Monday, February 21, 2011

I Never Claimed to be Sane

Oh man, I won't bore you all with one long blog post right now.  I'll just give you all some highlights in bullet form - sometimes I even bore myself ;)
  • The week before, I had my highest mileage ever, 76, during the worst week ever for me.  When this last week started, I wanted to see what I could do when I felt good and had less stress - it's official, I broke 90 miles this week!  91 to be exact, but who's counting ;)  My legs felt awesome all week, and let's just say, this week, I don't expect that number to go down at all!
  • Today is day 46 - I ran 16 miles - again, I never said I was sane ;)
  • I ran two races this weekend - one Saturday in the worst conditions ever.  Punky and Tara came out to run, too!  Two of my fav running peeps! A half marathon in rain, wind, cold and gravel.  But...I came out on top.  Despite having 53 miles on my legs before the race, I ran a PR of 1:34!!  Yes, I know, I'm in shock, too!  That was a 7:11/mi pace for the race - and my last 3 miles were 7:09, 7:04 & 6:49!  I'm beyond excited about this - and more excited to see what I can do with rested legs, a better course and conditions.  Unfortunately though, it wasn't a certified race, so darn the luck, I have to go and get my NY qualifier somewhere else!
  • After the race, I came home and pulled a crazy again - and ran another 6 miles on the hamsterwheel to loosen up my legs & get my long run done.  I'm really enjoying breaking up my long run.  If I run slow in the morning, I'll do some speed in the afternoon.  If I run fast in the morning, I'll do an easier pace in the afternoon - it seems to be working out well.
  • Sunday was a trail 20K with my buddy Punky again.  It was cold, and I think I told him more than once that I was just going to stay in the warm car and sit this one out.  

Freezing my butt off before (hey, it was 36 out, that's cold for this California girl!)


  • Since we had been pelted by rain here in the Bay for 5 days straight, it was a muddy scene out there.  But Punky and I took our time and enjoyed the beautiful scenery running around Lake Chabot.  We warmed up quickly, especially when we picked up the pace as we ran by a shooting range!  We were NOT expecting to hear gun shots on our beautiful early morning trail run.  I took it easy, probably slowing down Punky in the process, but ran the uphills and walked the downhills as to not tear my quads up or fall on my butt in the mud.  We finished with 10.75 miles and jumped right into the car to get warm!  We also may or may not have been beaten by a blind man ;)

One muddy hill!


  • After getting home and getting warmed up, you guessed it, I jumped on the TM to finish off the day.  But...let me defend myself!  I was at 84 miles and I wanted to see if I could hit 90!  As soon as I started running I felt awesome.  My legs welcomed a little even pace on the hamsterwheel and I finished the day with 18 miles and 91 for the week!  Whoo hoo!  That really made me smile ;)
As you can see, I had one hell of a crazy week!  I think I'm going to be more than prepared for my 50K in March, but more than anything, I am excited to see where my paces are going to be when May comes around.  I'm going to continue to ride the running streak for as long as possible.  My legs are feeling fresh and awesome, and I couldn't be more pleased.
I'm off to catch up with all of you!  Congrats to everyone who raced this weekend, especially my buddy LB who had a huge 5K PR and to Denise who also had a huge 5 miler PR!  You guys rock!
Happy Running Peeps!

29 comments:

L.B. said...

Day 46! That's totally awe-inspiring. I'm not sure I could get to 46 straight days of doing anything, let alone running. I'm just constantly amazed to see how much improvement you've made with your times and all that. You were already fast but damn, this is just insane.

And thanks for the shout! Still can't believe it :)

Unknown said...

76 miles? You are my hero!!

Christina said...

totally cool!!!!!

Maggs said...

I agree... you are going to be more than prepared for the 50K. Nice job.

Ewa said...

You are just amazing, that is all I can say. I am trying to wrap my mind around 90miles/week. Hope you get some time to sleep too. :)

Anonymous said...

Crazy. Insane. Crazy insane. But damn it sounds fun.

J said...

You are seriously crazy but all those miles seems to be working for you!! Keep it up and congrats on the half PR!

Jen said...

The only way I get that many miles is to count my biking! Great job!

trailturtle said...

Wish I could run like you! Glad you survived the back to back trail runs (be careful with that). You were smart to walk the downhills, both for the quads and to prevent muscle/ankle injury from the mud. We just got 9 inches of snow and the low tonight is going to be near-record -1 F :(.
For a change of pace, check out the critter pics on my blog--you'll like them :).
I'll probably be seeing you in March. Keep up the good work and run well, Ann

Marlene said...

CONGRATS! I nearly squealed when you posted your time on FB. Freaking fantastic! Clearly you do well on heavy mileage!

Laura said...

...holy.....
I cannot imagine that kind of mileage...congrats..

Jen Feeny said...

Girl you are just blowing my mind with all this running!!!! Congrats again on the killer PR!!!

LAPT said...

Woweeee, girl! You kick some major booty!

Emily said...

Congrats on the awesome PR! I'm so impressed you hit that time in the midst of your crazy streak!

Jenn said...

Holy Smack Katie! 91 freakin' miles. I would DEFINITELY be counting! Awesome job on the half! You look great!

Christy Ashley said...

So for some reason your posts haven't been showing up in my Reader...are you ok?!?! Are you feeling better from your accident? And 90 miles? You're nuts and I love it! Will you be in Boston this year???

Katie said...

a) i love that picture of you and b) you are a certified badass now!

April said...

You are hardcore! Way to go!

d.a.r. said...

You are absolutely nuts and I love it!! Keep up the awesome work!

ajh said...

Holy Lots of Miles! And races! And craziness!

MCM Mama said...

And here I am all proud of myself for doing 30 miles a week when not training for a marathon LOL.

You are amazing!

(BTW, I sent you an email with some tax questions. did you get it?)

Angela and David said...

That is some impressive mileage and it sounds like you are holding up well! Just listen to your body and don't ignore something to maintain your streak. I run with some women training to hit OTQ times and they routinely run 100 mile weeks and it's the ones that don't slow down when they notice something seems off that don't make it to the start line. But I don't mean to be a downer, what you are doing is awesome - just offering some unsolicited advice :).

Denise said...

aw, thanks for the little shout out!

what a streak you have going on!!! craziness! but i have to say, 36...cold??? oh boy, we need to toughen you up!

RunToTheFinish said...

girlfriend a 1:34, how on earth...do you have a cape under that running shirt? :)

N.D. said...

90 miles?? in a month or a week?? geesh!! way to go!

Anonymous said...

you are crazy and I love it! I wish my body would let me run as much and as fast as you ;)

Congrats ont he huge PR and it was awesome seeing you on Saturday!

Bethany + Ryan said...

wow, big PR for you! I've been so behind on rading blogs but i can tell that you've lost a bit of weight! you look great! you looked great beofre, but you look more great now! congrats on your new PR and high mileage!

Heather said...

Holy crazy runner lady. :) Do you have flames shooting out the back of your feet??? Way to keep up with the amazing streak, you are looking smoking hot too!! :)

Shellyrm ~ just a country runner said...

You are crazy. I know the feeling of that burning question that goes something like, well I ran this many miles or this many days or if I only run X number of miles I'll have X number...can I???

Please please please be careful. I reread an article in one of my running mags about master runners. Of course a lot of these runners are still fast beyond my dreams and in serious runner leagues that I will never seen BUT one thing they all talk about is killing themselves with mileage in their 20s and 30s and now wondering if they really had to. (Yeah I am preaching to the choir I know but I am already a masters runner and I do usually stick around 50ish miles a week). I just don't want to see you hurt or burn out just because of numbers. (Okay yeah, I'm jealous too a little but...) I am mostly just wanting to make sure you are careful and are able to enjoy your gift of running for decades to come.
I don't think I will ever seen a 100 mile week. For me after about 80 it starts to hurt and that's no fun.
You are going to crush your 50k. Can you at least pretend to go slow so I don't look like a complete snail. ;-)