50 Mile Training, Week 7: Scott Jurek, an Engagement, and the Dallas Marathon

12/10/2012

Okay, I went a little crazy this week. I got engaged, signed up for a super challenging 50K, got my picture taken with Scott Jurek, bought a wedding dress, picked out a ring, planned an entire wedding in one week, worked an expo booth, and updated Facebook posts for the Dallas Marathon. And did I mention that I GOT ENGAGED??? I really know how to pack it in, don’t I? I was so busy I didn’t have time to do one minute of yoga, either.

MON: Rest Day – Too busy to do anything but fit in an evening with Scott Jurek. Not a bad way to spend a Monday night, if you ask me. What an incredibly down-to-earth, friendly, nice guy. I missed the group run beforehand, but really enjoyed hearing him speak for about 45 min or so afterwards. I wrote an entire blog post about meeting him, and my friends have threatened a Scott Jurek intervention, so I will force myself to stop now.

Gratuitous Scott Jurek Photo

TUE: Run – 6.09 mi – Liz chose New York City over me this morning, and I couldn’t talk Hari into running with me, so I was forced to run all alone. I decided to run with music to break the monotony — and had a great run. I never run with music, but it really helped keep me on pace. Plus, I have great taste in music, so it was win/win all around. Best of all, it was cool! It was only 56 degrees and 60% humidity, which, when compared to Sunday’s mug fest, was downright glacial. Even Scott Jurek mentioned the weather last night. But there I go again, off the Scott Jurek deep end . . . (someone please make me stop).

WED: Hill Run  – 10.6 mi – 45 degrees at the start of today’s hill run, and I couldn’t have been happier. I’m still trying to purge Saturday and Sunday’s warm and humid runs. The hills were a little taller and steeper today after three nights of little sleep (wedding plans kept waking me up), and Hari kept a blistering pace. Gorgeous sky and perfect temps.

THU: Run – 9.56 mi – A wonderful run at the lake this morning at 6:00am, in thick fog, with Hari. Announced the engagement on Facebook and came home to an explosion of congratulations. Heard great songs on the radio both on the way to the lake and on the way home. It was a great day!

Dallas Marathon 2012 – Running over the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge

FRI: Rest Day – Spent the day setting up and working at our WRRC booth at the Dallas Marathon expo. It was so much fun to see all my running friends and talk to new runners who might be interested in coming out and running with us. I am so blessed to be part of such a wonderful running community.

SAT: Trail Run, Rowlett Creek Preserve– 10 mi – Great morning for a run. Temps in the mid 50’s and overcast. Met up with Michael S and Jennifer S for the first 4 miles, then Hari and I continued on our way alone. Michael was trail guide for the first 4, and we actually didn’t get lost the last 6, even though Hari and I were on our own and ran around in circles last week. It was a nice, relaxing run. Spent the afternoon at the expo seeing friends and helping out in the booth, and managed to fall flat on my face at the Run On! booth when my Nike Free got caught up in the table skirt as I walked away from paying for a t-shirt I had just bought. Yep, down on all fours, laptop skidding across the floor, and concrete rising to greet me. I knew those shoes were super grippy, but sheesh, it’s pretty embarrassing when my trail klutzery goes on the road with me in a public place filled with hundreds of other runners!

Went to bed that night after reading that Bob’s daughter and wife spread his ashes on the marathon course at Winfrey Point at White Rock Lake. I loved knowing that thousands of marathon runners would be carrying a small part of Bob to the finish line with them.

Dallas Marathon 2012

SUN: Off Day – Volunteer at Dallas Marathon – Got up at 4:30am and headed down to the Convention Center for the Dallas Marathon. When I let the dogs out at 5:30 before I left it was 66 degrees and 89% humidity. Not exactly ideal marathon conditions. For most people, it was a tough day of running, though some of my friends did really well (yay Nicole, who placed 9th female overall!!!). I spent the day in the media room updating Facebook posts during the race and hanging out with local reporters. I got to see the male and female marathon winners interviewed, and then be the first to see how my friends did on the live results web page. It was a full day. As so often happens here in Texas, a cold front blew in around 2:00pm and the temperature dropped all afternoon. Rounded out the day/week at a Ozona’s with running friends, talking about the marathon, tossing back some drinks, and enjoying life. What a week it’s been!

Stats for WEEK 7: Run – 36 miles

Dallas Marathon 2012 Men’s Marathon Winner Vladimir Safranov

Dallas Marathon 2012 Women’s Marathon Winner Nastassia Padalinskaya

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Written by Mind Margins Posted in Celebrity Runner Groupie, Trail Running, Training Tagged with 50M training, Dallas Marathon, distance running, Nastassia Padalinskaya, Rowlett Creek Preserve, running, running with friends, Scott Jurek, sports, Texas running, trail running, training, training for a 50 mile race, ultramarathon training, ultrarunning, Vladimir Safranov