, I managed to stay ahead of a few of them.

I used this picture to enter Steve in a Speedo's contest.

After the 5K, awesome wubby, great friend Dan and I went on a ride to Centre Hall, PA. We stopped on the way at the Mount Nittany Winery and Vineyard for some sightseeing (and no tasting) and then went on for some massive pizza at Brother's Pizza in Centre Hall. On the way back we rode through Lemont (another picturesque PA village). 35 very easy miles. My legs were tired. I still owe myself a real 45 mile ride, and I am several long runs behind, but for today my legs were shot. Tomorrow I am attempting (again) the 12-mile long run. Pittsburgh 1/2 marathon is only 4 weeks away...

Timed 5K

In light of my impending foray into sprint tri-ing, I timed myself on a (rather hilly) 5K. I just about completely blew up (think wheezing, huffing and puffing bright red tomato) but managed to finish it in 27:33 which is approximately 4 minutes less than the (only other) 5K I did two years ago.

This is week 7 of my "training" so by this summer I should be able to run one in under 25 minutes?