November 27, 2011

Cruise Along Now

Let's see what's up. My dog bites have healed, and I finally finished the antibiotics, but not with some serious GI distress. Those things are powerful! I have a new plan to get me from from the Pensacola Disaster to Houston. After my recovery week, I ramped it up this week with 70ish miles. I will transition into the 80s for the next couple of weeks, but will not hit those super-high mileage weeks again. I really feel at this point, excess mileage will do more harm than good. I do, however, find my sweet spot to be in the 80s. I have morphed into my favorite Pfitzinger plan, like a trusted pair of trainers. I've used Pfitz time and time again with success. I thought about going back into my custom-made plan. The thing is, it kind of wore me out. I did it for 18 weeks. I need to keep my legs sharp now, but also need to keep my motivation up and improve my runner-esteem.

I've been having some very Debbie Downer thoughts lately. I think the Half Marathon GI Disaster mixed with the Pensacola Meltdown has left me feeling less confident. Not to mention that my only PR in over a year is a one second 5K PR. I keep revisiting the question of plateau. Before anyone shoots this down, please understand that I have been racing for SEVENTEEN years! While I am still a "young" runner, I have a lot of miles and races on these legs. At some point, you just can't get better. The question is if that's the case with me.

On the flippity side of that, I pulled the Garmin out for some longish runs lately. I pulled it out with intent to see if I'm fully recovered from the meltdown. I have felt way better and had a lot more energy recently, but you hear horror stories about runners never being the same after something like that. Thankfully, I have had some very energetic long runs, proving that the hospital incident left me with no permanent damage. One of my best LRs was actually yesterday, while visiting my parents for Thanksgiving. My parents' area is quite hilly; so my expectations were low for a fast pace. I began in the 7:50s and somehow whittled the pace down to marathon pace over 18 miles, leaving me with a 7:30 average. Nothing spectacular, but enough to leave me feeling strong and possibly capable.

I'm actually glad that the holidays are before Houston. I have a lot of plans to keep my mind off the upcoming task at hand. One thing that's going to happen is a court date with the Mean Dogs' owners. To make a long story short, this city won't issue warrants for people to quarantine an animal, even in my case. So... I am forced to press charges. The good news is that the magistrate made the court date really close to possibly get this resolved before I have to get the rabies shots. Here are some brief facts of what has happened.

*The people are hiding the dog inside their home, denying that they even own the dog.
*They have previously paid a fine for the Attack Dog being picked up by Animal Control, proving that they do, in fact, own the dog.
*The rep from the Health Department, who is awesome, took photos of the dog in a running cage in the people's backyard. This is obviously illegal because he was trespassing, but we are hoping the judge will overlook this. The police also have photos of the same dog INSIDE the house, but they were taken through the window, also illegal.
*I am not sure what the judge will do, but the magistrate and investigator feel confident that he will be in my favor.

I told the magistrate and investigator that I just want to avoid the shots. Whatever it takes to do that. I don't want their money, and I don't want the dogs put down. I just want them to prove that this dog does NOT have rabies. I also have my medical reports and the photos of my wounds as "evidence."

Hopefully justice will be served on December 14. :)

Run Happy, friends!

6 comments:

  1. I may start a "Justice for Rebecca" campaign-or maybe just a new PR one at least! ;)

    Looks like we both hit some good training on hilly routes, and it that doesn't help your runner-esteem, nothing will! I like how you're shuffling the deck some-you have a HUGE mileage base, now it's time to perhaps get creative and work the fine details-and have an awesome time in Houston!!

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  2. On the second point about the dog, is the fine being paid public record? I would think that would settle this once and for all.

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  3. I'm amazed that your mileage is back up so high already! Looks like a speedy recovery from Pensacola. As for the dog situation, I really hope you don't have to get those Rabies shots. And I think the dog does need to be put down.

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  4. Fantastic about the dog business, especially that this happened before (what assholes!), that definitely should strengthen your case. I hope the photos hold up.

    Great idea with the plan and keeping your mileage under a lid - 80 is still a wonderful volume but will leave you fresh.

    About the plateau thing, I know you like to go all negative about this,it's your way, but if you really thought about it, you'd realize that all those short races you did were not tapered at all and in the midst of training weeks. So there's a LOT more in the tank for those and in my opinion, that one PR would have been by a much larger margin than it was.

    Also, I'm glad you're doing Pfitz again, I love hearing your comfort level with the plan. Perhaps less racing before the big dance will help keep those legs bouncy as well.

    Lastly, congrats on the great run, I'm sure there will be many more before Houston. :)

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  5. Anonymous11/27/2011

    I am also a 17 year runner :)

    I used to have an amazing (TERRIBLE!) stretch where I wouldn't be able to break the time from my first attempt at a distance... the worst was taking from 2002 to 2010 to improve my 10K time. So I understand thinking about the plateau. Heck, I set a PR this past week and I still had that little voice on my shoulder saying, "I wonder if THIS is as good as it gets?" crazy-making! I mean, it's good not to take things for granted, but honestly, I HAVE to believe that you and I both have a few more solid years in the legs.

    maybe this is weird, but to combat the "oh my god my training isn't better how am I ever going to get faster" I sometimes tell myself a PR is just a rounding error. it's looking at your Garmin, seeing 6:51 instead of 6:52, and thinking "eh, same thing" over and over again. if the a 1 second/mile difference is almost imperceptible, then at the very least there should always be the possibility for incremental success.

    also, sounds like a good long run! getting faster at the end = confidence boost for sure.

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  6. I've spent a lot of time this year wondering if I hit my plateau last year. Still not sure, but finally running well at the Hot Chocolate 15K was a much needed confidence boost. I'm hoping for big things at the half in Houston, provided the next month of Michigan winter doesn't impact my training too much.

    I think you're being very generous in regards to the dog issue. I agree with Elizabeth; that animal should be put down.

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