In Training

Sorry I've been gone for so long. I've been traveling and (still!) trying to sell my house. We get showings, which means I have to spend the day cleaning and straightening to give the impression my house is always this neat and tidy. :-)

But mostly, I've been marathon training. I just completed week 4 of Hal Higdon's Intermediate II marathon training schedule. I started it the week I returned from Italy. The following week, I went to Rochester (Minnesota) with SD. He was getting a physical at the Mayo Clinic, something his company offered. While he was getting poked and prodded, I found a nice running trail along the Zumbro River. Rochester isn't too impressive of a town, but they have good bike paths. The Mayo Clinic, however, is impressive, with its buildings and artwork and endowments, not to mention the wealth of medical expertise.

Last week I was in California, checking on my new house. It's almost finished and SD and I slept in it for the first time. We bought an air mattress and set it up in the bedroom. In the morning I woke up to a picture-perfect day, looking out on the blue expanse of Pacific Ocean. I laughed out loud, joyful at the thought of awakening to this view every day!
Air mattresses take a little getting used to, so I didn't sleep too well and blew off my Monday workout of 3 miles. To make up for it, I ran the next day in a nearby development that is extremely hilly. It's also remote and I saw a coyote on the road ahead of me. It was far enough away that at first I thought it was a deer, because of its ear shape. Then it loped away and I realized what it was. I picked up a big rock and ran with it the entire time, in case he came back with his buddies. After I ran up and down the big hill, I ran down a different road into a gulch. I kept seeing evidence of cattle on the road, but it wasn't until I turned to go back that I actually saw them grazing on the grassy hillside. There wasn't a fence between them and me and I hoped I didn't run into a bull. As I was running back, I heard a lone coyote howl, somewhere off to my left. He was soon joined by his buddies and a cacaphony of coyote howls surrounded me! I didn't see any, but it sounded like an army of them; very eerie. I yelled out, "you better not be talking about me!" After all, I had a rock in my hand. :-) Back in Minneapolis, I'm on a different schedule than my running buddies. They run 3 times a week, with Saturday being the long run. Higdon's schedule calls for 5 days a week, so I run with my friends on Saturday and alone during the week. It's been hot and humid on the prairie, so I try to run in the morning. Last Saturday, the running club was running 10 miles, but my schedule called for 13, so I ran 3 miles on the treadmill before heading out with them. It was a nice run, but I go out a lot slower than they do. My goal pace for the marathon is 12 minute miles, so I run 13 mm during the long, slow distance runs. After a couple of miles one of the women joined me and we talked the whole way. It was nice to have company.

While I was in Italy we added another marathoner to the family: my sister Deni walked the San Diego Rock and Roll marathon! She and her friend finished in 6:41:53 at 15:20 mm, and the other three in their training group finished as well. Go Team Laura! They're going to walk the Nike Women's Half in October.