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…The Asics Cumulus 11 shoes are NOT FOR ME!  I wore my old Asics yesterday that have hundreds of miles on them, did my 6 mile tempo run with absolutely NO PAIN!  YES I AM SCREAMING!!!!   WTF Asics?  What did you do to my perfect running shoe and why haven’t you called me back yet?

Here’s the upside, I don’t have to wonder what the issue is, I don’t have to think that I have some terrible foot issue or defect in my body, there is no question here at all, the newest version of the Cumulus is now confirmed to be my arch nemesis.   They blow and I don’t!

So my run went well yesterday - it was a 2 miles warm up with 3 miles at my short tempo pace (9:15) and then a mile cool down.  POC.  Ready for my long run tomorrow - 15 miles in my old shoes.

Loving the new Garmin 305 although I hate that I fell into the dark hole of technology.  However I still sleep well at night knowing that I just use it for the pace and not the heartrate, or elevation, or downloadable abilities or really any of the reasons why someone would use a GPS for the workouts…so basically I just paid $150 to know how fast I’m running.  What a sucka!

Woke up Wednesday thinking…’ahhhhhhh my only committment is at 5pm over at Skirt Sports…all I have to do today is swim and work, I’ve got plenty of time’.  Well after sleeping in until almost 8am, cleaning the house, getting a very much needed adjustment and running a few errands I found myself at 11am with no shower, no workout and only about 5 hours left to work before heading out.  This work thing, it really gets in the way.  I love my job at BCMT, I mean I’m blessed to have the responsibility, freedom and flexibility that I have but when it all boils down, the job must get done and I need to make time for it.

I ended up working through the afternoon, stretching for a 1/2 hour and then jumping in the shower then headed over to Skirt for packet stuffing.  The Skirt Chaser 5k is this weekend - are you running?  Finished up the evening with a romantic dinner with my girl - Bacaro, YUM!

This morning I’m up ’sort of’ bright and early for my tempo run, 6 miles in my old sneakers cuz the new sneakers are like torture in laces.  Waiting for Asics to call me back…

Another weekend flew by…a great one nonetheless, just busy.  Friday morning we tried salad for breakfast leading into my long run of 13 miles.  It was a very good thing, felt light but not much to hold the water in, many pit stops.  I guess that’s a plus for the morning bagel.

I saw clients Saturday and Sunday but managed to fit in 40 miles with the Tiara Ditcher and rode next to BJ for his 18 mile run.  Looking forward to next weekend, hopefully more downtime but I have a feeling that’s not going to happen.

Ran 5.5 miles today at the track: 4×100 strides then 2x (6×400) at 10:10 pace.  I’m in a major battle with my new sneakers: Asics Cumulus 11…been running in the 10’s for over a year with no problem.  Moved to the 11’s and have nothing but issues.  Excruciating foot pain - I received this pair straight from Asics so I have a call into them to see if there are any 10s hanging around.  If not, I’ll be on the quest for yet another new pair of sneakers.  We’ll see if Asics will do the right thing…

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Long run today - 13 miles with my main set as my PMP (projected marathon pace) plus 30 seconds.  So what’s my PMP?   I will preface this by saying, no I’m not on the juice, believe it or not I’ll be clean for the CC marathon and if all goes well will be holding an intimidating 10:15 pace to finish with a 4:28.  Goal being to break 4:30 so really, for me, that means a 4:29:59 is all I need to gleam!

Here’s a photo from the 1896 marathon.  I wonder what their PMP was?

Gorgeous morning and mentally ready for my 8 mile run.  Had to nudge the hubby a little to get his butt moving but eventually he came around with a cup of coffee.  Headed out around 6:15 but after fooling with the POS Timex GPS I decided to forgo the technology and head on out.  Extremely frustrated since my run was based on pace I started to feel the ‘old jessica’ coming back strong.

Go away Old Jessica, don’t lose your patience with something you can’t control….Welcome new Jessica my patient enlightened one….your body feels incredible there is nothing to be frustrated about.  Plus!  And not to sound negative here, but I’m not that good to be getting crazy over the loss of specificity for one single run.  I settled in and quickly decided that I would use $150 of my India savings (not fundraising dollars people…please, like I would steal?  That’s old jessica business) and buy the Garmin 305.  BJ’s been wanting it for a while and now I need it so that’ s done, we’re getting it.

Met up with the Beej on the trail and ran the last 4 miles with him.  Body feels excellent, I’m so grateful.  Followed that with a good session of work, then massage, haircut and acupuncture.

Tomorrow is rest day and Friday, first long run on the plan 13 miles - hello NCAR!

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Hit the track this morning for the first time in many, many, many months….I’m wondering if I’ve even been there this year.  Why have I not been on the track in so long?  Not sure, must have gotten lazy along the way.  But I’m back…excited about the next 10 weeks and completing marathon #4.

This mornings workout was 5.5 miles:

1 mile warm up
4 x 100M strides with high knees and butt kicks
6 x 800M with 1:30 recovery intervals in between
Easy mile home

Tomorrow is a x-training day and back to running on Wednesday.  Day 1 complete, so far so good.

Marathon training starts today - I have 10 weeks and a new training plan.  I ran an easy 5.5 yesterday and my body is telling me its ready.  I can’t wait, it’s been over a year since I’ve run a marathon and I’m eager to remember how much I love this distance.  My goal is to break 4:30 - my disclaimer always….’slow for many, fast for me’.

From what I hear it’s a hilly course and having lived on Cape Cod for most of my life I know that I can’t bank on any certainty with the weather.  We’ll just have to wait and see.

BJ is running it as well, he’s hasn’t run a straight out marathon since Denver in 2007.  The rest of his marathon experiences have been bundled up within this little race called Ironman.  I know he is eager to let it rip.

My parents are volunteering and I believe I have at least one friend who will be running a relay that day.  I’m getting excited as I plan out my training for the next 10 weeks.  Of course a trip to India will be inserted into this plan from 9/17 - 9/29 but really if planned correctly I’m only going to miss one week of running.  I’m hoping to be active in India, seeing as the peaks surrounding Dharamsala are 17,000 ft I trust there will be some hiking routes available to me for cross training.

For 2009 I say bye, bye triathlon and hello marathon!

This is it, I need $27 to make my fundraising goal for India.

The deadline is tomorrow August 15th…..if you can help me meet this goal it is much appreciated.

Click here to make your donation.

I completed the long course on Sunday and had a blast, truly - lots of smiles, suffering and things to remember for next time.  I’m excited to be done with my triathlon season and sad at the same time.  I had a taste of balance in my life this year and I loved it.   I completed my certification for Orthopedic and Sports massage, I completely revamped our front yard, a vacation to cape cod, worked more in my practice than I have before, finished one half marathon and 4 triathlons.  I have two more big things on my list this year - a trip to India and the Cape Cod marathon.  I would say all in all, I’ve had a very successful year so far.  I am very blessed.

My in-laws just left this morning after a work filled 4 day trip to Boulder.  BJ and his dad built us a deck while Mrs. G and I hauled some timbers, spent time at the tea house, hit pearl street and took care of the domestic duties of the week.  I couldn’t have asked for better in-laws then the G’s, if you know them, you love them.

My focus is now shifting as I ready myself for India and start my marathon training on Monday - the body feels good and is ready for another round of training.  I’m getting very excited for the road ahead and to know that I’m in for a life changing experience next month has me on the edge of my seat.

Had an impromptu dinner party last night with the Freisems - the F n’ Gs put down the wine and pasta like it was our ‘A’ race.  Feeling slightly sluggish this morning but ‘the leg’ is feeling great.  Was blessed with receiving a massage from a very talented student at BCMT on Thursday night - she was trained in IMT.  It was very cool work and extremely helpful for what I call the ‘last 5lbs’ of healing.

A short tune up this morning - 10 min bike, 10 min run then a quick swim at the res today before the race meeting.  Looking forward to tomorrow and testing out the less is more plan.  We shall see, oh we shall see….