May 7th

(vanessa)- Wind was supposed to die down at 8:00pm and had plans to run anthem. At 8:01 it was still windy so nick headed out on his own and I went to the gym to get on the treadmill. I haven't been on a treadmill in several months and held a 8:30 pace for two miles and that is quite an improvement from where I used to be. I played around on the treadmill for a total of 4 miles. Definitely was not as entertaining as road running. talked to nick afterward to find out that the wind had stopped as soon as he started. Oooohh and I have a lingering pain I my shin from my last run and felt it on the treadmill. I've never had shin splints before but I'm pretty sure this is it. Felt it every time I stepped down.

(Nick) You know you have a great running partner when you show up to run and they have a stash of cough drops in their car just for you, as well as a stockpile of water! Finally got around to doing my favorite course at night and it sure didn't disappoint! My body felt like crap from the beating I took Thursday night and Saturday morning, my left calf feels like its been in tetany for two days now and my right hip keeps getting these shooting pains out of no where, even when I'm just sitting down. The wind has been blowing all day and it showed that it would die down from 8-10, still was a little windy at 8 but I took to the streets anyway excited for a night version of anthem. Started out slow as my body just wanted a nice pace to stretch itself out. My gps feedback has been off since Thursday and no feedback encouraged a nice steady pace. I got to the beginning uphill and started to pick it up a little. It feels kinda pointless to run by myself and not have my breathing a little labored. I enjoyed the first two miles immensely, the hills are really fun for me. The downhill of Hampton was awful, every single step just tore my poor calves to pieces, I couldn't wait for it to finally end. However there was a great lightning show in the distance which distracted me from the pain somewhat. Once I hit the 5 mile mark where the course opens up to a view of Seven Hills I caught myself considering slowing down and walking the rest. The same thing happened on saturday around the 6 mile mark. Preventing those kind of thoughts from reappearing is a must! I pushed on through and ended up completing anthem for the first time in under an hour. I felt really strong at the end and you can see from the gps that I was in the 6:30 range. These last three runs have been wonderful! I've really seen some nice progression and my body hurts enough to let me know it hasn't been easy. Some things I want to work on before race day:

Nutrition- its always a problem for me and something that will always be a work in progress, but I do plan on doing some serious carb loading the week before the race.

Water- it was such a must during Six Tunnels, and tonight I felt the dehydration in my lungs and it was such a struggle to get the water down while breathing so hard. I felt like an idiot, splashing it all over my face and barely getting any in my system, running while drinking needs to be addressed. I also planned on consuming some energy gels during this next race and if I can't get water down how am I supposed to eat? Practice on both of those!

Music- my running playlist, derived from my Pandora is pretty much played out. I ran to a new song tonight and still have Ellie Goulding keeping me going but need some new stuff for the race!