November Highlights, December Goals...and a Winner!

(Thanks I <3 to run on Facebook for this!)

November was a roller coaster month. I didn't manage to write everything down, but here's my best shot at capturing it.

--I ran 112 miles. This isn't as much as I ran at the same point in the build-up to the Top of Utah Marathon. More on the possible implications of this below.....

--I missed several weight training classes. I was doing great with this until Ruthie's hand-foot-and-mouth illness erupted. Between that, the stomach virus she got the following week, our trip to Virginia, my own stomach virus and a kindergarten visit last week, not a lot of weight was lifted. I'm back on the wagon, but I'm tabling my one chin-up goal until after the Houston Marathon.

--I made it to spin class only once. Part of this is because some days it was just easier to do an easy run while at work.

--Considering it was a holiday month and there was a lot of illness in my house in the latter half, I did a good job sticking to the Mario Lopez Extra Lean Family eating plan. We're still planning meals and eating out less as a family. As of last week at least, I had maintained my weight and body fat percentages. Expecting to lose weight at this time of year (even with marathon training) is setting oneself up for disappointment.


--I held my own in the Rock Canyon Half Marathon last weekend and the weekend before ran an 18-miler that I can truly say for the first time since I started training for marathons again post-pregnancy felt good the whole way. I also ran well despite wind in the Longmont Turkey Trot on Nov. 12, setting a 10K PR of 50:55 (I'd originally reported a time of 51:04, but when the race folks emailed my results to me they'd given me back 9 seconds--sweet! sub-51!).


December is going to be quite a ride. The Houston Marathon is six weeks away. Over the next four weeks, I have two long runs (a 22-miler this weekend and a 24-miler on Christmas Eve), two McMillan fast-finish long runs (one on the 17th and the other on New Year's Eve), lots of medium-long mid-week runs, and various tempo, marathon-pace and track workouts.


I mentioned above that my monthly mileage ahead of Houston has been lower than it was for Top of Utah. This isn't what I expected, since I've missed only one of my Houston plan's scheduled runs (a fartlek that fell right after I got sick in Virginia--I did make up the miles, but not the speed part). I really have no idea if less mileage has helped me improve or has held me back. The two test races that were in my plan (Rock Canyon and the Turkey Trot) were both run in wind and in the case of Rock Canyon on some icy terrain. The Turkey Trot time was right on where my Top of Utah Marathon performance predicted my best 10K finish could be, which I guess is a good sign considering I felt I could have been faster without the wind.


Doing my best to be objective, I'd say at this point running a BQ in Houston (sub-3 hours 45 minutes since I will be 40 for Boston 2013) looks unlikely. If I can run smarter than I did in Utah (slow down in the first miles, Terzah!), a PR (sub 3:59) might happen.


Still, I do have lots of good hard workouts ahead. If I can stay healthy (no more stomach viruses or colds!), get 'em done and get good conditions outdoors for one of those fast-finish long runs, I will know more about what I should realistically be shooting for on Jan. 15.


A Winner: Another fun thing about November was my Banana Blossom Press Giveaway. Thanks to all who entered--I really wish I could get cool T-shirts and cards for all of you. The winner (according to Random.org) was #18 (I couldn't get the screen capture to translate into a usable file for Blogger, but I do have it if you want the proof). By my count that makes Marcia of The Studly Runner my winner. Marcia, email me with your address and let me know your final t-shirt and card preference.


Marcia, by the way, also won my only other giveaway back in the spring. She comes by her good karma naturally, but I think she was also helped by the karmic fact of her donation to my Run for Food cause. Want some of that good karma for yourself? If you can help me get to $600 (my original goal was $500), please go to my fundraising page and donate. I'm going to do a gratitude giveaway if I make it to $600 before I run Houston.